Hey guys! I'm back with more trolls just like I promised! I guess it's not entirely necessary for you to have read the main story, but it probably helps to give some context.

This one is dedicated to the fabulous SmutKeeper, whose Troll Art this entire AU is based off of. I cannot put into words what your support and encouragement has meant to me, thank you doesn't begin to cover it, but THANK YOU! I chose to dedicate this one in particular to you because it's all about the tails and I know that you (and I) have a very very strong fondness for them.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this lil bit of fluff, and I promise that there is more trolls to come, both fluffy and smutty! Let me know your thoughts, much love xox

Art link: archiveofourown DOT org/works/55548388/chapters/145527202

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Crowley?" Aziraphale called out, head turning left to right, pointed ears pricked, nose twitching, as he looked for the other troll, his mate. He could smell Crowley, had followed his scent to that spot, but he just couldn't see him anywhere, "Crowley, dear, where are you?"

The heavy thud of something falling and hitting the ground sounded from just behind him, making him jump, his long, furred tail whipping up in fright. A few birds squawked, and there was a rustle in the nearby bush, it seemed that Aziraphale wasn't the only one who was startled.

"You rang, Angel?" a familiar voice queried.

"Oh! Good gracious!" Aziraphale spun around to face Crowley, who must have landed on his feet given that he seemed unharmed, "There you are...I-what were you doing in the tree?"

Crowley stepped closer, at the same time his hands found Aziraphale's hips, pulling him in, "Just relaxing, you don't ever climb trees, and hang about in them?" he asked, kissing Aziraphale's cheek.

With a quick glance to the nearest tree, the one that Crowley had likely dropped out of, Aziraphale said, "Er, no, I can't say that I do."

"You've lived here for over two hundred years, and never climbed a tree?" Crowley reiterated incredulously, as his tail sought out Aziraphale's, twining them together until their reddish brown, and creamy white tufts met, "Why not?"

A softness spread across his face at the gesture, and Aziraphale leaned in, clawed hands on Crowley's biceps, pressing his lips to Crowley's for a sweet but chaste kiss before answering the question, "I, um, I suppose it just never occurred to me to do so, I have never really desired to leave the ground in that manner."

"Why don't you give it a go with me?" Crowley suggested with a hint of excitement.

Aziraphale looked hesitantly back up at the tall tree, "Oh, I-I don't think that is necessary."

Crowley raised one eyebrow, "You can't be scared of heights?"

"No, no, it's just...what if I fall out?"

"Just use your tail like a safety rope, hold on to a branch with it, you'll be fine, I've been climbing the trees for the past few months, and I haven't fallen once," Crowley informed him, which Aziraphale was sure was supposed to be reassuring.

It was not, and his mate could obviously see it on his face.

"C'mon, Aziraphale, trust me, you'll enjoy it, and if you don't then you can get down, and I'll never make you climb another tree," Crowley bargained, he must have really wanted Aziraphale to do it.

Chewing his bottom lip, Aziraphale glanced at the tree once more, then rolled his eyes before letting out a defeated sigh, "Oh, alright then," he finally agreed, caving in quickly to the whims of his mate.

"Yes! You won't be disappointed, Angel, I guarantee it," Crowley assured him enthusiastically, "this way!" he announced, pulling away from Aziraphale, untangling their tails as he did so, and catching one of Aziraphale's hands in his own.

"Wait, we aren't climbing this one?" Aziraphale inquired, gesturing to the tree nearest to them, but otherwise not moving.

"Nah, I know a better tree that will be far easier for you to climb."

With a fleeting glance at the tree Crowley had jumped from, Aziraphale allowed himself to be tugged along under the shade of the canopy. They walked for a few minutes, hand in hand over grass and earth, and then Crowley stopped at a frankly ginormous tree with branches sticking out every which way.

"This one?!" Aziraphale exclaimed, eyes widening as the daunting thought of climbing such a monstrosity struck his nerves.

Crowley nodded, "Yeah, this one is perfect for a first time tree climber like you," he declared, patting the thick bark on the trunk, and then stepping back up to Aziraphale.

"But-but...it's so big," Aziraphale gulped.

"Yeah, but you don't have to go all the way up. I chose this one because it has a ton of branches, which makes it easier to climb, it's almost like a staircase."

"I see..." it was still intimidating.

Crowley's smile dropped to a frown then, and Aziraphale couldn't help but swoon over the way his bottom elongated canines curled right up over his upper lip toward his nose.

"I'm not gonna make you do it if you really don't want to, love," Crowley sighed, losing some of the zest from his voice, "but I would like it if you gave it a go. It'd be nice to hang about in the trees together sometimes, and you can even bring your books up and read, and it's good to try new things every now and then."

"I said that I would, and I will," Aziraphale conceded, not wanting to disappoint the light of his life. However, he wasn't entirely certain how to go about climbing a tree, "Um, do you think that you could you show me how first though, please?"

"Of course!" Crowley brightened, and skipped gracefully over the grassy earth right up to the huge trunk, tail bouncing behind him, "Now, watch where I put my hands and feet..." he instructed.

As Crowley set about the task of climbing to the first branch, doing it slowly, presumably so that Aziraphale could take note of how he did so, Aziraphale might have gotten slightly distracted. Oh, he was watching Crowley, that wasn't the problem, there wasn't much in the world that could divert his gaze from the fine creature before him, no, the problem was that he got distracted by Crowley's muscles tensing in places like his biceps, thighs, back, and buttocks. By the time he'd pulled himself out of his trance, and pried his teeth from his lips, Crowley was already on the first branch, and Aziraphale hadn't learned a damn thing.

"Now you try..." Crowley invited, balancing on the middle of the thick branch with both hands and feet, tail out behind him and swaying slightly to keep himself balanced.

Looking up at the tree, Aziraphale took a deep breath, alright, he could do it, he just had to try to follow what Crowley did. He gipped a piece of bark as high up as he could reach, and used his strength and tail to propel himself up, but as he did so the bark ripped off of the tree, and he felt his stomach drop as he slipped the few inches back to the ground.

"Oh, Crowley, I don't know about this," he fretted, wringing his hands in front of his stomach.

"You can do it, Angel," Crowley encouraged, "...see that little branch stump there, hold that instead of the bark, it'll be sturdier."

Aziraphale did as instructed, hand clutching the branch stump, and pushed himself off of the ground again. That time he was able to keep his footing on the trunk, toe claws helping him to cling onto the rough bark.

"Alright, good, now find your next point to grab."

Aziraphale looked about but wasn't sure what else to hold onto, "I-I don't know, Crowley."

"It's alright, here, grab my hand, I'll help pull you up, but you still gotta use your feet," Crowley told him as he moved back towards Aziraphale along the branch.

Coiling his tail right around the thick wood in three loops, Crowley leaned down and offered Aziraphale his hand with an encouraging smile. Taking the familiar appendage in his own, Aziraphale walked his feet up the trunk and managed to make it onto the same branch as Crowley, immediately wrapping his tail around it just like Crowley had to help him.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Aziraphale made a non-committal noise as he looked down at the ground a few feet below.

"Do you want to get down?" Crowley asked in that tone of voice that said that he was a bit disappointed but was attemping not to let it show.

"No, darling, it's alright," Aziraphale shook his head, trying to be braver than he felt.

"Do-do you want to try a couple more branches?" Crowley then asked, sounding more hopeful that time.

"Erm..." he glanced up at the spiral of branches sticking out akimbo, similar to how his mate lazed about with his long limbs and tail.

Crowley reached out, laying his hand over Aziraphale's, "It's okay if you don't want to."

Finding courage, Aziraphale unstuck his claws from the wood where he'd dug them in, and very carefully stood up, clutching Crowley's hand, "Let's do the next one," he announced, eyes on his feet.

When he glanced at Crowley, there was a lopsided grin on his mate's face, and that made it worth the pounding in his chest as his heart thumped at the thought of going higher. Crowley made him go first that time, guiding Aziraphale's feet with his hands, to help him climb better. Upon reaching the next branch, he immediately coiled his tail around that one too, keeping low to maintain his centre of gravity.

"Another one?" Crowley queried moments after arriving on the same branch.

Feeling braver, Aziraphale agreed after only a moment of hesitation, nodding as he made to stand back up. They climbed three more branches in fact, and by the last one Aziraphale thought that he might actually be getting the hang of it.

"Yes, perfect. This is a good sturdy one to lay about on," Crowley decreed when he reached the next one.

Aziraphale followed him up, only a little less gracefully than his mate, and then made the mistake of looking directly down, "Oh, gosh, we are quite high up, aren't we?" his tail reflexively coiled around the thick branch that he stood on, toes curling as he dug them into the bark.

"Hey, look at me..." Crowley instructed, hands gripping Aziraphale's while his tail tuft wiggled under Aziraphale's chin making him raise his head. When blue eyes met amber ones, Crowley smiled, "You're doing so well, Angel, just try not to look straight down until you gain more confidence, it can be a bit daunting."

Aziraphale swallowed thickly before taking a deep, calming breath, "No kidding, dear."

"Sorry, probably shoulda mentioned that before," Crowley said sheepishly.

"It's quite alright, we're here now, and..."

"And?" Crowley prompted anxiously.

"I don't mind it actually," he admitted. Glancing around at their eye level surroundings, he spotted a bird building a nest in an adjacent tree, and a smile immediately bloomed into life on his face at the sight, "you're right, darling, it is rather nice up here. It gives a lovely perspective of the forest that I've never seen before."

"I knew you'd enjoy it, just had to get you up here," Crowley grinned triumphantly, "come sit down."

The branch split in two not far along, one part continued out horizontally, while the other had forked vertically. That was where Crowley sat himself with ease, immediately looking comfortably relaxed as he lounged against the vertical branch, one leg dangling leisurely off the side. It took Aziraphale a few attempts to figure out how to sit without feeling like he was going to fall off in the event of a slight breeze however. It was Crowley that pointed out the thinner branch sprouting out below their feet from the one that they were sitting on, which turned out to be the perfect foot rest, and made Aziraphale feel more sturdy sitting with his legs hanging over the edge. He had still wrapped his tail around the thicker branch for extra security though.

"You know, for someone who had never even set foot in a forest not long along, you've acclimated quite well, darling," Aziraphale complimented, able to truly admire Crowley's tree climbing prowess now that they'd stopped moving, and his heart was nearing it's regular rate again.

A little bit of pink adorned Crowley's sharp cheekbones, accompanied by a shy smile as he gazed at Aziraphale through his dark lashes, "Well, I have a great teacher, and a lot of reasons to learn all I can, besides, I discovered that climbing trees is fun, and it's something that I can do to burn off energy while you're reading."

Aziraphale bashfully smiled back, "I only want you to be happy here, my dear."

"I am, believe me, I've never been happier in my life," Crowley told him, seeming sincere.

"Well, that's good to hear," Aziraphale nodded, followed by a contented sigh. That was all that he had hoped for when Crowley had moved in with him; that his mate would be just as happy living in the forest as Aziraphale was. Thankfully it seemed that he was, they both were.

"You can unwrap your tail now, you know, you're not going to fall…" Crowley pointed out then, his own tail swaying slow and rhythmic in the open air below him.

"Er…" he wasn't sure that he felt that secure.

Crowley huffed a laugh, "Alright, I get it…" then he brought his own tail up, snaking it over the thinner branch under them, "here, hold on to me instead, I'll be your lifeline, sweetheart."

He'd had no intention of unfurling his tail from the tree until he saw the earnest expression on Crowley's face, the honest affection and imploring look in his honeyed eyes. As they stared into each other's eyes lovingly, birds chirping, leaves rustling gently around them, Aziraphale slowly uncoiled his tail and let go of the branch. He let it drop down behind him, and then looped it back up to meet Crowley's tail on the smaller branch. Without waiting, Crowley twisted an entire third of his long tail around Aziraphale's securely.

"I've got you, you're safe," Crowley assured him sweetly, their gazes still locked together.

Those words transcended that moment, that situation, and Aziraphale knew it, he trusted Crowley implicitly, if he didn't he wouldn't have been up a tree, terrifyingly far from the ground at his mate's request.

Putting one clawed hand on the bark in front of him, Crowley gradually leaned in toward Aziraphale, who met him a little to his side of the middle, and joined their lips. Crowley kissed him with a tender passion that made his heart sing, and his whole body melt. Gosh, he would never tire of the way Crowley kissed him, or looked at him, or made love to him, he would never tire of Crowley in general, it was impossible.

"I love you," Aziraphale murmured as Crowley broke the kiss by sitting back again.

"Love you too, Aziraphale," the smile tugging his lips up was soft and endearing.

His tail tuft bumped Aziraphale's, so he bumped Crowley's in return, and they locked eyes again as their tails gently rubbed against each other, still coiled tightly together. Aziraphale could stare at the love of his life all day, he was the most stunning being that Aziraphale had ever laid eyes on, even when he was human. Although, he had to admit, that he really did have an extra jolt of thrill run down his spine, an extra beat in his heart, an extra pep in his step, when their tails joined like that. It felt like peak romance, an intimacy that only they could share, and it made him giddy with emotions, with love.

"You know, I was thinking…" Aziraphale started, hands fidgeting in his lap, "the flowers will be blooming in abundance again soon, and I rather think that they would look beautiful dotted through your lovely locks."

"That so?" Crowley smirked, running his nails through the curtain of said long, auburn tresses, all the way down to where they ended level with his nips.

"If you would allow me to thread them into your hair that is, you know that I adore how long it's gotten, it suits you," Aziraphale babbled and swooned, "you're so handsome."

Crowley had the most adoring look in his eyes as he said with a mix of cheek and mirth, "Mhm, you just like playing with it."

Eyes flicking down then back up, a shy smile tugging on his lips, Aziraphale confessed, "Well, yes, that is true, but it was also true when it was much shorter too."

"I know, that's why I grew it out though, for you," Crowley informed him, brushing his knuckles lightly across Aziraphale's cheek.

He knew his cheeks were pink from the little grin on Crowley's face, "For me?"

"Yeah, so you'd have more to touch, and tug, and trail your fingers through. I only meant to grow it out a little bit, but it grew on me," Aziraphale rolled his eyes at his mate's terrible pun, "so I just let it go. I gotta say, I've never had long hair before, but I really like it."

"As long as you like it, that's what matters, darling, I'll still love burying my fingers in your hair no matter the length," Aziraphale assured him, demonstrating his words by reaching out to touch Crowley's auburn locks.

Crowley leaned in toward him, hair spilling down the side of his face like a glorious red curtain, and Aziraphale tangled his fingers in it before gripping the auburn tresses tight enough to drag Crowley into another kiss. That one was a little more heated than the last, their tongues flicking each other, teasing, inviting, daring.

Meanwhile his other hand rose up too, but not to play with his mate's hair, instead it found one of Crowley's lengthy, black horns, and used that to keep him exactly where he wanted him. The hand in Crowley's hair travelled up to the side of his face, thumb sliding along the length of his double pointed ear. It continued going as they kissed, until his whole hand was buried deep in red silk, and he was keeping their mouths together with the press of his palm on the back of Crowley's skull. Their tails rubbed against each other, tightening their coils occasionally as they kissed, and kissed, nothing else in their minds but each other.

When Crowley let out a whine Aziraphale pulled away, releasing his grip and bringing his hands back to his lap. Amber eyes stared at him, wide and a little wild, his breathing was slightly laboured, and Aziraphale could see the way that his mate's body was showing it's interest. There were flames flickering low in his belly too if he were honest, Crowley just had a way of igniting desire in him with the simplest, slightest thing. He certainly wouldn't say no to a little late afternoon, pre-dinner hanky panky, but he definitely was not going to attempt it while several branches up in a tree.

"So, I have two questions…"

Crowley's tongue slipped out between his lips, wetting the bottom one, and then curling over one of his lower canines, "Go on."

Aziraphale felt desire spike through his core, and he had to clear his throat before speaking, "Since I've tried something new, does this mean I can convince you to try grubs now?"

Crowley made a face, and shook his head, "Not a fucking chance, Angel, try again in a few decades, yeah?"

Aziraphale sighed exaggeratedly, "Worth a shot."

"Mhmm," Crowley chuckled fondly. "Alright, what's your other question?"

"Oh, yes, erm…" he gave Crowley a quick but deliberate once over with his eyes, then stuck his hand out and pointed one nail toward the ground, "how exactly do we get back down?"