hopeless fountain kingdom // joshler

chapter 3 → mocha & caramel

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his mocha eyes wandered around the very spacious common area of the palace, the windows big and engraved with colored architecture. the sun shining in greatly, but it still couldn't warm the large room.

josh studied the dress of the princess as she walked a little ways in front of him, leading him inside. the dress had a strapless sweetheart top, with a diamond-embedded belt that looked to separate the connected top and skirt to make the dress classy. the skirt was layered with multiple mesh and suede fabrics, making it rather big and to josh, rather uncomfortable.

but it really did make her look beautiful.

they finally arrived at a living area, two large and burgundy velvet love-seats. debby sat down graciously on the chair while josh was rather uncomfortable while doing so. it was nothing in particular making him uneasy, he just didn't know what he was in for.

"would you like anything?" she wondered. he shook his head casually , but was surprised by the offer regardless. silence fell between the both of them for a few minutes, until josh dared to ask the question probing his mind the whole time.

"n-not to be rude or anything," he warned, "but, why'd you call me here?" josh shyly questioned her. she chuckled at how nervous he was in the presence of her, but still never let the light dim from her caramel eyes.

"it gets kind of lonely in a big castle with no siblings... or any real friends," she let out a sigh, "so i was just hoping we could talk since, y'know, my parents like you."

joshs eyes widened after hearing the shocking news. he stuttered a bit, "t-they like me?" he eagerly wanted to know, she giggled again, "of course they do! you're one of the sweetest guys in the whole kingdom-- not like that dallon weekes guy," she went on to explain, and motioned for josh to come closer as she wanted to tell him something quietly.

"just between you and me," she whispered, "i'm pretty sure he's sick."

the term "sick" around here referred to homosexuality or anything that was labeled "abnormal" in the kingdom, but being gay was the worst kind of "sickness". whether it was dying hot hair or piercings, you were considered a sick individual.

josh cringed at hearing dallons name in the same sentence as "sick". he knew his best friend wasn't sick, or at least he hoped so. having a piercing or dying your hair would get you a warning or even a small punishment (which usually resulted in public humiliation). but being homosexual however, was a whole different story.

if you were accused of being gay multiple times or have admitted to it, you would be sent into the hospital where they "fix" you. it's their way of trying to rid you of your disease, and the people who got fixed, were the ones who never walked out of the hospital again.

he looked at her wide-eyed and shook his head quickly, "no way is dallon sick," he assured her, "he's perfectly straight, which makes him happy." for some reason, josh felt weird explaining how odd it was to sick. he's been feeling this way for a while.

but he can't figure out why.

she quickly excused herself, "y-you're right, i shouldn't assume," she shook her head, "it's not right to accuse someone of such an awful crime." she went on to explain, and josh forced himself to nod in agreement.

silence fell between them again, but josh noticed debby staring at him from the corner of his eyes from where he stared at the floor. he looked up and she immediately tried redirecting her gaze elsewhere.

"so uhh," josh spoke up, "what do you wanna talk about?" he wondered, changing the topic. she paused for a moment, taking her time to think. a small smile then curled onto her lips as she looked up into joshs mocha eyes,

"tell me more about yourself."