Once upon a time, there was a man named Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen lived in a beautiful old castle with his dear husband and their dragon, and all was well in their world. He spent his days in an ancient arts center called The Art of Expression, housed at the estate known to all as Cloud Recesses.
Lan Xichen had lived at Cloud Recesses all his life. Every part of it was known to him, from the rooftops to the lowest shelf of the secret library. Any changes that had been made to it since coming to Vallo were changes he had made himself. Thus, when roses appeared where none had been before, he noticed. A vine of them was growing through the courtyard, climbing over the roof into the Hanshi, now home to his own office and Prompto’s.
He followed it with his eyes, through the window to his office. He followed it with his feet next, curious as to what magic Vallo had thrown at them now. He did mean to be careful, of course, but a rose has many thorns. Once he was in his office, where the roses had begun to climb his desk, there was really no avoiding them.
The moment he pricked his finger, Lan Xichen knew something was wrong. He could feel the magic wrapping around him like a blanket, cozy and warm. It wasn’t frightening or threatening. No, he just wanted to take a little nap. Home would have been nice for that, but Loch Laggen was much too far. He’d just take a seat at his desk and rest his eyes a little.
Just for a moment.
He folded his arms on the desk and rested his head atop them. It was very comfortable. His eyes drifted shut. His breathing turned slow and even, and he fell under the enchantment completely. Lan Xichen was so deeply asleep that none of his assistant’s efforts could wake him, not even the very loud playing of that wretched “My Humps” song. Not even being carried away from his desk! He was dead to the world, and naught could bring him back to it.
Lan Xichen’s husband was a very proper man with very little experience with magic. The magic he’d come to know, he’d only come to know in the last two years, and had mostly come to know it only through Lan Xichen. And so, when Lan Xichen’s assistant had contacted his husband in a panic, saying he had fallen under a spell, Laurence was at a loss.
By the time Laurence had hastened to Lan Xichen’s side, Prompto had moved him to a more comfortable bed, away from the magic thorns. The doctor arrived nearly the same time as Laurence, but all he could do was shake his head: there was nothing that he could do.
It was the witch Sabrina who gave Laurence the key to breaking the spell: True Love’s kiss, she theorised, should reverse the curse. And so Laurence, kneeling at Lan Xichen’s side, waited until Prompto had cleared the room, and then took his dear husband’s hand in his own.
He worried, a little. Not about whether he was Lan Xichen’s true love, for there could be little doubt of that. Laurence knew that Lan Xichen’s heart was as true to him as his was to Lan Xichen. But he worried that Sabrina the Not-So-Teenage Witch was mistaken, and that it would take more than a kiss to undo the curse. Laurence had not a drop of magic in his whole body, so how could he break the curse?
He kissed Lan Xichen’s knuckles, but the curse remained. He kissed his palm, but the curse was unbroken. He kissed his forehead, but still Lan Xichen remained, a sleeping beauty.
Laurence took a breath, smoothed Lan Xichen’s hair and laced their fingers together, and lowered his lips to his husband’s.
For a moment, all stood still. The breeze no longer fluttered the curtains, and the students no longer chattered on the walkways around Cloud Recesses. Magic held all to silence so perfectly that Laurence could hear the tiny gasp in his husband’s breath as Lan Xichen’s eyes fluttered open.
“My heart?” he asked, and he smiled as he saw that indeed it was. Faint confusion colored his features as he sat up and recalled what he could of the day’s events. “The roses…they sent me to sleep. How did you wake me?”
Laurence gave a stifled cry, and drew Lan Xichen into his arms, though he released him again shortly, and cupped his face with his hand, thumb tracing his cheekbone, pleased to see his dark brown eyes open once again. “It would seem that True Love’s Kiss is a common way to break a curse.”
Lan Xichen smiled and leaned in to take another of those kisses. “Then of course none could wake me but you.”
Now roused from his slumber, there was no further danger. The curse was lifted, and life restored once more to the man it had held. All would be well, and there was no doubt that they would live happily thereafter.