Reading Is Fun

❄️ Do you get snow where you live?

“There’s always snow in the mountainous regions of Italy, so yes.” 

⛄ Do you like cold weather?

“I do like cold weather actually. I just find snow to be very beautiful and peaceful, and there’s nothing like curling up by a warm fire when it happens.”

🧣What is the next plans you’ve made that you’re excited for?

“I would really like to start working in the hospital and helping save lives. Just always wanted to help people.”

“This is fucking bullshit,“ Ollie muttered, moving puzzle pieces around on the counter. It was a slow day, and after the fourth drop to the floor from stumbling out of exhaustion, his sister dropped a puzzle box in front of him and told him to work it out. So he drank two redbulls and ignored all phone calls to do exactly that. Figure out the puzzle. Because why not torture yourself with a puzzle when you haven’t slept in two days?

“Why are the pieces all one color? What sick freak designed this?“ he shot a glare to the back hall where his sister was cackling. “Probably you,“ he muttered to himself, hearing Violet leave out the back door just as the bell dinged at the front to alert a customers arrival. The first of the day despite being after two. “Look around… Flowers around here… yeah…“ he half assed a greeting, while trying to fit two pieces of the impossible puzzle together.

Axelle stepped into the shop to hearing Violet cackling in the background while Ollie seemed to be ranting about a very hard puzzle. She bit her lip to keep from laughing and gave Violet a small wave before walking up to the counter. Resting her chin on her hand for a moment, she reached out and put two other pieces together that he hadn’t been working on. “Is this the thing that breaks you, Ollie?” she asks with a small giggle and watches him as he tries to fit his puzzle pieces together. 

“Hey, Tierney, it’s me. Um…it’s been a year since I spoke at your…f-f-f-funer…FUCK!” Valentin swore, cutting the camera off. He’d been in the tea room recording a simple video, but each time he tried to talk, each word coming out as a stutter or stumbling over words. This time, he tried to say something, only for the tears to fall and his words coming out fast. Tossing the camera control on the table next to him, he leaned back in one of the chairs, silently letting the tears fall while trying to think of some words to say. 

He didn’t even hear the door open as he sat there, curled up in his chair and stared at nothing. “You can sit there,” the Austrian said with a little nod. “I was just…um…trying to do something…not…scary…I think…”

Axelle was on her way to the tea room, mostly because besides the library it was one of the quieter and peaceful rooms to relax in. As she was walking down the hall, she heard someone curse loudly from inside and was startled for a second before she reached out and gently pushed the door open to the room. She saw Valentin curled up in a chair across the room. Taking in a small breath, she steps inside and gives him a kind smile, “Okay, and that’s okay. I um...I guess I heard you yell and wanted to check and see if you were alright, but I can leave you if you were wanting to record your thoughts privately,” she says when she notices the camera. 

@axelle-cappelletti​

Although Hunter wasn’t sociable by nature, throughout his life, he had had to endure many occasions when meeting people was important. Growing up, he learned about the value of maintaining a cordial bond with many other royals around his age, and it had been how he and Axelle had crossed paths for the first time, with the two of them tethered to the duty they performed in the name of their countries. Eventually, they realized they had something somewhat in common, which made talking something not so complicated.

It was why when Hunter spotted the Italian princess sitting on one of the upholstered armchairs of the tea room, he didn’t have as many reservations speaking to the woman. “Axelle,” the Canadian greeted with a sharp nod. “I could say I didn’t expect to see you here, but it seems like that’s where we’ll find everyone nowadays.”

Axelle was just relaxing and reading as normal, the tea room having the most comfortable spot for her today. She had finished with her recent medical journal and decided to delve into a romance novel. The plot had her rolling her eyes every now and then from predictability, but it was okay enough for her to want to finish reading it. Hearing her name, she jumped at first because the room was completely quite until Hunter spoke to her. “H-Hi Hunter,” she says and gives him a small nod and a smile back. “Yeah, I could say the same for you, things are just....really tense in the world right now,” she says and shuts her book. “How have you been?” 

In the past few days, the weather had shifted entirely. When she Rasa arrived, flowers were blossoming with the beginning of spring. Now the flowers had died, and the trees were nothing more than twisted branches waiting for the moment when the sun would shine and wake them up from their slumber. It wasn’t that Rasa detested winters— they seemed like good metaphors for her life —, she just didn’t like the feeling that she might have no other choice but to stay within the walls of the palace.

Sometimes, the Lithuanian would still venture outside. It might be crazy, but it made her feel oddly alive. Coming back inside, the tip of her nose was red, and although her hands were covered with gloves lined with fur, her fingertips still seemed numb. Rasa stood on the threshold for a long time wondering if there were enough things on the hearth for her to make fire until Axelle’s voice broke through to her. Shifting her attention to the Italian princess, Rasa offered her a bit of a smile. The Lithuanian took a few steps closer, clutching tighter to her coat. “Aside from the whirlwind of the latest occurrences, everything’s fine,” she nodded. “You?”

“I mean it’s pretty much the same for me,” she replies to Rasa and looks around at the snow. Axelle didn’t have too much experience with this climate, but she found that she enjoyed it for what it was worth. Despite it being cold and wet outside, the weather just caused her to do what she normally did during the rainy season. She would start a fire and curl up with a good book right next to it to stay warm. “Is there anything new going on? I feel like I’ve been so into my books lately that time and news has sort of just faded into the background for me.” 

He nodded before shaking his head. If he talked about it, he wouldn’t stop talking and he’ll relive it, over and over again. The suggestion of walking around for a little while made him nod once more, giving her a tiny smile. “Of course,” he said, standing up. “But I’m not ready to talk about it yet. It still hurts after all this time, you know?” Even though it’s been a year since he lost her, he didn’t want to talk about it. 

Axelle gave him a small nod back with understanding in her eyes, “That’s okay. I have the same issue talking about something like that as well,” she replies to him. “And everyone says time heals all wounds but sometimes time seems like it’s taking forever,” she says with a soft laugh and shakes her head. Her mind was drifting back to her ex that broke her heart for the sake of a bet and publicity. “Anyways, what’s your favorite part of the castle?” she asks, attempting to take his mind off of his nightmare. 

“Hopefully it won’t happen but still is good to plan” She sat down next to her sister “We can watch something not very intense, I mean I don’t want to end up with nightmares either.” she thought for a little she could be rather indecicive sometimes. “Oh what about, Nightmare before Christmas, it has everything?”

Axelle bit her lip to keep from laughing, “Chiara, you dont want to have any nightmares but proceed to pick a movie with Nightmare in the title?” she asks even though she had seen the movie plenty of times before. Laughing softly, she got set up in a comfy spot with Chiara, “But yes, let’s start off with Nightmare before Christmas, it’s one of my favorites,” she says with a smile. 

“How nice of you to have basic morals,“ he joked, listening to her possible needs. “I got water lilies coming out of my ears back there if you want some,“ he explained, thinking on it for a moment, what he could work out for her. His fingers scratched at his cheek as he gave her a faint shrug of the shoulders. “With my sister constantly around torturing my every waking moment? No, I don’t hardly get anything more than two brush strokes in,“ despite the comment he was grinning. “I’d send her back to the store my parents got her from, but I think she is non-refundable for being a defective item.“

Axelle laughed softly at his joke and gives him a nod, “I would love a full arrangement with them, please,” she lets him know. When he started to talk about his sister, Axelle rolled her eyes. “God you sound just like Leo I swear,” she says with a small laugh. “Do all brothers think that way of their sisters, or is just limited to you and mine?” Pulling out some cash to pay him with, Axelle leaned against the counter and relaxed, “Well if you have a day off to yourself, we should have a paint day or a sketch day of some sort. Or will you use that day to return your defective sister?” she asks with a small grin. 

Axelle had just finished up in the library and went to go put away her stuff in her room. She pulled on a scarf to keep her neck warm, feeling like she might have been coming down with a sore throat. Grabbing a small pack of a lozenges, Axelle went down to the kitchens to get some hot tea, throwing in the lozenges so the menthol helped out with her throat.  After finishing it off, she headed down the hall towards one of the little hide away spots in the castle to just relax. She pulled out her sketch pad, drawing aimlessly it seemed like. Feeling like someone was there was eyes on her, she looks up from her drawing and looks around before spotting a familiar face. “Hey Rasa, is everything okay?” she asks and gives her a small wave, motioning her to come hang out if she wanted to. 

Axelle woke up a little late in the morning and cursed when she forgot that she needed to do some shopping for Christmas since it would be coming up soon. Getting dressed in warm clothes, she headed down to the kitchens first to grab a bite to eat before going to where the guards normally hung out off duty. She always felt bad about asking them to escort her to the village, and would usually make it up by buying them some snacks or sweets while shopping around.  When she got to their usual hangout, she noticed Gio there and gave him a smile. “Hey Gio, do you think that you can escort me to the village today? Sorry it’s such late notice,” she replies and taps her fingers against her forearms out of a nervous habit, which he was probably used to already. “I-I just need to do a bit of Christmas shopping so I dont get stuck doing it last minute, b-but I’ll make it up to you,” she says to him and clears her throat. 

Axelle decided to quit with the books for the day, deciding on going for a walk in the gardens. It was really cold, the snow crunching under her warm boots as she made her rounds. As much as she loved the temperate climate of Italy, she would have to admit that the cold was a nice change up for her. She pulled out a cigarette and smoked it while looking around at the grounds. She thought it would be nice to paint the castle while it was snow ridden, but she knew she couldn’t brace the cold long enough to capture it properly.  After finishing her cigarette, she headed back inside, going to the kitchens to hopefully score some hot tea or coffee. Just something to warm her up after her little trek in the cold. When she walked in, she spotted her sister’s friend Rosamie and gave her a smile. “You have the same idea that I did?” she asks after asking for a hot drink. 

Hearing Axelle’s voice made him look up and his lips twitched into a small smile, but it never reached his face. “I had a bad dream,” he answered, turning back to the flowers again. “I’m scared to go back to sleep, so I’m here trying to relax, you know? Even if it’s for a couple minutes or-” he stopped, not knowing if he wanted to go on or just straight up tell her. “I didn’t want to wake up the cook and ask for some tea, and I thought walking would help…”

Axelle took a few steps closer to him, standing side by side looking at the same flowers he was. “I get that. Sometimes they just feel so real that you can’t shake them once you wake up,” she says with a nod. When he paused, she reached up and gave his shoulder a gentle pat. “If it’s easier to talk about it, I’m all ears,” she says to him with a small smile. “Would you want to walk around then for a little while? I’ll join you if you dont want to be alone in your thoughts,” she replies, wanting to help him. 

Ollie was back downstairs after a quick shower and change in under fifteen minutes. Damp, messy hair he pushed out of his eyes before he smiled at Axelle. “I see you didn’t steal all my stock, so I take it your grand heisting didn’t go as planned,” he teased her from her earlier comment he had caught while sprinting up the stairs. Exhausted, okay actually lazy was the more proper word here, Ollie hopped up onto his counter to sit. Long legs dangled as hands twisted against each other in his lap. “Seeing something you’re interested in, or do you want me to make you something new? You got a look on your face like you’re on a mission,” he said as he popped his knuckles to release tension off them.

Axelle smiled and shook her head, “I wouldn’t steal from you guys. I would rather pay since you have a knack for giving me gorgeous arrangements that inspire my artistic desires,” she says with a soft laugh. She looks around at some of the different flowers, giving him a small nod, “I am on a mission, I just dont know what I want to put my focus into for a painting. Maybe something a little more exotic? Like water lilies mixed with some wild grasses or herbs? My ideas have been all of the place recently,” she says, her fingers coming up to tap against her chin as she tried to decide. “What about you though, Ollie? Any new drawings or paintings in the works?” 

Chiara’s smiled grew bigger as she hugged her sister. “Thank you!” she replied as she let go and took the sweets from the other “I’m going to try and not eat them all in one day” she was probably going to fail “that sounds amazing, are there any movies you have in mind? or shall we have a theme? scary movies, musicals…scary musicals?” 

Axelle laughed softly and patted her back gently, “Yeah, I doubt that, but I’ll keep my door open in case you end up getting a stomachache.” Walking inside, Axelle went over and sat down on Chiara’s bed. “Why dont we do a mix of all three? I’m not the biggest fan of scary movies, but a little jump scare here and there is fun,” she smiles and takes off her shoes. “If you could pick any movie to watch from those categories, which one would you want to watch first?”