( OPEN )

[modestchivalry]

Date & Time: Evening of November 4th
Location: General vicinity of the Hold
Characters: Castor Wallace & YOU!
Summary: To keep his mind off of being anxious about everything, Castor takes a walk around the Hold to get a general idea of what is where, etc.
Warnings: None! Should anything come up, I will update accordingly.



[certainly not this one. or rather, he's trying not to be. it's not so much of afraid of fighting rather than a terrible inexperience with fighting in general. when the most you've done is heed to every beck & call of the first class, you start to question your future as a soldier. the more Castor thinks of his pathetic career thus far, the more unsure of himself he feels.

a gloved hand rubs his face as his feet absently walk. at this point his mind & body are on two separate fields & there doesn't look to be any middle ground.

he doesn't think he looks anything but calm because he's used to putting on fronts & faces. even if a lot of the nobles rubbed him the wrong way, he knew nothing he could say or do would change their minds so he simply put on a smile & said yes a lot.

but now? it's hard to ignore the stress slowly building up within him, stirring up inside, making everything hard to deal with when he's so... scared.

there's a slow, sluggish pace to his walking as he roams aimlessly around the Hold. he was hoping that the short exploration would cheer him up but instead his mind is doing more wandering than he is]

Comments

[priad]

A huge armored figure looks down at the knight, his armor scored and scraped from a recent brawl, eye-slits crimson and his servomotors growling as he walks. The helm suggests an eternal glare, though the face that lies behind it is utterly obscured.

[modestchivalry]

Well if the knight wasn't scared before, he definitely was now. The huge figure startles him as he looms over him. Just what in the world is that? Is it a person? A statue of some kind with glowing eyes?

Yeek, he can feel a shiver run down his spine.

"U-...U-Uh..."

[priad]

"Stop stammering." He rumbles, in a voice so deep it probably will shake the knight's diaphragm.

"What?"

[modestchivalry]

It does more than shake. Castor was so surprised by the armored behemouth that he stumbles back a bit. He never encoutered anything like that before back home!

"S-Sorry...!" he muttered, doing his best to straighten up. Good lord, he was doing a terrible job.

[priad]

"You wear heraldry but don't carry yourself like any soldier I've known. Why?"

Priad seems to be in a bad mood, judging by his clipped tone.

[modestchivalry]

"I... ah.." That was a good question he didn't have an answer to. At lease he can acknowledge he's being a wimp right now.

[priad]

"Well?" Priad is strongly reminded of some of the kings he has stood honor guard for, during his ceremonial duties with Damocles squad. It is not a happy memory for him.

[asskickersunite]

Eddie is always good for a stroll around his new digs, although sometimes he has his face buried in his tour book, and not necessarily on where he's walking. He accidentally steps a little too close to Castor and bumps into his shoulder, allowing his tour book to slip from his hand and drop to the ground.

"Oops. Sorry about that, wasn't watching where I was going."

He might have made something of an intimidating sight with the Flying V guitar and the battle axe strapped to his back, but if anything his expression was quite calm.

[modestchivalry]

It was quite easy to knock the scrawny knight a bit. He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going, after all. It probably served as a nice wake up call.

"O-Oh, pardon me." Huh... the guitar was the first thing to catch Castor's eye but like a gentleman, he had to keep himself from staring. "Ah, allow me to get that for you!"

[asskickersunite]

When Castor picks up the tour book, he might catch a glimpse of older designs and notes for his time with Ironheade, stuff such as strategies, sketches of maps, how to deal with certain enemy combatants, or notes about the Age of Metal itself.

"No worries, kid."

Eddie realizes sometimes he might look a little intimidating, but if you don't play fucking awful music or murder his friends, he's generally pretty easy to get along with! Castor's gaze doesn't go unnoticed, however.

"You ever seen a guitar before?" He asks with a small smile. Okay, so sometimes he likes showing off how awesome he is just to get a reaction out of people. It's taken to be one of his favorite hobbies here.

[modestchivalry]

He caught a glimpse of the contents within the book & while they looked oddly interesting he took care not to be nosy. No, he learned the hard way not to go snooping into someone's business when they drop something.

At the mention of the guitar, Castor's eyes wandered up to it again. "Well... I have, but nothing like that." It was pretty cool, honestly, though he wasn't sure what the purpose of such a large guitar could be.

[asskickersunite]

Eddie scoops up the tour book and stashes it back in his vest. He brings the instrument to bear, and plays out a few chords.

"It's a model Flying V. I've had it with me since I learned how to drive." He responds with a hint of pride in his voice. "Clementine and I have been through some crazy shit together."

[combats]

[ Castor isn't the only one wandering around the Hold, Jacquese is too, but for an entirely different reason. He's searching for a piano and asking around for it, both for the ball Vanadi was planning and simply because it would just be really nice if he could play again.

Unfortunately, he gets a little too easily distracted by people, not that he minds. So when he sees what appears to be a knight whose walk tells Jacquese more than enough, he can't resist. He writes something on his blackboard before approaching the dejected knight, coming him up to him from behind, and gently taps his shoulder to get his attention.

The blackboard reads: ]

Are you alright, sir?

[modestchivalry]

[that light tap is appreciated because his mind is too far gone to deal with someone suddenly approach him. Castor snaps out of his daze, head turning slightly so he could look over his shoulder. there's no voice speaking to him, but instead a blackboard.

he blinks... slowly but then reads the chalk written question]

Are you alri-- Oh..! Y-Yes, yes I am quite alright. [forcing a small smile] Thank you for asking, milord.

[combats]

[ Jacquese returns the smile with a genuine, warm one of his own as he nods. He's not one to pry, so he doesn't, but he can take a guess at what might be bothering the knight. He moves so he's more at Castor's side and he doesn't have to keep looking over his shoulder at him.

He wipes the board clean before replacing the text. ]

It's all a bit unsettling, isn't it? Are you new here as well?

[modestchivalry]

[there's something about smiles that are highly contagious & even though he doesn't have the confidence in himself to be completely fine, he appreciates the offered smile.

seeing someone smile as opposed to smiling himself works better for him, for some reason]

I am. I... was brought here a few days ago. [a hand rubs the back of his neck absently] I understand the need for my assistance but... [his voice trails there but to keep himself from letting his mind wander again, he diverts attention]

How have you been settling?

[combats]

[ Good thing the smile is there to stay for now.

His look turns understanding as he nods again. He understands why he's needed as well and he doesn't mind helping, but he's heard of plenty of things by now that are rather objectionable. ]

As well as one can after a week. Yourself?

[modestchivalry]

Just about a week, myself. [has it really been a week already?]

I... wish there was something I could do so that I don't feel so... restless.[that was supposed to said in his head but it looks like he said it out loud by accident]

[combats]

[ Jacquese tilts his head a little at that. So it was restlessness, huh? Considering all the travels he'd gone on and all the freedom he had then, he has no doubt he himself will start feeling restless at some point.

But he's not there yet. ]

Train, perhaps? Or help around the Hold?

[invocation]

[Kyouko has kept close to the Hold out of concern lately. She's concerned about Sayaka's mental constitution, finds it safer to stay near her and Madoka, and she finds herself genuinely enjoying their company too. It's strange. After being alone for so long, she wouldn't have guessed that she would have friends again, or something akin to it.

She's on her way to Sayaka's room, sampling from a bag of sweet-smelling pastries she's bought in the market. That was new too, paying for things. But she gets a stipend here, and Sayaka (and Madoka, she assumes) would not approve of her stealing. It's easier to pay for things, keeps the peace.

She's a little distracted while she walks too, and she's so focused on picking the good pastries out of the bag, she thumps into Castor on her way down the halls. The bag slips out of her hands and falls. Even though she's gotten a little friendlier in the past few months, she's not what most people would call pleasant, and wasting food's an easy way to tick her off.]

Oi! Watch where the hell you're going!