Aziraphale always says yes, eventually. I think that’s why Crowley’s so completely unprepared when he says no, at the bandstand and on the street outside the bookshop. Not not yet or we shouldn’t or they’d find out or it’s too dangerous, but no.

They’ve been dancing the same pattern for six thousand years. Crowley makes an offer, Aziraphale makes excuses, and dithers, and even says no for a while – and then he says yes. Yes, “fine, heads.” Yes, “don’t go unscrewing the cap.” Yes, “Heaven couldn’t actually object if I was thwarting you.”

And Crowley’s patient, he can wait. He’s an optimist, he trusts that his angel will come around eventually. Except not only is Aziraphale’s “it’s over” the most emphatic no that he’s ever given in six millennia, there’s no time to change his mind.

It ruins Crowley. He freezes, and you can see him shattering as he rocks back a little (bless Tennant’s acting). Three times, he tries to speak, three times he can’t form the words. “Right… well then… nghh…” He leaves – it’s too sharp, he doesn’t want Aziraphale to see him clutching his broken pieces. Deflects with “have a nice doomsday” but I bet the words cut him as much as they do Aziraphale.

Logically, he should leave at this point. The heart wrenching scene at his flat gets me because even now Crowley has so much hope. He’s trying to convince himself to go, to run, to get out. But Aziraphale always says yes eventually.

He can’t do it. He’s caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Leave Aziraphale? Impossible. Stay, on his own to face the world’s end and certain destruction? Untenable. So, he procrastinates. When we see him next he’s watching a movie, which isn’t useful for either running away to the stars or dealing with the situation on Earth.

Then comes Hastur. No more time, his worst fears realised, and he just can’t give up that hope. He has to convince Aziraphale. He’s entirely laid bare for the conversation outside the bookshop. No wiles, no tricks, he needs this to work more than anything he’s ever needed in his immortal existence.

Aziraphale’s denial rolls over him like a car crash in slow motion. You can see the chant of ‘no, no, no’ behind his expression as Aziraphale leads with “Crowley, you’re being ridiculous…” He can feel it slipping away, his last chance of convincing Aziraphale, and he’s desperate. His voice gets progressively more broken. It has to work, because Aziraphale always says yes.

And Aziraphale says no.

Now he’s still faced with that impossible choice. Run, like he keeps saying he’s going to; that’s the smart choice, the logical choice. Stay, without Aziraphale, and fight. One demon against the whole of hell? Impossible. And yet, he does it anyway. If he runs, that’s the end of it. He’d be safe, but Aziraphale would meet his end along with the Earth.

So he stays, and lays the trap for Hastur and Ligur. His hope wins, again. He’s choosing to wait out the clock, to give Aziraphale the most time possible to change his mind, even if it means he’s almost certain to be destroyed.

And then Aziraphale calls. “I know where the antichrist is—” Crowley’s best moments of imagination are all driven by the times when Aziraphale needs him. Finally, finally the angel might be about to say yes. Crowley wipes the floor with Hastur, and rushes to get to Aziraphale.

Except, it’s too late. Crowley couldn’t convince him in time, and Aziraphale’s gone, the bookshop burning. The last little ember of hope, always glowing, never before diminished, snuffs out. I don’t think Crowley’s procrastinating any more. I think he’s given up. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – someone give the demon a hug please.

But, BUT – Aziraphale comes back. He’s alive, and he’s not just saying yes he’s shouting it from the rooftops. We can do this, come to Tadfield, I need your help, I need you. Poor Crowley’s too drunk for this, too raw; a thousand blessings on Tennant for the naked emotion on Crowley’s face and the agonising depth he gives to Crowley’s whispered “…Aziraphale?”

And they do it. The world is saved, they choose their faces wisely, they earn themselves space like they’ve never had before, and they choose their own side. They choose each other.

Aziraphale always says yes, eventually. Crowley just has to wait.