A Cafe on Alpha Centauri

Finally finished this expression study of Sassy Quokka Aziraphale I've had sitting unfinished for like a month. Inspired by this group of classic Aziraphale faces from a "What Aziraphale are you today" poll:

He has special interests that he obsesses over and gets very, very excited about (books, food, magic tricks, etc).

He masks CONSTANTLY. He feels the need to put on a more "socially acceptable" facade in front of most people (the other angels especially), to diminish and minimize the quirkier aspects of his personality so that he won't be mocked or looked down on.

But the one person he can truly be HIMSELF with, the one who he feels safe with, is Crowley. Crowley might poke gentle fun at him sometimes, but he never makes him feel unworthy or like he needs to pretend to be someone else.

It's one of my favorite elements of the 1941 flashback in S2. Aziraphale is bubbling over with SO mucn excitement about his magic show. And Crowley COULD mock him, could roll his eyes and tell him to stop embarrassing himself.

But he doesn't. He encourages him, helps him, lets him have his fun. Because I think he absolutely LOVES how silly and quirky and fun his angel can be, when he lets his guard down.

It's much the same concept as Crowley taking off his sunglasses in the bookshop. They can be true to themselves around each other, in ways they can't around anyone else.

One thing I absolutely love is that Aziraphale almost always keeps his hands behind his back when he's talking to the other angels in Heaven. (The main exception is when he's lying to them, then he suddenly starts gesturing far more than usual, almost unnaturally so, even by his own standards.) But around Crowley, he doesn't seem embarrassed by his very expressive hand gestures, his "strange" mannerisms, or any of the other little things that make him who he is.

He knows Crowley accepts him exactly as he is. Even when Crowley grumbles about Aziraphale wanting to perform as a magician at Warlock's birthday party in Season 1, I've always felt that his irritation comes more from how stressed he is about the whole Antichrist situation. He thinks something has gone terribly wrong and that there's a very real chance they're going to lose.

I'm not even sure whether this would count as stimming, but I've always wondered if the way Aziraphale is constantly rubbing his fingers together could be seen as a form of self-regulation.

And, God... poor Aziraphale having to spend three years back in that Hell disguised as Heaven. I would've died from sensory overload alone with how overwhelmingly bright everything is

crowley not only slithers over to watch aziraphale eat cake, but feeds it to him too. happy azirafeast 🤍

Imagine looking into his round pookie sunshine face and his bright eyes and being mean to him.