"Oh, sweet Jesus..." Lance mumbles, "This night can't get any better can it?"
The wolf lunges towards Lance. He ducks down covering his head waiting for his gory death. But instead, he hears a thud and the ice cracking then breaking. Lance looks up and sees the beastly prince heaving. Confused yet grateful, Lance spots the horse lead and snatches it. Slipping it back onto Philippe, Lance hears a roar of anger. Turning back he spots the beast barely conscious yet still standing and gasping for air. Lance's eyes widen at the sight. The prince collapses onto the bank, covered in blood.
Lance looks between Philippe and the Prince. He wants to just leave this place and not care about the injured Prince. But his good nature stops him. Groaning in annoyance, Lance takes off his coat and walks over the cat-like beast. He throws the coat over him like a blanket. The prince stirs awake and opens an eye, looking up at Lance.
"You have to help me... You have to stand." Lance whispers to the barely conscious prince.
Helping him up and onto Philippe, Lance gets the Prince's limp body situated on the horse's saddle. Grabbing the lead, Lance guides Philippe back through the woods towards the disheveled castle.
~~~~
"Ow! That hurts!" The prince growls in pain and glares at Lance.
"If you held still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" Lance snaps, continuing to tend the Prince's wounds.
"If you hadn't run away, none of this would have happened!" The beast snaps back.
"Well if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!" Lance glares at the prince.
The servant objects watch anxiously hoping this doesn't escalate any more.
"Well, you shouldn't have been in the West Wing!"
"Well, you should learn to control your temper!" Lance snaps, ending the argument.
Looking down at the wound he's tending to, Lance realizes its too deep into the skin. There's no way he'll be able to fix it. He looks over the bowl of once warm but now cold water that is tinted red from blood. He sets the bloodied cloth in the bowl and sighs, "Try to get some rest."
He stands from the wooden stole he sat on and wipes his hands on his pants. Lance hears the Prince slip into slumber then looks as at the objects who have been watching the pair for a while now.
"Thank you, Lance." Hunk smiles.
"We are eternally grateful," Matt adds, shifting his gaze from Lance to his sleeping master.
Lance questions the objects, "Why do you care so much about him?"
Hunk looks at the sleeping prince sweetly, "We've looked after him all his life."
Lance looks back at the beast, "But he has cursed you somehow...?" he looks back at the objects, "Why? You did nothing."
Hunk shifts his attention back to Lance, "You're quite right there, dear. You see, when the master lost his mother, and his cruel father took that sweet innocent lad and twisted him up to be just like him... we did nothing."
Matt looks at Lance and the rest of the servant objects, "Let him sleep."
The objects lead Lance out of the room and into the hall.
"You should get some sleep as well," Pidge says, waddling down the hall towards the stairway.
Lance nods and heads towards the East Wing.
~~~
Entering his room, Lance closes the door slowly and walks over to the window.
"Thank you for taking care of the master," Allura says.
"It was nothing..." Lance replies, leaning against the window seal, "But what happened to you guys...? How did you all turn into talking objects?"
"Oh, I could sing of the pain these dark days bring. The spell we're under. Still, it's the wonder of us I sing of tonight." Allura sings softly.
"How in the midst of all this sorrow? Can so much hope and love endure? I was innocent and certain... Now I'm wiser but unsure. I can't go back into my childhood. One that my mother made secure. I can feel the change in me, I'm stronger now but still not free." Lance sings along quietly, watching the sun rise.
~~~
Unable to sleep, Lance finds himself in the lounge with the servants. The room is filled only by the light of the fire and what light can get through the cracks of the curtained windows. The castle shakes and some of it falls and breaks away. Lance looks to the servant objects and asks, "What happens when the last petal falls?
Matt sighs, "The master remains a beast forever. And the rest of us become..."
"Antiques," Hunk interrupts.
"Knickknacks," Matt glances in Hunk's direction.
Lotor, the light purple, and white feather duster sweeps any the dust on the fireplace mantle, "Lightly used houseware,"
"Rubbish," Pidge scoffs, "We become rubbish."
Lance lets the good in him drive him once more. Before giving it one thought, Lance blurts out, "I want to help you. There must be some way to lift the curse."
The objects exchange looks and Pidge steps forward, "Well there is one way-- Ow!"
Matt smacks her and shakes his head.
Hunk frowns, "It's not for you to worry about, dear. We've made our bed and we must lie in it."
~~~
Lance sits at the side of the Prince's bed, reading Shakespeare to him,"Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. And therefore-"
The resting injured Prince remembers the line and joins in, "And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."
Lance looks to the Prince in shock, "So you know Shakespeare?"
The Prince looks over to the astonished young man, "I had an expensive education."
Lance raises an eyebrow and sets the book aside, "Oh that reminds me... Mr. Beastly Prince. I never caught your name."
The Prince rolls his eyes and looks to his left towards the window, "It's Keith."
Lance chuckles slightly which causes Keith to whip his head back towards Lance, "Whats so funny?"
"I was expecting some fancy, royal, regal name!" Lance smiles, "Not just plain old Keith!"
"Well sorry to disappoint you...you..." Keith racks his brain for the young man's name.
"Lance," Lance says, catching Keith's attention, "The name's Lance McClain."
"Lance..." Keith recites, "I'll remember that."
Lance smiles, "Anyways, my favorite Shakespeare story is Romero and Juliet."
"Why am I not surprised...?" Keith scoffs.
"Excuse me?" Lance's smile fades into confusion.
"All that heartache and pining and... There are so many better things to read." Keith explains.
"Like what?!" Lance askes.
YOU ARE READING
Beauty and The Beast {Klance AU}
Fanfiction[Klance AU] Lance, the most handsome guy in his small village. Yet he's awfully strange. His head is always in the clouds yet his nose is stuck in book. Strange and odd but that's all about to change.
