jclvni

[jclvni]

" nah, what ? " he feigns shock. " you broke it off with sophistication di savoia ? " sophisticated ! that was the word she'd used to describe him after a date to a museum and a walk through a dirty park. had she really so naive to have convinced herself that that was the life that would make her happy ? " ah, shame. you always looked good in white. " her quip may just have stung if she was still parading herself on ale's arm like a gaudy handbag but now ? he grins. " have you been keeping tabs on me, oli ? "

" have you been living under a rock ? absolutely not. i broke off the en- " her eyes narrowed. her critical thinking skills lagging behind her emotions just by a few seconds. too bad she had been so quick to react. " heard the swede got tired of you. "

[jclvni]

" that's your brother-in-law, no ? "

" should we feel honored to be on the guestlist or should he feel thankful that we even showed up...? half of the people here have bad blood with the italians. " | @hshqstarters

[jclvni]

[jclvni]

olimpia.​

“ pick up what ? ” olimpia asked with a frown. such a suspiciously vague sentence ! “ you can sit in that chair. ” she pointed at the lounger on the patio. very much outside of the villa. “ unless you’re worried about your swede getting the wrong idea. ”

“ product, oli, ”  his tone is unembellished. what else could he possibly seek silje for ? he stares at her blankly, then shifts his gaze to the lounge chair. a number of quips come to mind. ‘why would i worry? she’s at mine, waiting for me to come home,’ and that frown of hers will surely deepen to a scowl. it’d be too easy to fabricate a story that’d dig under olimpia’s thick skin. yet, in a rare instance, the adrenaline of an argument with her does very little to tempt him. if his sleeplessness didn’t already manifest in the bags under his eyes, it’s plain in the lack of fervour on his tongue. he rubs his jaw and plants himself onto the lounge. “ she say when she’d be back ? she hasn’t responded to my text. ”

[jclvni]

olimpia. 

“ my bad. i just came to pick up. silje said she’d be home around now. ”     * / @olimpiacroy​

[jclvni]

okeyo.

“ have you been screening your mom’s calls?  she won’t stop calling me and telling me to do x y z to ensure you’re in good health. ” ( @jclvni​ )

“ —and have you been doing xyz to ensure my good health or is her time wasted on you too ? ”

[jclvni]

aurel.

“ is she picking out your wardrobe now too ? ”     * / @aurcls​

[jclvni]

JELANI MWEZI attends ana maria’s casino night.

[jclvni]

astrid.

“ OH COME ON ! obviously i’m going to have some expectations. i’m not asking you to post a picture of me on ig. i’m asking you to fucking come have fun with me in a setting that’s not this. ” the one that made it very difficult to tell if he cared about a single thing about her. “ i can’t even tell if we’re honestly even friends. i have new friends who’ve shown more companionship than you have ! and you’re supposed to be, like, a bit more than a friend. ” it was so annoying. it was so annoying to be asking him to prove himself to her. if he’d do at least something, she could get rid of that nagging feeling that told her that she didn’t particularly like jelani. he was funny, he was easy to talk to, he was flirty — but when it came to anything deeper, she wasn’t sure if she saw anything of substance. but if she were to admit that, she wouldn’t know how to explain the past year. what kind of a person ended up in a relationship with someone whose every aspect they didn’t like ? “ you’re literally being a pissy baby. who the fuck thinks a skiing trip is an issue ?  even ilija brought ireti. ”

" you’re kidding, ” he deadpans. chardonnay sol, tequila sol, cosmo sol — in all her variations, she’s chatty ! but even sober sol has managed to stretch three simple words into three hundred. she could have saved her lungs the workout with a simple ‘what are we?’. even if he had cared to interrupt, there wasn’t a spare second for him to insert more than two syllables, until she closes her case with the ever-so-eloquent pissy baby. he counters with an amused huff. “ a pissy baby ? you’re here whinging because i'm not living up to the expectations you’ve placed on me— ” how the fuck did he get here again ? “—and because i don’t take you out enough to have fun ? ” how old is she again ? “ stop pretending like i’ve never taken you on dates, parties, ” he omits the fact that his efforts had dropped exponentially after that party in regina. “ i let you parade me around your sister’s wedding, no complaints. ” was that not companionship enough ? “ i said no to a ski trip with your friends and suddenly it’s ‘you don’t show me enough companionship’ ? and i’m being pissy ? this is fucking ridiculous. i don’t owe you companionship. you’re not my girlfriend. ”

[jclvni]

astrid.

“ I’VE MET AUREL, ” she points out as if it really means anything. he has met ilija. he has met all of her royal friends. probably. “ that wasn’t a joke. ” he needs to take her seriously. “ i’m not jealous i’m just wondering. like is this how you treated her or is this just a me and you thing ? ” 

“ not the point. you didn’t meet him because you’d been spending time with me. ” all of her charm was rooted in how little maintenance it took to keep her around. when had the expectations escalated from breakfast the morning after to a snow trip with her friends ? his jaw tenses the more she prods. conjuring a few pretty words to dissipate her qualms would be easy. but he knows how this goes. the words will please her, he’ll pleasure her. the consolations will salve her concerns ! until the next time, god forbid, their schedules don’t align. she’ll whine, he’s making no effort. so he’ll sacrifice a little more time, until that’s not enough, she’ll whine, what are we? lather, rinse, repeat — fuck no. “ just like i didn’t meet ilija through you, i met him through my ex-girlfriend. ” the circumstances upon which one meets-the-friends makes all the difference. he’s certain he’s shaken hands with ebba bernadotte at some gala or charity function or wedding, but never once in the past year with astrid on his arm. context ! “ you can’t seriously wonder why i have no interest in entertaining you and your friends for a week in the snow. you had no issues with our arrangement until you got back. ”

[jclvni]

astrid.

SOL, he sighs as if it’s an answer. “ the point is to have you there. c’mon, how thick are you ? ” her knuckles gently knock the side of his head. she can’t bring herself to smile very brightly. “ is this how you were with her too ? barely putting in the effort… making the smallest of favours look like big ones… ” she is sounding much more bitchier than she wants.

“ the point— ” his fingers catch her knuckles as they touch his cheek, pushing her hand back by her own side, “ —is that i don’t need to meet your friends. those are your friends. just like you don’t have to meet mine. ” he doesn’t need vickie, with little devil horns, hovering over sol’s shoulder, coercing evil desires of bouquets and dates and labels into astrid’s perfectly content head ! her gunfire of questions has a chuckle escaping under his breath. “ this jealousy is not the adorable look you think you’re getting at. ”

[jclvni]

astrid.

“ IT’S UHM... no, it’s not too different. at least the people who skateboard say that getting the hang of snowboarding was ten times easier than learning how to ski. ” it was only february ! easter was just around the corner… “ there’s another trip in april ? we should do like a weekend trip, just the two of us, before that and then it won’t be too bad to go in a big group ? what do you think ? ” 

“ —sol, ” it takes every strength to contain his groan. how many excuses must he make before she will finally grasp the hint ? “ you go enjoy your trip with your friends. we can book ourselves some place nice before you leave. city or coastal ? ” 

[jclvni]

aurel.

“ no. we haven’t really talked about the new year’s party. i’m trying to minimize risks — and that means her now. i’m trying to avoid: getting yelled at, getting a drink thrown on me, getting publicly dumped. and drinks. i’m sober tonight. ” he glanced at the champagne flute in his hand. the first of the night. “ this doesn’t count. where’s olimpia ? i need some pointers. ”

“ fuck. three days of this, sober ? that’s rough. ” the welcome party would be survivable – no formalities ! but to be expected to sit through speeches and toasts and happy tears without any sort of substance tickling his senses ? he can’t think of a single thing worse. “ eh, i don’t think she’d help. why do you think she’s always grumpy ? ” aside from the fact that being uptight seemed to be genetic, of course. “ you sure you don’t want to smoke ? ” alcohol is loud, obnoxious, chaotic. a quiet, unobtrusive high would do aurel so many favours ! 

[jclvni]

astrid.

“ AND LIKE THEN ! then vickie fell and we were super sure she had broken her leg. she did a whole tumble. but nope ! not a single scratch ! you missed so much. have you ever even skied ? snowboarded ? ” [ @jclvni ]

“ not even a scratch ? damn, vickie. ” which one was vickie ? she talks so much and to so many people. he can’t be blamed for not giving two flying fucks about a vickie. “ never done either, but i can skateboard. snowboarding can’t be too different, huh ? ”

[jclvni]

aurel.

“ what the fuck am i gonna do with araya ? ” aurel whined from the couch. “ she’s pissed at me but i’m pissed at her ! she just got pushed into a pool but i’m back to being treated like a fucking child by tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee. ” he needed to get better at nicknames. ( &. @jclvni​ )

" not the guy to ask, man, ” it takes everything in him to not say ‘i told you so’. “ you come here with her ? ”

[jclvni]

JELANI MWEZI attends the artisol wedding.

[jclvni]

sylvie. 

“ isn’t your brother the, uh— dj ? ”     * / @sylvianes​