[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/383674146426454019/665651481101467679/NicomedeHeader.png[/img]
[hr][/center]

[color=aa0505]"If you are, it's only as a test of patience."[/color]

Nicomede's smile was easily the match of the little maid's (if that was really her job in life), but his might have had at least [i]some[/i] sincerity. He stood equidistant between the maid and the Knight-Captain, albeit a step off to their sides, angled just a little towards the newcomer. He didn't block anyone, didn't even intrude upon their space, but just as surely his intent to separate them was clear. 

He understood Gerard's reaction, as well as Sir Fionn's, but he didn't intend to be as confrontational. The Knight-Captain had slapped her down— much more politely than she could have— as was required, but he didn't have to escalate things. Actually, he didn't find Gertrude— that was how she had introduced herself, he remembered— troublesome at all. Little Lucia had a [i]real[/i] talent for trouble in her youth, and a chip on her shoulder nearly the size of Gertrude's. A girl like this could escalate until judgement day if you gave her the fuel. Better to be calm.

Actually, the resemblance between the two of them was a little unnerving.

[color=aa0505]"But I think you're pretty practiced at testing that, right?"[/color] Nico actually chuckled. He had been feeling unbalanced, off of his axis, since arriving again in this place. Quelling bickering between these two— maybe four— brought him right back to center, a long forgotten feeling to set him back on his feet. [color=aa0505]"If you're feeling picky, how about you come with us humble knights to pick out your food. Gerard can probably protect me from kicked shins."[/color]

[@Octo] [@HereComesTheSnow]