[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/uurhDHh.jpg[/img][/center][center][img]http://i.imgur.com/HtvPRRx.png[/img][/center]Thomas took a moment to readjust to his surroundings, but strangely enough it felt as though no time had passed since his lapse into the limbo he'd been drawn into earlier. It was like he'd woken up from a vivid dream, the most vivid he'd experienced in his entire life. But time wasn't so kind as to give the boy a chance to evaluate what he'd just gone through, and he barely had time to register Katie before a new voice was addressing him. 

He hadn't even noticed the large figure looming at his side, though in a way that didn't seem threatening to the boy at all. Thomas, having missed the first thing the armoured gentleman had said to him, turned to face his new acquaintance with a look of timidness but curiosity on his face. This was someone new, someone not from his group and yet, from his appearance and what he had said, it seemed this man had experience in the Tower separate from them. 

Forgetting the apology and explanation he had planned to give Katie, at least for now, Thomas addressed the new figure back, not hesitating to immediately inquire about what he wanted to know [color=violet]"I'm, uh... I'm Thomas. I'm sorry, but are you saying you've been in the Tower for a long time now?"[/color]

Katie glanced over at the knight in armor but said nothing for the most part. After all, he was initially addressing Thomas rather than her anway. More important was the first boy's seemingly distant stare in his own head and she figured he had to have conversed with one of his Serei. Probably. All the same, she tapped a finger on a glass filled with whatever the Dangeki liked to serve her. In the time it took for Thomas to have his little mental conversation, she had since been served a drink by Cait and was just wasting away time by this point. All the same, she took a sip and waited for the knight to go ahead and speak his piece. [color=indianred]"Katie,"[/color] was all she offered in regards to a name, giving another sip from her drink.

Serin observed the young man closely as he responded, as if taking measure of every shift in tone or bodily movement. A fleeting moment of silence hangs between them, the timid and curious expression crossing his fellow adventurer's face striking a familiar cord.

[color=SlateBlue]"Thomas, hm."[/color] The knight repeats the name back to him, allowing it to roll off the tongue.[color=SlateBlue]"I suppose I've been here for a while, though I've never had an interest in keeping the time."[/color] A subtle nostalgia threads between Serin's words, steel clawed gauntlet tapping against the bartop in a slow and method rythmn.[color=SlateBlue]"You seem as if you could still count the days you've been here on one hand though."[/color] Gently the armored warrior places a hand atop the young man's shoulder, giving him a jovial shake in the process. [color=SlateBlue]"Serin. Or any other nickname you can think of, I'm not particularly picky."[/color]

Though his visage is obscured by the helm he wears the knight's gaze notably shifts to observe the collected young woman next, a similar air of silence as he takes her measure. [color=SlateBlue]"A pleasure as well, miss."[/color] Serin moves his hand away from the fresh faced boy, extending it toward the raven haired girl. [color=SlateBlue]"You seem fairly confident, carry yourself well."[/color] He offers rather bluntly. [color=SlateBlue]"Seems you've seen your fair share of this place. Forgive my forwardness, but how long has this infernal Tower kept you?"[/color]

As the armoured knight spoke to him, Thomas could feel his expression breaking through from one of shyness and uncertainty to one of subtle admiration, possibly even awe. Of course, he felt this way towards most, if not all, of the others he'd come across so far, in at least some way, but it was a breath of fresh air as well to see someone who wasn't either a pretty girl or a giant monster. There was something truly genuine about the man as well. Perhaps it was just the knight's demeanour, or perhaps Thomas was wrong altogether, but somehow he felt immediately quite comfortable in his presence. 

It put the bright-eyed boy at a loss for words as the knight, who identified himself as Serin, gave Thomas a warm pat on the shoulder, the slightly small boy swaying a little in response to the shaking. Next, however, he turned to Katie, who seemed to be more occupied with her drink than taking to the same curiosity that Thomas himself had. He faced her while Serin properly addressed her as well, waiting to see how she'd react and respond to him. After all, he was still new and unfamiliar, and most likely not just to him.

Katie wasn't sure if she was supposed to shake the armored gauntlet but shake it she did, if only for the courtesy of it all. [color=indianred]"Something like that. Truth be told, I can't remember how long I've been in here. Maybe I've been here for years or just a few Floors. You both can tell time moves differently in this Tower,"[/color] she explained to both boys. That said, she didn't miss Thomas staring at her and so was prompt to stare back. [color=indianred]"What? Is there something on my face? That's about all the answers I have for you unless you were expecting something else. I'm just as curious about this place as you are."[/color] To that she shrugged before finishing her drink. [color=indianred]"I've been on enough Floors though to know there's all sorts of strange types in here so a knight in full armor isn't too surprising. Better than someone sprouting two heads from a shoulder, don't you think?"[/color]

[color=SlateBlue]"I noticed. I'd always thought my internal clock was decent, until I woke up here that is."[/color] Serin nods as the young woman explains her observations, withdrawing his hand and allowing it to rest against the wooden bar once more. [color=SlateBlue]"Seems it's always in flux here, as if the entire place is just one waking dream."[/color]

A dry laugh filters through the knight's helm at Katie's comment, his gaze returning to the room's few other patrons. [color=SlateBlue]"To this day I'm still not sure as to this world's criteria for drawing one in. It takes all types, I suppose. The beasts though, and the landscapes out there for that matter, are so foreign to me that I have trouble believing this isn't some kind of purgatory."[/color] Serin gestures towards the iconic notice board, the bevy of quests pinned to it accentuating his point. [color=SlateBlue]"Or what half of these missions even are; they range from asinine to lethal all at once."[/color]

The knight sighs, shaking his head rather casually. [color=SlateBlue]"Perhaps we've managed to draw the ire or blessing of some deity in our prior lives. How about either of you -  steal some god's sacred relic?"[/color]

Thomas' gaze snapped immediately away from Katie embarrassedly as she vocalised her noticing of it, one of his feet tapping nervously, but silently, against the wooden floorboards. After all, he wasn't trying to agitate anyone here. But what she said was something that was quickly becoming apparent to him, especially now he was back at the Dangeki. Part of the reason why Thomas' self-driven curiosity really wasn't helping anyone, or being satiated for that matter, was because that, for the most part, the people around him were no wiser than he was in the Tower's mysterious ways, and the mysterious ways of many of the individuals inhabiting it.

Serin's question sparked the boy's interest though, and suddenly his head poked up from a slight slump. It was surprising for him to think of it somehow, mostly because he hadn't properly thought of it before now probably. At a surface level, he wasn't sure why he was in the Tower. He'd simply awoken here, probably like everyone else before him, and had gone along with the guidance he'd been given at the time. But now, it was becoming increasingly clear to him. The last thought that had been in his mind that night before he'd been whisked away, a thought that had subconsciously returned to him not minutes ago before he'd left Marianne, that had driven him back to her. He wanted to find his family, his real family. 

Thomas glimpsed at his slightly distorted reflection in Katie's glass, his violet eyes vividly forcing themselves into his thoughts in assocation with his realisation, before turning back once more to the knight sat next to him. He took a moment to mull on what to say, but in the end decided that keeping things honest, but vague, was probably the best option for now.

[color=violet]"I'm... not completely sure. But I'm searching for someone. That's probably as good a reason as I can give."[/color]

[color=indianred]"Hmm. Maybe it's not something we took. But rather something we need."[/color] Katie rested her chin on her knuckles, staring forward as if at something outside the room. [color=indianred]"Everyone knows whoever reaches the top of the Tower is granted an impossible wish, right? Or something that they want. Something they need. Perhaps that's all there is to it; we each want something and that's why the Tower plucked us. Though some people I know didn't come here in the traditional sense...ah well. It's getting late for that, and Cait's already giving me looks."[/color] Indeed the feline bartender was for the group loitering. Night and day may not have had any relation inside the Tower but opening hours did. [color=indianred]"Something to think about I guess. Food for thought,"[/color] Katie said even as she got up and made to depart to her room. [color=indianred]"Stick around long enough and you might find more answers than you were expecting. Anyway, I'm heading out for now you two."[/color]

For a moment Serin is taken back by the violet eyed adventurer's earnest response; he'd been expecting a more straightforward 'for adventure' type of answer, that was most of what he'd heard up until this point after all. [color=SlateBlue]"A noble cause, then."[/color] The knight whispers, the flash of a long forgotten face filling his vision for but a split second.

If Thomas' answer had got him off guard then Katie's musings washed over the heavily armored knight like a bucket of cold water. He had been wrestling with the thoughts for months, perhaps a year now, why he'd been chosen but none of those with him had. They'd all gathered under the same banner for a shared dream, hadn't they? Visions of a crimson sky cross his mind and the carnage beneath that same heaven. As Katie prepares to leave Serin snaps himself from his somber reverie, giving the raven haired girl a polite raise of the hand. [color=SlateBlue]"Quite the thinker, hm? Stay alive, and until next we meet."[/color]

The knight turns his gaze back to Thomas, leaning forward and putting his weight against the bartop. [color=SlateBlue]"Certainly that's an interesting reason, but you'll need some more training before heading off into the twisting unknown."[/color] Serin gestures to himself, clawed digit tapping against his plate armor with a sharp ping. [color=SlateBlue]"Hate to see a new face disappear so quickly, allow me to give you a hand."[/color] The knight declares his intent as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his mind turning to his own goals - selfish and altruistic in equal and perhaps conflicting measure.

Serin wasn't the only one whose Katie's theorising had had an affect on, the boy's own thoughts pushed more to the forefront of his mind by her words. It seemed all too apparent to him now that his purpose to be climbing the Tower was indeed to find his true family, whatever state it was in. That in itself had the cogs in his mind whirring like crazy, hopes and worries melding into different possibilities for a bright or dark future. Not only that though, but Thomas was tired. As Katie left, the exhaustion of the events that had taken place since he'd woken up, whatever length of time ago that had been at this point, was beginning to overwhelm him.

As he stood up to leave though, the knight warned him of something that Thomas knew full well of himself. Though things had changed for him during those events, he was nowhere near to the level of the others around him. And, in fact, perhaps training was the most important thing for him to focus on. But then again, probably unlike a fair few people he'd met so far in the Tower, he was only human. He turned to Serin, trying to not let his tiredness affect his expression, which had already dulled slightly.

[color=violet]"Th-thanks Serin, but I think I'll pass for now. Don't worry though, I won't disappear. After all, I think I'm pretty well protected anyway..."[/color] Maybe it was a naive instinct, but he couldn't help but look up towards the upper level where his comrades were sleeping, as well as lightly brush his pocket of Serei, as the thought of protection came across his mind.

[color=violet]"I'll be going to bed now though. Thanks Cait, sorry for keeping you up."[/color] Finally, the boy politely acknowledged the bartender with subtle look of appreciation and a nod, before giving the lone knight a small wave and making his way upstairs to find an unoccupied room to sleep in for the night. [hr]