#bigpearl

His hands got squeezed in hers, and his gaze flicked to their tied hands. They were warm against his. It sent a shiver along his spine. His wings couldn’t help but twitch at the thought.

Pearl raised their hands towards her lips, and slowly kissed his knuckles. BigB inhaled sharply, unsure how to react. His feathers ruffled from his legs to his neck.

“Do you trust me?” Pearl asked, breath blowing against his skin.

BigB didn’t know what words would come out of his mouth if he opened it, so he nodded mutely. He trusted Pearl. She saved him from Jimmy’s imprisonment, she went with his idea of stealing Scott’s enchanter, she backed him up against Cleo’s words.

BigB didn’t have the heart to tell her she should put that trust elsewhere.

Cleo was right, all he did was betray his closest allies. He was about to remedy that this time, he wanted to be solo, and live among the frogs and slowly be killed by the clock ticking right against his heart. If Pearl hadn’t found him, she would not be running for her life against Martyn and Scott.

“Can I preen your wings?”

Her voice shook him out of his thoughts. It was so soft, so quiet, that Froggy meowed louder than her words. BigB blinked, wings ruffling at the suggestion before he could even process it. Pearl laughed at his reaction.

“They look itchy.”

Nobody had asked him that before. He always managed to do it himself during the quieter times, away from everyone. His skin shivered, and his eyes drifted towards Pearl’s wagging tail. He trusted Pearl. His wings glued themselves closer to his back despite that.

“It’s alright,” he smiled, “I’ll —”

Before he could finish his sentence, Pearl placed a hand on his shoulder, jerking his eyes towards her face. BigB wanted to call her smile toothy, a toothy grin, but the way her ears drooped and that gentle squeeze of her hand, he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Nosey Neighbours stick together, yeah?”

Her voice was a whisper, like a promise made into the last rays of sunlight illuminating her face. He trusted her with his entire being.

His wings expanded slightly, one reaching her arm. The brush made him shiver, but he held in his sharp gasp at the touch. Pearl hummed before leaning forward, lips brushing his ear.

“Thank you,” was the only thing she said.

A ball of nerves formed in his throat.

Her hands slowly explored his feathers, the contact singing under his skin. His wings extended unconsciously, and her giggle warmed him up in ways he never felt before. Ren often organized what he called “spa days” during quiet times, and BigB participated one time before never going again, coming up with excuses. When Ren had brushed his hand on his wing by accident, BigB became vulnerable in ways he never wanted to be again.

Before Cleo’s distrust, they had let BigB brush their hair once, commenting on his gentleness at handling hair. That went up in his head, and never left, keeping him warm whenever Cleo glared at him with their icy gaze.

Pearl brushed off some dirt from the feathers, bringing him back to the present. He had to keep in his chirrups and excited flaps. He didn’t want Pearl’s fingers to stop touching him. He couldn’t help but wonder if she would have asked this if she knew how unreliable BigB truly was. As her fingers pinched molted feathers, making him sigh in relief, his mind stayed on high alert. He waited for the other shoe to drop, for her to laugh at him and call him names, for her fingers to tighten and tear out a fistful of feathers.

None of that came as Pearl went on the other wing, resting her unoccupied hand between his extra appendages. BigB gasped, face warming up out of mortification. Pearl giggled before nuzzling her cheek against his curls.

“You make cute noises.”

BigB laughed along, face now warm for an entirely different reason.

“Thanks,” he squeaked out, unsure if that was the answer Pearl wanted.

She chuckled and carded her fingers through his feathers.

“Gee, relax, your wings are all tense.”

BigB obeyed immediately, letting Pearl preen him as he focused on the movement of her fingers. Her pinches to release molted feathers, her brushes to push dirt away, smoothing out feathers out of place. As if she had already done this before.

He wanted to ask, mouth open and ready to question her. But when he saw her tongue poking out of her lips, eyes concentrated on her work, he simply huffed and relaxed into her hands. He still couldn’t let his chirrups and gasps escape his mouth. BigB couldn’t afford another heartbreak.

“There, all done,” Pearl announced.

He already missed her touch.

BigB expanded his wings, humming in satisfaction at her work.

“Wow, you did awesome, Pearl.”

The sunlight illuminated her face as she laughed and sat beside him, resting her head against his shoulder. Her tail wagged back and forth, hitting his rear at times, while her ear tickled his neck.

“We are pretty awesome.”

BigB huffed, “Yeah, we are.”

As they watched the sunset, BigB tried to appreciate the moment. He tried to appreciate Pearl’s warmth, his clean wings, her ear brushing against his jaw. His mind couldn’t help but think, at the end of this, he would go back to being solo, and Pearl would have forgotten about him. She would join the others and call him a traitor, a betrayer, someone unworthy of trust.

The first time Bigb encountered Pearl, he was fifteen years old.

There was a window in his schedule, before his bedtime, where he was free to do as he wished; a lot of summer days, he spent it sitting at a creek in the garden, listening to the frogs. Sometimes he talked to them-- they never responded, of course. They were too busy trying to be the loudest frog in the pond to worry about a human boy observing them from dry land. It was a nice change of pace for Bigb; after a whole day of following protocols, having to carefully say the right things to the right people, it was nice to just sit back, watch, and listen, without anyone expecting something from him.

Which made it an even bigger surprise when one day he heard a small, high-pitched voice say: “What a bunch of show-offs, huh?”

Baffled, Bigb looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. It didn't sound like any of the gardeners he saw regularly, and he didn't see anyone around. Just as he thought he'd probably imagined it, he heard the voice again: “Down here!”

He looked down to see a single frog sitting on the rocks to his left, looking out at the choir in the pond. The frog opened its mouth, and talked: “Look at 'em. They all want to marry me, you know. That's what the singing is for.”

“Right,” Bigb said, nodding. Male frogs croak to attract a mate, he'd learned that in his biology lessons. That meant the frog he was talking to was probably a girl frog... a frog girl? He wasn't sure what to do with this information. He hadn't exactly learned a protocol for talking to frogs.

Fortunately, the frog kept talking. “What's your name?” she asked, looking up at him now.

That he did know the answer to. “I am Prince Bartholomew Anton Statz, first of his name, heir to the throne of Evon.” he hesitated, and added: “...but some people just call me Bigb.”

“Bigb,” the frog repeated, the 'b's popping as they came out of her frog mouth. It sounded nice. “Good name. I'm Pearl.”

“Nice to meet you, Pearl,” Bigb said, and... once again had no idea what to do next. Luckily, when he looked up he could see his attendant, Ren, approaching in the distance. “Oh- looks like I'll have to go now.”

“Aww, already? We've barely talked,” Pearl said.

“I'm sorry,” Bigb said, and then, despite the awkwardness, added: “Maybe we can talk tomorrow?”

Pearl hummed, and shook her little frog head, as much as that was possible. “Probably not. Try next month, when the moon is full again.”

Bigb nodded. “I'll remember that. Goodbye, Pearl,” he said, as he got up.

“Bye!” she replied, but already her voice was difficult to hear among the calls of the others frogs. Bigb shot a glance up at the moon-- nearly full, but beginning to wane-- dusted off his trousers, then started walking up to Ren. He couldn't let Ren see him talking to frogs; that would cause rumors, and rumors were never good for a prince. Bigb could behave himself, and he would.

But he'd definitely be going back to that pond.

Go back he did; the moment his schedule was clear on the next full moon's evening, he marched over to the same creek. He sat down and called out: “Pearl?”

“Bigb!” she responded immediately, and Bigb spotted Pearl hop out of the pond and climb onto the same spot she'd sat the month before. “You remembered!”

Bigb chuckled at that. “I found a talking frog, I wouldn't just forget about that.” His smile faded as he continued: “You know, I don't mean to be rude, but... why are you a talking frog, Pearl?”

Pearl let out a low croak which Bigb supposed was like a sigh. “Because I'm cursed.”

“Huh,” Bigb replied. “Now who would do that, curse a frog to talk?”

“I've- Bigb!” Pearl said in an indignant voice. “The talking part isn't the curse, the frog part is!”

“Oh. Ooh.” Bigb felt his cheeks flush, and he buried his head in his hands. “I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't consider that!”

Pearl giggled at that. It sounded a bit odd, but it was a very human sound, all things considered. Bigb considered what Pearl had said. Cursed to be a frog... “Honestly, I think I wouldn't mind being a frog,” he said.

“It's a carefree life,” Pearl admitted. “Swimming through creeks, catching bugs... but it gets dull sometimes. And good luck finding someone to talk to. Other frogs... aren't the best listeners.” She looked back towards the pond, where the frog bachelors had once again begun their overlapping songs.

“I get... dumber, when I can't see the moon. That's why I told you to come back on the full moon only. When it's new moon I'm almost entirely in frog mode, and... it gets real tempting to just embrace it. Maybe pick one of those fellows, and- I don't know. I don't really want to be a proper frog, but it beats being lonely.”

“Is there any way to lift the curse?” Bigb asked.

“Same as there always is. True love's kiss.”

Bigb didn't say anything. He couldn't help there. He didn't love Pearl, and he never would, because she was... well, a frog. And he was a prince, and a prince could not kiss a frog. What if he got some kind of illness, and had to explain that to the medic? It wasn't proper, so he wouldn't do it.

No, there was no way for Bigb to lift the curse, but he could at least make it as nice for Pearl as possible. “I'll keep you company,” he promised. “Every full moon, I'll come talk to you. Okay?”

“Thank you, Bigb,” Pearl said, looking up at him, “That means a lot. Really.”

And Bigb kept his promise; every month, all three days of the full moon, he went to the pond and he talked to Pearl. He told her about his lessons, and about the state of the country. He told Pearl when his parents died, and he let the tears flow freely down his face for the first time in weeks. Pearl talked back just as much; she offered Bigb encouragement and advice, not giving a damn about the way things were meant to go in the royal court. Or sometimes she came up with odd questions to debate, or just rambled on about the shape of the clouds in the sky as Bigb listened. She rarely brought up her own life, and she never brought up the curse again. This was their routine for years, until...

It was a cold autumn night, likely the last time they would talk to each other before Pearl went to sleep for the winter. Bigb was sitting down, leaning forwards slightly, nervous.

“I'm turning twenty this winter,” he told Pearl. “Then I'll be coronated, and I'll properly be king.” Technically he had been king since his father died years before, but the monarch wouldn't come into power until he was at least twenty years old; the ministers ruled the country until then.

“Oh, congratulations!” Pearl replied. “Will I have to start calling you 'your majesty' then?”

“Technically, you already do,” Bigb replied, managing a small smile, but it quickly faded and he sighed again. “The thing is... I'll have a lot of responsibilities then. And people paying attention to me all the time... which means I don't know if I'll be able to come to the garden very much.”

“...Oh,” was all Pearl said to that. Bigb's heart broke at the way she sounded, so different from her usual cheerful self.

“They're expecting me to get married, as well,” Bigb continued. “I haven't really been doing much on that front, so Ren's been talking to some of the nobles, and apparently he's picked a duke's daughter for me to marry.”

“Well, I hope she's nice,” Pearl said, quietly.

“I'm sure she will be...” Bigb replied, and then that was the issue: she would be nice, and it would be fine. His whole life, everything had been fine. He studied hard, he followed every protocol, and it wasn't like it killed him inside; and if he got coronated this winter and married the lady, he would be a great king, and he'd be content with that.

But would he be happy​? The only times he recalled being truly happy in the past years was at this pond, talking and laughing with Pearl. “But...”

“But?” Pearl had been looking down at her reflection in the water, but now looked up to Bigb.

“I think I'd rather marry somebody I love.” He cupped his hands and laid them on the stone, in front of Pearl.

Pearl didn't say anything at first, staring at Bigb's hands for a long moment, mouth hanging slightly open. Eventually she hopped into Bigb's hands. With a quiet shaky voice, she spoke: “You'd really...?”

“I would,” Bigb replied as he lifted Pearl up to his face's height. “May I?”

“Wait!” Pearl called out. “Bigb, I... I'm sorry. I haven't told you the full truth about the curse.”

Bigb made a noise of curiosity. They'd never discussed the curse much, but Pearl had said true love's kiss would break it-- turning her human again, he had assumed.

“It's not really a curse, to be honest it's just... how my people are made. If you give me a kiss, I'll change, but... I won't become fully human. And you'll change as well. You'll become the same as me.”

Bigb lowered his hands holding Pearl slightly as he considered that. He'd change as well... if he wasn't human, he couldn't be king anymore. He couldn't be anything anymore, really... but he'd be the same thing as Pearl.

He found he hardly cared about the rest. The ministers had been doing a fine job ruling Evon, he's sure they could figure something out. “That's okay,” he said.

Pearl let out a croak, that sounded happy and sad at the same time. “Bigb, I love you,” she said.

Bigb didn't respond with words, but instead closed his eyes, brought Pearl close and kissed her on her wet lips. As he held the kiss he felt Pearl getting bigger, heavier. She dropped from his hands- were they webbed now?- and embraced him with webbed hands of her own. It was the strangest sensation, but it felt so right.

Pearl pulled away form Bigb, and he opened his eyes to see a pale face that wasn't quite human, but certainly wasn't a frog; and a smile he'd never seen before, but which felt so very familiar nonetheless. Then he started to look down, and quickly looked to the side instead; he thought he should've felt a blush, but his cheeks stayed cold.

Pearl giggled. “Come on,” she said in a voice not so different from the one Bigb had come to know, “let's get out of here.” Then she pulled him into the water. Bigb protested a bit, but the plunge wasn't nearly as unpleasant as he'd expected; the water felt comforting.

“Already?” He asked after pulling his head out of the water, Pearl doing the same.

“Yeah, of course! I don't think your gardeners are going to be very happy to see us like this, mate.”

“Fair enough,” Bigb replied. Part of his mind had thought to say goodbye to Ren at the very least, explain what was going on, but he realised that wouldn't be possible without causing an uproar. And that would just be inappropriate, he'd been taught as much his whole life.

So instead he took Pearl's hand and the two of them swam upstream, out of the gardens, far away from the royal palace of Evon.

They both descended into giggles again. Pearl sat down on the floor, patting the spot in front of her. BigB sat down, a little surprised she offered to help him first. "I don't mind," she told him, taking stock of his wings right now. She decided to focus on one at a time.

It was relaxing preening BigB's wings. He wasn't an avian like herself, but even angels needed their wings to be cleaned and straightened sometimes too. She raked her fingers slowly through his feathers, setting them back in place. She did her best to clean anything she found, but honestly his wings were looking better than her own. They fell into a sort of comfortable silence, Pearl focusing on her task. Pearl could almost forget that they were in a death game, but any noise from outside reminded her. Still, she felt like BigB and her were miles away from the rest of the server right now. Lost in their own little world. Pearl finished one of his wings, continuing to brush her fingers over and through the feathers, until she heard BigB's voice, soft and quiet.

"I think you're all done with that one."

Pearl blinked, letting go of his wing. He folded it up against himself. Pearl could feel herself starting to blush. What was she doing? Getting far too comfortable touching BigB's wings, was what. But he didn't seem to mind as he stayed where he was, ready for her to preen his other wing. Pearl took her time here too, making sure that she was getting everything she could. Until his wings felt like they were glowing before her. Pearl leaned forward, drawn in by the light, touching his fingers with the lightest of touch. She could hear a soft, almost inaudible exhale of breathe. The way he leaned back just a touch. Pearl didn't want to stop, didn't want this to end. He felt so soft and warm, her fingers eventually trailing to the middle of his back where his wings stopped, the muscles there twitching just a little. She touched the spot of skin that cut down between the wings like a river, her fingers sliding under his sweater. BigB gasped and Pearl, pulled her hands away. Her face was burning hot and she was sure BigB must be blushing too. He probably felt so creep out with her just touching him like that.

She sat there, covering her face with her hands. She was ready to go out there and die now. Any way would work. Just so she could be out of here, so embarrassed with herself. Yet she felt a gentle touch on her arm.

"It's your turn. Turn around."

"Are you sure," Pearl asked, still speaking through her hands. They smelled like him, like sugar and vanilla and something pleasant and gentle. Pearl was losing her mind. She was running out of time and so her mind was finally short circuiting. That had to be it. Still Pearl did as she was asked, turning around to allow BigB to return the favor. He never replied to her question, but she could feel his hands on her feathers. She let herself relax as he started his work, taking his time with her wings. It felt soothing, feeling him touch her wings, fixing all the little aches and heaviness that had accumulated recently. She felt herself puff up a little, letting him get access to all of the nooks and crannies. It felt akin to someone washing her hair, but it felt more intimate too. He was taking care of such an important part of her. Just like she did, he worked hard to get them into better condition, but he didn't rush or try and force things.

Pearl wondered if she could fall asleep like this. The atmosphere they had created certainly lend itself to that. It wasn't as if they didn't have enough time for a short nap and they could always gain it back if they needed to. Surely they wouldn't be out so soon after they were done here. She wanted to believe that there was plenty of time left for the two of them, even though both of their clocks had them in the red.

"Pearl." Pearl hummed softly in reply, only realizing now she had closed her eyes. His hands were still on her, close to the small of her back now. "Pearl can you look at me."

Pearl opened her eyes, confused on what was going on. BigB was looking at her with such a tender look in his eyes, it made her melt. He reached out and touched her face, moving hair away from it so he could see her properly. In this moment time seemed to slow down.

"There's one more thing I'd like to do before this is over, if that's alright."

"Okay, show me." Pearl thought that he had something to show her or tell her about, ready to get back to making plans for fighting and defense, but she was wrong. He smiled at her and leaned close, taking his time, letting Pearl choose to pull away and stop this. She didn't. She leaned in, feeling his lips press against her own. She felt like time had frozen completely and in this moment, it was just the two of them. His mouth was soft and hot, opening to deepen the kiss. She adjusted herself, moving so that she was kneeling on his lap, leaning more into the kiss. She could feel his hands still at her back, touching her wings, but in a much more intimate way. She touched him too, relishing in his kiss and the feeling of his skin and feathers. She had no idea how long they stayed like that, kissing and touching one another, hands never going too far. She felt herself move forward, even more, leaning down against him. She was taller than him and so he had to tilt his head back a little more. Eventually she pushed him down against the floor, laying on top of him, to continue kissing him.

Minutes passed, their time steadying ticking away as they lost themselves in each other. Finally, they stopped, breathing hard, but feeling amazing. Pearl moved closer to BigB, wrapping him in her arms and wings. They cocooned together like that, a ball of feathers. If anyone came upon them like this, they might not know what was going on and Pearl was sure they'd never hear the end of it, but it didn't matter. She pressed her face against BigB's hair, cuddling as close as she could, not wanting this peaceful and warm bubble pop just yet. They both fell asleep at some point, resting only a little while.

Pearl really felt like she could die now, but at the same time she didn't want to go more than ever. She wasn't sure if she'd get to see BigB again for quite some time. She was going to have to steal as much time as she could with him before they were both gone. A shame they hadn't done this sooner.