Angus A. Albrecht

Being an intern is my day job [closed rp blog]

[keyes-tothecrown]

👀 for catching your muse in/leaving/entering someone else’s room. (angus)

@angustheintern

Funny how none of the doting Cardoza children were around when their precious avó needed help back to her room just before midnight. And only once was he called Marcos. The nicest any Cardoza had been to him in weeks. Maddox closed the door quietly on his way out. The corridor running between guest rooms was dark, darker than a few minutes ago. Footsteps could be heard coming his way. The figure of Angus could barely be made out etched in the shadows. 

“Oh. Thanks for help with the shoes earlier.” 

[angustheintern]

It didn’t take the world’s greatest detective to know something was up when the former pirate turned close confidant to a king stepped out of a room assigned to another royal family entirely. Two thoughts immediately crossed his mind. First that Fraulein Brandt did trust the king’s companion. There was no higher or more glowing recommendation. Save perhaps if some mythological deity floated down from the heavens to speak on one’s behalf - a situation which, in all fairness, would probably present a whole host of new issues, pushing aside the original need for recommendation.

His second thought was one of relief. How fortunate that he had been the one to catch Herr Keyes rather than literally anyone else in the palace, including the king. This could have been a major international incident.

“Yes, the shoes, sir. Of course, sir,” he answered in his usual upbeat tone, “And if there is ever anything else you need, sir… interpretive services? I can translate in four major languages. Or a personalized tour of Versailles? There are several paintings I think you would find of great interest between here and your accommodations.”

[keyes-tothecrown]

👠 Sulking in a hallway, fixing a broken shoe. (dealer's choice of who)

Considering the amount of staff and minders scurrying amongst the event, there had to be someone to ask. However the easiest thing to do would be to grab the only other shoes he brought. Work boots. Not exactly the perfect pairing with a Gucci suit, but better than walking around with a shoe falling apart.

Maddox saw Aaron’s boy wonder coming towards him and caught his attention. “Uhm, excuse me. Who might I ask about finding a glue? A lighter, safety pin. Duct tape.” If Angus could help, Maddox could make a temporary fix.

@angustheintern

[angustheintern]

“That would be me, sir!”

Ever so helpful and glad to be called on in time of need, Angus flushed with pride. He could find all of those things in a manner of minutes. Seconds, perhaps, if he ran. Which he shouldn’t. Running about Versailles seemed rather like chewing gum in a library. There were some things that were just off limits.

But as he ran through the list a second time in his head, he began to have a few doubts. Glue was fine. A lighter? Maybe the man wanted a smoke. A safety pin had many uses. Duct tape… it wasn’t so much the items individually that were questionable, but combined all together held a potentially broader implication.

“If I might ask, Herr Keyes,” said Angus, “What are you trying to, uh, make?”

@keyes-tothecrown​

[angustheintern]

📷 Taking a covert video for their IG story.

Luggage was stowed away out of sight. Outfits coordinated, prepped, and tucked away in the wardrobe. Various fruits and cheeses had been arranged in a small spread for snacking purposes, though Angus doubted anyone would indulge. He hadn’t seen the king in hours. Angus had been left on his own, waiting for someone to have need of him while he admired the delicate, golden detail work of the aptly named Gilded Room. Since no one was around, the boy whipped out his phone and began to record.

“Check out that M engraved on the door handle.” Angus moved in a slow circle for a nice panoramic view. “Now for all my followers who love a good bit of history, this room was original built in seventeen thirty-five for - ”

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany​:

Aaron was on a mission back to their assigned quarters for his beloved chapstick. The one that made its way into the pocket of his jacket was not preferred. Too oily and gummy. And he needed chapstick.

He said a few quick hallo’s to the guards and staff as he passed by before bursting into the private chambers of Marie Antoinette’s boudoir.

Right into the phone camera of Angus Albrecht. But Aaron didn’t even blink before asking: “Have you seen my chapstick?”

“Your Majesty!” He thought several additional words he would never say out loud. None directed at the king. Only at himself for being so careless. Which was not at all like him. What would Mother and Father say? They hadn’t really been of the social media generation so doubtless something in line with the uselessness of it all. Angus fumbled to press the stop button.

“I... have... chapstick!” he announced, “Sir!” He rushed to retrieve a small bag. He pulled out tube after tube, unsure of which the king might be referring to as his own. “We have cherry, peach, mint, chocolate mint - ” Which somehow managed to taste like neither in Angus’ own humble, and yet often well informed opinion. “There’s lip butters.”

“And I will delete the video immediately, Sir.”

He could only pray that His Majesty wouldn’t tell Fraulein Brandt.

[angustheintern]

🧼 Practicing their speech in the bathroom. (Karo aka Lydia the Vogue Elf)

“It’s time to retire, sir. Due to the late hour, sir.”

Angus spoke sternly at his reflection in the mirror. Mimicking the affectation of the most influential person he knew, Fraulein Brandt, he recited his lines flawlessly. His job was to take care of his country’s head of state, and sometimes that meant standing his ground when face to face with a king. Reigning him in, so to speak. Which was hard. Practice made perfect.

“Have a glass of water before you have another drink, sir. No, we cannot pour salt in the Prince of Austria’s coffee, sir. No, I will not ask Lecia of Portugal to do it for us, sir.” Angus nearly jumped out of his skin when the door slammed open.

“This room is occupied!” he sputtered.

[angustheintern]

📷 Taking a covert video for their IG story.

Luggage was stowed away out of sight. Outfits coordinated, prepped, and tucked away in the wardrobe. Various fruits and cheeses had been arranged in a small spread for snacking purposes, though Angus doubted anyone would indulge. He hadn’t seen the king in hours. Angus had been left on his own, waiting for someone to have need of him while he admired the delicate, golden detail work of the aptly named Gilded Room. Since no one was around, the boy whipped out his phone and began to record.

“Check out that M engraved on the door handle.” Angus moved in a slow circle for a nice panoramic view. “Now for all my followers who love a good bit of history, this room was original built in seventeen thirty-five for - ”

[battleroyalehq]

Unity Gala; Introductions Send a symbol to start a drabble! Pick a symbol for your character to find mine… 🍸 Waiting for a drink at the bar. 👠 Sulking in a hallway, fixing a broken shoe. 👀 Watching a heated confrontation between two Heads of State. 🕺 Hiding from their unwanted dance partner. 📷 Taking a covert video for their IG story. ⏰ Checking their watch. Again. 🧼 Practicing their speech in the bathroom. 💋 Stepping out of a closet, clothes rumpled. 🤳 Taking a selfie. 💨 Escaping a one-sided conversation.

I’ll start a short thread for us at the gala, limited to four posts.

[angustheintern]

Send “🙊” for an ACCIDENTAL text. (Cheryl)

2:03 AM: the Great Barrier Reef is over 2,000 kilometers long 2:03 AM: who’s the bitch now 2:11 AM: Please disregard my last message

[battleroyalehq]

Send “📱” for a MORNING text. Send “📩” for a text that WASN’T SENT. Send “💨” for a RUSHED text. Send “🍹” for a DRUNK text. Send “🍆” for a SUGGESTIVE text. Send “🌙” for a LATE NIGHT text. Send “❌” for a HATEFUL text. Send “🎈” for a RANDOM text. Send “😰” for a SCARED text. Send “💘” for a LOVING text. Send “❓” for a CURIOUS text. Send “🎉” for an EXCITED text. Send “🙊” for an ACCIDENTAL text. Send “💔” for a HEARTBREAKING text.

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany‌:

Aaron observed the brief crisis for a pen and paper, relishing for just a moment in keeping the smug kid in line. It was always good to keep youth in their places for a time, and not let them get too full of themselves. Not that Aaron knew anything from experience.

It was surprisingly easy to maneuver Angus into setting up a meeting with a horse. What other ridiculous tasks would he jump to? Aaron liked this kid already.

A brow lifted and his hands spread as he spoke. “I could not possibly tell you all of these secrets at our first meeting. Some things you will have to find out on your own.” Cheryl would go over it, she never put up with the king’s bullshit. But for now, Aaron would string Angus along for as long as he could. “Not all of the answers will be laid out for you. That is why Fraulein Brandt hired you above the others, of course.”

Aaron nodded toward Agnus’s napkin-paper. “Write this down too. You must meet with my dog Hilde. You will be spending time with her too. Someone must bring her to and from the palace depending on my schedule. Compatibility with Hilde is very important.” And could be grounds for being fired if it doesn’t go well. “That is all for now. We can speak more about the job later. For now, why don’t we speak of lighter topics? What is your favorite movie?” There were wrong answers to the question, but Aaron trusted Angus wouldn’t let him down.

“So it’s like... a mystery?”

Excitement practically radiated off of the boy as he spoke. Indeed, nothing caught his interest quite like a undiscovered bit of information in dire need of discovering. The potential thrill distracted him so thoroughly that Angus nearly forgot to jot down the meeting with Hilde. Nearly. He scribbled her name at the bottom of the scrap. 

First day on the job and he already had two important meetings to set up. He wondered what Mother and Father would think if they knew he, Angus Albrecht, was meeting with the King’s own horse. But back to the mystery of His Majesty’s secrets.

“Puzzles are my favorite thing in the world, sir. I’m, uh, something of an amateur detective. When I’m not at work, of course. My first priority is always the crown,” he said, chattering on over his salad, “Most people think I would like a mystery movie for that very reason, sir, but I like Captain America: Civil War. I’m Team Iron Man, of course. I’ll have your favorite figured out by the end of the week, tops.”

 Angus beamed up at His Majesty. 

He was chock full of personal tidbits to share, and had an entire meal left to do it.

End?

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany‌:

The magnitude. Ha! Good, Aaron could always count on Cheryl to apply the right phrasing. Aaron nodded to show that he was satisfied with Angus’s answer, although hours later the king would have to wonder why Cheryl’s intern had been so… vague.  

Angus ordered a salad. Aaron’s mouth dropped open and he stopped himself from making a comment about that choice. Maybe if the king was feeling generous, he would share the calamari marinara he ordered.

The pinot noir was refilled, and Aaron snorted at the new topic of conversation. Angus was such a suck up. It would be hard to break him of it. Aaron tried not to reveal his annoyance, concealing it behind a small smirk. “You are referring to Winifred? My horse.” If Angus didn’t already know about Sonnehaus, the cottage a king shared with a former pirate, he would likely find out eventually. The house was strictly on a need-to-know basis, otherwise it was believed King Aren resided in the Neuer Garten estate. No need to touch on that at their first meeting. Angus would have to earn such privileged information.

He shrugged. “I ride a horse to and from the palace because it is faster to cross the grounds rather than drive around on the road. Also, I can sneak out of the back door to the stables without alerting anyone that I need my car from the garage. You are making notes of this, yes? It will help when you need to keep track of me.” It had been a while since Aaron routinely ditched his security detail and minders. Nowadays it was plain irresponsible, but as long as he was on the palace grounds, he didn’t see much harm in it. “I dislike bicycles,” he added with no further details.

“Perhaps you should meet Winnie. Set up a time to do so, yes?”

A brief look of panic crossed his face. He patted his pockets until he found a pen, and thankfully a small scrap of paper that had been folded over several times. He opened it to find a blank piece of paper. At least, that was what it looked like on the side of the paper he could see. On the back, facing the king, the most dainty handwriting had printed a phone number in sparkling purple ink. Underneath that was Ruf mich an! and a heart. Angus smoothed the paper out against the tabletop, and began to scribble notes.

Sneaking out the back door to the stables. Faster route. No bicycles. Then he added a small question mark to bicycles to remind himself to ask Fraulein Brandt later. Were bicycles banned from the palace entirely? Had the king experienced a two-wheeled trauma that he should avoid bringing up in conversation so as not to make His Majesty feel ill? Had the king simply never learned to ride one and was afraid to try?

“Yes, sir! I will make an appointment with Miss Winnie.” An apt name for a horse. Angus added that to the bottom of his list. “I’m sure she and I will become the best of friends! Are there any other secret routes around the castle you prefer to make use of instead of calling for a car, sir?”

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany‌:

Angus described his background without the prideful flourishes of someone completely full of themselves. He seemed eager to please, but not a show off, despite having plenty to brag about. Aaron let his own gaze drop to the task of eating the roll while Angus collected himself, not wishing to stare the boy down in a moment of sadness.

The stoics. Luckily Aaron refrained from a scoff. It had been years since he had devoted any thought to philosophy. It was once a passion for him, a crown prince who loved to argue. Perhaps getting older started to numb his appetite for such debates.

The king drank more wine. The longer Angus talked, the more he needed to drink. Overachieving seemed to be in the boy’s DNA. No wonder Cheryl decided to bring him on–not that Aaron thought his chief of staff offered him the job out of pity.

“I did not take a gap year. My father did not believe in gap years.” Or ‘self-directed volunteer work,’ but Aaron didn’t say as much. “And, anyway, graduate school was never the plan. According to my father, the more schooling I did, the more my views seemed to shift away from his own. I disliked being a student, anyway.” As much as Aaron toyed with the idea of going to graduate school when he was bored on the island, it was true that he despised being held accountable for turning in assignments and other pointless academic endeavors that weren’t reading and writing. He could especially do without shithead classmates, too.

“Fraulein Brandt has never had an assistant before. I trust that you will do what she asks of you. And what I ask of you. Unfortunately, I do not think there will be much room for philosophical debate. But use your common sense, and I think we will get along just fine, Angus.”

“Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir.”

Was it lying? It wasn’t lying. He would do what the king asked of him. As long as it did not conflict with one of the many things on the surprisingly long list Fraulein Brandt had given him. It had been a hefty tome of various situations he was meant to deter the king from. He wouldn’t be saying no; he would simply be offering an alternative to whatever the king was currently trying to do. Easy enough.

“Fraulein Brandt was very clear on the magnitude of my responsibilities.” There. That definitely wasn’t lying. Angus watched His Majesty continue to work on the roll - excessive bread intake wasn’t on the list, but encouraging vegetables was - and shifted in his chair. 

The waiter returned. Although it seemed as if one of the perks of dining with the most powerful man in the country was that anything could be on the menu, Angus enthusiastically requested a fresh salad. Raspberry vinaigrette on the side. He grinned. It was a small price to pay for his country.

“I must say, sir, I’ve heard how you’ve been incorporating alternative modes of transportation into your daily life, and I really admire it. Do you think more people should invest in horses over vehicles? What are your thoughts on bicycles?”

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany‌:

Sir. Sir. Sir.

Aaron’s jaw clenched for a second or two. The amount of respect thrown at a king was like a deluge, enough to drown in. Warranted or not (mostly not), it was exhausting. Aaron concentrated for a moment on the task of spreading exactly the amount of butter he wanted to each corner of the bread.

The boy talked about himself for a moment. A bit braggy. But then he trailed off and it took Aaron a moment to replay the words back. Angus mentioned his parents. Looking up, the king set his hand on the table just beyond his own plate and tapped the white tablecloth with his finger. “Then it is meant to be, Angus. I do hate the saying that everything happens for a reason, but.” He sighed heavily. What could he say? Life was full of misery, if there was no point to it, then why bother?

The wine was served. Aaron nodded to the expectant server after doing a taste, and the server pulled a glass for him. He took another sip and nodded to Angus as he leaned back in his seat and hooked his arm around the back. He ate a bite of bread. “Tell me more about how you are a prodigy.”

"I, too, struggle with the philosophy of determinism, sir. I never was a fan of the stoics.”

To think he already had so much in common with His Majesty. Staring down at his plate, Angus blinked several times. Crying in front of the king on his first day was not what his parents would have wanted. Not that they would have been embarrassed, but because they valued his happiness. Equally concerning was what Fraulein Brandt might say. 

When he looked up again, the king was munching on a roll. Angus picked up his own, following the lead of the great man across from him. He took a bite. His eyes remained a bit red, but he hadn’t shed a tear. He chewed for a few seconds. Swallowed before he spoke.

“Mother always said I started to read before I could walk,” he explained, “I finished school and went to university when I was eleven. After I received my first degree in international relations, my parents insisted on a gap year before I started a new course. For the life experience. Unfortunately I wasn’t old enough to join a typical gap year program, so it consisted mainly of self-directed volunteer work. Did you take a gap year, sir?”

[angustheintern]

konigarenofgermany‌:

Cheryl set up a meeting with her new intern and the king, which did not seem necessary to Aaron, until his chief of staff tersely informed him that her new intern was the son of the late Foreign Diplomat Frau Albrecht. 

Aaron arrived late, which this time was not his fault, and given the circumstances being tardy was very regrettable. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes as the car stopped by the restaurant and his door was opened for him, letting wound up staff and attendants usher him into the empty restaurant.

The young man was waiting for him at a large table set for two. He jumped up with a bow. “Hallo, Angus. Please, sit.” Aaron took a seat himself and couldn’t get another word out before the server appeared at the table for drink orders. The king ordered a pinot noir because he planned on gorging himself on pasta and forgetting about the calories.

Aaron figured Angus was around Ollie’s age, maybe younger. He had that youthful energy about him despite losing both of his parents on the Deliverance. Cheryl chose him for a reason, and it was not out of pity. He realized he was scrutinizing the intern and dropped his gaze to the table. A basket of bread was there. Oh, thank god. Aaron offered the basket to Angus before taking a piece of bread for his own plate. “I am very sorry for your loss, Angus. Your mother and father were invaluable public servants. I am sure you will follow in their footsteps.”

Angus took a roll, and set it on the smaller of his plates. He was not sure he had the stomach to eat in front of a king. Working with Aaron (or Klaus, originally) had always been the goal, but he almost couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Didn’t conventional wisdom say to pinch oneself when in doubt of the reality of one’s circumstances?

“Thank you, sir. I don’t intend to let them down, sir. Or you, sir.” He moved his hands under the table to give his wrist a small pinch. Ouch! Okay so, all the evidence gathered so far would support the theory that he was actually sitting across from the king. A heavy dose of pride and sorrow for those who weren’t here anymore to witness it began to overwhelm his senses.

”I’m something of a child prodigy, you see, and my parents have been training me since I was a boy to join them in service to our country, and...”

Angus began to sniffle.

[angustheintern]

Other than himself and a polished maître d, the restaurant appeared empty. Angus knew there were more employees in the back somewhere, bustling around the kitchens without making a sound. But from where he sat in his perfectly starched suit, he couldn’t see or hear any of that. There was just him, and the host that didn’t so much as glance in his direction.

Mother always said when a door closed, a window opened; that opportunities could be found if he stopped banging on closed doors and looked around. Two doors most dear to his heart had been slammed shut when that ship off the coast of Spain had exploded. Then, just like she promised, a window appeared. A chance to work side-by-side with the infamous Cheryl Brandt.

But it was not Frau Brandt that finally approached his table, well past the scheduled time for this appointment. It was... the King himself? Angus’ eyes grew wide. He jumped up from his chair.

“Hello, sir!” he said, bowing deeply.

@konigarenofgermany​