* OBSIDIAN KNIGHT

        ❝  My, someone is a generous mood today!  ❞  IN ALL HONESTY,  she’d have been likely to stroke the creature’s snout with or without his permission, anyway. The wyvern was a beautiful animal, and one that she quite enjoyed spending time with  (  and secretly spoiling with treats behind her rider’s back  ——  )  and doting attention on. Still, having his “permission” at least left her without the worry of being caught…

          ❛ don’t look too much into it, ❜ he groused, but his lips did betray the slightest smile even as he so readily stood on stoicism and a complete alienation of the female gender ( for self - preservation, of course ). for every rule there were exceptions, he supposed, for perseus was most definitely a woman. a true lady in the skin of a beast. the wyvern in question let out a snort as the girl placed her hands on her snout, and leaned into her touch in a way that clovis had really only seen when she’d been handled by himself. when the creature then went sniffing about as if looking for something, clovis’ eyes narrowed for just a moment.

     Felix favours a strong offence, but that doesn’t mean his defence is weak; he is fast and observant enough to spot a swing of a blade when it is still a thought crossing over his opponent’s eyes. Every day he seeks out new challenges, and each day he learns a new way to fight. When Clovis steps away, beckons him closer, Felix hangs back a moment. It’s hard not to get pulled into taunts and jibes, but he’s made that mistake enough times to give him pause. 

     “To fight and grow stronger. That is my purpose.” The words come out cool, low, steady, as Felix adjusts his grip on his blade, draws it back, calculating. “I don’t need a lord to pat me on the head and say I’ve done a good job.” 

      His eyes narrow, just barely, a moment before Felix lunges forward, slashing upwards with the wooden blade, a disarming attack he’s been working on. 

          a sound argument, but such things meant little to clovis from children that hardly knew that of which they spoke. he wanted to grow strong, and clovis could accept that. the problem was that the knight could hardly see for what that strength was for. did he believe that being strong beyond compare would bring glenn back from the dead ? it wouldn’t; there was nothing that could be done for the brother that felix had lost and the comrade---the first love, perhaps---that clovis had discovered dead when he’d returned from scouting ahead. dimitri had vanished. clovis had run, and run, and run.

          he didn’t know what pushed him to challenge the new fraldarius heir to a duel on that day. it was more a sparring match than anything, yet clovis took it just as seriously if they were facing each other on opposite ends of the battlefield. it brought clovis back to happier times, tinged in rosy - colored nostalgia, when he’d been nothing more than a fledgling and glenn had so very thoroughly whooped his ass and left him sprawled in the dirt of the training grounds. years later, and with great effort, it had finally been glenn that had been disarmed and soundly beat. the following year, it’d been him in the ground. 

          ❛ it is more about oath, than recognition, ❜ is all he manages before the younger noble charges him. for a moment, clovis forgot where he was, just who he was facing. that look in felix’s eye was, thankfully, a fleeting distraction and more of an insight. he wasn’t his brother---and yet, clovis found himself stepping to the side when he drew close, observing the arc of his strike. upward, upward, upward, and then---there. ❛ it’s about protecting. ❜ 

          clovis brought the wooden training weapon in a vertical position across his body as if emulating a military issue parry four, before taking advantage of his height and turning the motion into a downward circular parry mirroring a two. once felix’s blade had been sufficiently shoved downward, his free hand wrapped around the blade his opponent’s weapon and pulled while he went for a ( light ) pommel bash with his own.

          ❛ i’ll let you pet perseus this once. ❜ truthfully, clovis knew perseus to actually like the other. she was a finicky wyvern, but once she deemed someone worthy, she adored them and absolutely couldn’t get enough of them. of course, clovis would always be her favorite. hopefully.

“ i’m glad he enjoyed my performance, then. ” [ her smile is quick to fade as soon as annette’s hit with the realization. ] “ you— you didn’t to all of the song, right !? ”

      ‘ Indeed, I am. You are here to do so as well, yes? ‘

          ❛ yes. after every battle, as per the teachings of seiros. ❜ he kneels, briefly, to place white lilies upon the grave that stood before him, cape pooling on around him. he’d tended to the rest already; they sported the same blooms. eyes slide shut for a moment & he bows his head. words are uttered beneath his breath in another language.

          when he speaks again, it’s as he rises. 

                 ”   i —-.   “   was thoughtless,   she finishes the sentence within the confines of her mind,   but allows that bit to remain unspoken.   her hands retract almost immediately,   lingering uncertain in the air before settling into her lap,   the flowing white material of her dress crinkling with the soft weight of them.    “   apologies.   you’re free to inspect the site yourself,   if you care to.   should the wound hinder you any further,   i’m here.  “

          he knows that he is not the kindest person. he’s blunt, he cuts right to the point. he heckles people like it’s a game, & it is not always warranted. it’s not warranted now, in the face of adelaide’s charity. ❛ thank you, ❜ he finally adds, though curtly, as he inspects what was left of the wound he had sustained. her magic had done its work, but it had not been enough, & what had been a great gash in his side was reduced by half its size. as he sits himself up, he winces & a pained gasp falls from his lips.

          ❛ then you will die, girl, if you are not careful. ❜ he remembers, clearly, his sister’s flight and how he’d subsequently lost her. he remembers the dread that had settled within him. how he’d chase her. how she’d demanded that her life would not be dictated by the fact that she did not bear a crest.

          ❛ eugh ... is your magic not enough ? m - must you lay your hands on me ? ❜