The Black Prince
is a 2016 Kingsman: The Secret Service fanfic by ColinFilth.
Harry Hart is a middle-aged painter. One day, he meets a young man by running into him on the sidewalk. Harry is immediately struck by the young man's appearance, while the other is just irritated, and scoffs at Harry's offer to have him sit for a painting. Harry goes home and sketches the young man from memory.
Then one day, he gets a call from a police station, and soon, the young man, Eggsy Unwin, agrees to sit for a new painting Harry is doing for the Penguin Classics diamond anniversary edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Of course, life is never that simple.
The Black Prince contains examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Harry's excessive alcohol consumption is commented on repeatedly. Eggsy eventually calls him out on being a drunk after they break up.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Harry takes up smoking again after Eggsy leaves him. The cashier at the shop he buys the cigarettes from even notices that it's because he's heartbroken.
- Crash-Into Hello: Harry and Eggsy meet when they bump into each other on the sidewalk. Eggsy is angry, while Harry immediately asks him to sit for one of his paintings. While Eggsy is uninterested at first, they do eventually get together.
- Dead Fic: The story has not been updated since 2018, and the chapter count on Archive of Our Own says there are still two chapters missing.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Harry gets drunk after Eggsy leaves him.
- Intimate Artistry: Eggsy offers to pose for Harry's sketches while nude, and he agrees. This eventually leads to them getting together.
- May–December Romance: Harry, who is 56, begins a relationship with Eggsy, who is 24. While Eggsy doesn't care about the age gap, Harry does. It ends up being one of the points of tension that leads to their breakup.
- Ring on a Necklace: Harry can't find his signet ring that his father had given to him, and eventually discovers that Eggsy has been wearing it on a chain around his neck. He gives it back when they break up.
- Second Act Break Up: Harry and Eggsy break up in chapter 25. While the fic is unfinished, a one-shot sequel was published where they are together, so presumably if the fic was finished they would have gotten back together.
- Take Back Your Gift: When Eggsy leaves Harry, he also leaves behind the gifts Harry gave him, as well as the signet ring.
