Caoimhe had ambitions and she did not plan on letting anyone get in her way, not even her fiance. They didn’t have the best of relationships and she felt a little guilty about that but she didn’t have time to invest in fixing it right now. She had hopes for the future, and she wouldn’t just give up, but it wasn’t a huge priority. Still, she could make an effort since they were both here, and he was being polite. “I’m well,” she said diplomatically; it was the traditional answer because she couldn’t very well be honest, could she? “I like how busy it’s been, and all the new students. I think we needed the pot stirred a bit.”
‘Well’. Somehow he doubted that. Possibly because it was the answer his parents always gave and an answer he was supposed to give to others as well. Maxim preferred to be more genuine though. At least as genuine as he could without hurting her feelings. “You think so too?” He raised a curious eyebrow at her, a little surprised. “I just hope that some of the newbies don’t piss off the wrong person, ja?” He laughed, then realized that she might not realize exactly what he meant. “Some people can take their titles a little too seriously here. We’re all still just college kids trying to learn something.”
When he did nothing at all to move out of the way Rory had to fight everything within herself to not jump to immediate and outright annoyance. Like it or not disrespecting a royal could land her in serious trouble and until she knew that he was or wasn’t she supposed that she was going to have to play nice. Ish. “I don’t have friends, I have fans. Much less daunting - people who love you from afar but aren’t around to unnecessarily sit directly in frame of the thing you’re trying to film”
He couldn’t help but scoff a bit as he rolled his eyes at her comment. “Fans? Who are you exactly?” Maxim asked, wondering if he might’ve heard about her if she really had a fan base. “Anyway, having people love you from afar ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He commented a little bitterly. He supposed most royals would feel the same way. Growing up in a spotlight that was just thrust upon them. Having their every move watched. This conversation would probably end up in some article back home somehow. It grew tiring when you didn’t actually want to be recognized for anything.
A long forgotten cup of coffee sat on the table before him, application forms to residency programs stacked neatly and ready to be mailed set to one side and the homework and syllabus of the mornings classes set before him. The hours had ticked away as Mikhail had worked diligently at getting some of this work out of the way before he reported for his late night shadowing at St. Amelie Memorial Hospital. The sound of a chair moving alerted him more than the sound of a person’s voice, finally bringing him to look up from his work, “Oh. Yes, sure. I hadn’t realized that it was so crowded in here”
Though he’d already sat down, Maxim was thankful that the other person hadn’t said no. It would have been extremely awkward if he had. “What are you working on?” He found himself asking, slightly curious as to what could be taking up so much focus so early in the semester. Though he supposed it wasn’t too surprising as professors enjoyed torturing their students as soon as possible. He just had the habit of always acting like he didn’t actually have anything to do and leaving everything to last minute. Sometimes it worked out fine for him, others not so much. Though there were a few courses he genuinely cared about. They were all just for his minor, not his major.
“Excuse you!” Rory said incredulously to the stranger who plopped down beside her, “You’re in my shot” she said, indicating the camera in her hands. She was a filmography student after all, and there was definitely no way she could keep the majesty of this dining hall a secret from the curious minds of people who would likely never get to see it themselves. With a sigh she set down her equipment and turned so that she was facing him, “Don’t you have friends or something that you can go bother? This seat was empty for a reason”
He raised an eyebrow at the girl, wondering what the big deal was until he saw the camera. Quickly he put his hands up in a surrendering position. “My bad,” He apologized, putting his arms down as he began to eat his food. Truthfully he would have been fine with just sitting there in silence and not speaking to her at all. She seemed to believe that he had sat next to her for conversation though. “If I did, wouldn’t I be sitting next to them instead?” He said between bites. “I mean I do have friends, they’re just not here right now.” Maxim defended himself. “Where are all your friends?”
Chesa hated that she always seemed to be starving right around noon because of course everyone else was too and she always managed to get stuck in a line. Not that there was anything with lines, truly that was far from the issue. She always found herself anxious to get out to the livestock in the afternoon because it got so warm out and she was concerned for the welfare of the animals. The crop too would need to be looked at because she wasn’t sure of how or if it had been taken care of over the summer and as it was the first day of classes this was the first time she would get to check. It had taken forever but finally she found a seat. She’d eat quickly and then go do what she had to do. Of course though, just her luck, mere moments after sitting a very familiar sounding person plopped down beside her. “Maxim” she said, glancing over at her friend’s brother, “I’ll admit, I’m surprised you even asked”
Of course he knew who Chesa was, seeing how she was one of Tasha’s friends. Though that didn’t mean she was one of his friends. Maxim was distant with his sisters friends, mainly because he wanted her to have her own friends. He’d hate for her to feel as him him hanging out with her friends was somehow him stealing them from her. Like how he was stealing the crown. Which was something her and Chesa had in common. The girl in front of him had a twin brother who was in line for the throne instead of her, even though she would be an amazing ruler. Even though he was working on fixing things for Natalya, there was nothing he could do for her. “Chesa,” He smiled. “Always good to see you.”
Caoimhe had her eyes glued to her phone screen - reading up on the situation back home in Hinterland, which was quite common for her - and barely registered that anyone had come to join her table. At least until several seconds after the fact, when she looked up with a belated, “Oh, that’s fine. I don’t mind.” She knew who Maxim was, of course, and probably ought to make a little more effort to talk to him but … Her attention returned to the article, although once it was finished and she had take a few more bites of her own lunch, the thought that she was being rude finally won out. “Are you happy to be back at school?”
Caoimhe Máire Siofra Aisling. A fellow royal, a princess in her own right. A girl who was also his fiancee. She was supposed to be his Queen and rule by his side. Something that he didn’t actually want to happen, though not because of her. It made talking to her difficult and he wished that he could move somewhere else. That would be rude, way more rude than he intended to be towards her. Part of him was thankful that her country was on the brink of falling apart, her title about to be stripped away as it would cause his parents to break off the engagement. Something he was currently trying to get her to do. All of these hopes made him feel terrible. “Yeah actually,” He smiled at her. “It’s a lot more crowded this year, but I like it. How are you doing?”
First day or not, Natalya was organized and ready to take on anything that may come her way. After two classes in the morning, she already had syllabi spread in front of her, her planner open and pens strewn about, as she carefully copied important dates - exams, papers, presentations - and marked them carefully. It was her last year in school, and she did not intend for this year to be the one in which she fell. A plate of food sat to the side, almost a second though, as she took a few sips from a smoothie and continued on, her spread warning off any potential companions.
At the familiar sound of her brother’s voice, she looked up, and couldn’t respond before he sat down, and instead pushed some of her papers to the side to make room. “You know, most people would wait for an affirmative answer before acting.” She chided Maxim, her tone not serious, and with a familiar fondness for her younger brother.
Natalya was probably the one person he tried not to annoy, though sometimes it just happened. She was probably the one person he didn’t want to annoy, though it often happened anyway. If anything he looked up to her, though he wouldn’t admit that to her face. Maybe to someone else though. Just by looking at all the papers she had out compared to his lack of supplies showed how different the two of them were. Though he could be like her when he wanted to be, he just chose not to. He liked to tell himself that it was for her though, that in the end it would all work out in her favor. “Were you going to say no?” He laughed, knowing that she knew he wouldn’t of listened even if she had. “And you know, a smoothie doesn’t count as lunch.” His sister could be a little high strung, so it was natural that he worried about her and her health. Even though he could see a plate of food next to her, he had to make sure she hadn’t forgotten about it.
It was the first day of classes and the boy had already thought about skipping. Though he knew it was much to early in the semester to do so, and it wasn’t as if he actually wanted to fail his courses. Just because he didn’t particularly like them, didn’t mean he was just going to fail. He wanted to piss off his parents, but he also wasn’t interested in retaking anything. The only way to get through it was to stop and get some lunch in between. Not surprisingly, the dining hall was fairly crowded. There was a significantly larger number of students this year, which meant he would have to take a seat where he could find one. “Do you mind if I sit here? Thanks.” He said, not bothering to wait for a response as he plopped down next to someone.
Let’s welcome [ Maxim Varnavich Fyodor Maksimov ] who is part of the [ Junior ] class this year. Isn’t it freaky how much they look like [Ashton Irwin] ?! Well, this [ Insurgent] is majoring in [ Political Science & International Relations. Minor in Creative Writing] . People say they are [ +Fair ] and [ +Selfless ] but can be [-Compulsive] and [ -Secretive ]. They are [ Male ] and would love it if you used [ he/him ] as their pronouns. ☓ This student is actually the [ 20 ] year old [ Son ] of the [ Tsar ] of [ Beryskhovo ]… Things are about to get interesting in St. Amelie !!
Aesthetics ‣
loud music, silly faces, jeans and t-shirts, fake glasses, long summer nights, equality && neon lights
History
Maxim’s household was strict growing up. He was the younger brother, but the first in line for the thrown. It was a concept that he hadn’t really understood when he was younger and grown to hate. His sister was older then him, but he was the one to inherit the thrown. An archaic concept that he think should have been done away with when Genovia did. Whenever he brought it up, his parents shot him down because it wasn’t how things were done. Plus Natalya was expected to marry a Prince, a future King of her own, so eventually she would rule a kingdom. Just not theirs. The thought of abdicating had crossed him mind a thousand times. How was he supposed to do so when he had a cousin next in line? A cousin who would gladly jump at the chance to rule Beryskhovo.
Instead he focused his attention towards himself, and how he portrayed himself. It wasn’t hard for him to clack off and annoy his parents in any way possible. It actually came quite easily to him. The thing that frustrated them the most was that they knew Maxim was smart, and more than capable of ruling the country. He just wasn’t interested in doing so, not when he didn’t feel like the crown actually belonged to him. Now if he were to marry a princess of a different country and become King there that would be different, or even if he was the oldest. But as the younger brother, he thought his sister deserved a chance. Natalya was smart, a natural-born leader. The perfect Queen. ‘For a different country’. His parents would always say, though he knew they were wrong. Which is why he decided to throw his focus to figure out how to change the laws before he even became King. Becoming King and then changing them would only cause more problems within the country then it was worth. Which was why he listened to his parents suggestions towards his major, knowing it would help his plan. Though he did take up a minor in something he was actually interested in studying.
Wanted Connections:
his cousin
possible arranged marriage?? Taken by Caoimhe Máire Siofra Aisling. Princess of Hinterland
Extra:
As a child, his parents enrolled him in various lessons. Many were academic, and they desperately tried to give him a suitable ‘hobby’. Their attempts included: Polo, Horseback riding, Piano, Lacrosse, Archery and Violin. While he was pretty good at most, he never actually enjoyed them. Instead he picked up the drums. Instead of getting an electric drum set, he went with something much more classical and louder.
Finding out about the arranged marriage was not a happy conversation. It involved a lot of yelling, and a lot of ‘No’s’. While he was sure that Caoimhe was fine, he had enough going on that he didn’t want to worry about some wedding in the not-so-distant future. Even though it wasn’t entirely fair to her, he knew the only way to break it off was to somehow convince her to do so.
