My Prince Charming

Upon First Meeting

Clyde's POV

I carefully brushed the brown horse before me. He leaped happily as the brush Ran down his back and sides. I could easily tell when he was happy and when he was pissed off. Every time Prince Craig walked into the stable, my poor boy has a fit.

That's how I could tell Prince Craig walked into the stable. Buttercup started stomping his hooves, that I already cleaned today, and his tail flapping angrily. I sighed and gently pet his head, watching him sink into my touch.

Looking towards the entrance, I saw Prince Craig standing. He seemed confused. Clearly, Prince Craig walked closer and leaned on the gate.

I kissed Buttercup's nose and turned to him. "Can I help you?"

"Who're you?" he asked, eyeing me up and down. His nose crinkled at smelling the shit I haven't cleaned.

"Name's Clyde Donovan. I'm the new stable cleaner," I said calmly. I wasn't in the best mood and Prince Craig could pick up on that. And saying 'Prince' before his name really got annoying, I'll just call him Craig

"Oh? What happened to the last one?"

"Got sick of this shit. Literally got sick of picking up shit."

Craig snickered and reached a hand towards Buttercup. Buttercup backed away from him and rubbed his face into my already dirty and sweaty white shirt.

"Buttercup! I just washed you!" I groaned loudly and pushed him away from me. I earned an angry grumble and foot stomp. Which also earned mud splashing on my jeans, I was a dirty slob today. Sighing, I heard Craig chuckle. The sound wasn't as cynical ad I thought it would be. It was almost soothing, and I found myself smiling at it. I snapped from staring at him, flushing.

"You get dirty on the job. I'm assuming you're new here. Never seen you before," Craig said, his face going back to his bored expression. Craig's voice returned to the monotone, nasally voice that could annoy anyone. But it was deeper, it sounded almost seductive.

"Started yesterday. This little boy already likes making a mess. As you can see..." I laughed lightly and gently petted Buttercup. He made a little sound then nudged me out of his stable. I guess he's tired.

"He's always done that. I had a few cleaners before the last one and they kept telling my parents about the messes. They wanted us to get rid of him," he explained, crossing his arms. Something was wrong with this boy. He never talked willingly. I've heard he was the most silent person you'll ever find, but here he is, having a conversation with me. He was easy to talk to though. I loved that.

I exited the stable and closed it. Buttercup laid down and nuzzles into the hay bails. Glancing at Craig, I sighed and smiled slightly. "Get rid of this cutie? No way. He doesn't deserve that."

"I know. But the messes pissed people off, you seem to be the only person who can control him."

"You like horses, huh?" I smiled and started exiting the stables.

"Yeah, I love them. They haven't done anything wrong towards me or anyone I care about." Craig followed me, a small smile on his lips. I giggled and shooed him from the stables and locked it up. "What are you doing? I wanted to ride one of them.."

"Sorry, Craig. You can't ride after dark. The horses are too tired. I'm sure you can wait until morning," I offered, looking around the dark night.

Stars glittered across the sky and made images I couldn't remember. I never paid attention to my astronomy class. Staring at the sky, Craig rested a hand on my shoulder and pointed to the stars. He started explaining different constellations and the smile in his voice as he found ones he liked.

After hearing the bad rumors about Craig being an asshole and being cynical, I don't know how they could say that. I've spent barely twenty minutes with this guy and he seems like an absolute sweetheart. The way his laugh sounded or how he easily gave details about things he liked. Craig must want to be an astronomer when he's fully grown up.

My eyes followed Craig's finger the best they could in the darkness. His humble ways to ask if I liked the way a constellation looked or if I needed more information.

"How can you be an asshole when you're this happy?" I asked suddenly. I turned to Craig with a soft gaze and smile.

His eyes widened and he began playing with the back of his hair. He scratched the back of his head. That's how I figured he was embarrassed. I couldn't see his face. "Am I really?"

"Yeah. I've never seen someone that got so excited to talk about stars."

"Oh...I guess I like outer space. I always played spaceman as a kid. It got way too lonely in the castle," he chuckled. I could see his smile. It was brighter than anything else. His teeth were bleached white and the perfect sharpness. Maybe being royalty earned extra bonus points to look good.

"Spaceman? I played superheros. My friends and I would dress up in costumes and prance around like we owned the place. Pissed everyone off."

Craig chuckled, "Please. I played superhero too. Couldn't play prince and princess because I am clearly a, uh, prince."

"Before my mom died, she would take me to the sandbox at the park and play Queen and Prince with me. Built a thrown out of sand. Doubt she thought I would become a stable cleaner for the royal family," I pointed out, crossing my arms. I sighed and picked at mud stains on my shirt. Being a stable cleaner really got you dirty, I groomed the dirty horses daily.

"Oh...Not as good as you thought. Being a prince fucking sucks. I mean, the attention and praise and stuff is cool. But the meetings and offers of people wanting money, it's a shitty job."

"I didn't think it was that bad. What about the food? Is the food worth it?" I glanced at him with a hopeful expression and smiled widely. Barely containing my excitement for an answer, I was glad the subject changed.

"I guess..." he muttered. I frowned and crossed my arms, eyeing him up and down.

"Royal food isn't good? What about the pudding?"

"Oh, hell. The pudding is fucking delicious."

"Hell yeah! That's amazing!"

Craig chuckled and scratched the back of his head. I realized how dark the night has actually gotten. Sighing, I bowed to Craig.

"I should be getting home. Thank you for talking to me! It was nice meeting you," I smiled, brushing back my hair. The brown mess I called hair bounced and fluffed back up.

"Nice meeting you too...uh..."

I laughed lightly and reached out my dirty hand. "Clyde. My name's Clyde."

He took my hand, shaking it briefly. "Nice meeting you, Clyde."

"I'll see you later, Prince Charming." I waved him off and started home to my little home. I wasn't sure what Craig was doing. But the conversations we had just felt right, our conversations has meaning to me. It was nice.

And that was the first time I met Prince Craig, the rumored badass, cynical, asshole.

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1227 words

Completed on: Friday, July 30th, 2021

Posted on: Saturday, July 31st, 2021

This is based off of a roleplay I had with my girlfriend. Thank you, baby, this really inspired me to write and I hope does the same to you.

Love you, babe. <33