(This got a little longer than I thought also took a little longer than I thought, but I got them in a story... story time! not the anticipated story Chase got online, that is to come, but different story yay.)

Chapter 2 Part 1

After dinner, Chase and Deacon were discussing the next book.

"Come on, it's a really short story, and you mainly would get to sleep the whole time." Deacon pleaded.

Chase nodded, "Already done Sleeping Beauty a bunch, and done Snow White a bunch, I don't need another Prince trying to violate me to wake up."

Deacon lit up, "That's just it, though, the Prince respects the Princess and just wants her to be happy and comfortable, and he disappears for the majority of the story to find the princess's lost family."

Chase raised his eyebrow, "What's the catch?"

"Well, uh," Deacon started, "You have to sleep on a bunch of mattresses and have to climb a ladder to get there."

Chase kept his eyebrow raised and crossed his arms, encouraging Deacon to continue.

"And, uh, the queen is the one to insist on the mattresses, so most of your interactions would be with her." Deacon said, his tone seemed to be hiding more of the plot.

"So," Chase started warily, "I would be the princess, obviously, and who would you be."

Deacon lit up again, "I would either be the Prince's trusty valet, and ride horses with him the whole story, or the stablehand that helps bring in and stack the mattresses." Chase nearly rolled his eyes at the grin that was threatening to burst Deacon's face. "Either way, horses!"

Chase couldn't help the laugh that escaped him(definitely a laugh and not an embarrassing snort, thank you very much). "Sure, Dorkin let's go."

Does Chase regret not having his camera ready to record the silly dance Deacon does in excitement? Yes, he does regret it. Will he have future opportunities to get embarrassing footage of his cousin? Yes, he will. Does he know the horses are gonna hate Deacon? Maybe, they might surprise him.

What Chase is not prepared for when Deacon presents the book, is the story.

"The Princess and the Pea?" Chase questioned. "It's not like the Princess and the Frog, is it? Where the princess has to kiss the frog to make the story go forward?" He groans.

Deacon smiled, "No, nothing like that, like I said the princess mostly just has to sleep, or try to and when she can't, the queen gets more mattresses brought in."

Chase relaxed a bit, "Oh, so why is The Pea in the title, then?"

"'Cause you have to find it. Come on, you already said yes." Deacon said, reaching for Bronze who was already in key form.

Chase grabbed Silver and followed quickly after.

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He was not expecting to be on a road in the pouring rain outside of a castle. He had been here two seconds and was already drenched to the bone. Oh he was going to have words with Deacon about his notes.

But first he had to get to the castle, and get them to let him in.

Which thanks to book time doesn't take long at all. While Chase is drying off, the Prince and the Queen are announced, Chase looks up, and ugh Buddy, in Deacon's excitement Chase forgot to ask about the Villaness's role.

But if Deacon said the queen is the one to insist on the mattresses, and Buddy is the queen, then maybe the Villianess in this story isn't so bad.

Speaking of, where was Dorkin?

Chase couldn't ponder for very long, as the prince came over and started fussing over him.

"Oh, you poor thing. Absolutely drenched, whatever were you doing out in this weather?" The prince fretted.

Chase glared at Buddy with this and was grateful once again the story was going to automatically say what his character needed to. "For some reason, the story decided I needed to hike my way over, and ruin Silver's outfit."

Buddy smirked. "Well, isn't that wonderful. You look like a drowned rat." Buddy turned away, "Well, come on then."

Chase hesitated, "Where are we going?"

"To your room, to get you out of those wet clothes." Chase felt his cheeks flush at Buddy's comment before he followed him through the castle.

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Upon entering the room, Chase took note of where everything was, including potential spots for the pea to be hiding. Everything looked normal.

He even had his own bathroom, which he was definitely planning on taking advantage of for a good long soak in the tub. As soon as Buddy left.

"So, you gonna let me change or…" Chase asked, his voice dropping off before he could ask if Buddy wanted to watch him change. What if Buddy said yes to that?

Buddy smirked, "No, Little Idiot, I'm not going to watch you change," Buddy let his eyes wander over Chase's still wet form, lingering for a bit. "Not that there is much to see."

"Hey!" Chase shouted indignantly.

Buddy chuckled and moved into Chase's space. "Now, hurry up and go change so I can do my part of the story."

Chase huffed over to the closet, barely glancing at the gorgeous attire Silver had put together, and grabbed the first thing in the pajama drawer.(Yes, Chase and Silver have created a closet organization system. No, there was no particular reason… certainly not in case of this exact scenario in which Buddy would leave Chase flustered and Chase would have to grab clothes and storm away.)

When Chase came back from the tub. Buddy was nowhere to be seen, and nothing looked amiss as far as Chase could tell.

Whelp, Deacon did say Chase gets to sleep most of the story, so he crawled in bed and then struggled to sleep through the night.

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Chase woke up sore.

Very sore.

And to a light knocking at his door, before the door was swinging open anyway to reveal Deacon with a tray of food.

"Chase, the story lied to me, I don't get to hang out with horses." Deacon complained as he set the tray down. He looked up to the canopy over the bed, then dropped his eyes to Chase still lying in bed. "Huh, that's weird."

Chase just arched his eyebrow, before getting up and shuffling to the dinette. "I slept horribly, so whatever is weird can wait. I am definitely gonna complain, and not just to his royal Jerkness, I'm gonna leave a negative star review, too."

Deacon laughed. "Oh yeah, and where are you going to leave that review?"

Chase shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I'll leave a review on the author's webpage or something." He grabbed some of the muffins off the stack, and then looked up. "Didn't you say something about me getting extra mattresses, if that helps, I may alter my review."

Deacon nodded. "Yeah, those mattresses are a big part of the story, so they should help."

He looked kind of glum, and obviously so. Chase internally rolled his eyes, before asking. "So, are there no horses at all, or that's just not your character's job?"

Deacon looked up, his entire mood shifting. "Good point, it's not my character's job, but I might still be able to find them, if I go down to the stables before the prince leaves." He stood quickly, "I should go now, and see if I can't find them."

"Wait," Chase called before Deacon ran out the door, "what, exactly, am I supposed to be doing today?"

Deacon shifted impatiently, "you really don't have to do much, you are just supposed to talk to the queen and tell them the bed isn't comfortable."

Deacon left then, leaving Chase a little bewildered.

He didn't have long to be bewildered, as there was a knock at his door. "It's still open, Deacon, did you forget to tell me something actually important?"

Chase didn't even bother getting up from the table, and was definitely not surprised, (he totally was) when he heard Buddy's familiar voice. "Decidedly not Freckles."

Chase glanced over to confirm, then smiled when he saw Buddy. "Yeah, decidedly not. Good morning!"

If Buddy was surprised at the change in Chase's demeanor, he didn't show it, instead he smirked. "Not even dressed yet, I should have known you would be late. You always are."

"Excuse you," Chase said snarkily, "I'll have you know I happened to have slept horribly, and I am not late, you're just here really stupid early. Besides, what are you even doing here?"

"Tch," Buddy actually really tched, "My job, unlike some people. I have to make sure you are princessy enough."

Chase rolled his eyes, "You've met me right, of course I'm princessy enough." He paused, then nodded, mostly to himself. "Hey aren't I supposed to get extra mattresses?"

Buddy tilted his head as if considering it. "Why should you?"

"Because I'm the princess, and the mattress from last night was super uncomfortable, duh." Chase said confidently, as he got up and headed to the closet. He was going to see what Silver had prepared for him.

A slight chuckle came from Buddy, then a full on laugh. Chase looked over to him to see him doubled over in laughter. When Buddy looked up and met Chase's eyes, he tried to be serious, but the grin kept tugging at his lips. "Of course this role is perfect for you." Buddy smirked, almost a smile. "Yes, you'll get the extra mattresses."

"And the ladder, I don't need you skipping parts of the story cause you think it's funny." Chase said, deciding on a light blue tunic set.

"Yes, and the ladder." Buddy paused, a small smile still on his face. "You have met me, right? Of course I'm not going to skip parts of the story, unlike you, Little Idiot, I don't deviate from the story."

"Uh-huh, sure," Chase agreed in a teasing tone. "And the sky is green." With that he went to change.

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Chase walked across the room again, the book atop his head not moving. "How many times do you want me to do this Buddy?"

"Again," came Buddy's response. Chase chanced a glance over to Buddy, to find his nose in a book.

"Aw, come on, you aren't even watching." Chase pulled the book off his head. "You are reading! And I'm over here doing this boring book balancing thing, I thought we were supposed to do something to prove my character is a princess."

"We are," Buddy met Chase's eyes with a smirk. "I suppose we could take a break and get some food, and continue the tests a little later."

Chase lit up, excited, "Finally, something fun for us to do together!"

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"You were right, this is fun." Buddy grinned at Chase's scowl. "Now which one is the salad fork?"

Chase picked up the fork, dangling it between his fingers.

Buddy leaned towards Chase, "Good, and the salad knife?" Chase grabbed the correct knife. "Very good, and what about the salad spoon?"

Chase glared, before he let out a huff. "No such thing." He rolled his eyes and started pointing to the various utensils and identifying them. (Correctly, he had been in enough books so far to figure that much out.)

Buddy watched with a smirk on his face. "Very good. We can move on to the glassware. The water glass?"

"Ugh Buddy, when I said this was supposed to be fun, I didn't mean the boring princess stuff." Chase grumbled, slumping in his chair.

"Can't we just talk and get to know each other. We can get to know each other without revealing anything super personal." Chase suddenly smiled, sitting up and locking eyes with Buddy. "For instance, music! What's your favorite music? Mine has got to be Alastair! I love everything about him! The way he sounds," (purring) "the way he moves," (sensuously) "the way he dresses," (form-fitted) "The way he looks with his dark black hair, uh…" Wait, what. That wasn't Alastair's hair color, Alastair's is brunette. "But how about you? What do you listen too?"

"I suppose I could indulge you this time." Buddy smiled, a small one that he turned into a smirk. "I do listen to a variety of music, most of it is probably more refined than you can comprehend."

Chase stabbed at the last of the food on his plate. "I'll have you know, I have excellent taste." He shoved the last bite in his mouth.

Buddy smirked, "Says the guy who likes Alastair." Chase arched an eyebrow, as if challenging the statement. "Fine, you want fun princess stuff, let's finish up here and go to the next event

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Ballroom dancing. That was the next event. Of course it was the next event, it's a princess story, there is always ballroom dancing in princess stories.

The room was mostly empty, only a handful of the staff cleaning and readying the room for the next ball by the light of the afternoon sun, and a violin duo getting set up in the corner.

"Have you learned to lead yet?" Buddy asked, his voice right next to Chase's ear.

Chase managed to not jump completely out of his skin. "You know I haven't. I haven't had the chance." Not since the first time they danced together. (Not that Chase would admit to wanting to dance with Buddy again.)

Buddy offered his hand to Chase, "Well then, I suppose I will have to lead again."

Chase nodded, absently taking Buddy's hand. Chase almost lost his footing when Buddy suddenly pulled him in close, placing his hand on Chase's lower back. A nod from Buddy had the musicians starting, and the two started moving.

Chase was trying very hard not to think about how close Buddy was holding him, closer than the prince's usually held him. He was thrilled. He couldn't ruin the moment. He was dancing with Buddy, in his stronger than they look arms.

It came to an end more swiftly than Chase wanted it to. The two parted and when Chase looked around he could see it the sun had set and the room was being lit by candles.

"Come along, you are practically sleeping on your feet. Let's get you to bed." Buddy led him out of the room, not letting go of Chase's hand.

They entered Chase's room, and his jaw dropped.

"That's a lot of mattresses" Chase couldn't help but say.

Buddy smirked, "Of course. I mean you did ask for extra so nicely, I just had to comply."

Chase turned to glare at Buddy, "'Course you did." When Buddy's smirk didn't even falter, Chase shrugged, "Whatever. Good night, Buddy, see you in the morning."

Was that a blush on Buddy's face? Did his smirk seem a little more like a smile? (It totally was, and it totally did.) Chase made a mental note to remember that while he grabbed his pajamas.

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(hope you enjoyed - much luv cassy)