i'm on rent in my body

smh

“I literally don’t mean to sound rude but that’s probably something you should talk to a therapist about. It’s clearly an issue.” The pot was calling the kettle black. Ilona could recognize her own destructive behaviour just a moment too late but rarely worked to improve herself. “How does that one quote go... ‘The marks humans leave are most often scars.’” Close enough. “No reason to be afraid of commitment though. Especially if you’re afraid of the other somehow letting you down.”

“Absolutely not. It’d be nice to know that someone picked you. You’re... you’re what they want. You aren’t supposed to have an expiration date. Isn’t that why people date? To find the one person they want to keep around?”

Ilona’s happy expression froze into place for a second at the mention of the Swede. Soon enough she managed to get chirpy laughter out of herself. “She’d probably appreciate it.” Even if she didn’t, they could always find the Sun of Sweden, the littlest of Bernadottes would accept them with open arms. “Aisling, that’s a cute name. Mine’s Ilona. I-lo-na.” It usually took people a few repeats before they could pronounce it even somewhat correctly. She shook the girl’s hand. “Very nice to meet you too.”

“A dip? To this music? Very difficult to accomplish.” Truthfully she believed she was in a much better position to be dancing to non-classical music than Elyse. As beautiful as the duchess’s dress was, it did restrict her to a certain degree. “If the tiara doesn’t fall onto the floor, you aren’t dancing hard enough,” Ilona told her as she grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along towards the dance floor.

“Don’t you look cute!” she exclaimed when she realized she had been caught staring. The smile she forced onto her face was far from genuine --- she wasn’t sure how warm a welcome she’d receive from Sabrina. [ @imperialsabrina​ ]

“I want one dance. This music is perfect for dancing. Literally for the first time I don’t have to listen to those dull notes of waltz. Can you step outside of your comfort zone?” [ @elysefz​ ]

“You know, if you and I had entered the room at the same time, someone might have thought that we were dressed up as the Swedish flag,” Ilona chuckled as she sat next to princess dressed in the monochrome gown. “You the blue and I the yellow. Now, what’s your actual name, otherwise I’ll end up calling you blue... or teal as it is more accurate.” [ @highnessaisling​ ]

Ilona Abbas-Erdei attending the coronation of Ayo Zulu