"I Know I'm No Sweet Prince of Love" - Lestappen Fanfic

originally from my AO3

"Why can't we laugh now like we did then? How come I see you and ache instead?" - Pork Soda, Glass Animals

Lestappen AU in my OCs' universe, replacing MCs

Max is a rising star in the uniformed forces. Hated by some, loved by others, and plastered across every billboard, he helps to uphold the dystopian system of capitalism-in-decay, where the poor live in slums, festered with vermin and crime is rife. Only because he was pushed into joining and rising the ranks by his father, a cruel general who is loathed by the vast proportion of the population, known for being particularly unforgiving to anybody he considers weak, including his own son.

Charles is an lost and apathetic lowlife, living in the underbelly of the city, making money by selling stolen art to the black market, making it by day to day, sharing the yields with those around him. Once living in the better off neighbourhoods as a kid, he was screwed over and left for dead by those who were meant to care for him, ending up in the crummiest part of the city, but with a better group of people, who see him as a prince of thieves among the rabble.

A chance encounter leads to the 2 ill-fated lovers crossing paths, changing everything for them.