Post by James Florian on Jan 26, 2015 6:03:37 GMT
James glared at Grove when he decided that the best response was snorting like some strong, muscular, redheaded pig. Now James did not think that Grove was such a disgusting, yet delicious, creature in the slightest bit, However when one’s pride was being insulted nice thoughts weren’t exactly running around in James’ head. Though it was a joke in both families of how he was going to get in trouble next, he never wanted to acknowledge it as the truth. After all what future king wanted a reputation of being coddled and watched at every single second because of things that happened when he was little? Not a single one. They were supposed to be the ones with an eagle eye, making sure that no threats to their people looming on the horizon. Now it was kind of hard to do that with one overprotective mother, seven tiny uncles, and one worrywart of a giant blocking the view. After all it wasn’t like James went looking for trouble like everyone seemed to believe, trouble just seemed to find him.
So for once, James didn’t come up with some counter argument or witty remark in response, but instead he merely said, “Can we just drop it?” Although it was posed as a question, the slightly bitter tone of voice revealed it was anything but. This conversation about how James couldn’t even be trusted to do anything without taking food from strangers or pricking his finger on a spinning wheel, was over. Believe it or not, James wasn’t Snow. She was the one everyone should place on a pedestal, safely away from danger. Not her son.
All bitter thoughts and his stubborn pride disappeared though when Grove finally put two and two together, and finally realized that James had something to do with him winning the title of Winter Ball Prince. His face and voice softened compared to the previous conversation and said a sheepish grin, “Well yeah, you’re my best friend. You deserve it more than anyone here.” Which was more than true. Although the two of them may not see eye to eye all the time, Grove had a heart of gold and deserved more credit for it than what he received. It was probably the gruff exterior and antisocial behavior that made Grove himself that shied people away from figuring out how much of a hero the lumberjack was. He deserved to have that wall between him and the others dismantled by something like this.
From Grove’s expression, James honestly expected him to wrap the Prince in an inescapable hug that would leave a bruise or two on top of the ones Cyrille gave him. (Because let’s face it, emotional giants found it very hard to keep their strength in check.) However James was surprised by Grove squeezing his shoulder in gratitude. Unfortunately that was the shoulder that was connected to the arm that was still sore from proving to Cyrille that the Prince was no coward. So for a split second James’ ear to ear grin was replaced with a slight grimace as his body protested the pressure, but James quickly was able to keep it in check. This was Grove’s moment, he wasn’t going to let his mistake and poor judgement ruin that for him. So he mouthed the words “You’re welcome” to him, hopefully Grove would take it as the crowd being a bit too loud with the announcement of the winners. Not because James was afraid his own voice would betray just how bad his injuries were. It had already taken the Prince forever to convince Grove that he was fine. He was so done with that wretched infirmary.
It was fun seeing Grove’s and Admiral’s reactions to it all. They were just all wrapped up in it, Grove looking out at the crowd stunned, as if he still couldn’t believe that they liked him enough to vote for him; and Admiral was acting like the puppy dog he was inside, just lapping all the attention up. James himself was a bit jaded to the sensation of standing in front of a lot of people being called a prince, because well he’s been doing this kind of thing all his life. Yet there was this giddy feeling inside of him with the realization that he was up here because his peers wanted him to be. Not because of the fact he was the offspring of a Queen and King. They wanted him up here, not even Grove realized how badly the question of whether people wanted him to be in this position had bugged him. After all the coddling tended to have the bad side effect of a low self-esteem when it came to one’s peers. At least now James knew that, yeah people wanted him with a crown on his head. Now that was a huge relief to the seventeen year old. They wanted him here.
James winced a bit when he saw Isla stumble during her dance as the Winter Ball Queen with his other friend Eli. It didn’t take him too long either to realize that maybe that stumble wasn’t just a stumble. Maybe it was the fact that he was closer to them and saw how she gripped onto Eli for support, or maybe it was the fact he was in pain too and it was easier for him to see someone else who was hurt too. Regardless his eyes flickered nervously between Isla and Eli hoping that his eyes were tricking him, but he was also ready to go over and help just in case he was right.
So for once, James didn’t come up with some counter argument or witty remark in response, but instead he merely said, “Can we just drop it?” Although it was posed as a question, the slightly bitter tone of voice revealed it was anything but. This conversation about how James couldn’t even be trusted to do anything without taking food from strangers or pricking his finger on a spinning wheel, was over. Believe it or not, James wasn’t Snow. She was the one everyone should place on a pedestal, safely away from danger. Not her son.
All bitter thoughts and his stubborn pride disappeared though when Grove finally put two and two together, and finally realized that James had something to do with him winning the title of Winter Ball Prince. His face and voice softened compared to the previous conversation and said a sheepish grin, “Well yeah, you’re my best friend. You deserve it more than anyone here.” Which was more than true. Although the two of them may not see eye to eye all the time, Grove had a heart of gold and deserved more credit for it than what he received. It was probably the gruff exterior and antisocial behavior that made Grove himself that shied people away from figuring out how much of a hero the lumberjack was. He deserved to have that wall between him and the others dismantled by something like this.
From Grove’s expression, James honestly expected him to wrap the Prince in an inescapable hug that would leave a bruise or two on top of the ones Cyrille gave him. (Because let’s face it, emotional giants found it very hard to keep their strength in check.) However James was surprised by Grove squeezing his shoulder in gratitude. Unfortunately that was the shoulder that was connected to the arm that was still sore from proving to Cyrille that the Prince was no coward. So for a split second James’ ear to ear grin was replaced with a slight grimace as his body protested the pressure, but James quickly was able to keep it in check. This was Grove’s moment, he wasn’t going to let his mistake and poor judgement ruin that for him. So he mouthed the words “You’re welcome” to him, hopefully Grove would take it as the crowd being a bit too loud with the announcement of the winners. Not because James was afraid his own voice would betray just how bad his injuries were. It had already taken the Prince forever to convince Grove that he was fine. He was so done with that wretched infirmary.
It was fun seeing Grove’s and Admiral’s reactions to it all. They were just all wrapped up in it, Grove looking out at the crowd stunned, as if he still couldn’t believe that they liked him enough to vote for him; and Admiral was acting like the puppy dog he was inside, just lapping all the attention up. James himself was a bit jaded to the sensation of standing in front of a lot of people being called a prince, because well he’s been doing this kind of thing all his life. Yet there was this giddy feeling inside of him with the realization that he was up here because his peers wanted him to be. Not because of the fact he was the offspring of a Queen and King. They wanted him up here, not even Grove realized how badly the question of whether people wanted him to be in this position had bugged him. After all the coddling tended to have the bad side effect of a low self-esteem when it came to one’s peers. At least now James knew that, yeah people wanted him with a crown on his head. Now that was a huge relief to the seventeen year old. They wanted him here.
James winced a bit when he saw Isla stumble during her dance as the Winter Ball Queen with his other friend Eli. It didn’t take him too long either to realize that maybe that stumble wasn’t just a stumble. Maybe it was the fact that he was closer to them and saw how she gripped onto Eli for support, or maybe it was the fact he was in pain too and it was easier for him to see someone else who was hurt too. Regardless his eyes flickered nervously between Isla and Eli hoping that his eyes were tricking him, but he was also ready to go over and help just in case he was right.
