Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  "Prince Cameron, please say hello to the new candidate, his name is J-"

  "I can introduce myself." The object of attention interrupted boldly, taking a step for himself. "My name is Joshua Allen-" A swat to the head startled him.

  "You are without a last name for as long as you are under custody as a candidate for consortship, watch your tongue." The attendant snapped at him.

  The brunette didn't respond but rolled his eyes to where the chaparone couldn't see them.

  Though the prince could. And he was intrigued to say the least.

  The servant finally left, leaving the two alone. 

  The prince looked carelessly at the omega that had been practically dropped at his door, stepping aside to let him in his room. To which the brunette walked in, not even sparing the prince another glance. 'Does this guy have a deathwish?' Cam thought as he closed the door, watching the new face look around the room. "You're suddenly quiet, just before you looked ready to have your tongue cut out."

  "All the more reason to use ones tongue when there are people of influence constantly threatening it. Better to use it while I can."

  "There's that big mouth. I'm surprised you survived the training it takes to get this far. Sure you're prettier than most, but that shit only goes so far."

  Josh shot him a side-eyed glare. "Your Highness, I just happen to be both expressive and fluent, not stupid. And it's not that hard to stay alive in this place with one of the highest aptitude scores and a prince that goes through concubines like tissue. You clearly don't want a mate."

  "That's rich coming from the brat who signed up."

  "You'd be right if I even did of my own accord. I'm here because I signed to be taken in as a sage pupil, but because of my age and.. other things,, they required that I get sent as a crown potential until I make it out of the cycle, in which case, they'll accept me."

  The dirty blonde looked confused at the information. "Wait.. So they sent me.. Why the hell would they send me someone applying for a fucking job??" He approached the shorter. 

  The movement startled Josh, making him attempt steps backwards. "!! Dude-! I don't know! Probably the same reason they're still sending a disinterested prince omega after omega!" He felt his back hit the wall, cursing under his breath.

  Fitz, now with the subject of his curiosity flush against a wall, didnt hesitate to grab one of his arms. "Hold still." He confidentially slipped a finger in the hemline of Joshua's  pants, yanking an edge half-way down his thigh. He felt a hand push against his chest but ignored it. "I said to hold fucking still."  He stared at the area of pale skin, spotting the brand they put on every concubine that entered the palace; normally placed on the thigh after the connection was made that brands placed on the torso and belly caused problems with pregnancy and childbirth later on.

  'AG00

  Grade SS'

  Josh moved his free hand to swat away at the area of his body that had the princes attention. Which seemed to work as the alpha released both his arm and pants, stepping back as Josh scrambled to fix himself.

  "That grade, it's high as hell, is it safe to say the reason you're not a triple is your mouth?"

  "..Not at all, the only reason I'm not a triple S is because I'm not female. Male omegas have a slightly higher chance of misconception.."

  "Uh huh.. And the rest of those numbers.. How old are you?"

  ".. I'll be twenty in a few months."

  Fitz did a double take. "..You're a fucking teenager?? They sent me a fucking teenager!?"

  Ripping his arm out of the dirty-blonde's  grip, Josh looked incredulous. "Don't even start! I'm nineteen!"

  "You're a fucking teen, Josh, I'm four years your senior."

  "Well you don't fucking act like it, besides, I don't see why we're even arguing! I can just stay out of your way for a week, they'll see I failed, and we'll never even have to look at each other again!" He flopped himself onto a sofa.

  Cam stared at the omega he'd just been handed. He wasn't sure if this was supposed to be some sort of joke. Regardless of if it was, he never hesitated to play with his food. "..It's not like it'd be hard to ignore your short ass anyway."

  That earned an eyebrow raise. "You must ignore a lot of people then, Your Highness; seeing as I am by continental standards, average height. You're just way too fucking tall, asshole."

  This had to be a joke. The king-to-be was at a loss. "Did you just..?? I never thought I'd hear the phrase 'Your Highness' and 'asshole' used in the same sentence, directed at the same person, let alone myself?"

  "What happened to ignoring me?"

  "I don't know why you're still trying to piss me off, you do realize me temporarily marking you would delay you from getting out of here?"

  "Why the fuck would you deliberately keep someone annoying around?"

  He paused, as if thinking. ".. Entertainment?"

  "You sound unsure."

  "Why the fuck are you questioning me? You're not my therapist, what would you do if I just decided to knock you up? Your little dream would be practically gone."

  "I've read the rules, prince. The carrier of the first pregnancy will be given an imperial title as the Crowned Consort your spouse, and I'd imagine you don't want whoever's sitting next to you at the throne to be pissed because of how they got there. Especially the carrier of your heir."

  "Fuck, you don't scare easily."

  "I feel I've already expressed I'm not stupid."

  "Well.. In regards to the whole heir and queening clause.." A quick movement and a yelp later, Cameron had lifted and practically thrown Josh into the soft comforter of the bed. "I've been known for self destructive tendencies."

  "!!" The brunette had been completely caught off guard, making his body stiffen up, hands shooting up to the taller's chest, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. That paired with the look the other had trained on him, Joshua's pale face had been flushed rose red. 

  "Lets have some fun~"

-:-:-:-

  'Was that what I said?'

  Fitz contemplated as the doctor cleaned the wound on the bridge of his nose before affixing a small peice of gauze to it, to prevent infection. The alcohol-based substance stung, but not as much as his nose hurt before the pain reliever.

  "Your Highness, you can't be injuring yourself during such a crucial period of time!"

  He knew the man was talking about the efforts to find him a mate. The entire operation was actually part of a deal; his father had been long ready to just retire, and would've handed him the throne when he turned 21, but held back because he knew his son well, he was wild when he wasn't on a leash. And his friends didn't help the case. So to prevent the palace from turning into a brothel upon his exit, he comprimised, promising that coronation proceedures would commence when Fitz had permanently marked someone as a mate. Otherwise, he would continue to hold the throne until he died. The real threat was if he died before Cameron turned 30, he would be chaparoned in his kingship until he officially marked someone, or until his 30th birthday. It was complete bullshit, and a fucking miserable case.

  "Yeah, I know." When he first got taken into the infirmary by the servant he had to call, he'd given the excuse that he'd accidentally run into one of his bedposts. And he wasn't questioned, as it was his somewhat typical behavior.

  It hadn't even been two hours since the new candidate showed up. It was going to be an interesting week.

Chapter Text

  Cameron groaned to himself outside the doors of his own bedroom. He told himself before that he could handle some brat that was all bark.

  But his one clearly had the ability to bite, and wasn't scared to either.

  Josh meanwhile, on the other side of the door was neatly setting up an escape method in case shit went south when the prince returned from what he could guess was the infirmary; judging by the gauze on the bridge of his nose.

  "Back already?"

  "I'd say I'm surprised you're not groveling on the floor for forgiveness right now.. but I'm really not!"

  The tired brunette rolled his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time. "You want an apology? Man maybe I hit you harder than I thought!" He feigned an expression of worry.

  "Christ you're vicious."

  It would be two days of a physical stalemate between the two before anything would happen, and a notice would arrive at the palace.

  Fitz lay on his bed, staring out one window, passively thinking about how his nose hurt much less.

  Josh was bored-ly sprawled on the sofa on the opposite side of the room, toying with a miniature grandfather clock Fitz swore he didn't care for when the air in the room was startled by a knock at the door. The brunette jumped slightly in his spot but didn't move, knowing Fitz would get it, instead raising an eyebrow at the scene as the prince paced over to the doors, before exiting through them.

  He returned making a bee-line for Josh, who had to stop himself from recoiling too obviously in distaste.

  "What was it?"

  "It was actually for you, some noble trying to see you who for some reason believed you were up for view. I just declined considering no one is even supposed to request the time of an active candidate."

  Josh was surprised just that the request was for him. "Did you get a good look at them?

  "It was only a servant that delivered the message, but I know the duke. Piker's his family name.. I don't know him personally too well, but when he's persistent he's more than a pain in the ass to deal with.. Especially with that brother-in-law of his in the royal cabinet."

  Josh's eyes widened at the name. He could only recall meeting one person with it. Granted he couldn't remember if they were from a duke's house, only the seething loathing he felt for them. ".. Piker rings a bell but it's faint; I don't know him either." He figured it was only a half-lie. He was sure the person he was thinking of was too young to be an established duke anyway. And he really just wanted to not be reminded of them anymore.

"Whatever, I'm going out today." The prince took steps along the wall to reach the closet, stepping in and out briefly to grab what looked like a cloak. "A new pub opened up in the central capital."

"So you're going out in public by yourself?"

"I have friends! Though something tells me you can not relate."

"Oh fuck off Mr. 'wahhh wahh my dad wont gimme the crown cause I'm too much of a himbo to settle!'" The brunette mocked, clearly amusing himself in the process.

Fitz laughed sarcastically, gathering the fabric of the clothing article into a rough ball-shape. "Uh-huh.. And just where did you get that from??"

  The teen set the clock contraption down. "Am I the only one that fucking reads the documents I'm giv-!" Josh was cut off by the impact of something with his face as he turned back to look at the prince. Throwing the fabric from over his head into his lap, he only felt his blood heat more at the sound of obnoxious laughter from the other and didn't hesitate to grab the clock again. "Fucking-" He launched the gadget at the heir.

The alpha naturally caught the object, one-handedly, with a shit-eating grin on his face. "That.. was hilarious."

  "Bastard." Josh threw himself back into the soft cushions of the sofa with a huff, toying inadvertently with the cloak he still had in his hands. "When the fuck are you leaving again? I'm getting excited at just the thought of your absence."

  Cameron hummed, glancing to the functioning clock model in his palm. "..Twelve minutes ago."

  "What-?"

  The doors burst open to a group of people, loudly making their way into the large room. "CAM!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN DUMBASS!!?"

  He returned the non-formality with a grin, energetically exchanging high fives and other displays of skinship. "Just babysitting another brat!"

  "And what the fuck happened to your face?"

  "Babysitting."

  The one named Mason threw a brief glance over Fitz's shoulder, right at Josh. "Is this him?" The man shorter than the prince approached the brunette, in a clear effort at intimidation. "Pretty~." He stopped short, about two feet from the omega, turning to Cameron. "Is he a candidate?"

  "Yeah." The tallest mused.

  Mason hummed "Do you like him so far?"

  "Fuck no."

  "All I needed to hear." He closed the distance in one stride, wasting no time in getting a handful of dark hair.

  Josh let out a yelp at the sudden action, flinching away as much as he could from the grip before he was forced to stand and slammed against the wall. "Dude-!" He was silent again at the feel of a rough grip on his jaw, framing his face and forcing eye-contact. Not knowing what to do with his hands in the scramble, he instinctively clung to the arm that felt the most intrusive.

    "You must be one fuckin defective omega, if you had the nerve to punch a damn prince..? God and as much joy as it'd bring me to return the favor to you, it feels like it'd be a waste of that pretty face you've got on ya.." He leaned in closer, seemingly examining Josh's features. He hummed again. "Y'know, my brother's lookin for a new omega. And I don't like bein tied down, but he's not against sharing~"

  Josh's face twisted in disgust at the remark and only tried to shrink back further at noticing he was able to scent him better than he wished. Mason was certainly an alpha, he had a scent not too far off from an smoldering building; mixed with what was obviously alcohol. A whine bubbled in his throat instinctively. The guy on him was a wild card, and didn't look like it was an act. Just before Josh could contemplate trying to fight back and risk his own wellbeing further, he felt the contact and weight suddenly lift off of him.

  "Calm the fuck down, Mason, Christ's sake." It was Fitz. He spoke with an iron grip on his friend's collar like a pup's scruff, letting the man drop onto the floor. "And I wouldn't suggest trying to stick your dick in this one; like you said, he's odd." He shot a communicative glance at the brunette who seemed to cling to the wall behind him, standing, alert in the same spot.

  He was helping him.

  Josh received the intent and didn't hesitate to retract back into his previous spot on the couch, as far from the group as he could. He gauged he should probably just avoid drawing attention.

  Fitz must've figured the same thing. "So where are we off today?" He addressed his group with the hidden intention of changing the subject, guiding them nearer to the way they came in.

  "You already know we're checking out that new drinking spot, but when we first walked in the palace, there was some sort of event being hosted in the north wing."

  "What? Here?" He pointed to the floor, implying the palace.

  "You don't even know about it?"

  "Like I ever leave this room without my boys!" They started moving out of the doors together, nearly leaving Josh alone before Cam spoke curtly to him. "Do not get spotted outside this room." He grabbed a deep maroon cloak off a coat hanger before letting the door shut, and the large room was thrown into silence at the absence of the rowdy group.

  Josh let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding in. Before he could think up a way to undermine the last command that left Fitz's mouth, he remembered the fabric that was still being massaged through his fingers and it hit him.

'..Why would he take out a cloak if he had one prepared already..??'  Then he recalled the prince's exact words.

  "Don't get spotted."