lucadansembourg

[lucadansembourg]

@giselledorleans

Keira Knightley & Matthew Goode in Silent Night (2021) dir. Camille Griffin

[lucadansembourg]

henridorleans​:

“as if you haven’t used simone against me,” he replied, and being with luca again was as easy as breathing. “i can think of three times that you’ve scared me half to death because simone told you exactly when and how to catch me off guard.” and that was just off the top of his head. “i wish you could’ve come with me,” he admitted, sheepish, his thumb working its way in a light path over luca’s cheek. “i needed a break from the program, but not from you.” a pause. “I don’t think i’ll ever need a break from you.” which was exactly what had given him the idea. he leaned in for a kiss, chaste and light, gentle. easy as breathing.  “someday you’ll have to come with me. when things have settled down and an escape to the french countryside will be acceptable, we’ll go away together. just the two of us.”

he laughs, the reply exactly what he expected from henri. “you can’t prove that,” luca starts, his tone light, “i might just be very sneaky, even without insider knowledge.” he pauses, thinking about the idea of it. that would be nice, right? to go places together, in public - to not worry about being seen or what their countries will think. luca wanted that more than anything else, sometimes. “we’ll see if you’re still singing that same tune when the girls are back, tomorrow,” he says, leaning in to return the kiss and then pressing another kiss to henri’s nose, “that sounds nice. i should’ve just gone with you for a bit. we’ll time it better, next time?” 

[lucadansembourg]

luca & wendy d'ansembourg  /  @lucadansembourg, @wendydansembourg

[lucadansembourg]

theodcr​:

@lucadansembourg​

“here he is,” his voice was soft and quiet, both to avoid waking the sleeping bundle in his arms and his sleeping wife in the other room. “the fact that he’s still asleep is a miracle. normally he starts screaming as soon as i’ve got him ten feet from his mother.” another sore spot for theodor, though he supposed it was only natural. hopefully he’d grow out of it. he crossed the room and turned so his cousin could see freddie’s face through the swaddle of blankets. “he’s got catherine’s eyes, when they’re open. and some little tufts of hair. and he’s so small i thought i’d break him when they first handed him to me.”

luca can’t help but smile at the little bundle in theodor’s arms. he was surprised that he’d gotten the call to come and visit little freddie this early, with everything going on - he’d assumed the new parents would want plenty of time to themselves, to get used to the new baby before they had to show him off to the world. it was exactly what luca did, before nathalie returned to work. he gives theo a knowing look, “ah, they always do. freddie’s just used to her - she has carried him around for nine months, you know.” he nods, putting on a smile, “i remember that, too. the girls were born early, they were so little. enjoy it while it lasts, you’ll miss when he was this small.” 

[lucadansembourg]

wdansembourg​:

“i only broke one lock in my life.” he shrugs, passing off the bag to his brother. he ignores how weird his brother acting, it wasn’t uncommon for him. “i went to management and said you forgot to leave me a key and i needed to get in.” easy for him to create some elaborate story and fake distress. “you know, i think i was supposed to bring you something to sign.” another shrug, “just chocolates and some lavender to help with your stress.”

“that doesn’t sound right,” luca starts, giving wren a meaningful look. he was pretty sure wren was capable of anything, but breaking and entering was something that seemed to fit wren’s energy. “oh, so i need to take you guys off the list, then. i can’t have lara barging in here and giving me work, the second she gets bored in luxembourg.” he smiles, relieved that wren had forgotten whatever work there was, “oh, thanks. i just ran out of candy to bribe the girls with, that’ll work perfectly.” 

[lucadansembourg]

henridorleans​:

“that’s me,” he said, and stepped through the door into luca’s apartment. he observed everything in front of him, the lived-in feeling that seemed to follow luca everywhere. it was cozy, as it always was. he turned to face luca and shook his head. “this is all i want,” he said. he’d seen luca’s living quarters in far worse condition than this, anyway. “i just got back earlier today. i colluded with angela to get you alone.” he stepped into luca’s space and splayed a hand out over his cheek, soft and familiar. “i missed you, too. i was tired of facetime.”

“ah, you used my own assistant against me,” luca jokes, the smile stuck on his face. he isn’t sure he’ll ever manage to get rid of it. god, it was really good to see henri in person. facetime wasn’t quite enough, especially not with the timezone difference. luca wasn’t that great at staying up late... or waking up early. “me, too. i was going to try to talk you into coming back, soon. i just wanted to, um, give you some time. you needed a break.” he smiles at henri, his face softer than it usually is. 

[lucadansembourg]

wdansembourg​:

@lucadansembourg​

laying comfortably on his brother’s sofa, “surprise!” he shouts, sloppy grin across his face. “they said my apartment wouldn’t be ready for a couple of hours, so i’m here!” he shifts around, grabbing a gift bag from his suitcase. “i stopped by and got you some of your favorite things from home.”

for the second time this month, luca walked into his apartment and found his sibling had broken into it... but this time, he was a bit more concerned. what if wren had broken in while henri was still here? their cover would be blown before he had the chance to get ahead of it, with lara. he tried to shrug it off, but his voice came out a little bit strained when he asked, “how’d you get in here? please tell me you didn’t break the lock.” he brightens a bit at the implication of a gift, at least, “what did you bring? please tell me it’s not paperwork, that’s the only gift i seem to get from luxembourg these days.” 

[lucadansembourg]

henridorleans​:

@lucadansembourg​

it had taken coordination with angela (and begging her to keep his return quiet) in order to bring henri to this point. he was standing in front of luca’s door, hand falling down after the three quick knocks on the wood. if angela was to be believed, the girls should be out with wendy for the rest of the afternoon, and luca should be alone in the apartment with only paperwork to keep him company, completely unsuspecting of henri’s return. sure enough, when the door opened, there was the man he hadn’t seen face-to-face in months. henri grinned, his heart thundering in his chest at the sight of him. “bonjour, mon ange,” he murmured, voice soft. “may i come in?”

he’d had a bad morning. anna and liza had caused enough chaos to last a normal week - glitter bombing their room and costing luca a ridiculous tip to the cleaning staff he’d hired. and then it had taken an hour to wash the green glitter out of anna’s hair, while liza mysteriously escaped scot-free. he’d sent them off with wendy the second she arrived, pushing them out the door and hoping for a quiet, peaceful, evening in. the knock at the door interrupts that, only a half glass of wine in. he’s annoyed for the entire walk, sure it’s going to be angela with some sort of work he needs to get done, but he swings it open, his jaw drops, “henri?” he says, as if it’s not obvious who’s right in front of him. he has to confirm, before he steps aside and lets him in, still a bit stunned, “when did - when did you get here? you should have called - i would have planned something more than just... this.” he gestures towards the mess that is his living room and the bottle of wine left open on the table next to a familiar copy of wuthering heights. he brain finally catches up to the moment, “it’s - i just - i missed you, darling. i thought you’d take another month before you came all the way back out here.” 

[lucadansembourg]

milcnv​:

she holds her tongue before she retorts sharply about there being quite a bit wrong with the hotel in argentina. “ i certainly appreciate having a slightly larger amount of space, but i think i’d have appreciated it more had i not just come from belarus. ” all she had in that country was space, space and resentment. “ was the belgian war stressful for you ? i hadn’t imagined you were involved. ” her phone vibrated with a notification, no doubt the nanny wondering when she’d return. “ she’s… adapting. one and a half is a hard age for any kind of swift adjustment. the time difference is six hours so it’s not quite so hard as mar del plata to tokyo was. ”

“oh, i can imagine. the jet lag alone is horrific,” luca offers a polite smiles about it, before his face drops at the mention of belgium. he’d been far too involved, in hindsight. it was something he probably should have let go. “ah, well. i’ve always got a bit of money in the game, you know? but they are both our neighbors, we’d be stupid to not be worried,” he takes a breath, hoping that milena didn’t read too much into that comment. “good, that’s - good. i miss when the girls were that young, before they learned how to be terrors. you’ve only got a good six months left before the terrible twos.” 

[lucadansembourg]

giselledorleans​:

“ it will be SUCH a fun evening ! all the villains will be there, there’s a whole parade. it’s just an experience. we go to one every year in paris, i’ll NEVER hear the end of it if we miss it for the third year in a row. margaux needs company and i have no interest in asking wiebke wittelsback or a savoy to accompany us. ” [ &&. @lucadansembourg​ ]

“ah, well... maybe? i don’t know, anna’s a little nervous around crowds as of late,” a lame excuse, but he’d already tried to plan the day at tokyo disneyland with stefania czartoryska once, and it had ended up falling through. he didn’t want to get the girls excited again, if it wasn’t going to happen, “asking wittelsbach would be awkward at this point, wouldn’t it? and she kind of scares me.” almost as awkward as asking him, he supposed. at least there had been time between then and now to heal the wounds, but alsace had been annexed just a few months before. 

[lucadansembourg]

wendydansembourg​:

ˑ⋅ . (@lucadansembourg​​​ )

   cabinet and closet doors were opened and shut. kitchen appliances had been carelessly tossed about as were pillows, blankets and the one oversized ugly sweater wendy had gifted luca as a christmas present two years ago. honestly, she was surprised he still kept it — just as she was that she was here again. same apartment as before that was down the hall with the door left wide open as she trashed her brother’s living-quarters all in the name of journalism. “ come on, come on, ” she muttered to herself when turning the kitchen upside down proved futile in the search of her tape recorder. then the luxembourg princess had taken four steps back. her hands fell to her hips and hazel eyes glanced up to the cabinets above, the ones she couldn’t reach. luca had to have it. wendy had only bothered him to use it weekly if he heard anything worth noting while she was away and as she would come to know, everything happened the minute she left. she was cursed! a murder. a coronation. if she was superstitious she’d be in search of that mirror she broke that gave her seven years of bad journalism luck. “ okay, okay. fine. if i were luca where would i … ” wendy’s eyes trailed to her left. “ i need a chair. ”

he hears the cabinets opening and closing before he even opens the door. he opens the door with a sigh, expecting to find the girls tearing up the kitchen trying to imitate henri’s cooking skills again. he’d come home to several absolute disasters and had smiled politely while their nanny apologized, swearing she tried to keep them from the worst of it but they were so cute. he doesn’t expect his sister, wielding a chair. he didn’t even know wendy was in tokyo, much less in his apartment and he waits a few seconds, trying to figure out what she’s doing with the chair before he makes his presence known, “need a hand?” he asks, with a bright smile on his face, “or are you just robbing me? feel free to take whatever you want, as long as you take your nieces to the hello kitty store this week,” his takes a second, before looking where she’s reaching, “what are you looking for? i’ll help you find it, and you won’t fall off a chair.” 

[lucadansembourg]

milcnv​:

her head swiveled to face the person who called out her name, only partially startled that it was luca who spoke it. milena raised her hand to wave, hoping it would suffice, but it was just her luck that her quiet corner of the cafe be breached by another member of the program. “ just a few days ago, i’ve been settling ekaterina back into a routine. i’ve really only seen my family so far. ” she gestured for him to take the open seat in front of her before raising her cup of tea to her lips. “ how have you been ? well, i hope. ”

“it’s a good time to join - the apartments are a nice change of pace from the hotel in argentina,” it was basically hell sharing a small suite with his kids, the two of them constantly getting into some sort of trouble. “i’ve been well, the end of the war in belgium has taken a lot of stress off my shoulders. how have you been? your daughter’s settling in well? the time change really gave liza hell the first week we were here.” 

[lucadansembourg]

@milcnv​

“milena?” luca asked, as he entered the cafe. it was quiet here, and usually completely devoid of other royals, which is why luca would often find himself here. as lonely as things got, he still wanted a few moment’s peace and quiet, sometimes, “when did you arrive? no one told me you’d rejoined the program.” 

[lucadansembourg]

cksvnv​:

“ so what’s next for luca d’ansembourg ? luxembourg is flourishing, there’s peace in belgium at last, germany is the center of drama… things couldn’t be better for you, could they ? ” | @lucadansembourg​

“ah, well - when you put it that way, it’s going quite well?” sometimes, luca looked at too many little things, instead of focusing on the bigger picture. “i just hope that the new german duchess is a little less ambitious than wittlesbach and zielcke. i have yet to meet with her.” he pauses, trying to avoid talking about his personal life as of late. it’s almost awkward to have to pointedly leave henri out of things, “what about you? everything’s well in arkhangelsk?” 

[lucadansembourg]

frejaedb​:

“ yes, the pièce de résistance – eloise won’t STOP asking me for one. “ and it was difficult to explain to the spoiled rotten girl that undoing the antarctic treaty was impossible. “ me neither. i supposed i was a little, AMBITIOUS in my bets. “ or she had gravely underestimated the monarch’s worths. “ hopefully no one believes they’d get any romantic dates out of it – then it would be awkward. “ she chuckled, “ i doubt the irish prince has plans to make a move on arnauld. “

“thank god liza didn’t get her hands on one, i’d be toting around a puffin as we speak, i’m terrible at telling them no, that’s how we wound up with the world’s most spoiled cat,” he smiles though it - he’d only placed a bid on alexei, as a bit of a joke, “oh, i think some did. probably the younger royals? i’m honestly just glad my brother wasn’t around to make a spectacle of himself, he would’ve been right next to the american.” he can’t hold in the snort at the comment, “you never know, didn’t he elope in vegas last year? he’s a bit of a wild card.” 

[lucadansembourg]

frejaedb​:

“ the one in ICELAND ? dreadful. not one person seemed as though they wanted to be there. “ it was almost amazing that a year or two ago, she had dubbed d’ansembourg a foe … and now, with newfound trust her words could flow just a little easier. “ the date auction was certainly a much more exciting event, i would say. did you have fun ? “

“all i saw were pictures of penguins on instagram, so i assumed the event itself must have been boring,” he was glad his girls were too young to know they’d missed out on something like that, or else he’d be at the nearest zoo, currently, staring at penguins from behind glass. “it was alright, i hate to say it but i’m glad i didn’t win any of my bids - the whole... buying a date thing, it seems a bit desperate and awkward, right?” 

[lucadansembourg]

stcllvrccg​:

wendyjuliette​:

Wendy felt somewhat lucky that she had a very important work appointment that had made her late for the auction. She’d barely put money on the table, the idea of auctioning money off for dates with human beings felt barbaric, a step backwards towards slavery, and she wanted no part of it. But Luca was going, and she wanted to have a foot in the door to keep working on her stories. So, she put some money down for her friend and figured none of her bets would be high enough to make her part of this but still allow her in. Walking with a glass of champagne in her hand, she spotted a person by one of the many tables “I wonder how many people are jumping in joy for their dates and how many of them wanna run and hide for a week” She spoke freely. @hshqstarters​

Stella was not all that comfortable there. She used to love a party but she now wanted to be work, which was actually just her phone so she supposed she could be at work anywhere. She looked around the room and thought about bothering the French again when someone spoke to her. Stella smiled kindly, honestly appreciating someone making conversation with her. “I imagine it’s 50/50. Some people actively enjoy meeting new people. But I saw the list and there’s some…politically complicated combinations. …From what I understand, I can’t keep up with all the drama.”

he hadn’t had a chance to talk to wendy since she’d arrived, so he hadn’t yet filled her in on the... argument that he’d had with stella. he hadn’t had time to fill her in on anything, really, and he had a lot of ground to cover - luca had been keeping things from wendy, and he was sure she’d picked up on it. “i’m just glad i didn’t get roped into it,” he responds, “they always managed to con me into stuff like this.” he gives stella an awkward smile, completely forced, the last time they’d spoken she’d had some choice words for him - he wasn’t keen to forget just yet, “ah, i didn’t realize people needed to buy their meetings. usually i just call and someone clears their schedule.” maybe that was a perk that came with the title - he’d never realized.