#marth support

The following day they wake up and the house is already bouncing with far more energy than Charlotte feels she has. Still sulking and wounded over all her wasted time and energy, she sulks behind the group as they are directed along the house to where the supposed party will be taking place. It’s bustling, but not in the way Charlotte assumes the party is meant to be.

Servants rush around with last minute directions, fixing things and rearranging other things and putting things down just for someone else to come and pick it back up...Charlotte’s exhausted just watching them, and she hasn’t even done anything yet.

Sitting stationary in the ongoing storm of events are two people, a young woman and a younger boy. Charlotte perks up curiously. Were they lucky enough that the missing person they’d been sent to hunt down was sitting right there in front of them. She wished...the sooner she could get away from all this disappointment, the better.

Before she could even nudge any of the people she came with to try and suggest heading over to them, a voice calls out and Charlotte quickly snaps the mask of a perfectly demure woman back on.

“Oh, welcome everyone! Ah, it’ll be a while yet until we can truly begin…”

Charlotte smiles, though it lacks the energy she had yesterday. "Oh, that's quite alright! I know that I'm still just honored to even be invited." It’s not a bad idea. Charlotte figures if there's still time, they might be able to try snooping around and seeing if they can find something interesting to do until they're all shepherded around for the rest of their stay to make sure they don’t see precisely the kinds of things they might be looking for. "Is there anything that we might be able to do to help? I'd be delighted to help things run smoother and take that stress of your minds!"

“No need.” It’s not Lady Bergliez that answers but her companion, an incredibly lordly older man. He looks down his nose at you all, seemingly unimpressed. “I didn’t realize that we would have extra……… ‘guests’.”

Charlotte mentally wrinkles her nose. Great, some stuck up snob. She didn’t need any more than that interaction to feel that this was exactly the type of noble who got his kicks outta shitting on anyone below them. Ugh. She did not want to deal with this guy.

"Oh, you must be Lord Bergliez?" Charlotte smiles all white teeth and cheeriness once more, doing her best to look perfectly sweet. "Lady Bergliez so generously invited us, yes. We have been sent here formally by the Church of Seiros out of concern for Sasha, but I am sure that the announcements made here today will be of great reassurance to them when we return."

“You’re mistaken.” The lord says flatly. “I’m Lord Ziegler, actually.” His displeasure was already palpable when you came, but at the mention of the Church his mood manages to sour even more. “Hmph.”

Oops. Well, good. She hope that stung his ego.

“…Oh don’t mind him.” Lady Bergliez gives a winning smile. “It’s only natural for a father to be less than thrilled to part with a daughter. Isn’t that right, Virgil?” There is a moment of silence as Lord Ziegler seems to collect himself, his anger relaxing into a pensive, melancholy expression. “Yes… you’ll have to excuse me. Life’s trials continue to stack heavily on these shoulders of mine. To give away sweet Sasha threatens to be the straw that breaks the horse’s back.”

Charlotte hums in a way she hopes comes across as understanding. He was probably just pissy he didn’t marry her off to better. Charlotte glances over at the rest of the group and hopes someone else steps up to deal with this.

Fleeting Snow

The game is unfamiliar, but Mitama prides herself upon being a quick study. Finger pressed to her lips, she scans the cards in her can carefully for each of their number and suit in turn. It is a simple game, as it has been explained to her, but the pressure is shockingly insurmountable. Will she guess correctly? Incorrectly? It is a game based entirely in fate and luck, as she sees it, and she has always found great delight in playing with them.

Her game partner themselves is also quite a fair challenge. Her eyes drift again quickly to the blue haired student, but there is no tell in their expression, no hint of what may possibly hold the right answer. Of course, she did not expect there to be, but she can still attempt to sniff out what information she can.

Stalling, however, can only move the game so much, and Mitama finds that she lacks the patience for a war of attrition. With a thoughtful sigh, Mitama scans her cards once more before meeting her challenger face on.

SEND “BEEP” FOR A RANDOM TEXT FROM MY MUSE. ||27. A weird text

Charlotte huffs irritably after shoving her things back into the crappy bag they’d been stored in. Unbelievable. Just because you were a guard didn’t mean you had to be such a rude brute about the job. Her and Benny would’ve never torn through people’s possessions like that! Well....Benny never would’ve. But Charlotte would’ve at least made it look like she hadn’t messed their things up to shit.

“Unbelievable...awful service...” She grumbled to herself. She straightened up and gave a look around the area. Except for the tight security, it seemed like any other city she’d seen that prided itself on being a fortress. Hardly the type of place where criminals would be able to get in easily enough for people to go missing. And yet here they were all the same, investigating a missing person...

God she hoped there was a bonus in her paycheck for this.

"On the behalf of Lady Bergliez, I welcome my lords and ladies to the city of Merceus."

Charlotte turned to spot a man smiling politely at their group as he bowed in greeting. Her eyes gave him a quick once over. Handsome enough, and in armor that clearly cost a pretty penny. That wasn’t special though, especially in a fortress town. He was likely a servant of that family that they’d been told would be hosting them, sent to guide them there. Nothing too special.

"As for myself, I am Randolph von Bergliez, ranked general. My lady mother invites you all to stay within our residence during your time here, and offers our generosity and our goodwill."

Nevermind, she’d been wrong before.

“Oh, thank you so much for coming to meet us yourself!” Charlotte smiled prettily as she tilted her head so she looked up at him with her darling blue eyes through her eyelashes. “Your house is so generous to offer us shelter while we do our best to solve this horrible mess. Oh...” Charlotte giggles and rests a hand against her chest. “Pardon, my name is Charlotte from Nohr and it is a pleasure to meet you, General.”

She can practically feel that uppity noble kid glaring at her from the other group.

“Oh, but I am terribly sorry.” Charlotte frowns and shifts her head so that she looks appropriately distraught. “Your house and the victim’s are close, right? I imagine it must be awfully stressful for you all as well...I cannot imagine what you’ve been going through.”

Randolph looks respectfully (perhaps appreciatively) but only for a moment. "Y-yes... ah, likewise, Charlotte. I hope you make yourself–yourselves welcome here." He smiles a bit, before bringing a fist to his mouth to cough and clear his throat, looking away. "Ahem." All professional from here. Though Randolph's professional tone is weakened by his visible... wariness. Confusion, perhaps. "Actually, you mentioned something important, something that has perplexed me. The "victim" you speak of... you are talking about Sasha, correct?"

“Oh, did I say that? My mistake, slip of the tongue.”

Mitama's eyes sparkles like starlight as she silently watches the fountain that has been put out on display. She wonders how it works, how they manage to continue the steady flow of chocolate. Is it magic? Is the supply of chocolate that flows endless? What luxuries those with money to spare could find in life...

As a shrine maiden, Mitama should be above such mortal pleasures. Surely, spiritual enlightenment was all that she needed to experience the true joys of life and not a magically flowing chocolate fountain that sang with the draw of seraphs from the table it sat upon and-

"What do you recommend?" Mitama asks. Marth perhaps might have had more of a chance to encounter such a thing than her. Mitama plucked a cookie delicately between her fingers and considered how best to carefully angle it into the fountain so that she could enjoy the bitter sweetness without losing hold of her pastry.

Asugi blinked, looking up at the strange man. “Uh... Hey, there?” He took the candy cautiously, and nervously nibbled at the edge. Finding that it was probably fit for consumption, he popped the rest of it in his mouth and started munching on it.

SEND “BEEP” FOR A RANDOM TEXT FROM MY MUSE. || 4. A late night text