Fanfic:: Beauty and the Bear
Justin/Kyle, LoM setting where their skins are why they are (DB still skeletal and Kyle's a bear), Fluff and silliness, playing off a trope I'm surprised no one has done yet.
Thanks to Olivia and Lily for betaing!
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Not to mention, there was mistletoe everywhere, something Shay had “forgotten” to mention when she invited all the Lords (and Prince and Emissary) over for Nismas Eve.
The evening turned out to be fantastic; everyone enjoyed the huge meal that was served to them, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes; everything someone could hope for in a holiday dinner. Even Deadbones was enjoying himself, ever since Nisovin had found a spell that made him able to drink again. By the time all the Lords were done with dessert, there was nothing on their plates and Shay guessed the same could be said about her kitchen.
Thankfully, her wine cellar was fully packed, so they all convened in the parlor, the servants trailing behind with baskets of wine, to get absolutely drunk.
Larger than most of the rooms in the mansion, Shay requested it to be added on purely so she would have a grand space to entertain guests. Windows covered two out of the four walls, letting the light from the moon and stars in. The Nismas tree in the near left corner, the crystal chandelier above them, and the roaring fireplace to their right also provided light for them as they sat down. The couches and chairs were arranged in a vague semicircle around the coffee table that now held the drinks, facing the two entrances into the room, where a large painting was hung.
The Lords all entered the room, none of them side by side and none of them noticing the mistletoe hanging above their heads.
Shay tried to hide her disappointment as a servant popped open the first bottle. No one had walked under the mistletoe with someone else. It was by some miracle she had been the only person caught under the mistletoe and that was just absolutely unacceptable!
As the night went on and they all got more and more drunk and no one had walked under the mistletoe with someone else, Shay was just about to take matters into her own hands when Kyle and Justin both walked through the double-doorway leading into the parlor. She had forgotten that they had gone out separately.
"Stop!" she yelled, nearly out of her seat with excitement. She pointed at the doorway above their heads, waiting for them to look up.
The two lords did so, a confused look on both their faces. Kyle’s eyes widened and Justin’s mouth dropped open.
“Oooooh, this is better than I could have hoped for!” Shay said, giggling and practically bouncing in her seat.
Deadbones looked up from his beer as Shay continued to giggle. When he registered what was about to happen in front of him, he started grinning just as large as Shay.
"Hell yeah, Rob's about to pay me fifty gold diamonds,” he goaded, putting down his drink.
Rob looked up from his conversation with Coe upon hearing his name.
"Why am I gonna have to- oh, OH!" His eyes widened as he saw the mistletoe with Kyle and Justin underneath it, but then turned to glare at Deadbones.
"No wait, I bet forty diamonds that they'd kiss before New Year’s. I ain't paying you shit, DB."
"But you also bet ninety that they wouldn't be forced to kiss. So gimmie," Deadbones held out a hand, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Rob glanced at DB's skeletal hand, then at his own pockets, then to the lord and bearon still standing, and back to the hand.
"Is it really forced though?" he asked, hand slowly moving down to cover his pockets.
Deadens rolled his eyes, "If we walked through that door, we'd be forced to kiss too."
"But!” Roamin chimed in from the other side of the room, “Kissing under mistletoe is less forced and more... tradition!"
"They’re still being made to!" Deadbones exclaimed, throwing his other hand up, the other still held out, waiting for a pouch of gold diamonds.
Nisovin sighed, "They haven't even kissed yet!"
"Shut up, Nisovin, "Rob and Deadbones said simultaneously.
"Hey I already lost my bet,” Nisovin said, “Why don't we let them kiss, then decide who gets the money?"
Rob and Deadbones looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. They and all the other lords turned to look at the door, where Kyle and Justin were still standing awkwardly. The two turned to look at each other.
"How come we didn't run while they were arguing?" Justin asked, breaking the silence.
“I… I also have money in the pot,” Kyle said, sounding unsure of himself.
Justin sighed, placing is head in his hands before looking back up to the bear.
"Why?" he asked, exasperated but unable to keep the small smile off his face.
Another shrug.
“I thought… I thought I might as well make a profit while they've been making all the jokes. So, anyway." Kyle clapped his paws together, "how do you want to do this?"
Justin looked at him up and down for a moment. "I guess... Just do it?"
"Works for me," the other said with a smile. Before Justin could react, Kyle lips were on his.
Justin’s eyes slid shut on automatic. It was as chaste of a kiss as it could get; lips closed, hands at their sides, nothing especially romantic about it, but then again, there wasn’t a lot romantic about kissing a bear.
Justin could vaguely hear Shay whooping from the sidelines, as well as several of the lords clapping and whistling. When he felt like the others had gotten their fill, he would pull away, but as awkward as the kiss felt, there was something nice about it. It probably had to do with the fact that he kinda sorta had a crush on his very furry friend (and boy was that a revelation, coming to terms with the fact that he wanted to be more than friends with a fucking bear).
He was about to pull away when Kyle forced him back, claws digging in for a moment as he pushed Justin back into the parlor.
His eyes flew open as he stumbled backwards, hitting Roamin in the chest and falling gracelessly into his arms. The other lords rushed from their seats with Nisovin running straight for Kyle, who was clutching at his head, pulling on his ears and breathing much quicker than he should have. Nisovin stopped just a foot away from the bear. He tried to comprehend what was happening, but was at a loss.
"You okay, Kyle?" Nisovin asked, eyes scanning the bear quickly.
"Yeah, I-" the bear growled in pain, paws clutching at his chest, "Oh they don't write this in the fairytales."
Nisovin looked behind him, shooting a questioning glance at Justin, who responded with a shrug, just as confused as the rest of them. He'd like to think his kisses weren't that bad.
Kyle fell to his knees, growls turning into groans as he continued to grip different parts of his body.
"Justin," he said suddenly rough gritted teeth, "I just want to say, thank-"
He cut himself off, screaming in pain and falling forward. Nisovin stepped closer, but stopped as a thick, white mist came out of nowhere, coming in between cracks between the door and the floor, through the windows, and down through the chimney, putting out the crackling fire in one go. The fog and mist, seemingly with a mind of their own, encircled the still breathing bear, climbing higher and higher until it was as tall as the doorway and completely blocking anyone's view of Kyle. Nisovin was about to bring a hand up to touch the mist when Rob rushed forward, scooping up the wizard and carrying him back to the rest of the group, who were all staring at the mist in rapt wonderment.
"This better not be one of your crazy schemes, Rob," Shay muttered, eyes still on the fog. He shot her a glare, still carrying Nisovin.
A light appeared suddenly in the doorway, shining brightly despite being hindered by the mist. Justin could’ve sworn he saw a shadow of a man hovering in the center of the fog, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came.
The brilliant light slowly dimmed into nothing. The mist dissipated, crawling back under doorways, through cracks in the window sill, and back up the chimney. When it all vanished, the rest of the lords were too shocked to move.
From the doorway stepped a tall, muscular man with dark brown, shaggy hair and a beard as big as Justin’s. He wore the clothes of royalty, white trousers with a brown tunic and vest, a dark brown belt holding his sword at his side. He stopped and blinked for a moment, before looking down at his body. Justin had never seen a grin bigger than the one on his face as he saw himself, flexing his fingers and curling his toes.
"Holy shit," the man mumbled in an all too familiar voice, "Holy shit!"
The man looked up and stared at Justin. His eyes were alight with excitement and something else Justin couldn't distinguish.
"You did it Justin!" the man exclaimed, "You did it!"
The others around him stood with eyes wide and jaws slack when the connection finally hit them. Justin was the last one to understand who the devilishly handsome man in front of them was.
"Wait, is that you Kyle?" He took a step forward, mouth dropping open.
"Yeah, it is," Kyle said, running a hand through his hair which was not helping Justin in anyway with the whole new revelation of "Holy fuck, Kyle is human and really hot".
"But... How?"
Kyle snorted, "It's actually pretty cliché. I was taking a walk in the woods a few years ago and ran into this old woman. Apparently she had this personal vendetta against my family because she starts cursing me off and screaming nonsense words that I think have no meaning, but next thing I know, I'm a bear and she's telling me only a kiss will break this bullshit spell."
"Why would she have something against your family?" Nisovin asked.
"Oh yeah, didn't tell you guys that, huh." Kyle smiled as the other lords shook their heads. "Well, I'm Prince Kyle,” he gave a sweeping bow, “son of King Ursa, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Karhu. Nice to truly meet you all."
The other lords muttered their responses, still in shock of the whole ordeal.
Except for Spyd, who piped up with, "Don't both those names just mean 'bear' in different languages?"
The other lords all turned to stare at him with varying expressions of disbelief on their faces.
"What?! I had to take languages back in West Delphia," he said, straightening his back and puffing up his chest slightly.
The others took that answer and turned their attention back to Kyle, who shrugged.
"Yeah, our crest had two bears on it as well. Witches tend to be fairly literal. She hated the royal family and all we stood for so she decided to take it out on me."
“If she hated your family that much, why didn’t she just kill you?” Roamin bluntly asked. Coe punched his arm immediately.
Kyle responded with another shrug. “I’m the youngest, so she just had to get me out of the way. Maybe she was feeling generous when she added the kiss part. I don’t know, I never talked to her after that. I basically ran out of the kingdom once it happened. Magic was absolutely outlawed there, so it really was better for me to leave.”
“Where’d you go?” Shay questioned.
“Anywhere I could, really. If I heard there was magic in a place, I went there. But after a long time with nothing working, I went where there was food. Eventually I ended up here and you guys were crazy enough to make me a baron.”
“No, you’re a bear-on!” Deadbones exclaimed, causing the rest of them to laugh.
Justin laughed along, suddenly realizing how ridiculous this whole situation was. When he stopped, he found that Kyle was much closer than he previously had been.
The prince smiled, holding a hand out, “Thank you, Justin, truly. Without you, I’d still be a bear.”
Justin glanced down at Kyle’s hand, then back up at his smiling, far too handsome face.
“Fuck it,” he thought to himself, decision made quickly.
Grabbing Kyle’s hand, he pulled them so they were chest to chest and kissed him. Kyle stood in shock for a moment before reciprocating, letting go of Justin’s hand to wrap his arms around the other’s waist. He tilted Justin’s head, getting a new angle to deepen the kiss, tongue tracing his lips.
Behind them, they could hear the rest of them clapping and whooping, this time for an entirely different reason. As they broke apart, Deadbones loudly proclaimed, “Get a room!”, before loudly squealing as one of the lords clamped a hand over his mouth.
Neither one of them paid attention, already going in for a second kiss.
Shay mentally patted herself on the back. This had to be the best Nismas Eve of all time.
