april catch-all

[ushiri]

WHO: "Kyle" and others
WHAT: Monthly catch-all, OPEN and CLOSED threads below
WHERE: Castle Thorne, Nott and Horizon
WHEN: All throughout the month
WARNINGS: Will add as needed. Please check his opt-out post for general warnings about this character!
OTHER: Will match brackets or prose. PM me for specific starters!

Comments

Gardens

[beloyaltome]

Lenore's yawning as she looks out over the gardens, already up past her bedtime at mid-morning but not quite yet ready to retire. She stays to the shadows, though. Even though she has a ring to protect her from the sunlight, she still has a distaste for it. So bright! So harsh! Vastly inferior to the light of the moon and stars.

"What is it that you're in trouble for?" Lenore asks, amused as he's chased out of the gardens. "Being too handsome?"

[ushiri]

Kahlil turns to the sound of her voice and grins. There are quite a few Summoned in Thorne who keep odd hours, so Lenore's nocturnal schedule doesn't seem as out of place as it might elsewhere.

What stood out most to him, and likely others, was that she had been willing to help locate and rescue a group of people who must've been relative strangers to her at the time. Whatever her motivations, he's grateful.

"Handsome and generous," he returns, waggling his eyebrows playfully. He's on right now, in a good mood and letting that carry him. Some people, like the servants, are used to this side of him - others might think of him as more quiet and serious. Lenore certainly would've seen more of the latter this past month. Even Kahlil isn't sure which is the mask and which is his real face. Both, neither. He doesn't want to think about it today.

He steps into the shadows with her. One hand at his side still has a flower clutched in it, and he twirls it idly between two fingers as he nods to the servants in the near distance.

"I once got called in for a chat with the guards after someone complained that I didn't bring enough wine for everyone." He shrugs. Calm as he is about it now, he'd been sweating bullets in the seat - and doing his best not to show it.

[beloyaltome]

"Not enough wine?" Lenore echoes, brow furrowing a little at the prospect. "Seems like an odd things to complain about, oughtn't they be glad that any wine was brought at all? Or they're complaining that you gave someone else a gift but not them?"

It doesn't make any sense at all to Lenore, so she assumes that he's leaving out some key information. Which may very well not be her business, so she expects to not pursue the question past another evasion, but this first point is too bewildering to overlook.

[ushiri]

He tips his head at the last thing she says, nodding.

"Someone on the staff felt jilted. Never found out who, but I learned my lesson about gift-giving."

There are eyes everywhere. It was fine, in the end. The guards didn't take the accusations of bribery aimed at him very seriously, and in the end it hasn't affected his access to Borrel.

"Anyway -" he raises an eyebrow, offering her the flower he'd been idly twirling between his fingers with a genuinely curious look. "How're you feeling? You've been thrown right into the fire..."

During their brief meetings they mostly spoke about arcana and the information uncovered before their paths diverged. But he'd seen her again from afar in Nocwich, busy as anyone else. He thinks she might've left with the group that went to the island.

kyle is bringing out lenore's entire sense of humor apparently

[beloyaltome]

"Better not court anyone if you can't court everyone," Lenore suggests dryly, amused at the prospect of Kyle and his two hundred romantic interests. Perhaps more--it would be unfair to limit the romances to just the castle proper. Or to even just Thorne! He's going to have to date everyone on the continent, it's the only solution.

She accepts the flower with a smile, arms lifting to twine it prettily into her hair. "Are you sure? Did you bring enough flowers for everyone?"

Probably she'll stop making this joke in a few minutes. Probably.

"Don't tempt fate, they might get actual fire involved," Lenore comments, finishing securing the flower and then looping her arm through his, pressing close against his side. "Where are we headed? The shadier the better."

She means in terms of sunlight, and it occurs to her a moment later that this could also imply morally shady locales. She decides not to clarify.

i enjoy it

[ushiri]

He pretends to scowl as she teases him, although he's clearly amused by her quip and her acceptance of the flower.

At the question he thinks for a second - assuming she means the version with less sunlight rather than the other one. Anything legitimately shady happening within the walls of Castle Thorne is well hidden behind closed doors. If she really wanted to kill both birds with one stone, she might try to talk her way into the dungeons.

"How do you feel about people watching?" he raises an eyebrow, beginning to lead them in the direction of the South Wing. It'll be easy enough to change course if she declines.

[beloyaltome]

"Intrigued," she answers, lifting her brows with an interest that borders on flirtatious. "What people will we be watching?"

She can think of a lot of possible meanings of the term, but can't possibly guess what he has in mind. She's curious though, and the prospect of new adventures with a new friend is more than enough to quell her yawns for the time being. Keeping possession of his arm--despite the possibility of this inspiring more complaints from the unknown jealous party--Lenore looks around with interest as they walk, still learning her way around some areas of the castle.

[ushiri]

"On a busy day? A little bit of everyone."

As they walk toward the South Wing, she'll quickly see what he means; this part of the castle has multiple functions as the public offices for the daily affairs and bureaucracy of the kingdom, as well as a place to display relics and art. Some officials even live in this wing, he's come to learn, though they won't be going that far in.

It's not only officials here, though. There appears to be regular citizens milling about, being led to different offices or stopping in front of an intricate statue.

[beloyaltome]

Lenore follows his lead, looking around with interest at the people that they pass, the beauty of the architecture and fashion around them. Her ears are pricked, picking up fragments of conversations here and there, but letting most of it wash over her. She's not listening for anything in particular, and doesn't expect to find it. They're just observing, after all. People-watching for their own pleasure and entertainment.

Keeping quiet, Lenore lets her fingers drift idly along his arm, just above his elbow. Every so often, she glances up at her companion, watching him as much as the 'everyone' that they've come here to view.

[ushiri]

The upward movement of his fingers is definitely noticed, but he does nothing to discourage her yet. He's better used to casual touch than he was back when he first arrived in the summer.

It's easiest to loiter in front of some of the artwork while keeping an ear open to the daily trials and tribulations of the citizenry and minor officials. They stop near a pretty indoor fountain cut in stone and shaped like a simplified symbol of one of the Arcana, though he's not as familiar with them as to say which. Magic clearly powers the fountain, a casual use of such spellcraft that also shocked him when he was first Summoned. Now, he takes such feats mostly in stride. Fish swim in a 'pond' at the base, and he's not quite sure if they're real or illusions.

He's always wanted to stick his hand in the water and find out.

"Is Abraxas very different from your own world?" he asks, glancing up from the fish. He doesn't know much about where she's arrived from.