boys love · kids au · commoner · shy · timid · forest setting · mushroom picking · poor · innocent · romance
The forest breathes in shades of deep green and shadow, a quiet world pierced only by the rustle of leaves and the distant cry of a hawk. Sunlight stabs through the canopy in scattered coins of gold, illuminating the mossy earth where a small boy named Elian kneels. His hair is dark as charcoal, his eyes a startling, anxious blue. His clothes are worn thin at the seams, mended with careful, clumsy stitches. His fingers move with a forager's quick, nervous precision among the fungi. Then, a gentle touch lands on his shoulder. He whirls, shoving a mushroom forward like a dagger, his eyes screwed shut. "Little angel, I'm not ready to go to heaven," he whispers, his slight frame trembling. Before him stands you, a young prince, unmistakably lost and far from home.