Georges Hobeika Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017

‘’ oh, why did you stop playing? it was such a beautiful song!’’ the countess exclaimed with a smile, approaching the man slowly.  katya had always liked the beaches of kradaeca the most, mainly because she rarely ever met anyone she knew there-  and  dimitri would never come here. 

the beaches of kradaeca were the location tals missed the most — especially after feeling the cruel winter of norden. and so he’s sat on the sand, lute in his lap, lazily playing a new tune he had written on the journey from norden:

“a light ‘cross waters lantern glow was all mine eyes could see and from below noise drifted slow like a 'gull come back from sea, from sea like a 'gull come back from sea.”

it is then that he notices a figure nearby, and he stops playing. his fingers still dance around the strings, but no note is played. “oh, i’m sorry. i didn’t see you there!”

katya had left the safety of her home to go find a place to spend her husbands money. she had planned to get another coat - maybe they would visit norden sometime again and she’d like to be prepared.  or perhaps a new pair of over prized gloves would be good.  anything to make her forget about the bruise on her cheek dimitri had given her the day before.

it was usual for people to approach the countess with their offers, especially when she clearly liked to spent way too much coin on clothes. she refused a good amount of them that day until there was someone who offered her what he claimed was the rarest item in all of kradaeca . there was something off about the man, the way he hid his face behind his dark coat, hood pulled up to his face.   but still, katya reached out to feel the fabric of the expensive cloak he was offering to her.   it did not seem like anything special,   however the price this man demanded was anything but ordinary.  perhaps it was the way he was being so secretive about it or maybe katya just wanted to spend dimtri’s money -  but she bought it. it was later that day when katya had returned home that she actually took notice of the cloak she’d bought. it was lying on her bed next to many other things she’d gotten that day and the countess decided to finally put the items in her closet one by one. when she was reaching for the most expensive thing she stopped before her mirror, deciding to try it on. she’d spent so much money on it, it might as well look good on her. however that was when the unimaginable happened. the second she’d thrown the cloak around her shoulders she could no longer see her body in her reflection. eyes widened in shock an d for a moment she just stood there, staring at the mirror. that was sorcery - no surprise it had been that expensive.

 for a moment she thought, this was the way to murder her husband unseen,       but then she took it off again. katya had never been one to believe in magic, but how could she not when it was so clearly there? when she had the undeniable proof in her hands? looking over her shoulder once to make sure no one else had seen it, she turned to her closet again and hid it in the back of it, a small smile on her lips. 

‘‘ you have no idea.’‘ katya responded when the blonde spoke to her and she turned to face the source of the voice before smiling at the stranger. she’d missed her home kingdom a lot. & even here she’d take advantage of ever minute katya did not have to spend with her husband-  and going to find some peace near the water seemed like the perfect idea. ‘‘ norden’s snow was beautiful, but it’s nothing against this here.’‘

Though Lucia loved her home kingdom, a small part of her had wanted to stay in Norden, there was something about that kingdom that had just seemed magical to her, besides there she didn’t had to hear her parents complain about her all day, and ask why she was still single and she wasn’t expected to do things just because they wanted it. However she was home and she wasn’t going to let them ruin the joy of being home. She was making her way to the beach, because oh how she missed it and smiled at someone that seemed to have the same idea. “You missed the sea too?”

averycassel:

“nobody has to know.” they could make it look like an accident. avery wasn’t entirely sure how, of course. but he was thinking on it. it would be nice, he thought, if one could arrange for people to fall ill. “suppose we poison him. slowly. or he could be out for a walk – does he like walks? – and he could fucking vanish. an’ everyone’d think a yeti got him or he fell off a cliff or he broke his ankle and froze to death.” 

‘‘ why are we even discussing this? no, that’s an awful idea. we’re not assassins, we don’t know hot to make it look like an accident.’‘ the countess argued and a frustrated sigh left her lips. ‘‘ .. and besides, poison would be way too good for him.’‘ 

averycassel:

“the fuck are you on about?” was she unaware that nobles were people too? but she had raised a few good points. “an’ yeah, ‘course it would. but nobody’s going to think you did if i was the one that did it. nobody’d think you could have killed him the way i’d kill him.” besides, it wasn’t as if disappearances in norden were entirely unheard of.

‘‘ what are you talking about? no.’‘ she finally stepped back and let go of him, even if she really didn’t want to yet, and katya looked up at avery with a frown on her face. ‘‘ you can’t kill him, if anyone found out .. they’d behead you .. & me for conspiring with you.’‘

averycassel:

how long did comforting embraces last? avery thought back to the last time he’d been involved in one. it had been a while, and details escaped him. that being said, it wasn’t entirely terrible to stand there with his arms around her. her words exasperated him some; it seemed to him she was always preserving her husband for no reason when all the man deserved was prompt and painful extermination. “people die all the time.”

‘‘ people die all the time ; not counts, not nobility.’‘ katya couldn’t believe they were actually discussing whether or not they should murder her husband. ‘‘ don’t you think it would raise questions? & everyone would know i did it.’‘ she argued, not wanting to let go of her friend just yet. it had been a while since the last time katya had willingly been close to someone. perhaps the last person might just have been viola.

averycassel:

avery would have been amused by her response to the whiskey – he couldn’t help but relate – if not for the gravity of her visit. he shrugged. “to cope.” then she stepped up to him, and before he quite knew what was happening she’d wrapped her arms around him. for the first moment of the embrace he didn’t respond, but soon he wrapped his arms around her in turn. “i didn’t fucking say it was funny. oh.” he almost smiled. “you thought i was joking? nah. i want him dead, kat.”

when he wrapped his arms around her in return she couldn’t help but sigh, only slightly relaxing at his touch. perhaps if this had been a different situation she would have teased him for hugging her back - but now she was just glad that he did. at his words then, katya pulled back only a little so she could look up at him with a furrowed brow. ‘’ .. so do i, but we can’t kill him, avery.'’

averycassel:

he looked at her and some of the anger seeped out of him, to be replaced by exhaustion. “i dunno, drink it? it tastes like shite, but it helps with pain.” he nearly reached out to her, mirroring lou’s actions from the other night, but he knew he wouldn’t have liked to be touched if he was in such a state. he’d grant her the same distance. besides, he didn’t know how to deal with tears. “i don’t know if you knew this,” he said, “but i fucking hate him too. here’s a thought: how d’you feel about being a widow?”

she frowned at the bottle in her hand and despite doubting it would help, decided to listen to him. the countess gulped down some of it, only to almost cough it up again, the burning sensation in her throat coming as a shock to her. ‘’ why would anyone drink this?’’ she questioned, forgetting about her disaster of a life for a split second. she then set the bottle down and stepped closer to her friend with a sigh - knowing that this was not something he usually she did, she needed someone close anyway and wrapped her arms around around him, resting her head on his chest. ‘’ stop, it’s not funny.’’ she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, probably smearing a bit of blood across her face. & yet, the thought of dimitri with a slashed throat or choking on poison had crossed her mind many times before. 

averycassel:

he’d only managed to sit halfway up in bed by the time she burst through the door. he could make out something dark on her face, and knew it could only be blood. he abruptly pushed back the blankets and stood, paying no mind to the chill of the room. “you look fuckin’ terrible,” he breathed, voice still rough from sleep. he took a few unconscious steps forward, unable to tear his eyes from her face. “’course. you can stay.” this comfort thing really wasn’t his area. he hovered, unsure of what to do. he left for a moment, and returned with a clean rag and a half-empty bottle of whiskey. he handed both to her wordlessly, still staring at her face. his expression was guarded, now, but looking at her bloodied nose stirred up a mix of sorrow and horror and anger that he assumed could only be alleviated by driving his fist into her husband’s face. 

katya chose to ignore his first words, closing the door behind her. she then took both the things he handed her and held the rag to her nose, wiping the blood off her chin and lip then which only resulted in making it burn more. ‘’ what am i supposed to do with that?’’ she questioned quietly, eyes on the whiskey in her other hand. - he didn’t want her to drink it, did he?  katya looked down at the rag then and the blood on it before holding it to her nose again.’’ i hate him so much, avery.’’  she told him, her voice shaking with tears, close to sobbing. 

winncll:

              not  expecting  to  see  you  again.  no  ,  how  could  she  have  ,  when  they  had  been  TORN  apart  so  suddenly  ,  when  their  lives  had  hung  in  the  b a l a n c e  ?  but  she  is  a  duke’s  daughter  no  more  ,  a  slave  to  the  whims  of  her  father.  no  —  she  is  a  Q U E E N,  &  if  she  wishes  an  afternoon  to  speak  with  an  —  an  old  friend  ,  no  one  will  stop  her.  she  stares  at  katya  ,  her  eyes  so  dark  ,  lit  like  a  storm  of  their  own  —  adrenaline  ,  &  fear  ,  &  something deeper  ,  &  eyelids  slide  shut  to  stop  the  sudden  sheen  of  tears  before  they  can  fall.  her  mouth  twists  in  a  delayed  flood  of  fear  &  worry  ,  dark  hair  sliding  across  her  shoulders  as  she  dips  her  forehead  nearer  to  katya.  she  breathes  there  a  moment  ,  then  says  ,  so  quietly  that  even  she  herself  can  barely  hear  it  ,         ❛    no  ,  neither  did  i.  it  is  —  i  am  very  pleased  to  see  you  again  ,  my  lady.  are  you  —  have  you  been  well  ?   ❜        

              viola’s mere presence made katya’s world spin. oh how badly she wished she could just pull her towards her & feel the softness of the QUEEN’s lips one more time.    but no, they were both married now. katya to a cruel man, but married nonetheless. & their love was forbidden,   so dangerous it could cost them their lives.  for a brief moment the countess thought she saw tears in the corners of viola’s eyes,   but if so they disappeared as quickly as they came.   katya held her breath then, when her past lover came slightly closer, quiet words leaving her lips - lips she realized she’d been staring at.     has she been well?   NO.   everything inside her screamed for katya to tell her,    tell her of how awful dimitri was, of all the bruises hidden beneath her dress - but instead she smiled, heart aching with every word she spoke.   ‘’ yes, your majesty. i .. i am as well. ‘’ the words ‘ i missed you‘ almost slipped past her lips. ‘’ have you? ’’

                         ‘‘ avery?’‘ she couldn’t wait for a response, no instead katya just burst into his room.  she’d really pushed dimitri over the edge this time - she wasn’t even sure what it was that had caused this reaction : maybe the fact that she was not enthusiastic enough during his forced kisses to her lips or perhaps the fact that she’d dared to interrupt him when he scolded her about it.    but blood was dripping down katya’s chin now, coming from her nose and the split lip that she'd received from her husband & she was sure that with the way his hand had collided with her face, she’d have a nasty bruise on her cheek by the morning - not to speak of the ones on her hips and arms.   the countess was used to his violent behavior but it had never been this bad before. katya looked up at avery with a tear-stained face, before lowering her gaze, ashamed of the current state she was in. ‘’ i’m sorry .. i didn’t know where else to go.’’ ( @averycassel ) 

averycassel:

“let’s talk about something nicer. like death. or missing children.” he followed her out, eyes narrowing when they met the glare of the sun reflecting off the snow. the patterns light made on water were hypnotizing. this was just blinding. he made a mental note to hightail it back to kradaeca the moment he could.

katya couldn’t hold back the small laugh that slipped past her lips.’’ avery, stop it.'' the countess lifted her skirts a little, though the thick snow on the ground wet the ends of her dress anyway. ‘‘ he’s not always that bad. sometimes when we’re alone .. he’s actually really sweet.’‘

averycassel:

“i’m so sorry. he’s a fuckin’ angel, an’ i don’t want to break his nose at all.” the smile on his face might have looked more like a smirk, but it wasn’t. that she hadn’t been seeing dimitri as often lately seemed to him a very good thing. he shrugged. “no great loss, is it?”

she gave avery a small smile at those words. katya herself had imagined many times what it would feel like to have her fist collide with his face. ‘’ not really.’’ she agreed, stepping out the door. ‘’ but let’s not talk of him, it’ll give me a headache.’’

                                      KATYA VASILIEV - character tropes. 

domestic abuse hidden depths bi the way smarter than you look the fashionista hair of gold heart of gold

like so many times before when dimitri lost his temper katya sought out lucrezia - she was the only nurse she could trust. katya hadn’t told her the truth yet about how exactly she got her injuries each time but she was sure the the brunette already knew. the countess took off her cloak as she approached the other, knowing there was no need to hide around her, she knew of all the old and new bruises that were revealed anyway.‘‘ i fell again.’‘ she told the woman she might have considered a friend, would they meet under different circumstances. ‘‘i was wondering if you had something for the pain .. ? i can’t fall asleep.’‘ @lvcrezics

luciendyer:

“oh.” he paused, unsure what to say for a moment. “for what it’s worth, i hope all that’s on your mind isn’t too terrible. or perhaps that you’re granted an escape from it soon, if it is.” he nodded. “it’s good to meet you. i’m lucien.”

‘‘ thank you. & it’s nice to meet you too, lucien.’‘ though perhaps it would be nicer under different circumstances, still katya gave him a soft smile. ‘‘ i don’t know how everyone can sleep so peacefully in here ; it’s so cold.’‘