Fallout
Louis and Veira spoke about her experience. The ball team made their plans. Xander's planned cooking date turned into a visit to Walmart. From Blair, he learned one or two things, while he warmed up a bit with Leila, an old friend. Rie made melon pizza.
Chapter 33
»The unicorn balloon proved to be quite useful.«
The Goldfinger, Los Angeles, Angeles
Prince Ernest of Illéa
Ernest Illéa needed a few things: a drink, time off with his girlfriend and a solution to a problem. A very big problem.
So, when he invited Nereida to come and go clubbing with him just as they had in Bonita, she, being Nereida Statten, had not noticed the hint of 'this is a date', and dragged along 'some friends'. Namely a bunch of Selected.
"At least the club is big," he thought, before seeing how much all the girls, undercover and all, enjoyed themselves. Who was he to judge if they wanted to go out. He did, all the time. It was nice to be among real people. Jonathan would probably disapprove of this, he thought.
"Are you worried about your grandfather?" Nereida asked him between the loud beats of the DJ. Naïve, innocent and what not, that didn't mean that she didn't know him.
Ernest frowned. "He'd probably disapprove of this on multiple layers."
Nereida sulked. "Can't you ignore him for the evening? He doesn't know you're here. Why would anyone tell him?"
"Because he was the one to call me when I went out for the first time in Bonita. Contact to check if my family is alright? Oh, no, that's too much of a safety risk," he mocked Jonathan, "but to tell me that I'm being one big annoyance again? Because I'm being a normal teenager? Oh, yeah, sure we can do that!" He sighed. "Alright. You're right."
"See?" she hummed. "He's not here, so he can't care."
Then again, they both knew that Jonathan Wilde had caught him countless miles away from home. They were what—twenty minutes away from the palace?
"Just enjoy yourself. You've been so busy all week. I've barely even seen you."
Ernest leaned against her. Yeah, that was true. "Sorry," he muttered. "Work." And the fact that he didn't trust Jonathan to just throw Nereida out if he learned of their relationship. "I'm working on it."
"What does that even mean?"
"Manipulating the Report, and figuring out a way to bring up… stuff. Give me some time—I've never done this before!" he chuckled.
Nereida sighed, disappointed. "Alright… Do we wanna join the others?"
"And get recognised? No. Why don't we just go to the dance floor? Don't you want to beat me in yet another dance off?" Ernest teased. A dance off against a professional dancer had always been a stupid idea, but… it was fun. Just as fun as Nereida's hoodie collection (predominantly present in Bonita) that totally didn't come from Ernest's closet.
"Oooh, yes!" Nereida cheered nonetheless, "yes, let's do that!"
And this was how Ernest once again embarrassed himself. Nothing new, nothing that he minded, and if even, he was just glad to watch Nereida in her element. While Nereida, quickly making herself home on the dancefloor, had the energy to go on for days and days with no end, Ernest was happy to leave her be after a few songs.
"You okay?" Blair, waiting at the bar, asked. She looked gloomy—just like the people had when his mother had been killed. Did something happen?
Ernest huffed. "Yeah. Just need a break. How about you? Why aren't you with the others?"
It took Nereida ten seconds to notice that Ernest was gone, and so, she appeared now. Wordless, Ernest handed her a drink—both to say 'welcome back' and 'I need a break'.
"What's up? Where are the others?"
Blair shrugged. "Somewhere in the club."
"You look sad," Nereida said in-between drinking. "Did you lose a dance-off?"
Blair shook her head. "Nah. Just missing Benjamin and my family."
Benjamin was, Ernest dared to remember, her secret boyfriend. Of course there were going to be girls like that (he and Nereida were guilty of that too—much more than Blair and others), and from what he remembered, in Blair's caste, she had come for the change in caste system.
"You came here because his family didn't want him to marry a Seven?"
"That, and because we dropped down."
"Dropped down?"
"There was a rebel base in the neighbourhood, and everyone around it dropped in the castes—"there's no way you didn't notice anything", they said." Blair shrugged. "I don't know much about it; my mum told me."
"Ah, I see." That happened a lot in the Unrest. Another thing Project Omega would need to deal with. Eliminate the chances that the rebellion could rise again, Jonathan liked to say. Jonathan generally liked to say things. "What did you do before?"
"I can't imagine you working inside as Six…" Nereida thought aloud.
"Oh, no ,we were Threes. I was just going to school, and my mum was a kindergarten teacher. Dad was a software engineer. My brother went to university, before he was shot."
"Wait—what?" Ernest paused.
"Yeah, my brother was shot."
"No, the other thing."
"… My parents' jobs?"
"You were a Three and went down to Seven?"
Blair shrugged again. "Yeah, why?"
"Isn't that what happened when people were considered to have rebel connections?" Nereida asked. She had no idea—given the absolute lack of rebel presence in the poor South of Illéa, that was expected though.
"Yes—but the people in someone's neighbourhood would just drop by one caste."
"Well… I became a Seven so…" Blair's suggestion that he was missing something felt off.
"I don't know as much about that stuff as Xander and Louis do," Ernest begun, "but that sounds incorrect. Did your parents never check with the local Province Service Office if that was correct? It sounds like an accounting error."
"My mum was not herself anymore when dad disappeared."
"So, she never checked?"
"I doubt it…?"
"Then it must have been an error. You should have become Fours, not Sevens."
Blair hesitated and glared at her (barely touched) cocktail. She stirred with the straw, thinking. Ernest wondered if she thought about how her life would have gone, had she not become a Seven. Fours were the middle class of Illéa. Most had their own businesses and employed Sevens and Sixes, but didn't do as well as Threes, or had as much influence as Twos. She wouldn't have been a lifeguard, but who knows—she maybe wouldn't have ended up here in the Selection either.
Whenever that was good or bad would show later.
"I can look into it, if you want me to," Ernest suggested.
"Oooh, detective work! That sounds fun!"
"More like telling someone to grab the files from Clermont," he joked, "but sure."
Blair nodded. "Why not? Sounds good to me."
"Maybe you'll get something more than just getting back to being a Three out of the Selection, then!" Nereida cheered. "Surely, you could sue them and get money from that. Your mum would probably become a Three again too."
"… That's awfully cold-hearted for you, Tiny," Ernest noted.
"One of the characters in your new play did it!"
"…. True."
Blair rose. "Enough sulking. I'm sure I'll see Ben soon enough. Are you two lovebirds going to join the others?"
"Honestly," Ernest looked at his girlfriend. "I think we'll come later." Or not at all. Who'd know.
Blair grinned. "Have fun," she hummed.
"Do you want a second chance on a dance off?" Nereida teased once Blair had disappeared into the crowd of people. The club is hot—people, drinks, music, lights and loud. Years of living in the peaceful Bonita made the city's noises worse.
"Ehh…." Ernest shook his head. "I wouldn't have a chance either way. Wanna go outside and get some fresh air?"
"Sure!" she piped. And so, they headed outside, into the cold. There was a little spot off the road, nearby the entrance to the Goldfinger, that Ernest remembered a little too well… He had changed, he told himself.
"You know what I miss about home?" Nereida asked. She snuggled against Ernest.
"Your family?"
"Them too," she replied. "But I mean the night sky." She pointed up to the cloudy, grey sky. Even if it was nearly midnight, there were no stars. They could be seen from the coast in Portaviro, but Ernest understood what she meant.
"Too much light pollution," he said.
"It's sad. The city is beautiful and all, but I miss the stars."
"I do, too." More that he missed the midnight picnics with her, but it was the same, wasn't it?
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking to the stars," Nereida quoted. "That's not possible now, huh…"
Ernest chuckled. "Not really, no. Bonita is much prettier in that way." He paused. "I think my grandmother once mentioned that there was a photographer that took photos of city skylines as if there was no electricity? It's some fancy editing and travelling involved, I think…"
Nereida chuckled. "Can you imagine Los Angeles without electricity?"
No, not really. Not when the city was just past the 'a war happened here half a year ago' stage. Ernest believed that there had been times where the electricity didn't function perfectly well, but that had been solved by now—and the ruins were gone. Who knew—maybe there were other ruined cities with prettier night skys? "We could ditch the others," Ernest suggested, "and drive away, out of the city. I'm sure we can get past the city and light pollution."
"Oooh!" Nereida laughed. "That'd be so much fun! … Except that you have work, and I have lessons…" She looked down onto the dirty asphalt.
"True," Ernest cringed. "Such is adulthood."
"I don't like it."
"Same. Can I cancel it, please? Go back to being a kid?"
"But that'd mean that you couldn't go out clubbing."
"Since when do I care? Me? Ernest Henry Illéa?"
"Wait—Henry is your middle name?"
"Uh, yeah." Ernest laughed. "I still can't believe you never recognised me."
Nereida grinned. "Does it matter? You're the same person, aren't you?" True. That was true—or at least, Ernest liked to think that. "It's just a name. I wasn't born as Nereida Rue Statten; it's the name my parents gave me when they adopted me. It's just a name."
"But if you weren't Nereida Rue Statten—the Statten Dancer—who'd you be?"
"A… human?" Nereida blanked.
"If I was actually just 'Oscar, Gideon's nephew', then would I be the same person? I mean—so much in my life has been dedicated by my surname along and—"
"But does that matter?" Nereida paused. "This alternative universe stuff is complicated. Save that for your next play."
Ernest smiled and slung an arm around his girlfriend. Yes, it was, and even if it was interesting to think about, Nereida had a point. It did not matter. He maybe was Ernest Illéa, but to Nereida, he was just himself.
Given what he was still considering, that was important.
Being himself.
He smiled. "I'm damn glad that I am Ernest Illéa, because otherwise I wouldn't have ended up in that gutter you call Portaviro."
"It's not a gutter! Portaviro is beautiful! Much less polluted than Los Angeles!" Nereida defended. "If you had the choice, where'd you live?"
In Portaviro with its small beach, lively market and local theatre scene, or the buzzing mega city Los Angeles?
"I say I'll take the private jet and both."
"Private jet?!"
"… Yeah? Tiny, I'm a prince. Of course, we have private jets."
"Why did we fly on a commercial plane then? I mean—yeah, that's really cool in itself." Nereida had never been in an airplane before, of course. "Why not a big fancy private jet though? Doesn't Sophia want this all to look like in a movie?"
Ernest shrugged. "Chances are that was Xander and his budgeting."
"Budgeting? Isn't your family super rich?" That rumour had granted Nereida the additional nickname 'The Girl With the Rich Boyfriend' in Portaviro. Hopefully nobody online would catch find of that until after Ernest was done with this all.
"Running a country is expensive, I guess?" Ernest shrugged.
"I hate maths." Nereida deadpanned.
"Wasn't it your family that had that super strict saving policy?" Ernest remembered. "I think we were going to bake a birthday cake for your sister, and you couldn't get icing because of it?" Of course, Ernest being Ernest had just shrugged and thrown in ten dollars (and gotten a mountain of 'Ernest, you can't just waste money like that, because it was a pretty girl' by Jonathan).
Nereida paused. "I mean… yes?" She shrugged. "I… don't usually do the maths? Mum does it?"
"True," Ernest laughed. "You know what—we should do that again."
"Build a super-sour orange cake to prank Sirena?"
Ernest hesitated. "That would require us to fly her into Angeles… but that sounds doable. You know… Tiny…" He hesitated.
Now?
No.
But when then?
When things are worked out.
Will they ever be?
Not with Jonathan.
"Yeah?" Nereida hummed.
"I love you," Ernest dodged. Not now. Some other time. Some time when everything would have been worked out, and when everything would be fine. Nereida deserved a real thing, not just something quickly done in the alley. He could ask her to stay with him forever—to marry him—another time. They had a lifetime for that.
Nereida, oblivious as always, smiled. "I love you too," she said, and kissed him.
Ernest didn't move—he had no reason to. Why look to the sky, when you have stars right in front of you? Even when Nereida eventually let go, he didn't move. It got colder, yes, but Nereida was all the warmth he needed. She was all he needed.
"Do you want to go to the beach?" she suggested. "I'm fairly sure that's prettier than an alley."
Ernest wanted to. "What about the others at the club? They'll question why we're gone…"
"Does that really matter?" Nereida sulked. "Why do we have to keep this secret?"
"Because my grandfather sucks."
She sighed. "I don't like that."
"Same here," he replied. "I don't want to risk losing you—that's most important to me, Tiny. I'm willing to wait forever, if it means staying with you."
That made her smile, and that smile was good. "Oh. I see," she laughed.
/ / /
Xander's office in the Palace, Los Angeles, Angeles
Crown Prince Xander of Illéa
Today, Xander did not pace nervously up and down.
A part of that was because Irina was part of today's date.
Another part was because he had a mountain of government work to work through before the looming threat of yet another date would come on. At least, he reminded himself as he turned a page of a report, Irina was part of today's date and that meant he had one kindred spirit with him. She had been quite excited when they had met, earlier.
Xander turned another page, without having registered one single word. The report he was reading was important—it concerned the costs of the Sumner rebuilding and needed approval, because the provincial government didn't have the money to pay for it. It needed help from national level, and the prince had involved himself so much with it that they had just send it forward to him, not the Minister of Infrastructure. That wasn't a problem, Xander told himself.
Someone knocked, and entered. Xander looked up, fully expecting it to be Tori (although—why would she come in? He did not want news from her.), but found himself graced by Irina's presence instead. Part of him was relieved (good—no news concerning the tracking of surviving rebels), part of him tensed.
Today's date included her.
"Hey," she began, sitting down as she often did.
"Can I help you anyhow?" Xander replied, dropping the report. He was pretty sure that Irina (or any of the Selected) were meant to just walk around in the government wing, but given how often he had invited her to come by, none of the guards had questioned it. Or Evan was around.
Probably Evan.
"Not really," she replied, "although I'm surprised." Her smile was playful—much more than she usually did, but he couldn't say that he didn't like that.
"About what?"
"You haven't invited me to come over today."
Xander blinked. "Alright…?"
"You always do that when there's a date coming up."
"Oh, do I?" Did he look oblivious? Hopefully he did—by no means did Xander want to admit that. He did not need the prep talk of one of the Selected to go onto dates.
He couldn't find an answer in Irina's expression, and she didn't reply. Instead, Irina nodded to the papers. "You look busy."
"Exactly." That was absolutely why he hadn't asked her to come over.
"Are you planning to read and work through that whole pile today?"
"… Yes?"
"The convention opens at eleven, and closes at six. How." She deadpanned. "We are not missing a second of it."
Xander cringed inside. To be fair, if he could decide, he would have avoided both. "This is government work, Irina—I can't just put it aside."
"Any new developments with your father?" she asked. "You told me that Victoria barged in and confused everyone."
Yeah, although he had only heard of that second time. "I do appreciate her coming along to meetings," Xander admitted. "I don't want her to do this for me though, if that's what you're implying."
Victoria, by no means, was in the position of capable to deal with this.
"I wasn't implying 'go and have Victoria run the country'. She's a lovely young woman, but I agree."
Did she know the nightmares Vicky had? They never really talked about it, but Xander couldn't help but believe in it.
"What were you implying then?"
"She wanted to talk to your father."
Xander sighed. Not another one. "I really doubt anyone talking to him will make a difference. Dad—he—"
"Yes?"
"The whole Unrest burned him out. Then mother's death, that was the finishing. I can't imagine that there's anything that'd make him change right now."
"From the rare appearances we've seen, he looks like a zombie."
He couldn't deny that. "I mean…" He meant what? It was true.
"So, talking to him doesn't help." Irina stated. "What if you just drag him along or—"
"Irina, where are you going with this?" He interrupted, annoyed. "It's just today. It's a long report and—"
Irina sighed. "Xander, it's not just today. The dates? Based on your hobbies? When was the last time you went swimming? You have a pool here, so that shouldn't be so difficult. When was the last time you went to hang out with friends? I doubt Evan has seen much of you, outside work and all."
"I mean—" Dammit. She had a point. The last time he had been swimming (outside the date) definitely had been before the Selection announcement. "That's—" He sighed. "True. You're right. Of course, you are."
"Have you considered just telling him? Giving him a reality check?"
"I—" Could he just do that? He couldn't—at least he couldn't imagine that. Raising his voice against his father just felt—off. Ernest? Maybe Louis? Yes. Dad? No. Never.
"Something needs to happen."
"I know."
"You don't have the time for both the Selection and running a country."
"I know."
"Nor do you have the experience."
"Hey!" Xander called out. "Illéa is doing… relatively well?"
Irina shrugged. "That does not change that you're in your twenties. You're probably the youngest head of state in the whole world."
"Head of state and head of government are different in some countries—"
"Your point being?"
None, really.
"Look at it from the perspectives of foreign leaders," Irina suggested. "Illéa is trying to stay out of the British Commonwealth-New Asian tensions, right? How much would the president of New Asia feel like he can rely on a child to stay neutral?"
"I'm not a—oh. I see." She didn't mean it literally—she wanted him to tell his father that. Give him a reason to come back. Something only he could do. "I can try, but…"
"But?" Irina repeated.
"I still don't think this will convince him."
Irina rolled her eyes. "You haven't tried it yet, have you?"
"I mean—" He hadn't, but how high was the chance that it would actually help? He leaned back in his chair, and glanced at the report on his table. Silence fell, as Irina didn't move. She looked at him—probably judged him. She had a point, but—it wouldn't work. He couldn't imagine that happening. Never ever.
Irina's watch beeped—an alarm?
"Ah, there we go. It's time to go," she hummed.
"Huh?"
"Distraction worked, didn't it?"
"What." Xander, very un-princely, asked.
"There's no way you would have been doing any serious work before the date," Irina replied light-hearted. She rose. "Now, come on. Kate and Andreia are probably waiting."
"I—" That all had been a distraction? It certainly worked but…
Irian didn't give him time to think about what had been going on; she rose and walked straight through the door, leaving Xander to gather what he needed and follow her to the grand hall. Hopefully (he doubted it), the convention would prove a distraction from that conversation.
Andreia Jensen and Katheryn "Kate" Blanchard would, alongside Irina, come along. Irina had spent enough time with Andreia to catch that she was quite found of League of Legends, a video game that just like Lord of the Rings had gained popularity in recent years, and it was no secret that Kate loved Young Adult books and "Wattpad Fanfictions". Whatever that meant.
"Good morning, ladies," he replied with his best politician smile.
"Hello!" Kate waved enthusiastically. "Finally! You took so long! Can we go now? Can we?"
"I wouldn't say there is anything stopping us," Xander replied. Had the two noticed that they came together? What would they think? Kate, from what he had seen and heard, was too oblivious, and Andreia seemed decent enough not to say anything but—what if? That meant that he would need to deal with the meaning behind these prep talk meetings.
But they didn't say a thing. As much as he tried looking for a clue that they noticed, they didn't, and that alone was good. Therefore, in the car ride to the convention, the four discussed nothing but "where do we go when".
One will be your wife.
The convention, held in the Los Angeles Convention Center, was attended by camera teams and guests alike—Xander was well aware of that—but to him and the palace security (that had to go through all date plans), this was good. Crowds had proven to be no issues during the first date, but now, cameras were a common occurrence (even if they were predominantly news and livestreams).
"So, our first stop is League of Legends?" Kate asked.
"Please don't get lost, Katheryn," Irina replied instead. To be fair, Kate did seem to be the type to get lost.
"I won't!" she insisted. "Oh look, plushies!" Cue Kate Blanchard running into the crowd because on the other side of the hall, there was a store selling plushies.
Irina, Andreia and Xander sighed alike. The two Selected gave another a look, before Irina spoke again, "I'll go and find her. Shall we meet at the League of Legends part?"
What a great coincidence to spend time with Andreia alone. (not).
"Good idea. Maybe if we get Kate a balloon, she'll be easier to find?" Andreia added on.
But—money. Stuff at conventions always costed more. Surely, they could find an easier, less 'spend money' way to make sure they didn't lose track of Kate again, could they? Before Xander could even voice his concerns about finances though, Irina disappeared into the crowd.
"Does that happen on all dates? Losing a Selected, I mean," Andreia asked, looking at Xander.
"… Not that I remember?" he replied hesitant. From what he understood, the resident airheads were Nereida and Kate, and Nereida hadn't gotten lost…
"That's good to know."
One will be your wife, Xander. Start a conversation. It can't be that bad.
"So… League of Legends. How did that come to be?"
"I like competitive things, but because of my work, I don't have a lot of time and energy left to go out and do something. It's a good wat to let out my competitive spirit."
Straight forward answers. Good. He could do that. "How about you? Someone said that you took your hobbies for the first dates. Does the convention count too?"
Xander shook his head. "No."
"How did this come, then?"
"My best friend suggested it, because he knows Irina and she added on about you and Kate."
"Evan?" Andreia concluded.
"Yes. We've met ages ago and have stuck together ever since."
"It must be awkward for him to have his sister around."
"I—I guess? I haven't had time to catch up with work and everything. He seems to be pretty happy about it. Plus—" Xander hesitated. "There was the whole drama about the Cavanahs thinking he was dead."
"I remember. I was there."
"Right, true." They met before the real first meetings.
"Your Royal Highness, if you don't mind me asking," Andreia begun. "The… probably rather secure, no-reveal information you gave me then, who knows of it?" The hacking of the AirForce. Xander remembered. "It doesn't appear appropriate to share."
Ouch. Yeah. She had a point. "I'm aware. I was rather nervous and forgot, but you don't appear to be the type that would reveal such information."
"I understand," Andreia replied. "Have you ever tried playing games?"
Xander laughed. "No, never. It never even occurred to me. Plus, I always had my siblings around. Something always happened."
"I often play with my brother. You should try."
"I… can't imagine Louis even using a computer, to be completely honest. He would probably throw a book at me."
"What about Prince Ernest?"
"I could see that happening, but he's changed ever since he's come home and I haven't had the time to figure out what exactly has changed."
"Oh." Andreia paused, thinking. "You both spent a lot of time apart. Even my brother and I, who just work in different precincts, have changed ever since."
"Your brother works in the police too?"
Andreia laughed. "Oh, yeah, he does. We actually have a 'Who arrests more people' battle going on at the moment. I was leading when I left for Angeles, but I'm assuming that has changed by now."
"Did he have the same plans as you? Going into the Air Force?"
Andreia nodded. "He did. I think he's pretty happy at work right now, though, so I doubt he'll change career. I don't know for myself, to be honest."
They reached the part of the convention centre where the logo of League of Legends hung over a stage. On the stage itself, a group of, Xander presumed, ten players sat at computers, with a large projected screen in the background. Lots of people watching, some people playing and heaps of characters.
"I… have no idea of video games," he muttered to himself.
"Okay, so," Andreia begun. "You see these ten players on the stage? They are two teams, five each. Behind, on the screen? Each of the players is one of these characters, a champion, and they are trying to destroy the other team's nexus. They do that by destroying the lane's turrets first. Each has three of them. Then there are two that guard the nexus. There are multiple lines, and everyone takes one except for support and jungler."
"Okay…?"
"Think… fancy group capture the flag, but you destroy the flag and it's with fancy weapons and magic, played on a screen."
"Do you want to try?"
Please no, he'd embarrass himself. "… Can I say no?"
"Nah," the camera man replied. "Sorry, sir. This is gold material."
"Come on, it's really fun!" Andreia laughed. "See? There are computers to play on. You just get thrown into a random game." She fetched them two of the computers. "Let's see… which champion could you play well…"
She clicked a bunch of things on her own screen—Xander, essentially, saw a bunch of colours and words—and then began with a few characters. "Alright, here we have… Amumu, the Sad Mummy, for example, or Garen, the Might of Demacia. Ranged or melee?"
"I—melee?"
"Yeah, then we'll go with Garen."
More clicking, a brief 'intro to controls' and a selected game later, Xander began to play League of Legends.
He moved the character—champion—across the map. If they had to get to the enemy nexus, he believed the best idea to be to get there. Of course, that wouldn't work that way in reality, but it's a video game, after all. That was, until Xander vaguely realised that the turret, a strange grey stature, was targeting him.
"Oh my, what do I do now?"
"Do—what are you doing?" Andreia asked and began typing into the chat. He died. The HP bar went to zero, and woosh, he died. The screen turned black and white, and Andreia glared. Poor girl.
"Okay. You died. You'll respawn eventually. Maybe… not run into enemy territory immediately."
"GET THE GAME RIGHT, YOU FUCKING NOOB!" thirteen years old boy around shouted at no one particular—except it was probably him. Cue camera team laughing. If someone recognised them now…
Obviously, Andreia and their team lost, thanks to their very much incompetent player, Xander. Before the kid that had just shouted could find him (or anyone could recognise them), he stood and friendly nudged Andreia to come with him back into the safe 'no we are not playing, just watching' area.
"I don't think I'll start playing that game," Xander said.
Andreia chuckled. "Everyone has to learn. At least you didn't solo take the Baron."
What. "I—where the others?" Xander changed the topic. Neither Kate nor Irina were anywhere close, and given the size of the crowd, it wouldn't be that easy to find Kate—at least by his experience with crowds.
"Look, a flying unicorn," Andreia pointed out.
At first, Xander expected that to be sarcasm, but then he recognised the large white-turquoise-pink unicorn balloon on the other side of the League of Legends area. Following the balloon's strap, he recognised Kate and Irina in the crowd, talking. At least it looked like Kate was talking—Irina was looking for them.
"It's them," Xander agreed.
"Ah, found them!" Kate called out—a little too loud for Xander's taste but at least the rest of the convention-attending crowd was equally loud—and waved to them.
"Shall we join them?" Andreia suggested. Xander nodded.
"The presentation is about to start, I think," Irina remarked, referring to the League of Legends event they came for. She had a good point; the crowd was starting to move towards the stage and the lights changed. They watched it in silence ("thank you, I like no talking"—Xander).
"Lord of the Rings is next, isn't it?" Andreia asked once the crowd around the stage had dispersed a little.
"Oooh, I loved The Hobbit! Such great worldbuilding!" Kate cheered. "Gwaem!"
"… Pardon me?" Xander asked.
"It's Elvish for 'let's go'," Irina translated.
"Lord of the Rings has its own language?"
"It has a lot more," Irina hummed. "I agree. Let's go. There's a presentation on Weta Workshops. It's the studio that did the special effects back then."
"Isn't Lord of the Rings very old? As in, pre climate change?" Andreia asked. "I know that League of Legends was re-created, what about the movies?"
"The books from that time are the same as today," Irina replied as they started walking. "The movies were found too, although damaged, but most of the presentation I want to see is about the history of their work. There's also a cosplay contest, if you're interested, but given the current economy, that seems to be a little waste of resources."
Xander chuckled to himself while Irina continued to explain. Of course, she would think of that. Good to know. The conversation quickly moved to how the 'doomsdays', as history called major events during that time period, had been predicted by numerology and astrology, and whenever that was just a chance.
"There are so many people here!" Kate, at some point, called out. Given the topic of asteroids hitting the atmosphere of Earth, it was rather uncalled. They laughed either way.
"How did you only notice this now?" Andreia asked with a sigh. Going by the way she scanned the crowd, she definitely had.
With Kate continuing to point out 'surprising' things, mesmerised by the crowds she evidently wasn't used to, they made their way to the 'Lord of the Rings' part of the convention. On a neatly decorated stage, with large circular doors and strange windows, as if build into a hill.
"Look! They have merchandise! Oooh! I wanna go and see that!"
Collective sighs happened when Kate ran off, again. If this was going to be any form of common theme, then at least, Xander thought, he could use that to take turns with each girl again. "Lady Andreia, would you mind making sure that Lady Katheryn doesn't get lost?"
Whenever she gasped the idea behind his words or not, Andreia nodded. "Of course." She followed Kate into the crowd, to the vague spot of merchandise. The unicorn balloon proved to be quite useful.
Irina, next to him, sighed. Not because of Kate, as it turned out; it was a wishful one. "I wish I could go there in person," she whispered to herself, taking in the carefully designed stage. Fairy lights hung over the crowd, and various incredibly detailed statures surrounded by red queue barrier. They clearly weren't meant to be touched. One was a larger man in grey robes, another a small, hunching being, and another a strange looking man with large feet.
"Where?"
"New Zealand." She pointed towards videos running on a large screen, show casting sceneries that Xander just couldn't think to be of this world. Endless green hill lands, sapphire blue rivers, and forests up to the horizon. "There was a time when I was considering trying to go there for an exchange, but then the Unrest happened and there was no way I could have gotten a spot."
"That is… unfortunate."
"With the New Asian-Commonwealth tensions right now, it's not getting better either."
The New Asian-Commonwealth tensions. Yes. He'd need to deal with that. He had assured the New Asian president that Illéa had all too many reasons to remain neutral, but the British were pushing, reminiscent of past alliances. That being said, there were, from what Xander gasped, enough tensions between the members of the Commonwealth either way…
There'd need to be a summit at some point. Not only with all of the British Commonwealth, but all their allies as well. That would include Illéa. Hopefully that wouldn't risk their fragile peace with New Asia…
Politics.
"It's unfortunate."
"Is there anywhere you want to travel?" Irina wondered.
"Not in particular. My mother always insisted on us seeing all of Illéa after my father had grown up so sheltered."
"Yes, but outside Illéa? There's much more to the world, you know."
"I've been to Italy."
"You mean Rome, and the government."
"I mean—" She had a point. He hadn't even set foot outside the residence the last time they had been there. Back then, and that was ages ago already, Italy had grown discontent. "We couldn't go out because of Carl."
"That's your cousin, right? The Prince of Piedmont? Heir to Italy? I hope I remember our lessons right."
"You do."
"Why did he stop you? What did he do?" Irina asked. Normally, at least a 'if I may ask' should be added, but he knew better than to expect that from Irina—and they were beyond that since ages too.
"Carl—Italy is doubting his suitability for the throne. He has no interest in politics, and has made a point of pointing that out. That type, you know?"
"As if Ernest was the Crown Prince, and not you?"
Xander chuckled. "He would probably throw a tantrum if that happened."
Irina joined. "Let's be glad that you are. But seriously—besides Italy. Is there any place you want to go?"
"If it would help, Britain, again, to solve the tensions but—"
"No politics. Just you. Privately. As Xander Illéa, not His Royal Highness The Prince Regent of Illéa."
"I—Irina I've never even had the chance to think about that."
"Well, what about your honeymoon. Where'd you want to do that?"
Xander blushed. Blushed hard. "I—we both," and he said that with emphasis, "are well aware that I prefer not to think of the Selection to end."
"Besides for financial matters."
"Besides that, yes."
"Why is it that you are so fixated on love? Do you really expect to find—" Irina broke off. She looked to Xander, in his eyes and he looked into hers. From the non-callant, obvious tone, she took a breath. "Why is it that you're so worried about finding love?"
Xander hesitated.
"Whoever I chose, it'll have major consequences. You know that."
"Xander, I—"
"Irina—no."
"But—"
"No."
They both knew that there was more to it. They both knew that something was left unsaid. They both knew that this wasn't something they would ever discuss on camera—even if Xander had a veto on the Report content.
"These statures, are they from Lord of the Rings?" Xander asked, to change topic.
Irina nodded, and looked aside. She scanned the statures, and pointed to one of a small being. "That there, for example, is Frodo. He is the protagonist of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That there is Gandalf. He is a powerful wizard who helps the cast. He said the line 'You shall not pass'. It's pretty popular. Have you heard it?"
Xander had. "Yes. Somewhere. Probably you."
She didn't smile or laugh or anything that Xander had hoped. "And that there, that is Smaug. He is from The Hobbit. A dragon that took the mountain of the dwarfs. That strange thing there? That's Gollum. He's the one with 'my precious'."
"You say that a lot too."
"Hmhm…"
"At some point, you need to make me watch these movies."
Irina nodded. She still didn't look at him. "Yeah…" To be fair, he had changed the topic. He had left things unsaid. He had made this awkward.
He took a deep breath, and continued looking. "What about that there?" he asked.
"It's the Ring. The One Ring. It's the main thing the movies are about. Destroying it."
"I see."
"It also grabs Bilbo invisibility. Biblo is Frodo's cousin."
"I see."
"He narrates and is the protagonist of The Hobbit. It's set many years before the Lord of the Rings trilogy."
"I see."
"That there is Sauron. He's the titular lord of the rings. He's also often symbolised by the Eye of Sauron. It's over there." She pointed to a much darker, greyer area of the neatly made stage. "There's a whole world, with languages and history behind the story. I can't explain everything right now, and I'm sure that the cameras," she nodded to the quietly lurking camera team, "wouldn't want to be bored with that."
"I—" Xander paused. "That makes sense."
"Shall we go and join Katheryn and Andreia, then?"
"Sure," Xander replied with a terrible forced smile. He definitely needed to have this part cut this out…
They joined Kate and Andreia at the store, where Kate was already waiting in line—to buy whatever she intended to. Xander hadn't brought any money, but Kate, evident by the balloon probably had.
They walked past colourful fandoms, with Andreia helpfully guiding their way to the literature section where they'd find Kate's Young Adult stuff. Upon the (naïve) question of 'what is this exactly' by Xander, Kate had fallen into a long discussion of what exactly the Young Adult genre was, what it entailed, popular books and why 'The Selection' was terrible.
Going by what Xander heard, Kate had a point.
"Oh, look, flowers!" Kate's random 'pointing out' continued too. "Mum would like that."
"Would she?" Xander, lost, asked.
"She has a weird thing with black roses. And weird words. I guess if you lock your kid in the basement, you're probably weird."
"… Excuse me?" That wasn't exactly what Xander had heard. Or understood how she could say that so casually.
"She says that I just 'lived in the nuclear bunker during the difficult phases of the war'. It's a glorified basement, I say. The Wi-Fi was terrible."
"… That is a first world problem, Blanchard," Irina blurted out.
"What's that?"
"A first world problem?"
"Just the first world part. I know what a problem is."
"I—" Irina sighed. "How do you not know that?"
Kate shrugged. "Home-schooling. By a mum that was away half of the time."
"… Oh." Irina hesitated. Going by her reaction, she understood what that meant. Maybe it was the 'away half of the time' that made her hesitate and nod understanding. Plus, the Unrest had disturbed many lives. At least Irina, unlike a certain sister of his, knew how to admit fault.
"But yeah, that's the tea on that. Better even—there's a debate on whenever Edward or Jacob is a better choice, and I need to see it, so let's hurry!"
That that would translate into 'participate' and 'absolute chaos', Xander did not know yet.
"How did you even discover these books?"
Kate shrugged. "My mum reads them. If you're locked up in the basement, then you end up reading pretty much everything available to you." She paused. "And when I got through them which was pretty fast, I ended up on the internet looking for more. That's how I got to fanfictions—and Kiera Cass. Gosh, I swear, I will beat her!"
"Beat her in what, if I may ask?"
"Anything!" Kate declared. "I mean, I guess my Twilight-Selection AU won't beat hers—I'd need to write something original, but someday, I will. Look—I know I can. I have to."
"What is Twilight?"
"Book series. Terrible. The guilty pleasure-type. Still a better love story than Fifty Shades."
"Fifty Shades?" Xander repeated, as naïve as he was.
"Nothing to be discussed on a camera."
"Alright…?" Did he need to worry? Hopefully not? He'd need to check with Louis later. Surely, Louis had an idea of what it was. "So, you enjoy writing," he concluded. That seemed like the only conclusion he could make out of this conversation.
"Yes, I do—I mean, it's awesome, isn't it?" Kate babbled. "You get to explore worlds that you couldn't ever go to in real life. You can go anywhere—without leaving your room! It's incredible. All the things you can experience that aren't possible in real life, they are possible in books!" Kate took a deep breath. "You only have one life, but as reader, you can see countless lives—and as writer, you live them all!"
It must be nice to have that enthusiasm for something, Xander thought.
"Do you read?" Kate hummed. She stopped, in the middle of the crowd that had not yet recognised them, and turned to the Crown Prince. Maybe it was the years of isolation, but Xander could believe that Kate's smile was filled with genuine happiness.
Good to know that she was getting along with everyone.
"I do, when I have time," Xander admitted. Far less than Louis did—he seemed to live in the library nowadays—but when he found the time to sit down, he did.
"What kind of? What's your favourite genre?"
"Historical fiction, probably," Xander replied. He caught up with Kate. "I wouldn't say that I have a preferred time period, but anything past the Renaissance and prior to the twenty-first century, I find myself enjoying most."
"Oooh, fancy!" Kate declared. "I never really got to choose what I'd read."
"How come?"
"It was either mum's Young Adult books, or I had to ask her to download an eBook, and I didn't really want mum to know what I'd read."
"What did you read? Why would you want that to be a secret?" Xander blurted, before he could even ask. He frowned, already wary. Sure, he had seen all kinds of books in the royal library, but they had amassed over centuries by all kinds of inhabitants of the palace. Not by a twenty years old woman.
"Oh, well, given the way my mum is…" Kate hummed. She shrugged, and continued with her ever-airy step forward. "I just didn't want to give her another reason to… I don't know. Ban my internet access, or something."
"Ah."
"I swear! If I could choose, I'd try all kinds of genres. Mystery. Detective. Sci-Fi. Romance. Fantasy. Gosh, I'd love to read some fantasy novels. I only read fanfictions of so many…"
"What about your favourite book. Twilight, was it? What genre is that?"
"Oh, I never actually read the whole thing."
"And…okay?" And yet, she called it her favourite book? Xander frowned, confused. "Pardon my confusion, but how is it still your favourite?"
"Well…" Kate sighed. She looked down on the floor. "I read a really good, realistic fanfiction of it. Then, I convinced my mother to get it for me. She was happy too—it's her taste, you know—but oh my dear. I swear—the main character is unbearable. I guess, there are people who enjoy it, but it's more wish-fulfilment than good literature. It's cool if you like it, but it's not what I read for."
"Wish-fulfilment?" Hadn't Kate just spoken about books allowing her to travel and live lives?
"I mean—look. Novels, historically, came to be as means to criticise society. I had to study Pride and Prejudice for some home-school project. Mum loved it, but there's a much deeper message to it."
"Is there?" Xander vaguely remembered the book to be a fight around a man. Awfully similar to the Selection, he'd say.
"Yes!" Kate nodded. "It's a caricature. Look at other writing from that time. Theatre. Poetry. What not. So many
"Are you sure?"
Kate shrugged. "That's what Wikipedia says."
"And, I assume, Twilight does not do that? There's no message?"
"Yes and no. The only message that it conveys is, first of all, that the guy that sneaks into your bedroom in the middle of the night and watches you sleep is your soulmate." She glanced at Xander. Tiny in comparison to Xander or not, her disdain was clear. To be fair, Xander wouldn't be very found of anyone watching him sleep either. "Then, there's the fact that the happy ending of the whole series is—spoiler warning—just Bella, a teenage mum, married to some three-hundred years old guy with possessive traits, who cuts contact to her loving parents. As a vampire, she can't just go and study, or do anything, without risking that somebody notices that she's immortal. She's giving up all her life for some random dude she met a year ago!"
The irony, when comparing Kate's words to the Selection, was not lost to Xander.
"That sounds a little bit like the Selection."
Kate shrugged. "I mean, given that it's universally established that Gregory Illéa was a—" That word would need to be censored for broadcast. "I'd say, yeah. The Selection as idea sounds like an awful concept from a trashy Young Adult novel."
"… Why exactly did you sign up?"
Kate remained unfettered. "It's a good way to get away from mum!"
"Is that the only reason?" Xander was taken aback. It sounded understandable enough, but given that his life was also on the line, he didn't particularly want such a Selected in it either.
"No," Kate hummed.
"What else, if I may ask?" Please don't turn into another Leila.
"First of all, in recent generations, it looks like it's worked." Kate's list began, faster than before. "Plus, you get to meet awesome people! You actually get to socialise! You get to meet and talk to people and you get to make points about things you care about and you get to go to these awesome places and—"
Xander chuckled. "I see." How Kate was able to talk so fast was a mystery to him, but at least, she was clearly excited for it.
"I also doubt anyone forced you into this," Kate added on.
If even, he had forced himself into this. Possibly a wrong decision, who knew…
"Forcing someone into this would be a stupid idea. You can always call this all off, if you don't find the One. You can always say 'no, this isn't working', because there isn't some creepy mum lurking in the shadows, telling you what to do—oh. Sorry." Her voice dropped.
"Pardon me?"
"I—I guess… I guess it's not… not really appropriate to rant about my mother like this…?"
"Why?" Sure, they'd need to cut this out—it was too private, in Xander's opinion—but it was merely a conversation either way. The Report was evidently keener on seeing Xander fail in League of Legends.
"You mother." Kate stated. Gone was the happy hum. Gone was the airy step. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories or anything I was just in the middle of talking because I actually get to rant about this once because you know Rosy, I don't want to scare her off, or anyone else for that matter and I didn't actually mean to bring this up or anything but then you started the topic on Twilight and that's round about the only thing that mum and I both like because any other time she just tells me to listen to her because mother knows best and some nonsense and—"
"Kate!" Xander called out, a tad too loud for his taste. Fortunately, the crowd was louder—and occupied with the convention. "It's alright. Everyone has different families."
Look Kate, he wanted to say, if I could—without repercussions—talk about my frustrations, I would too. Everyone may have a reason to be the way they are, but we still have feelings too.
He smiled. "It's alright."
"I'm… sorry." Kate repeated. She dodged his glance. "Look, we arrived." Much less enthusiastic.
Yikes. So much talent at killing the atmosphere, Xander.
"There's a debate on a few novels and which team you're on. It's about which love interest you prefer," Kate explained.
"Then, shall we go there?" Xander suggested, with a smile he otherwise only used for Vic. Friendly, kind, peaceful, trying to scream 'not trying to hurt you or anything'. Kate looked too much like her.
To his relief, the Selected from Belcourt nodded and pointed to a podium, where two younger women were avidly talking about "Peeta and Gale", going by the screen in the background. Given his utter lack of knowledge on the subject, he chose to stay behind Kate.
"And that was our Hunger Games debate!" the debate's host announced. "Next up, we have the legendary Twilight! Are there any volunteers?"
"You should go, and tell them," Xander joked.
Unfortunately, Kate turned to him, frowned, then smiled and turned back around. She jumped up, waving her hand to the host, currently looking for someone to represent 'Team Jacob'. Xander sighed. By no means, the host would choose Kate—there were enough people in the room—but he'd need to re-think whenever he could bring everyone to dates in public if he wanted to stay low and—
"And the young lady here that's eagerly waving. Come up, please!"
And gone was Kate.
"Is it a good idea for her to do that?" Irina asked. "I mean, people are going to recognise her and there isn't exactly enough security to safely deal with that."
Andreia nodded to a nearby exit. "That exit is close to the parking lot. While we could get out quickly, I agree."
"So do I," Xander added on. "There isn't much we can do now, can we?"
"You could have not encouraged her," Irina jibbed.
"I'm aware. I didn't mean it seriously."
"I doubt Kate realised."
Kate, having squeezed through the crowd with her unicorn balloon, reached the stage, climbed up and took one side of the podium. Maybe people thinking that Asians looked the same could help them, Xander thought. That hope was faint.
"Why don't you introduce yourself and—"
"Hi everyone!" Kate interrupted. "I would like to make the first point, if you don't mind."
"Go ahead…?"
"This is a debate discussing whenever Jacob or Edward are the better choice for Bella. I would like to propose a slight different view on the situation. Edward, at multiple points in the story, proves to be possessive and dependant on Bella. He sneaks into her bedroom. He's attracted to her because he wanted to bite—kill—her. He is over hundreds of years older than Bella, a teenager. By keeping around her, even if he has the self-control to stay, keeps her around other vampires, including Jasper who only recently started as 'vegetarian'. He is clingy, but then, he puts her in danger, not by himself but others. He hates that Bella has friends and made himself the centre of her world. He breaks up by taking her into the woods and dumping her there! He scares Bella, but also wants to flirt with her! Does that sound like a healthy relationship to you? I can promise you, I wouldn't think so."
The crowd started whispering.
"But to be fair, he's a vampire. It's not his fault that he's that way, and everyone is—" the other debater began.
"I'm not done yet," Kate interrupted. "Then we have Jacob. He imprints on a new-born. I'm sorry, but that's creepy. Period. And they even end up in love, even worse. Then he jokes about calling Edward dad—when Renesmee is only a few months old. Sure, this is about a fictional situation between a human-vampire hybrid—the daughter of his, essentially, ex-girlfriend by the way—but still. Is this what we want young people to read and think to be a happy ending? What about him rejecting rejection? Crashing Bella's prom? Throwing a tantrum at Bella's wedding? The fact that he's just as prone to outbursts as Edward? Him kissing her without consent? He's just as possessive as Edward."
"What side are you on?" The host asked. The whispering continued. They had realised.
One of the palace security guards, in civilian clothes, approached the three others and quietly asked, "This is not going to end without the public recognising you. For your safety, we will need to leave."
Thankful, Xander nodded. Irina, a trained soldier, and Andreia, a dutiful police officer, were one thing—Kate who had come for the Selection for freedom, was another. Xander followed the guards to the exit, as quiet and unnoticeable as he could, while another approached the stage.
"It is Lady Katheryn of Belcourt!" someone called out. Xander flinched.
Kate did not. Instead, the waved into the vague direction of the shout. "Yeah, that's me! Hi!" and went on. "Are any of these two someone you would want to date in real life? If you had children, would you want them to date such characters? The current Young Adult scene is full of them and—huh?"
The last thing Xander caught of her for the moment was a guard politely informing her that she had to leave.
/ / /
In the car, somewhere in Los Angeles, Angeles
Kate Blanchard
Kate, against all standards of etiquette, pulled up her legs. Irina and Andreia were chatting. Xander was listening in. She was, as far as they hopefully were concerned, merely looking through the window.
The high—the energy, happiness and smiles from earlier?—was gone. Gone was the ecstasy of the moment. She glared through the window, towards the sky of Angeles. The sun wasn't even starting to set.
Great, Kate, she thought and clenched her fist. You messed up the day.
Neither Andreia nor Irina had said anything—yet. It was inevitably going to happen. They may were chatting now, but they were inevitably going to be angry. Too bad that the car was driving—Kate wanted to disappear in the ground.
And, Kate realised, there was the conversation that she and Xander had earlier. Of course, she had to compare the Selection with Twilight or some other crappy Young Adult novel. Surely, Xander had misunderstood her.
I never intended to talk down on the Selection! I think it's a good idea!
Saying that now would, at best, look awkward though. Maybe Xander had forgotten it already, in the rush of getting out of the convention centre and reassembling. If she said that now, then she'd remind him—she couldn't do that. Couldn't risk going back.
Kate began fiddling with a strand of hair. If she reminded Xander now, then there'd be a larger chance that he'd remember—think about it—and that'd mean that she'd be eliminated. Sure—she had heard that the girls eliminated after the ball were doing well enough, but what meant that?
Right now, she had "I literally have to be in the palace by law" as an excuse to stay away from home. If she was eliminated, she did not.
Lilian Blanchard did not care that Kate was above eighteen.
And gosh, Kate though, you literally crashed the whole date. He had that against her too. Seriously, what did she think!? Just going up on that stage, because she had to tell everyone that this was a stupid idea that would end in broken hearts, hurt people and all—she could have tweeted it. She could have made a blog post.
Go out in the public? Where people would recognise her?
Kate, you're stupid, she told herself.
"Kate? Are you alright?" Xander asked, out of the nowhere.
Kate's head jerked up. "I—I'm sorry," she muttered. "I really didn't mean to—it was just in that moment I didn't think about consequences and what else would happen because I just had that rush of I don't even know what it is and—I messed up and now you didn't get to enjoy the day."
Andreia laughed. "It's alright. I got to see League of Legends. Irina got to see The Lord of the Rings. We're fine."
"I agree. It's unfortunate that you didn't get to see the whole talk," Xander begun—awfully relieved for the situation, but hey, they somewhat avoided the mess Kate had made and that was probably why the Crown Prince was happy. "I think we are fine, though."
"I—" Kate stopped. "Still, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—It was just in the moment I didn't think and there was just—I didn't think and I didn't even consider thinking and—I'm sorry."
Even though Andreia and Xander insisted again, Kate didn't smile again. She had messed up the day—and potential new friends. Irina looked grumpy enough. Surely, Andreia and Xander's faces were merely masks.
Just like mum's masks.
"If even, I'm glad to be away from the crowds."
"How come?" Andreia asked.
"I hate them."
"Crowds?"
Xander nodded. "I don't do well with them—not on long term."
"What about balls?" Irina teased.
"It's the same. I don't particularly enjoy it."
"Then, I'm sure it'll be alright for me to speak for all of us," Andreia spoke, "we are glad that you took it on yourself to come today. I had fun." She laughed. Irina and Xander joined. Kate, at least, mustered a half-hearted smile.
She messed up. Again. It was damning inevitable.
/ / /
Author's Note
The next chapter will be a bit different; to get a notification, follow me as user, because it's a side-story like thing. You don't need to read it to get the story, but it's comparably short and pretty sweet. It's called Gutter of Stars, will update in irregular terms, depending on the story, and replace the next Fallout update, on 17.01. The story will resume as normal on 14.02. You can find a little teaser for it on Pinterest.
Also, check out the Fallout Pinterest board for some sweet New Zealand aesthetic. Can't write a story without including the prettiest place in the world. I had to make up some stuff because Kiera Cass' worldbuilding makes zero sense, so now it's "magnetic field change, climate change and possibly some solar flares and asteroids reduced humanity to middle ages or something". The plot will also (hopefully) pick up in pace a little now.
A big big thanks to Frenchie is French for helping me with League of Legends; I have zero idea of that game and she was so kind to help me with writing it. Slash, I copy & pasted her explanation at some point. Love you!
Irina is probably the OC where I took most artistic freedoms, and uh, the influx of 'Irina likes NZ' may or may not be coming from my own love for the country. It's beautiful, by the way. 1000000/10 would recommend.