Kazumin Nagasa

Time: Evening
Location: Castle Dining Room
Interactions: @potter Lady Olivia/Percy, @jj doe Fritz,
Mentions: @princess Charlotte/Anastasia , @Tae Thea, @Apex Sunburn Sjan-dehk @Funnyguy Lorenzo, @Lava Alckon Drake
The banquet was already becoming a festive night with Duke Lorenzo's merry laughter soon ringing out after they had settled themselves, seemingly pleased. And the hope his complimentary praise aided in the manâs uplifting mood, something sorely needed after the mockery and looks the esteemed man tended to attract. He was troubled, sure, but in Caesonia, who wasnât? Possibly imbibing of drugs if that poem hinted at anything,, and couldnât help but wonder if Charlotte knew.
An unpleasant thought, he brushed away as he didnât want to waste this night festering on dark thoughts, not when he had his best friend struggling with her grievances.
Turning his gaze back to his rough gravy drawing, and let out a low airy chuckle, amused at the way he thought of fireflies and shook his head realizing how fog fucky all the booze had left his head in.*Fireflies, duh dingus! Should have thought of this ages agoâŚperfect for the group and..*
The thought trailed off as Olivia leaned closer a bit with an excited air and turned to see-
Her smile was as radiant as her dress. âOh Sir Kazumin, that is a wonderful idea!â She clasped her hands together and eagerly drew forward. âI love it.â
A smile radiant as a phoenix, as pride beamed on his wide grinning flushed face, chest fluttering delightedly to see that bit of fiery joy she hardly got to show with most too scared or intimidated by the womanâs wild nature, but only to the bullies and jealous idiots.
As their eyes met, sharing a lingering moment, a memory drifted in on a single blinking glow, then another, then multiple until the banquet hall faded away, the countless chatting, flashily dressed nobles, another flitting ball of light as two pairs of children's hands giddily grabbed and snatched the elusive glowing treasures.
Then Oliviaâs face melted back into view, but only for a moment as she pulled away hastily, and he thought he glimpsed a tear in passing. And with it, the memory of young Percy vanished in a fluttering rush of dimming stars fading away back into the nightly past, ending on a solemn hooting.
A light shaking of the recollecting haze to see Olivia burying herself in eating in a far too aggressive manner for his liking. His beaming smile faltered with a concerned brow furrowing as he started to reach a hand out to give a comforting hug, but caught himself as the sounds of dishes clinking and folks chattering about reminded him of where they were.
His hand, already mid-extended, quickly altered its path to grab the cup of water instead, with a somewhat awkward lifting to his lips where he idly sipped.* Dang it..just when I got her smiling too.* Tilting his head only slightly, using the corner of his vision to peek at Calbert, with the way dark stare Olivia had just given the dangerous duke, and didnât want to give the man more suspicions.* UghâŚthis is all cause of that bastard. Like hell Iâll let him and his crap ruin this nightâŚafter all the bullshit weâve been through latelyâŚ.not tonight. We are gonna have fun time, damn it!* His off-hand lightly thumping against the table in stubborn determination.
As his attention turned back to Olivia, his expression softened with a sigh, hating seeing the usual brave and unstoppable Persephone hiding her face and sorrows in the food and unable to comfort her when she had been there to help him just this morning.
âYouâre not alone, Kaz. Not now, not ever. Iâve got youâand when weâre done? Theyâll wish they never even saw us." She kissed his forehead gently. âNow breathe, badass. Weâve got a storm to unleash.â
The morningâs ordeal had become a blur by the end, the emotional turmoil and guilt nearly overwhelmed him beneath their crushing nightmarish weight, but her words, her warm embrace, the comforting beat of her heart held him together, though the kiss to the forehead threw Kazu for a loop; had he not been in such distress over what transpired with Sasha, might have been in shocked distress instead. The only mercy that his blushed face had been hiddenâŚ* Urgh..damn it that was unfair of you, Percy! A punch on the shoulder or a noogie, hell, a fist bumpâŚcome onâŚ.a kiss on the forehead?! That was overkill!* He tried to grumble his annoyance, but even now could still feel the kiss on his forehead, a faint, gentle heat burning with a protective love in its own right. A better gift than some simple trinket or jewelry, that brought a blushed smile back to his face.
Here she sat with him, though gone with the ashes, but reborn, she came back into his life. Before, an innocent firefly whose flame held no heat, only admiring glow; now a risen phoenix whose dangerous flames could burn unruly if left unchecked, he could sense, and just as she brought back his smile, he would do the same for her.
Then, as he observed the lady looking all stressed and downcast, recalling how the night of firefly catching happened after finding a young, downcast Percy sitting alone at a rickety old picnic table (only one still standing), angrily nibbling at a small piece of stale bread.
Unable to help but chuckle a bit, recalling the squirrely face she had at the time.* Like then and now, she eats without care of being ladylike.* Nodding his head with re,spect; grateful to see some of her old appetite returning, but the mood was all wrong, just as it had been then.
Leaning forward onto his folded arms against the table where he leaned towards Olivia till their shoulders nearly touched.â Hey now, whatâs got this pretty firefly all mopey?â A mock pondering rub of the chin as if in deep thought while studying her face, cheeks puffed up from the food.â Hm, you have all this splendorous food and yet⌠ah!â A playful snap of the fingers.â Let me guess, youâve become lostâŚtsk tsk.â A shake of the head with a dismissing wag of the finger.â Worry not, for it is summer and Iâve heard tales that if one with a sad heart ventures into the woods and whispers what ails them openly, the fireflies may gather.â A fluttering wave of his hands mimicked bugs fluttering about.
â Seeing as how you like the idea of fireflies, Lady Olivia, perhaps sharing a night of catching fireflies may give reason to uplift that hangry mood?â Shifting into a similar cheeky leaning pose, curious to see if she might recognize it.
And a few seconds later did it dawned on him that he had suggested Olivia, his eyes widening as the realization of said suggestion could be misconstrued as a possible courting to those around.* Fuck! It keeps slipping my head, quick! Need to fix..gods the misunderstandings..* This time actually scratching his chin in a near-panicked pondering.
âWell, if you walked away with your head attached and appetite intact, Iâd chalk that up as a victory.â He tried to picture how that conversation must have unfolded. When an opening presented itself, Ryn asked. âWhat did His Majesty want with you?â
At that moment, Fritz had leaned in, whispering about his meeting with the king.* Ah, right..still got to talk about that with them tooâŚ* Grimacing at the thought before taking a look at Fritz as if registering he was there for the first time again, and it came to him as he spun partway with a raised finger.
â A firefly group picnic!â He blurted out in a hasty response before giving an awkward throat-clearing cough.â Er, for a meeting place, that is, for the groupâŚto uh..hang out and discuss thingsâŚmight be better than some boring old stuffy room and bitty finger sandwiches, yeah?â A flimsy thumbs up given on a nervous laugh.* Whew..think that should cover it, yeah? Ugh..sorry PercyâŚ.guess this can be a bit of revenge.* A momentary smirk amid shame.
âIf no one is strongly opposed to it, I think we can make it official.â Which reminded him⌠His gaze drifted, searching. âSpeaking of, did something happen to Lady Charlotte? She seemed upset.â
Fritzâs unexpected words of acceptance of the symbol idea and group name pulled him from his musing, prompting him to lean towards the curious gentleman.â Psst, good on the save there, Fritzy and uh..thanks for the concerns.â Whispering his appreciation without elaborating on the first part, as he continued on.â And donât worry, I intend on telling ya everything. Rather, only have to do it once, so mind if we save it till then?â Glancing at Olivia, knowing she wouldnât take his talk with the king well and didnât want to spoil the mood with such talks after just offering a way to get things jovial again.
â And you said Char is upset, yeah?â A worried raised brow as he turned attention back to the table across where he last saw her to find that the table held an increasing tension that seemed centered around the lady Duchess, who, from the smug, disgusted expression, appeared to be saying some slanderous things, though the chatters made picking any of it out.
By the body language, Lady Thea looked to be the one challenging back and seemed to be holding up well.* Looks like things soured over there, kick that ladys butt..I think? And got to say, that hairclip looks great on her, too.* A mental note to compliment the gift in person, then another to make a list of gifts as there had been several birthdays he missed, Drakeâs another that came to mind seeing the man approach Thea and Leo, looking distinguishedly handsome in his simple and traditional tuxedo that gave a pleasant regal among this sea of eye blinding dazzling outfits.(as if he were one to talk)
Tapping a finger against the table, where he felt the faint crinkling of his drawing, and from it, came an idea for gifts. Satisfied with the thought for now and set it aside as his mind returned to Charlotte, who he found to be sitting a bit off from Thea now.
Keeping what Fritz said in mind as he observed her,, or what he could as another had approached, seeming to have noticed her distressed state, Sjahn..something had been his name, having only caught parts of it, and recalled how the guy got a tad overzealous and trigger happy with a gun back on the beach.* Oh wait..isnât that the guy involved with that gal who fell recently?* Watching the guy a moment longer before shifting his attention back to Charlotte.
She seemed fine at first glance, but as he focused would notice her tense posture and shifting fidgeting of the eyes could simply be nervousness..yet the times he had interacted with Char hinted she wasnât so weak to be a nervous wreck and no chance she took drugs, having his gut tell him something was wrong. Having experienced some episodes of his own he dreads what she could be going through.
Watching Charlotte struggle with whatever was troubling her caused the small ache in his ankle to throb as his mind drifted to this morning; how he had been upset, and when the desperate knock came, she had taken him in without hesitation-
Sighing regretfully, picturing Charâs sweet face filled with such genuine worry, wanting only to help, and after all she had done for him...for Percy, both of them. And he couldnât trust himself to open up at the time, but seeing her so distressed and scared reaffirmed his promise to her.*They helped me when I thought I had noneâŚonly right I do the same.* A confirming nod to himself, determined to make this a fun night for his friends.
Taking a moment more to think before lifting his right hand to clap Fritz on the shoulder.â Aye, there she is, Fritzy! Though it looks like somethingâs bothering her, like ya said.â A friendly squeeze while leaning a bit closer.â Think a gentle approach might be needed, which I think might be a better fit for you. That Sjahn guyâs chatting with her, so wait a bit to see if he can help some, then when ya can, try to let her know weâre here..maybe mention something about the fireflies, might perk up her mood?â He finished with an assuring pat on the shoulders.