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Harry felt like he was invisible. He walked slowly, making his way through the crowd of mingling royal guests and not one person acknowledged his existence. They just grabbed glasses of Champagne from his tray putting their empty ones on it in return as though he were a moving table, not a human being.
He hadn’t expected much from them, knew full well the upper classes wouldn’t treat him well given his lowly status, but he’d at least thought he’d be spoken to, perhaps even sneered at. It wasn’t like he was expecting a thank you or anything, just a nod or a look, something that confirmed he was in fact there. He was starting to go insane.
He returned to the kitchen with a tray of empty glasses and a heavy sigh. “You okay?” Gil called from the sink where he was washing dishes. Harry grunted, placing the tray down for the glasses to be cleaned. “These royal douches really do live in their own fucking world.” He muttered leaning his back against the counter.
“What did they say?” The long-haired lad asked neutrally.
“Not a damn thing. I might as well not exist.” Gil hummed thoughtfully as he contemplated a grease stein.
“Well, at least they’re not insulting us for where we come from.” Harry just huffed in response.
“Look. We only have to do three more jobs, then we’re free.” Gil reminded him, ever the optimist.
“I know, I know.” Harry sighed. “Doesn’t make this shit any more tolerable though.”
Before Gil could respond the kitchen door was swinging open and the head of the household staff, Lumiere, was stalking in. “What are you doing in here?” He demanded as his eyes fell on Harry.
“Just grabbing a fresh refreshment tray, Sir,” Harry said through gritted teeth. Lumiere sent him an unimpressed look.
“Well, hurry up and get back out there.” Harry barely managed to bite his tongue on a retort.
He headed back out into the main ballroom and began circling the crowd once more. At least he wasn’t working with the food trays today. That was significantly worse since you had to not only explain whatever fancy little snack you had at any given moment but you had to actually talk to people, offer it to them. People rarely wanted to eat and usually glared at you for interrupting their conversation. At least with booze people just took what they wanted as you went.
There was the sound of cutlery against glass, immediately calling for silence in its invasive trills. Fairy Godmother was stood up on a platform in a pale blue gown with her ridiculous politician's smile. How no one else saw the fakeness was beyond Harry.
Everyone turned to face her, instantly caught up in the pageantry. “And now Their Royal Majesties King Adam and Queen Belle will take the floor for the first dance of the evening.” Oh, joy.
Everyone immediately flocked to the dance floor, standing around the perimeter all desperate to get a glimpse at the royal couple as they performed an incredibly complicated-looking dance. Harry rolled his eyes and began to weave his way through, doing his best to find the gaps in the crush.
He’d been doing pretty well until he felt a sudden pressure against his back, forcing him forward. He released a slight yelp and desperately tried to steady himself, but it was too late. There was a loud smash as the glasses hit the floor seconds before he did, breaking into thousands of tiny little pieces. Fuck! He was definitely going to pay for this.
He did his best not to glance up at the crowd of whispering spectators all around him, no doubt talking about his incompetence. Of course, it was completely all his fault, no way could it ever be down to someone else. The upper classes were never to blame for anything.
“I am so sorry!” A voice cried. It was sweet like honey, warm and rich and inviting. Harry swallowed as he continued gathering the glass pieces up onto the tray. “My fault, Sir.” He said, because what else was he supposed to say?
“No, really, it was mine.” The voice sounded genuinely sorry and seconds later there was a second pair of hands picking up glass. Soft, delicate hands with a large signet ring that had clearly never worked a day in their life. Harry was astounded. He finally glanced up and his eyes widened in panic when he saw who it was. Prince Benjamin. Oh fuck.
“Really Your Highness, there’s no need. I can do it.” Prince Benjamin shrugged dismissively.
“It’s really no bother. It was my fault and it’ll get done quicker with two pairs of hands.” How in the hell was Harry meant to argue with that?
There was a rush of feet and suddenly Lumiere was standing above them with one of the other servers who had a dustpan and brush and several towels slung over her shoulder. “I might have known.” He muttered as he glared down at Harry.
“You’re Highness, please, you’ll hurt yourself. We can handle this.” The prince looked up with a warm smile.
“It’s alright, Lumiere, really. It was my fault, I don’t mind helping.” Lumiere sent him a mildly patronising smile.
“Please, Your Highness. It is our job after all.”
The prince grudgingly got to his feet and stepped back as the other server dropped down opposite Harry and began mopping up the spilt champagne as he grabbed the dustpan and brush and began cleaning up the smaller glass shards that he daredn’t try to get with his fingers.
Once the mess was gone they were both on their feet and a furious Lumiere was ushering them into the kitchen. “Thank you, Ginny.” He muttered before turning his rage on Harry.
“What the devil was that?!” Harry sighed.
“It was an accident. He bumped into me and knocked me over.” Lumiere’s eyes bulged with rage.
“Are you suggesting that I blame the Prince for this?” The question felt like a trap, there was no way to actually answer it without being wrong.
“I’m just telling you what happened.” He said instead. It did nothing to ease the old man's rage.
“I will be docking your wages to pay for those glasses.” He snapped. Harry sighed and nodded. He’d anticipated as much. “You may leave, Mr Hook. We will no longer be requiring your service.” Harry blinked in disbelief.
“Are you… you can’t fire me!” Lumiere sent him a self-satisfied smile.
“I just did. Good evening, Mr Hook.” He spun around on his heels and headed back out into the ballroom leaving Harry standing there in shock.
“Mother fucker!” He growled, kicking at the counter beside him.
“Harry, I’m so sorry,” Gil said, gripping his shoulder with a soapy hand.
“It’s not fair! It wasn’t even my fault!” Stupid fucking Prince!
“It’ll be okay,” Gil promised, sending him a soothing smile. “We’ll figure it out, we always do.” Harry gave a resigned nod.
“I guess I’ll see you back at the ship.” He muttered before heading out the back door.
As he walked around and reached the front of the castle he couldn’t help but release a frustrated growl, ripping off the blue waistcoat he was forced to wear and hurling it onto the floor. “Fuckers,” he muttered, glaring as he loosened the matching tie.
“Are you okay?” Harry jumped spinning around. He was very surprised to find the Prince lounging on the castle steps.
“Well, I got docked over half my wages and they fired me so no, not really.” He snapped. Prince Benjamin’s eyes widened and he was immediately on his feet and on his way down the steps towards Harry.
“I am so sorry! That’s completely unfair when it was entirely my fault. I’ll talk to Lumiere; explain what happened.” Harry rolled his eyes.
“Nae, you’re alright. He’s been looking for an excuse to get rid of me for ages. He can stuff his shitty job.” Prince Benjamin looked genuinely surprised by the statement. “At least let me reimburse you what they took for the glasses.” Harry rolled his eyes. Of course, he wanted to ease his guilt by buying him off. “I don’t need your charity.” Harry bit back.
“What will you do now?” He asked, undeterred by Harry’s attitude. Harry gave a shrug.
“I’ll figure something out.” He muttered.
As much as he loathed the idea, he could always go work at Sirens, the Isle’s notorious strip club. Uma’s aunt, Morgana, owned the place and she was forever telling him how much money he could make there. How perfect he was for the place. How the clientele always favoured a pretty face. It was only for a few more months anyway. It didn’t need to be a big deal.
“Please, you must let me help you in some way. It’s not right for you to be punished for this when it was my fault.” Harry just gave a shrug.
“Life’s unfair when you’re an Isle rat with no prospects, Your Highness.”
The Prince stared at him in wide-eyed shock for a moment and Harry couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug about surprising him.
“You’re from the Isle?” Harry hummed.
“Aye, I would have thought that much was obvious.” Even in the monkey suit, he stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the Auradon natives.
“But you work in the castle?”
“Worked.” Harry couldn’t help but correct. Prince Benjamin blushed.
“Right.” He agreed. “But why?” Harry gave a shrug.
“Gotta pay the bills someway until my apprenticeship finishes and I get an actual wage.” The Prince’s eyes seemed to spark at that.
“What’s your apprenticeship?” He asked. Harry couldn’t deny he was a little taken aback by his interest.
“Mechanic,” he said. “Darling Motors down on Fairy Boulevard.” The Prince nodded enthusiastically.
“Best mechanic’s in Auradon.” Harry simply hummed in response.
After a moment’s silence, Harry indicated towards the gates with his thumb. “I should get going. I don’t want to get accused of loitering too.” The Prince’s eyes softened apologetically and Harry spun on his heels in an attempt to get out of there before the Prince could offer to pay him again.
“At least let me take you to dinner.” Harry spun back around sharply to face him.
“Excuse me?”
Harry had heard the rumours that the Prince preferred the company of men to women, but he’d never paid them any mind. The city was filled with nonsense rumours designed to ruin reputations and incite scandal, they were seldom ever true.
Besides it wasn’t like it even mattered. The royal family were all about tradition and image, they would never allow the future King to tie himself to another man even if it did make him happy. It simply wasn’t done.
The Prince blushed an adorable shade of pink. “Well, since you won’t allow me to talk to Lumiere about your job and are unwilling to accept my offer to reimburse your lost earnings, I think an apology dinner is the least I can do.” Harry debated saying no just to see what the Prince would offer him next, but he also couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the guy. Besides, who was he to turn down a free meal?
“Alright,” he agreed. “But it better be somewhere fancy.” The Prince’s face lit up with excitement.
“Great. How’s Friday for you?” Harry had to try not to laugh at the sudden enthusiasm.
“Friday’s good. I finish at six.”
“Perfect. I’ll pick you up from the garage.”
Harry turned to go before pausing as something occurred to him. “The name’s Harry, by the way.” The Prince blushed hard, his skin turning red under his mop of brown hair. “Ben.” Harry decided not to mention the fact that he already knew that. It was refreshing to see a member of the nobility not just assume everyone knew who they were. “I’ll see you on Friday, Ben.”