[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ONd4lpK.png[/img][/center] [color=00F8FE]Time: 11am Location: Edin Theater Interactions: Wulfric [@SilverPaw][/color] [hr] [center][color=ab274f]“How could I possibly not make time for my little brother? I can pencil you in for the day after tomorrow…”[/color][/center] [color=9FA1A4][color=00F8FE]“I’ll be there,”[/color] Callum responded before Wulfric had finished speaking. He didn’t think about it for a moment, just jumped at the opportunity half out of fear that Wulfric was joking. [color=00F8FE][i]Hunting trip?[/i][/color] He should’ve taken the other offer. [color=00F8FE][i]Look how incompetent I am brother. Watch me trip over a stick.[/i][/color] His mind was suddenly infiltrated by the sounds of what had to be hundreds of chickens. [color=00F8FE][i]I’m not a chicken.[/i][/color] [color=black][i][/i][/color] The performances continued. He wondered what a hunting trip with Wulfric would be like and if the bird would be doing all the hunting. He’d much rather watch a falcon be a falcon than show his brother how he could barely manage to handle a bow. Or a gun. He certainly didn’t feel any better when Wulfric pointed out that Ana was also a woman. Callum said nothing, only offered a half-hearted shrug but he noticed how quick Wulfric was to defend Ana. And it stung how none of that extended to him. [color=00F8FE][i]Not even a ‘hey Callum doesn’t smell that bad today’.[/i][/color] He wondered if Wulfric just liked being the golden child. [center][color=ab274f]“I wonder how long [i]this one[/i] can last before he lands himself on the execution block.”[/color][/center] The monkey’s cackle filled his head. [color=black][i][/i][/color] Callum didn’t quite get the joke that Clarence saw in Wulfric’s words. He did find it funny how the potential for one to end up on the execution block hadn’t seemed to matter before. Not when it was Darryn. [color=00F8FE]“How long? As long as he does a good job, and doesn’t disappoint the crown. That is how this all works, right?”[/color] His voice left him like a shrug, a breeze that didn’t care where it went so long as it rustled the leaves. Callum wondered why he didn’t care what happened to the puppet dancer, but he didn’t. It wasn’t like Edin sought his advice or approval for anything. Lorenzo’s performance was captivating; as bold and strange as the man. When the Duke asked the audience to hold their idea of love in their hearts, Callum thought of unwavering loyalty, unconditional support, and sacrifice. The way it was in stories, and he wondered if he’d ever really loved anyone like that before. He had never seen Lorenzo so clearly. As the second stanza told of how love had become a weapon against the poor Duke, Cal thought of his childhood. Of being trapped in a family that had so little love to offer and who only rationed it out to their benefit. Then came lines about love from a bottle. His heartstrings were tugged and his eyes watered at Lorenzo’s words. Whiskey was love. Always there, always a comfort, always easing the pain. [color=black][i][/i][/color] [color=00F8FE][i]Shut up.[/i][/color] [center][Color=salmon]“Heaven? Hell? It mattered not on which door…”[/color][/center] As the petal fell, Callum was on his feet wiping a few tears from his face. [color=black][i][/i][/color] He ignored the monkey and applauded the great poet Lorenzo, a man who had shown the audience his soul and who had made at least one person feel less alone. Then, Ana closed out the show. He smiled warmly as she brought up Darryn and he relaxed into the somber notes from her cello. It was beautiful and honest, but more than that, it brought life back into Darryn's memory. [center][color=A187BE]“Weak…She makes herself look weak. And worse—she makes [i]us[/i] look weak.”[/color][/center] Alibeth’s voice grated against his ears, such a jarringly ugly thing to hear after such a beautiful song. Once the soft applause for his sister had finished, he turned to Wulfric. [color=00F8FE]“Ana really is something special.”[/color] Cal spoke to Wulfric, looked only at Wulfric, but was not quite with his tone. [color=00F8FE]“It’s no wonder that our people truly love her, I think it’s in her willingness to show how much heart she has. Brave thing to do in this world.”[/color] He studied his brother, wondering if Wulfric would contradict Alibeth to support Anastasia. [/color]