The sun reflected off of Jake's worn inn sign, as always it read, 'English's Inn'. Rust already eating away at the corners of the sign, that hung from it's far rustier hinges, swaying gently in the soft breeze above the door of his inn. Jake walked back inside with a damp rag in one hand, and a small pail in the other, having just pulled water up from the well. And with that, he walked back inside the inn once more and began to clean the dusty tables among the inn. The dense wooden door swayed closed behind him. It truly was a shame as the business had been in his family for generations, but rarely received any customers not to mention any passersby in general. As the inn laid more of the outskirts of the city, midst a small grassy field, a small break from the alleyways, shops, and houses. It wasn't very chaotic in the outskirts here, more peaceful if anything. And he could always go further into the city if need be. But Jake preferred the calm here at times. And at other times went out for the pure sake of boredom.
If there was any good that came of this poor and rare business, it was that Jake often got to spend time alone. Although, he sometimes felt as if the inn was his burden which kept him from his dreams of adventures out in the vast lands. He set the rag aside on one of the many deserted tables, pulled up a chair and sat at the table to distract himself in his own lonely thoughts. He rested his hand on his cheek, as his mind drifted to thoughts about the royal family. It wasn't all that uncommon to see them outside of the palace, he had heard many stories from other villagers. The royal family, always having that sense of comfort and protection... While everyone else has to work their asses off for a single coin…
The rag had made a small pool of water at this point, he sat up and pushed the chair in. Wiping the table surface to have a shining surface, free of dust that once trapped it. "...Morning Jake…" He says to himself in the reflection of the polished table, giving his signature Jake English smile. He leaves the rag out of the table, not expecting anyone to come in today to see the cloth left out. Jake sighs lightly and steps out of the inn to get some sun, stretching his arms out in the endless sunlight, he keeps that humble smile on his face. "It's good to be out and around today." Jake having a habit of talking to himself from being alone so often.
He sets his arms to his side and begins to set off the worn cobblestone path down towards the main road. His sturdy but wearing boots hitting the stone with small thuds as he walked relaxed, studying the nearby flora and shrubbery. The sun glinted off of his dark brown hair, and rather average sized figure.
With a grin, the Prince Johnathan Aeolus Egbert, or as he mostly went by, John, quickly made his way through the streets. His dark navy blue cloak pulled close around him to his figure which was very muscular around his arms as he often carried around his battle weapon of a warhammer, however today he had a smaller version of it on his belt around his waist. He'd had just pranked some asshole merchants that were harassing a young girl with broken glasses and long black hair. Refusing to sell the girl a small bushel of herbs because they thought she was a witch. 'Unbelievable', he thought. It was only fair to establish some rule of authority in a kingdom that would one day be his responsibility. Which was destined to be his future, no way of changing it. Not unless his death was to come, he often pushed thoughts of the future like this away, not wanting to have the Kingdom of Prospit chain him down forever. Otherwise, he would end up like his dad, Joe Aeolus Egbert.
With his slender and athletic frame, John was just able to lose the angry mob of merchants that were trailing him moments before. He was running into the outskirts of the town now, as he cocked his head back to look behind him to see if the coast was clear. However, during this slight second of losing track of his whereabouts, John ran smack, right into another male. Who just so happened to be Jake English. Jake's eyes widen as he failed his arms trying to stop the collision. Both of them came tumbling to the ground in a complete heap of each other.
Groaning, John lifted his head from the chest of the poor man he'd crashed into, pushing himself up with his arms to lift his body, until he opened his eyes and sighed quietly, "I am so sorry. I should've watched where I was going."
Jake sat up as well and stood to his feet. His surprised and somewhat frightened face turned into a shining smile once more. "Oh no, it's not a problem! It was my fault, sir! You look a little lost?" Jake tilted his head to the side in confusion, like some concerned dog.
John tilted his head in the same direction Jake had, big sky blue eyes peering into the other's emerald green ones, "Lost? I'm quite at home. Well," He giggled a bit, trying to poke fun at his own choice of words. "I'm not actually at home, but the city is my home all the same." He took a minute to match Jake's winning smile. "You seem okay, but are you sure I didn't cause you any harm?" He raised a brow, it was only his nature to be caring like this. "I came at you pretty quickly, and we fell pretty hard.."
With that comment Jake grew even more confused, still, his smiling remained persistent. Well, it was more of his iconic smirk which everyone knew about, he then crossed his arms and shook his head at a thought. " No, I'm fine. We had more of a ruff up than anything. This city is your home? That would mean you're rich or perhaps royalty. But royalty wouldn't dress like us so-called peasants."
John visibly tensed at Jake's accusation of being royalty, his eyes widening a little, finally giving a nervous laugh then nodding. "You're right the nobles wouldn't dress this way! Not to mention royalty!" He shrugged. "Well, as long as you're okay, then I'm satisfied." He raised a brow then shrugged and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you Sir…?"
"Ah-oh, English, Jake English. Uh…" Jake ran some thoughts through his mind, this man was a complete stranger and seemed friendly enough but you could never be too careful. This man looked a lot like the prince of the royal family. Or in fact, may even be him, Jake bows a little awkward, still trying to figure out how much of a mess he was in. "Y-Your highness, m-majesty? Uh- P-Prince? I'm sorry!" Jake was having a rather difficult time, not knowing what to call him.
"Wh- no, no! I'm not- I'm not the prince." John waved his hands quickly. Oh, God. This could be a disaster. "Jake, relax." He patted the nervous man's shoulder, "I just… Look a lot… Like the prince! Yes." He gave Jake a simple smile. If he could play this off, he could be just fine. But he had probably already failed, he wasn't fooling this guy.
Jake was rather dense at times, but this was getting ridiculous. "Okay, what the bloody hell is going on here?" He adjusts his stance a bit wanting an answer. This man definitely looked like the prince for sure… "...You also look a bit like me." Jake studies the man for a few minutes, finally putting his finger up and pointing to his own teeth. "Your teeth that's it!" Jake says, finally hitting like a bullet reaching its target from a gun with a sudden bang.
John leaned away when Jake inspected him, eyes wide. He quickly brought his hands to his face, covering his mouth. "What's wrong with my teeth?" He took a small step back. "I mean, I know they aren't perfect but they're at least straight..." He pouted a little. What was wrong with his teeth? Other than the fact that they were a little buck. So what if his front teeth were a little bucked? He always felt a little insecure about this being royalty and all.
Jake smiles showing his teeth were just the same. He knew just as well there weren't perfect but never really saw a problem with them. "They're the same as mine!" He laughs brightly full of joy as always and put his hands on his hips. Fully unaware, John was upset by what he had said. Jake glanced down, something gold was glinting in the gray and dirt of the cobblestone main road. He bent down and picked up a gold locket of some sort, sapphire jewels lining it. It was even engraved with a name that finally broke John's cover entirely. Johnathan Aeolus Egbert. Jake stood up holding the trinket in hand. "Is this yours?" Jake was certain this man was royalty now and there was no denying it. He held out the locket waiting patiently.
John facepalmed, of course. He sighed, the locket must have slipped out of his pocket when he collided with Jake. He looked rather uncomfortable now. "Way to blow a guy's cover." He muttered, hanging his head low. He pulled up the hood of his cloak, after taking the trinket and pocketing it once more, adjusting his hood a little. "I'm just taking a stroll through the city." Unescorted? As if. More like he snuck out.
Jake snorts and giggles a little, "Feels nice to see I'm not the only one with banged up teeth here. Even if you are uh.." He clears his throat slightly. He scans John quickly. "Well, you know royalty…" Jake felt a bit bad to reveal John like that but it was bound to happen one way or another.
"Well, it's not like I can hide it now. Can I? I haven't even introduced myself properly-" He sighed before pulling his hood off and forgetting the whole mysterious act. "My name is John." John bowed his head in a respectful manner. "Johnathen, if you're being formal." He looked around a little, this part of the city was nice. He should really look at everything around him a little more, and not just the sky. It wasn't his fault that the beautiful view of the sky often interested him. In fact, you could always find him up someplace high. The roof of the castle or otherwise. He laughed a little, then got a look of horror, a voice calling out. Someone had found him, "Shit-" He glanced back, seeing a couple of angry guys charging their way. "Well- it was nice meeting you, Jake, but I should really be going. Otherwise, I might lose my hand!" He grinned at the brunette, winked at him as well then took off down the street, rounded a corner and disappeared.
Jake follows John and tries stopping the fleeing John. "Wait! I can-! ...Dammit!" He follows after John best he could, cutting around the same corner and sees no one there. He looks around stunned and confused. "I could help you.." He says in a normal tone, then putting his hands in his pockets, he walks back to the inn.
John had managed to climb the wall in a matter of seconds before Jake had lost sight of him. He was thankful for his own ability to climb the castle walls; it made it easy to get to the roof of any building. With a hum, he made his way back towards the inn, the guys having completely lost him at that point. He climbed into the building through a window, making his way back to the ground floor, then peered out the door to look around. Damn, he was good. He smirked a little to himself.
Jake pulls out a coin he keeps to keep himself entertained and he starts flipping it as he makes his way back to the inn. As he approaches it he sees the same thing, empty. He was used to it but he couldn't keep John off his mind he actually liked him… "I hope we meet again... John." Little did Jake knew he was in for a surprise when he rounded the corner.