"HOW THE FUCK AM I HOLDING THIS CUP OF TEA WRONG?!"

Micheal rubs his face with his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose. He's a prince. You can't punch a prince.

He sighs, claps his hands together, a smiles a fake grin. "Because, Master Jeremiah, royalty are supposed to have fucking manners"

The prince slams his cup into the saucer.
"Stop with the 'Master Jeremiah'. There's no one here. You can just call me Jeremy"

Micheal scoffs, crossing his arms. Jeremy slouches down in the padded chair, resting his foot on his knee.
Micheal sighs loudly, throwing his head back.

"We just fixed your posture!" He protests.

"Well tough. Screw my posture" Jeremy sticks out his tongue, slouching lower. "I don't even like tea. I just pour Red Bull into my coffee and call it a day"

The Filipino pulls back the fancy chair opposite the prince. He sits down, staring over the top of the circular, sheet-covered table. Past the posh teapot and two China cups, Jeremy glares at him. He even pouts for effect.

Micheal sighs, again, as he folds his hands in his lap. "Jeremi- Jeremy, as cliche as it sounds, you have to know this stuff. You need good manners because you have to be a respectable prince. If you haven't noticed, royalty is a lot about image. Seen and not heard and all that stuff"

"But I don't care about this stuff" Jeremy mumbles in protest.

"No one does. Literally not a single royal being likes it. But when they're around each other, is a battle of the posh. Fingers in the air, fifty types of spoons, and god, damn, posture"

Michael quickly leans over the small table, grabbing the princes shoulders and hoists him up. Jeremy's back slams against the chair. Michaels grip doesn't falter, as he stares intensely.

"The quicker you listen to this shit, the quicker these little lessons are over" Micheal says calmly but firmly.

This makes Jeremy chuckle sharply with smirk. "Oh baby, I know you don't want these lessons to be over'

Micheal pulls a face, taking his hands off Jeremys arms, and sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed. "You're revolting. Just do the thing so I can leave"

Jeremy exhales harshly. "Alright. Alright fine. Now show me again. How the fuck do you hold a teacup?"

You may think Jeremy and Micheal don't get along. That's not necessarily true. They clashed at first, but after seeing eachother everyday, they grew close.

Since now that Jermey is looking for a suitor, his manners are key. And Micheal is famous for teaching manners. And I mean literally famous. He makes a living teaching the posh how to posh.

"And that's time. You did it! Two hour long manners lesson and we only had to stop thirty nine times!" Micheal says with fake enthusiasm. His whole careless demeanor is cheated by his smile.

"I can tell you're proud of me" Jermey happily slouches back to his normal position.

"I'm fucking ecstatic"

"Joke all you want, you're proud" the prince dismisses his comment with a flick of his wrist.

Micheal scoffs, standing up from his chair and stretching. As he reaches his arms over his head, his shirt rides up. Jeremy gets a peek of Micheal's hip bones before his shirt falls back down.
"I'm extremely proud of the your stubborn big headedness and your inability to shut the fuck up"

Jeremy smiles with a sarcastic sweetness. "Aw sweetie you love me"

Micheal places his hands on the table, leaning over it until he's a few inches from the princes face. "I only love the job, baby. Even if you come with it"

Michael eyes flick down for a moment, before he leans back away from Jeremy. Jeremys cocky demeanour is still strong, but his heart is pounding underneath.

"Oh you'd cry if I was gone" Jeremy teases.

"No you" Micheal  takes his jacket off the back of his chair, throwing it over his shoulder. He stands next to Jeremys chair. He places his finger under the princes chin, and tips his head up gently. "So have fun crying, baby boy"

And with that he leaves. Jeremy is left with his head tilted up in the air as the door closes behind him. A thick breath escapes his lips. This tends to happen a lot after Micheal leaves. Jeremy feels like he's left hanging off a cliff. Confused, bothered, and typically sexually frustrated.

And if you're wondering if Jeremy has feelings for Micheal, no, he doesn't. He doesn't have any feelings for him whatsoever. Except for the fact that Micheal excites him sexually. A lot. And times like this, when Micheal plays top, tends to leave quite an impact.

(A/N i just want to share that there was originally a scene here where Jeremy jacks off to Micheal's top-ness in the shower. Just thought I'd share)

The lessons continue as usual, for a while. Arguing. Teasing. Joking. Jeremy left sexually frustrated in the end. But, as they say, all good things come to an end.

For the entirety of one of the lessons, Micheal is very out of it. Sure, he gives Jeremy the usual pointers and stuff, but that's kind of all of it. He doesn't point out Jeremys obvious slouch or his loud ass slurping. The Filipinos eyes are just glazed over, his brain off in some clouds somewhere.

"Aaaaaaaaand I'll make sure to tell my suitor that I jack off to my only friend in the shower aaaaaaaaaaand my parents think I'm a twink furry"

"Wait- what?" Michael rubs his eyes, snapping back to reality. "You're a furry?"

"THAT'S what you take from what I said?" Jeremy says.

"Excuse me if I'm trained to zone out your pointless ramblings" Micheal retorts, laughing it off.

"Alright Michael" Jeremy slams his teacup on the saucer, secretly hoping for Micheal to berate him for acting like a slob. Micheal doesn't even notice. "Something here is clearly not right. You're not okay. Tell me what's wrong"

Micheal pulls a confused face. Not the "what the fuck are you on about you crack addict?" face, but more of a "I didn't think anyone noticed, let alone cared" face.

Wake up Micheal. Jeremy cares a lot.

"It's nothing I promise"

"Bullshit. You haven't been yourself for a while now. And I want to help. Let me help"

Micheal finally meets Jeremy's eyes, unreadable.
"You . . . you really care what's up?"

"Of course I do, dude" Jeremy says. "I know you're getting paid to hang out with me or whatever, but I see you as a friend"

This seems to simultaneously comfort and distress Micheal, as his face portrays a thousand emotions.
Micheals eyes fall to the cloth covered table as he takes a deep breath.

"It's a weird story"

"I like weird"

Micheal chuckles.
"Yeah, well, this is something special. As pathetic as it is, I like someone. A guy. But- holy fuck I can't say this without sounding cliche"

"Just go for it man. This is a safe space" Jeremy says as gently as he can. Sure, it's pretty funny that Micheal- Micheal, has a crush. And sure, it slightly breaks Jeremy's heart, but he needs to support his Mi- I mean, his friend.

Micheal sighs.
"So this guy, he-uh, he's getting married"

"Married man? Micheal, you wanna be a mistress?"

"Shut up. I've liked this guy for a while now, and it just . . . it hurts to see him get married. It's just . . ." Micheal leans back in his chair with a sigh, rubbing his face with his hands.

Jeremy's face falls ot if Micheals sight.
"You really love this guy?"

"Yeah. Yeah I guess"

"If it's really eating you up this much, then you gotta tell him"

"Excuse me?"

"Micheal, you're unhappy. I can tell. It sucks when you're unhappy. You gotta tell this guy. Worst case scenario, you get closure. Best case scenario, you wake up in his bed tomorrow"

Micheal looks at Jeremy with a raised eyebrow, and the prince just shrugs.
"You know im right"

Micheal shakes his head, but cracks a smile.
"There's no point, dude. He's going to get married soon. And it's not like . . . it's not like he could marry me anyways. It's complicated. I'm just finding it hard to let him go"

Jeremy grabs Micheals arms, making the Fipinos head snap up with wide eyes. Jeremy had leaned over the table (that is covered with priceless china) and is now staring intensely into Micheals eyes.

"Any guy would be insane to reject you. Believe me. Tell him. Because he's the luckiest guy on earth if you want to be with him" Jeremy's tongue runs off with him. He's blurting out all these things before he can stop himself.

Jeremy swallows, letting go of Micheal and retracting to him seat.
"Just tell him, man" Jeremy shrugs. "Seize that fucking day"

Micheal contemplates this, before nodding.
"I hate you, but you're right"

Jeremy smiles. There's the Micheal I know and love.
"I hate you too"

Micheal glances down at his watch.
"Looks like our time is up. I'll see you tomorrow, Jer"

Micheal stands up, but Jeremy stands up and stops him before he can leave.
"Don't you dare set foot in this castle without telling that guy, okay?"

Micheal rolls his eyes.
"How do you suggest I tell him. Romeo and Juliet style?"

Jeremy scoffs.
"I think just going up to him and giving him a smooch will do. Cut out the cheesy shit"

Micheal gags.
"You're gross"

"Yeah I am" Jeremy steps to the side, letting Micheal pass.

But Micheal doesn't budge, he just looks at Jeremy for a second, biting the inside of his cheek. Jeremy raises an eyebrow, but before he can tell Micheal to "take a picture, it'll last longer", his tutor grabs his face.

And kisses him.

Rushed. Chaste. Panicked. Micheal is out the door before Jeremy can properly react. The prince is left frozen, his mind on pause.

Then it all fits together.

And boy is Jeremy dumb for not noticing it earlier.

•••
Theres part one! I've been working on this for ages and I'm SO HAPPY to have the first part done.
Since this chapter actually didn't go how I planned, I'm going to make another version of this one shot, with a tweaked plot.

Get something to drink- no, not more coffee. Try water or milk. Stay healthy.

- Avery