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wigglywiggles · 1 year

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Dimension 20 exchange 2022

This is my gift for @captainswan618 for the D20 exchange!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44687986 Title: One fateful afternoon

Summary: Pete sighed softly as he looked out of the window at the stables. He really wanted to go out there and talk to Cody, the stable hand, but he was stuck in this stupid meeting about his future. And not even his future as king, but his future romantic life. It was frankly ridiculous, if Pete was honest. Why couldn’t he find someone he could marry himself. Why did every little thing have to be planned out in extreme detail?

Pete sighed softly as he looked out of the window at the stables. He really wanted to go out there and talk to Cody, the stable hand, but he was stuck in this stupid meeting about his future. And not even his future as king, but his future romantic life. It was frankly ridiculous, if Pete was honest. Why couldn’t he find someone he could marry himself. Why did every little thing have to be planned out in extreme detail?

“Pete, are you listening?” his dad Kingston asked, “She will arrive by mid afternoon, and you’ll be there to greet her. You’ve known each other since you were children so don’t be too rude to her. From what I remember you used to love to play together when you were kids.”

Pete had no idea who his father was talking about, but he hoped it was one of the few girls who didn’t react badly to his transition.

“I will be there, father, am I free to go?” At his father’s nod, Pete rushed out of the room as politely as he could afford being the crown prince leaving a meeting with important advisors to the country and the king, even if he was your father.

“Hello Cody,” Pete greeted the stable hand as he arrived at the stables. “How are you?”

“Your highness, good afternoon,” Cody said as he bowed.

“I’ve told you to call me Pete, Cody,”

“I know, your highness,”

Pete could hear the teasing lilt to Cody’s voice as he said that and grinned. “How is Preston doing today? Did she try to eat all the apples again?”

“She sure did,” Cody laughed, “she’s doing well, I can get her ready for you if you want to go for an afternoon ride?”

Pete shook his head, “I can’t, I’m afraid. I have to stay and greet an important guest this afternoon.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, my father has finally decided who I am supposed to wed,” Pete grimaced and fidgeted with a loose thread on his overcoat. He’d have to let Iga know it was getting loose, she could fix it for him. “I wasn’t paying attention to the meeting, however, so I don’t know who I will be welcoming this afternoon.”

“I’m sure it will be okay, your highness,” Cody said, “I don’t mean to be rude, your highness, but I have a lot of chores left to do. Josh isn’t here today so it’s all up to me.”

“Of course, my apologies for keeping you from your job. I should go, I have to get ready to welcome my guest as well.” Pete nodded at Cody and turned to go. “I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye, your highness,”

Pete walked around the gardens until he was truly late enough to get changed that he’d had to hurry. As he rushed outside he thought about who he would be greeting. He prayed to everything that was holy that it wouldn’t be Priya. If Priya was supposed to be his bride he would abdicate and become a recluse somewhere high up in the mountains.

He came to a stop right next to Ricky, a knight of the court and his guard whenever they travelled. Suffice to say they were good friends.

“Hey Ricky, how are you?” He asked in a low tone, as he could already see the carriages of another royal court in the nearby distance. “Did you pay attention during the meeting this morning? Can you tell me who is about to arrive?”

“Good afternoon, Pete. I can, but what would be the fun in that? You were at the meeting, you should know.” Ricky turned to face him slightly to smirk before turning back to the arriving guests. “What was so interesting outside that you couldn’t pay attention to the very important meeting inside?”

“Nothing!” Pete said quickly. Maybe too quickly. “I just don’t like that everything in my life is chosen for me. Why can’t I decide who I get to marry? Can you at least tell me it’s not Priya? Because if it’s Priya I will abdicate.”

“Your father knows that, Pete. It’s not Priya.”

“Thank goodness,” Pete sighed.

“Now look polite, they’re here.”

Pete watched as the carriages pulled up and two guards came out of it. They carried a small red carpet that they spread out on the ground in front of the second carriage. That was where his future bride was, then. His eyes were glued to the door of the carriage as it opened. Please, let it be someone he would actually be able to tolerate and maybe even love. Please.

It was as if time itself hated Pete because the door to the carriage couldn’t have taken longer to open. When it finally opened he couldn’t help but grin. Yes, they’d definitely be okay.

Sofia was less than pleased about her current situation and she’d made sure her parents knew. Who decided promising children to each other to be wed was something normal to do? She was her own person and could pick someone perfectly perfect to marry, thank you very much. She wasn’t even the crown princess, for goodness sake, why did she have to get married to a prince she didn’t even know? Except apparently she did know him, they’d been friends as children. As children. Who knew what he was like now?

Sofia sighed and leaned her head on Dale’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, my love,” she whispered, “I know this is not what we had planned.”

“I won’t say it’s alright, sweetest, but we knew this was the risk.” Dale replied, just as softly. Sofia sighed.

“At least you’ll still be around, no one needs to know what is going on between us if we don’t want them to.”

“Let’s not talk about betraying the trust of your future husband before we’ve met him, mi principessa, he might be nicer than you think.”

“He won’t be you, though,” Sofia straightened and looked at Dale. “I know we shouldn’t talk about betraying his trust but I’ll never love him as much as I love you, I promise.”

“And I will love you for the rest of my days, sweetness.” Dale said and kissed her softly.

“Your highness!” a knock on the door of the carriage. “We’re at the edge of the forest before we will be in sight of the castle, you asked me to let you know.”

“Thank you, Em, you’re a dear.” Sofia called back and turned to Dale. “This is where we part, I suppose.”

“I suppose it is, I’ll see you when we arrive at the castle.” With one last kiss, Dale got out of the carriage to join the other knight in their entourage in the first carriage. As she watched him leave, Em and Rowan joined her in her carriage.

“I will be alright, Sof,” Rowan said, “I’m sure your prince will be perfectly nice. And Dale will still be there.”

“You’re right,” Sofia sighed, “it’s just not fair.”

“It’s not,” Em agreed as Rowan nodded.

Their carriage started moving again, bringing Sofia and her entourage to the castle they would be spending the rest of their lives in. It was a small entourage. Sofia, the youngest child of the king and queen of Staten Island and their only princess. Dale, a knight of the court and her personal bodyguard and the love of her life. Em, one of her two ladies in waiting, and Rowan, her other lady. Her closest friends and confidants. The fifth and last person to complete their entourage was Kugrash, an older knight who had a soft spot for her and she’d argued much to let her bring him along to her new place of residence. Her group was small, but it was hers and all of them knew why the situation pissed Sofia off.

She refused to look out of the little window to see if she recognized anything and startled when the carriage stopped. If it were up to her they’d turn around and go back, but of course they couldn’t, and before long Dale opened the door of he carriage and offered his hand to guide her down the step. She wanted to keep her face down and ignore the group of people waiting for her.

Then she looked up and smiled. They would be alright.

“I would like to officially welcome you to Manhattan castle, your Royal Highness Princess Sofia of Staten Island.” Pete bows at the princess and can’t help but grin to himself.

“I am pleased to be here, your Royal Highness Prince Peter of Manhattan.” Sofia curtsies.

“Please, call me Pete,” Pete smiles at the princess and offers his arm. “Would you like a tour of the palace and adjacent garden?”

“Call me Sofie then. It’s good to see you again, Pete, I would like a tour very much.” She accepts the arm offered to her and turns to Em and Rowan. “Can you girls make sure our things will be brought to the correct chambers? Dale and Kugrash can help of course.”

“Ricky, please assist our guests to the west wing where they will be staying.”

“Of course, your highness.” Ricky nods and turns to the waiting guests. “If you’ll follow me,”

Pete and Sofia watch as Ricky leads Sofia’s entourage inside, and Pete doesn’t miss the look between Sofia and one of her guards. He’d have to ask her about that.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Sofie.” Pete said as they started walking. “I wasn’t paying attention to the meeting so I wasn’t sure who would be arriving.”

Sofia giggles. “I yelled at my parents when they told me what this trip would be for. They didn’t even get the chance to tell me it was you I’d be meeting before we had to leave. I didn’t give them the room to do so.”

“So we could both have saved ourselves the trouble if we had just let our parents talk? That sounds about right from what I remember.” Pete laughs as he thinks about the way they’d been as children. Always running around getting into trouble and never listening to what their parents had to say.

“I suppose we could have, but that wouldn’t be very us, would it.”

Pete laughs and agrees.

They’re in the palace garden now and there’s no one around anywhere to overhear them.

“Can I ask you something, Sofie?” she nods, “Do you want to marry me? I saw the look between you and your very handsome guard. I won’t be offended if you say no.”

“I-,” Sofia hesitated, “if I’m being honest, no, I don’t want to marry you. Don’t get me wrong, if I had to get married to any prince because my parents said so I’d be glad it was you. But Dale, he’s the love of my life. We’ve been together in secret for over two years and I will never love anyone as much as I love him.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Pete sighs, then quickly adds, “not that you’re not wonderful and I would be lucky to marry someone like you but really you’re, kind of- not really- it’s just you’re a girl and, one secret for another, I’m gay.”

“Only us,” Sofia laughs, “thank you for trusting me with your secret, I’ll keep it as safe as I have kept mine.”

“I trust you,”

“So, do you have your eye on anyone?”

“No,” Pete responds way too quickly.

“You so do!” Sofia giggles, “C’mon, tell me! I won’t tell anyone,”

Pete glances around the garden, but they’re still completely alone. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about Cody, he supposes, and Sofia said she wouldn’t tell anyone.

“His name is Cody,” he mumbles.

“Cody? I don’t think I know any royalty named Cody. Unless he’s nobility, not royalty? There are so many I always forget half of their names.”

“He’s not royalty, or nobility.” Pete awkwardly scratches behind his ear. “He’s the stable hand. But you should see him! His eyes are piercing blue and his hair is as black as the night sky. He’s super strong and so polite every time I come to the stables. You’ll like him I’m sure.”

“In that case, let’s have a tour of the stables as the next part of this tour.”

Pete starts to protest but Sofia tightens her hold on his arm and gives him a look. Pete grimaces but nods in agreement, it would be nice to see Cody.

“Cody, are you here?” Pete calls out as they enter the stables. “Her Royal Highness Princess Sofia of Staten Island wants to meet you.”

They hear a crash and a muffled curse from the far corner of the stables and a second later Cody’s face appears.

“Terribly sorry, your highnesses, I was so caught up I didn’t hear you come in.” Cody wipes his hands on a rag and approaches the pair. When he’s in front of them, he bows. “It’s an honour to meet you, your highness.”

“Lovely to meet you, Cody,” Sofia smiles, “Pete talks highly of you.”

“He does?” Cody can’t help but ask, “I mean, thank you, your highness,”

“How are Sofia’s horses settling in?” Pete asks before Sofia can say anything else to embarrass him.

“They’re well, settled with some hay and water. They’ll be looked after with the utmost care.”

They make small talk with Cody for a bit longer before Sofia asks to finish the tour and be shown the castle, so they leave Cody and head towards the first wing of the castle.

“He was totally looking at you when you turned around!” Sofia whisper-yells, “He likes you, too, I can tell.”

“He does not,”

“Does so,”

“Does not,”

“Does so,” “Not,”

“Does,”

“Ahem,” a voice interrupts them, and they look up.

“Dale!” Sofia exclaims, “Have you finished your tour already?”

“About a quarter of an hour ago, your highness,”

“Wonderful, then you can show Sofia around!” Pete says, and pushes Sofia towards her lover. “Not that I don’t love your company, Sof, but we said what we said and I just got a wonderful idea.”

“Of course, Petey-pie.” Sofia giggles and curls her hand around Dale’s offered arm. “See you at dinner?”

Pete nods and waves them off.

He heads to the library in search of Esther, hoping she can help him find what he needs. He finds her sitting at one of the big tables in their enormous library.

“Good afternoon, Esther,” he greets her as he joins her at her table. The books in front of her look difficult, with a lot of crossing lines and pulsating red light coming from one of the many open pages.

“Your highness, good afternoon,” Esther nods at him, “What can I help you with?”

“Do you know of any way to turn a flower green? I don’t want a leaf I would like for the actual flower petals to be green.”

“You’re in luck, colour changing is one of the first charms we teach apprentices and I actually have some flowers still from the lesson last week, why don’t you have a look at those?” She leads him to a table in a corner, where a wide variety of flowers are neatly stacked. “Take anything you like, if there’s anything else I can do for you I’ll be at my table.”

“Thank you,” Pete nods and turns his attention to the flowers. He finds a beautifully delicate flower that has been turned entirely green. He doesn’t know much about flowers so he wasn’t sure about its original colours but it was super pretty in green.

He throws a “Thanks, Esther!” over his shoulder as he rushes out of the library back down the winding stairs and out of the door to the stables.

“Cody! Are you here?”

“Your highness, is everything alright?” Cody frowns at how out of breath Pete is.

“Huh? Oh, yes, everything is okay, or I hope so. Depends on what you say.” Pete smiles.

“On me?” Cody frowns.

“I realised today how short life is and meeting Sofia again after so many years and seeing what she has made of her life gave me the nudge I needed to make sure I would live a life I would actually like and not have to regret anything when I’m old. I like you, Cody, romantically. And I hope you like me too. And that you’ll accept this flower as a token of my appreciation and a courting gift.” Pete holds out the green flower. “I know this sounds ridiculous but it’s true and I’m not playing a joke on you or insincere in my advances and I hope you’ll give me a chance.”

“You’re really not kidding?” Cody whispers, looking pale.

“I’m not,” Pete confirms.

“I would be honoured to be courted by you, Pete,”

“You would?”

“I would,”

“Does that mean you like me as well? Romantically?”

“I never thought I’d stand any chance, so I wasn’t going to tell you. You’re a prince. You’re presumed to be straight, though I know better now. Even if you liked men I didn’t think there was any chance in hell that you’d like me, a lowly stable hand, when there’s all these gorgeous princes all around you all the time. All that’s to say, I like you a lot, romantically.”

“Can I kiss you?” Pete blushes as soon as he says it but he doesn’t take back his words.

Cody nods, just as red, and reaches out a hand to Pete.

Pete puts his hands on either side of Cody’s face and presses the softest kiss to his lips.

“Finally!” A small voice says from behind Pete, and they jump apart as fast as they can. Pete turns around.

“Nod! What are you doing here?” Pete looks at his younger sibling.

“I wanted to play and I thought you would be here because you’re always here looking at Cody.”

“I- I want to disagree but you’re probably right, I am in here a lot.” Pete laughs, “and I’ll be in here even more now.”

“Are you going to get married?” Nod asks, and Cody stifles a sound.

“Hopefully one day.” Pete says, looking at Cody instead of Nod. “Are you okay?”

“What about the princess?”

“She won’t mind, I can tell you that much. We’ll figure it out.” Pete squeezes Cody’s hand. “You can’t tell anyone yet, okay, Nod? It’s like the secret with the candle and the carpet.”

Nod mimes zipping their lips shut and nods in agreement. “Can we play now?”

“Yeah, we can play. Cody, would you like to join us?”

“Pete knows.” Sofia says as soon as they’ve ended the tour and entered her new bedroom. “We can trust him and he doesn’t mind. He prefers this actually.”

“Okay, darling, I trust your judgement.” Dale smiles at her.

“Pete and I are going to come up with a plan and you and I are going to be together for the rest of our lives, I promise you. Now come cuddle on this bed that looks ridiculously big and cosy.”

Dale follows and they spend the afternoon quietly enjoying each other’s presence. There’s no need for big declarations between them, the softness of being in each other’s arms is more than enough for them.

When dinner time arrives Sofia reluctantly separates from Dale to have dinner with Pete and the rest of the court. She’s glad to see she’s seated next to Pete with Em and Rowan on her other side.

“Hey Pete,” she sits down next to him and looks closely at his face. “You look different from this afternoon. Like you feel-” she gasps, “did you?”

Pete smiles at her.

“You did! Oh my gosh I’m so happy for you!” She falters, “He did respond well, right?”

Pete nods and smiles, “He did.”

“Yay!”

“I’m going to tell my parents.”

“I’ll be there to support you, if you want me to.”

“I’d like that,” he smiles at her, “and we can see what we can do for you and Dale,”

“That would be amazing,”

Sofia and Pete spend a few days thinking of how to approach the topic with the king and queen of Manhattan, and in extension Sofia’s parents back in Staten Island.

When they finally get their plan together they present it to King Kingston and Queen Elizabeth, who can’t help but agree. They only want what's best for their son, after all. They’d picked Sofia to be wed to Pete because they knew the two got along and at the very least they could be close friends if they didn’t fall in love. Which they now know would definitely not happen.

Kingston and Liz meet Cody as Pete’s partner that same night, and while they have some concerns because of Cody’s lack of noble status, they see how happy he makes their son and how happy their son makes him.

They watch their son and his partner through the years as they grow closer together and happier than they have ever seen Pete.

Cody and Pete bring out the best in each other, where Pete helps Cody learn how to act in official settings, Cody helps Pete be more present in the now and introduces him to the people in the village. Where it was once rare to see any of the royal family in the nearby town, it is now odd if they don’t see the crown prince every couple of days.

Cody apprentices under Ricky and becomes a knight of the court before he and Pete get married. It quickly becomes clear to Pete that if they didn’t budget for it, Cody could and would spend all of their gold on the most gorgeous and elaborate swords. It didn’t matter that they were impractical, they also made good wall decorations if he had to believe Cody.

Pete and Cody get married after a two year courtship, during which time Pete works hard together with his parents to change the laws about royalty marrying common folk. They get married the day the laws change, and it’s a wonderful ceremony, better than any of them could have asked for. Cody tries to wear three swords to the wedding but Pete manages to convince him to leave two of them at home when he lets Cody get a sneak peak at his wedding present (spoiler, it’s another sword).

Sofia and Dale get married the first spring they officially live at Manhattan castle, in the castle gardens and live as trusted advisors and confidantes to the king and queen and later to the two kings when Pete ascends the throne with Cody at his side. Even though the king and queen of Staten Island weren’t happy with the result, they did give their blessing to the pair to get wed, realising that Sofia would marry Dale no matter what the king and queen had to say about it.

Two years later, they welcome their first baby girl into the world. Catherine Lee grows up to be just as fiery as her mother and as loving as her father, and she has Pete and Cody wrapped around her little finger, they get her the most wonderful gifts and things as if she was their own.

While neither Pete nor Sofia could have predicted what would happen that one fateful afternoon, both of them wouldn’t have traded any of it for anything else.

#dimension 20 #pete conlan #cody walsh #cody night angel walsh #sofia lee #dale lee #copete #sofia x dale #dale x sofia #d20exchange2022

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yayroos · 1 year

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I posted 2,052 times in 2022

That's 792 more posts than 2021!

112 posts created (5%)

1,940 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@participlepotato

@an-absolute-nightmare

@jellyfishdirigible

@theyhoolikeowls

@captainswan618

I tagged 244 of my posts in 2022

#bird site burning - 11 posts

#unreality - 8 posts

#test it out with this tag - 2 posts

#mum i miss you - 2 posts

#fair wealth transformation <- so the socialist revolution then?? jk unless - 1 post

#but the bros on the outer edge can be right at the edge - 1 post

#universe like a big huge giant spirograph on a scale we can't even begin to comprehend - 1 post

#it's friday lmao - 1 post

#next: my chemical romance - 1 post

#last: yungblud - 1 post

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and it was really really good for me to live with someone where we spoke the same kind of language in terms of slang and interests and stuff

My Top Posts in 2022:

sorry for reblogging that thing three times in a row but the behaviour of the tags is very interesting to me.

also the fact that the HTML encoded quote shows as a quote on the dash but as the encoded version in the notes view means they're not rendered the same way which is weird if you ask me.

8 notes - Posted July 31, 2022

there's something at the back of my mind that feels more than a little bit wrong when populations are classified as being 'voters' by the government or people speaking from the perspective of the government. I can't help but feel like it feeds into this thing where 'democracy' happens once every few years when you go vote, and winning over voters for that one day is more important than actually improving things I'm the country they're running.

I vote, I am a voter, but I don't want to be thought of in terms of my vote any more than I want to be seen in terms of my monetary contribution (i have a similar issue with 'taxpayers') or anything else. I am a person. Therefore I have value and governments should be working in my (generalised) best interests as a human being under their care. Categorising people as 'voters' lets politicians off the hook when it comes to kids, people convicted of crimes (in countries where that disqualifies you from voting), non citizen residents (undocumented people, international students, permanent residents, and many others in various legal categories around the world), and other disenfranchised groups (which vary from nation to nation). Similarly talking about 'taxpayers' lets governments ignore stay at home parents, pensioners, people on disability benefits, kids, carers, unemployed people, low income people etc.

Call them people. Call everyone people. Stop framing peoples contributions as the reason their interests should be taken into account.

8 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

i would like very much to be a very small lizard 🦎 sunning myself on a rock in a messy garden but instead i have tasks.

10 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

i love you glow in the dark stars i love you fairy lights i love you lava lamps i love you unashamedly making your space soft and inviting i love you finally getting the chance to make your space exactly how you like it i love you plushies i love you pile of cushions

15 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

technology education is CRUCIAL. if you're a parent and your kid is starting to use a phone/ipad/chromebook, give them some time to play around on a real computer as well, show them how to work files and folders and keyboard shortcuts and shit.

And if you're already a teen or in your twenties or older and you've missed out on learning that stuff, please get your hands on a real computer and figure out at least the basics. If you're unsure, ask someone (my messages are open, 0 judgement, and i know others will be willing to help too) or just try stuff and see what happens.

The best way to learn how to use a computer is to take one, set it up from factory, and then just click all the buttons and see what happens. If you haven't put any important information on it yet then there's nothing lost if you accidentally delete something. Get the office programs, open them up, and click all the buttons you can find in there. Then go looking at the things you've created in other places. Open in notepad (hint: right click > open with > notepad) and see if you can find any patterns! export it with a different file type and open that in notepad and see what's different! See how much of different kinds of data you need to get to a gigabyte!

166 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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