#bladeunbound

Shez has been watching people try at this game for a good couple of throws. Even some of the best arms that stepped up to the stall were missing like three of the same ones constantly. He really shouldn't care too much, especially when the prizes are just some really huge huggable plushies but he can't help himself. He walks up to the man and covers his mouth as he speaks. "That guy is definitely cheating right? I want to catch him red handed. If you can do a really good throw we can get back at him!"

The stall is so obviously rigged, he half expects August to claim it as one of his schemes. Finn's frown sits in place as he watches contestant after contestant fail to win anything against the targets seemingly made from steel. He wonders if he should intervene. As a knight of the monastery, they should be striving to keep its people from some treachery. But, he was not here as a knight either...

His eyes drift slowly from the scoundrel over to a..student? He's unfamiliar with them, but that doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He talks to him as casually as anything.

Without moving or uncrossing his arms, his eyes drift back over to the man running the stall. "...and what is it you intend to do when you prove that he is cheating?" He asks. "Do you have the authority to arrest the man, or put an end something that has, in part, been approved by the church as part of the festivities?"

He sighs as he straightens to his full height. "I do not find the man's childish behaviors acceptable, believe me, but rushing in to attempt to right every wrong without planning just leads a man to an early grave."

"I'm kinda glad I went with this...but it might've been fun to watch people get confused all night." The academy's evening wear had been tempting, way too much so but...he wanted to do something just a little more special...a little more him.

He takes a step back and does a small spin, letting the sleeves flow and show off bare arm.

"It was so much work to get my hair to stay right too! Ugh...I kinda get why some clients take forever when they're getting escorted...but did I...do good?"

He had already had enough confirmation in the confines of his head but...it was a normal feeling to want to hear it from someone he cared about, right?

"It's nice that I don't have to wash this tomorrow," Shez admits with a laugh. Sure, it would've been cool to wear a dress totally unique to her... but the rental is more practical, right? Cheaper than a new dress, and it's out of her hands by tomorrow morning. Where else is a mercenary like her going to wear a fancy dress?

Still, Shez oohs and ahhs at her brother's outfit. Her eyes light up at the sight of glittering tinsel in his purple hair. It's not the stiff suit-and-tie that she sees other students where, but something breezy and free. Actually, it kinda reminds her of Arval. Shez wonders if her brother knows about them... no, probably not.

"Yeah, hair's such a pain," Shez agrees. If she doesn't keep up with it, it turns into a thick, knotted rat's nest. "But seriously, you look great! It really came together in the end."

(Her eyes land on her choker around his neck. Yeah... she'll have to write that one off as a loss.)

He really doesn't want to approach her at all. She's definitely gonna do something and Hilda's blow already left him unsteady on his feet.

"Look-"

Really not the best way to lead out!

"You know how it is! It's not like I could really do much- you're strong and scary and hard to actually get a hit on! Doing as much as possible is usually how it goes and I dont have my other sword so really what other choice did I have. I'm...it heals!"

He scurried off into the crowd of students before he could hear what she said. He really didn't wanna get scolded scruffed or anything!

Guess that bow was just...kind of his now then...

"Happy birthday, Edelgard," is what he settles on as first greeting. She was going to have tons of people coming to and fro, even getting up this early didn't guarantee he was the first person to interrupt her sleep like this.

His hands keep hold of two things behind his back.

"I know I haven't even known you that long, but you helped me out a lot. Never felt like you left me behind even though you kept moving forward." His left hand reaches from behind and he holds out a box of tea leaves. "I don't think I ever asked you what kind it was you liked so I just ended up getting what we usually had." Tea that was so citrusy always tasted funny on his tongue. She always had a calm look when she drunk it.

"It's not much -- I mean it is... kinda." His right hand holds out an armored stuffed bear -- the sort the market place was never short on -- that barely fit within his palm. Around its neck, a whistle.

"I don't know if it'll be useful or bring you any comfort but when I have that, I know I'm never alone. As long as I hold out. someone will come for me."

"I hope I can be there for you like that."

Birthday 2025

It is a busy time of year. The who's sort themselves in her mind while the why's settle elsewhere. A familiar voice beckons a raised brow to follow steady words: "Thank you. I was wondering if I would see you today, but I knew I wouldn't find myself disappointed."

She doesn't consider herself picky with her teas, instead shaking her head in disagreement with attention drawn to the glistening object intertwined with the cute bear.

Edelgard takes the animal into her hands— Light and fluffy as they tend to be. Lilacs saunter to the whistle dangling with every move she makes as she tap a finger atop it. "For me..?" She asks without expecting an affirmative answer. She already knows. The princess removes it from its neck and brings it into a free palm, curling her fingers around it.

He gets the purpose of a class like this - along with the random assignment of partners - but it's kind of a little insane seeing how easy it is to get hurt. Shez has fallen from plenty of trees and been fine, the idea that someone could break their arm doing the same makes him feel really fortunate.

That said, he's not really good at this. "Sorry," he says to her.

The bandage has been wrapped twice over. Stopping the hypothetical bleeding like that is a good thing right? Even if it's a little bulky, better that than an infected shin right?

He looks up and realization dawns on him- "Wait, I remember you- way back when the monastery was kind of run down..." Man, how long ago was that now.

self-indulgent meme | Accepting!

She glances up briefly at the other student before her eyes return to his work. "Instead of apologizing, you might learn to do this properly." While she may be glad that she does not need to needlessly prove her skill at a talent she already possesses, she does wish that she did not have to sit here and watch those with no talent for it flounder. If they at least let her nap, she might enjoy the free time, but she was worried some student might get the wrong idea about what she was meant to be demonstrating if they saw her resting.

With a sigh, she taps the bandage with one finger. "You are being wasteful with your supplies. Should a situation arise where you need to tend to multiple patients, you will quickly run out of supplies if you use that amount for each of them." She tugs on the bandage until he releases it and sets about unwinding it to demonstrate properly.

That is her intent, but midway through the action his recognition of her makes her freeze. Run down is a generous way of describing the ruins that she had woken up in a year ago. Run down is more apt to describe how she had felt when she realized that during the attack she had...

"Do you think we'll be able to pull them up on our own? They seem like they fell down with a pretty big splash." Shez is already pulling off his armor. Only way to know is to try. If he can't bring it up on his own, maybe he can bribe Ephraim into it by telling him he'll do his chores or something.

"I heard this stuff makes for good sentimental blades but it's rough to find it in enough quantities to make a proper sword so you just get a ton of smaller daggers."

He had seen the meteor fragments hit the lake's still surface with a splash that crescendos before it sinks into the lake's depths, but unlike the other man he's not peeling off his armor to get at them. Instead, he stands, arms crossed and watching him.

"I'm not going in there." He shakes his head.

It's nearing midnight, it's cold, and unless he can pull up enough material to make the greatest lance in any kingdom, he's not budging. Not to mention, he's not a strong swimmer.

He’s not used to lookin in one mirror, let alone this many. How hecking much did this whole thing cost? “Do you think they put some kind of magic doubles somewhere in here?” It’s crazy dark, just light enough to see another Shez staring back at him as he peers through the entrance. 

“Better to go together, right?”

“Hehe, let’s see. It’s going to be a soup anyways but, we still gotta eat the stuff we used to make the stock! We can’t be wasteful.” It’s been a while since he’s seen Yuzu, but falling back into this rhythm is as easy as breathing.

He brandishes the knife with a smile and holds one out to her as well. “Let’s get slicin and dicin! No one can complain if we sneak a little snack if we cut everything up really nicely!”

Yuzu nods with zero indecision, proceeding to pick up a smaller knife of her own. “Aye! The stock provided here is fit to serve an army’s size much greater than ours. Leaving it aside would be nothing worse than a pure waste.”

Although it has been some time since she’s seen the boy with lighter-purple hair within her class, the grin he passes to her shares the same warmth as it did when they first encountered each other. It feels as though Shez has some charismatic air to him. Even if his speech far from matches hers, the crane can understand the heart in his words perfectly.

That being said, she still looks at the long carrot she prepares to dice up with some uncertainty. Not enough to stop her from starting to chop up the vegetable into miniature chunks, but she does set the knife down and shuffles through her pockets once finished.