×× There's No Way You're A Prince ×× (Night & Whisp)

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Sure! Sometimes my starters can be a bit lengthy sometimes, but you absolutely don't have to match it if you don't want to.


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Sorry it took so long! It was better, but then my browser crashed and deleted it, so I had to rewrite the whole thing. ;-;


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"Calm down, your majesty," a gruff voice called from inside the airport's dense crowd, belonging to a man with a rather deep scowl. He was tall, perhaps 6'5, with obvious and well-defined muscles. His square face seemed to be stuck in a deep frown, his jaw covered slightly in stubble. The airport was hot and humid, causing his blonde hair to stick to his forehead with sweat. In front of the man (and at his sides and all around him) a much smaller man was bouncing around on his feet, grinning and clearly unable to stay still for too long. "Your majesty, settle down."

The smaller man paused in his excited jumping to turn his face up towards the grumpy man, making a face between a pout and a scowl of his own. He wasn't anything like the first man, as he was a small 5'4 and appeared rather slim, with such pasty and pale skin that it made his thousand of freckles stand out like a sore thumb. His hair was ebony black, long and wild and curly, round-faced with a small nose and ears. "'Your majesty' this and 'your majesty' that," he huffed, hands placed firmly on his hips. His voice, like the other man's, was heavy and held a thick, strange accent. He spoke the words oddly, as if he wasn't used to them. "I told you to call me by my name here, Thomas. We're in America now, I am not a prince any longer! What if someone hears you?" The last thing he wanted was to attract the attention of the paparazzi. Stiff from having been on the plane for so long, he stretched, feeling his muscles pop and relax.

Thomas shot him a slow, unhappy look, and let out a loud breath through his nose. "I did not want to come here in the first place, Mr. Valur. You should not be here. This is a horrible idea." He glared at the people they passed, shouldering them out of the way, his chin held high, body language practically screaming how agitated and unfriendly he might be. "Your parents are fools for letting you come. But there is nothing I can do about that now."

"Just call me Igni, Thomas. Not Mr. Valur. That's too formal!" Igni sighed as he walked through the hustling, bustling crowd, a large grin on his face. It was only the airport, but already, he was excited. There were so many people, wearing such different clothing, talking on cellphones and chatting with one another. "We shall find my friend and be on our way in a moment." Greasy and cheap food was being served at a small restaurant to the left (although Igni had no idea that it would probably be horrible) and another store was selling books and magazines. American literature! However, while he was busy imagining how great everything was going to be, he realized there was just one tiny, little flaw in his plan.

Igni had no one to meet here.

"Yes. Where is this close friend of yours, Igni?" Thomas questioned slowly, eyes narrowed. They stopped by the automatic doors of the airport, where others were entering and exiting, and Igni did his best to avoid the guard's gaze altogether. "The close friend that I have never met nor heard of. Who lives in America. And, for reasons I cannot understand, wants you to visit."

"Just because you haven't met him does not mean that he cannot invite me over. I don't tell you everything," Igni snapped back with a huff, crossing his arms and gazing around the room.

Princes are proper, refined, with amazing manners and excellent etiquette. Princes are impressive, with their gorgeous hair and chiseled faces, with their intimidating height and amazing muscles. They are the definition of "attractive" and of "perfection". The prince of Kalumi, a rather small (and almost entirely unheard of) country close to Greenland, is none of those things. In fact, he's the exact opposite of those princely stereotypes, and has wished for many years that he could destroy them. Unfortunately, that isn't possible, no matter how much money he's willing to pay. Kalumi was small enough to not know much about popular American culture, but Disney movies were definitely popular among its children and even its older population, much to the prince's annoyance.

Nope. Igni was much, much different. Firstly, he was an excellent liar, and there was no better time to use that to his advantage than now. All he had to do was find someone, anyone, willing to play along with him for a few months... And, if necessary, the prince had plenty of money to spare. Quite a lot of money. Americans liked money, didn't they? Of course they did. Everyone liked money. So who would be the lucky man? Hm... Who would it be? He wasn't going to pick just anyone. He had standards, even for his friends, but it also needed to be believable. Thomas was a tough man to please, most of the time.

So the only option could be...

"Him! There he is!" Igni squeaked excitedly, waving his finger at a man walking towards them from further back in the crowd. A young man, maybe a student, who looked neat and tidy enough to fulfill the role of a fake, temporary friend. "I will just, uh, go meet him. Wait for me to return here!" Thomas' protests were interrupted as Igni took off into the crowd, bouncing his way over to the stranger that had been so "lucky" enough to be chosen by him. They should feel honored! "You, over there!" Igni pointed at the man, grinning, his blue-green eyes wide. "I demand to know your name!"

Certainly not the best way to start off a conversation. Not even a good way, really, but Igni was cheery and oblivious to what might seem like a rude, obnoxious gesture. He was a prince, after all, and he was used to bossing others around. Getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

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Thomas is definitely going to hate this. xD
But Mason seems so cute! I love him already.
Ugh, I hate autocorrect. Always happens to me on my phone.


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Igni listened with a bright expression as Mason introduced himself, then said confidently, "Oh, Mason?" The way he pronounced it was more like MAI-SON,
rather than MAY-SON, he had no idea he'd gotten it wrong. "That's a wonderful name! You may call me Igni." He leaned in closer to Mason, eyes squinted, studying the boy's face and clothes. Did all Americans dress this way? It seemed a bit odd. And what was a...he wasn't sure what the boy's shirt said (he spoke English better than he could read it, sadly). No matter, Mason looked neat enough.

"Mason, you are to be my friend," Igni declared, his grin wide and cheeky. A woman paused to give him an odd look ovwe her shoulder as she passed, but the prince hardly paid any attention. "I need someone to... To..." He stopped, searching for the word. After a moment,
he gave up and said, "I need you to be my friend." Igni put his hands together and made his best "puppy" face, bottom lip stuck out and blue eyes huge. "Please! It is only for the summer."

Mason seemed nice, though Igni hadn't even known him for ten minutes yet, and the prince could feel Thomas' glare digging into him from across the room. He didn't have a lot of time to spare getting Mason to agree, so he was willing to do just about anything.

What should he do in a situation like this?

Lie, of course. It's always the best option (not really, but he's pretty good at it, so it was worth a try).

Still looking like a curly-haired, blue-eyed dog, Igni glanced away to the floor, then back up at Mason. "I am sorry, but I was supposed to meet relatives here. They did not meet me. They could not, um, make it." Igni was hoping to get all the sympathy and pity he could. "And I have no place to stay. They did not get a hotel room." Pointing across the room at Thomas, he added, "It is just me and my cousin. He wishes to go home, but I have never been to America! I may have told him I had a friend I could stay with..."

Well, the last part wasn't a lie, but Mason didn't need to know that. Sunlight beamed in from the glass ceiling above,
making the place hotter than it had been before. The crowd, at least, had gotten smaller. Igni fanned himself with his hand, wondering if he should say anything else. He decided not to, instead looking at Mason hopefully.

Please let this work. Please agree.
I don't want to go home. Not yet.
Not before he'd gotten a chance to explore a bit.

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Igni was almost in shock for a minute or so as they walked, bumping into people as they passed and not bothering to apologize. "Oh, thank you! Thank you very much!" He exclaimed gleefully, raising his voice to be heard over the crowd. "We will be the best of friends, Mason! This shall be a wonderful experience for you as well." Well, maybe. Igni at least had all the money he wanted, so he could buy Mason a gift or two. When he found out what Mason liked, that is. "My cousin is a bit nosey, so I will tell you all about us. My home country is Kalumi, a small country near Greenland. It is a beautiful place, but very boring. Not fun at all."

There was absolutely nothing to do in Kalumi. There were no real beaches, as the coasts were pretty rocky, and it was rarely hot enough to swim. They had no amusement parks or big entertainment locations. Just wildlife parks and the occasional movie theatre. Igni spent most of his summers lounging around in his family's garden, drinking tea or lemonade and neglecting all of his duties. At least, for as long as he could, until Thomas or someone else had to come drag him back inside.

As soon as Thomas was in earshot, glaring intensely at Mason (and especially the arm he had wrapped around Igni's shoulders), he spoke lowly. "So you do have a friend after all. I'm surprised.
I didn't think you had many friends." While he did have an accent, it wasn't nearly as thick or heavy as Igni's. It sounded like he'd spoken plenty of English before.

"Rude! I have many friends," Igni replied indignantly, pointing up to Mason. "Thomas, meet Mason. Mason, this is my cousin, Thomas."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. Cousin? Thomas had no cousins and he certainly wasn't the prince's cousin. However, he would question Igni about that later. The bodyguard was much older than the prince,
being in his late twenties, and they looked nothing alike, but he supposed they could pass for being cousins by marriage. "Remove your arm from my cousin's shoulders," he said coldly. It was such an informal gesture and one that Thomas didn't appreciate. No one was supposed to touch the prince, whether Mason was a friend or not. "And let's get going. I hate this place."

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His father? Oh, right. Parents usually picked their children up by themselves in America (and in Kalumi, too, but Igni was used to either Thomas or his family's own personal chauffeur). So this was how normal people travelled. How exciting!
"This is wonderful!" He eagerly bounced as Mason talked on the phone, but once he hung up, he was quick to dart outside.
Careless about who he shoved and oblivious to his surroundings. "Thomas, look at all these cars! I want an American car, too!"

"No. Your parents will be very upset if you come home with a car," the guard replied. The look of disappointment on Igni's face was rathee comical.

Thomas followed at a much slower, calmer pace, taking his time to be considerate of nearby people and keeping an eye on Igni at the same time. If Igni were a little more responsible and less hyper, Thomas wouldn't need to babysit him; the prince just couldn't stand still and he probably wouldn't ever be able to. "Igni," he called warningly, his tone stern, like a parent's. "Stay close to me and calm down. You will hurt yourself."

"Oh, you're so boring!" Igni groaned, though he still did what he was told, making his way back over to the other man. The first car he saw drive by and him grinning, grabbing Mason's sleeve and pointing at it like a child. "Is that your father?" He asked, then pointed at the next one. "Or is it that one? There are so many cars here!" He turned to face Mason, moving his hands wildly as he spoke. "We have few cars in my country.
My family owns some, but it's mostly trains and subways."

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As soon as Igni spotted the truck, was instantly twenty times more hyper than he had been only moments before. The young adult was, honestly, made of nothing but pure energy. He could run and move and jump for days on end before he finally felt tired enough to stop or collapsed from exhaustion. It was the one thing that had irritated most of his guards, including Thomas, though he was the best at handling him. He'd been around the prince for years and knew well enough how to take care of him. "That's, uh, what's the word all you Americans use... Awesome! That's awesome!" Igni said as he watched Mason's father's car approach. When it stopped completely, he rushed forward, trying to climb into the back (and failing, since it was much taller than he was). "I want to ride in the back!"

"No!" Thomas barked, grabbing the younger man and hauling him away by the back of his shirt, looking furious. "If you do not learn to behave yourself, I will take you straight home. Do you understand me, Igni?" He frowned deeply as he gazed down at him, face stern and harsh. This wasn't a game and it wouldn't be any fun when Igni wound up hurting himself or someone else in his excitement.

Igni pouted, but let out a long sigh. "Yes, Thomas. I understand. Can you let me go now? I'll behave, I swear!" Thomas didn't look like he believed him, but he released the young prince anyway, crossing his arms. Igni was still pouting as he looked at Mason. "Sorry. I, um... I am a little excited? I never get to go out of the country. Or anywhere, really. This is my first vacation!"

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Sorry for the short reply.


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Igni took a moment to glance between Mason and David, studying both of them in silence. They were definitely related and he could certainly see the resemblance between the two, but they didn't look too much alike. Still, it was nice to meet Mason's father; if Mason was going to pretend to be his friend, Igni definitely needed to get on his parents' good side. So, he needed to be polite and charming (neither of which he was particularly good at, but he would still try). "Oh, hello, sir,"
Igni greeted him in his thick accent, giving him a small wave and a big smile. "I'm Igni," he repeated, even though Mason had already introduced him. "It is very nice to meet you. I'm excited to explore your country!" Igni was trying his best to seem like the most likable, innocent foreign friend (pen pal, Mason had called it, but Igni wasn't sure what that was) possible. "Mason is a good friend. I've been wanting to visit for a long time and my parents finally said yes."

Thomas, on the other hand, didn't look too pleased as he listened with his arms crossed. "I'm only here to watch my cousin.
His parents didn't want him visiting alone," he said, not even bothering to make an effort to be polite or friendly. They might be letting them stay, but Thomas didn't want to be here, and he didn't have to pretend to like it. "I'll keep him out of trouble. Thank you in advance for letting him stay."

"Thomas!" Igni whined, frowning up at him, before looking at Mason. "I am not a troublemaker! Thomas is mean and thinks it's fun to tease me. He's not very nice at all." He smiled back at David then, widely. "But Mason is nice and you seem nice as well. I hope I'm not an inconvenience to you."

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Out of the two, Thomas (even though he was grumpy and unfriendly) was the most trustworthy one. He was the one people looked at and thought they could trust,
the one people picked for many different tasks, because he was undoubtedly reliable and always got the job done. He was, after all, the bodyguard of an unbelievably difficult to handle prince. Igni might not have been the country's heir-----that title went to his brother, Yamez, who was nearly seven years older---but he was still important. He was still a prince, no matter how annoying he was.

"I'm sure your home is wonderful," Igni replied, not making any signs of grabbing his own luggage. And boy, was there a ton of luggage. It was a good thing Mason's dad owned a truck and not a minivan. Thomas didn't even seem phased by Igni's lack of help as he began to load the suitcases and duffle bags into the truck bed. Igni, in the meantime,
stoos by and waited.

It was odd, as most people would just open the door and get in, but Igni seemed to be waiting. For Thomas to finish and open the door, of course, because while Igni knew Thomas needed to be verbally informal, he was used to being spoiled and catered to and that wasn't going to change so easily. Once Thomas was finished, he grumpily held open the car door for Igni, who practically squealed as he climbed inside, followed by a quieter Thomas. "Wow! Your truck is so nice! I want a truck," he said cheerily, hands on his cheeks, smiling. "This truck is awesome!"

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The drive consisted of a lot of scolding,
mostly, with Thomas yelling at Igni over small but important matters. "Igni, stop taking off your seatbelt. It is there for a reason," the older man snapped, reaching over to buckle the seatbelt back in himself. It was like Igni was a child. No one would ever believe he was an adult!

"But I cannot see out the window, Thomas! Look, look, there's a dog!" Igni exclaimed, pointing happily.

"There are dogs in Kalumi. It's nothing to act so excited about. Calm down and stay in your seat."

Igni pouted, but sat back, crossing his arms, but quickly cheered up. He leaned forward a bit to poke Mason. "What do you do to entertain yourself? Thomas won't play any games with me." Actually, Thomas just didn't enjoy being stuck in such a small place with an annoying person.
If Mason had been in the back, he might have been less irritated (okay, probably not, but Igni was the most annoying one out of the two so far).

"Your games are driving me mad," Thomas muttered, running a hand over his face.
He spoke to David as the older man drove. "I'm going to warn you, he's always this hyper. Always."

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It wasn't uncommon at all for colleges to have foreign exchange programs or penpal programs, but it would be strange for them to involve Kalumi. The country was quite secluded and didn't do too much out of the country traveling when it came to education. They liked to keep to themselves, mostly, and send a student over every once and a while. Never too many, just a handful at a time.

"We're from Kalumi. It is much...different than your country so far," Thomas replied, glancing out the window at the highway as they drove past.
Kalumi was smaller, quieter, and much less hectic, with wonderful scenery and many different opportunities. He didn't know why the prince was so determined to leave it all behind.

Igni giddily bounced in his seat at thw thought of answering questions. "Oh,
yes, I have many questions to ask!" He exclaimed, sitting as far forward in his seat as he could get away with, Thomas eyeing him closely. "What are your favorite activities? Do you you swim much? I never learned to swim, but I would to visit your... What are they? The parks waters? And your lovely beaches!"