"You seen this?" Cooper asked, gesturing to the mirror he was holding while lounging on the couch.
"Hm?" Blaine hummed, disinterested. "Your face? Unfortunately."
"No you twit, it's a special Magic Mirror broadcast," his brother replied, crossing the room to where Blaine was concentrating on the piano in front of him.
He thrust the silver hand mirror in front of Blaine's face and the younger boy tried to wave it away. "Yeah, yeah, the king's son is asleep. I'd noticed."
"Blaine, he's under a Sleeping Curse. It's serious!"
"I know. However that has very little to do with me," he replied, fingers finding a melody on the keys again.
There was a dull thud as a bird crashed into the nearest window.
"Damnit Cooper, how many times have I told you the windows need to stay open?" Blaine complained, throwing the window open. A bluebird swooped in and landed on his shoulder, shaking its head blearily.
"If you stopped playing the piano you wouldn't have wildlife treating the house like the forest," Cooper said, sighing as Blaine sat down at the piano again.
Blaine cooed over his new bird friend. "Who's a pretty boy?" He asked before playing a few notes on the piano. The bird whistled them back to him. "You're a pretty boy!" Blaine praised, grinning.
"So's the prince," his older brother hinted suavely.
"Excuse me?" The bird on his shoulder tilted its head, sensing his confusion.
"Prince Kurt. Cute, yeah?" Cooper asked, raising an eyebrow.
Blaine narrowed his eyes at him, clueless but suspicious.
"What's your point?" His fingers slowly picked up a melody, and a chipmunk appeared on the windowsill while Cooper stared thoughtfully at the mirror in his hand. "Cooper," he warned, getting nervous.
"So… it might just be a True Love's Kiss Curse," he finally admitted, fiddling with the ornate handle.
Blaine's forehead furrowed. "The prince has been asleep for months. What exactly has his father been doing?"
"Searching for an antidote."
"The antidote is True Love's Kiss," he said, marveling at the redundancy of the king. "It's in the name!"
"Prince Kurt doesn't have a True Love."
Blaine sighed. "Well, King Burt should have started the search as soon as the prince fell asleep. What's his problem?"
Cooper pointed at him triumphantly. "Yes, the open casting call for Prince Kurt's True Love was announced today."
"It's- it's not called a casting call," he argued, shaking his head.
"Aren't you interested in this at all? Didn't you used to have a huge crush on him-?"
"Shut up!" he exclaimed, cheeks flaming. The bird leaped off his shoulder in a flurry of bright blue feathers and started flying around the room, startled. A ferret that had managed to slide through the mail slot scurried under the couch.
"Goddamned animals!" Cooper complained.
"Sorry, sorry!" Blaine apologized to the creatures, quickly returning his hands to the keys and eliciting a calming tune from the piano.
Cooper waved the bird away from him just as a robin flew through the open window. "This is why I keep the windows closed, Blaine!"
"They're friends," Blaine tried to convince him. "They're not gonna do anything."
"Except shit all over the furniture."
Blaine switched to a more intricate, louder song to try and drown Cooper out.
"No, Squirt, I'm not done talking to you, come on," he said, rapping on the lid of the shiny black instrument.
"How many times have I told you-?" he began angrily, swatting away his brother's hand.
"Open casting call is for boys only," Cooper divulged.
"W-what?" Blaine asked, mouth falling open.
He chuckled, and tapped his chin. "Careful, with your luck you'll catch a caterpillar and puke out a butterfly."
Blaine grimaced. "Gross."
"I don't see that being beyond the realm of possibility, honestly," he shrugged.
"Prince Kurt is gay?" he asked, returning to the topic at hand. He felt a nudge at his foot and immediately reached down to stroke a cat's head, still playing one-handed.
"As gay as-"
"Don't finish that sentence," Blaine cut in, staring at the cat's wide eyes without actually seeing them, turning over the new information in his mind.
Homosexuality wasn't forbidden in the kingdom, not since… King Burt came into rule. Now Blaine knew why. People were mostly okay with it, largely because the king didn't stand for intolerance of any kind. But there were still some people who didn't properly understand, and they would surely cause a fuss at the thought of their future king being gay. And of course the king wouldn't have wanted to release that information without his son's consent. No wonder he'd led the futile search for an antidote.
"So you gonna go?" Cooper asked excitedly, pulling Blaine from his thoughts.
"Go where?"
"The castle. Open from nine to five for possible love interests, Monday to Friday."
"I'm not going," Blaine argued, blushing again.
"Why not?" he whined.
"I couldn't possibly be his True Love. Don't be ridiculous," he huffed as the cat jumped into his lap. He noticed it hungrily eying the birds flying happily around his head. "You be nice," he warned, tapping its pink nose before filling the room with what he hoped was friendly-sounding music.
"Come on, I'll even give you a ride," Cooper encouraged.
"No. Last time I tried to ride your horse he bucked me off," he said. "He is like the one animal in the world that doesn't like me."
"That's because he's mine," he smirked, pleased.
Blaine started singing under his breath.
"No!" Cooper shouted, slapping a hand over his brother's mouth. A flock of birds swooped through the open window and a snake slithered in, too. "What have I told you about singing in the house?"
Blaine looked around at the living room, now jam-packed with animals, and continued cheerily playing piano. "If you don't leave me alone I'll start singing a ballad," he threatened contently.
"Ugh. Fine. Miss out on your chance to be a prince. Just don't say I never try to do anything for you." He nearly stepped on a porcupine on his way out. "What have I said about these things in my house?" he cried before charging up the stairs.
Blaine tried to forget about Cooper's suggestion, but as he sheared sheep the next day, humming quietly, he couldn't stop thinking about Prince Kurt. He'd first seen him at one of the various festivals the kingdom had, when they were both very young. The small prince, with bright blue eyes and an unmistakable pout, had been slumped on his throne next to his father, looking out at the dancing villagers with unconcealed longing.
Blaine, as per usual, was surrounded by animals, but had still noticed the morose boy. He wanted to go up and ask him why he was frowning when he was sure that his smile would be so much prettier. But there were many guards surrounding the royal family and he knew that there was no way he'd be able to get past them.
So he sang quietly to the canary hopping around on the ground beside him and pointed at the young prince. The small bird swooped over to Prince Kurt, and his downturned lips curled up into a smile.
Then Blaine's father stomped up to him and scared away all of his new animal friends. This was before his parents had gotten fed up with him and his powers and had sent him to live with his brother, of course.
After that, Blaine always kept an eye out for the prince at festivals, hoping that he would be happier. Then, nearly six months ago, he'd stopped coming entirely and Blaine had been mildly alarmed. The king made the announcement that he was simply under the weather but later the news was released that he had actually been poisoned by one of his tutors and he had fallen into a very deep sleep.
Blaine had tried not to be too worried, sure that the malady would fade soon enough. But if it was a True Love's Kiss Curse then there was only one way to break it, and if Kurt's True Love didn't kiss him, he'd continue to sleep for eternity.
A few days passed, and Blaine waited for the news of the prince's awakening, certain that some other man would come along and kiss Kurt awake. But the castle continued to advertise their search for the slumbering prince's True Love.
After more of Cooper's constant prodding, BLaine finally convinced himself that it was his duty to the kingdom to at least try. He wasn't hopeful, because he didn't dare to have such far-flung dreams, but he tentatively walked up to the castle one afternoon, unsure of where to go until he saw a sign pointing to the back entrance.
He peeked around the corner of the enormous brick building, and saw a large sign proclaiming 'Potential True Loves', and a lady with a clipboard standing underneath it.
"Hello," he said, walking up to her and trying to look confident.
Her brown eyes landed on him and they narrowed. "It is 4:45," she told him, frowning.
"I- know?"
"It is almost the end of the day. Do you make it a habit of waiting until the last minute?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," he shook his head. "Sorry, I just decided to come now so I didn't really think about the time."
The woman sighed. "Well, you might not be here for very long anyway. I'm Rachel Berry," she said, slapping a wide smile on her face and sticking out her hand.
He shook it and replied, "Blaine Anderson."
"Welcome, Mr. Anderson, and thank you for coming in today. Do you know how this process works?"
"No," he said again. How was he supposed to know if he'd never been there before?
"Well, I'll just let you know now that hundreds of men have shown up, and less than a dozen have actually been to see the prince," she informed him.
"Okay."
"I put all potential True Loves through a vigorous interview to make sure that they even stand a chance of spending a happily ever after with Kurt- Prince Kurt."
"Of course," Blaine said, ignoring the slip of such a casual reference to the prince of the land. "That makes sense."
"Yes I know," she nodded jerkily. "Then, if I think you may be a good fit, you meet with the king."
"The king?" he gawked.
"Yes. Nobody sees Prince Kurt without his father's explicit approval."
"Oh- okay," he said, now far more nervous. Like the thought of kissing the prince while he slept wasn't anxiety-inducing enough, he also had to meet his father and convince him that really- him and the prince could definitely have a future together.
"Does that make you uneasy?" she inquired.
"No, of course not," he lied, chuckling apprehensively. "Meeting the ruler of the kingdom before kissing his sleeping son. Why would I be worried?"
Her smile turned a bit more genuine. "Well, you show promise so far. Follow me and we'll start the interview."
Ms. Berry led Blaine to a small parlour, away from the busier part of the castle. He was offered tea and coffee but he refused both; his stomach was roiling ominously already.
She went through a few basic questions, scribbling away into her onto her clipboard while sipping at her coffee.
"And what do you see in your ideal partner?" she inquired, looking up at him expectantly.
"Uh…" Blaine hadn't really been prepared for that question. "Um, a nice person, I guess? Funny, smart… Creative? Uh, they'd have to like animals," he added, almost apologetically.
"You have animals?" she asked predictably.
"Sort of," he fidgeted on the couch.
She stared at him, tapping her pen on her knee. "Do you any afflictions?"
"A-afflictions?"
"Enchantments, curses, general ailments," she prodded expectantly.
"Not technically," he said, because his affinity for animals had been something he'd had since birth. And he certainly didn't see it as a sickness.
She quirked an eyebrow at him and straightened her shoulders, trying to be intimidating. "If you're not honest with these answers, I can't really see you as being a very good husband for Kurt."
Blaine blushed, because the words Kurt's husband had never quite entered his consciousness before this point. He didn't really think that Prince Kurt would awaken when he kissed him. He didn't even know him, how could he possibly think of spending the rest of his life with the prince?
"Yeah, yeah I don't-" he stammered, eyes flicking nervously around the room. Was he still able to leave now? "I-I've got sheep to shear," he blurted, bouncing up from his seat as if it were on fire.
"Excuse me?" Ms. Berry demanded. "I think that the well-being of the prince of the kingdom is more important than that of your livestock!"
"Yeah I'm sorry, I have to go," he said, rushing out the door.
Was he an idiot? Did he honestly expect his lips to be the ones that brought Kurt back to life? If he came all the way down to the castle, there must have been some hope within his chest that that would be the outcome. But how could he possibly? He was some useless peasant, wannabe musician- who couldn't follow his dream because playing even a single note on any instrument resulted in the nearest animals flocking to him. No prince was going to want beasts running through his castle!
He was just reflecting on the fact that at the moment, he was the beast running through the castle because he didn't know where he was going, when he ran straight into a thick body.
He leaped back, crashing into a wall and nearly bringing a tapestry down. He looked up, apologies on his lips, but they died before they ever left his mouth.
An imposing man was looking down at Blaine with confusion, shining gold crown tilted crookedly on his bald head.
Blaine had just smashed right into the king.
"Oh no," was what he uttered instead.
"Rachel?" King Burt called to the woman scurrying to follow Blaine. "Who's this?"
"Blaine Anderson," she replied promptly. "I was just in the middle of pre-interviewing him for you. In- in regards to the True Love situation," she tacked on at the end, inspecting the king's face carefully.
"I-I'm so sorry, your Highness," Blaine finally managed to say.
King Burt held up a wide hand, requesting silence. "What is he doing running through my castle like a chicken with its head cut off?" he asked Ms. Berry.
Blaine noticed that he didn't appear angry, but he wasn't too optimistic about the situation yet. Kings surely had to be able to conceal their true emotions well.
"I don't know, Bur- sir- your Highness!" she corrected hastily. The king still looked more exasperated than irate that she'd referred to him so below his proper societal rank. "The interview was progressing smoothly, and then he abruptly fled the room, spouting something about sheep."
"Sheep?" he repeated, turning his gaze to Blaine. He currently wanted more than anything to be able to blend in with the scenic tapestry behind him. "Some sheep are more important to you than my kid? Than your future king?"
Apparently Blaine was expected to speak at this point, because a long silence stretched before he finally opened his mouth. "My g-greatest apologies, your Highness," he said. He was trying so hard to speak respectfully to his king. "I simply realized that there was no way that I could possibly be Prince Kurt's True Love. It's such a… ludicrous notion for me to have even dreamed of. I don't know why I ever thought I could be his-his destiny, his forever."
He gulped and waited for the ruler of the land to speak.
"Why do ya think that, kid?" he finally said.
"I-I am merely a peasant, your Highness. Surely I would not be a proper match for a prince."
"You always talk like that, kid?" he asked. Blaine tried not to bristle at the repeated nickname of 'kid'. It reminded him to much of his brother's constant taunt of 'squirt'.
"Um, no, your Highness," he replied with a quick shake of his head. There was no reason to lie; no commoners regularly spoke like royals. "I-I was simply trying to speak respectfully and I apologize if-"
"Okay, I understand. But there's no need for that. I get enough hoighty-toightiness at balls. I don't need to hear it every day"
"Of course, your Highness," he agreed instantly, nodding rapidly.
The king's eyes rolled skyward. "'Sir' is just fine, kid. And if you manage to wake my son up, we'll negotiate something else." He turned to Ms. Berry. "Take him up to Kurt."
Blaine's jaw dropped as the king turned to walk away. "W-what?"
"I don't like all these pompous bastards strutting 'round my castle like it's gonna be theirs in a minute," King Burt explained, pausing his departure. "Did we call for just nobles? No. We asked for anybody who thought they'd be right for Kurt, because he's met all the local royalty and doesn't much care for any of them. So his True Love's gotta be someone like you, a farmhand or whatever you are. I like you because you're trying your best to be respectful and your bowtie reminds me of Kurt, even though he'd never wear something so raggedy."
Blaine blushed, because the bowtie around his neck was his favourite piece of clothing, and it was the same one he'd owned since he was seven, patched and fixed hundreds of times over the years.
"So you get a chance to wake up my son. Don't screw it up," he finished before walking away.
"Right, so." Ms. Berry said, startling Blaine slightly. "I'll show you to Kurt's room."
"Why do you keep referring to him by his first name?" Blaine asked as she led him down the hall.
"I'm his best friend," she replied. To his surprised face, she rolled her eyes. "Who else would be screening his potential True Loves?"
They stopped at an ornate mahogany door on the third floor, flanked on each side by a royal guard.
"This is Prince Kurt's royal chambers," Ms. Berry informed Blaine. She nodded at one of the guards and he leaned over and opened the door for them. She strolled in and gestured for Blaine to follow her into the huge room. It was lavishly decorated, with couches and a large vanity, covered in lotions and oils. There was another door that Blaine assumed led to an en suite bathroom, but Rachel saw him looking and she said, "That's Kurt's closet. We had a sleep over in there once."
This bit of information confused him until he realized how massive the closet must be.
His eyes finally landed on the canopy bed, the wide headboard leaning against the back wall.
Prince Kurt slept in the middle, hands clasped peacefully over the silky red bed sheets covering his stomach. His head was cushioned by pillows and his face looked serene, and perfect as always. Despite being in bed for months, his hair was still artfully swept to the side; Blaine assumed it must have something to do with the magic of the potion.
Ms. Berry looked down at her friend and her smile fractured the tiniest bit. She refocused on Blaine. "You have thirty seconds with him once I shut the door. No tongue or ungentlemanly touching or you'll be thrown in the dungeons."
"I-I'm going to be left alone with him?" he asked, shocked.
"Well, yes. Me standing here watching you kiss him wouldn't be very romantic, would it?" she replied before turning on her heel and heading back to the door. "Thirty seconds," she reminded him. "And the best of luck."
The door clicked closed and Blaine was left alone in the room of a slumbering prince. His eyes landed on the prince's lips, and he thought about leaning over before realizing that the bed was far too large for him to reach. Was he to climb onto it? The short time limit was causing him to sweat. How much time had passed already while he simply deliberated the situation? He wondered if Ms. Berry would believe him if he said he hadn't kissed him yet and needed more time.
Without any more deliberation, he carefully crawled onto the bed and kneeled beside the prince. He made the conscious effort not to disturb him, regardless of the fact that he was under a Sleeping Curse and would not wake up for anything less than his True Love's Kiss.
Blaine tried not to think too hard about the situation as he gently cradled the prince's cheek in his callused palm. He leaned forward and, with one last look at his face, pressed his lips to Kurt's. They were warm and soft, but he did not expect them to respond, so when they moved back against his, he tore his head back in shock.
Beautiful blue eyes locked with his, round and stunned. They blinked once, and Blaine marveled at the length of his eyelashes.
"What-?" the prince croaked, eyes darting back and forth anxiously.
Blaine knew a startled animal when he saw one. He tried to slowly slide off the bed, but the smoothness of the sheets made it difficult. So he was still kneeling on the mattress when the prince opened his mouth again and let out the ear-piercing shriek of, "Dad!"
"It's okay, it's okay!" he tried to assure, before forgoing grace and simply rolling off of the bed.
He was crouched on the floor when the door to the bedroom was thrown open and Ms. Berry raced in. "Kurt!" she shouted with just as much vigour.
"What is going on?" he screeched, flinging himself forward off the pillows.
"Your True Love, he's your True Love!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down beside his bed, almost crushing Blaine's fingers. She suddenly threw herself forward onto the mattress. "You're awake, oh my God, Kurt! Awake, awake, it's been months."
Blaine cautiously hauled himself off of the floor, staring at Prince Kurt in awe. He'd done it. His kiss had woken the prince. His kiss was True Love's Kiss. He gaped dumbly, unsure of what to do now that he was the True Love of the prince of the kingdom.
Kurt, still quite distraught, caught him staring. "Out!" he shouted. "Get him out!"
"Yeah, I- okay," he agreed immediately, stumbling away from his bedside.
"Kurt, are you sure? He's-"
"Yes, Rachel I'm sure. Where is my father?"
As Blaine made his way out of the room, he caught sight of a golden cage, which was home to a small yellow bird.
It had been about a month since Blaine had wandered out of the castle and returned home to an amazed Cooper. A special Magic Mirror proclamation had of course been broadcasted across the land, announcing that Prince Kurt had awoken. There were impromptu parties thrown in his honour, but the people were curious as to why his True Love's name had not been released.
Cooper wanted him to go back to the castle. "You should be a prince-in-law by now!"
"That's not a thing," Blaine sighed blandly, sitting at the kitchen table and cleaning his flute.
"But he's your True Love!" Cooper had shouted for what must have been the hundredth time over the past month.
"He doesn't know me. He doesn't need me. Just let it go." Blaine had tried his best to forget about the incident entirely. The prince obviously didn't want him; there was no way he was going to force his presence upon him
Blaine started whistling as he worked, but Cooper instantly sent him a stern look and pointed towards the back door.
Blaine had been playing more and more music lately, and Cooper was fed up with all the 'godforsaken dirty beasts' clogging up his house. So Blaine scowled and grabbed his guitar on the way out, heading to a familiar clearing in the forest behind their home.
He sang softly all the way and before long he was surrounded by animals, big and small. A couple of deer tried not to step on a family of mice that scampered between their hooves. A raccoon eyed a morsel of food that a fox was protecting. He looked around at the frolicking animals and a small smile touched his lips. He laid down on the tall grass and sang to the bright sky, strumming quietly on the guitar resting on his stomach.
Blaine let the music take him away from his problems and concerns. Out in the forest with his animal friends he was completely at ease.
Until he heard a gasped, "Oh my God."
He tilted his head up curiously. Upon seeing who had disturbed him, he swept a cat off his lap and leapt to his feet, animal under one arm and guitar under the other.
"Your-your Highness," he stuttered.
The prince actually blushed. "Please, keep the titles for my father," he said, voice high and lovely.
Blaine nodded furiously, utterly at a loss for words. Prince Kurt looked as stunning as ever, standing at the edge of the clearing wearing a hooded cloak covering surprisingly simple clothes, but which still had a distinct style that was all Prince Kurt.
"You have quite the collection of animals here," Prince Kurt commented, casting an appraising eye around the field.
"Um yeah," he said lamely. The cat in Blaine's hand wriggled unhappily, and he immediately set it down. He nervously started strumming the guitar once his hands were free.
The prince smiled. "You play beautifully."
"Oh. Oh thanks. Um." He was going to correct himself to sound more formal, but he remembered that the king hadn't liked it and it appeared that his son felt the same. "Er, if you don't mind me asking, Prince Kurt-"
"What am I doing here?" he finished the question for Blaine.
He nodded.
He walked closer to Blaine, carefully stepping around the animals covering the ground. He stopped a few feet from Blaine and looked up from under his lashes, and the sight almost knocked the air out of Blaine's lungs.
"I came to apologize," he said.
"Really?"
"Yes. I-I acted poorly and I wanted to say that I'm sorry." He ducked his head before checking himself and raising his head high, but Blaine could tell that the prince was actually nervous.
"There's no reason for you to apologize, I assure you. You'd just woken up after God knows how long to find a stranger in your bed. Completely reasonable to send him away," Blaine replied, smiling a bit.
Prince Kurt let out a small chuckle. "I suppose so, but you also woke me up. So thanks are in order as well."
"There's no need to thank me, your Hi- Prince Kurt. I was just… you know." He shrugged, face heating.
"Waking me from a deep, deep sleep which I would not have awoken from if it weren't for you," he finished. He took a few more steps toward him. "You know, I always thought that the True Love Curse would be the worst fate that could ever befall me. I couldn't fathom that I would actually have a True Love, so I assumed that I would just sleep until the world crumbled down around me."
"I-" Blaine began to speak, but Kurt held up a hand, silently asking him to allow him to finish.
"I've been reading a lot about 'True Love' and the Curse this past month. I wanted to make sure it was real. Of course it is, but what can I say- I'm a skeptic. I came here today because, well, I got to try out my commoner's outfit," his lips quirked up cheekily and Blaine found himself grinning back.
"It's very nice," he said.
"Thank you. Though that was a factor in me visiting, I must admit I mostly wanted to see you."
"You did?"
"Of course," the prince said, taking the last step so he was standing directly in front of Blaine. He offered his palm, and Blaine jumped when he realized that he wanted him to take it. He stopped strumming his guitar and slid his hand into the prince's. His skin was cool and soft, and their hands fit together perfectly. "I'd like to get to know you, Blaine Anderson. My True Love."
Blaine's breath caught in his throat. "I'd- yes, I would love that, Prince Kurt, I would like that very much."
Prince Kurt bit his lip to prevent a grin from overcoming his face. "Please call me Kurt."
They sat down in the middle of the field and talked until the sun set.
And they experienced a particularly wonderful Happily Ever After together.