Chapter Text
Wilhelm isn’t sure how he stumbles upon the live stream. His best guess is a Reddit post he must have scrolled past while trying to look like he was paying attention in a meeting when in reality he couldn’t have cared less about the topic.
If someone had told him he’d become addicted to watching a 24/7 stream of puppies and their mother, Wilhelm would have laughed. It’s not something the Crown Prince should spend his time on, his assistant would tell him. Yet here he is.
When he first clicked the stream open, the little circle on the corner told him it was day 6. What he could see were four tiny puppies and their mother protectively trying to hide them from the camera view. He’d watched for a while before his mother’s voice pierced through and his head snapped up, trying to look like he’d been following the meeting.
However, there was something about the the stream that had made him open it again when he’d been having dinner on his own a few days later. He could say there was nothing else he’d found particularly interesting at that moment, didn’t feel like going all the way to his bedroom to pick up the book he’d started the night before, just wanted some background noise.
“Here you go Minnie, you’ve been such a good girl,” a male voice on the stream says and Wilhelm’s eyes focus on the screen. He hasn’t seen anything but the dogs before though he rationally knows there must be someone looking after them. He watches as a hand appears, setting a small plate in front of the biggest dog. The fingers are slender, softly carding through her fur as he coaxes the mother to eat the treat that’s clearly specially made for her. The voice starts to hum a quiet tune Wilhelm doesn’t know and it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. Not even the sounds of the dog wolfing down her food manage to drown it out.
His own dinner forgotten, Wilhelm watches as the hand pets the mother, Minnie, as Wilhelm has just learned the dog is called, a few times before picking up the now empty plate from the floor. He doesn’t see much more than sock-clad feet and the cuffs of worn jeans, only hears a few muttered words he can’t make out. But his interested is piqued.
From that night on, Wilhelm opens the stream more and more often, mostly to check up on the cute little things, unable to keep away the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth whenever he lays his eyes on them. But a part of him checks the stream in hopes of catching who he presumes is the owner. Hopes that he might get to hear the man hum, or even sing, again. Might get to see more than just gentle hands and feet.
Wilhelm’s wish of seeing the owner isn’t granted and he soon deduces the man must have been instructed to keep as much of his body and especially his face off the cameras as possible. However, he can’t stay silent when he’s interacting with someone about the puppies, his voice tinged with pride when they get weighed and he announces the numbers to the stream. When it becomes clear the fourth and smallest of the bunch has gained more weight than her siblings, the owner breaks out in a celebratory song. Wilhelm’s heart does a little flip.
The most Wilhelm gets to see the man is on a Sunday night when he sits on the floor with the dogs, legs crossed and one hand idly petting Minnie as the other balances a laptop on his knee. He’s wearing the same jeans Wilhelm saw earlier, his upper body covered with an orange sweatshirt, and Wilhelm tries to pay attention to what he’s asking someone. A woman’s voice chats about how the puppies should grow in the coming weeks and every once in a while the man answers, but Wilhelm is too occupied with the timbre of his voice, the slow movement of his body to retain any of the information.
He knows it’s silly, but as he crawls in bed that night he finds himself thinking that whoever the pair on the stream are, the woman has hit a jackpot. Because Wilhelm is certain that a man with such gorgeous voice must also look beautiful and the care he handles all the dogs with tells Wilhelm he must be a very caring partner as well. He buries his head in his pillow, frustrated with how single he suddenly feels, and swears he won’t get back to the live stream because seeing even a glimpse of the man might be too much for his stupid queer heart.
His resolve lasts a grand total of twelve hours.
Three weeks into the live stream a poll pops up one day. “The puppies need names. What theme should they be named after? Vote below or suggest your own theme” the announcement reads.
Wilhelm scrolls down the list until an option makes him stop. Briefly he wonders if it’s one the faceless, nameless owner has suggested or if someone in the production team has picked up his habit of humming and quietly singing to the dogs. Wilhelm ticks the box in front of ‘music’. His cursor hovers over the submit-button before he clicks it. "Thank you for your vote” the screen reads and Wilhelm laughs; it’s the first time in his life that he’s voted for something and idly he wonders if it would cause a scandal if people knew.
He’s pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door and hastily he slams the laptop shut. He knows his mother would not appreciate him being distracted during the meeting with the prime minister.
Busy with work, Wilhelm almost forgets about the stream for a couple of days, only managing to watch a minute here and another there. It isn’t until on a Sunday evening, after a run, a long brunch with Felice and a couple of hours of work he finally sets the work tablet aside and opens his laptop instead.
He doesn’t remember leaving the stream open in a tab, but it’s what pops up. A small smile creeps to his face as Wilhelm watches the puppies snuggled up next to each other. What catches his eye next is the headline under the video. “Names will be announced at 7 PM today.”
Wilhelm glances at the clock and finds that there’s about an hour to go. Just enough time for him to put together some dinner from leftovers and sit down to watch. Part of him thinks he should find it sad that this is how he chooses to spend his Sunday night, but after the week he’s had, Wilhelm thinks watching cute little animals is the best way to make himself feel better.
A few minutes before seven he places a plate of melanzane on the sofa table and sits down cross legged. The stream on his screen is showing the faceless owner sitting down in a similar position on the floor and Wilhelm hears him tell someone “No, I’m not changing my mind, the names are perfect”. Shoving a forkful of food into his mouth, Wilhelm scrolls down the page to try to find the theme for the apparently perfect names.
Exactly at seven the man on the screen clears his voice. “Uhh, so, as you know we picked music as the theme a few days ago. I appreciate all the suggestions, but we felt this one was the best.”
Wilhelm smiles. He knows in the grand scheme of things his vote probably didn’t make any difference, but he’s happy that he wasn’t the only one who felt picking music was the only sensible thing to do – especially with the owner agreeing.
“I, uhh, I’ve only ever once named anything and that wasn’t on a live broadcast so I don’t really know how to do this,” the man says with a self-conscious chuckle. Wilhelm wishes he could see his face. Off camera, another voice says something but Wilhelm can’t make out the words.
“Okay, right, so let’s start with puppy number one,” the man leans forward and picks up the first-born puppy. Wilhelm struggles to tell the four little ones apart and admires the way the owner shows no hesitation. “You’re going to know the other names as soon as I say hers, but… Anyway, this little cutie here is Agnetha.”
The man shows the puppy to the camera. She seems entirely unfazed by the whole thing, basically asleep in the man’s hands. Wilhelm chews on his food and watches as the man presents the second puppy to the camera, announcing ,“And this one here is, yes, you guessed it, Björn. I do think it’s particularly fitting with the brown spots here.” He points at the beautiful brown of the dog’s coat that makes the puppy look a little like a bear and Wilhelm nods along.
The third puppy gets named Benny, and is as uninterested in the whole process as his siblings. Finally, the man shifts a bit to be able to pick up the last puppy. “And this little cutie here is Anni-Frid, but I do think we’re going to call her Frida,” he says with fondness in his voice and scratches the puppy’s head gently before he seems to realise what he’s doing and sets her down next to the others.
Clearing his throat a little, the man speaks again. “I know these are not the most original names, but I really couldn’t resist. Again, I’d like to thank everyone for sending in their suggestions, it was a lot of fun to read through them. Thanks for watching,” he finishes with and Wilhelm swears he sees a small wave for goodbye before the man gets to his feet and disappears from the frame.
Wilhelm keeps watching the sleeping puppies as he finishes his meal and not for the first time finds himself thinking how much he’d love a dog to have some company on nights like this. Or on the days when he feels like he can’t do it, that there should be another reason forcing him out of bed in the mornings than having to face his mother’s disappointed scolding when he doesn’t show up to the morning meeting on time.
Then it hits him: he can do it. He’s a grown man and if he wants to get a pet, he can. He doesn’t need to ask anyone’s permission if he wants to get a dog. There’s more than enough space for one in the palace and the park would be perfect for walks and playing.
The thought makes him weirdly giddy. He remembers how Erik and him had asked for one when they were kids, how their parents had gone as far as finding a puppy they could adopt only for them to discover Erik was severely allergic to both cats and dogs. Wilhelm remembers how they’d both sulked for days afterwards until Erik had moved on and eventually forgotten they’d ever dreamed of having a pet in the palace. A pang of grief hits Wilhelm with the memory, like it still sometimes does when he thinks about Erik.
Shaking his head as if it would help make his heart feel a little less heavy, he closes the lid of his laptop and gets up from the sofa to take his empty plate back to the kitchen. The rest of the night he spends looking up different dog breeds, trying to decide which one he would like to have and growing more and more overwhelmed with the options. Eventually he tosses his phone on the bedside table and crawls under the covers, deciding he’ll take another look later.
A week and plenty of research later Wilhelm still hasn’t been able to make up his mind. Many breeds seem to require more time and activities than he knows he’s capable of providing with his schedule and frequent trips around the country and abroad. Many of the others seem to have health issues Wilhelm reads about horrified. None of the breeds he looks up are as cute or as appealing as the one on the stream. Wilhelm thinks he can’t be the only one who’s fallen for the four little ones he sees on his screen, would want nothing more than to cuddle one of them and feel the warmth of the puppy’s small form against his chest.
With a sigh he opens the live stream in a tab, keen to find out how much the puppies have grown and if they are finally starting to roam around their little pen. What he sees when the stream loads is all four of them snuggled up next to their mother and a smile forms on his face. He clicks the sound on when he sees a pair of legs enter the picture.
“Alright Minnie, we need to go for a bit girl,” Wilhelm hears the smooth voice say and watches as the man gently coaxes the dog to follow him. “We’ll be right back. In the meantime, uhh, everyone enjoy ABBA. And oh, uhh, we’re still accepting applications if someone watching feels like they could offer the little ones a good home.”
Wilhelm chuckles. He can’t believe the owner just referred to the puppies like that, as an entity instead of their own names. Then his brain registers what else the voice had just said.
He scrambles to scroll down the page and almost misses the article in his haste. “Our puppies are looking for a home. Learn more here" the headline reads and Wilhelm’s clicked the link before he even realises what he’s doing.
The page explains that due to the somewhat unconventional circumstances the stream and puppies came to be, none have a future home yet. Wilhelm wonders what the circumstances might be, but the text offers no further details. Instead, it lists information about the breed, its characteristics, what one could expect when adopting one of them. At the very bottom, there is a form.
Wilhelm looks at the form and the various questions ranging from basic contact information to what he would call nothing less than a motivation letter to explain why one wants to become a dog owner.
His phone buzzes and as soon as he picks it up his attention is stolen by Felice’s rant on the other end. The tab, however, remains open in his browser.
If someone were to ask him later, Wilhelm wouldn’t really know how to explain it. That late on a Friday night, after a couple of glasses of wine and no more time spent on deliberating he pours his heart out on an online form, talking about expectations and loneliness in such a vulnerable way that if he were to read the words again the next morning, he’d delete every single one of them instead of pressing submit.
As it is, he wakes up on Saturday morning to an email telling him his application to adopt one of the puppies starring on the stream has been received and that he’ll be contacted soon. Blinking sleep away, Wilhelm groans and flops to his back in the bed that’s always felt too big for just one person. One arm over his eyes he tries to recall what he’d written about and hopes that whoever ends up reading the application won’t laugh too much before setting it on the “NO” pile. With a sigh all too heavy for such an early hour he picks his phone up again and dials Felice’s number, knowing she’s definitely awake already.
“Hi Wille,” she greets him.
“Felice, I’ve made a mistake,” he whines instead of a hello and even though he doesn’t see it, he knows his friend must be raising a questioning eyebrow. “I think I’ve fallen in love and I know for sure I’ve blown my chances with her by being an idiot.”
Her response is an exasperated chuckle, a ‘Wille, what the hell’ and before he can say anything more, she’s invited herself to breakfast at the palace.
Over some elaborate cheese sandwiches and French toast Wilhelm sips on his coffee and tells Felice everything about the stream he stumbled upon one day, and how over the past few weeks he’s fallen so badly in love with one of the puppies than in a moment of weakness he ended up applying for adopting her.
Felice listens, occasionally laughing brightly but eyes sympathetic. “Oh Wille. Tell you what, if this doesn’t work out—”
“When it doesn’t, because who would ever take a sappy fool like me seriously,” Wilhelm groans, dropping his head to his arms folded on the table.
“If this doesn’t work out, I’ll help you find the cutest little puppy to adopt. I think getting a pet is an excellent idea, I don’t know why you haven’t thought of it earlier. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of suggesting it earlier.”
Wilhelm spends the rest of the weekend at home, blissfully enjoying the rare days when he’s not required to be anywhere. Every once in a while he glances at the live stream he’s left running on his laptop, sometimes ending up engrossed in it for much longer than he anticipated now that the puppies have opened their eyes and started to explore the room they’re in.
A few days later, after a long day full of meetings and preparations for his next state visit, Wilhelm opens his personal, non-royal email he’s technically not supposed to have to find an email from a sender he doesn’t recognise. The subject line reads “re: Your Application” and suddenly it clicks. The request to adopt one of the dogs he sent while slightly tipsy. With a deep inhale he hovers to cursor over the unread message and mentally prepares himself for rejection. There’s no way someone read his uncharacteristically ineloquent answers and even for a second considered he’d be a good candidate.
Dear Wilhelm, thank you for your application. It was forwarded to the owner of Minnie, the star of our live stream, and he liked your answers. However, there are still a few things he would like to clear up before fully considering you as a future owner for Frida. Please read the message below and contact him at your earliest convenience.
Stunned, Wilhelm reads the paragraph over and over again before his eyes scan the message pasted below it. There’s a bunch of questions that clearly quote what he’d written in his application and Wilhelm feels his cheeks start to get warmer. As he reaches the final lines, unexpected warmth blooms in his chest as well.
I really liked your application, it was one of the most sincere ones I received and I liked that. I’ve grown very fond of the little ones though, and want to make sure they find the best possible homes.
You can send your reply directly to my email, and if there’s something you’d like to know, please don’t hesitate to ask. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
Simon
With wide eyes Wilhelm reads the email again. The owner – Simon, he corrects himself immediately, he has a name and it’s Simon – liked what he wrote. He’s willing to consider letting Wilhelm adopt one of the puppies. A giddy chuckle rises from deep within his chest and before he starts to overthink it, Wilhelm opens a new message and copies and pastes the questions into it. Then he sits up a little straighter and starts to type his answers.
Wilhelm finds himself refreshing his email more than he ever has and less than a day later another message appears in his inbox. Without even reading the subject line he clicks it open.
Hi Wilhelm,
Thank you for the answers! Liked what you wrote and after much consideration (okay, not that much as you can see from the timestamp of this email 😅) I think you should be the one to adopt Frida.
Wilhelm’s heart does a somersault and a small laugh escapes his lips. Simon must have received hundreds of applications and yet he still thinks Wilhelm is one of the lucky four to adopt one of the puppies. Immediately, another, much less pleasant feeling courses through him. What if he’s taking the opportunity from someone who would have been even better suited, but for whatever reason couldn’t adopt a dog elsewhere? He literally had all the possible resources at his disposal, he could adopt any dog in the country. Maybe he should tell Simon that he was flattered but upon further thought he would have to pass the opportunity?
However, a small voice at the back of his head tells Wilhelm he didn’t want any puppy – he wanted one he’d been watching grow up for weeks and was very much head over heels in love with. And this might be his only chance of getting a pet without his title influencing the decision. With a deep breath in, he continues reading.
We’d still love to see how Frida feels about this, and would like you to come and meet her. This would obviously happen off camera, so you don’t have to worry about ending up on the stream. Unfortunately, there’s only a couple of chances for this, so I’d be happy if you could pick one of the dates listed below.
A lump appears in Wilhelm’s throat as he reads the words. Of course Simon wants to make sure he’s not some weirdo who chatgpted suitable answers in hopes of snagging one of the sought after puppies and instead is someone who meant what they said in the application. The lump grows bigger as his eyes land on the suggested dates. All of them fall during his state visit.
I don’t have much time to check my emails these days, so here’s my number. Text me whenever and we’ll figure out the details.
Simon
Wilhelm stares at the phone number, then his eyes move up to the dates again. Even if he could get out of the state visit that’s been planned for months, there’s no way he could roll up to a stranger’s house just to meet some puppy. He’d have to contact his security team, have them iron out details with Simon and then accompany him to wherever he lives. It’d be a spectacle Wilhelm doesn’t want to subject the man to. He should have thought about it all before he replied to the first email. Dejected, he opens his messaging app and begins to type.
Wilhelm [16:48]: Hi Simon! I’m really sorry, but I’m out of the country during all the dates you suggested for meeting Frida. I truly am sorry for taking your time and for getting both of our hopes up. I hope you find someone who’ll be a good match for her. Wilhelm
He presses send and watches as the message gets delivered. Then he tosses his phone on the table and makes his way out the room, frustration and disappointment simmering under his skin.
An hour on the treadmill makes Wilhelm feel marginally better and after a quick shower and raiding the fridge for leftovers for dinner, he sits down and reluctantly reaches for his phone. His eyes widen when he sees the notifications.
Simon [17:01]: Not gonna let you give up that easily!
Simon [17:02]: We can figure out some date that works for you
Simon [17:02]: Don’t know if we could find anyone else who wants Frida as much as you
Simon [17:03]: Like obviously if you’re having serious second thoughts it’s better not to go through with it now, but I kinda have the feeling you do want her
And then, one more message an hour later.
Simon [18:05]: Sorry I probably sound desperate. Just want them to get homes where they’ll be loved not because they’re ‘famous’ or whatever, but because of who they are
Wilhelm can’t help but laugh. He understands where Simon is coming from more than the man could ever realise.
Three forkfuls of food later he picks up the phone again and his thumbs hover over the keyboard. Simon is right, he does want Frida. And he wants to meet the puppy, somehow, even if it’ll be a hassle for everyone involved.
Wilhelm [18:45]: Would it be possible to arrange a meeting before the first date on the list? Or is it too soon for her?
Telling himself not to get his hopes up, Wilhelm places the phone on the table and gets back to eating his lacklustre dinner. He’s barely picked up his fork again when the phone buzzes.
Simon [18:46]: Sure! Sara won’t be able to make it and she kind of wanted to meet everyone to make sure people aren’t creeps or anything but yeah I think we can make it happen
Simon [18:46]: OMG sorry that came out weird, not implying you’re a creep!
Wilhelm laughs again and his fingers fly over the screen. The words have been sent before he really has time to think about what he’s written.
Wilhelm [18:47]: It’s fine, didn’t take it personally! Sorry if it’s too much to ask for, I’m sure you and your partner have your hands full with the four of them.
Simon [18:48]: Oh, Sara’s my sister, no partner here
Simon [18:48]: Don’t know why I told you that, sorry for oversharing
Something funny happens in Wilhelm’s chest but he ignores it.
Wilhelm [18:50]: Not oversharing! If anything, I think I’m the one who has been oversharing. I don’t recall everything I wrote in the application but I’m pretty sure I said something about my house feeling too big and empty for one person.
As soon as the app indicates that Simon has read the message, Wilhelm regrets sending it. Why does he feel the need to keep reminding this man he’s never even met about how there’s no one to share his days with?
Simon [18:52]: You did, and that’s what I liked about you
Simon [18:53]: Oh my god I’m sorry again, I didn’t mean it like that!
Simon [18:53]: What I mean is I liked how you didn’t hold back, how you genuinely seem like someone who’s going to enjoy having a pet and doing things with her. Someone who’s going to love her
Simon [18:54]: Did I just ruin it? Please tell me I didn’t and you still want Frida and to meet her
Wilhelm watches the dots dancing at the bottom of the screen, the corners of his mouth tugging up more and more with each message that comes in. The rest of his dinner sits untouched.
Wilhelm [18:56]: You didn’t! I’m still definitely interested in Frida and would love nothing more than to meet her.
Simon [18:57]: Oh thank god! To be honest, half the time I have no idea what I’m doing here and I just want to make sure I don’t fuck it up with ABBA
Simon [18:58]: Please don’t tell anyone I said that, I don’t want them to take Minnie away from me!
Wilhelm [18:59]: Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing just fine.
Wilhelm [19:00]: You need to stop calling the little ones ABBA though, from what I’ve seen they’re all wonderful little puppies with their own personalities.
The next message doesn’t come in immediately despite the screen telling Wilhelm Simon has received and read his message. Nervously, he gnaws on the skin of his thumb, wondering if he crossed some line with his comment.
When the minutes tick by and his phone stays silent, Wilhelm gets up and tosses the remains of his dinner into the bin. Then he loads the dishwasher and paces around the kitchen. As a loud buzz finally sounds through the room, Wilhelm all but lunges at the table to grab the device.
Simon [19:21]: Sorry, Björn and Agnetha had a scuffle
Simon [19:21]: Maybe you saw it those two are impossible sometimes
Simon [19:22]: See I can call them by their names!!
Simon [19:22]: ABBA is just so much easier in a rush. But you’re right, I need to stop calling them that
Wilhelm huffs a little laugh. He hasn’t had much time to watch the stream today, but he’s well aware of the way Agnetha and Björn have been going at each other more than the other two.
Wilhelm [19:24]: They do seem to love to wrestle and tease each other.
Simon [19:25]: I was gonna say you have no idea, but you probably do
Simon [19:25]: Luckily they’re moving to the opposite ends of the country if the potential owners pass Sara’s test
Wilhelm swallows and his fingers hesitate over the keypad, wondering how to ask. Before he manages to type a single word, another message comes in.
Simon [19:27]: Right, probably shouldn’t have said that either
Simon [19:28]: Idk why I keep telling you stuff like this
Simon [19:29]: This is the first time Minnie’s had puppies and Sara is very protective of them (I am too) and she just wants to make sure the people we’ve picked really want to give them good homes
Simon [19:30]: Not all of them are like you
Simon [19:30]: So obviously in love with Frida and wanting to give her the best possible home and future
Wilhelm smiles at the screen, feeling like there’s some warmth blooming on his chest as he reads the words.
Simon [19:31]: I sound like an overprotective father or something 😅
Wilhelm [19:33]: Maybe a little, but it’s only a good thing! I’ve never had puppies so I can only imagine how attached to them you’ve grown and I appreciate how thoroughly you want to make sure they find families that genuinely want them and will take good care of them.
Simon [19:34]: Thank you you get it!
Simon [19:35]: Now, the date. If we pick the day before the first one I suggested, how does 17.30 sound? I know it’s not ideal but I’ve missed so much work already I can’t really miss more. Unless it’s impossible for you travel-wise
Wilhelm [19:37]: Sounds perfect! Though I realised I don’t know where you are located.
Really, Wilhelm doesn’t care where Simon is located, he’s going to make it on that day. There isn’t anything he can’t skip the day before leaving for the state visit, and even if there was, it’s not like he was going to lose his job if he missed a day.
Simon [19:38]: Stockholm. I can send you the address now if you need to figure out travel
Wilhelm [19:40]: No need, I’m in Stockholm too! Actually, how would you feel about meeting somewhere in public?
The smile on his face grows bigger as Simon agrees to his suggestion immediately. It’s clear Simon wants him to get Frida and as he crawls under the duvet a couple of hours later with arrangements for a meeting in place, Wilhelm feels giddy and excited like a child before Christmas.