Jolly Royals Drabbles

Getting Ready

This is a throw away drabble that I wrote some time ago. It was initially created as a sequel to the chapter "Afterglow", but I tweaked it just a tiny bit to consider it as a standalone drabble. Another thing, I meant to publish another drabble that's still in an indefinite production state, but I decided at the last minute to let this thing see the light of day, just to keep this book somewhat active.

Starchy quietly stepped out of bed, careful not to wake his Queen. For a moment, he contemplated whether he should shower to freshen himself up, or just put his clothes from the previous day back on. He made up his mind rather quickly after taking a glance at a clock on the wall, realising how late it was. One by one, he circled the bed, picking up individual articles of clothing off of the floor while silently cursing at his past self for being so careless with his and Queen Delightful's clothes the night before. Once he was done, he threw on his own clothes shortly before neatly folding Queen D's and gently resting them at the edge of her massive bed.

Hé let out a deep sigh, scanning the royal suite for his hat until he spotted the familiar green pickle shaped blob sitting next to the queen's crown on top of a small table near the fireplace. Snatching it up, not without giving the royal crown a quick glance, he placed it atop of his head, shifting it around a bit until it engulfed a good portion of his forehead. He tiptoed over to a nearby mirror, after a few rounds of running his fingers through his hair, he was satisfied with how he looked and surprised by how little wrinkles were formed in his clothes after many hours of sitting in a disheveled clump on the floor.

Confident to start the day, he smiled to himself as he happily but quietly frolicked to the door. He wrapped his hand around the door handle, but before he pulled the door open, he stopped himself. Turning around and looking at his slumbering Delight.

With each breath she took, a small squeaky sound escaped from her lips followed shortly after as a small smile remained on her face. Her bare arm lay comfortably on top of the large blanket that once covered her and Starchy together completely until he sacrificed his portion to get her even more comfortable and to rise out of bed. Starchbottom let go of the door handle to put his hand up to his lips, thinking of what he should do to inform her of his sudden disappearance in order to avoid her going into a tizzy once she wakes up and realises that he is no longer cuddled up with her. He finally settled on leaving a small note next to her on a pillow. He found a loose leaf of paper next to her crown, and a pen sitting on her nightstand.

As he wrote out his note, he began to feel bad about leaving her alone without personally informing her of his departure, but he didn't want to disturb her peaceful slumber after such a long, passionate night, and many errands needed to be completed. After rereading his note while adding some extra words here and there, he softly lay the paper on the pillow that previously cradled his head not too long ago.

Another idea popped in his head as he gazed lovingly at Queen Delightful. With light and quiet steps, he jogged out of the room, running through the corridors and into the garden, he searched high and low for the perfect red rose, until he came across one with freshly bloomed petals. He took a whiff of it, and let out a long exhale. It was absolutely perfect for his perfect Sweet Delight. He ran back upstairs, slowing his pace once he approached the royal suite. He walked straight over to the side of the bed where the note lay, he placed the rose, petals pointing towards Queen Delightful's face, on top of the note. Now he was fully prepared to start the day.

Before finally leaving, he bent down to press his lips against her cheek, whispering "Good morning, my Sweet Delight.", giving her an additional kiss at the end of his sentence. Closing the door softly behind him, he muttered "I love you.", leaving his sleeping beauty to peacefully slumber through the rest of the morning.