the prince and the pauper ; kubokai royalty au

13 ¬ stay by my side ¬

ohhh this chapter is gna be fun.. strap in

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Shun was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling when Aren walked in, but he jumped up back to life when he saw him.

"Aren! I missed you!" He whined, rolling around to lie on his stomach, with all the graces of a 3 year old toddler.

"It's been, what, ..2 hours?" Aren laughed at him, and went to shut the door with his usual amount of caution.

"Yes, well, whatever. Look what I managed to get here!" Shun crawled up his bed and rummaged around by his pillows, revealing that the almost full bottle of cider from earlier that day was stashed there. He pulled it out proudly and sloshed the liquid around in the bottle, a grin on his face. Aren put his hand up to his face and frowned.

"No. No, no, nononono. Shun. Come on. I can't drink on the job."

"What?! But..Aren.." he flashed him a sad, pitying look and clutched onto some glasses on his bedside table. "I was waiting all this time for you.."

He faltered, because deep down, he desperately wanted to have another drink. But he tried to hold his own. 
"I can't. You know I shouldn't."

"Please?" Shun whispered, trying so hard to make Aren feel guilty. "I managed to sneak it up here without getting caught, so it'd be a huge waste for us to just not drink it. We barely had any earlier. There's so much left, what do you expect me to do, have it all by myself and die of alcohol poisoning?"

At this point, Aren was defeated. Shun did have a point..and he personally wasn't one for wasting anything, especially not food or drink. So he sighed and looked away, embarrassed that Shun was able to get his way so easily.

"I guess..one or two won't hurt."

"Trust me, it'll be fun."

But 'one or two' led to three, four and five, and soon enough, the bottle was empty, lying limply on the wooden floor.

And at this point, both boys were gone. Completely.

"Hey..Aren,..you've just-.. drank the whole bottle!"

"Shun, you idiot..don't act innocent, y'know you drank alot too.."

"But not as much as you! Damn..how badly have you wanted to be drunk..?!"

"It's been a while, I guess. I thought you wanted us to get drunk, huh!?" He laughed, his words slurred. Neither of them really knew how many Aren had downed by this time, not even Aren himself. Shun was finishing his 5th glass, slamming the glass down on the floor when it was empty, causing a loud thud against the wood.

Both were being so incredibly loud, laughing and yelling, but neither of them even cared. As far as both Shun and Aren were concerned, there was nobody else in this palace but eachother. In their minds, it was just them two alone. Aren wasn't constantly peering at the door nervously, terrified of somebody walking in. And Shun wasn't overthinking every word, worried of slipping up and saying something embarrassing or stupid infront of Aren.

They were both just being uncaringly themselves- well, the non sober versions.

Time seemed to pass in double speed when they were both drunk out of their minds. Things were hazy, and fast paced, but to Shun's surprise, he didn't feel bad at all. He knew that very drunk people had a tendancy to vomit or cry or something equally as miserable, but he felt light and euphoric, so blissfully unaware of anything going on around him. All he could focus on right now was this buzzy feeling in his mind, and Aren's body next to his.

This had ..somehow.. become true in a literal sense, because eventually Aren and Shun had found themselves to be lying down on Shun's bed, facing eachother. Shun was drunkenly giggling at just how close their faces were, and pieces of his hair had fallen messily in front of his eyes. Aren pushed it out the way and brushed the strand behind his ear, making Shun giggle even more.

"Damnit..what am I doing?" Aren said quietly, his voice husky and low. The two were at direct eye level, and he gazed wistfully at Shun's beautiful glassy crimson eyes.

Shun playfully put a finger to Aren's lips. "Shhh..stop worrying so much, Aren,..all you ever do is worry." His words were slurred and mumbled, and he tapped Aren's nose clumsily as he took his hand away.

They stayed lying like this for a while, their previous buzz wearing out now as tiredness crept in. Still dressed in their day clothes, they clung onto each other, completely drunk and whispering softly.

"I'm so grateful for you, y'know. So so so so grateful.." 

"Yes, Aren, I know, you keep telling me.."

Shun giggled once again and moved in closer to him. As if by instinct, Aren wrapped his arm round Shun, pulling him in protectively. They were both so incredibly drunk that they even begin to comprehend what they were doing, but it didn't matter - Shun felt so safe and warm in Aren's arms and he knew that, in that moment, he never wanted to let go.

"I'm also grateful." Shun's voice was reduced to almost a whisper.

"Please never leave me, Aren."

In their state, neither could fully grasp just what consequences this may have. But at this time, neither even cared. That would be a problem for tomorrow morning, which seemed so distant into the future that there was no point even worrying about it.  

And just like that, they both fell asleep, with Shun held tightly in Aren's arms. 

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