[center][h3][color=C0392B]Rudolf Sagramore[/color][/h3][/center]

It was with an almost put-upon, resigning grimace that the scarred young man caught the look the skyscraper redhead[sup]1[/sup] sent his way, meeting the slow nod with a small shake of the head. The [color=c0392b][i]"Wulfric, please"[/i][/color] beneath it didn't bear saying— it would only serve to rile him up further, behind the eyes[sup]2[/sup]. To say nothing of what this Skaellish fop might take it as—

Unfortunately, as it didn't bear saying, that meant that the Earl's firstborn had already caught and understood too many of Rudolf's unvoiced overtures in life to [i]not[/i] widen his wolfish, fang-baring grin further at the sight of it, over the incensed foreigner's shoulder. By the time he was leaning in to whisper a bored-out-of-his-mind tourney mainstay's idea of sweet nothings, Rudolf barely bothered to hide a sigh sagging out through his shoulders.

Well. For as nice and uneventful as the journey south from Drana Asnaeu had been, he'd known it could hardly last much longer than dropping anchor and disembarking in Caerdaran. There was no good wind that ever blew into that port, he'd had that drilled into his head for years— and it seemed that adage still held today. He may as well have just counted himself lucky that he'd not gone and forgotten what the people of the West were like. Izayoi and Chisato had drawn a few looks, but they were just as easily exotic curiosities from afar as they were Former Enemies— and at no point was the older of them even close to recognized.

[i]Take your wins where you get them.[/i][sup]3[/sup] He stepped forward. 

Mentally, he'd been preparing for the Warriors to be due for a long hike following his lead, more or less— He hadn't believed any word he'd sent would have made its way down to their soon-to-be hosts in time for Wulfric to lead an advance party [i]this[/i] far north to collect them all, that was for damn certain. He'd been too busy licking his wounds to really think about shuttling an update along before the waning hours of their time onshore. He hardly found it [i]objectionable[/i] to catch up with the big lug, it had been a whole season since they'd seen eachother last... But how'd he been tipped off?

[color=c0392b]"To interject for a moment, I'd gladly heed the advice of my betters, as you say, on this one. The Demet family are infamously hot-tempered, and it's poor form to test boundaries around the liege lords of wherever you're vacationing,"[/color] he began in a drawl, walking into the crossfire to stand at the head of the Kirins, all but drawing up alongside the tall, brash redhead, his eyes flitting between them and "Chèrle d'Artoé". He avoided the urge to look too pointedly at Eliane. [color=c0392b]"[i]Especially[/i] if they've made the effort to play nice, and greet us at their doorstep instead of letting the roads wear us all down first. It's a rare honor, being received so far from Lunaris by Wulfric Demet, Viscount of Crandor and Heir to the Demet Marches—"[/color]

He blinked, before his gaze slid lazily away from [i]Le Comte[/i] and a good few inches up, towards the tall man across from him.

[color=c0392b]"... Sorry, habits. Were you planning on introducing yourself to [i]us[/i], at least? I assume Chuckles here doesn't have the full picture if he's this bent out of shape so far from home. He's going red in the face yelling at everyone on the road."[/color]

The only way out was through.[sup]4[/sup]

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[*][sub]1. An eye searing red at that. These upstarts apparently claim some very, very old blood from the swordsman village. Looking at them, it doesn't take a terribly giant mind to deduce where the idea came from.[/sub]
[*][sub]2. Tell a child "no" and see what the first thing he wants to do is. You can see this playing out daily with my host.[/sub]
[*][sub]3. Hi. We've crossed back under the maximal operational capacity for white mages in my area. Did everyone miss me?[/sub]
[*][sub]4. "Chuckles" for "Chèrle" shot right from the hip like that is going to ruffle every feather on this guy's cap. I see a gunblade on him. The armor doesn't look too bad, but the harness Rudolf's having their Moogle cart around is still better. I just wish he'd done the wordplay consciously. It kills me to watch all the wrong neurons fire on some of these.[/sub]
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