#support: joachim

[argentiia]

[ CHAMPAGNE ] - And from one of the finest bottles Adrestia has to offer. No student is allowed more than a single glass, and it looks classier to swirl it before it’s empty. ----------- “Erma, thanks again for helping me with tonight,” Joachim comes with a champagne glass in hand. “To think we'd even have the same flowers. It feels a little like we got set up.” Despite that phrasing, he seems to be in a pleasant enough mood as he holds out his glass to her, bundling it with one of his own hyacinths. “I hope you don't mind one of mine then. It's not much, but I got you a drink too. They say it's one per student, so I want to give mine to you.”

"It is no trouble."

Erma shakes her head, touched by his gratitude, but faintly wondering if she was truly deserving of it. Looking after Joachim was the least she could do after the injustices she nearly enacted on him—were she put in the same situation again, she would likely make the same choice. But obviously things would be much different, had she the full context of the situation.

(She thinks of Estel. Had she realized sooner...)

She accepts the drink and flower, wondering what to do with the former. She could partake out of politeness... she did not wish for her judgments to be impaired, but champagne was a light enough beverage that one glass shouldn't effect much.

Hopefully.

"Thank you, Joachim." She smiles, "Once again, I am humbled by your kindness. I trust you have been enjoying yourself? No one has bothered you?"

@licehn

[macnaradhaigh]

@licehn asked: [ SEQUESTER ] - Some rooms remain unused, and while by the padlocks on their doors you suspect they are meant to remain that way, some poor sap seems to have forgotten to make sure they were locked properly. They make for an excellent space away from the chaos of the rest of the ball—though you may not be the first one there. From a spare room with a padlock on the outside, a series of knocks resound. “Hi! If anyone's there, uh... can you let me out please?” comes a voice from within as well, the knocks insistent. Unlike the other rooms with similar setups, this padlock is actually secure.

The ringing in her ears had just started to fade when Petra hears the dull raps on the door. Instinctively, she crouches and reaches for her belt. Her grasp is met with nothing but fabric as she remembers her location. Her gaze locks in on the door, the weight of the padlock, the thickness of the shackle.

"Stand back, please," she calls out, looking around the hallway for something blunt. In the corner and atop a decorative plinth, a wrought iron candelabra burned, casting a gentle glow in the hallway. Her hands wrap around the base, silently noting the heft, as she extinguishes the flames and discards the candles before heading back to the padlocked room. With the candelabra in her right hand, Petra lifts her skirt, wrapping her left hand in the excess fabric to hold the padlock on its side. With the shackle exposed at an angle, she brings the base of the candelabra down once--twice--three times. She feels a soft click! as she pulls her left hand down, and discards the broken padlock.

Still holding the candelabra, Petra carefully pushes the door ajar and peers inside, only to be met with--ears?

She pauses.

"How did you get in here?"

[sublimeflowoftime]

[ FLOWER ARRANGEMENT ] - No matter how many flowers you gather, your bouquet won’t look its best unless you have the skill to make it so. A couple of students have taken upon itself to imbue their peers with the knowledge of flower language and the art of flower arrangement, and as a result the garden has become something of a workshop.

What a… unique appearance, this one has. As do many of the students lately, now that she thinks about it. Perhaps it is some sort of new fashion trend…? Or…??

…No. No, it would be rude to ask. Curious though she may be, self-expression through fashion no matter how odd is a very personal thing. Far be it from her to make a student feel bad about themselves simply because she doesn’t understand their choice in headgear.

Or how said headgear is…. Moving….???? Hm. Must be enchanted, for some reason. Another oddity.

“Oh my, well you have quite the colorful collection in your possession, don’t you? A veritable rainbow of flowers. You must be quite cherished.” Sothis offers a smile as she leans over the other’s shoulder, hopefully lessening any potential discomfort that follows as she reaches an arm into his space to run a hand across the petals.

“Hmm… but wouldn’t they look far more striking if you were to position them like this?” Grabbing the stem of a flower in the bouquets center, she positions it instead to the edge of the gathering — then the one once in its place, she shifts again to another side, brows furrowed in concentration the further along the chain she gets. “Perhaps if we move this one here… these two up here… and…”

Finally leaning back, Sothis pulls an orchid from her own bouquet, securing it firmly in the final remaining space between flowers needed to make it symmetrical. Or, as close to symmetrical as one can get with flowers, anyway. Loose and crumbling in nature as they are (especially cut as they are), it would be unreasonable to expect it to last more than the few moments of stillness the conversation gives them. But for now, it is nice. And that is what matters.

“There we are! Far more cohesive a design, wouldn’t you agree?”

[helswathed]

“Uh, hi! Here. You said you wanted a treat after everything,”  Joachim explains his presence to Lex after the conclusion of the mock battle, having been looking for the man and catching up to him now with a slight jog. The wolf takes hold of his fork-shaped staff and with a quick flick and a wave of magic, he asks,  “Your hand please.”

In Lex's hand manifests a small cupcake decorated with frosting, topped with various berries, all put together in a pale pink wrapper.

“If you prefer the sword, I can make that too. I just thought it might be a bit much.”  With his free hand, Joachim sheepishly rubs the back of his own neck.  “Sorry I didn't win after everything. Thank you for trying to assist back there though. I couldn't have gotten that duel without you.”

Oh, hey, it was that kid who he'd been fighting next to. Had anyone said his name? Lex genuinely couldn't recall. He certainly hoped not, because that way he at least had some excuse for not remembering what it was. If everyone knew the kid's name but him, that would reflect poorly on Lex. And... was he even a kid? Lex had been internally thinking of the students as children the entire battle because he was in a position of power relative to them as the knight and the husband of one of their teachers, but in retrospect, he probably wasn't even much older than most of those students. Or... was he? It was hard to figure out the specifics of his age with his missing years of memory.

Oh. Shit. He'd gotten completely lost in his thoughts and hadn't paid attention to a word the kid had been saying. His attention was only brought back to the student by a cupcake being thrust into his hand. Had he seen this before? Was this one of the things the boy had carried into battle or something? Nah, probably not. This felt way too soft. It would have gotten stale if he'd been carrying it around all day.

"Huh? Oh, thanks. I didn't actually think you'd give me anything, honestly," Lex laughed, offering a broad grin to the student. "I was mostly joking."

It was something Lex wasn't going to turn down, though. A nice morsel would do him wonders right now, exhausted as he was from whatever that freaky bow had done to him. The juice had helped, but something more solid would really hit the spot. He didn't waste even a second before peeling off the wrapper and taking a huge bite. Just as Lex had suspected, it tasted all the more delicious for how hungry he had gotten over the course of the fight.

"Don't gotta 'pologize to me, though," Lex said around his mouthful of cupcake. "I'm not your teacher. My wife, though... I'll just tell her you did a good job. You made it to the end, after all. Even if you didn't win, you made it further than almost anyone else. Would be kinda silly for us to criticize that, wouldn't it? Buuuuut I don't know enough about swordplay to speak for how good that was. Again, her job, not mine. If any of it was sloppy, Ayra'll sort you out for that."

[classybrawler]

[Hubba]

“You...! Your fate shall cross with someone VERY SOON!”

A ruckus is being made from one particular stall. Looking at the sign, the girl manning it appears to be some sort of matchmaker. Her sign advertises that she divines the fates of bonds of all kinds, sensing not only how people truly feel but how much work they might need to put in to make things work. Is there disaster? Is there romance?

Such an idea would normally imply someone's coming to test their compatibility with someone else. Perhaps they'd come in a duo, giddy at the very thought.

“That's not really what I'm asking for... I just want to know if—”

The boy sporting wolf ears at the stall is alone, and his protests are drowned out by the girl's theatrics, hands moving wildly around her crystal ball as she makes loud whooshing noises.

“The friend-shaped void a woman at this very festival has... YOU WILL FILL IT! I see it now! And she will remind you of the void you too have in your heart... and... SHE IS COMING RIGHT THIS WAY!!”

Joachim yelps as the matchmaker leaps forward, leaning over the stall and points out to a fiery-haired woman with intricate makeup. The young girl calls out to her:

“You!! You have a friend with a wolf tail who you have not seen in some time, don't you?!”

Milling around the festival, Panette has been attempting to check out some of the various stalls and vendors around, though doing so has been harder than expected.

The hubbub from the hubba had started off quaint and charming from how larger-than-life she had been acting, but after a while, she had found herself growing slightly irritated at how little she can hear her own thoughts.

She can only pity the adjacent stall owners.

Eventually, she decides to approach the stall herself out of sheer curiosity; a frown forming on her face as she sees that the owner seems to be in the middle of entertaining an unwillingly captive audience.

What’s more, she tries to distract from it by calling attention to her, which makes Panette roll her eyes. This truly is a bit much.

…and then the woman unmistakably talks about Merrin and Panette feels herself freeze on the spot.

“How did you…?” is all she can stammer out before the lady claps her hands together.

“I know ALL there is to bonds!” She cackles with glee. “Your fates have now been intertwined and sealed, destined to fill the emptiness your companions have left behind.”

Initially stunned by the combination of vague fate blabbering and ultra precise Merrin knowledge, Panette tries to walk closer and ask some more questions about what in the world just happened, but the matchmaker simply holds her hand out in front, head turned away from Panette.

“Your fate has already been told, there is nothing more to discuss.” She then turns her attention to another passerby, already spewing more nonsense with a point of her finger.

Panette turns away from the scene; she’s not getting anything more out of the woman and if she thinks too much about it she’s gonna get a damn headache.

Her attention turns to the boy that was being accosted; he does indeed seem to have a wolf’s tail. Also ears, which Merrin lacked. Mayhaps she shall have to bring it up when next she meets her.

For now, however, she walks over to wolf boy; she might as well strike up a conversation.

“Greetings. What say you we reconvene somewhere… away from here.” She points at the stall, before pointedly moving the opposite direction; if she’s going to have a conversation, she would like to hear her own thoughts.

Finally far enough that the matchmaker cannot be heard, Panette takes a deep, calming breath, before turning to face her new acquaintance properly.

“That woman may have been quite the nuisance, but her words about my companion ring true. Truth be told, I think all the postulating about our meeting is hard to believe.” She shakes her head. “But, belief or not, I have met friends in quite the odd circumstances before.” Her expression lightens up, her hand offered up for a handshake.

“I am Panette, it is a pleasure to meet you, supposed fated friend of mine.” She lets out a slight laugh.

[aliberation]

[Stars]

“Oh, hi there, Alear. Funny seeing you so soon again. Have you been having fun?”  Joachim asks when he turns and sees the dragon approaching the hill— or rather, the bottom of it.  “There's a mage higher up. I've heard he'll write a message in the stars for you. It's hard to believe, isn't it?”

Despite that, just as he says it, a colorful and bright whoosh bursts overheard, and the very stars themselves seem to shift. They write the phrase, 'Will you marry me?' A couple at the hilltop next to the mage appear to be mid-proposal for it. From Joachim's point at the bottom of the hill, he can't quite make out what the couple says, but he can see their silhouettes against the backdrop of the starry sky embrace, indicating a successful feat.

Though he imagines they can't hear him either, he gives a soft round of applause for them anyway before he continues speaking to the woman beside him.

“Haha, but I suppose seeing is believing. I've been watching these messages for the last while. I'm not sure if I should join them though,”  he confesses.  “When I think of who I want to send a message in the stars for, it's one of the people in my family— the one I told you about. But... since I'm alone here, she'll never get to see it.”

"Joachim!" Truthfully, she'd been coming to a bit of the quieter areas for a chance to catch her breath-- Alear has no complaints about the festival as a whole, but she's forgotten how much energy she can expend in a short period of time. Between winning prizes, fighting with the toy weapons... and now this. "I have! Maybe a little too much, honestly!" The Divine Dragon stops beside him as he speaks, and the colorful flash of lights above them has her glancing upwards with a long 'oooooh' to accompany her wonder. She almost doesn't stop to congratulate the couple because of how entranced she is by the multitude of colors amongst the stars, but she quickly follows suit in Joachim's applause. She... understands what he says. Once upon a time, perhaps she viewed these things in the same manner; where she felt that time and space would keep her separate from those she loved, her feelings finding no home in the hearts of her peers. Now, though? "Well..... That settles it, then!" Alear reaches over to gently tug him by the hand, beaming over her shoulder as she encourages him to follow her up the length of the hill. "You never know unless you try, right? The way I see it... you're both under the same sky. Maybe it's not night there right now, or maybe it's too cloudy for her to see the stars-- but..." "I think she'd know. The next time she gets to see those same twinkling lights, I think she'll know that you're trying to tell her something. And-- you're not alone! So... why don't we give it a shot, huh?"

[aliberation]

“Happy winter festival, Alear!”  Joachim calls out to the dragon with a pleasant smile, making the walk to meet her where she is.  “My family might not be here with me, but I still wanted to celebrate... when I thought about it, I thought about you. Er, is that odd?”

Joachim sheepishly tries to laugh it off lightheartedly, scratching the side of his cheek as he does so.

“I think it's because of the fact you felt so strongly about my definition of family... and you felt that way about it too. It made me feel a little less alone since coming here, so I wanted to thank you.”

With that, he takes out a small bag from inside one of his coat's pockets, drawn closed with a drawstring. Holding it out to Alear, he holds it a bit delicately. Hidden within is a small handmade hairclip designed to look like a cluster of tiny flowers painted white to stand out no matter which side of her hair she wears it hypothetically.

“The women in my village both wear floral accessories, so I've got a little practice making them. It's nice to see flowers too after a long winter. It reminds you there's still hope to keep living,”  Joachim tells her.  “Sorry if it looks a bit clumsy though. My teacher is better at making these things than me I think.”

Alear can't say she's particularly surprised to see all of her friends streaming by, but... one thing that does catch her off-guard is the sentiment that Joachim gives to her in his words. She blinks for a moment, brows arched-- and those words are all she needs to hold close as a torch to keep herself warm through these frigid months. To give to others what was once given to her: isn't that what she's always wanted? The giggle that follows is slightly bashful, but her smile is genuine and unabashed, pink tinging the surface of her cheeks. "There's nothing wrong with that at all! If anything, it-- ah-- makes me feel really... happy." She can feel the telltale burn of slight embarrassment, but she soldiers through it. "You didn't have to...!" As he presents the little bag, Alear hands on every word spoken to her as she creates a mental image in her mind-- perhaps the idea of a young Joachim patiently listening to tales of his elders, or the adorable idea of him fumbling through learning how to do these things-- and as she carefully turns the clip over in the palm of her hand.... "Oh, Joachim.... This is beautiful!" Maybe to the eye of a professional, there's a few inconsistencies and a few parts where a stray mistake caused a tiny bump. To Alear, however, all of those traits embody the effort and love put into this by someone she considers a friend, and she cradles it to her chest before shuffling to pull him into a bear hug with a loud laugh. "Thank you! Thank you!! I can't say it enough. And... Joachim?" Alear pauses there to pull away far enough to flash him a gentle smile, her hands fumbling for a moment before carefully placing the clip on the red side of her hair. "For what it's worth-- you've already become family to me!"

[argentiia]

27. The last battle...‎ ‎  53. Dining partners...‎ ‎  21. School days...‎ ‎

“So you're here too, Knight Erma,”  Joachim greets her, recalling the way her charge had often referred to her.  “It's been a while since the morning we met. I'm glad you look well though.”

And here now, no longer in the dimness of the woods, he can better make her out in the bright light of day. Ostensibly, peace is around them, further solidified by the way he has the time to offer her a plate of cookies on them rather than stare down the other end of her spear.

“I'm not Lady Yuni, but if you'll have me as a dining partner, I'd love to start anew with you.”

perfect teatime ( still accepting! )

She doesn't expect to see him.

Erma encountered many faces through the course of her travels and work, but few stuck in her recent memory as firmly as Joachim and his companions did. Accusations leveled, and expectations turned on their head—despite the difficult time he had gone through, here he stood, offering her a plate of cookies and the promise of a fresh start.

...He truly was kind.

"Joachim? I have no objections." She starts, wondering if she was already coming off too cold. "...I am sure you make a far more pleasant dining partner than I. The fact that you're here is testament enough to that."