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Anyway, for my character:



i'm posting it again



I told you I'd be putting him in again
Dibs on doing my elf again
Esben and Halvor




"A village hit by the beasts that badly? Good heavens, I know it's gotten worse, they're even being seen on the main roads these days, but still...That near the border, it may be...Hmm, that may be madam Durbin's land, though I've no clue what happened to her that she can't keep her own..." Halvor trailed off and paused again, peering once more at Rudolf. "Is that the trouble you mentioned? That seems..." He gazed more closely still at the three of them, before rushing over to look out a window, peering out at his manor grounds for anybody that looked out of place. His eyes drew to the west instantly, where the remaining Kirins could be seen gathered at the edge of the smithy.

He turned back, staring as though he was taking in every detail of the scarring on Rudolf's face, eyes turning downward and focusing in on his left elbow for moment, before falling back on Éliane, frowning at how stiffly she sat on the couch, finally sliding back to Esben.

"A full day, yes," he spoke slowly, turning back towards the door as though he was about to chase down his servants himself. "A full day at least, with the state you're all in. I shan't put you back out on the road like this!"

"Halvor, please—"

The viscount faced Esben with a withering glare, enough to shock even him to silence. "No, Esben, I will allow no argument on this. It'll take time enough to resupply you all for whatever other travel you need to make, and I have need of one of you regardless." At that, his glare fell on his supposed 'ward' for a moment. "It's all the better for me that I have both of you here. Beside that, though, I can hazard a guess that whatever you dealt with was beyond the capacity of some border town to fix, yes? You can take the time to rest and take advantage of some proper treatment, then, before you all run off somewhere nobody has heard from in ages!"

"We can't just stay here on a whim, Halvor!" Esben protested, this time withstanding the glare that came back his way. "This isn't our decision to make—"

"Of course it isn't, because it's mine," their host interrupted back. "If this is Director Lambert's business, it can wait, and if I have to I can deal with her temper. She's too careful to plan something so urgent that it can't withstand some reasonable delay, and I daresay that if I let you all run off and get yourselves hurt worse or killed she'd be much angrier with me—not to mention your families! Two nights. You'll have my leave to go the day after next, and I'll take stock of what you actually have on you and see if there's anything else I can do to help."

Perhaps this was why the 'mercurial northerner ward' had been sent to stay with the good viscount; he seemed every bit as prone to erratic moods himself as the word could imply. He strode to the door, turning back once at the trio in his sitting room. "Esben, you know where to find me if you need, I'm sure you can tell the rest. You're dismissed." With that final bid, he left them, heels clacking down the hallway.

Esben watched the viscount's retreating form silently, more than a little perturbed at the show he'd just been given. "I hate when he reminds me he was competent," he grumbled with a sullen frown. "He's easier when he doesn't pay attention."
Esben Mathiassen




As they settled in within the viscount's sitting room, Esben glanced over at Rudolf while servants came by with tea and snacks. "Just remember, you've been here the whole time," he reminded, as unnecessary as it likely was. That they were served pea flower tea wasn't terribly surprising to him, even if it left Éliane noticeably disappointed. Viscount Breien's struggles with stimulants were a bit of an open secret amongst those of the Skaeller upper class that even knew of him; that he would avoid having anything with simple caffeine in it to avoid a possible relapse was expected.

At least the hot drink was nice. Unlike Éliane, however, he couldn't possibly just relax and snack while waiting, with no clue why they were even there beyond some nebulous promise of benefit from the earl Demet north across the border and the need to assuage the viscount's frayed nerves. He settled in as well as he could next to Éliane, one eyebrow raised as he peered over the rim of his cup as she intercepted the tossed cushion before it might have made him spill.

Halvor fiddled with the doorknob for a moment, before pushing through into the room, though they'd heard him just before. "Been telling Lambert he's here, been telling her that Demet keeps telling me he's here, nobody's questioned a thing but she's been on my case for the last two months now..." Esben had to withhold a sigh. Halvor stepped through, choppy yellow hair looking especially messy compared to how he'd been used to seeing the man before. Rudolf greeted him, and Esben gave a polite nod as well.

"..."

"Hej, Halvor."

Cool blue eyes met his own. Still the same bags under his eyes as ever, although Esben had to wonder if he didn't match, now. "Esben? Hva gjør du her?"

"Bare på besøk," he replied with a shrug, while the momentarily-dumbfounded viscount stared down at him. "Sammen med vennene mine!" Halvor continued to stare. Esben was already acutely aware of just how stiffly he was sitting, nearly the same as the viscount, who stood like a board had been strapped along his spine. Éliane was no better, owing to everything they'd just been through. Rudolf was the only one managing to look properly relaxed, playing up the part of one who'd just spent the last few years in this same manor.

"...Ja. B-besøk." Halvor exhaled at last, turning to face Rudolf. "Of course, of course, it's good you didn't freeze, yes, yes, thank you for the..." He cut off as suddenly as he'd begun, looking at his young charge's face.

With the faintest tremor, he took a spare cup of tea, downing it in a single pull. "W-what happened to you, kid?" he choked out, eyes locked on the scarring. Esben couldn't withhold his sigh that time. "Cadmon sends me a letter saying it was nice to send you up to visit, you and your...friends!" He shot a short, accusatory glare Esben's way. "Talking the whole time like you should already be back, and you weren't back, I had no clue where you were, all the staff said you should be by soon, and you—you—"

He looked back and forth between the pair of young men, one he'd known since he was a child, the other his "ward," one he'd "known since he was a child."

Halvor sank into one of the larger chairs, falling into it like a deflating balloon. "More tea would be nice," he said weakly, and an attendant waiting just beyond the door scurried off again. "Where have you been? What happened to you? Cadmon said to expect guests, how many will there be...I don't know if I have the rooms for it...How long have you known each other? That would've made some of this so much easier, I tell you, knowing you're both acquainted, and..."

His eyes fell on the pink-haired woman with a commander's uniform also sitting on the couch. "Good heavens, and to think I've missed you this entire time! By the Mother and her house, these two boys will be the death of me, I swear it...We haven't met too, have we?" He tried to offer her a polite smile, though given that this was both the most animated Esben had seen him in years, and how it looked like he was spending all the energy he had on the very beginning of a conversation...

"Dame Commander Éliane Laruelle of Solitude, Halvor, part of the overseer's own guard. Éliane, this is Viscount Halvor Breien."

"Eh? Oh! Yes, yes, thank you, Esben, just like your father, you can always hold moments like this together." The servant came back with more tea, and Halvor hurriedly poured himself another cup. "You must be on leave, then, yes? I haven't seen you since we all went down to celebrate your graduation, your parents, sister, and I. No shock at all you went on to graduate work, no, Anders and I rather expected it, would have been a waste if you didn't...But travelling, and with Rudolf, no less! And a commander of the household guard..."

He trailed off while looking right at them, and Esben's eyebrow raised once again. Halvor shook his head, trying to smile again. "What a lovely vacation! Cadmon did say that Rudolf was planning to head on to Solitude as well. Dreadful place, far as I'm concerned, too busy, much too busy, although there hasn't been much coming out of there lately, Kay said I shouldn't worry myself too much though...Ah, but, of course, you can't leave yet, no, absolutely not. I told Cadmon in my last letter, he was asking something about whether you'd be up for a trip to Brightlam, but I told him that you couldn't go that far, otherwise you'd never make it back in time...and even Esben is here! That's truly wonderful, that means nobody will be missing!"

Halvor was no less energetic, although he was at least finding his stride, as far as anyone could call it that. And leaving Esben no less confused than when they'd started. "Missing for what, Halvor?" The viscount's head snapped back over, surprised for a moment, before the light of genuine delight came into his eyes. "Oh, you don't know yet? Even better! I shan't ruin the surprise, no, of course not, ah...How many of you are there going to be? I need to know the extra places to set for dinner tomorrow night, they should all be here sometime in the morning. And rooms! And, and..."

He was starting to get overwhelmed by the thought of all the accomodations to prepare. Esben sighed again. "Our chocobos are already in the stable by now. Counting the Moogle, there's eight of us."

"I always knew you had it in you to make that many friends!" The pride in Halvor's voice faltered as soon as he registered Esben's flat glare. "Y-you see, Lene and Hanne, they always said...No, no, forget it. Eight it is! And everything you'll need to get you to Solitude, of course, you can't go riding across these snowy wastes unprepared. Oh, did you see the flowers out front? No materia or anything for them, just skill. I think I'm getting better! Hard to find the right ones for this that would grow in winter, of course, but I knew I'd manage. Ah, but you all probably want to avail yourselves of the baths after being on the road so long, yes? Kaja, can you make sure we have hot water?" He sprung up out of his chair, slamming his emptied teacup back down on the endtable next to him.

"And I'll make sure we have rooms prepared for you all, of course, we'll have Aksel give all of you who don't know a tour of the place while we make sure we have extra for tonight's dinner...Ah, do you need anything else for now?"
Esben Mathiassen




"I'm not willing to guess at what Cadmon has to do with the Viscount and what that has to do with either of us," was Esben's reply to Rudolf's prodding. "At least with you it makes sense. To include me as well is...difficult to predict." It meant that Cadmon had known about him ahead of time, in some manner. Whether that was something to do with Kayliss or to do with Halvor himself was another impossibility to guess at.

He glanced at the flowers as well as Rudolf, eyes narrowed at them. Primroses, red and white hellebores, camellias...he knew, and he'd told the others as much, that one of the Viscount's various hobbies was flower arranging. Whether these were just convenient blooms or some sort of messaging from the eccentric man, he had little clue. Floriography was not something he'd bothered to study at all, nor had it even been an option at the Garden.

"Ah, Sir Cadon?"

Esben's eye's snapped back to the guard that had met them at the manor gates. "The Viscount has been in...one of his moods, lately. He's barely spoken for the last two days, something about a letter he got and the timing of things not lining up. You'll understand if he's not the most welcoming, yes?"

"...Ja."

A foreboding thing to hear from someone that was supposed to help them, for sure. The guards swiftly moved to giving directions to Goug, where the chocobos and all the rest of their things could be stabled and stored. The Kirins were, for the moment, given basicaly free reign of the manor grounds. Esben took a moment to reorient himself, having not actually been there since he was a child, looking between the manor house, the stables, outbuildings...He pointed off to the west. "He should still have a smithy over there. I wouldn't expect miracles, but we can at least get anything dented and bent fixed back the way it should be. Guest rooms are on the east wing, so we'll be shuffled that way soon. Let's make our way in out of the cold, though, ja?"

Without waiting for a response from the rest, and given his own perturbed mood with the entire situation, he made his way up to the entrance of the house and pulled it open without a care.
Esben Mathiassen




No response at all. Still unconscious, then, although after as close a brush with death as she'd had it wasn't surprising. He'd been out for at least as long after having most of his ribs crushed by Reisa, after all. He turned to look at Miina, who'd ceased her mewling and was just standing there looking sheepish.

"Well. Shall we, or do you want to go check on Izayoi and Chisato instead?" Without waiting for her response he pushed the door open fully, stepping inside. The room was as simple as the rest; a bed, a nightstand, some empty drawers, a spare chair. He grabbed it, pulling it up next to the bed where Éliane was sleeping peacefully under the blanket.

He paused for a moment, listening to the sound of her breathing—focused for anything out of the ordinary, laboured, wheezing, anything that might suggest there was more deep-seated trauma for Eos and the village healer to try and work on—and watching her face and the rise and fall of her chest beneath the blanket. Satisfied for the moment, he reached out, gently pressing at her shoulder that peaked out from under the cover. "Are you still with us, Éliane? It's time to wake up."

Arthur Howell




I am immediately tempted to protest. My shirt is a normal men's shirt. It is not an article of women's clothing, it's not some puffy garment from nearly two centuries ago, it's a decent, button-up shirt. But my protests dry up before I can even speak them.

She's clearly...fond of antiquated things. She'd probably be all over a poet's shirt. I'm not surprised she'd call a generic shirt a blouse, with that in mind. Or maybe it's just because she's wearing it now, so clearly it must be a blouse. Maybe it's both.

This is going to be a long night.

"Yes, you're...uh...you're radiant, Ludie."

I was right about the hips, though. Even with a belt to cinch the jeans in around her waist, they're bunching a bit in the wrong ways. It's definitely a good thing we're finding her something normal to wear. And maybe a hospital to drop her off at. Maybe she has family looking for her? It shouldn't be to hard to find a family of distressed tall blondes looking for a missing sister or daughter or whoever, people like that would really stand out here...

The church, maybe, if I don't find anything good for her and need to drop her off tomorrow. That seems like the sort of old thing that would interest her. "Let's get on with it, then. Do you have any other shoes? It might be a lot of walking for those heels, and I don't know that they really fit the current outfit."

Mostly I don't want her to trip or break them. Who knows what she'd do if that happened. And I'd have to help her get around, too, and thatt just seems like a recipe for disaster...I shake those thoughts out of my head and get to pulling on my own shoes. We ate enough of the food from the old man to be polite, at least, and she didn't leave a mess with all her gesticulating and stabbing the rice, so I don't have anything to worry about there. But, as I tied my laces, something else worrisome came to mind, which may well be too late to ask because she's metaphorically halfway out the door anyways:

"Ah...you have a wallet, right? Or a purse?"
Esben Mathiassen




"Careful, careful, you'll wake her and the rest up," Esben cautioned, expertly suppressing his urge to laugh at her expense. "That would make it even harder for you to indulge your voyeuristic tendencies. Let's go and check on her, shall we?"

Without waiting for a response, he strode on past the rapidly-reddening mage. Two doors down, three short knocks, crack it open a hair and talk just loudly enough to be heard, just quietly enough not to wake anybody up who was still sleeping—

"Are you awake yet, Éliane?"
Esben Mathiassen




It was a perfectly reasonable thing for her to do, although Esben couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her delivery. That the diminutive Mystrel was skittish at the best of times was only to be expected, but answering like she wasn't even certain that was actually what she planned to do and scratching at her collar the way she was made it seem like she had something to be evasive about. "What a coincidence," he replied drily. "I was just planning on doing the same thing."

Nothing to suggest that he had anything to be suspicious of from the red-haired cat mage. In truth, he knew he didn't, but he also couldn't resist having a bit of fun at her expense, either. "Good thing, I suppose. Need to make sure you aren't just using that as a cover to try and stare at her..."
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