#egoirce

     And yet she stood there, transfixed, until a man she hadn’t met before walked from the next aisle of the store into her own, snapping her out of this strange trance. Coming back to reality and smoothing her skirt, Felicia stood up straight and attempted to excuse what probably looked like strange behavior. “Um... Haha, don’t mind me! I’m just so interested in this... this...” What was it called again? “T-television?”

       He was, admittedly surprised. He hadn’t expected to find a shogi building this nice in the Cotes Ward, but it was a surprisingly tranquil place. It was quiet, filled with amateurs and pros alike, all peacefully playing games with one another. In fact, it made him actually want to sit down and take a try at a game himself.

        He wasn’t exactly an expert at the game (his skill was middling, if anything), but it did still feel familiar to him. The stranger had approached him while he’d been shuffling the pieces around on the board, aimlessly visualizing various moves he could make. Once he noticed them, he sat up straight and turned his attention to them. 

Reserved for you!

                ❛   — Ah, Mark…  ❜

        LYN  certainly had no aversion to physical affection, but admittedly, this sort of display from Mark managed to catch her off guard. She hesitates for only a moment — merely out of surprise — before returning the gesture wholeheartedly, leaning more of her weight into his gentle embrace. Immediately, the familiar scent indelibly associated with Mark wrapped around her as surely as his arms; the scent of many a well-worn campfire, of taverns and pine firs; the scent of a dewy morning, a crisp evening; the scent of laughter and tears alike; and somewhere deep, the smell of the wind that whipped across the plains of Sacae. The mere presence of that scent gave her comfort, secure in the knowledge that she was among friends — and above all, it made her feel at home. 

     “A tactician...? Actually, I can see that.”

There was something about this man that reminded her a little too much of Yukimura. Maybe it was the clothing, maybe it was the way he held himself. Either way, there was no doubt that this man probably knew his stuff... maybe. It was easy to talk and act like you knew things, but actually knowing things? That was a different story. 

Still, maybe she shouldn’t write him off as someone lying about his intellect already. She would need to see just how smart he was, in the future. For now, she was focused on getting to know him! If they were all stuck here, might as well make a few friends along the way, right?

   “I-I’m sorry...!” She makes quick work of apologizing, with a lightning-fast bow of her head. “This place is kind of affecting m... Well, that’s no excuse for walking right into someone, I suppose... --- I... uh, I really do apologize. I’ve just been kind of s-spaced-out since I got here. Aside from having a vague sense of where all the wards are located, I... I have no way to make neither heads nor tails of this place,” she admits, eyes cast low and gaze jammed off to the side.

Markus vc: Compared to what I have seen, a talking dog seems rather tame. Strange, but tame.