#okay that's a lie there's other stuff too but it's mostly kimax

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 51

51 chapters... I don’t even know anymore. But anyway, Merry Christmas, have a LOT of Kimax fluff.

Also on AO3 as always where you can read this 190k+ word mess from the beginning

Kim, with Max’s help, had finally managed to finish going through all the International Alliance paperwork that could be completed without Queen Sol here for the time being – and just in time for their one month anniversary! Max was already certain that Kim had been secretly planning something for it, despite it being a relatively small milestone. Unexpectedly, however, Kim’s plans for 14th March started off with something that was much more of a surprise.

“Max, you’ve gotta see this,” Alix said, barging into his room and grabbing the remote control to turn on the television.

“Good morning to you too.”

“Yeah, whatever. Look at this – this dork is on TV and he didn’t even tell me until like 10 minutes ago when I asked why there was a TV crew in the main hall!”

She changed the channel to the news, sitting down beside him on the bed where there was a better view. Max looked up at the television to see the vaguely familiar face of one of the news reporters for this region of the continent.

“…and today we have a very special guest star on our show!” the news reporter was saying. “A foreign prince from a faraway country is here to tell us his exciting tale…”

Kim was going to be on TV? He was actually going to be on TV? Max leapt to his feet, a grin spreading over his face.

“This is fantastic! What a great idea! If Kim tells his story to the millions of viewers, they’ll be more sympathetic to his plight and there will be far more pressure on the International Alliance to accept his country – well as long as he doesn’t spill all the details of course, as that would be unwise, but I trust him to know what to–”

Alix shoved a pillow in his face. “Dude, shut up and listen!”

Max put the pillow aside and watched the screen. The reporter – Clara? – was still giving a rather rambling introduction, thought she finally seemed to be winding down. At last, she gestured to the side and announced, “A very warm welcome to our esteemed guest today, His Royal Highness Prince Kim of the distant kingdom of Lê Chiến!”

The camera cut to a wide shot to show that Kim was sitting in the armchair beside Clara’s. His hair was done immaculately, he wore an áo dài almost more dazzling than the one he’d lost in the lacrosse match to Adam, he sat back in the chair with his hands behind his head and one foot stretched out to rest on the little table in front of him, just giving off a sense of being at ease.

“Thank you for that super introduction, Clara. And hello Sahara region, thanks for tuning in!” He looked directly at the camera and winked, shooting a lazy finger gun as he did so.

Max found himself picking up the pillow again and clinging onto it without realizing. He had always found television appearances stressful, with so many things that could go wrong, so many ways for millions of people to get the wrong impression of you. But Kim didn’t appear to be nervous at all. Perhaps he didn’t quite know the scope of television, how much of an impact it could have… or perhaps he was just a natural at this.

“So, let’s get started with what the people want to know most,” Clara was saying now. “What’s keeping you away from home? Why so often do you visit other countries during your holidays from boarding school? There are suspicions that perhaps you don’t like your kingdom back home very much and prefer more tech-advanced nations – is this true?”

“My kingdom is awesome, actually. After all, I’m the one who’s gonna be running it someday, right?” He flashed a charming smile at the camera again. “But you’re right about me loving tech. Television? Aeroplanes? Portable phones? Modern automobiles? You bet I’ll be implementing that in my own kingdom as soon as I can.”

“Technology certainly is a wonder! But if that isn’t the reason that you haven’t returned home in such a long time, then what is?”

“Unfortunately it isn’t safe. There have been issues at the borders for way too long now, and as much as I want to go back, I can’t. Not that anyone would let me try – no one wants to see me in danger.” He ran a hand through his hair, which sprung right back into perfect formation as soon as his fingers had left it.

“So it’s an issue of security, I see. Any chances that will be fixed soon?”

“No idea. But hey – if anyone out there invents the teleporter, be sure to let me have a go with it and get back home in one piece!”

Every time Kim glanced at the camera with that charismatic smile of his, raising a playful eyebrow, or letting his teeth catch a glint of the light… oh, he knew what he was doing. He knew how attractive he was and he was using it. There was no way the viewers wouldn’t love this cheeky, handsome little prince who just needed a hand getting back home – and he was doing it on purpose!

Max rested his head on the pillow he was still clutching and just stared. Usually Kim would be a little too flustered to act quite so smooth with him, which was cute in its own right, but now Max could not tear his eyes away from Kim’s flawless responses, the confidence, the charisma, the beauty of it all. His sweetheart was a star.

The more political questions had ended now, and Clara began asking more about Kim as a person. This was right in his element – showing off about his athletic capabilities, how quick a runner he was, even mentioning that if his áo dài didn’t have sleeves then he would have flexed his arms for all those viewers who he knew were itching to see it.

“Wow, you really are quite something!” Clara said. “All the ladies in your kingdom must be quite taken with you.”

Kim chuckled. “Who isn’t?”

“So, does a handsome young man like you have a sweetheart?”

“Would I tell you if I did?”

“Only if it wasn’t a commoner!”

Or if it wasn’t a boy, Max thought to himself. While Kim did not keep his relationship with Max a secret while at school, where everyone already knew about Juleka and Rose or Chloé and Lila and hardly cared about yet another such couple, mentioning it directly on international television to millions of viewers was something else entirely.

“So how do you decide which countries you stay in during the holidays?” Clara asked now.

“Oh, well, it depends really. At school I made best friends with Alix – yeah that’s right, my best friend is Pharaoh Alix, and also her pet snake, so she lets me stay here whenever I need to. And Princess Marinette has been a close childhood friend of mine for many years now, so I’m allowed to visit her kingdom too. And as for Prince Max…”

Max’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed so odd to hear himself being talked about on TV by Kim of all people.

“…we’re very close. He keeps me company in the holidays, which I really appreciate. He’s a very sweet friend.”

Sweet friend? Max wanted to laugh. That was such an obvious way of putting it, and poor Kim had no idea he’d even done that. No doubt, by tomorrow everyone would have come to their own conclusions about what “sweet friend” really meant – and hopefully not disapproving!

“That’s very nice to hear!” Clara said, a surprisingly genuine smile on her face. “Prince Max is well-loved by his people for his wise, gentle ways. I’m sure they’re delighted to find out how close the two of you are, despite your differing kingdoms and personalities.”

That much was probably true. Max did indeed have a rather high approval rating back in his own country, and now that some of those citizens would be watching this interview, Kim’s popularity would probably begin rising too if his good looks and personality hadn’t already helped with that.

Oh Kim, he was always just so sweet!

The rest of the interview carried on without anything especially remarkable. Max was simply content to watch – maybe it was silly, maybe self-indulgent, but he really liked seeing Kim being so enchanting, practically flirting with the camera, really putting on the charms. All those winks, the finger guns, the cocky smile, the hand he ruffled through his pointy tuft of hair, the occasional blown kiss…

And it ended before he knew it. How long had that interview lasted? Max was rather bad at keeping track of time whenever Kim was involved, for some reason. But now Clara had said goodbye and moved onto the next news section.

“So how was that?” Alix asked, switching off the television again and poking Max in the arm. “Did he mess up on anything?”

Max sighed, still staring at the empty screen. “No. He was perfect.”

“Damn right he was. He called me his best friend! On international telly! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Yeah…”

“And he seemed to answer all the politics questions really well, though I’m probably not the best person to judge that. Right?”

“Mhm…”

She poked him again. “You’re not listening, are you?”

“Um, well, I was just–”

“Daydreaming about doing some scientific research with Kim, yeah, I know.”

Max could feel his face warming up. “I’m sorry. It’s just that today, 14th March, marks a whole month since Kim and I got together, and the thought is rather distracting.”

“A month, only? Feels like it’s been way longer than that already.”

“It’s the opposite for me.” Max leaned on the pillow again, his mind flowing with memories. “It feels like it’s flown by.”

“Well, if it really has been a month, then I guess you should go find Kim and–”

The door was suddenly flung open and Kim stood there, leaning over to catch his breath.

“Kim!” Max jumped up off the bed and threw the pillow aside. “We just watched your interview!”

“Awesome!” Kim said. “I literally just finished it, ran all the way here.”

“But why–”

Before Max could say another word, Kim had already crossed the room and scooped Max up into his arms. “Happy one month anniversary! I had to rush over here to hang out with you!”

Oh, that was just so sweet! Max put his arms around Kim’s neck and leaned into his chest, feeling right at home there like he always did these days. “Happy one month anniversary to you too, Kim. Though the word ‘anniversary’ really only applies to yearly celebrations, because of the prefix, which comes from the Latin… oh, never mind. We can call it an anniversary.”

“You’re so smart,” Kim whispered into his hair, holding him so close it was practically a hug. “And so cute. And the nicest person ever. I love you so much, you know that, right?”

“Can you guys go be mushy somewhere else?” Alix said, sounding bored. “Or I’ll leave if you want. Either’s fine.”

Kim put Max down, settling for holding his hand instead. “No, it’s alright, I have somewhere to take Max anyway. Somewhere super cool. Come on, sweetie! Let’s go!”

He ran off without even waiting for a reply, and Max let himself be pulled along by his adorable, hyperactive sweetheart. Most of the servants in the corridors didn’t care at this point – they probably all knew that Kim and Max were a couple anyway. Max wondered how long the rumours would take to get back to his kingdom, probably accelerated by the interview today.

Would it be worth it to publicly come out?

Well, that wasn’t something he needed to think about right now. At this moment, all that mattered was whatever Kim had planned for him.

They went up the swirling staircase in the centre of the north wing tower, all the way to the top, so tall that Max had to stop a few times to rest. Finally they made it and went through the door out onto the roof at the top.

Max had only been up here once before, several years ago, when he was visiting this kingdom with his parents, and Alix had sneaked out of a boring meeting with him and Nino – who had still been called “Nina” back then – and brought them up here to hide. It still looked the same, really. A view of the palace below them, with desert and mansions stretching off into the distance in one direction, and the city in the other.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Kim said, holding Max’s hand a little tighter as he leaned against the railings.

“It really is a stunning view.”

“But you know what’s even better? This!”

From out of his pockets Kim pulled a little piece of card and handed it to Max. On closer inspection it was not a card but a photograph. A photograph of Max.

“Remember this?” Kim continued, now putting an arm around him. “Last holidays I took this picture of you and it turned out really awesome! Well I want you to have it.”

“That’s very sweet, but you’re the one who took this photo, so perhaps you should be the one to keep it.”

“I already have a copy. One of the servants taught me how to use the photocopier, so I can have as many pictures of the cutest person in the world whenever I want.”

Cutest person in the world! Max was sure his heart was going to burst. Kim was always saying such lovely things to him all the time, how did he even do it? Did he know what an effect it had?

“And I got you flowers too,” Kim said, blushing slightly. “Not with me, but I’ll give them to you later. Actually now that I think about it, I probably should have gone to my room first and got those, rather than going straight to your room, but I just really wanted to see you…”

“You don’t need to give me flowers, it’s alright!”

“But I want to. You deserve it.”

“So anyway, about that interview!” Max said quickly, aware that he was rapidly becoming very flustered. “When did you even organize it?”

“Oh, that! I literally just thought about it last night. I realized doing a TV interview would make me look really cool and then everyone would like me and let my country in the International Alliance. So I went and asked Jalil, ‘cause he’s organized and knows about all this stuff, and he called the news crew and they happily agreed to interview me on short notice since I’m a prince and everything.”

“That was a very good idea, I must say.”

Kim ran his free hand through his hair, the action somehow looking even more attractive than usual considering he was still wearing that new áo dài, leaning back against the railings, the sun lighting up his face. “Thanks! So um… how was the interview? Did I do okay?”

“You were amazing!” Max turned to stand directly in front of Kim and took both his hands in his own. “Your answers to all the questions were absolutely spot on. And your demeanour in general was very…”

“Likeable?”

Hot was actually the word he had been thinking of, but he just nodded. “Yes. You were very likeable.”

“Awesome!”

“I’m sure the people of the region must love you. We’ll wait to read about it in tomorrow’s newspapers, I suppose. And…” Max looked down, smiling. “We’ll get to read about what everyone thinks of the phrase ‘sweet friend’.”

“Oh, that!” Kim’s voice had a note of uncertainty in it now. “Listen, I just – I didn’t know whether or not I should tell anyone about, like, us I guess! I mean, I wanted to, but I thought what if that’s a weird thing to say on TV? What if you get deposed or something? So I just said you were my friend and I hope that’s okay!”

“Of course that’s okay!”

“Thank goodness! And for the record, I still meant it, okay?” Kim gently held Max’s face in his hands, looking right in his eyes, his voice softening now. “You’re still my best friend. You can be both my sweetheart and my best friend at the same time, right?”

For a few seconds Max just stared up at him, unable to say a word. Kim’s face was very close to his own, and it was making him dizzy. Surely he should be used to it by now? It had been a month already! But no, his brain still took several seconds to process the fact that Kim was only a few centimetres away, and knowing him, was about to get even closer.

“Certainly,” Max managed to say finally. He willed his brain to work enough to say something else too, because Kim liked listening to him speak, didn’t he? “In fact, I would say that’s ideal. Anyone who is considered a sweetheart should be close enough to be a best friend too.”

“Yeah, you’re right. No wonder Chloé turned me down ages ago. I’d met her like twice.” Kim laughed and shook his head. “I was such an idiot back then. But I hope I’m better now. And hopefully the countries in the International Alliance think so.”

“I’m sure they do. How could they not? You’re wonderful!”

Gushing did not come as naturally to Max as it seemed to for Kim, but he made an effort now all the same. It was worth it to see the sparkle in Kim’s eyes, the lovestruck smile, the blushy glow on his cheeks, knowing he had made his sweetheart happy. And plus, it was true! Kim really was wonderful.

“I can’t argue with that,” Kim said, winking, before pulling Max’s face closer and kissing the tip of his nose. “So. What else should we do today, on our one month anniversary? I was thinking maybe a trip to the museum or something! You like museums, don’t you? It would be fun! And the city tower has a restaurant on the top floor so I could take you there in the evening for dinner and we could watch the sunset. And then we could come back and watch a movie or something. What do you think?”

A date that lasted the entire day? That was so sweet, it was almost too much! Max just buried his face in Kim’s chest, grinning stupidly. “That sounds very romantic…”

He felt Kim’s arms wrap around him. “Of course! Only the best for you. And let me know if you want anything else.”

“No, it sounds perfect.”

“Awesome! There’s only one problem, though. According to Alix, there’ll be paparazzi at the museum and probably the tower too, like there always is when we go into the city, so um… no kissing while we’re there.”

“Understandable.”

“So then maybe we should just…” Kim put a finger under Max’s chin and lifted his face back up to look at him. “…kiss now instead?”

That was the thing – Kim was always just so polite about it, always asking Max for kisses, so hesitant about it in a way that he never was about anything else. All it did was make Max fall even further in love with him. Not only was Kim a star, Kim was a star who was all his. And no amount of interviews or commoner admirers could ever change that.

Max went up on his tiptoes and leaned forwards, closing his eyes, putting his hands on Kim’s shoulders, half tempted to just take his glasses off just so this could be a little closer and last a little longer–

“Oh come on!”

They sprung apart and turned towards the doorway to see Alix standing there, a hang-glider strapped to her back and a helmet on her head, a very unimpressed expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Kim snapped.

“Hang-gliding, duh!”

“Well can you leave?”

“What? Why can’t you leave? I can’t hang-glide from anywhere else, whereas you two can easily go make out in one of your rooms, in fact, you can even do this magical thing there called locking the door so that no one can accidentally walk in on you–”

“But that’s not very romantic!”

“Kim, it’s alright,” Max said, trying not to laugh. “I know one of the guest rooms has a balcony, which I’m sure is very romantic too. We can have palace dates there and Alix can be sure to avoid it.”

“Okay, I guess…”

“Thanks,” Alix said. “And by the way, happy one month anniversary. I hope you guys have a great day.”

“Aww, thank you! We–”

“Now get out of my way. I have to go jump off this tower.”

Kim took Max’s hand again and together they went back down the tower steps, leaving Alix in peace to go illegally hang-gliding up at the top.

A date in the city… this was going to be so much fun. Maybe it wouldn’t feel particularly different from the rest of the times they spent together, or wouldn’t feel different from when they used to do similar things in the context of friendship. Especially when the paparazzi would probably be watching their every move.

But did that matter? What mattered was that Max was going to spend the whole day having fun with Kim, his sweetheart, and it was going to be wonderful.