[h2]E R I K   &   A L E J A N D R O[/h2]
[hr]
Alejandro nodded solemnly at Erik’s comment about his own hair. “Oh, I can [i]imagine[/i],” he said, mock-shuddering at the [i]horror[/i] of it all. “And I would be quite [i]delighted[/i] if you would, darling Erik,” he continued, winking cheekily at the Veredunian prince. He took his conditioner [i]very[/i] seriously.

Alejandro wholeheartedly agreed with Erik’s comment. The other prince [i]definitely[/i] knew how to have a good time; Alejandro himself had been a witness to that fact on numerous occasions. “So how is the rest of your family doing?” asked Alejandro, mostly to make small talk. “Do any of them have an inexplicable love of less [i]fashionable[/i] beverages like you do?” His voice was as light and playful and teasing as anyone would have expected out of the frivolous younger prince of Castilya.

“Of course,” Erik assured Alejandro as he took a sip of his champagne. 

And as soon as the topic of family came up, it took everything in Erik not to roll his eyes. How was his family doing? Well, let’s see- his cousin killed his brother and his grandmother most likely had something to do with it. And since he couldn’t actually confront her, it was decided that it would be best for Erik to physically leave Veredun while he processed all this information. And the second latest development in his family life was the fact that he somehow had an aunt in Rustavya, who happened to be the minister of public health and had a son who was previously involved with his girlfriend Yelena. So essentially, his cousin for all intents and purposes had been previously involved with his current girlfriend. And if that wasn’t already disturbing then the fact that Anatole was actually a great person was. He probably should not be so close to his girlfriend’s ex but by God, Anatole Koltovsky was just so cool. But yes, for the most part Erik preferred not to consider how they were doing.

“I think they’d all rather kill themselves before allowing beer within 100 feet of them,” Erik admitted with a quick smile.

Oh, he’d pay to see any one of his relatives touch beer. With the exception of Ferdinand and Juliet, literally all his relatives had a strict [i]‘no peasant’[/i] policy which extended to the food and general culture of the working classes. It was either wine, spirits or hard liquor and nothing in between. 

“I’m pretty sure you’d approve of their tastes more than you do of mine,” Erik added. 
Now Erik didn’t entirely lack glamour. He quite enjoyed the occasional indulgence but didn’t quite like the attention that usually came along with it. His relatives, however, were a different story. Despite being notoriously private, almost everyone he was related to was incredibly indulgent. Anatole included. Erik was absolutely sure that the glamorous Castilyan prince would find their general lifestyle to be much more suitable to his. For the most part anyway. 

Alejandro laughed at Erik’s comment about his family and beer. “Well,” Alejandro began, his eyes twinkling with mirth, “and I mean no offense, of course, my dear Prince Erik, but perhaps your family simply desires to become [i]inebriated[/i] more quickly.” He threw a cheeky wink in the Veredunian prince’s direction. “Vodka would be [i]far[/i] better suited for that purpose, mmm.”

Alejandro had never met the rest of Erik’s family, but there was plenty of controversy surrounding the current ruler of Veredun, Empress Catherine. Erik’s grandmother [i]totally[/i] seemed like an expensive wine and champagne kind of person.

“As for their tastes...well, I cannot say that I object to their fashion choices. Or yours, for that matter. Though I, personally, prefer clothing with a tad more [i]life[/i] to them.”

[i]I do wonder, Prince Erik, how your grandmother reacted when she found out about your Rustavyan girlfriend,[/i] Alejandro mused silently to himself. [i]And whether or not this Rustavyan girl cares that you are to wed Princess Talya. Unless, of course, the two of you do not intend to get married at all…[/i]

“As long as it's not from Rustavya,” Erik answered with a light chuckle.

Veredun’s relationship with Rustavya was strange. They were not outright allies or enemies. It was no secret that his grandmother despised Nicholas, but Erik could have sworn that there was a time that Catherine was on fairly good terms with Rustavya. Back then, the Rustavyan queen was present as well. Now, Erik had no idea what happened to her- he was too young when she disappeared and quite frankly, Erik was not interested to find out why either. It was just one of those things that you let go off. Until now anyway. His relationship with Yelena and his aunt in Rustavya had piqued his interest in the rather suspicious disappearance of the Rustavyan queen off late.

As Erik heard Alejandro’s comment about his clothing, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh I’m sure you do,” Erik remarked with a wide grin. “You have the personality to carry it off- I really don’t,” he added.

[i]It’s true,[/i] Erik thought to himself. If Erik had to compare Alejandro to an animal, it would be to a peacock: proud and flamboyant. Now, Erik was no introvert. One could argue that he was exceedingly extroverted. However, the difference between Erik and Alejandro was the simple fact that Erik wasn’t as flamboyant as he was. Erik liked his indulgences and luxuries of course, but they were nowhere near as glamorous as Alejandro’s. But that hardly meant that both of them couldn’t have a good time together. In fact, Erik couldn’t remember one time when he hadn’t had excessive amounts of fun when Alejandro was around.

Alejandro, for the most part, ignored Erik’s offhand comment about Rustavya (though he [i]did[/i] dutifully file it away as more proof of tensions between the two kingdoms), instead choosing to look Erik up and down, a glimmer of appreciation in his eyes as he did so. “Erik [i]darling[/i], you simply [i]must[/i] allow me to help you find something to wear, one day.” He beamed at the other prince. “There was this [i]gorgeous[/i] suit that would have worked quite well on you at this past Fashion Month, you know.” He gave Erik another cheeky wink. “I suppose you’ll draw the line at make-up, which is [i]such[/i] a shame, but…” he trailed off, an amused expression on his face. 

“Anyway, I must say that I was [i]quite[/i] pleased to see that you were also invited to Aciras. Things are [i]never[/i] boring when you are around.”

“Maybe one day,” Erik agreed with a light chuckle before flashing Alejandro a strained smile. [i]Make up was pushing it a tad bit far, [/i] Erik thought to himself silently.

“But speaking of Fashion Month, I do need a translator. You see, I need to pick up a gift for a woman with exquisite tastes and I hardly think that she’d appreciate anything I were to give her,” Erik added with a wide grin, picking up a fresh flute of champagne from a passing by tray.

Taking a sip of the champagne, Erik grinned at Alejandro’s comment. “Right back at you,” Erik began.

Alejandro practically twinkled at him. “[i]Oh[/i]? A gift for a [i]woman[/i]? You, my friend, have come to [i]exactly[/i] the right person for that,” he said, beaming at him. “You will, of course, be amenable to providing [i]details[/i] about her, of course? One can [i]hardly[/i] choose a gift for somebody else without knowing the [i]slightest[/i] thing,” Alejandro continued, his eyes filled with playful mischief. 

Alejandro flicked an invisible speck of dust off his sleeve, flicking his gaze around the room for the second or third time before turning back to Erik. “You and I will also have to [i]investigate[/i] any noteworthy Aciran [i]celebrations[/i] while we are here in Lynston, naturally,” he said, matter-of-factly. “The last time I was in Lynston was quite some time ago, so I am afraid that I am not entirely familiar with the area at the moment.” He paused, grinning at the other prince. “Have you ever been to Aciras before?”

Erik simply grinned in response. He knew Alejandro was the right person to ask. If Erik wanted, he could have very easily outsourced this project to someone else- procuring a high-end gift was not so hard. But he wanted this to be a lot more personal.

“Of course, I’ll be more than happy to provide you with all the details you need,” Erik agreed as he brought the flute of champagne to his lips.

“I have,” Erik answered with a light nod. “But it was a long time ago. So, I’m afraid that I’m not the right person to ask either,” Erik admitted.

Being in the Veredunian Navy was great. Erik got to travel pretty regularly- often sailing around the world for various naval exercises. Of course, not all the places he went to were great, but some most certainly were breathtaking. Besides, every new place was a new adventure, right?

Alejandro nodded, thoughtfully. “I see. Well, there is this one [i]wonderful[/i] hair salon here in Lynston-it’s owned by a friend of my cousin’s actually-and I could ask the owner for...details.” He shrugged, a wry expression on his face. “Or we could ask Princess Lea, of course.”

It wasn’t that Alejandro thought that Lea’s events were [i]boring[/i], no, but Alejandro had always found that it was much easier to pry interesting gossip (among other things) out of somebody when they were raging drunk at a night club. And although wild parties were [i]terrible[/i] for his clothes, it was always fun seeing who wore what on a night out.

Erik nodded lightly as Alejandro spoke, occasionally bringing the flute of champagne to his lips. 

“That sounds interesting,” Erik admitted, raising an arched eyebrow at the Castilyan prince’s mention of Princess Lea. Truth be told, Erik really had no opinion about her- he knew [i]of[/i] her of course, but he had never previously interacted with her before this event. But he was guessing that Alejandro had, and based on that expression, he didn’t seem to have the highest regard for her. Either way, it was most certainly not Erik’s place to get involved in such situations. He tried his best to live a [i]drama-free[/i] life and aimed to continue to do so. Therefore, he said nothing and continued to sip his champagne.

Alejandro made a noncommittal sound in response to Erik, taking a sip of his champagne. “Well, I suppose I shall be on my way,” he said, a slight undercurrent of mischief in his voice. “I would not want to keep you from socializing with the others. I will be seeing you around, yes?” 

Erik nodded, flashing Alejandro a wide grin.

“See you around,” he said, raising his half-empty glass of champagne.

And with that, Alejandro flounced away (some might have said that [i]skipped[/i] away would have been a more apt description), his eyes alighting on Princess Hye-ri, of Haneul. Alejandro had not met her before, but they both followed the other on social media, and Alejandro thought that her outfit was [i]very[/i] unique.

“Princess Hye-ri, if I am not mistaken?” Alejandro said amicably as he walked up to her, flashing her a dazzling grin. “It is [i]quite[/i] a pleasure. I must say, I do very much love the colors you are wearing.” He paused, a tad over-dramatically. “And [i]where[/i] are my manners? I am Alejandro Aguíla de Agustín, and I am pleased to make your acquaintance!” 

[i](Interacting with: [@madmonarchist] [@ayzrules] [@Garden Gnome])[/i]