As Friends [Kero]

[DJ Boomkitty]

R Y U U



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The Eastern Woods had undergone quite the transformation, Summer becoming nothing more than a fleeting memory. The trees whose leaves were once green and billowing in a gentle breeze were now stark and barren, frost clinging to their tips. Even the sky itself betrayed the summer blues, instead forecasting a dull grey spotted with dark clouds, a gentle and sparse snowfall floating down to the lands below. Yet, for all this wondrous and curious beauty that nature displayed... Ryuu Noboru was not paying attention.

No, his blue eyes were trained onto the front gate of the Castle, and slowly climbing up, up, up in their gaze, awestruck. He stood there stupidly, arms crossed around a sketchbook he held to his chest, a scarf billowing freely in the wind, bright blonde hair along with it, his mouth forming a small 'o', looking simply... spaced. Yet, he quickly snapped from his frozen posture, a wide smile coming to him. "No waaaaaay~" He chimed, gingerly taking steps through the gate, twisting as he went, taking in every detail he passed by. The garden, the Poke'mon, the... Castle! "Ohh, this is just like the set of a fantasy!" He swooned, hefting a heavy contented sigh.

He perked suddenly, remembering why he was in such a place to begin with. Oh! Right! Cheeks that were already flushed from the cold only pinked further, and the man turned on his heel, bounding up to the door with an eager gait. Yet... what now? Did he just... knock? It seemed awfully rude, for such a place... his brow furrowed as he dug through his pocket, pulling his phone from within. He was definitely on time, 4pm so... Lance would be expecting him, right? So knocking was alright... right?

He stood there debating with himself for a full minute before huffing, a humorous determined look setting into his eyes. "Now or never!" He egged himself on, reaching forward to give the door a gentle rapt of the knuckles.

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[Lady Leaf]

[scrolly:h(230),w(390),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:10px;)] It just so happened that Lance of all people, had lost track of time. No, it wasn’t like him to do such a thing. Often he allowed himself to check his watch or any clock in the room frequently. However today he had been so occupied by his work that by the time he looked up it was two minutes to four o’clock. With a strike of panic he quickly picked up all of papers and books, piled them onto one another and picked them up. With the books securely in his arms he made a dash out of the study and down a few halls. His goal: his bed room of course. He couldn’t leave his work in the study and had the intentions of changing his clothes before his guest arrived. Sadly for him it was a long trip. He had to make his way down a few halls and into the main entrance so he could head up the stairs and… There it was. His time had run out and he hadn’t been able to change or even put away his work. The sound of the knocking on the door caused him to come to a skidding stop, his head turning towards it to stare blankly for a few seconds. Those few seconds were broken when books/papers in the middle of the pile he was holding slipped out and scattered all across the floor. “Shit” was the first thing that came out of his mouth as his eyes widened at the mess. “J-just a moment!” This was one of the few times Lance was actually happy Felis didn’t have any servants. He knew that no one would be coming to answer the door. At least… he was pretty certain no one would. Last he heard Felis and Rosa had gone out. He hadn’t really paid attention to where as the why had been nothing of importance. A few more moments had passed by the time Lance had managed to stuff all of the books and papers into his arms again. Of course this time they were no longer in there neat pile but instead in a messy heap in his arms. None the less the blond haired man still managed to reached out and open the door. “I’m sorry I was just putting these away and then…” He began before his dark blue eyes finally lifted up and fell upon Ryuu. “Ah, where are my manners. Come in.

[/b]” With that Lance stepped aside, allowing Ryuu room to enter.

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[DJ Boomkitty]

R Y U U



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Ryuu heard the muffled call from... well, it sounded like Lance, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay~" He called back, turning to admire the gardens once more. Goodness, he never saw anything like them! Well... Harmony Woods was always pretty, yes, but in... the wild way. Here, the flowerbeds and arrangements were so tediously organized, that Ryuu could practically feel the painstaking effort put into them. He was well familiar with that emotion... with the work he put into his tailoring, after all.

After a few more thumps from within, Ryuu blinked and looked back at the door with a bemused eye, about to call and ask if everything was okay when the door opened before him. And... there he was! Ryuu knew it was Lance. With a polite smile and bow, he stepped indoors, completely ignorant of the disheveled papers Lance held. Instead, his eyes were once again drawn upwards, gazing in awe at the sheer height of the ceiling, the beauty of the decor, the... the... everything! "Oh woooooow~ its more than I imagined it to be!" He swooned, turning in a slow circle, observing everything that he could, in his own little world...

...Oh, right.

Spinning on his heel with such velocity that he almost tripped himself, a blush coated Ryuu's face as he locked his gaze onto Lance, standing at attention, arms crossed around his sketchbook. "Ah, sorry! How rude of me... hello!" He chimed, grinning and relaxing considerably. "I was just a bit... struck, by the beauty of this place. You were so modest when you described it!" He teased, eyes being finally drawn down to what the other man held. "Whats all that?"

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[Lady Leaf]

[scrolly:h(230),w(390),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:10px;)] Lance watched as the man stepped in and began to circle about in awe. Something most commoners did when seeing the castle for the first time. Lance was quite use to it and thus he found himself quiet, allowing Ryuu time to look around. Not a sound escaped him until Ryuu spun back around, causing a small chuckle like sound to emerge from Lance’s throat. “It’s a castle like any other.” He finally replied, shutting the door with his shoulder before turning to face Ryuu again. “I suppose I’m just use to it.” His eyes then slid down the mess of papers in his arms and he found himself letting out a sigh. “Just work. I was putting these away.” With that, his own dark blue eyes lifted up to the sketch book in Ryuu’s arms, “Sketches of dresses?” After all, Lance had asked if he could make a few for Rosa. He knew out of many of the things Rosa would want, new dresses would be right up at the top. Now, here was the dilemma. His room was up on the top floor of the castle. The green room that Lance had wanted to spend the evening in with Ryuu was on the bottom floor. He certainly didn’t want to abandon Ryuu all alone, even if it was for a few moments. Yet he also didn’t feel it was a good idea to leave his paper work somewhere where someone else could pick them up and read. Lastly, he did not want to just carry them around with him everywhere. So… what was he to do? ……. “I need to put these in my room. It’s on the top floor,” Lance explained, motioning his head towards the grand staircase, “Why don’t you accompany me for the walk and I can show you small tour on the way back down.” Ryuu did seem amazed by the castle so perhaps that was the best option. After all, if they took the long way down Ryuu could see quite a bit. [/scrolly] [bg=black]

[DJ Boomkitty]

R Y U U



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As Lance dismissed the castle, Ryuu wrinkled his nose slightly in amusement, a chuckle slipping past his lips. "There you go again." He teased, wagging a finger at the blonde. "The only castles I've been in were... well, mostly stage props." A small snort. "And those were just like... fake towers and whatnot, for me to hang out of..." He then swayed to the side a bit, shifting his sketch book to his left arm as he dramatically laid the back of his right hand on his forehead, rolling his eyes upward. "I beseech thee, divines, to vanquish the evil in his heart and set me free." He crooned in a higher, much more effeminate voice (that still somehow sounded natural), before regaining his composure with a stifled giggle. "The typical damsel in distress scenes... so much fun."

With a content sigh, Ryuu paused for a moment, peering just beyond Lance's shoulder as he envisioned the plays of his past; the lights, sights, sounds, accompany me for a walk... wait, what? Blinking, Ryuu came back to reality with a small start, mentally sighing but refocusing on Lance. Had he asked him to... "Oh, that'd be wonderful!" He nodded, shifting his sketchbook back into his arms as he fell into step beside Lance, his eye wandering again. "More than wonderful, actually. I dare say you'd be spoiling me." A brief pause, before a gentle laugh. "Not like you don't anyway, with your patronage to my shop..." He couldn't help but bow his head in a silent 'thank you'. It was true after all... Lance was his best paying customer. Ryuu certainly wouldn't have it any other way.

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