Prince or Pauper? (Caz)

[Deleted]

This place was like a dream. No, it was like heaven! No, wait, it was like a dream about heaven! A whole school just bursting with princes! If ever she was going to find her Prince Charming, this was her time! Tintagel... even the name sounded magical, like it was straight out of a fairytale! And the building! Oh, it was an honest to goodness castle! Lottie was sure that she could have died happy the second she saw it, but of course that would have completely defeated the purpose so she was much happier to have lived.

After a day of exploring the building and the grounds, though, it had become abundantly clear that there was something very important that she had to do, her future happiness just depended upon it!

Charlotte LaBouff had to go shopping.

Sure, that might not sound like a life or death situation, but while her clothes had been the height of fashion in the roaring twenties in New Orleans, compared to the girls she had seen here... well, there was just no way she was going to bag herself a prince looking like this! So a shopping she had gone, a small sacrifice to make for such a, er, noble cause?

Not important.

After a few hours perusing pretty much ever store she encountered, Lottie was about to call it a day, as loaded down with packages as she was. Oh, she wasn’t tired, not one bit, but she could only carry so many things at one time, and hatboxes really were rather cumbersome to carry. Cumbersome, she liked that word. It was fairly new to her vocabulary.

Calling a final farewell to the very helpful salesgirl inside, she stepped out onto the street, juggling packages this way and that and pretty much unable to see anything in front of her. This was the reason why she didn’t see the man that was walking by the store at the very same moment that she stepped out of it, and that was the reason why she collided directly with him, sending packages, bags and garments flying in every which direction.

[cazaril]

What a beautiful day. The sun poured from the sky like honey into a world that Caz was finally becoming accustomed too. He walked with his head held high, he had no reason to dislike the world or distrust it, no reason to think there was anything wrong about this eighteen year old version of a past teacher.

Admittedly, he knew he too had needed to get some clothes, the ones he had hadn't really fit in with the world he was now in, so now he was still dressed in his old Chalion clothes, completely set on getting a new wardrobe. He'd recently heard of things called jumpers and ties, foreign but they sounded really exciting.

And he was excited until a woman walked right into him, and packages flew left right and center. The only thing Caz could think to do was to make sure the lady was okay, and brushing himself he looked to her carefully.

"Are you okay, Miss?" he asked her worriedly, his steely soldier mode back for a second, as he assessed the situation, assuming she could be quite hurt if a package hit her in the face after all.

[Deleted]

Packages flying everywhere, arms flailing comically, Lottie somehow managed to stay on her feet, despite her high heels. It probably didn’t hurt that she had grabbed on to her assailant to steady herself. Ready to launch into a full on tantrum, she luckily took a moment to look at the man before she spoke... and oh what a man. Sure, his clothing left a lot to be desired, but maybe that was the style here.

Lord, she hoped not.

Either way, he was certainly very handsome, and this place was supposed to be crawling with royalty... maybe she really couldn’t take too steps without tripping over one. Literally.

“Oh my goodness, what a clumsy oaf I am!” Lottie exclaimed, anger instantly subsiding into some down home Southern charm. “I am so sorry, I just couldn’t see at all where I was goin’! And just listen to you, bein’ all concerned and gentlemanly. Well, I’m just fine, sugah. I do so hope you can say the same?”

Still gripping onto his arm like she needed the support, she beamed up at the stranger and batted her eyelashes.

[cazaril]

"I....I'm fine" he admitted, she was a looker to say the least, Caz didn't mind at all that she had grabbed him to steady herself, only that he didn't know the correct response. She finally let go and he brushed off his robes.

"There's nothing wrong with being clumsy either" he admitted, "I mean, it tends to be a common issue with lots of people in the world."

Yeah, that's a charm a lady. Just give her a limerick and tell her it's okay to be a clumsy oaf.

Caz bit his lip, trying to keep his face from going to pink with her flirting. "Would you like help...with your things? I'm Cazaril, by the way."

[Deleted]

Well, that certainly wasn’t the reassurance she was looking for. She had expected a vehement refusal that she was clumsy; she even thought that maybe he would apologise and take the blame, telling her that it was his fault, that he had run into her. Instead he accepted that she was clumsy, though in a diplomatic way. Well.

Her smile faltering, Lottie took another moment to look him up and down. He didn’t look like a prince, that was for sure, but then it wasn’t like she had ever actually met a prince before. She was just judging on pictures and descriptions from storybooks.

Then he introduced himself, and the doubts increased. Cazaril. It sounded princely enough, but not as princely as, say, Prince Cazaril would. Did princes skip their titles when introducing themselves? Usually they had pages and such to do the announcing for them, and if he was a prince he seemed to have forgotten his page. Ooh, maybe he was undercover! Oh gosh, she just wasn’t sure at all! Better to play it safe until she saw a definite sign.

“Oh, that is just so sweet of you ta offer! That would just be wonderful!” she exclaimed, bright smile back in full force. Batting her lashes again, she held her hand out to him. “Charlotte LaBouff. It’s a pleasure ta make your acquaintance, even if tha circumstances are a little outta the ordinary.”

Why, she had almost sounded down right intelligent with that one.

[cazaril]

Whatever she was assuming, poor Caz was never a prince, never would be one either - or atleast, not in this universe. Never the less, he didn't realize that was what she wanted to bite her teeth into. Either way, she seemed pleased for his help, even if she did give him a look that made him faulter.

"Do I look odd?" he asked her, unable to help it. He had been getting funny looks. "It's the clothes isn't it. I hadn't wanted to wear these old things, but it was all I had since my things went missing, but the boys searched high and low for my clothes."

Not that boys meant servants, but she could take as she wanted. "When I get home, I'm sure I'd get whatever I wanted" he said with a bit of an awkward smile. "Where are you from...Miss Charlotte?"

He was still picking up her items, stuffing them under his arms to carry them for her, and he had quite a bit on his plate when he had it all together.

[Deleted]

Well, he certainly wasn’t formal. No ‘the pleasure is all mine’ or ‘it’s nice to meet you’ or anything of the sort. Just ‘do I look odd?’. For her part, Lottie was definitely looking at him odd whether he looked odd or not. Had she been a little quicker on the uptake she would have been able to hide her confusion and just keep up the charm. Fortunately for her, though, Cazaril explained what he meant.

“Oh, that’s just terrible! I woulda been just so upset if my things woulda got lost,” she sympathized, not even thinking about the fact that she had just bought enough clothes to fill her entire closet, not even counting what she had brought with her and would probably rarely wear now that she had a whole new wardrobe.

Despite the oddness of the conversation, though, Lottie was becoming more and more certain that he was a prince. He had people searching for his things, he got anything he wanted at home, and these terrible clothes were obviously just travel clothes. Of course he wouldn’t want to get his good clothing wrinkled or soiled on the trip. It all made perfect sense!

“Me? Oh, I’m from N’awlins,” she said, starting to pick up some of the packages herself. “Excuse me, New Orleans,” she clarified, trying to downplay her accent a bit. “How about yourself? Where’s your... kingdom?”

It was a sneaky way of finding out for sure, in her mind, without outright asking if he was a prince. She could barely breathe, waiting for the answer.

[cazaril]

He smiled, she was really nice, and fun, and happy. He couldn't remember the last time he had met a girl who smiled like that. He couldn't help but smile back.

"Well, I didn't have very much on me to begin with, every man in my home has to enter the army, no matter what their status so I come here from war to get my education"

That and the accent was so unusual, he couldn't help but be attracted to it, though it did make his face redden a little. "So, you're home is New Orleans hmm?" he said, musing what a place with such an interesting name could be called.

"My kingdom?" he said, and laughed, "Well, I'm from Valenda, but the Kingdom is Chalion, it spans an entire country of towns and cities. It's beautiful"

They carried on walking, smiling fondly with her. "Did you know that even royalty have to go to war even if they're the only living royal heir" he said, unaware she was banking on him being "that heir" indeed.

[Deleted]

Ooh, an army man. Not as acceptable as a prince, but still very attractive and golly, she sure did love a man in uniform. But then then he kept talking, and Lottie felt her heart speed up. He was talking about Kingdoms, and he had a wonderful laugh, but she couldn’t help the disappointment that flooded over her when he said he was from somewhere else, not the kingdom.

Well fiddlesticks. Just a handsome soldier then.

“It sounds just wonderful,” she said, sounding a bit dreamy as she pictured it, if not a little deflated. So close. “N’awlins ain’t nearly that big, it’s just it’s own city, but once ya see the nightlife there you’ll just never wanna leave.”

Except she had left, but that was different. New Orleans would always hold her heart, but she had been chasing this fantasy of becoming a princess since she was a little girl, and there was nothing that was going to stop her.

Speaking of... did he just say what she thought he had? Lottie actually had to stop walking for a moment and replay their conversation in her mind. Could she have been mistaken? Wait... he had said that the whole Kingdom was Chalion, and that it included all the little towns and cities, and Valenda must have been just one of those cities within the Kingdom, possibly the one where the castle was...

Even royalty went to war, all of them. Even the living royal heir. Lottie just couldn’t help herself, she suddenly let out a little squeal and then rushed to catch up with Cazaril. She wasn’t that bright, but she could take a hint, and that was as obvious a hint as they came! He was obviously telling her that he wasn’t just a Prince, but the prince who was next in line to become King of Chalion! Well if that wasn’t just the bees knees!

“Wow, that sure is fascinating!” she exclaimed, amping up the wattage of her smile. “It does sound dreadfully scary, though! Going to war, golly! You must be so brave!”

[cazaril]

Caz felt a flush on his face when she called him brave. He hold onto her things as they walked down the street looking like a right pair. Him in his strange scruffy clothes with all her things. If he knew that she thought him a prince, he would probably have laughed.

"I guess it is fascinating." He told her, his smile creasing up as he looked her up and down when she wasn't looking, darn she was pretty. What was it with all the girls he was meeting recently being so lovely to him?

He never had this kind of thing in Chalion, but he figured social status's weren't as important here. He laughed with her. "I wouldn't say I'm brave, but there's some things I've done that border lined on stupid."

He looked about, "I totally forgot to ask if you were going anywhere else...I'm just...walking in any silly direction."

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Noting that her compliments were making him blush, Lottie felt her heart give a genuine flutter. Well if he wasn’t just the cutest thing alive! A prince and a soldier, yet so humble! He honestly didn’t seem to know how wonderful a person he was! Well, she would just have to make sure that he knew.

“Brave, stupid... so often they’re just the same darn thing,” she brushed off his argument. “The fact that you’re out there fightin’ is all that matters. So many men of high stature would rather just sit back and let everyone else do tha fightin’ for them.”

At the question of where she was going, Lottie suddenly stopped in her tracks. To be completely honest, she hadn’t been paying a lick of attention either. Giggling at the idea of it she shrugged her shoulders. “I was just enjoyin’ tha company,” she said with another fluttering of her eyelashes. “I think I already bought out every store in town, so I should probably just take these packages back to my room...”

She was reluctant to admit that, but they couldn’t very well walk around with them all day. Besides, there were so many other things they could do instead, like dinner or dancing. The more she thought about it, though, the less appealing those ideas were; not that she wouldn’t love to share a meal or a dance with this handsome prince, but because every girl here probably offered the same. If she wanted a marriage proposal out of this she had to think big and set herself apart from all of them... but how? What could she offer that they couldn’t? Racking her brain (which didn’t take long, let’s be honest) a few of his earlier comments sprung to mind and she smiled so luminously she could have lit up the blackest of nights.

“Oh, I have a better idea!” Lottie exclaimed suddenly, bouncing on her toes with excitement. Shifting all her packages to one arm, she brought the fingers of her free hand to her mouth and let out a tremendous whistle. A cab (carriage?) instantly screeched to a halt in front of her. Opening the back door, she unceremoniously threw all her parcels in the back before indicating for Cazaril to do the same while she talked to the driver.

“Could you please deliver these to room 101 of the Tartuffe building of Tintagel Academy?” she asked, rooting in her purse for a note.

“Look, kid, I deliver people, not packages. Either you get in with ‘em or get ‘em outta there,” the cabbie gruffly responded. Anger flashed in Lottie’s eyes but she managed to cover it with a pout.

“But I’m simply not finished, and ya can’t expect l’il ol’ me ta carry all those heavy packages around all day, now can you?” Leaning on the window, she batted her eyes at the man. A little more flirting and a lot more money later and they had a deal. She threw a winning smile at her waiting prince.

[cazaril]

Caz was enjoying this (and lets face it, at the moment he wasn't going to have a lot to look forward too.) Even though he had not expected to meet such a lovely girl, or for her to have the most beautiful hair--

Snap out of it Caz, stop falling for every girl that gives you even the slightest bit of attention.

He did give her a smile though, that was cut short when he was worried the cabby was going to flip his nut. He was surprised and rather impressed at her flirtatious skill could get so much done.

"You're...really good at persuading people," Caz said with a bit of a chuckle trying to peice his words together as he'd watched her squabble. He personally hadn't even had a chance to help defend the pretty blonde lady. She had defended herself all on her own, which as far as Caz knew was a pretty rare thing from where he stood as a man.

Either way, now he was curious as what else she had in stall, "Where are we going now then, you said you had an idea?"

He had no idea of course, but that pretty gleam in her eye told him either he was in trouble, or he was about to have a really fantastic time.

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As the cab drove off, Lottie turned back to Cazaril, positively beaming at him. She was practically vibrating with excitement, bursting to tell him her plan, but somehow she managed to hold it in until he asked.

Well, mostly. He was still finishing his question when she blurted out the answer, completely talking over him.

“I’m taking you shopping!”

Bounding back over to him, Lottie looped her arm through his, holding it with her other hand as well. “You said you didn’t have any other clothes, and losing luggage on a train is bad enough, but through a magic portal? Golly, I would be surprised if you ever saw your bags again! Though I’m sure there’s people just fallin’ all over themselves lookin’ for them, but they could be just about anywhere!”

What was the punishment for losing royalty’s luggage, anyway? He seemed too nice to be the ‘off with their heads’ type, and that was always wicked Queens anyways. Princes were all about saving damsels and fighting dragons. Cazaril was probably very nice and understanding about the lost luggage, and being a prince it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford a whole new wardrobe, something modern and classy. At least that explained his scruff look now: he probably chose his oldest, worn out clothes to travel in so as not to dirty or damage his good ones. How ironic.

“I’m going to have you looking like a prince in no time!” she finished, already dragging him toward the first shop.

[cazaril]

It's strange to think what this impression would leave on Cazaril, time seemed so unimportant, he was eighteen years old, he was young, kind, he wasn't worried about much in the world except a few small matters, at this moment, this tiny moment, he and Lottie were enjoying themselves. Soon enough he was being forced into all sorts of outfits, from gentleman to prince, to fashionable dude.

He had never felt like he'd had so much fun. Grinning widely from head to toe as the day was almost done. He didn't know then what was awaiting him, or of how much this memory would mean to him in days of darkness.

This was the day that Caz would be longing for, and for a company of someone who judged him for who he was now, less than who he had been.