a delighted sense of smug and victory was obvious in his smile as fay put on her coat. he has been ready to leave this hotel for quiet a bit and had all he needed in his pocket. passport, wallet and map. it was nice to know, that some things never changed. fay and her love of food. it was the small things, the details that they knew about the other that made it a bit more frustrating they didn’t realize the other was immortal until years and years after their first meeting.
which was, ironically enough, in this very city. at least fay could at least see the rome he sees, in a certain fashion.
“it was 1975. if it’s still there, i wouldn’t be surprised–but let’s try not to get gelateria before actual food. auburn would sense it across the atlantic.” he was only half joking at that. he was almost sure she would know somehow. he zipped his jacket and opened the door to the room and held it open. as a true gentleman he raised an eyebrow at fay with his hand on the door. “if we waste more time here, we’ll miss the opportunity to go to the colosseum withoutthe class.”
since when did richard CARE whether or not auburn would know that he had eaten ice cream before having proper lunch? it was not like the redhead was on his case all the time about his dietary habits — at least she had not been the last time fay had checked, though that had been a bit ago. the complications of her own relationship with auburn were, most of the time, a valid reason not to think too much about the bonds the woman had forged with other immortals. especially not when she knew that richard was auburn’s favourite between the two of them.
no, she was not jealous. she just wished the other would actually own up to it rather than to make it awkward and potentially hurtful for everyone by trying to hide the truth. fay would be ALRIGHT if auburn would openly admit it. gods, it was not like she was a CHILD.
❛don’t rush me, rich, i’m right behind you, gods, ❜ she grumbled as she caught up with him in the door. there was a certainly PLEASANTNESS in his company because his manners were, as long as he bothered with them, and because she held a certain appreciation for his manners and him, by logical extension, ❛and no worries, mother dearest won’t hear about you eating too many sweets from me. give me SOME credit, please. ❜
it had been quite longer since he had been in rome. at least more than a decade, though he remembered being here and running into the spirited artist april. every encounter with her left him vaguely uncomfortable but warm. like a humid spring day.
“a museum sounds fine, but i think we should eat at some point, it’d be nice to do so without the guide telling us all the facts about this and that. and without the other students.”not that he minded them too much, but some of them were…well, annoying. below his standards.
“a gift for noel, huh?” his mind was brought back to that afternoon in auburn and noel’s apartment. when…auburn had asked him that. he tried to hide his discomfort of the situation, but he knew he could never avoid these things with fay so close. she knew him well. “we could shop, first.”maybe shopping was something easy to distract himself, and keep fay distracted.
food had always been something that had been a fast way to appease fay when she was annoyed. because in about five times out of twenty, she was more easily aggravated because there was hunger GNAWING on her stomach. and it proved that despite all their conflicts along the past centuries, richard KNEW her. and that was something she never really knew how to deal with.
however, he was much easier to deal with than most of their classmates. in his case, she knew what she was doing, most of the time. they had figured each other out a long time ago — and in all the incarnations of their relationship, she had never felt indifference towards him. he was someone she would always have an opinion on. the same could not be said for their classmates. some of them were surely nice people, but she had never cared enough about them to test that theory. and even if they were nice, she had never been good at dealing with nice people.
slipping into her jacket and leaving her map of the city in her suitcase, she nodded quickly. ❛i have a vague idea what i want to get him so it should not take long. oh, and do you remember that one restaurant where we ate with noel back in — 1975? 1976? ❜ she asked as she grabbed her bag. ❛ if it’s still like then, it’ll have great pizza and — i heard that there’s a gelateria that offers basil and sage ice cream. we should definitely go looking for that. ❜
at fay’s word, richard merely made an affirming sound, a small smile on his face. he watched her stand and straightened out his clothes in case there were any minor imperfections in them.
“any plausible excuse to avoid the catholic church, no?” he asked, knowing that this was something they could definitely agree on. he would come up with any plan to avoid the vatican part of this rome vacation. “where do you want to start, fay? i have no preferences at the moment.”that is due to change, of course.
❛haven’t been in rome since last summer so i figure we could just … let ourselves drift? and avoid tourist hot spots. and churches, ❜ she added with a grimace. it was a slight nod to his remark regarding the catholic church, but she supposed that he would either appreciate it or not really care to begin with. ❛we could see if we find a museum or something. oh, and i wanted to see if i can find a souvenir for noel? ❜
because noel was one of the very few people fay would bother buying a souvenir for. well, since dion had insisted to give her spending money ( and a significant amount of that, too ), he would be receiving a present as well, though she still thought that this would have been easier if they had gone to athens rather than rome. however, more important than the gift situation was that she had to berate herself for doing this( spending time with richard which could end so BADLY as she knew ) to herself. she should know better than this, especially when she was FAR TOO TIRED to fight with him these days.
TIMESlike these, Emery almost regretted not being closer to anyone in court. As she’d only heard murmurings of the new foreign visitors. From what she’d gathered, the prince was well-liked &his two companions argued viciously. Despite, if what she’d heard was correct, their life-long engagement.
THISwas her first time encountering one of them, the woman, && Emery hadn’t the slightest clue as to what her name was. A rare occurrence in the tightly knit world of politics, she was sure. But seeing as to how the princess relieved the majority of her gossip from eavesdropping on servants, it wasn’t surprising.
FORperhaps the first time in recent memory, Emery actually wantedto start up a conversation. The prospect of talking to someone who wasn’t from Ianthe was near-exciting. Perhaps she’d actually get to have a discussion, rather than spend the whole interaction trying to politely ignore that everyone thought her some kind of spy.
“Miss…Winters, was it ?Apologies,I struggle with names . “
something like this would never happen in galanthus and while fay did not miss the court she could usually be found at very much, she did miss the lack of questions she encountered there. she had not spent the better of her adult life around prince noel, serving as an adviser despite her age, so that a foreign court suddenly QUESTIONED her qualifications. and even worse: she was the only one who had had to deal with this kind of nonsense. and while she hardly envied her fiancé ( the amount of VULTURES circling over his head was ridiculous, truly ), she wished that she would not have to constantly introduce herself.
( especially since her patience for these people was dwindling down, quickly, and she was growing increasingly irritated with everyone around her. )
❛fay hunter, your royal highness. daughter of the duke of astrinas. i advise the prince of galanthus. you are princess emery, unless i’m mistaken? ❜ an eyebrow rose. because fay had done the reading, would be able to recite everything galanthus knew about each and every person at this court in her sleep — not that anyone would dare to wake her. ❛is there something i can do for you, ma’am? ❜
ROME WAS ALWAYS worth the trip. that was a statement fay was willed to sign on most days, but it was doubly true when she could explore the city without a guide breathing down her neck. as richard felt similarly, they had devised a shockingly simple plan to ensure that they would not be bothered by classmates and teachers during their day. she was known for her frail health, for the many sick days she had amassed over the time she had been a student at the academy — and now, on the day when her class wanted to visit the vatican, it was finally something she could USE.
❛can’t believe that my bad health finally came in handy, ❜ she said with a scoff as she threw off her blanket and stood, her posture slightly less strict than usually. ❛time to let the actual vacation start? ❜
