#pearlb

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.