"Are you going to want your title back?" Xavier asked one day, glancing up from his book as Jay headed for the door, "From Aziz I mean."
Jay paused, turning to stare back at his boyfriend, who was watching him with curious eyes.
"My title?" Jay asked, "What do you mean?"
"As the crowned prince," Xavier said, "You do know you're the first in line, right?"
"But isn't Aziz the crowned prince?" He asked, sitting across from Xavier, "Like he's the one taking over for the Sultana, right?"
"As of now yeah, but the title is yours Jay," He told him, "I'm sure Aziz wouldn't really fight you on it if you wanted it back."
"You think I could take Aziz's title?" Jay said, not exactly following, "I don't think I'd really want to take that from him, why would I want to do that?"
"I'm just curious," Xavier said with a shrug before shifting topics, "I mean from what I remember, the Sultana wanted his sister to take over. They didn't even consider Aziz."
"Seriously?" Jay asked, "Isn't he older than her?"
"Yeah, they never really though Aziz was 'stable' enough for the throne," Xavier said with a shrug, "I never really knew why they thought that, I mean the worst thing about Aziz is his opinion of himself, but I guess they just thought he wasn't fit for it."
Jay stared at him for a moment before speaking again.
"Should you be telling me this?" He asked, "It just seems like really private information."
"Not really," Xavier said, "I mean the whole kingdom kinda knows that Aziz was never the first choice. You should have heard the rumors that spread after he was sent to Auradon."
"Rumors?"
"You should probably go meet with him," Xavier hummed, turning back to his book, seemingly done with the conversation, "He gets all antsy when he's left alone for too long."
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"Do you want your title back?" Aziz asked suddenly, cutting through the comfortable silence that had formed in the room.
Jay stared at him for a moment, reading his brother's body language. It was clear he was nervous, of course he was. In less than half an hour, he was going to be telling his parents that their dead son was still alive, Jay didn't really blame him for his nerves being completely shot. The question did throw him off, though. He hadn't really thought about it since his conversation with Xavier.
"If you really want it back," Aziz started, fidgeting with the bedsheets, "You can have it, I won't fight you on that."
"And deal with all that stress?" Jay asked, remembering all the times Aziz had shown up to tourney practice completely exhausted from his studies the night before.
He knew it was stressful for him, and he knew the amount of pressure that was placed on him. He wasn't intentionally listening in, but he had overheard a few phone calls. He wasn't entirely sure what was being said, he didn't speak Arabic, and he wasn't entirely sure that it was his parents speaking on the other end, the voice never sounded like Aladdin or Jasmine. What he did know, however, was that the phone calls always ended in the prince close to tears or angry.
Did Aziz honestly expect him to voluntarily take all that pressure?
"It's yours," Aziz told him, not exactly meeting his eyes, "Rightfully I mean."
What Xavier had told him rang clear in his head.
'They didn't even consider Aziz.'
Of course, he looked so stressed about this topic. And why tightened his grip on the sheets ever so slightly when he spoke to Jay.
"Aziz, I don't want your title," Jay said, putting a hand on his brothers, "You don't have to worry about me taking it from you."
"But it's-"
He shushed him quickly, cutting him off.
"Aziz, listen to me," He said, "The title of prince is yours. You're the next in line, and I am not interested in taking it from you, alright?"
Aziz nodded, going back to fidgeting with the bedsheets.
"They're going to be here soon," Aziz mumbled, glancing at the door.
"Don't stress too much," Jay told him, "You'll do great, I know it."
No because you don't understand how hard it was not to delve too deep into Aziz's self-worth issues and never feeling like he's good enough despite his parents doing their best to make him feel loved because I'm saving all of that for Aziz's fic-