The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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He wouldn't let himself grin too widely, but Fionn would take the win where he could find it. Truth be told, he also had more that he could turn the conversation to, but he was just as capable of being obstinately friendly as she was at remaining stubbornly alone. The fact that she was now offering to show him something new, without any need for him to ask after it, argue or wheedle for it, or the like, only sweetened the small victory.

"Gotta get started learning it like when I first learned to hold a sword, aye? Sure, let's see if I've got any talent to go with the potential!" Having something new to add to his bag of tricks once he developed some useful minor spells would, at the very least, help him break any possible stalemates he might run into with Renar or Gerard.

By the Goddesses, he could see the expressions on their faces now.

"Hope you can be patient with me, though; I'm more physically minded than anything else." A fact that was blatantly obvious given his build and role within the order.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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"Knew I should have grabbed one of the custard tarts."

It had been a quick, spur-of-the-moment choice between a custard tart or the fruit tart; in the end, he decided to grab one that might be less commonly taken just in case Tyaethe was the type to prefer something different from the majority. In a way, she still was, but it seemed like everywhere he looked people were always wanting custard tarts. At least it meant more of the others for him!

Momentary muttering aside; "I'm really not forcing myself to do this," he said after another bite. "Getting asked for my blood so immediately was a bit of a shock, sure, but am I not allowed to take an interest in how my fellow knights are doing?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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Must be the possible elvish admixture in parts of Velt, he imagined. The idea that he might have some small amount of magical talent to harness was an interesting one, though, even if it wouldn't amount to too much more than parlor tricks; he'd have to look into it. Maybe it'd be enough to get him lateral movement from the knight career track to the paladin one if he had enough to work with.

But before that, there was cheesecake. Reduced down to only one plate and fork, he took a quick bite of the sambocade. Truth be told, elderflower wasn't something he normally went for, but even if he had any notable dislike of the flavour he doubt he'd have minded it much in the cake, even if it didn't have berries and honey atop. He might've grabbed the bread pudding as well, if it weren't for the fact that cold bread pudding was a travesty.

"Hardly implies that it still is one, though," he observed between bites. "Don't see any reason I should be one of the ones contributing to it if that's the case. Spontaneous bloodletting involved or no." Best not to dwell on that albeit-minimal loss overlong, though, lest he help ruin her talkative, seemingly-good mood entirely.

"Thinking of—now that we've established some of your favourite bloods, now you've got to tell me your favourite dessert. So that I know how best to bribe you in the future, of course."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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"Same thing with other animals," he replied. Beef tasted like beef, mutton like mutton, pork like pork—but subtle differences were always there, depending on the specific breed, what it fed upon, the locality and how that affected what the animal in question fed upon. If he had to guess based on his general diet, he'd probably come across as fairly savoury. Luckily for the both of them he hadn't had any opportunity to hit the casks in the cellar yet today, otherwise this might be even more awkward than it already seemed.

At least the conversation made it a bit less awkward.

"You'll have to tell me if I've got any great magic in me, then," he joked. "Though I doubt I'm magical at all, certainly not nearly as much as—ach, bitseach!" It didn't really hurt all that much, but he'd never liked needles; having a pair jabbed into his wrist like that merited the muttered exclamation, mild or no.

At least she made it quick, even if the bit of dizziness was rapidly setting in. "Just some conversation, really," he said as he rubbed at his wrist. The puncture marks were definitely still noticeable, but Tyaethe didn't lie; it didn't keep bleeding after she was done. That was a definite highlight of the experience. "Can't imagine you get to have much normal talks with many of the other knights, after all—let alone how many are probably too timid, awestruck, or what-have-you to even try in the first place. Do you want one of these desserts now?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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Fionn had sharp eyes, and neither the twitch nor the barest bit of reticence in moving didn't go unnoticed. "Listen, even if you're holding it up for me, that's still an awkward position for both of us if I sit on the floor," he grumbled, carefully transferring both plates to one hand, rolling up his sleeve, and walking over to sit next to the diminutive vampire. It sounded like the most she'd be taking would be about a pint, then; that shouldn't be too hard to deal with. Rest up, drink a lot of water or something else minimally intoxicating, stock up on the red meats and organ meats at dinner.

And probably the spinach, if they had any.

"Ever develop any preferences for specific people's blood? There's gotta be taste and texture differences, like, same as with a cow depending what it's fed on lately." Might at least satisfy some of his random curiosity if he was going to experience some mild exsanguination by Tyaethe's fangs. He glanced forlornly down at the cake and the pie, neither of which he could really eat with a single hand without making some sort of mess.

Hopefully it wouldn't take her too long, otherwise he'd wish he had a book or something else to occupy his attention.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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It made sense. They couldn't well afford just to have a small pool of knights constantly left unable to fulfill their duties just because of constantly feeding Tyaethe, nor would it be particularly feasible to hire in servants just to have their blood drawn when the First and Youngest was feeling peckish. If anything, the latter would probably massively harm the reputation of the order in the long run if news of it got out; sure, it would be all well and good if those who were hired for it knew full well what was expected of them and agreed to it whole-heartedly, but such a tale would massively decrease the hiring pool if anybody who wanted to work in the keep thought they might be expected to give blood. Neverminding that it could be spun as the Iron Roses preying upon the poor and needy, paying them just to feed the local vampire.

Yet it was his blood. He needed it. She said that it wouldn't be too much, that it would only put him out of any strenuous activity, heavy exercise or the like, for the rest of the day; what if she was wrong? What if she accidentally drank too much? It was a silly worry, but it was one that existed all the same. He'd lost decent amounts of blood before, and while the wounds that led to it helped, he was still nearly bedridden afterwards. Surely she wouldn't take that much, though, right?

"How much do you need, and do you prefer to just bite in, or rather cut it open and let it flow that way?" Neither was particularly comfortable to imagine, but sitting there with her teeth sunken into his wrist seemed the less comfortable of the two. "I get to sit down for this, right?" Surely she wasn't so mean as to declare her dedicated spot off-limits even when draining his veins.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@Raineh Daze

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He started to withdraw the desserts with a small bit of surprise, before reflexively answering "Fionn's fine, honest—"

And then the rest of what she was saying sank in. He blinked once, twice, and raised an eyebrow in morbid curiosity. "There's veins right at the surface in the wrist, and it's easier to bite them open without killing the person anyways. Why would you go for anywhere different?" A simple, clinical fact; anywhere else trying to reach the blood would probably need more damage to be done to the surrounding flesh, and would be harder to stop the bleeding after.

He blinked again. That was probably the wrong outlook to take on this.

"Wait, is this the normal protocol for having a conversation with you, or do you just ask every knight this eventually?" Probably only the clean ones, actually; he couldn't imagine biting into one of the grimier, unwashed fools among the knights would be a particularly pleasant experience. Beyond the extent to which being a vampire probably wasn't the most pleasant experience to begin with.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@ERode @Psyker Landshark @Raineh Daze

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Common soldiery might even have been a stretch, as Renar put it; mercenaries often carried a strange blend of professionalism and outright terrible discipline that set them well apart from the common soldiery and the noble men-at-arms and knights alike. "Maybe make sure one of those letters you send out is a request for some instructional tomes on tactics to add to the library, then," he said as he turned, walking out the smithy with one hand lazily waved at them in farewell. Though, as he walked on towards the main dining hall, the joke seemed to make more and more actual sense to him.

Certainly, most of the knights in the order knew more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery, but if nobles the country over had the same opinions that Renar was suggesting they did...he'd rather the order as a whole have more than a smattering of elemental strategy.

After their ride into town, the talk in the smithy, and all, by the time he'd made it to the dining hall much of the food from the recent meal was going cold; the servants and staff that kept the keep running were gathering up what was left untouched to give out as alms to the poor and such. While he could take advantage of his status to have the cooks whip up something small and fresh for him, it suited him far better to take something from the leftovers that he could find. Some crusty bread, a few slices of roast something laid atop it with some cheese and the gravy from the roast that hadn't congealed, and whatever decent-looking vegetables he could find made a decent and fast late lunch for him; for dessert, a slice each of cake and pie that he could find.

One for him, one for the next target of conversation for the day, assuming she was in a good enough mood to converse at all; hopefully the dessert would be good enough to bribe her into it. Smuggling the two desserts he'd taken past any of the staff near the doors to the dining hall, he quickly made his way toward the paladin's usual spot—one marked by a collection of pillows, one of which looked suspiciously like the one he'd noticed had gone missing from his bed before they set out on their little mission—just to find her bespectacled red eyes already placed firmly upon him.

"Can I help you?"

He held out the desserts.

"Sambocade, dame Tyaethe, or a spiced pome tart?" He glanced back down at the pie slice. "Oh, the tart has dates in it too."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@ERode @Psyker Landshark

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Luckily, none of them seemed to want to turn any of the conversation into a full argument. "I won't stop you from complaining, just don't start wishing ill on him," he replied, his expression remaining serious for a moment longer...before breaking into a sly smile.

"It doesn't really fit the aesthetic you've tried to cultivate to look like you care so much about what he does, anyways."

As for the matter of Fanilly, Serenity's truest thoughts weren't hard to guess at on that matter, but the fact that she took care to remain diplomatic delivering some of them was worth a bit of relief. "She's not the worst captain I've ever dealt with, at least. She had to have some training before taking the reins—a lot of the free companies, you get made leader just because you're of noble birth and felt like jumping in, regardless of any experience you have. I once had to deal with one who strapped his cuirass on backwards. She's already far better than that, so I've no doubt that she'll manage in time."

He might've said something about drilling out a hole and pinning the spear head rather than just nailing it onto the haft after seeing Serenity's choice of attachment, but decided against it; hafts would still break all the time, and it didn't look or sound like the ash pole she'd found had split or cracked near where the head was attached. The bardiche would be fine in the hands of the smith and his apprentices and assistants to polish out the nicks and scratches, and then he could mount it back in his quarters as a souvenir from his first full-scale battle with the Iron Roses; he could go train, but there was something more pressing that he could feel gnawing in the pit of his stomach.

Before long, the other two would be just as likely to start hearing it as he could feel it. It had been a while since breakfast.

"Well, I think it's high time I go and find something to eat. I'll see you each on the training grounds bright and early, unless you have any more questions for me?" If it was more about the Captain, he honestly hoped they didn't. "Maybe I'll even pester Tyaethe, and see if she knows why they let Lucas in, just to satisfy your curiosity. Or get some more tales of Iron Roses unit tactics rather than champion antics."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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@ERode @Psyker Landshark

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"Renar."

His tone was recognizably sharper than it had been with Serenity moments earlier. He understood where Renar was coming from, of course, but he couldn't—wouldn't—hide the disapproval he felt at the man's words. "It isn't our choice to judge, nor to feel insult at. Clearly they saw something in him, we should try to keep him alive and grow his strengths into a worthy knight. If we're lucky, he and Fleuri will both realize their mistakes in that absurdity of a fight."

The formality was fully dropped in that moment; in the face of such clear ill-wishing for one of their own, Fionn's own temper would take precedence over his paying lip-service to propriety. The attempt to so quickly change the topic, especially after saying as much as he just had, didn't go unignored either; if anything, it just contributed to his willingness to immediately reprimand Renar's attitude.

Same actual rank or no; friends or no. Some things just shouldn't be allowed.

"The captain, for her part, was managing to hold out until we arrived, and doesn't seem too worse for wear. She'll manage fine, I think, so long as we can keep her from walking into any more ambushes." The flickering glance at Serenity didn't go unnoticed either, but he wasn't about to let her thoughts on the captain stop him from delivering his own. He'd just have to hope he wouldn't have to get in an outright argument with either of them when all he'd been looking for was confirmation that the battle was as insane on their ends as he'd thought.