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MEDEA : Tell me, how does it feel with my teeth in your heart? noor rose blackwood / 20 / united states

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MISS YOU ALL 

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lucrezialouisa:

Somehow, Noor always seemed to help Lucrezia clear her mind and she truly appreciated her for that. Glancing at her hair, she shook her head, denying that a color change is a good idea. “Don’t dye it,” she frowned a little. She had beautiful & shiny black hair but it was always straight.

“Curl it up,” the italian princess suggested, smiling softly at the thought of it. “I can show you how to achieve the perfect wavy look.”

At the mention of curls, Noor clapped her hands decisively. “You have to show me. Like, right now,” the American said, “You’ve seen Mar’s, right? My sister’s hair is so pretty, I’ve always been so mad I didn’t get waves like hers. See, I knew you would know what to do.” She smiled at Lucrezia. She was pushing it, her enthusiasm clearly painted on, but sincerity shone through.

They had all been shocked and saddened and sickened by the events surrounding their countries, their people, and if Noor getting excited about changing her hair would help the Italian princess to forget, for a moment, their strife, she would do it. “Do you need any advice? Just, while I’m here?” Noor laughed.

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&&. LUCREZIA / @lucrezialouisa

“I need to do something about this,” Noor ran her fingers through her hair, shaking it with distaste, “I was thinking an interesting colour or something. Go back to my natural blonde. Go blue and pink. Or grey. Chop it all off. I just have to do something, you know?” She paused. “And I thought you might have a better idea than I would.” 

Lucrezia was a princess she would call glamorous even without a title, and with that pretty, silky, soft-looking head of hair, Noor trusted her with her own.

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julietbourbon:

It wasn’t often that she had a talk with Noor Blackwood but she did seem like a rather intelligent person who was even more than her looks. Quite a challenge, she thought. “Nah,” Juliet simply mused. “It isn’t strange at all. I can relate with you on this one.” From time to time, she wished to be a normal person who lived a normal life as well, but then she remembered that this won’t ever happen so she’d better do something to help the others live a better life. “But it never helps.”

“Can I ask you something?” Noor said, instead of answering Juliet, and then not waiting for her acceptance, leaning forward, arms balancing on nearby railing, eyes on the ground: “Has anyone ever lied to you so badly it ruined your life?” 

‘You’ll be home soon.’ Perched on the roof in Shanghai, the president’s daughter was so certain that was the lie that was so bad it would ruin hers. She shook her head, laughing softly at herself. “Sorry, sorry, that’s too personal. You don’t have to answer. Something about the dark and secrets, reminds me of the slumber parties we would have when I was younger.”

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rudykhatri:

Rudi patted himself down, his brow furrowed as he clapped himself on the shoulders, arms, and sides. “No, not a ghost, I don’t think,” he said seriously. After, he broke into a smile and put an arm around her shoulder, loosely so if she wanted to step away she could without effort. 

“You always want to hug me though, right?” He didn’t think for a second that the political climate in North America should mirror, or even effect their relationship. He hoped she felt the same. “This is so surreal. I can unironically say: did you see what the Queen of France was wearing? Somehow, this feels bigger than kickbacks with elected officials.”

There was a difference between them, Rudi, Noor, and them, the queens with gilded tiaras floating past, and she was sure Rudi had sat next to as many of them as she had over the years, on her absolute best behaviour during state dinners and summits. She was sure she knew what he meant when he said ‘surreal’: it was like they were them, now, sleeping next to — and with — the royal families.

“Always,” Noor said, squeezing him tight and taking a moment before she let go, “Everything is bigger than kickbacks with elected officials. We’re people of interest, you know. Gotta be interesting.”

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&&. BASTIAAN // @bcsticcn

Noor had meant to go to Armani, she would say that if he interrogated her, if anyone asked why she hadn’t. But it was the prince’s door she found herself at instead, arms crossed, cheeks flushed from rushing down the corridor. Carefully, as if she might be burned by the door handle, she raised her hand to knock, crossing her legs and balancing and waiting, swearing she heard noises behind the door. “I’m having a crisis,” Noor said, “And I’ll settle for you since I can’t find Mani.” It was only partially a lie. She hadn’t put any effort into finding his sister.

[rudykhatri-blog]

Not a single person here was a stranger to black tie, but it was definitely interesting to have this many foreign dignitaries in one room, mingling with each other like the world wasn’t ending. “Hey,” he began, his tone non-threatening and conversational, but also bored, “I wanted to say hi to you before the ‘party’ ended.”

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She glanced up quickly, slightly startled and then trying immediately to hide that, running her fingers through her hair and tilting her head back slightly. “God, you scared me,” Noor said to Rudi, completely forgetting she was attempting to maintain her cool, “I thought you were a ghost for a moment. You aren’t, are you?” 

She hesitated for only a second. “I’m glad you did. Say hi. You know, I’ll want to hug you before this party ends.” It physically pained her to think she was supposed to be enemies with him now, when it felt like they had grown up together, children of elected leaders and not born ones, children who shared a border and boredom at state dinners.

[julietbourbon]

Glancing at the city lights, Juliet managed to relax a little. The entire hotel was silent tonight but she didn’t feel like sleeping at all. Her body had been tense all day long and she felt restless. She went on the rooftop, feeling the need of fresh air. She had been alone for a while but after a few minutes of complete silence, she heard footsteps behind her. She didn’t turn around to see the other, Juliet took a deep breath and spoke loud enough so she could be heard. “It’s depressing, isn’t it?” She made a small pause, licking her lower lip. “So many lives will be lost in this war that’s about to start because of the lust for power. Ironic.”

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It seemed as though she only ever met Juliet when the sun went down and they were both drawn to the roof, but Noor had built relationships on less, the water bottle she had absentmindedly brought from her room dangling between her fingers as she approached. The city was beautiful in the dark, except, it wasn’t dark, not really, not a city like this, the surrounding buildings glowing with energy. Noor assumed they would keep glowing even if everyone in them suddenly vanished.

She was careful in her reply, she could no longer count alliances off the top of her head, not with the tides shifting so quickly. “Is it strange that I would rather be one of those people down there? Then it wouldn’t matter that I can’t fix this, there wouldn’t be any way I could and no one would expect me to. Just blissfully, calmly finishing out my life.”

[adclek]

“I know that everything that is happening at the moment is terrible, but I honestly just need a distraction right now.”

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“I would say you need a distraction because everything is terrible,” Noor said coolly, raising the glass to her lips, “No one can blame you, really. It got dark too quickly considering it’s summer.” It was a miserable attempt at a joke, and maybe one that would fail, but in truth, she too needed the distraction. She had been reading far too much lately. 

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armanicatherina:

it would have come sooner or later, but ani had hoped it would be the latter. being friends with noor, it was inevitable that the topic of her very persistent brother would surface. if anyone were more strong-headed than she, it was bastiaan. the smile that spread itself across her cheeks was sympathetic at first, but was quick to switch to amusement. “olivier?” she teased, a feigned look of confusion was hinted in her doe eyes. “do you need me to be your wingwoman? just say the word and i’m yours.”

It hadn’t crossed her mind that, perhaps, this was something, a relationship, Armani wasn’t privy to. Noor couldn’t remember if she had ever mentioned Bastiaan to the princess before, and she had no way of knowing if he had mentioned her. It seemed every time they had gotten close had been when someone out of the three was on a different continent entirely. The American paused, reassessing her approach. “Isn’t Olivier with someone already?” Noor said, as casually as she could, given that she had no idea whether he was or wasn’t already engaged, “A royal? I wouldn’t want to try and beat that. Try another brother.”

[invri]

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“I made a promise to myself to not eat anything unhealthy for a month, yet here I am, holding this chocolate bar,” Inari stated with a deep sigh, Her eyes searched for Noor’s, hoping to see some sympathy in them. She was not sure if she wanted Noor to keep the thing away from her or tell her to cut some slack on herself. “I don’t have any trouble with anything else like chips and ice cream but chocolate… it’s called devil’s food for a reason.”

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“If we’re making confessions,” Noor’s eyes betrayed her amusement, glancing at the chocolate bar and trying to read the label. “I told myself last night I was going to get tofu because it was healthy but what I got was fried in layers of oil so I think I negated any decent intentions.” She laughed, softly, quickly, eyes meeting Inari’s again. 

“I know I’m going to sound like an ignorant American asshole, but do you have m’n’ms in Finland? The peanut ones? They’re my weakness.” Noor sighed. There were sudden, strange things she missed from home. Apparently the little misshapen candies were one of them. “Maybe try getting dark chocolate instead, apparently it’s actually good for you.”

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&&. KRISTOFFER // @kristoffersonderburg

It felt as though it had been too long since she saw the Norwegian prince by sheer happenstance. The last time had been the day of the attacks, she thought, which meant that it had been quite awhile between their last meeting and seeing him across the room now. Carefully, Noor made her way over to him. “Hi,” she said, “How are you?”

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&&. ARMANI // @armanicatherina

“I’m this close to stabbing myself,” Noor said cheerfully, looping her arm through the princess’, “And I’ll give you ten guesses as to why. His name starts with ‘your brother’.” Armani couldn’t be blamed for her siblings any more than Pedro could be blamed for Bea, or Kristoffer for Zoey, or Noor for Maryam, even, but she needed information and surely Armani would have it. She couldn’t possibly feel bad about using her friend if she called it ‘requesting something from her’ and bought her lunch. And dessert. 

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beatrizcmalmeida:

the bags had come merely minutes before noor’s voice entered her room. a glance towards the brunette standing by her door was met with a victorious smile on bea’s lips. unloading the foam containers onto her mat, she signaled the american to join her with a slight gesture of her head. “if you really thought i wouldn’t know, you’re not nearly as bright as i thought you were. i’ve got chinese — of course — italian, burgers, and mexican. french pastries and häagen-dazs are waiting for us in the fridge. not as fancy as where your rich friends will take you tonight, but these are proper servings. not of that huge plate, tiny dish bullshit you’ll find at a hatted restaurant.”

“Holy shit,” she swore softly, after years of being told not to swear, and because she was surprised, nearly dropping her shoes as she surveyed the room, “Bea, you didn’t have to do this.” Irritation lapsed into wonder as her friend’s list stretched on. “I haven’t had Häagen-Dazs in months,” Noor said, eventually, still in a state of shock, words stolen, “And Ben and Jerry’s. My mom has a lifetime supply of them, our fridge at home is always stuffed with half eaten cartons. When I was a kid I always wanted ice cream instead of cake — how did you know? Who the hell told you?” Rich friends were nothing compared to true ones. 

“Trust me, I prefer our peasant meal to anywhere else I’ll get dragged to,” Noor promised, “Thank you. Really.”

[bcsticcn]

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Bastiaan couldn’t believe the lengths he’s gone through to try and get Noor’s attention, and his continuous unsuccessful attempts had boiled down to this: waiting for her to appear in the lobby, shirtless and oiled up, and when she did so, his guard threw a football in her direction, Bastiaan ran backwards to catch it, and ‘bumped’ into her. A better plan could not have been devised, he thought. After crashing into her, he turned around and feigned surprise, albeit badly. “Noor?!” He was dramatic, over-the-top, and most of all obvious. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there at all!!!!”

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She didn’t notice until it was too late, attention occupied on the chaise she was perched on in the lobby as she waited for one of the bellboys to bring her a package. And then Bastiaan stumbled back into her.

“I didn’t see you,” Noor said, as sweetly as she could manage, once she had recovered, looking up straight at him. Armani’s brother had arrived. They were a set, the Oranje Nassau siblings, just like she and Maryam were. She knew that. She hadn’t expected him to find her so quickly. Noor stood up, running a hand through her hair and extending the other for him to shake, too formal a gesture for how close they had once been. “Put some clothes on. You’re in public.”

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dianaaalbrecht:

“Nooo. I don’t think that I need that. I don’t really feel anything right now, so this bandage is just fine. Can you even drink wine with paracetamol?” Diana dried her hands on a paper and turned around to look at the birthday girl. “You sure you weren’t a Girl Scout. I think you would have been exceptional one. When I was younger I was in one of those girl scout camps, because my parents thought that nature would maybe calm me down. No. It didn’t. One night, my nanny had to get me out of there in middle of night, because I was sneaking around and behaving badly.” 

“But enough about me. Twenty-one. Fuck man, you’re young. Happy Birthday! May you have plenty of more.” The woman grinned and then shook her head. “You keep the glass. I can just drink the wine from some mug or something. I’m not picky.”

In truth, she didn’t know the princess well, but still, it sounded very much like her to have to be evacuated from camp on account of ‘behaving badly’. “Did you see anything interesting when you were sneaking around?” Noor asked, looking up and meeting Diana’s eyes. “Yeah, that one I know about. A little bit of paracetamol and alcohol are fine together. Just don’t drink the entire bottle alone. Or, you can take ibuprofen instead, I probably have some. It’s safer, I think. Or just drink until your hand goes numb. You’ve got options.” She found the corkscrew under the bar, carefully twisting it into the bottle’s cork, breaking the seal.

“Twenty-one isn’t that young,” Noor said defensively, “Ah, shit. If you’re going to drink from a mug, then so I am, we’ve got to match. There’s a mug in the bathroom, that one’s mine, I’ll find you a clean one somewhere. Oh! Here. I hope you like the Presidential Seal.” She turned it around to show the princess the picture painted on it.

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armanicatherina:

“nori, you’ve known me for a few months now — you should know that i live for three things — bouquets, balenciaga, and birthdays,” squeezing noor’s frame gently, her own shook in light laughter as she pulled away from the embrace. “okay, balenciaga was overly specific, but i needed a b word. anyways, neither of them told me. i spotted maryam eyeing a dress that really would’ve clashed with her hair and figure and attempted to stop her from buying it when she told me it wasn’t for her.” her head cocked slightly, ani recalled the events of the encounter, before biting her lip to stop herself. “this is all beside the point. now i’m just rambling. it’s your birthday! which means we’re definitely celebrating. what’s on our itinerary today?”

"I knew it was Mar!” Noor raised a triumphant fist before dropping it back to her side, “Don’t try and make excused for her, if you saw her and she told you, she told you. I’ll have to pick a fight with her now, you know.” She should have guessed, really, Shanghai was a tiny city when they were all confined to this hotel, news — birthdays — spread like wildfire, gossip was carried like blooming bouquets by princesses in their overflowing Balenciaga bags. Noor laughed softly, shaking her head. “Sounds like a very ‘you’ way to find out my darkest secret.”

She paused. “Itinerary? Oh. I was just going to, I don’t know. Call my parents later. Maybe go down to the spa. Do something with my sister. I haven’t thrown a birthday party in years so I don’t have any clue how to celebrate, really.”