Day 1: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: March 11th - March 18th, 2019 ]

The first day has come to a close, the only things left to do are get some food and get some rest. Fortunately the residents of Bamborough are hosting a party to congratulate the heroes on their first victory, unfortunately it's running for several hours this evening. There's only so much time for sleep. What kind of balance will your hero try to strike?

Unfortunately for everyone, the evil-allured knights will be treated to a rude wake-up surprise when they finally go to sleep. No matter when they finally set their head down to rest, they all wake up at the same time, in the same place. Only the evil-allured knights will have access to this post, click to see if you've been chosen.

The good-allured knights, meanwhile, are free of a visit tonight with the Princess and the Protector. The two of them, however, are due to have a chat. Questions have to be answered, after all! He's dressed in his usual attire:

He's the same height as Luka with dark skin and vivid blue eyes that match the color of the sky. He has wicked winged white eyeliner to accent his eyes and curly black hair with white tips piled on top of his head, it's a wonder how it stays up there. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he's wearing a pajama robe that looks either blue or silver depending how it's touched or how it moves. Most importantly is that he's got brass knuckles on both his hands, like he's ready to fight. But he's not here to fight, he's here to give a whisper about what comes next.

First Night Event: Bamborough: Everyone invited.

The Weather
Starry Night.
64°F / 18°C
Quite breezy, all the trees are rustling.

Prompts:

Bamborough Party: To celebrate the defeat of the first monster, a full banquet is being held near the beach in Bamborough. Unlimited food, unlimited drinks, and most importantly of all was a small stockpile of blankets, sheets, pillows, and toiletries to offer any knight who might've forgotten something on the way out here. Naturally, every item is sponsored.

You're all over Social Media!: Videos were successfully taken of all twelve knights and the princess during the first battle, and now the world is abuzz about what happened! What are they saying about your hero? How did they even get this footage? Or worst of all, how bad are they dissing your camera skills for those that recorded themselves?

A late night walk: The first day is over, the first monster is dead. How's your character holding up? Do they seek out support from a fellow hero? Do they spend it alone? What kind of night are they having now that it's all real?

A late night meal: Anyone leaving the Bamborough party late enough will be able to spot that a local late night ramen shop is open for business. If your hero hasn't quite eaten enough, they can drop by for a bite. But be warned, a certain sleepy villain is getting a bite to eat herself. Care to share a ramen bar meal with the enemy?

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Gyre can't help smiling all the while he's talking, clearly just enjoying the stories. When Garrot says a new name, his eyes return to the picture, trying to pick out which one it could be. At least it ends up being easy mode as the other talks about the tiefling boys separately. Miri and Ursula. Alright.

Then Garrot is beating his chest, and Gyre leans back to grin even wider up at him. "It's good to encourage a little independence at that age anyway," he says clearly sounding amused. "You sound very proud of them. All of them."

"Of course I'm proud!" Garrot chuckles, and the fist on his chest turns into a gentle hand over his own heart. "They're my kids." The words are softer, more tender than his typical bravado.

"They've each been through... a lot." He pauses for a second, then seems surprised with himself and chooses not to dwell. "I mean, with the Wizard coming back every year, seeing them all be so happy is enough for me." Garrot takes a moment to sigh and just... stare at his kids on the screen.

Gyre gives him the moment, keeping his eyes averted for at least a couple beats. He can't help looking back eventually though, watching the other's face. He is... deeply jealous of that look! He wants to suck those paternal feelings out of him and hold onto them for himself for as long as he possibly can. He can't do that obviously so he settles for this instead, murmuring, "They're very lucky to have you, I think."

He won't linger on this weird storm of feelings he'll need to deal with sometime later though, gesturing at the picture again.

"You said the other girl's name, right? Miri?"

Garrot just shrugs at the compliment, half-smiling. It felt weird to say he's the one who's lucky to have them, but its true. It's also a little too gooey for their parental bragging summit. They were just arguing a little while ago!

"Yeah, Mireina, but we call her Miri. She used to hate it!" And then he chuckles, because those were happier days. "She's studying Journalism and Wizard Studies at the Amarosian University of the Arts." He nods, knowing that Gyre might not... care? Which is fine. "She likes telling people's stories, and dancing, and I annoy the crap out of her. Like when I called her for advice after earlier." Garrot giggles mischievously, before looking over at Gyre. Yep, he had help!

"I think you'd like her more than you like me!" And then he gently pats his friend on the back. Sure, Miri might literally murder her dad if he can't set up an interview with the elusive Boar Knight, but he can't just say that!

He squints a little at that thing about the name? Why is he calling his kid a name she doesn't like?? He imagines he'll never get to talk to her though, so he sets it to the side, a note about the kind of person Garrot is.

His eyes go a little blank as this description continues. It's not that he doesn't care about her college credentials. It's more that he doesn't really understand the significance of it. Truthfully, he doesn't even know where the Amarosian College of Arts is, and it's in his own country. He knows that there's a lot of emphasis placed on college in high school, but most of his memories of all that consist of long bouts of intense boredom. Still, he is curious, and he's listening all the while, smirking slightly as Garrot makes that assumption.

"Perhaps. I don't--" Wait. His brow furrows hard, his gaze shifting downwards as he ponders if he's reading that weird little giggle right.

"You asked her about me?" He gestures out at the beach where they'd been arguing a few moments ago. "And that's what she told you to do?"

"Hey." His tone is stern, because Gyre did just imply his daughter caused any of this. So Garrot pulls his phone away for a moment. "That was on me. She told me to... hold on..." He's pulling up a message on his phone, and when he finds it a moment later he clears his throat.

"Get him alone, and if he wants to listen to you, talk about your feelings. And let him talk about his feelings. Just be honest with each other!" Garrot pauses, looking a little uncomfortable, but he doesn't stop. He's already kneecapped his pride. "Be like you are with US, not like when you're putting on an act. That's when any finesse or social graces you have go out the window."

He sighs, because he literally just put himself on blast to defend his daughter, and because he felt like he was starting to connect with Gyre! "I was the one who got angry. Miri... probably knows me better than I do."

He goes slightly tense at that first tone, wondering if he's managed to make Garrot yell at him again, and he only begins to relax once he realizes that uh yeah, this dude is throwing himself under the bus to protect Gyre's opinion of his daughter. That is... very sweet.

He makes this amused noise in his throat, smiling curiously as Garrot finishes reading from his phone. He's not mad! He definitely looks like he'd be laughing at him if he was the sort to laugh like that.

Instead, he just looks very happy, teasing in a much friendlier way then their earlier interaction probably deserves, "It's good advice. Maybe I would like her better then you. She's certainly made a better first impression~" And she isn't even here in the flesh.

Garrot can't help but grin when things go well- Gyre even agrees with him! An absolute slam dunk.

"If you think we had a rough start," he gestures to Gyre and then to himself, "you wouldn't believe Miri and I." Garrot sighs and just shakes his head. "She had some issues with authority and I had no idea how to be a parent, let alone to her, and..." He trails off, clearly remembering some less than stellar times, before his attention snaps back to the present.

"She was actually supposed to be here." Garrot looks out to the sea. "Miri wanted to come out and interview all of the chosen. But then one of them was me." Another sigh. He's very obviously worried.

"Mmm," he hums, not wanting to egg Garrot on too hard here. Sufficed to say, it doesn't surprise him in the slightest that a kid with a good mindset on authority would clash with him. He can only hope the other didn't manage to completely stamp that out by the time she was grown. It sounds like he didn't, if they still clash sometimes.

Then he changes the subject, and Gyre follows his gaze out to the ocean for a moment. He sighs along with him, thinking his own thoughts in that moment honestly. The sea makes him miss a lot of things, and all this talk about a seemingly good family doesn't help. He actually shakes his head just slightly to get himself back on topic, watching Garrot's face with this careful, curious scrutiny. Wondering what exactly he's thinking about honestly.

"You didn't want her to be here...?"

"If she was just a civilian, I'd be fine with it." Garrot shrugs gently. "I mean, I've been out here a couple times just as a doctor. But now?" He sighs again, surprised with how open he's willing to be with someone he was just yelling at. Maybe his run-in with Zafika is getting to him more than he thought.

"When my father was a Knight, when he died, I was here." His arms gesture back towards Harsen Island. "If I..." Garrot hesitates. "If something happened to me, I know it'd destroy them. I won't let them go through that." He makes no efforts to talk about how he can just not die, as he did before. Garrot's bravado and arrogance are gone, replaced with sullen silence.

Well this is heavy. Before Garrot has even finished, he feels himself reaching up and setting a hand on the other's back. He hesitates there for a moment... before giving in to his impulse, and rubbing gently against him. He gets it. Mostly. Wanting to shield your kids from something difficult is certainly an impulse he can relate to, but not like this. Not about this. There is a cruel bit of him, deep down in his chest, that says he ought to remind Garrot that he'll die someday no matter what.

That goes completely ignored, of course, but it still takes him several moments in this tense silence to come up with something better. He won't be cruel in that way, but he's also not going to be pointlessly optimistic. He'd love to tell Garrot that nothing will happen to him, but that just isn't true. He takes a long, slow breath in through his nose, sighing deeply before he finally breaks the silence.

"They would have each other. They would make it through."

"Y-yeah..." The hand on the back, the reassurance, it helps. It helps Garrot chase away the worries, and even smile. "I just have to not die here." And he shrugs, because it's a simple enough solution!

"But, uh," the doctor chuckles awkwardly, "Do we wanna go back to talkin' about our kids? Probably a lot happier." Please save him from the emotional prison that is leaving his kids orphaned again. Or, of course, Gyre can push the issue...

"You'll need everyone's help if that's what you want." He keeps his voice gentle when he says it, but it's definitely intended as a bit of a reminder. Garrot can say he'll look out for himself most of all, but Gyre has heard him say that he wants to protect everyone even if it means putting himself in danger.

That's the only thing he'll say to push the issue though, settling his hand on the other's shoulder so he can lean on him a little. The contact is casual for him, Garrot's shoulder an obvious place to put his hand after rubbing his back. If he's tense at all, it's only because of how heavy this conversation has gotten, not because of the very close contact.

"I'd love to hear more about them. There were two boys left." Wait. "And whoever was holding the camera, as well." Perhaps a camera shy kid, right?

Honestly, Garrot appreciates all the physical and emotional support. It's nice to have someone who he doesn't have to look out for... even if he'll do it anyway. But when Gyre agrees to change the subject, the big guy can't help but smile... even though there's a moment of hesitation when the elf mentions whoever is holding the camera.

"Those are the twins, Leonardo and Wolfgang." He nods, back to grinning and enthusiasm. "Leon," he points to the one further to the left, "he's the smartest kid I've ever met. He's a natural leader and performer, and he's, like, fearless. Leon used to cry whenever he beat me at chess, but now he's so calm it's creepy."

"And then Wolfgang," Garrot points to the boy on the right, "he's like me, except smarter and nicer and a lot more awake- I mean, socially conscious." And then he chuckles. Those youths and their slang. "He plays sports, he and his team scare off bullies and talk about their feelings, something about hazardous masculinity?" He shrugs. "Plus he does music and acting like his brother."

"They wanna go and do politics," he sighs, "and they're probably gonna take over the world." He sounds a little scared of them, actually.

"Twins," he murmurs just after Garrot says it, as if categorizing it away. He stays quiet after that though, listening and watching the other's face as he talks. Trying to absorb all those paternal feelings for himself again, honestly, though he feels a little less greedy about it this time. Garrot seems like a decent father who loves his kids more then anything, and he's been basking in that for awhile now.

He mouths 'awake' when Garrot says it, even further behind on the slang of youths then the other is and not understanding the context at all. At least he clarifies what he means, leaving Gyre to turn that word over in his mind again and again. What does being awake have to do with social consciousness? Another idiom he hasn't heard perhaps.

And then Garrot finishes, and Gyre scoffs at the idea of someone controlling the entire world. These capitalists and their authority. Is it supposed to be an achievement to have power over every soul on the planet? Disgusting. He sounds utterly dismissive for a second, "I certainly hope not," flicking the idea into the garbage where it belongs.

He softens after that though, turning his attention back to the phone. "They must be a handful. You sound scared of them, right now."

Garrot furrows his brow at that dismissive tone, but it softens alongside his friend. Maybe Gyre doesn't like the idea of spunky youngsters shaping society? Kids can be weird.

"Well yeah, of course I'm scared of them. They're so good at everything, and if they weren't so deadset on making the world a better place, I'd think they were career criminals!" He laughs for a moment, bringing a hand to rest on his forehead. Definitely worth clarifying that point. "They fight hate. Wolfgang protects people from bullies, Leon leads protests against bad school policies. When they talk, people want to listen." He sighs, but this time he's smiling.

"They keep themselves so busy that I worry about them. A lot. But..." He shrugs. "They're definitely gonna change the world someday. In all the best ways." Even though Garrot has no idea what that will look like.

"Mm... they sounds like good kids." He nods very slightly, though his attention is clearly a little distracted, lips pursed in thought. He doesn't know what 'changing the world for the better' looks like for these people, and it's a wonder to him that Garrot would expect something so grand from his kids. What a weird culture. What weird desires these people grow up with.

"I hope they achieve what they set out to achieve," he says mildly. "I'm glad they've learned to protect the people around them."

He smiles up at Garrot, a slight mischievous glint in his eye as he gestures down to the corner of the picture. "One left~"

"Shit!" Garrot swears under his breath, but honestly it's loud considering they're right next to each other. As if that weren't telling enough, Garrot just starts blushing as his eyes dart around. He's nervous! But he pulls his phone back, huddling around the screen as his larger frame blocks prying eyes. When he turns the phone back towards his pal after a few moments, it shows a boat in the middle of the ocean, at sunset... or maybe sunrise? Garrot takes up some of the frame, noticeably shirtless and tattooed and grinning ear to ear with an arm... wrapped around...

"This is Sly; Uncle Sly to the kids." His arm is coiled around the shoulders of another shirtless man who takes even better care of himself than Garrot does! The contours of his dark olive skin show that he's built up quite a bit of muscle on his wiry frame. The sharp teeth of his smile, particularly the orcish fangs jutting up from his lower jaw, almost sparkle between the light of the camera and the sun. His short, dirty blonde beard and golden blonde hipster-bun look immaculate, perfectly framing his angular jaw and pointed elven ears. And he looks like he's planning something...

"He's a real good friend of mine, part of the family. We've known each other for almost twenty-five years now! And I mean, he's smarter than I am... And a better doctor, for sure." Garrot slightly changes the way he's holding the phone with that moment of hesitation, but he accidentally fat-fingers the screen and slides to the next photo without his knowledge! Suddenly Sly has an arm around Garrot's shoulders as he kisses him on the cheek, one eye winking at the camera. The Garrot in the photo, on the other hand, is blushing brighter than the sky and his eyes are wide like dinner plates.

"And sometimes I almost want him to adopt my kids out from under me, because he seems better with them than I am!" He doesn't sound mad or sad about this, just impressed. Garrot nods, unaware that his ego takes a back seat when it comes to the people he cares about. And also obviously he's sharing a bit more with Gyre than he anticipated. Again!

Oh a babe! And another thing to make Gyre's nonexistent heart sick. It's okay. He's learned not to be so jealous of other peoples' happiness, but his breath definitely catches when Garrot accidentally pulls up the kiss picture. He smiles and the smile is incredibly painful at first. He does his best to fucking fix it while the other explains who this man is and does an incredible job of never saying the word partner. Or spouse. Or husband. He talks about this guy adopting his kids, and yet he doesn't call him his husband!

Gyre sounds immediately skeptical as he pipes up, "You told me you didn't have a partner!" He arches an eyebrow at him, a playful judgement on his face.

"Why are you trying to hide him?"

See, Garrot's an idiot sometimes. A lot of the time. When he sees Gyre's smile, he assumes his friend is simply appreciating the picture and the totally aromantic friendship between two adult men who are incredibly close. But when Gyre drops that word, that question, Garrot looks torn. Hurt, even. He doesn't need to see that he's showing off the wrong picture to get defensive.

"I'm not hiding him, and he's n-" He sputters for a moment, unable to say that they aren't partners, and then just falls silent for a moment more. "It's complicated." Garrot hates those words, because he's highly intelligent and a man of science. His shoulders slump, and he holds the phone between his legs, and it's only now that he sees the picture changed. He's opened up to Gyre so much already, what's a little more?

"We don't like to label it, we just... we keep it casual." And then he rolls his eyes, because he's sounding like a teenager, like one of his teenagers. "We're both busy enough with work and our own lives that we have to schedule time together. And after all these years, we've been at each other's throats enough." Have a sigh, Gyre. "So we see other people most of the time, because at least we're friends like this. If something goes wrong, then the kids have to deal with that shit." And now a solemn beat.

"They've been through enough already."

This sure is a lot more words to avoid saying the word partner! He even watches Garrot stumble over the actual word, and the entire time the other is talking, that skeptical eyebrow gets more and more and more skeptical.

"Does he help you watch your kids? You trust him enough to adopt them in your stead?"

Garrot whines at the questions, clearly uncomfortable in the hot seat. This is not where he expected this conversation to go and he was not prepared! His face has ascended to a full-on cherry red color because holy shit.

"Of course! They like him and he's basically the only person I'd trust if something happened to me, and-" Something clicks in Garrot's mind, a different approach he can take to this. "Why do you even care?!"

His new approach is deflection. This is gonna go so well.

He waves a hand, apparently dismissing both the deflection and Garrot's bizarre embarrassment, and he's smirking proudly, like he won the conversation here.

"Where I'm from, that makes him your husband." So there!!

He backs off from there though almost immediately, settling back on his butt. The smirk becomes a more friendly grin, and his tone shifts, just a little, just enough that it's clear he's gossiping basically, offering his thoughts because they're friends and Garrot definitely needs to be smacked in the head about this one.

"You all make things so much more complicated then they need to be. You can live your own lives and still be partners," he says, shrugging. "I was only curious because raising four kids by yourself seems, hmm... insane, I think is the right word?" Only two is a lot as well, but it's a little less crazy to him.

Garrot just shifts around unconfortably as Gyre keeps going. Mostly because on some level he can't disagree. These are good points. But...

"Where I come from," oh no he's playing that card, "there's more to it than that! Papers and rings and-" Garrot just shakes his head. He's totally right! What does Gyre know?!

"Besides, my kids aren't that bad." He pouts for a moment before sliding right back into proud parent mode. "I mean. Miri was a handful at first, and then the twins happened right around when we were on the same page. They were basically the same kid, and Miri kept an eye on them." He nods, because she's a good older sister.

"If Ursula came earlier in my life, I'd have ripped my hair out, but she's fine now." Because he knows what he's doing. "I mean, Sly and my mom helped but I did a lot of the work on my own!" He sounds proud of this, and he's ignoring the fact that his hair is starting to go gray. Probably from the stress of his ludicrous children and his job and everything else he has going on.

"That's worse! All those papers and rings, they're just a tool to force people not to change their mind! You know when you trust someone enough to care for your kids, and you know if that feeling fades. You don't need some," irritated handwave, "religion boss to tell you whether it's right or not." And it's not until this point that he realizes he was talking too loud and too long, and he folds forward to cough dryly into his hand as before.

"Fuck," he rasps, leaning over the rock to grab the tea that's been abandoned on the ground for awhile now. He's going to take a few long pulls from it, fingering lightly at his throat. This leaves him quiet and watching Garrot out of the corner of his eye as the other tells him even more about his kids. Damn, he's really learning a lot about this dude.

After a few moments with the tea, he clears his throat, nodding almost knowingly as Garrot acknowledges the help he got from his family. "All kids are hard sometimes. You'd probably be even greyer if you didn't have them around~" he teases, quieter now that his voice is giving him trouble again.

The Weather

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