Chapter Text
The sound of nervous footsteps echoes throughout the room. Today was the second meeting between Prince Ivan and himself, and after their first meeting yesterday,Till wasn't sure how it would go today. He was mumbling as he walked, what if Ivan never starts to like him? Did Ivan already know about Till not wanting to be a woman? Did Ivan fully hate him? He was finally snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his door all the way across the room creak open, Mizi was here to bring him down. Thankfully this meeting was more casual, being lunch in the castle garden, so Till was able to wear a cute skirt and shirt combo. He again didn't mind wearing more feminine clothes like this, but the dress he had to wear yesterday was too form fitting for his liking. It showed certain parts of himself that he wished to hide, particularly his chest. This time the shirt was more loose fitting, making his chest less obvious.
As he walked behind Mizi, he started to get those thoughts again. What if he told Ivan about being trans and Ivan hurts him? No no no Ivan doesn't seem like the type of guy to do that. Mizi does a sudden 180 turn to look at Till, her long pink hair whipping around her, and Till freezes up.
“I can practically taste your anxiety Till! Prince Ivan seems really nice, just a little.. Blunt! It will be okay!!” Mizi grabs Till's hand and forces him to walk faster. “Plus you look really cute in your clothes!!” Till felt like he was going to explode, he should've gotten over his crush on Mizi by now, but he still feels fluttery around her sometimes. Mizi notices this pretty quickly because when Till gets flustered, his whole face turns red, so she lets go of his hand.
When they finally arrive at the garden, Prince Ivan is waiting in the gazebo that is in the center of the garden. The sky was cloudy and looked like it would rain. Tills anxiety was multiplied by a hundred. Seeing him again made every thought from before echo through his head. Mizi went to Till's side, her eyes soft as she gave him a gentle nudge with her palm, making him walk towards the stairs. Till couldn't look up, he stares down at the baby blue flowers circling the gazebo as he walks up. Till tries to talk when Ivan looks at him but nothing comes out, so Mizi speaks up instead.
“Hello Prince Ivan! Let me know if you and the Princess need anything!” Mizi cringes internally calling Till that, and Till looks especially sad about it.
Ivan smiles with his little snaggletooth standing out against the rest of his perfectly straight and white teeth, it’s a little off putting, almost uncanny but not scary. It doesn’t look right on the Prince. “Thank you, Mizi” He focuses his gaze onto Till. “Did you rest well, Princess?”
“I guess…” Till trails off, as Mizi pulls out the chair for him to sit in. He sits down stiffly, staring at the round white garden table in front of him. There was a sheer tablecloth that adorned the white table, which only served as a reminder of the role Till was trapped in.
Ivan clears his throat and turns to look at Mizi. “Would you mind getting us something light to eat?” Mizi nods and quickly walks away back towards the castle. Now there is only silence. Till was picking at the skin near his thumb nail. “If you keep doing that you’re going to damage your skin” Ivan spoke, slicing through the short moment of awkwardness. .
“Does that really matter?” Till mumbled, making Ivan frown.
“Of course it does” Ivan gently grabs ahold of Tills hand. “You don't deserve to be hurting” The Prince says, staring into Till’s now wide eyes. His face feels like it's burning and he feels his heart rate increase ever so slightly. Till was about to speak, but Mizi came back with a tray of food. Till's heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. He takes his hand back and looks down at the table again. He can’t believe Mizi still affects him like this… Mizi was the reason, right?
Till felt embarrassed that he was acting like this, he’s sure that both Ivan and Mizi were staring at him. He can feel the heat on his face and on his back he feels the warmth of the sun being revealed by the moving clouds. He needs to leave, unless he wants to have Ivan look down on him even more.
Till abruptly stood up.”I-I’ll be right back.” He walks away, taking the stairs two at the time. He is desperate to get out of there. Even though Mizi just got back.
“Uh… may I ask what happened, Prince Ivan?” Mizi looked at Ivan, confusion swimming in her chartreuse eyes.
“I think… I made her uncomfortable.” The Prince looks down at the wooden floor of the gazebo. “I meant to be comforting when I grabbed her hand.”
Mizi laughs a little at that. “No no I’m sure he wasn't uncomfortable, you probably just shocked him! I know that face he makes and-” She finally realizes what she has been saying.
“He?” Ivan tilts his head as he asks that. Mizi’s eyes widened’.
“Please please please don't tell him that I said that! He specifically asked me not to tell you but i cant keep it in anymore! Till feels way more comfortable when referred to as a man, but obviously he can't because his father would probably kill him! Please don’t tell him!” She hurriedly spoke, her voice loud. “And please don’t hurt him because of it…” She quiets down, and Ivan stays quiet for a while, not knowing what to say.
After a few minutes he finally speaks. “I promise I won't say anything about this, and I would never want to hurt Till because of it.”