forum i cant imagine me without you / oxo / open

Started May 25 by @larcenistarsonist group

tune

From the beginning they had been inseparable, only but a title and a class to dare divide them. One, always a hair shorter and a step behind, was given a sword and shield at a young age when his parents disappeared and left him for the wolves. The other, with a crown atop his curls and a trained smile always featured in his expression, was schooled in language and politics since he first understood what the alphabet was. They met by chance, they were fated by the stars. They grew from wobbling toddlers to children with scraped knees. The knights and the nobles disapproved, but nobody could dare come between the young page and the prince.

When they both reached their teenage years, with awkward limbs and fluctuating voices, the house agreed that the two must split. They noticed what would be a very dangerous relationship, and they couldn't dare have their young prince so devoted to someone of a lower class. And so they took the page abroad, to train and to learn at another castle so the prince could focus solely on his studies to inherit the throne and the kingdom that accompanies it.

For ten long years, they tried to write. They tried to send trinkets and baubles and words of affection that could never quite be conveyed right on paper alone. Eventually, the letters stopped coming. Eventually, they both gave up.

Until it nears the time for the King to step away from his throne. He's old, graying in the beard and around his temples from where the heavy crown rests. Everyone knows the prince, nearly twenty-five, is ready. The prince himself, nearly twenty-five, is not ready. When the first coronation attempt is interrupted by an arrow and a goblet of poison, the prince and the king barely escape with their lives. They lock the castle up, sending away the staff and rehiring their entire guard. For the first time in years, the prince picks up his quill and writes to his friend.

The knight, the page who used to trail the young prince around the forest for hours on end, receives the letter with shaking hands and a mission. Who is he to refuse his best friend? The one who he's spent years thinking about, yearning for just one more day to chase each other in the fields, to throw rocks at each other in the spring, to trade hideous expressions behind their guardians' backs. He sets off immediately, arriving on the achingly familiar soil the next morning.

With one look at each other, it's like nothing has changed. Well, except that the knight has finally grown into his armor and the sword that rests at his side is no longer burdensome to his muscled arms. Well, except that the prince has evolved into an heir with glistening jewels and a vicious wit behind his sparkling eyes. From there, everyone is doomed.

OKAY HI SO YES I WANT HHRNRNRNGN all of the tropes in here. best friends to lovers, bodyguard against assassination attempts, hurt/comfort, one bed, forced proximity, flirting, sharing meals, sword lessons hrhrnnrng if this sounds like your jam, lemme know.

there might be,,, some more mature elements to this at some point, and if we get there, we will take that to the dms. so BECAUSE OF THAT i ask that this rp partner is preferably 18+ pls,, other than that, I have just a few rules: at least 2-3 paragraphs per response, please be literate and have decent grammar, try to be uhh somewhat active but I won't fault you for disappearing off the face of the earth bc i do that a lot lol

I just want a prince and a knight reunited after years apart and both of their first thoughts are OH NO HE'S HOT. i also want some uhh spice, some murder plot shenanigans, and all of the super tropey tropes that we all love so very much.I don't care if I play the prince or the knight!!! i'll leave that up to whoever wants to join (and fair warning: i will deny you if I don't groove with your writing style…)

TEMPLATE:

Name:
Nicknames/Aliases:
Age:
Sexuality:
Appearance: (include height, build, and what types of clothes he wears. images are welcome, just also describe em too)
Personality:
Likes/Dislikes/Hobbies/Etc:
Brief Background:

Name: Crown Prince Royce William Ellebern
Nicknames/Aliases: Royce, Roy, Crown Prince His Highness, any sort of those fancy names, but only his close friends/family really call him Roy
Age: Ehh, roughly twenty-six
Sexuality: Pan menace

Appearance: Roy is roughly six feet tall with a semi-toned build that comes with doing equestrian, croquet, and fencing. He has olive toned skin and dark, dark hair that he keeps cropped somewhat short and long-ish on the top. He could grow some strong facial hair, but he chooses to keep himself neatly groomed with a small mustache and gotee, kind of like this. He has narrow, almond eyes and dark brown irises that are always gleaming with some sort of mirth. He has a dimpled smile and straight teeth that has been described as quite charming. He loves to wear dark greens and browns that his father always tells him make him look like a peasant, but Roy doesn't care. He quite likes the color green and how it looks on him. When he's forced to look nicer, he adorns a fancy white suit with all of the golden buttons and ribbons and shoulder fringe things. Epaulets? Something similar to this lol. He also wears a ceremonial epee on his hip whenever he dresses up, but he's rarely ever found with anything dangerous in his everyday wear.

Personality: Roy is a fun-loving hooligan forced to live in the body of a prince with responsibilities and such. He's always looking for a good time and an excuse to get out of his daily tasks, but he's never malicious. He can be mischievous who loves pulling a prank or two, but he would absolutely throw himself in harm's way if somebody else is in danger. Much to the chagrin of his parents, Roy would rather die than have his kingdom suffer. This self-sacrificing behavior gets annoying at times, but Roy only ever has good intentions. He may not be incredibly book smart, but he knows how people work and he knows how to understand them. He has a witty side to him that nobody quite expects. Nobody really thinks that the boyish prince they all knew to grow up into quite an intelligent and quick man. He has fast mannerisms and can be impatient when things are too slow to get going. The people of the kingdom quite love him, but of course, every monarch has enemies that not even they know about.

Likes/Dislikes/Hobbies/Etc: Roy enjoys playing hooky, sneaking into the kitchens, and feeding apples and sugar cubes to all of the horses. He hates long meetings, people who don't talk with expression, and the taste of tea. He loves his horse, a stallion named Steppan, and he enjoys taking Steppan for long rides through the kingdom to visit all of his favorite bakeries and stands. His favorite hobbies are playing the lute (badly), playing chess (badly), and sneaking out in the middle of the night to attend the kingdom's festivities from a peasant's point of view.

Brief Background: Royce is the oldest son of three siblings, having a younger sister–Julianne–and a baby brother–Ivan. Julianne is eight years younger than him and Ivan is eighteen years younger than him. He is the only one of age and able to take the throne, though he doesn't want it. Julianne has always been more than happy to take up Royce's responsibilities when he decides to disappear from the castle. She probably knows more about the politics and foreign policies of the country than Royce. Royce grew up in the public eye, though he often chose to avoid it by playing in the woods with his best friend. When his friend was sent away when they were young teenagers, Royce drew into himself and disappeared more often. His parents had a difficult time finding him and they were never too kind when they did find him. He's a prince, after all. Eventually, Roy learned to internalize a lot of his lonely feelings and put on a charming smile, somehow managing to convince an entire kingdom that he was fine and dandy. When the time came for him to be crowned as king, it was violently interrupted when his glass was poisoned and a mercenary in the crowd nearly skewered him with an arrow. He didn't drink enough for it to be a lethal dose, but it was enough to have him bedridden for the next few days. Since then, the coronation has been postponed and Roy requested personally for his dear friend to return from abroad, for he is the only one Roy trusts with his life.

Name: Marcus Malone
Nicknames/Aliases: Marc. Just Marc. He hates being addressed by any titles or anything like that.
Age: 25
Sexuality: biromantic demisexual (openly flirts with both men and women, but is a little more discreet with men.)

Appearance: Marcus had a growth spurt and now stands at about 6’/6’2”, has short, somewhat spiky sandy blonde hair, grass green eyes, and a bright smile. He has a broad-shouldered build, very well-muscled but has a fair number of scars from training and doesn't really mind them. Yes, getting them was not fun but… he’s heard people say that they make him look ruggedly handsome. He wears the same kind of clothing as any other knight; a simple tunic that doesn't get caught in his armor, sturdy brown boots, but he doesn't like wearing the gauntlet gloves unless he has to wear his armored ones. His skin is very tanned from spending so much time outside during all of his training.

Personality: Despite appearing stoic as a Knight is supposed to be, generally he has a very warm personality. He is very dedicated but also has a bit of a temper when certain topics come up or when certain actions, or inactions are taken. He can be a bit immature, not much of a prankster himself but he will laugh (loudly) when he sees the result of one, though he does have a serious side and is very dedicated to his job.

Likes/Dislikes/Hobbies/Etc: Honestly, he likes being a Knight and all the things he learned because of it. He’s not enthusiastic about killing anyone but knows it's part of his duty… he also doesn't like how snobby some of the higher-up Nobles can act. They're not better than anyone else and shouldn't act like it. Due to his dedication, most of his hobbies are things that he learned through training. But he also likes music and dancing (not very well), sweets, being challenged… and his faithful steed; Rex.

Brief Background: He doesn't exactly know what happened to his parents that caused him to grow up alongside Prince Royce but he stopped caring about that some time ago. He still wonders but chooses not to dwell on it. After being separated from his friend, Marc put a lot of effort into his training, whether it was with a sword and shield or a crossbow, horseback riding, or swimming, he strived to do the best he could. Then push past that. Often one to crack a good joke or just be easy to talk to, he maintained a friendly comradery with the others he was training with. But when he received the request from Roy to come back and help with the threat, he quickly agreed.

The mighty kingdom of Rhodes has been a benevolent presence in the continent for quite some time. From the towering mountains coated in evergreen trees to the crashing coastlines that disappear into rugged water, nature seems to be weaved into the very essence of the town and the castle that sits atop the third highest mountain, because of course, nobody would dare build anything taller than the Goddess and her Muse. The House of Ellebern is a beautiful fortress overlooking the sea, nestled contently in the forest on the third mountain. The castle is of glittering gray stone and tall spires with stained glass windows tinted every shade of the rainbow sending beautiful, dancing mosaics of color onto the floor of the throne room.

A man with salt and peppered hair sits on the throne, rubbing at his temples as he listens to what his advisor is readily informing him, though none of it bears much importance. He has his daughter at his side, her hair pulled back into a tight bun and her hand moving quickly as she takes near word-for-word notes, catching every detail despite the advisor's rapid speaking. The king isn't concerned about the weather at the moment, he's more concerned about his son–not his youngest of course, Ivan, the lovely little scamp, is spending the afternoon with his beloved mother. No, the king is concerned for his eldest, the one who was just nearly killed at the would-be coronation and somehow disappeared from his sickbed earlier that morning. Julianne, Goddess bless her soul, luckily stepped right up to the plate to take upon her brother's responsibilities. If the king could have it another way, maybe he would have his daughter become the next monarch of Rhodes, but the law forbids it, and the king isn't about to go changing centuries of precedent over his one son, who isn't even lazy… he just, well, has a poor attention span.

Technically, Crown Prince Royce William Ellebern should still be in bed, especially since he was, well, poisoned only five days earlier. But, to be fair, he is an impatient man. If his father wanted him to stay in bed and rest, then his father wouldn't have informed him that there would be a boat arriving that afternoon carrying a very important passenger which has Roy absolutely buzzing to see. Shrouded in a hood that really does little to conceal his identity, Roy moves through the crowds with smiles and quiet excuse mes. The port is nearby and that's all that the Crown Prince cares about. His title and reputation be damned.

When he first wrote to Marcus, it felt, well, like a little bit of a reach, a fever pipe dream perhaps to have the two of them finally reunited after ten long years. Marcus had been shipped away to the neighboring kingdom of Ethel to finish his training as a knight, but they both knew that it was just an excuse to get them separated. After all, a prince co-dependent on his knight is hardly a combination that a Court wants for the future of their kingdom. So, of course, they ripped Roy's only friend straight from his heart, but he got over it. At least, that's what everyone believes.

As he pushes closer to the port, to the ship slowly arriving from the Etheli seas, Roy wonders how his life would've changed in Marcus hadn't been forced away. But now isn't the time for hypotheticals. He can ask as many what ifs as he wants when he finally sees Marcus's face–are his eyes still as green as Roy remembers? Goddess, has his stupid smile worn away with time? Roy silently prays that his face hasn't been so hideously scarred that Roy can't even recognize him, but… but he supposes he'll always be able to recognize his friend. After all, he could almost see Marcus in his handwriting, in the letter that he sent back as soon as he received Roy's.

A massive ship is docking at the port, the anchor dropping and the walkway dropped onto the wooden dock. Roy skids to a stop before it, pulling his hood tightly around his face to hide his growing smile and giddiness. The first few guests trail off, chatting idly to each other as they collect their luggage and find their way out. Roy's eyes skim over each head, each face, each body searching for the one–

"Marcus!" he cries, not bothering to hide his immense joy as he spots the head of sunny blonde hair through the crowd. Within an instant, he's pulled his hood down and rocketed across the crowd, throwing his arms around his friend's neck and relishing in the fact that he's here– after ten long years, he's finally here.

Marcus almost couldn't believe what was going on. When he first received that letter from Prince Royce he had been near ecstatic. It was the first form of contact he had in years. But as soon as he had read it… He could not define how he felt in just one word. Shock, obviously, because of the attempt. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone had tried to kill Royce. Near immediate relief followed once he read that Royce was ok… or at least the letter didn't mention anything about him having any serious injuries or anything like that. There was still an underlying sense of concern that he had tried to downplay his condition as well as the possibility that there could be another attempt.

But overall, he couldn't deny how happy he felt about finally going home. He had started packing to leave as soon as his letter had been sent. But he had only been able to catch the ship the next morning partly due to having to say goodbye to his fellow Knights. Etheli had been a nice place and a very nice kingdom but there had always been something missing. Or rather someone.

The sight of the kingdom of Rhodes brought one of his bright smiles to his face and soon enough he was politely pushing his way toward the gangplank. The sounds of the bust port may bring back the memory of when he had left all those years ago. But he doesn't stop smiling. Simply because he's finally home again.

As soon as his feet touch the sovereign ground of Rhodes, he hears a voice calling his name. But before he can look for who, the knight is ambushed by a hug. "Royce?" he whispers as his arms carefully wrap themselves around the Crown Prince. A wide grin nearly splits his face as he recognizes his old friend and laughs joyously at their reunion. "What in the Goddess's name are you doing here? I thought you would still be recovering."