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Aziraphale was lost in a book. Which was good. Crowley still hasn't figured out how to bring up his newfound interest to the angel, and the extra time was appreciated.
You see, after the first few times Aziraphale had pulled at Crowley's collar, and said pulling had sent him deeper into subspace then he had felt possible, the demon had started thinking, and researching.
He looked up different kinds of human leashes, talked with people anonymously on forums, and he'd even started sketching simple designs of a leash he'd be proud to be at the end of.
The idea of being attached to his angel made him feel safe. It was giving authority entirely over to Aziraphale, even allowing the angel to dictate his movements. He wanted that sense of someone having such authority over him, craved it even.
So, with a last deep breath and a reassurance to himself that even if Aziraphale didn't like the idea, he wouldn't be ridiculed for it, he spoke.
"Angel?"
The response was a soft hum, indicating that Crowley was being listened to, but that at least half of Aziraphale's attention was still on his book.
"I uhm. I kinda need your full attention right now?" He forced himself to say, still feeling a slight sense of guilt at interrupting the angel's favorite activity.
Guilt notwithstanding, Aziraphale immediately closed his book, placing it on the table in front of him, attention all on Crowley, just as requested.
"What do you need, love?" The angel asked, voice soft and filled with a well-known spark of pride.
"I… wanted to, uh, talk. Talk about something." Fuck, why was this so hard?
"Alright," Aziraphale got up from his chair, walking around the table to sit next to Crowley, placing a hand on his thigh lightly. "What do you want to talk about?"
The demon squirmed, trying to figure out the right words to ask for what he wanted.
"I- I've been thinking, for a little while," he managed, gulping, "And I. I want to. Uhm."
The hand on Crowley's thigh ran up and down it soothingly, making the demon whimper slightly and plant his head onto the angel's shoulder.
"We have all the time in the world, dearest," the angel murmured, tracing the demon's knee with his thumb, "You want to what?"
"Wanna… wanna try something new," he blurted, knowing that it wasn't very specific, but it was a start.
"Good boy," Aziraphale said with pride heavy in his tone, and he gave Crowley's thigh a small squeeze, "What do you want to try?"
Crowley mumbled his answer, embarrassment at his own desires making him blush.
"I didn't hear you, love," Aziraphale scolded lightly, his hand still tracing soothing patterns into the demon's thigh.
"...wanna leasssh," Crowley whispered, just barely loud enough for the angel to hear.
"You want to be leashed?" Aziraphale asked, tone light and loving, knowing how hard it already was for the demon to bring his ideas up.
"Mmmhmmm."
"Thank you for telling me, dearest," Crowley felt a kiss pressed to the back of his head and he whined, "we'll talk to Lilith tomorrow. I'd be happy to put you on a leash."
The demon's last hold on his higher thinking slipped away, and he practically slithered his way into the angel's lap, curling up in his usual koala-esc position.
Aziraphale chuckled, moving his now empty hand to Crowley's spine, massaging it softly.
~~~~~~
Crowley fidgeted as he walked beside his angel, one hand clutched anxiously in Aziraphale's and the other rubbing at the embroidery on his collar.
He hated being in subspace in public. But he was already pretty far gone when he woke up and Aziraphale understandably didn't want him driving like that.
This is exactly the type of situation a leash would be helpful for, in Crowley's mind. When he was so deep that he absolutely needed his dom near, but one or both of them had something they needed to do. The leash would both keep them connected and ground the demon.
They arrived at Lilith's shop pretty quickly, although not quite quickly enough for Crowley. He grumbled as he was led in.
"Oh! Crowley, Aziraphale! It's good to see you two again!" Lilith, who was at the counter, walked around it to come face to face with them. "Did you guys need something or is this a social visit of sorts?"
Aziraphale smiled brightly at her, that one he did when he was pleased with something. He cast a glance at Crowley, a slightly raised eyebrow silently asking 'do you want to ask or should I?'.
A shake of the head accompanied with a quiet whimper answered the angel's silent question very adequately, and his smile turned soft for a moment before he turned back to the store owner.
"We actually had some questions about Crowley's collar and some of the other things you might sell here."
Lilith raised an eyebrow, clearly curious. "What kind of questions?"
"Well, for one, we'd like to know if the ring holding the snake charm on the collar is strong enough to hold a leash?" The angel inquired lightly, rubbing small circles on the back of Crowley's hand as it tightened around his own.
"It should be, yeah," the leather worker nodded to herself, as if she was doing calculations in her head. She probably was.
"Great! Jumping off from that point, do you happen to do custom leashes?"
Lilith eyed them suspiciously, taking in the way Crowley had a death grip on Aziraphale's hand and was looking away from her as well as the comforting motions the angel was doing in return, and she smiled.
"We didn't used to, but we've been thinking about it, you two could be our test subjects."
"Oh, wonderful!" Aziraphale said excitedly, looking like he would clap his hands in delight if one wasn't busy comforting his twitchy submissive. "Are you alright with that, dearest?"
"Mhm," Crowley mumbled, inching closer to the angel.
"Alright, let's get into the consultation where everyone will be a bit more comfortable, ok?" Lilith suggested, leading them all there.
Once inside, the couple sat down on the couch, thighs pressing together. Their hands unraveled from one another, one of Aziraphale's landing once again on Crowley's thigh and both the demon's going to fidget with different parts of his collar.
"Ok, so, what were you two thinking?" Lilith prompted, still smiling.
"Crowley, love?" Aziraphale also prompted, squeezing Crowley's thigh softly.
"Uhm. I was… was thinking maybe blue? For the base? Like your shirt."
Lilith made a note of it, and it was Aziraphale's turn to suggest something; "I'd like the handle and metal of the clip to both be black. Something to represent him as well as me."
Another note made, a questioning gaze turned on the demon.
"Could you… could you maybe put 'angel' on the handle sssomewhere?" Crowley blushed at the hiss in his voice, but everyone politely ignored it.
"Of course. Is that all? Or are there more details?" Lilith asked, eyes shining.
"Well… I uh, have a few more ideass…"
~~~~~~
They returned a couple weeks later, both eager to see their ideas come to light. Crowley especially was ready to feel the security of the leash around his neck.
The shop was quiet when they entered, as usual, and they were led into the customs room by a beaming Lilith.
When the pair saw the leash, Crowley melted into his angel's side with a soft whimper. It looked perfect. The leather was colored to be an exact match to Aziraphale's button up, and the stitching along the sides was expertly done in the same style as the apples on the collar.
"It looks amazing, Lilith," Aziraphale praised, taking it in his hands and feeling the leather, simply letting Crowley hold on to one of his arms, "Exactly what we were imagining."
She smirked, pleased. "So, we should offer custom leashes permanently ?"
"I'd sssay sso," Crowley hissed against Aziraphale's shoulder, eyeing the leash with poorly-hidden longing.
"And I'd agree with him," the angel said softly, moving a hand to rub at the demon's neck. "You still have my card in your system, yes?"
Lilith grinned, "Yep! I'll charge it to that and let you two go on your way."
And so on their way they went.
They breezed past the front room of the bookshop, Aziraphale leaving the sign set to 'very much CLOSED', and settled on the backroom couch.
"How do you want this, love?" The angel asked, holding the leash delicately.
"Mm… maybe, maybe with my head in your lap? At firsst?" Crowley mumbled, shifting slightly.
"Of course. Lay down, then," one of Aziraphale's hands let go of the leash to pat his lap.
Crowley obeyed easily, wiggling around to get himself comfortable.
He ended with his head face up in the angel's lap and his arms and legs were draped every-which-way.
"I'm going to attach it to the collar now, dearest," the angel murmured, waiting to receive a nod before he opened the clasp and hooked it into the ring on the demon's collar.
Crowley immediately whined, squirming slightly at the new sensation.
"Are you alright?" Aziraphale asked, concerned.
"Mmmhmmm. Love it. Jusss'... jussss'. Overwhelming. Lil bit." Crowley managed to say, shifting again as the leash brushed his neck. "Tug."
"Oh, alright," Aziraphale gave the leash a light, experimental tug. The demon whimpered, turning his head to bury his face in the angel's stomach.
"Are those good noises or bad ones, love?" Aziraphale asked, running a hand through Crowley's hair soothingly.
"Good… good onesss," Crowley responded, leaning back into the hand on his head, "can. Can we just. Jusst sit here, for a bit?"
"Of course, dearest boy," the angel continued to pet Crowley's hair, smiling at the soft noises he continued to make.
The leash was here to stay.