Chapter Text
As the path in front of Shiro came into formation, two choices presented themselves. The option of a gardener on the left and the word filled path to the right. Being left-handed Shiro tended to go for more of a left leaning approach, however, today was different for the sole reason he was expecting a very special delivery. So, he went right and headed towards the letter department of the Kogane Kingdom. A very special place for numerous reasons but the most important were the monthly letters from his star-crossed lover, Matthew Holt. Star-crossed of course representing their love for space, as Shiro liked to think. As he approached the letter tower, he took a deep breath to calm the nerves. Who knew if Matt’s letter came in today and who knew if he had even written one back yet. It had been a little over a month which is usually how long it takes but traveling between the Human and Elven lands was no feat.
Shiro waved awkwardly as he spoke, “Hello Letter Keeper, I have once again come to help as it is my princely duty to aid my kingdom.”
“Ah, welcome back Prince Shiro. Once again, you don’t have to explain why you are here, I already know how much you enjoy helping me,“ the Letter Keeper said with a warm grin.
Shiro nodded and smiled back before getting to work. He always started aiding the Letter Keeper with the bin marked ‘URGENT’, as it seemed pretty important for the Kingdom’s success. After those had been sorted, as Shiro’s mail sorting routine goes, he disappeared to the back which held incoming letters for the townspeople. Starting with ‘Z’, he worked his way up until he reached the letters for himself. He had requested when he first started to receive mail from his old lovers, aka exes, for his letters to be moved to the townspeople section in hopes of his father not finding them. The Letter Keeper of course complied. As he flipped through the letters, it was the usual couple of papers from Curtis advertising his new invention. Shiro made a mental note to go visit him and find out what this ‘cleaning machine’ was all about. Eventually, Shiro came across the grand prize, the letter from Matthew. He knew he couldn’t open it here, but he needed a grand escape plan, one that wasn’t suspicious.
Shiro emerged from the back, “Letter Keeper, as I have been here for quite a bit of time, my duties here are done… uhm… i-in fact I have to goo to ameetingnow. Bye.”
Shiro zoomed back to his room as the Letter Keeper gave him a strange look before going back to his sorting.
- ˚✧ -
Once Shiro reached his room he hastily locked his door and carefully opened the letter.
‘Dear my one and only beloved Shiro,
^that was gross.
Anyways, I accept your invitation to a date in the forest outside of the castle grounds. In fact, as I am writing this letter I am on my way to Yendailian and should be arriving at .. let’s say 11:86pm which is like a totally human time. Honestly, it’s hard to tell the time when you don’t have a huge clock on the ground. Just meet me around midnight.
Can’t wait to share all of the wonderful kisses under the stars and be all sappy romantic.
Love,
Matthew
(Signed in elvish as well)’
Shiro’s face lit up as he read the letter and he was practically bouncing with excitement. It had been so long since he had seen Matt. What was he going to wear? Holy crap what was he going to wear! It couldn’t be too obvious that he was going somewhere special so the normal date outfit wouldn’t do the trick. Plus, they’ve been on dates before; no need to overdo it. He sighed dramatically as he fell back onto his bed. This was too much.
- ˚✧ -
They met in their usual spot, underneath one of the many trees that Matt calls his own. At first Shiro was unsure if Matt had made it on time, that was until he felt what Matt calls ‘star sprinkles’ falling on his head.
“The stars are falling from the sky due to your beauty,” Matt said with a laugh before hopping down from the tree and planting a kiss on Shiro’s cheek.
“Last time I checked, stars don’t fall from trees.”
Shiro grabbed ahold of Matt’s hand and dragged him further into the forest.
“Well last time I checked, a tree is the closest I can get to the sky right now.”
Shiro nodded in response as they plopped down underneath a clearing in the trees. They gazed up at the sky only to find the many stars covered by clouds.
“We picked the worst day to go stargazing.”
“Night, but yes we did.”
They settled into each other’s embrace - finding peace in the silence and enjoying this moment.
- ˚✧ -
“I don’t know how I feel about changing to look more royal just for a meeting… Why can’t I just go how I currently am?”
Shiro chuckled, “ You look like a squirrel drowned and came back to life; besides, I have to change too.”
Keith rolled his eyes, “You’re only changing because you renounced yourself as the official heir to the throne.”
An offended gasp was heard from Shiro as he kept on to his room, “I’ll see you soon, your highness.”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”
Keith slammed the door behind him and headed towards his drawers only to find a letter addressed to himself on top. The prince snatched up the letter and unfolded it - revealing an urgent message to meet in the woods at sunset from some guy named Matthew.
He shuffled back towards his bedroom door and stuck his head out, “SHIRO!”
A ‘what’ came thundering down from the other end of the hallway.
“Do you know a guy named Matthew?”
At what seemed to be the speed of lightning Shiro came running down the hall till he reached the threshold of the bedroom door.
“Yes… what’s the reason?”
Keith shoved the letter into Shiro’s face, “Uh, he left a letter on my dresser… which is weird cause that means he was in my room, which makes me uncomfortable.”
“Keith, did you even read this? It’s an urgent letter, who cares the means by which he delivered it.”
“Yes, I did read it but how do I even know I can trust this, Matthew. It could be a kidnapping ploy.”
Shiro rubbed his temple, “It’s not. We are going at sunset so get ready for a long day.”
Keith groaned in response as he slammed his door to prepare for what was to come.
- ˚✧ -
“Are you sure it is these woods? There are so many woods this guy could be in. How do we even know where to look when his letter was so vague in the first place. It’s really making me think this is someone trying to take our lives…”
Keith had been droning on and on for the past thirty minutes as they wandered through the woods looking for Matthew. Shiro completely understood the hesitancy, but Matt wouldn’t have pulled such a stunt if it wasn’t important.
“Keith. You need to trust me. I know where we are going.”
The two princes came across a small clearing in the trees that had populated itself with bushes and flowers alike. Shiro stopped in his tracks, “This is where he’ll be.”
Keith narrowed his eyes as he looked between Shiro and the flowers, “If you say so.”
He crossed his arms as the two waited for what seemed like hours. However, in reality, it had only been a couple of minutes before a shadow started to dance behind the trees. Keith’s eyes widened as he watched a Mud Elf reveal itself in the fading daylight - in the middle of a human territory. This was nothing like the textbooks described. Elves were supposed to be monstrous creatures that towered over their enemies but the elf that was standing before Keith was nothing of the type. His hair was a dirty blonde mop and fur surrounded the perimeter of his face. His stature was short, and he seemed to have a million pockets holding who knows what.
A grin grew across Shiro’s face as he rushed over to embrace the Mud Elf. A look of utter disbelief filled Keith’s face. His brother is hugging an elf. Elves are not terrifying, and they aren’t violent creatures, at least this one isn’t. And for some reason a sense of familiarity overflowed inside of him. Keith was pulled out of his thoughts by the Mud Elf waving at him.
“Hi, my name is Matt. It’s super cool to finally meet you after hearing so much about you from Kashi. Good stuff of course.”
Keith’s jaw was on the floor. His brother was dating an elf when their Dad and most humans despise elves. What a ballsy move.
Shiro nudged Keith, “are you going to say hi back?”
“Sorry, hi.”
Matt smiled and closed the distance between the three of them. “This is very important, so you have to listen closely. Your Dad is going to be assassinated tomorrow night.”