the princess and the frog

i have no explanation for this other than someone on tumblr brought up the idea of a "princess & frog" au

Of course it was just Yuri's luck, he supposes, that the Quoi Woods actually did turn out to have a curse.

He didn't really believe it when Estelle first told him the rumor about this forest, much less expected that she'd be so on the money about what the curse actually did, but now as Yuri looks down at his four green legs sitting on the pile of his own clothes that are now way too big for him, he has to admit that she'd actually had good reason to be afraid.

Son of a bitch, he really did get turned into a damned frog.

"Ohhhh no. Oh no oh no oh nooooo!"

Estelle mutters it over and over again like some sort of frantic mantra, bending down to Yuri and immediately scooping him up into her palm. It's disorienting, how freaking big she seems now, her eyes wide as her face leans in ever closer, and Yuri has to fight the urge to shrink in on himself from how helpless that makes him feel.

"Oh Yuri, what do I do? I…I don't know what you can eat or how to look after you or…or if you can even still understand me!" Estelle pauses, then squint her eyes at him. "Can you understand me?"

Yuri can, and he tries to open his mouth to tell her so, but his new vocal cords don't work the way he wants them to and all that comes out is a croak.

Estelle groans. "No good, huh?"

Yuri tries to shake his head in reply, but without a neck, he can't even do that.

"Ohhhh, what am I supposed to do?" Estelle whines to herself, and brings the hand that's not holding him up to cup her forehead. "We can't keep going like this…we have to break the curse…"

Estelle visibly freezes up, then, and Yuri watches curiously as she then whirls an intense gaze back onto him. He can practically see some sort of idea racing around in that head of hers, but he really has no idea what it could be until Estelle suddenly bows her head to him and murmurs, "Forgive me for this."

And the next thing Yuri knows, Estelle's lips are quickly pecking at his frog mouth, leaving his mind whirling with shock and confusion—until the hand supporting him suddenly gives way, and he slams down onto the ground with a pained, strangled yelp.

…A distinctly human yelp.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Estelle gasps from above him, and Yuri blinks dazedly up at her as she gleefully claps her hands together. "I'd read about it in one of my books, but I wasn't sure it would actually work!"

Yuri slowly sits up, rubbing at his aching back—oh, thank God for having hands again—and manages to smile up at her in relief, before his eyes stray to the pile of his own clothes sitting on the ground a little ways away and he realizes that he's not currently wearing anything.

…Shit.

Suddenly self-conscious, Yuri can't help flushing a little beneath the other's wide-eyed gaze. "Uhhh hey, Estelle, could you maybe…" He makes a circling motion with his finger, a gesture meant to request that she turn around to give him some privacy, and Estelle narrows her eyes at him in confusion before understanding apparently dawns and her hand flies to her mouth in shock.

"O-oh, I didn't mean to…I-I'm sorry!"

She stammers, immediately whirling around and even covering her eyes with her hands for good measure, and Yuri smiles helplessly but gratefully at her back before scooting over to grab his clothes and hurriedly start dressing himself.

The sooner they get out of these freaking cursed woods, the better.