teganbrb:
The princess had always represented what Tegan could of been. A literal walking, talking, manifestation of his guilt. Proof of how he took all the power he was born with and tossed it out the window for a frivolous life of nihilism and meaningless sex with strangers. She was everything he wasn’t. She wanted to be queen. Wanted to grow her country into the best nation it could be. But all Tegan wanted to do was waste his life away and not live with a single pressure falling onto his shoulders. It really wasn’t his fault. He only had his parents constant pressure to blame. If they just stopped for a second and treated him like a proper kid; back when he was growing up - treated him like Charlotte did - maybe he wouldn’t be so against the monarch. Wouldn’t hate everything they stood for. Really forcing him to use all his energy to destroy his chances of ever becoming king and following in his fathers footsteps.
And it really wasn’t helping that this fake alcohol the palace was serving was causing adverse symptoms. Instead of numbing all the guilt and pain he tried so hard to ignore - he was feeling them fully. His skin breaking out in goosebumps at the shear idea of having to make small talk with his ex-friend. A friend who definitely didn’t want his company. Nevertheless; he sat down anyway. Usually he’d be making quips. Probably joking about how they never hooked up back when they were close. But instead he could barely get a word out. His rare sober state forcing him into the reality he tried so hard to pretend didn’t exist.
He didn’t even look at the arrangement of pink sweets, littered across the table. Sober or not, Tegan wasn’t much of a food person. He just preferred the taste of alcohol to sugar. Which explained his frail frame. Tegan was tall and lanky, his stature often bordering the thin line of runway model and hospital patient. He did knock back another drink, though. Playing into the definition of insanity. Continuing to drink - hoping to get another result. “My parents ??” He finally replied with a smile. “Knowing them - they probably haven’t stopped partying since I left. They couldn’t wait to kick me out and never have to think about me again. Fucking Assholes…”
“Tegan-” Charlotte paused, breathing a sigh. She liked New Zealand’s reigning monarchs. With how close they were to her own parents, they were practically family. Though, admittedly, she had no idea how’d they’d been treating Tegan as of late, so instead of standing up for them by telling him off, she bit her tongue. “I don’t think any of the current kings or queens are too happy about this whole situation,” she said diplomatically, gesturing around the room to refer to the castle as a whole.
“I doubt they aren’t thinking of you,” she added. Both a reassurance and a reproach, though a subtle one. She didn’t look at him as she said it, though- largely because it was difficult to. He was a shadow of the person she used to know. And maybe Tegan felt the same about her- she was different now, too, after all. It had been years since they’d spoken. She cleared her throat and took a sip of orange juice, buying time to think of a change in topic. “How’s Russia treating you otherwise?” Lame. But better than talking about his parents.
