she seats herself across him. " i'm very relieved i caught you here! i've been keeping an eye on a few of eastern europe's environmental concerns. and i think i have a worthwhile proposal! if i'm being honest, i'm not confident i packaged it nicely enough for others to view yet. would you be able to look through it for me? "

          convoluted expectations inevitably lead to disappointment, caught in the way the smile slips from the corners of his mouth presented to be a matter of professionalism, of course. nothing to do with a simple desire to talk. “ i'd be able to help with that. ” but how quickly uncertainty fades at a newfound opportunity. “ it'll probably take a few coffee dates . . . you know, just to make sure it's perfect, for eastern europe. ”

" mind if i take a seat? " ( @alexcnder )

          an espresso cup at his lips, eyes draw up to the familiar voice nearly chocking back the black coffee at her presence he discards on the table. “ meixu, ” he manages to utter, rising ( somewhat unnecessarily ) to usher her to the obvious seat. “ of course, please. ” she wasn't drunk, or so sasha assessed from a once over, so why was she acknowledging him?

he had come to relax. he had come to listen to ignác and sasha throw jokes at each other, had come to laugh with them, had expected to be able to slide in a quip of his own. but blažej was speechless and every muscle on his back had become rigid. the casualness of their tone was chilling. like it was just a brainstorming session for a stand up gig, and not abot destroying a reputation. would he have felt more indifferent if the people being discussed had been strangers ? " i, er... we're not close, no. " he cleared his throat and massaged the back of his neck. the laugh was polite at best. a forced echo of what it could have been if blažej had found the statement remotely funny. " don't you think she's the victim ? with all that italy stuff ? i'd say fanni was a bit stupid and naive to work so closely with them and not realize anything, right ? " great. now they had dragged him down to their level.

ignác's chuckle was nearly loud enough to drown out blažej's breathy chortle. why was it so DIFFICULT for the boy to relax ? " i wouldn't be opposed to the bastard route- " he absolutely was but for the sake of the joke... " -but i think we should be REALISTIC about what blažej is actually capable of — bedding olimpia croÿ is PROBABLY not one of them. " no, sasha was more likely to succeed. even ignác sometimes ran out of patience with blažej's inarticulation and ignác had had a lot of time to get used to it ! " you're probably right. fanni should know better and don't you think the people should be worried about their well-being ? when someone so sloppy is in charge of ruling them ? " fanni's role in the running of hungary was most likely minimal but did the truth matter when people were likely to latch onto the horribleness of the circumstances ? " but it might be stupid to go after only one of them. it might get forgotten. it's not like their pr team is just sitting around and twiddling their thumbs all day. so what do we do with the younger one ? she doesn't have that much influence so we can't attack her judgment. should we just make it OBVIOUS how useless she is ? how much money does she receive from the crown annually ? it's probably a sum that sounds OUTRAGEOUS to anyone but people like us. " ignác even predicted that the sum would look small compared to his salary let alone compared to a swiss princess'. " we should raise the question: what has she done to earn it ? especially when there's a cost of living crisis all over europe. "

          at one point during this controversial topic between brothers it was going to happen, the roll of his eyes that alexander hardly held any reserve about. “ yeah, she's the victim, olimpia croÿ and i'll be the next king of france. ” he pulls himself to the edge of his seat, twiddling fingers he cracks at every lag in conversation evidence of sasha's growing inability to sit still. but he listens, both have a point, even the brother playing devil's advocate, intentional or not. suddenly a shifting gaze snaps up, no longer in search of anything entertaining to view before that too bores him and his wandering gaze snags on another temporary holdover. “ or how did she end up with more than she claimed to have. ” before the thought is finished, a phone is in his grasp. “ how much can we get away with saying she took out of the pockets of every hungarian? ” a glance is given to each brother. “ so it didn't seem obvious that she was double dipping? and what public service did we not get the funds for that we desperately needed? ”

his cheeks were still red from the frisk and cold winter air when he stepped into the room. " ciao, ciao. " his hand rose to a casual greeting, the warmth of smile matched the temperature indoors. " what did i miss ? what are we talking about ? " he inquired as he claimed the seat closest to the fireplace. the tips of his fingers barely had any feeling to them. ( &. @ignvc )

" well it's ONLY a rumour, but... " ignác shrugged. " i've seen the press spin stories out of lesser things. at the end of the day, only the perception matters. " once a name was tarnished, there was NO purifying it. " she didn't seem like the type to marry levente either, now did she ? " she hadn't seem clinically insane, ignác meant. " but i don't know. at the moment they're oh so very sympathetic considering italy screwed them over. which is why i think it wouldn't be such a bad thing if you went ahead and– " the sound of heavy footsteps and an opening door forced ignác to swallow the end of his sentence. " look at that ! you DIDN'T die on the slope, " ignác teased with a grin. he shot a very quick look at sasha: it was time to tone it down. " oh, we're just... i don't know if you want to know to be honest. " ignác was tempted to move the conversation to a later time. blažej was unlikely to have any grand ideas. he'd have... criticism. " we are trying to decide our next move. the people have seemingly forgotten about sasha's tragedy. the croÿs are racking up more sympathy points than he is. that fucking baby was like a jackpot. ACTUALLY, considering he's a new father, it might be better to concentrate on the sisters. people will cut levente slack. fanni and olimpia... probably not. not in the same way. could they please do SOMETHING questionable ? it's difficult to create something out of thin air. " [ &&. @alexcnder ]

          alight eyes shift to the door, parting only to acknowledge their brother's warning and the seat blažej chooses over the one alexander offers by a pat of the cushion. was the likelihood that some philosophical joke about ' the chair really being there ' to come from the second eldest so predictable? “ i should have broken both arms for good measure. ” but even then, ignác is right. he's always right and had sasha listened to him before the protests in budapest wouldn't have vanished with a smile from fanni across the front page in a week's time. “ as questionable as the danube river? ” sasha shakes his head, “ fanni's got her guard up, so we go for olimpia. ” the name is said with acknowledgment in the form of a shifting gaze to the youngest. “ you're awfully close with her, blažej? i mean, ” and he nearly laughs at his own disclaimer, “ no babies, but you've got to have some idea. ”　...　　( @blazcj )

" we know that but not everyone knows that. you could say you were thinking of a come back, 'one more run'... it'll look tragic. just say your ACL is torn now because of the croÿs. " ignác shrugged and fell quiet in order to give the two of them time to think. " aren't YOU the one who's been making her laugh at every event ? " ignác asked with an arched brow. " do you know anything about the state of levente's marriage ? if we could prove the wife's a cheater, it'd make the family look bad, wouldn't it ? or would it make him look sympathetic ? either way we need a story that will cause DAMAGE. "

          it doesn't need to be articulated, this fabricated headline feels like a page-six story at best amidst the swiss and german war concluding, even if it felt as dated as his former football career. “ unless levente tears it himself, i don't think anyone is going to care. ” now that would be a story, ' levente's outrage taken out on unsuspecting duke. ' a provoked fight with the drunken croÿ. “ and no, i didn't even know his wife was cheating. she never seemed like the sort to. ” least had been alexander's own experience with ines suffocating tendencies years prior. noticeably absent, as sasha glances at the phone cradled in his grasp, is any commentary on olimpia. his responsibility.

" i CANNOT think of a single headline that might be good to fabricate for christmas. maybe your knee is causing trouble and your football career is at risk ? ALL because of having to run on uneven terrain on that island. " [ &&. @alexcnder ]

          “ yeah, if it wasn't already over. ” boundless optimism comes to a standstill in the wake of a headline title unable to capture anything more than fanni croÿ's environmental grandeurs. it's all evident in the sigh sasha exhales, falling back to the chair's cushion. “ you give people a hot blonde to look at and suddenly everything is forgiven. wasn't one of us supposed to get to olimpia by now? ”

She's not built for the cold, a fact discovered well over a year ago in Canada and now reaffirmed once more in Switzerland. It truly is beautiful, the way the snow swirls about the mountain - like the setting from some old movie she watched as a child, a half remembered dream. Still - much better to look at than experience, and thus: alcohol. Marisol downs a glass of champagne, vaguely aware of the conversations occurring around her when she is tugged against a familiar form. Cursing quietly in Spanish, the princess recovers, brushing dark curls from her eyes with a quick smile. "Was that really necessary?" its playful and for Sasha. A flush stains her cheeks from more than the cold once she realizes they have company, and she smiles graciously at the German prince. "What are we planning?"

aurel looked between the two people in front of him. he lifted a brow. " i need at least ten people between me and whatever's going on here... " aurel informed them, his open palm vaguely gesturing towards the pair. " a pub crawl. starting here and now. " ( &. @alexcnder or anyone who wants to join the thread ! )

" a pub crawl? " she interjects. she's only ever seen it in american media. how exciting! if she hadn't already had two drinks, she would have rejected the idea, but the buzz made it feel totally worth it to join. " how fun! " ( @alexcnder or anyone else )

          the words relayed on the tip of his tongue falter at the familiar cadence and his stance soon follows, moving to the other side of marisol, positioning himself between her and meixu. “ now it'll be fun. ” an elbow nudges the newcomer, the one who only ever seems to acknowledge sasha's existence when intoxicated to some capacity. “ we've got two of the best right here. ”　...　　( @mariisolss or anyone )

" i saw about fifteen bars on one street — should we do a pub crawl tonight ? we could probably round up enough people for it to be fun. "

          “ at least half a dozen people, if not more. ” and with a glance to the person nearest, likely unaware, his reach extends to their arm, fingers coiling around. “ starting with you. ” a gentle tug pulls them into the growing inner circle of what only promises to be alcohol fueled bad decisions if they are lucky.　...　　( begging for hijacking )

" how would you feel about doing some sort of a pr-move together ? some initiative that makes it so very clear that the croÿs care very deeply about their most lovable duke ? you could take lead, it could be your thing and you could get the main credit ? " | @alexcnder

          it may not have been as absolute as the gleam of a spotlight surrounded by an ink-black backdrop, the way his attention snagged on the blonde prompting an enticing request, but alexander found curiosity, and a pretty face promising nothing but aid to his future endeavors, to be the siren's song that pulled him down the rabbit hole. “ not entirely the most appropriate place to discuss this right now. ” a tall stature that suddenly leaned in deprived his former statement of any validity. hands behind his back, the duke ( a title which felt appeasing to the hungarian royals less he too be noted as a slovakian prince ) took a glance over olimpia for any possible unwarranted proxy. you could never be too careful. “ but, go on. i doubt any charitable venture would do either of us well, if your sister can't even seem to appease the public with it. ” and how sympathetic he would appear to the discrepancies of the public opinion as of late.

"I think I've done it. However, I need a discerning eye to tell me whether or not I've totally fucked up my room." She paused. "Would you be willing to come back to my place and give me your thoughts on the new vibe?"

          “ you can't ask your — ” eyes alight, a sudden change to the heavy-lidded gaze once held for gwen. it played out very much like a horror film, plucked from the sandy shadows a figure, that of a crown royal he wished to avoid with the slander that would soon grace the black and white digital pages of every tabloid. less he be asked to help ' clean it up ' again. “ actually, yeah. yeah, let's go see your room. ” a hand fell to the space between her shoulder blades, ushering her to move from the exposed walkway as not to espy levente. he had honed many skills, even since his claim to dukedom, but one that had failed alexander was the imperceptible gleam that caught his eye just before a few loose strands were tugged on the already unraveling tapestry that was the royal house of croÿ.