Work Text:
There were many times Crowley would talk to Bee on the tower roof and genuinely enjoy it. This, however, was one of the few times he didn’t want to talk.
Bee was trying to get him to talk about his feelings again, but he had too much on his mind and wasn’t in the mood to have a life lesson from his darling older sibling. They were still trying to lecture him, going on about how he should be more open about his feelings with people, but he had them tuned out. Instead of listening, Crowley was staring at the sky, enjoying the moon and stars while thinking about Aziraphale. He glanced down at the garden and came up with a plan to get out of the conversation.
“It’s not good to bottle it up, Anthony. It’d be way better for you and everyone if-” Anthony cut them off.
“Can we please not talk about this right now? I just wanna go to bed,” The redhead sighed.
“You’re just saying that so you can sulk in your room and stay up to ungodly hours of the morning. Your emotional health is important, and we need to take care of it.” The prince looked over to Bee only to see concern written all over their face. He took a deep breath, averted his gaze, and got up. “You know you can’t put this off forever. We’ll talk whether you like it or not,” They got up to stop him from leaving, thinking he was just going to climb down.
“I’m going to bed, Bee. I’m super tired, see you in the morning, good night!” Just as he finished talking, Anthony turned himself into a snake and started slithering down the tower, only vaguely hearing Bee call out for him to come back as he slipped into a window. Anthony waited a few moments before moving again, going in the opposite direction of where his bedroom was and making his way to the garden.
-
Aziraphale was in a very awkward situation. He loved his siblings dearly, however, he also loved Anthony. He adored the prince, but one of his sisters was supposed to marry him, and both siblings were talking rather badly about the boy.
“Can you believe how uptight he was? He was barely interested at all, it’s like he didn’t even care!” Uriel said. Aziraphale was getting tired of hearing them talk about Anthony so negatively. No matter how hard he tried to focus on his book, His sister’s voices always kept him distracted, having no choice but to listen to them.
“I know, right? Then he left after I asked if the curse rumors were true, that probably means he is. I’m willing to bet the only way he’ll ever get married is if it’s arranged.” Michael added on, sounding far too prideful for what she just finished saying. That was where Aziraphale drew the line.
Aziraphale placed a bookmark on the page and closed the book loudly to interrupt the conversation. Both Michael and Uriel turned away from each other to look at their younger brother as he stood up. Michael opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Aziraphale didn’t give her the chance.
“Perhaps Prince Anthony was so uninterested in the two of you because he doesn’t like people who assume his entire personality is based on a silly rumor. He could easily find someone who loves him and certainly doesn’t need an arranged marriage to find a spouse. Now if you’ll excuse me,” He turned away from his sisters and left with the book in hand. He didn’t really know many places in the castle, so he went to the only place where he felt calm. He knew his way around the garden well enough, so he went to his usual spot in an attempt to get more reading done.
Anthony was curled up as a snake behind his new favorite bush, the one near Aziraphale’s reading spot. He was trying to work through his thoughts when he heard someone approaching his hiding spot. He thought it was Bee, but then he heard the footsteps stop and a chair being pulled out. The snake poked his head through the bushes, only to see Aziraphale in the chair opening his book. He went back to the other side of the bush before the other prince could notice him. Anthony changed back to human as quietly as possible and quickly went over to another bush to grab a blanket he stashed earlier in case he ended up without clothes yet again.
“Pssst- Aziraphale, over here!” Aziraphale tore his gaze away from his book to look at the bush where the voice was coming from. The blond-haired prince’s smile brightened and he forgot about why he was mad when he saw Anthony.
“Oh, hello dear! I didn’t expect to see you out this late,” Anthony’s eyes widened as he put a finger up to his lips, getting him to shush.
“Yeah, I’m trying to hide from Bee,” He didn’t elaborate. “So what about you? It’s getting a little late to be reading outside, isn’t it?” Anthony’s head tilted slightly when he asked. Aziraphale sighed, putting his book down on the table.
“I suppose I’m doing the same as you. My sisters were being rather bothersome, I couldn’t focus on the book.”
“Well, we can hide together then!” Bee had likely figured out he wasn’t going back to his room, so a little company would be nice to have.
Aziraphale was about to say something when Bee and Gabriel’s voices could be heard calling their younger siblings names. Said younger siblings froze and looked to where the voices were coming from. “Perhaps we should find a different hiding spot. I know a spot,” Anthony whispered. Aziraphale didn’t bother with speaking, only responding by grabbing his book and joining Anthony behind the bush to run off somewhere else.
Moments later, Bee and Gabe reached their previous hiding spot.
“Bee? What are you doing out here so late?”
“I live here, I can go wherever I wish. What are you doing here?”
Gabriel sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m looking for Aziraphale. Apparently, Michael and Uriel said something to upset him, and I was sent to find him.”
“He and Anthony are probably together then. He ran off while I was trying to talk to him.” Even though neither had actually found their younger siblings, the stress of the situation lifted. It’s not like they were in any danger, anyways.
“Honestly, I’m surprised you’re sacrificing your precious beauty sleep to be out here,” Bee teased.
“Oh really? At least I keep up my appearance and don’t settle for a mop on my head in place of hair,” was the response from Gabriel. Bee fought to hold back a laugh, face settling into a smirk. A light blush dusted over Gabriel’s cheeks.
“Self-centered prick.”
“Scummy bug.” Both chuckled, keeping up with the insults, and enjoying each other’s company. Both ended up forgetting about why they had been there in the first place and going for a walk around the garden.
The two princes had ended up in a more secluded place, talking to each other about why they were hiding. They stayed awake, chatting with each other until they fell asleep under the apple tree.