[color=goldenrod][i][h2][center]Gerard Segremors[/center][/h2][/i][/color]
[@VahkiDane][@VitaVitaAR]

Sir Sergio, of course, was right on the money.

To begin with, Gerard knew he wasn't going to be able to hide that fact from his fellows, most of whom already were privy to his story— and as such, he knew it to be a waste of energy to be disquieted over it. With a wan, almost wry smirk, he nodded, breathing in to speak—

"Aaaah, good Sir Knights!"

"Ah, how exciting!"

A pair of high, shrill voices killed the words before they could leave his throat, as a trio of girls that seemed younger than the Captain, younger than even his littlest sister, surged forth from the dispersed spread of partygoers as though a bolt from the blue. In a rush, they were upon he and his companion, eagerly crowding around and pelting them with questions that were every bit emblematic of their ages...

Yet in the crisp, posh tenor of their voices as they did so, he could hear their true nature. Were he surrounded like this on the field of battle, he would most likely die, even if he took two or all three with him by way of viciously earned experience and strength. Surrounded as he was now, by these non-threatening children of clearly [i]noble[/i] stock...

He leaned back at the sudden rush for a mere moment, eyebrows high, as though recoiling away from the words. 

It took nearly the same steel to level his all-too-meager preparation for this moment to the task at hand. It was ironic, a man of the sword who walked the line between life and death in as cavalier a manner as he feeling a pang of worry [i]now[/i], of all times. In some respects, he preferred the odds of a veteran soldier against death than a newly-bloomed Rose against their expectations of gallantry.

He glanced to Sir Sergio, hiding a plea for help beneath his moment of surprise, but found in the Knight of the Harvest Moon's stead a stranger. His body had all at once changed, as though a new role in courtly manner had filled it where reservation once stood guard. He was open, smiling bright, brimming with dramatism, playful cheek. A new side of his fellow, who had always seemed enigmatic... no, not quite right. There was something else there, something he couldn't place.

Gerard then caught the glance sent his way, and completed the breath that had been interrupted.

However briefly, he had been prepared for this.

[color=goldenrod][i]I am a mercenary no longer. I'm a knight. A greenhorn in the Roses, but no longer am I trudging through dust and smoke without even a face to call my own— How lucky I am that we've only just ridden in from an adventure that's worth retelling.[/i][/color]

Time to put it to use.

[color=goldenrod]"Indeed,"[/color] he breathed, slipping into an invitingly warm smile as he shoved aside rebellious, doubtful thoughts. He cast his free hand, gloved palm skyward, in the other knight's direction. [color=goldenrod]"Forgive me, young misses. As I was just telling my brother in arms, this ball [i]is[/i] my first— to whom might I have the pleasure of meeting?"[/color]

To hell with it. He initially had worried he'd trip over himself and overdo an introduction, but with Sergio here, he was sure he'd pale in comparison. The blonde pair's exuberance and whimsy was palpable, he doubted anything short of actively insulting them would make a necessarily bad impression— but their companion, the girl in black, seemed to want little to do with any of this.

Familiar, that. He had to agree.

Still, he wouldn't find himself troubled by a little youthful exasperation. Even if he did, he knew not to let it show upon his face. To make them feel a burden was unacceptable, so for all his trepidation at being here, at doing this, he would weather it for all their sakes. To answer their pleas was a knight's duty.

So, with a smile that was far less saccharine but no less polite, he spoke again, eyes casting themselves over the group as a whole.

[color=goldenrod]"And my friend, that was but [i]one[/i] enemy, however he may have towered over us before the Captain and I struck him down. I'm told you slaughtered a dozen."[/color]

That all said—

Sergio, you're not getting out of this either.