Summary: MC Elizabeth and Drake sit down for a post-honeymoon interview with Trend Magazine’s Ana De Luca for a light hearted Q&A session.
Contribution to @boneandfur ‘s TRR4Ever week
For this month’s issue I, Ana De Luca, sat down with the Duke Drake and Duchess Elizabeth Walker of Atlantea for an exclusive look into married life for the recently wedded couple by asking them a series of questions sent in by our readers from what is appropriately dubbed the ’Newlywed Game’ as opposed to the usual interview format.
[Ana De Luca] Hello Your Graces. Thank you for joining me today. I hope you had a pleasant vacation.
[Elizabeth] Thank you so much for having us today Ms De Luca. We most certainly did. South America was beautiful wasn’t it darling?
[Drake] Yes.
[E] You’ll have to forgive my husband -she blushes slightly as she says this, looking at him – He’s not used to being interviewed.
[A] No apologies necessary Your Grace. I trust you were informed of the structure we will be employing today.
[E] Yes we were and it sounds super fun, this Newlywed game. You’ll be asking us separate questions about each other, am I correct?
[A] Yes. Shall we begin?
[D] Yep lets do it. And you can drop the whole duke-duchess thing. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that title.
[A] The first question is for you Drake. Where and when did you and the duchess share your first kiss?
[D] Wow straight to the point aren’t you? Ow! Elizabeth elbows him slightly in the ribs Umm our kiss actually took place at the Beaumont mansion a few months after we met.
[A] Would I be right in assuming that was during the social season?
[D] Umm… Yes, yeah thats right.
[A] Splendid. Now to Elizabeth. What was your first impression of your spouse?
[E] My first impression hmm? She stifles a laugh as her husband eyes her expectantly. It wasn’t too different to everyone else’s. He was dark and broody. Extremely sarcastic and snarky, almost like he didn’t like me at first. But that quickly changed after I wore down his walls.
[D] She basically annoyed me into loving her.
[E] Is that a complaint I hear?
[D] Complain? Me? Never.
[A] Drake what adjective would you use describe Elizabeth on your wedding day?
[D] Just one?
[A] That’s correct.
[D] Man there are so many…. One won’t be able to cover it… but I guess I’ll have to go with… radiant. She was practically glowing when she walked up the aisle and I felt like the luckiest man on the planet.
[A] Wonderful. The readers will love this. Now Elizabeth do you get along with Drake’s family members?
[E] His mum is an angel. We only met after we got engaged but she is such a warm lovely person and we bonded immediately being Americans. I adore Savannah too. She and I have gotten so much closer over the engagement period and I’ve come to count on her as a second second sister. Her and her mother have the best stories from Drake’s childhood.
[A] Can I persuade you into sharing any?
The duchess glances at her husband who glares at her in warning.
[E] I really value my life so I’m gonna have to decline on that one.
[A] In that case, Drake what item of clothing does Elizabeth look best in?
[D] Oh man… This is a hard one because she looks stunning in pretty much everything.
[A] But if you had to pick one?
[D] I can’t there are too many to choose from…
[A] Ok let me rephrase the question.. Is there an outfit of Elizabeth’s besides her wedding dress that completely blew you away the first time you saw her wear it?
[D] Hmm when you phrase it like that… She’d worn tons of amazing ballgowns in the past but the green dress she wore the first night we met in New York will always be one of my favourites… He sighs contentedly, smiling shyly at the duchess. Does that count?
[A] It most certainly does. Elizabeth what is his most irritating habit in the bedroom?
[D] Now thats not an invasion of privacy at all… His tone is sarcastic but he glances at his wife expectantly as she thinks.
[E] Most irritating habit hm? Its not necessarily irritating but I think he should be more confident in his abilities because he is a fantastic lover.
Her words make the duke blush slightly as they share a loving gaze.
[A] How would you describe her first thing in the morning?
[D] Hah that’s an easy one. She’s like a sleepy little puppy who doesn’t want to get out of bed. Especially in winter I’ll have to pull her out of the layers of blankets she’s wrapped herself in and if I don’t actually make sure she’s standing up with her eyes open, there’s a high chance she’ll just go right back to bed again.
[E] What can I say? I love my sleep. They share a short laugh.
[A] That is just adorable. Elizabeth, now I’m sure Drake considers himself a very manly man so tell me how does he like his steak cooked?
[E] Easy. Medium rare. Usually he’d be happy to eat anything but he’s extremely particular about his steaks, he’ll send them right back if they’re not satisficatory.
[D] That was one time! And it was so rare it was practically walking off the plate.
[E] One time too many. You should have known that when you married me I’d never let you get away with such diva-like behaviour.
[A] Expanding on that now, who is the best cook?
[D] Elizabeth for sure. I don’t know how she does it but she can make an incredible dish from just what we have in the fridge that’s somehow way better than some of the food at these courtly functions.
[E] Aww babe you’re too kind.
[D] I’m just being honest. He smiles, squeezing her hand.
[A] So if you’ve got all the cooking covered Elizabeth, what is one thing that Drake does for you that he hates to do but does it anyways because he loves you?
[E] I rely on him mostly to do all the repairs and handyman stuff around the house because I have no idea what I’m doing if it were up to me. I don’t think he hates it though. He once installed an entire shoe rack for me just because I mentioned I was needed more space to store them.
[A] That’s kind of a coincidence because my next question is how many pair of shoes does Elizabeth own?
[D] I honestly have no idea. But I’ll install as many shoe racks as needed because she has way too many to count.
[A] Elizabeth who would you cast to play Drake in a movie?
The duchess’ face shifts into a wide grin.
[E] Actually we were just talking about this recently. I’d been scrolling through my Instagram and some people seem to think that Drake looks like Daniel DiTomasso from Witches of East End. Just with slightly shorter hair but I am starting to agree with them. Don’t you think?
She pulls up a picture of the actor on her phone before handing it to me.
[A] He does bear a striking resemblance now that I look at it.
[D] I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t even have blue eyes!
[A] Alright then speaking of appearances, does Elizabeth have any pet peeves about hers?
[D] She is very very VERY particular about her hair. She sometimes plans her entire week around her hair washing schedule.
[E] Hey don’t scoff at me! Not all of us can rock the messy bedhead look. It takes a lot of work to look this good.
[A] And my final question to both of you now… As it is leading up to Valentines day, when did you realise that your spouse could possibly be the one?
[E] You first.
[D] Well I guess I’m going first then. We’d had lots of moments before this, like the time all of us snuck out for cronuts or when we were stargazing but the first time I actually saw her in a different light was on my birthday a couple of years ago. She got us all to sneak out of the palace to go to a Western themed bar and we spent the rest of the night drinking, line dancing and bull riding with all our friends.
[E] That soon?! I thought you still hated me back then? You barely even let me hug you.
[D] I never hated you. I just kept you at arms length because I thought you’d never see me that way.
[E] And look how far we’ve come since then. I think for me was a little earlier than that. Time-wise everything kinda blurs together but that moment for me was the time we were in Olivia’s wine cellar in Lythikos when I finally learned that there was more to you than just cynical comments and liking whiskey. After that I just couldn’t look at you the same way again, knowing that there was a soft marshmallow heart under that burnt exterior.
He gives her a soft smile before clearing his throat awkwardly.
[D] Is this interview over yet? I would like to leave with some semblance of dignity left before my wife decides to give away all my secrets.
[A] I’m sure you’ll be relieved when I say yes it is. Duke and Duchess I thank you once again for your time today. You are a beautiful couple and I wish you all the best in the future.
[D] Thank you.
[E] Thank you very much for having us Ms De Luca.
[A] The pleasure was all mine.