Chapter Text
Ren intertwined his arm in Frogues and led him throughout the kingdom with a smile adjourned on his face, Frogue looked up at Ren with wonder in his eyes. It was clear to him how much the king loved and adored his kingdom and it made his heart swell. However it didn’t escape his attention, the sadness in his eyes when he looked at the more destroyed parts of the kingdom, with how jolly Ren was it was hard to remember that the kingdom had escaped war a mere week ago. He wished he could take all the pain from Ren’s soul and give him nothing but love instead, he may be getting ahead of himself.
The pair idly chatted the entire tour, conversation coming naturally as if they had known each other for years. They agreed on almost everything, they laughed at each other's jokes and they seemed to understand each other, even after only knowing each other for a couple of hours. Frogue wished this could be the rest of his life, that he could spend the rest of his days at the king's side just watching him smile and laugh, if that became a reality he was sure he could die happy.
“And I believe that brings us to the end of our tour.” Ren said, as they stepped through the doors of the castle, his ears standing up excitedly as he smiled down at Frogue, a warm smile that made Frogue’s heart swell.
“Thank you Me Lord for the wonderful tour of your fine kingdom” Frogue replied paired with an overexaggerated curtsy and a charming grin. Ren laughed at him and his eyes seemed to light up at the praise to his kingdom, oh how Frogue wished Ren could be that fond of him.
“So how long do you plan on staying here?” Ren asked with hope in his eyes, his ears twitching nervously.
“However long you’ll have me,” Frogue paired with a wink before continuing “I don’t really have anywhere else to go so I’ll probably be sticking around a while” He said looking up at Ren to see if this was okay. “If that’s all right with you that is.” He quickly added with a sheepish smile, as a low croak escaped his mouth.
“More than alright with me” Ren replied sweetly looking down at Froguge with glee. “But I do have one question, if it is alright to ask”
“Of course your highness.”
“No need for formalities Dear Frogue” The king interjected before continuing. “But, how long have you been stuck like that, as a frog I mean?” He asked with genuine curiosity, not an ounce of judgement behind his eyes, only pure fondness.
“Bold of you to assume I wasn’t born this way” Frogue replied with practised defensiveness, he knew the king meant no harm he quite literally had wolf ears upon his head, but his mind wouldn’t let himself be fooled or let his guard down.
“You are riddled with magic, specifically curse magic. And from what I can tell you are no mage or witch. And I am a mage myself and I can practically feel the magic you are covered in.” Ren said simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he must have seen the look on Frogue's face and his eyes softened, he lifted a hand up to Frogue's cheek to caress it with his thumb, to hopefully ease his nerves. “There is no need to fret, my dear. As I’m sure you can see I am not exactly curse free myself” He added, pointing to his ears and twitching them. Easily slipping in the pet name as if it was the most natural thing to him.
“Me lord, if you don’t mind me asking how did you end up like that?”
“It must have been when I was just a boy. I was a fool, and ended up far too close to a witch's hut. I kicked my ball through the window, and as a blissfully unaware child I simply went straight up to the door not realising it was a witch's hut and asked for it back. And I thought everything was fine until that same eve, when pain bloomed across my entire body and in the morn the pain was over but I was left with these brand new appendages, and I must admit my life has never quite been the same since. Now, upon the full moon I become a beast, those are not the best nights for me. I'd rather not go into detail.”
“I’m sorry about that”
“No need to apologise, it is all in the past now. And I have learnt to live with this curse.” Ren said with a solemn smile, and he led Frogue towards the drawing room where he beckoned for him to sit on the couch. Ren continued forward and crouched in front of the fireplace, quickly starting up a fire to heat up the cold room before joining Frogue on the couch. “Now if you don't mind me asking, How did you end up cursed?”
Frogue shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he hated accounting this story but it seemed only fair after Ren had shared his previously. He couldn’t let the trust go one sided.
“It wasn’t that long ago, a few months ago maybe I’ve lost track honestly. But my rogue guild sent me upon a quest to retrieve this precious item from the forest near where I lived, yet little did I know this item was magical and belonged to the witch that roamed the forest. So, as the fool I was I eagerly accepted the quest and fulfilled it to the best of my capabilities. However, just as I was leaving I was caught and was forced to return the item, and just like you I thought I was fine but when I awoke in the morning I was much more slimy than before, but luckily for me it was painless. I think the rogue guild knew what they were sending me into but didn’t care, they just picked their most expendable member and sent them on their way, and that fool was decidedly me.” Frogue frowned down at his feet as he spoke, not bringing himself to make eye contact with the king beside him.
“I am sorry about all of that Frogue” Ren lifted a hand and placed it upon Frogue’s shoulder to comfort him. “I apologise, but this question has been burning on my tongue. The name Frogue seems almost too on the nose, especially with you being cursed, but I must ask, is Frogue truly your real name?”
Frogue paused for a moment, and thought about what he was going to say next. “No,” he mumbled, not really knowing how to continue. Ren just nodded and abruptly stood up dragging Frogue with him.
“Well! Whatever name you decide to go by, it has been an honor to meet you Frogue. You are truly one of the most wonderful people I've ever met.” Ren exclaimed with a blinding grin and grabbed Frogue by the shoulders and rubbed them gently in a comforting manner. Frogue couldn’t but smile back, looking up at Ren as if he were the only person to exist and mumbled a simple “Thank you”
But his words were cut off by a warm sensation on his lips. Ren was kissing him. He froze up for a moment completely and utterly shocked by the action, it felt like the sort of thing that would happen in fantasy, something beyond his wildest dreams. Except this was reality and when that finally dawned on him he immediately kissed back bringing up his arms to grab Ren’s waist to steady himself.
They kissed for what felt like an eternity, but also not long enough at the same time. They separated, breathing hard, staring into each other's eyes with wide smiles.
Then all of a sudden the wind picked up in the room and Frogue began to glow subtly.
“Ren, are you doing this?!” Frogue said in a panic.
“No No, this isn't me. I’m a fire mage.” Ren said with his hands up to show it was not him, as he circled Frogue trying to find a way to help.
POOF!
The wind immediately stopped and Frogue fell to the ground in a hump, limbs piled on top of each other, and Ren was immediately at his side fussing over him. And when Frogue sat up, still swaying slightly from the surge of magic that just hit him, he felt different, his tongue didn't feel as heavy in mouth, his head felt like it fit on his body and his skin felt dry not slimy as he has grown used to. He looked up to Ren eyes wide at the realisation.
And Ren looked down upon him eyes equally as wide. And before him sat a perfectly human Frogue, well almost perfectly human, his eyes were still dark spheres and slightly bigger than they should be and he had orange skin painted across his cheeks as if it were blush, Ren's worry almost instantly grew into a giant smile.
“FROGUE!! You're- You're human!”
Frogue still sat there in shock, but shock was almost instantly replaced with Ren's lips against his for the second time this evening. He immediately kissed back pouring all of his joy into the action, Ren was the only thing that he could focus on. The heat of his lips, the curl of his smile, the sound of his tail gently thumping against the ground, the way his hand grabbed his face. And as they pulled away the only thing he could focus on was the glint in Ren's eye as he looked at him with so much glee. The air was still and quiet but they didn’t need to speak to understand what the other was thinking or feeling at that moment. After a few moments Frogue broke the silence.
“Martyn.”
“Hm?”
“My name is Martyn.”
“A truly beautiful name.”
And with that they kissed again for the third time that evening. And wide smiles adjourned their faces.