FORGOTTEN ORCHIDS | CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WHEN HE FIRST LAID EYES on the Foxling, Jimmy had just begun his empire. It was four years before his present day; the Codfather, at only twenty-two years old, was encouraged by his older sister to create a kingdom of his own in a corner of her kingdom. She gifted the land to him, no strings attached, and Jimmy began to build.
He was aware of the House Blossom truce meetings, being put in charge of the kingdom for the few hours Lizzie left to attend them. But he didn't know the rulers that participated in them, having few friendships with other royalty outside of Lizzie and her then-boyfriend, Prince Joel. He was surprised when Lady Katherine extended an invitation to him mere weeks after the Cod Empire was established as an official kingdom, but was excited to attend all the same.
The Foxling was the first to catch Jimmy's attention.
He held himself so confidently for the youngest ruler at the meeting; Jimmy had heard from a few of his citizens that the Vulpesterrian ruler had been crowned at sixteen, which meant that even if he was the youngest in the room, he had the most experience in running a kingdom. The confidence in himself only amplified the beauty that he radiated, soft features and brown curls sitting perfectly on his head; intelligent eyes that gleamed with annoyance whenever anyone directly spoke to him; a soothing tone of voice despite the sarcasm that bit his words when he spoke. He was everything Jimmy wanted to be—respected, self-assured, and attractive.
The intimidation proved to be too much for Jimmy's first meeting; he stumbled over his words as he introduced himself, earning a few laughs at his expense, the nobles looking down on him for his insecurities. Except for the Foxling—annoyance pinching his expression, but at those that were laughing at Jimmy, not at the Codfather himself. The younger spared Jimmy a wary glance when he saw Jimmy staring at him, but otherwise didn't poke fun at him as fWhip and Sausage began to do.
Lizzie and Joel joined Jimmy outside after the meeting, matching smiles as they walked arm-in-arm. There had once been a point where Jimmy hated Joel for coming into their lives, but now saw the prince as the older brother he never had; truly, he couldn't think of anyone better for his sister. Joel was kind to everyone who deserved it, and for some reason, he'd decided that Jimmy was on that list.
Lizzie squealed, pulling Jimmy into a hug. "Congratulations, little brother," she said, beaming up at him. "I have to speak with fWhip about our alliance, but I'll find you before I go. Wait for me!"
Jimmy forced a smile, nodding to her. "Thank you. I'll wait until we say goodbye," he promised, his stomach turning at the thought of Lizzie allying with a ruler that had made fun of him. He kept quiet, though, watching her run off to find the Grimlands' king.
Joel eyed Jimmy for a moment. "Need someone to talk to?" he offered. "You look upset."
Jimmy sighed, wringing his hands together. "You saw me in there, Joel. I stumbled over my words and made a complete fool of myself! They'll never take me seriously as a king after that." He thought back to the table of people that had laughed at him, all but one. "Except the Foxling. He was quiet. Didn't laugh at me for embarrassing myself."
Joel was quiet for a moment before he frowned. "I didn't laugh at you. Neither did Lizzie or Scott," he pointed out.
Jimmy frowned. "I know that. But you're all my friends—Lizzie's my sister. You're her boyfriend and Scott is my best friend."
"No," Joel said sternly, tone sharp, "we didn't laugh because you didn't do anything embarrassing." Jimmy gave him a doubtful look. "You're a new ruler, Ji—" Joel frowned. "Codfather," he corrected. "You handled yourself very well for a stressful situation. It's not like you have experience talking to a room full of powerful people. You should know that Lizzie and I are very proud of you."
Jimmy's ears burned at the praise. "Thank you," he muttered, not sure what else he could say.
The older man smiled, then, looking Jimmy over. "You should ask the Foxling about a trade agreement, though, since he took you so seriously." There was a teasing tone to his voice, one that Jimmy chose to ignore.
"Why not an alliance?" he asked, remembering that Lizzie had encouraged him to make friends with the other rulers—gain allies in case there was a war. He already had her, Joel, and Scott, but it would be good to have others on his side.
Joel winced, shaking his head quickly. "No. The Foxling is known to never have an alliance. He wouldn't even humor you for asking. He certainly wouldn't respect you if you asked more than once."
Jimmy frowned at the explanation, not understanding; but Joel sounded too serious to be joking, so Jimmy made a mental note to never ask the Foxling for an alliance if he wanted to keep the younger man's respect.
At that moment, the Foxling exited the meeting room, waving to Lady Katherine over his shoulder. Jimmy, despite Joel continuing to talk to him, couldn't tear his eyes away from the Foxling, who turned his head and caught Jimmy's gaze. Jimmy winced internally but held up a hand and awkwardly waved, forcing a thin smile. After a moment, the Foxling nodded to him and continued his walk, disappearing seconds later.
The embarassment quickly crawled up Jimmy's throat again.
It was four years later that Jimmy took the time to remember Joel's words about alliances and the Foxling, when the younger reached out to offer a trade agreement—quality wood in exchange for blue orchids.
The confusion settled in a few minutes after the Foxling kneeled to pick the flowers, questions keeping Jimmy in place. He didn't understand why the Foxling was willing to exchange materials for flowers; it was weird. But not weird in a bad way, Jimmy thought, just . . . weird. Not enough to make Jimmy think any less of the Foxling—it would have to take a lot more than flowers to change Jimmy's opinion of the younger. It was enough to amuse him, though—the Foxling cared so much about finding the perfect flowers. He was choosing the blue orchids himself. It was endearing.
He watched the Foxling for perhaps longer than was necessary; the way he chose which orchids to pick escaped Jimmy, but he knew it must have been practical. He made a mental note to have more of the orchids planted to give the Foxling more options—only because he wanted the Foxling to have a reason to continue their trade agreement. Even if he would have let the Foxling have his pick of the flowers without an agreement in place.
Despite what fWhip and Sausage loved to claim, Jimmy was not an idiot, at least not when it came to his feelings. Thinking the Foxling was attractive when he met him for the first time told Jimmy all he needed to know about his feelings for the Vulpesterrian ruler, and it was clear to himself that they were not platonic. Up until their more frequent interactions, however, Jimmy assumed it was like a celebrity crush—unattainable.
And then the Foxling was at his kingdom's borders, in his life, making himself known. Jimmy was happy to be one of the Foxling's friends—or, at least, on his way to being one. They worked well together professionally. Jimmy could ignore any romantic feelings he had, let them turn into platonic emotions; he could do whatever he needed to keep the Foxling in his orbit.
Scott had given him a disbelieving stare when Jimmy told him this, so confidently that he was sure he convinced Scott of the same. The cyan-haired male had moved on after a moment, and Jimmy had let him—he knew he was deluding himself about his own feelings, and Scott knew it, too. Jimmy had never been able to lie to his best friend; Scott knew him even better than Lizzie did. He'd clocked Jimmy's crush before Jimmy had realized that was what it was.
But maybe the feelings had been turning platonic—until that morning by the fire.
His hands were still shaking by the time he called for a carriage to take the Foxling home, pulse racing as he remembered the feeling of the Foxling's skin against his hands. He was sure his nerves were apparent to the others around him, but Jimmy tried to pretend he was okay—that the thought of his feelings didn't scare him.
But they did scare him—terrified him, even. Not because they were there, but because they were for the Foxling, another ruler and someone infamous for not having close relationships with other people.
The worry that he had messed up the beginning of their friendship haunted Jimmy enough that he left for the docks before the Foxling was gone, standoffish to the citizens that would often greet him comfortably. Even if part of him—all of him—wanted to be more than friends, Jimmy knew that wasn't possible, not with the Foxling. But it would hurt more to know he'd chased the Foxling away entirely than suffering silently through his romantic intentions.
A selfish part of Jimmy wanted to march back into his cabin and confess his feelings for the Foxling; he wanted the younger man to know everything. When he was hurt and Jimmy didn't know what would happen, he was panicking; when he thought the Foxling was dying, it felt like a part of him was dying, too.
He'd given his heart to the Foxling without meaning to, and the Foxling had control over him.
The realization, strangely, didn't scare him as much as it should have.
What did scare him was the weeks of the Foxling avoiding him; errand runners came to pick the flowers, and Jimmy internally winced every time they picked one so carelessly, so unlike the way the Foxling would do it. The weeks of wondering how much he had messed up, the weeks of bolting awake in panic as he thought about the Foxling being hurt somewhere, alone, and Jimmy being unable to help him.
The Foxling appeared again, claiming he was on bed rest. Jimmy hardly believed him, but he was willing to accept any excuse if it meant being near the Foxling again.
"I like him too much," Jimmy confessed, looking down at the teacup in his lap.
Joel snorted, elbowing Lizzie. "Cool. You're the last to know."
Scott shot Joel a glare before turning a gentle gaze onto Jimmy. "I can hear you thinking from here," he said. "You need to hang out with him more, but at his instigation. You don't want to push him more than he's comfortable with."
"Now hold on," Lizzie protested, pulling Jimmy's attention to her. "He should tell the Foxling about his feelings sooner rather than later!" She smiled at Jimmy. "It's better to be let down early than lead yourself on."
Jimmy frowned. "But I'm alright being led on if I get to see him," he admitted, embarrassment brushing his cheeks.
Scott hummed softly. "That's not healthy," he decided.
Joel rolled his eyes. "You're both right. Jimmy, mate, you need to hang out with him more to make sure these feelings are real. You two definitely need to get to know each other better. And then you should confess when the time is right, so he knows what you're looking for and you can give him an out without regret on your end."
Jimmy pursed his lips, looking down at his tea again. "I guess you're right," he decided.
Lizzie pouted for a moment before smiling at Jimmy encouragingly. "Well, you said you two are having lunch together these days, yes? There's your chance to get to know him." She clapped her hands, changing the direction of the conversation. "Now. Is fWhip still messing with you?"
Jimmy rolled his eyes, uncomfortable at the mention of the other ruler. "It doesn't bother me like it used to," he said, figuring that answered her question.
Scott scoffed. "You should talk to Katherine about being moved away from him in meetings." He smiled, taking a sip of his tea. "You could even ask the Foxling to go with you if you want."
Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Scott. "I'll talk to her, but I am not inviting him along. That would be embarrassing."
Scott shrugged, smirking, and sipped his tea.
The Foxling had been kind when it came to Jimmy tagging along to House Blossom. He'd gone out of his way to calm Jimmy down after Katherine had turned down his request. There was a side to him that most people didn't know, but Jimmy was beginning to see—a good ruler and a thoughtful man, as confident as he was beautiful.
And Jimmy knew he couldn't take anyone's advice but his sister's.
With barely gathered courage and a bouquet of blue orchids in his hands, Jimmy made the journey to Vulpesterra.
Lady Jane met him at the entrance to the castle, confusion in her eyes as she led him to the Foxling's room. "Did you two have a meeting today?" she asked, glancing at the flowers he held in a death grip.
Jimmy took a deep breath, exhaling softly. "No. But I need to talk with him."
Jane smiled faintly. Jimmy hoped it was in approval.
It was a surprise when they ran into King Sausage—literally. The man bumped into Jimmy, expression pinched in frustration, shame, and embarrassment as he passed. "Sorry, hello," he said to Jimmy, waving at him distractedly as he ran off. Jimmy was sure the man didn't even realize who he had run into.
Jimmy frowned, looking at Jane. She wore a matching expression. "I didn't know he was here," she muttered, quickening her pace to the Foxling's room.
Jimmy realized briefly that they were headed in the same direction Sausage had come from.
They stopped in front of the wooden doors that Jimmy recognized as the ones that led into the Foxling's room. Jane knocked before pushing the doors open, knowing what permissions she had and didn't when it came to the Foxling.
Jimmy's heart sank when she froze at the door, looking at a sight he couldn't see.