Prince Among Men

[helpdesk_hero]

Frankly, he hadn't expected to get this chance. At all. Didn't matter that he was the top of his class. That he learned things mostly instantly. Sure there was a lot of reasons that this shouldn't have happened. Yet here he was, two days in to an internship at the Genoshan royal palace. And David's been moving through things carefully, juggling a large pile of folders and binders. A lot of stuff went on behind the scenes he'd learned, working as he did under a minister of commerce and trade.

And as an intern his main jobs seemed, at least for these first few days, carrying things back and forth and fetching coffee. He'd networked with someone who did the internship the year before and learned that yeah, it sucked the first few days, but then you started doing cool stuff, so he had his fingers crossed.

Okay, not actually, he was too busy moving quickly through the halls, trying not to trip and drop a massive pile of reports that he was certain had only been given to him because hazing the new guy who had already turned out to be smarter than half of the undersecretaries. Oops.

The big problem, of course, is taking a corner too quick. It wasn't that he meant to run into someone, but there it was happening anyway.

Comments

[helpdesk_hero]

This is definitely an invasion. Enough of one that, even in spite of the Prince's reassurances, David still looks nervous. But he does sit down when the Prince directs it. And tries not to think about how totally fired this could get him. Don't, he reminds himself, flirt with the prince near where anyone could hear it. Don't even think it because the cooking staff could be telepathic.

"So it is just that you don't have any classes today? Or meetings to sit in on?" David asks. He still doesn't get why the Prince attached to him of all people.

[wearingthestars]

He flushes and shrugs a little, relaxing as he sits, a little less worried about appearance back here.

"I suppose that's how it started," he agrees. But begin as this all may seem to David, this is the closest he's ever gotten a date that wasn't some prearranged and chaperoned excursion. This is someone he's chosen to spend his time with, and it's thrilling in it's own way.

[helpdesk_hero]

"How it started?" David prompts. Starting means that it is something else now.

[wearingthestars]

"Ah-" The prince looks a little flustered, "I don't...see many people. Not spontaneously, at least. I kind of liked the idea of a friend that wasn't prearranged for me."

[helpdesk_hero]

David holds back a comment about carefully vetted playmates.

“It’s for your safety, Your Highness.”

He isn’t going to call the Prince by his name around other people.

“Though I can understand wanting to know other people. When I first came here to the capital I had issues making friends too.”

[wearingthestars]

"I do think I may be old enough to look after myself by now," the Prince counters, and he looks a little disappointed to hear his title return, but...he understands why.

"Where were you before you came here?" he asks, looking curious.

[helpdesk_hero]

"I'm from Chicago, Illinois. My abilities manifested when I was fourteen. When it was realized just how expansive and useful they were at fifteen, I moved to Genosha to attend the Institute. I didn't know anyone here. I was alone."

Because, well, his family was human, so he hadn't been near them since.

[wearingthestars]

It's not the sort of thing William can really imagine. He's never moved, never been separated from his family like that. His own powers manifested shockingly young.

"That's sound hard. Have you made friends since?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"I've... made connections," David sighs. "The Institute was really competitive."

So no, friends weren't exactly something he had.

[wearingthestars]

Connections. Well, that at least the Prince does know ALL about. Not nearly the same as friends and he offers a sympathetic look, as a few dishes are delivered to their table.

"Thank you, Stephan," he greets easily, gesturing for David to dig in.

"Maybe we could be friends?" he offers rather too bluntly.

[helpdesk_hero]

Friends, really? David watches until Stephan moves a bit away and then answers, his voice low.

"Yeah. But... would it be wrong to say I had this nagging feeling that you didn't want just that."

[wearingthestars]

"..." Right. He maybe hasn't been...subtle. But William looks a little shy to have been called out on it directly. Given his position, it was perhaps understandable that he might be a little anxious about being direct. That information could do some serious harm in the wrong hands.

"I...ah...you wouldn't be...wrong, no. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be just as happy to have found a friend."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I... wouldn't mind it if I had a friend," David admits. And then he's looking away shyly. "But I wouldn't say no to the latter in time. If your family wouldn't kill me."

[wearingthestars]

The prince flushes and gives a giddy, shy sort of smile, teeth catching at his bottom lip. "I don't imagine they'd kill you," he offers, maybe not the most comforting of words, though he may be teasing. "It's not something that's really been...done before, that I know of."

[helpdesk_hero]

Yeah, not even REMOTELY comforting, sorry.

"I'm not sure they are going to be all that approving of some American mutant trying to get yoru attention."

[wearingthestars]

"I'll tell them it's me trying to get some American mutant's attention," he corrects with a teasing smile. But he's not wrong. There is a real risk in pursuing this.

"...We don't have to tell them straight away."

[helpdesk_hero]

"There are eyes everywhere," David answered. Yes, he's expecting a VERY stern talking to.

[wearingthestars]

There are. There's more than a few sharing the room with them, though William seems to trust them enough to keep going.

"...I could use a tutor," he offers. It seems a good excuse. If they mean to keep things secret. Or they could be honest and hope the King would allow them to try this.

[helpdesk_hero]

A tutor?

"In what? And I'm not sure how I'm going to fit that in with all the interning."

[wearingthestars]

"Name a subject." It didn't particularly matter if it was a ruse, "I generally see one for an hour or two each week, it's not overly intensive."

[helpdesk_hero]

Interesting. "Listen, if you can sell someone on it, I can probably help. I'm particularly good with languages, but I can teach just about anything you'd need. Well, I mean, I can probably do a lot of subjects."

[wearingthestars]

"I think you would be an easy sell," the Prince agrees, "Which languages?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Almost everything European. Hebrew. Three dialects of Spanish. Mandarin, Japanese, Korean. A few others from that region. I... like absorbing languages the best. Because it's not like I'm stealing in the same way."

[wearingthestars]

"...very easy sell," he corrects with a laugh. Not that he's expected to know ALL those languages personally, but he's meant to be studying a fair few, and having one tutor for ALL of them seems perfectly reasonable and worth while.

[helpdesk_hero]

"You know that one or two hours a week isn't nearly enough time to learn a language, right?"

Come on, Princeling, surely you understand that much.