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Grian stood next to the empty throne, his prince yet to be on it. The whole royal family was there minus him. Grian looked down at everyone else trying to spot him.
The royal ball was in full swing and Grian couldn’t be happier he wasn’t in the actual party. Prince Scar always liked to arrive fashionably late, much to his knights annoyance.
He wasn’t sure who would actually be here in the kingdom, the part spread out all across the first few giant rooms of the castle. That included the throne room, ball room, long and grand hallways, and the courtyards. This wasn’t just any ball, it was barely a ball at all. The whole kingdom had been invited and most had chosen to attend.
They were celebrating the prince’s birthday afterall, his prince’s birthday.
The prince was always a people person, he wanted everyone to attend no matter the class. He loved his kingdom. While his mother preferred he keep it to higher class and nobles Scar refused, he just couldn’t.
While he should be happy that others are being given the chance to attend such a glorious event, he can’t help but feel a sense of dread.
His brothers would be here.
You see, what Grian prefers to keep a secret from his Prince Scar, is that he’s not from a particularly wealthy family. It was a lie he didn’t find particularly hard to keep up with, as he’s acting as the prince’s knight. He just stays silent and focuses on protecting Scar when around the prince’s family.
The only time he really drops the silent act is when he’s alone with Scar. Scar is a kind soul, with a surprisingly smart head despite what many might think. No one he’s the crown prince out of the two twin brothers.
Crown Prince Scar and Prince Bdubs.
But that didn’t matter, the whole reason he lied in the first place was to get this job. He knew he was more than capable of doing this job, he bets that he’s even better than some of the other guards or knights the prince has had. But his family wouldn’t believe that with his family history, afterall he knows how cruel Queen Cleo could be.
He’s lucky he hadn’t had much interaction with him.
He and his two brothers lived in the poorer parts of the capital city, one small house and one large shared bedroom. Jimmy and Joel are sure to attend if they knew that Grian would be there.
Grian sighed and stayed by His Prince’s throne, waiting for him to arrive.
As if on cue, Scar had arrived pushing open the doors to the ballroom and everyone parting for him. He smiled and waved at everyone excitedly as he walked over to the thrones, as he walked over to Grian . He couldn’t help but smile proudly.
Scar always had made an effort to look nice, and he did. He really did. As Scar walked down the hallway he noticed the pristine white poet's shirt, lots of golden accessories, and the gorgeous crown sat on his head.
He stared at Scar as he walked up the steps to the throne, smiling at Grian as he sat. Grian gave him a small smile back then focused on the crowd again.
Queen Cleo, on the throne in the middle, relieved that her son had finally made it, stood up. His family had been waiting for him, Grian almost forgot.
The queen made Scar’s birthday speech short and sweet, he stood at the side of Scar’s throne while not paying much attention to what she said. He looked at her sometimes, giving her quick glances. He mostly paid attention to The Prince though, watching his leg bounce up and down and his vision look from side to side.
At some point they locked eyes, and he saw Scar visibly relax. Grian gave him a small subtle smile, and the prince beamed at him. Grian held back a laugh and went back to watching the crowd.
At some point, the queen had wrapped up her speech and was sitting down, while the two princes got up and started to roam around. Scar practically shot up, grabbing Grian’s arm and rushing into the crowd.
He gasped but quickly held his composure, Snatching his hand away and running along with Scar to catch up to him.
“Wait! Your Highness!” Grian shouted, trying to catch up to him. He thought they were going to be staying up on the thrones for the most of it. Oh what a fool he was for that.
“Sir Grian, I thought you were supposed to be fast!” Scar Laughed. Grian just scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, well, keeping an eye on a trouble prince like you takes work.”
Scar just giggled, patting his back. “Taking care of me? I thought you were supposed to be protecting me!”
“It’s almost the same thing,” Grian rolled his eyes fondly.
“Oh whatever, C’mon we have people to meet!” And just like that, Scar ran off again.
“Scar no!” Grian called out and followed him quickly, maneuvering through the crowd of people.
He noticed Scar going quickly through the rooms his mother told them specifically to stay centered around, the throne room and ballroom. She had said,
“Make sure Scar stays where the nobles will be. Who knows what will happen with the other citizens.”
She looked like she was trying to talk about thieves and assassins and more, but both Grian and the Queen herself knew she wasn’t fooling anyone with her true intentions covered by faux concern.
Afterall, it’s no secret the prince can defend himself, he’s got large muscles and impeccable strength. And no! He’s– he’s not staring. With Grian’s help, they can most definitely take down any attacker,
The Queen truly wanted to just keep Scar away from the common folk, which Scar was most definitely off to disobey.
“Scar, are you sure you don’t want to talk to some here? I even heard there might be some ladies interested in a dance!” He tried to convince Scar, but he felt sick saying those words. It was normal though, for Scar to dance with women. He can’t be so protective all the time.
Scar just looked at him and shrugged, continuing to walk past the two large rooms.
“They can wait.” Scar muttered under his breath, barely audible with the chatter coming from all around them.
Grian sighed again, there was no getting him to black down.
In all honesty, he wanted to obey the Queen as much as he could. One, in fear of getting fired, though he’s sure SCar would debate her on that. And two, he wanted to avoid his brothers.
Oh well, the halls were large and there were many citizens. It was a very low chance of seeing them, and if he did happen to spot them they could hide in the crowds easily.
Once they entered the halls, the prince brightened. He looked at Grian and smiled. “Now this is a party!”
This area of the castle was much more lively than the others, when the rooms filled with the nobles had been calm and collected, fancy large dresses and tailored suits. Rich with class and couture. And the halls of the castle were full of energetic citizens, wearing the only semi-formal button up they could find and having a blast.
The classical music had been coming from the ballrooms, the doors opened and connected the ballroom and throne room, though the halls were blocked off with doors. They couldn’t enter, so they had their own music. Citizens who brought guitars and flutes, instruments galore.
No wonder Scar liked this better.
Grian laughed, the sight leaving him speechless.
He’s always seen the castle as this calming place, and a walk through it would ease your nerves just as fast as they came.
But this, this , reminded him of a different type of calm.
The calm that would come to you easily when you were with your friends, the ones that would laugh away your nerves.
The calm that home brought. He almost forgot how it felt.
Through all the memories flooding back to him, the prince beside him ran off. The reckless man wasn’t at his side anymore, and through the corner of his eye he could see the cape of the prince flowing behind him as he ran off, shouting a ‘follow me, G!’
Grian smiled and followed him wordlessly. When he knocked into people they didn’t scoff or look at him weirdly for chasing someone through the halls. They didn’t shout, they just laughed. No doubt it was a drunken one, but a laugh nonetheless.
He caught up to the prince, who paused for a moment to reach for his crown and put it behind him, in a pocket in his cape not even Grian knew he had.
“The common folk barely know what the royal family look like, it's not like they see us often. The crown would be a dead giveaway, don’t you think?”
“I think the royal guard with the royal family’s crest on his chestplate and a sword at his side would be just as much as a dead give away, Scar.” Grian said, deadpan at Scar.
“Oh shush it–! It wouldn’t be the same without you, G.” Scar smiled sweetly at Grian, who hadn’t noticed his face growing increasingly more red.
Scar seemed pleased with his reaction and pulled him to the foods.
The foods looked just as grand as the ones in the other rooms though, the cooks didn’t care about the class divide they just cooked. He thanked them for that, and grabbed a small plate.
He watched Scar grab a handful of small hotdogs with baked doubt around them and stuff them in his mouth, pigs in a blanket if he remembered correctly. He grabbed one as well, but before he could eat it Scar spoke with his mouth still full of food.
“Wait, G! You have to try some other stuff as well!” Scar smiled and grabbed a larger plate for Grian, and filled his up with more hotdogs, some fancy food on sticks, some small sandwiches.
“I don’t think I can eat this all..” Grian muttered.
“That's alright, I’ll help you!” Scar smiled, and that stupid smile always gets Grian. He smiled back and finally took a bite of one of the hotdogs.
Now, it was the usual taste of how most castle food tasted, but he didn’t know if it was the atmosphere but they felt different. He immediately started taking more off his plate and ate.
Maybe he and Scar could ask for more on a different day.
When they finished the plate and went to grab more, they were rudely interrupted by someone crashing into Scar. Grian jumped in, pulling out his sword and shoving them out of the way.
He held the sword up to the man’s neck and glared at him.
The man jumped away, apologizing profusely. He had dirty blonde hair and–
And it was Jimmy .
Grian put his sword back in its holster and left it to the side, standing straight returning from his previous fighting stance.
Jimmy didn’t seem to recognize him at first, terrified from a sword almost slicing open his neck. He was busy apologizing to Grian and Scar, shaking his head and closing his eyes, head turned away from them.
“Grian! Calm down! I’m sorry about him, he’s a bit paranoid.” Scar apologized to Jimmy, but Grian said nothing. He panicked, if Scar found out that was one of his brothers, then what would happen?
Jimmy opened his eyes and turned his head to face the pair, mumbling a small ‘Grian?’ under his breath.
“Ah, hey Tim. Sorry about that?” He said quietly, he phrased it like a question. He didn’t quite know how to respond.
Scar looked at him confused.
“Grian–? Why the heck– we were looking for you! I knew you’d be here!” Jimmy squealed excitedly, but Grian started to panic again.
“Joel! Joel c’mere I–” Jimmy started, but Grian quickly covered his mouth, muffling Jimmy.
“No! No! Do not get Joel! Grian shouted over him.
“Am I missing something? What's going on here?” Scar asked, tilting his head confused.
Grian reluctantly let go of his younger brother and glared at him to keep him shut, unfortunately it didn’t work and Jimmy started blabbing to Scar immediately.
“I’m Jimmy! It’s nice to meet you.. Ah, I don’t think I know your name.”
“My name is Scar, It’s nice to meet you as well!”
Jimmy thought for a moment before a realization hit him. “Prince Scar! Oh my gods, I’m so sorry!” Jimmy bowed in front of Scar, who took a step back and chuckled.
“You don’t have to bow! It’s fine! Just, please don’t you have no need to.”
“Of course,” Jimmy muttered, looking up at the two of them. “Grian told us he’d be working for the royal family. It completely went over my head that you could be one. I apologize.” To Jimmy’s credit, the guy had manners. Unlike Joel.
“Grian told you? How do you two know each other, if I may ask?” Scar asked, staring at Grian expectedly. Grian shook his head, a silent but obvious ‘no’ and his hands ready to clasp Jimmy’s mouth shut again.
Though, before Grian could retaliate he had spit out Grian’s biggest secret.
“We’re brothers! And we have one other, let me get him! Joel!” Jimmy ran off to go get Joel from wherever he was and Grian deflated. He frowned and watched him run off, while Scar still had a big smile on his face.
“Aw, G! You didn’t tell me you had brothers!”
“Yeah well, it didn’t really come up. It doesn’t matter, lets get out of here before they come back.” Grian grabbed Scar’s arm, but Scar relented. He crossed his arms and planted his feet on the ground.
“No, I want to see your family! I bet they’re just as amazing as you are.” The prince winked and Grian's face flushed again.
“No, you really don’t have to. Tim’ll probably take years to find Joel. The man always runs off to gods know where.”
But just as luck would have it, he spotted Jimmy in the distance talking to Joel and Lizzie. Great, Liz had been here too. Wonderful.
“C’mon Scar, we can meet them another time!” Grian bargained, but it was no use.
“Why don’t you want me to meet your family?”
“Does the ‘your my boss’ excuse work?”
“No,” Scar raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m barely your boss in the first place.”
Before they could finish their conversation, he could hear Joel scream his name and before he knew it he was being tackled to the floor by the man. Grian yelped in surprise but easily shoved Joel off, pushing him away while the other was laughing.
In his peripheral vision he could see Lizzie and to his other side Scar and Jimmy stood. They were all laughing at him. Grian huffed and crossed his arms. “I could arrest you for that, Joel.”
“Like you actually would.” Joel scoffed.
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t, because then I’d be forced to pay the legal bills!” Lizzie, Joel’s wife, introjected. The three brothers laughed at her joke.
Scar cut off their conversation short by butting in and introducing himself.
“Hello you two! I’m Scar, Grian’s boss!” He chose to introduce himself less formally, not with his title or anything. He didn’t even refer to himself as royalty.
Joel and Lizzie knew better though, Scar looked fancier than the rest. His face more glowy, his outfit more showy, and the way he held himself, his posture, screamed ‘I’m important’. The poorer people knew how to spot these types, even if they were in hiding.
“You’re the prince, right?” Joel asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Scar nodded disappointedly, of course he had to meet Joel, the most ill-mannered self proclaimed ‘bad boy’ of the family. How he got married first was a mystery, though he heard from the grapevine that Liz was into bad boys or whatever.
Scar didn’t seem disappointed in the lack of manners, but the failed attempt of keeping his identity. Though he did seem happy that he wasn’t being treated like anything special.
“Yes, that's me.” He held his hand out for a hand shake, and as Joel was about to take it, Lizzie shoved him out of the way, taking the prince’s hand instead and shaking it.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Lizzie!” She shook his hand excitedly, shaking it until both their arms tired out. Once Scar’s hand was free he shook it slightly to get the blood flowing again, Lizzie’s hold was so tight it cut off his blood circulation.
“Grian, why didn’t you tell me you had such a nice family!” Scar held his hand together and looked at him, Grian tensed and looked away.
“It just didn’t come up. Alright?” He mumbled and Scar seemed pleased with the answer for now.
“You should tell us about your job more often, Gri!” Lizzie complained and his two brothers agreed.
Jimmy frowned, “Yeah, you’re barely able to visit. You could stand to send some letters to us.”
It was too risky, the royal family could find out where he was from. He’d lose his job.
“I get busy.”
Scar looked at him in confusion, none of this was true. Grian had breaks, he made sure of it after all. When Grian had insisted on working, Scar made him rest. Scar made him basically do anything but work.
“Talk to us more,” Joel sighed, “Just try.”
“I will.”
Joel and Jimmy hugged him, and he hugged them back. He stayed in the hug for a while, basking in the comfort it brought him.
When they pulled away, Lizzie pulled his brothers along claiming she saw someone walking around with drinks and wanted some.
Grian watched them go with a smile, then behind him Scar cleared his throat.
“Such a wonderful reunion!” Scar giggled and Grian rolled his eyes, walking back up to Scar and staying by his side.
“You won’t tell anyone, right?”
“Tell anyone what?” Scar seemed genuinely confused, turning his head to look at Grian. Grian searched his face for any sign of distrustfulness in his eyes.
“That I’m, you know, from the lower parts of the city.” He muttered under his breath.
Scar laughed, covering his mouth a bit as he giggled to himself. “I figured out you weren’t from the nobles long ago, they would never act the way you do. At first you might have tricked me, but as we got closer I just knew you weren’t one of them.”
“How?”
“The rest would never talk to me,” Scar said plainly, grabbing a champagne glass off from one of the trays a butler was holding. No matter where you were at the party, at least they still had drinks. Scar grabbed two, one for himself and Grian. “You did. A real professional would take their job ‘more seriously’ than you.” He said with air quotes.
“I’m a professional. I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t.” Grian scoffed.
“Basically, you could trick my mom and my brother. That’s for sure.” Scar smiled at him, taking a sip of his drink. Grian followed suit and took a small sip.
“No one really thinks you’re all that talkative, you know?”
“I’m aware.” Grian muttered, smiling softly.
Scar watched him as Grian took another sip of his drink, the other staring into the vast crowds of the party.
“You know,” Grian started, “Your mom isn’t going to be happy you’re here.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s probably done looking for suitors and now looking for you.”
“I know.” Scar said nonchalantly. He then sighed deeply, and looked away. “I don’t even want any sutors.”
“You don’t?” Grian questioned, tilting his head and finishing his glass of champagne.
“I’ve got someone else in mind.” Scar grinned at him and blushed, looking away.
“Oh,” He frowned. He doesn’t understand why he feels so angry, or sad. “Must be one lucky girl, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Scar stared at him.
“One lucky girl.” he repeated, sighing and finishing his glass as well. He immediately reached for another one after he finished.
“Should you really be doing that?” Grian asked.
“I don’t care.”
“Don’t get drunk.”
“I will.”
“Great.” Grian groaned then laughed, shaking his head.
They stayed by the side of the party like that for a while, both not wanting to interact much with the party. They spoke to each other and kept themselves company. They were each other's entertainment, and Scar couldn’t stop drunkenly staring at him.
Scar had gone through four glasses of champagne, and due to the nature of champagne Scar got drunk quickly.
Grian had tried to stop him but it was no use, he was unable to.
Scar was giggly and touchy, and it felt wrong seeing their crown prince so lively and relaxed. So vulnerable.
“Scar, maybe we should lay off the drinks for a while.” He grabbed the new drink straight from Scar’s slippery hands. The other man whined and looked at him sadly, Grian shook his head and took a sip from it himself.
Scar reached for it and Grian held it up, though the other had been taller than him and grabbed it easily. When Scar looked down he was right in front of Grian’s face, their chests almost touching. Scar just giggled and stared in his face.
Grian’s face immediately flushed a bright shade of red, but neither of them attempted to move away.
“You look real cute when you’re all blushy.” Scar muttered and stared into Grian’s eyes.
“I’m… blushy?” Grian tilted his head, the champagne delaying his thoughts until he realized Scar called him cute. “Wait, cute?”
“Yeah, there it is again! You’re–” Scar hiccuped, then immediately burst into a fit of giggles. “You’re adorable.”
Grian averted his eyes away from Scar, trying to keep his cool. He was a guard. He should be showing no emotion, at least, that's what the job description said.
But this was Scar . Yes, the crown prince, but he was also the only one to keep him company here. The only one he could call a friend in the castle.
Plus, he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the guy, he wasn’t even sure why he cared that much.
“Why do you care about how cute I am?” Grian questioned the prince, and the prince just smiled brighter.
“Because you’re not getting my hints.” Scar looked genuinely saddened, frowning at Grian. Grian just looked at the prince in confusion, thinking it over.
“What hints?”
“You know, hints .” Scar repeated, like it helped anything at all.
“Do you care to share any of them, then?”
“Yeah!” Scar grinned, then started to list off moments from the night. “Ignoring your attempts of gettin’ me with girls,” He dragged out the ‘irls’, “Wanting you here with me, calling you amazing, pretty obviously flirty!” Scar sang the last bit and giggled again, and suddenly it clicked.
Oh. Scar was trying to, well, as he himself put it, flirt with him.
There was really no questioning it, yeah Scar was drunk now but he wasn’t when he made those comments. He was trying to grab his attention, trying to flirt with him.
Even so, a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts.
Grian stood there in shock, staring at him. He thought back through their whole relationship, Grian wondered about how he hadn’t seen it earlier.
Scar’s insistence on getting to know him, Scar wanting to take him everywhere he went and insisting it was for protection, Scar’s very obvious now that he looks back on it flirting for gods’ sake!
He then thought about his own thoughts on the matter, thinking and overthinking those times he ‘accidentally’ stared for two long, or his mind wandered back to Scar in the middle of the night.
Though, breaking him out of his thoughts, Scar placed a hand under Grian’s chin and lifted his head up to look at him.
“I’m tired of waiting…” He muttered and finally, finally , kissed him.
It felt magical, and it felt exactly how he thought it would be. Their lips met and it was like a wave crashing onto the beach, a dam bursting and breaking their relationship. Turning it into something new, and changing their relationship forever.
Grian wrapped his arms around Scar’s neck, pushing further. Scar’s hands held onto Grian’s waist and pulled him closer. They separated to take a breath and stared at each other, breathing heavily. ,
Before they could kiss again, Grian took a step back. Scar whined, watching the man pull away from him.
“We can talk about this later, if you’d like. But I really must get you back to your family.”
Scar looked at him and frowned, and before Scar got the wrong idea about his intentions, grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. He then held it and pulled him along and they both headed back to the throne room.
“Let’s go, your highness.” He smiled at him and Scar gave him a large, goofy smile.