Character Halloween

[Castle ~ First Floor (Dining Room)] (Oswald, Harry)

Oswald's eyes widened for a moment in mock worry.

"Oh I hope not," he said, glancing upward, "I don't think the castle would appreciate our ah... our means of exploration. Specifically doors that- mmm, that weren't easy to open." His smile slowly returned. "On that same line of discussion, yes, we did encounter quite a few out-of-the-ordinary elements upstairs. Or rather, out-of-the-ordinary on any other day of the year, perhaps less so on Halloween."

Oswald grabbed himself a paper plate, adding things to it as he continued, "Lets see... well, first and foremost we spent a long time tailing after a luminescent ball of light, which I believe stands a very good chance of being some manner of ghost or spirit. It could stir the wind as it chose, scattering dust in order to form words, and it even allowed us to communicate directly with it for a time. Sadly, such was ephemeron, and the spirit vanished before we could ascertain its origin or purpose, if indeed it had any." He sighed, his eyes lowering slightly, "A shame, but what can one do?"

He picked up a banana, eyeing it for bruises. "Aside from that, we also happened upon— or rather, we were happened upon by—a strange, empty bear costume, of all things. And when I say that this empty costume happened upon us, I mean that moved around without innards or an occupant, at least no visible or tangible occupant. On a guess I'd say it was possessed, although not for very long. Just long enough to take a few steps and then fall flat on its face." he turned his hood in Harry's direction, trying to catch the man with an ominous stare, "Oddly, the most obvious suspect, our phantasmal friend, denied any claim to this act when Krajn inquired of it. Most of upstairs consisted merely of dusty abandoned rooms, quiet as you'd expect and seemingly untouched for generations. There was a large study with a lovely view of the moon, but little else to see besides. Books that neither one of us could read, doors leading to more doors, a handful of paintings..." he shrugged, "still, there is certainly more going on in this castle than what can be seen to the naked eye, eh?"

Oswald smiled again, turning his eyes back to his plate of food as he added the banana to it. "I'm a little surprised Krajn didn't mention that I was at the university," he said, "but at that point, I suppose we both believed it would be an isolated incident. A chance encounter whose replication seemed very improbable." His smile faded once more, as the look of bitter annoyance returned to his eyes, "I'm afraid I don't actually have a great deal to tell in the way of answers. I know what I saw, and I know how things appeared to be, but I found my own exit before any concrete explanation could be found. There was evidence of cultist involvement, though I never saw any cultists myself, nor do I know what kind of cult those absentees belonged to. I'm not sure that I could pin it down any more than that, but something about the whole ordeal still rings false to me this day."

He fell silent, glancing down at his plate, then at Harry, before shaking his head and stepping away from the table, plate in hands.

[Dining Room (Oswald, Harry)]

"Was," Harry said, perhaps somewhat too insistently. "There was more going on in this castle than meets the eye. But I think that's all over now."

That was a relief to him, but Oswald sounded like he'd actually enjoyed - Harry ran through the list in his head - talking with a ghost, running into a possessed bear costume, and whatever third thing would sound best. The books they couldn't read, probably. He chuckled to himself; maybe the horned man and Krajn actually were good for each other after all.

Certainly he didn't mind missing it, though. Or the rest of the stuff at the university - fake university - from the sound of it. Seriously, cultists? "Cultists of what?" he asked out loud. "Actually, never mind. I'm probably a lot happier not knowing."

He took a sip from his soda again. "Anyway, you about ready to head out, at least back to the ballroom? This castle doesn't feel so Halloweenish anymore, but it's still not somewhere I want to hang out in for a while, now that everyone else has gone." Not that the other guests had been all that reassuring themselves, of course.

[Castle ~ First Floor (Dining Room —> Ballroom)] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

"I couldn't tell you much even if you wanted me to." Oswald said, frowning and shrugging his shoulders. "Besides the fact that it was a considerably long while ago and I simply don't remember it all, there was not a whole lot to go on in regards to those cultists. There were a few doomsayers among us, but I don't recall having ever garnered enough solid evidence to peg those claims as being anywhere near plausible. It was all conjecture on top of some sort of sanctuary that was built beneath the university itself. I think those folks were just getting spooked by the odd set of circumstances, jumping to conclusions, all that. In any case, I wasn't sorry to leave. And speaking of leaving," he nodded his head towards the ballroom, "that's an aye-aye, captain."

He set off himself, picking a large carrot off of his plate of food and gnawing on it as he glanced back at Harry. "Not that I mind this castle so much myself. Reminds of home a bit. I'd almost relax here for a while, but I've got a long day ahead of me, and this party has left me with no time to waste on pleasantries." He paused both his speaking and chewing for a moment to look down at his plate of food. "Not much time to waste, that is."

Upon returning to Krajn in the ballroom, Oswald titled his head, giving her a questioning look and asking, "Are you not at all hungry, Krajn?"

this is assuming Krajn hasn't moved. Otherwise, say something please.

edited 11th Feb '15 3:17:55 PM by Ryuhza

[Dining Room -> Ballroom (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

Harry followed Oswald back out to the ballroom. "Well, I can't say I totally blame them," he said, "the others you were with, I mean. That place was spooky. Different sort of spooky than this place, maybe because it wasn't Halloween, but still, I would have gotten the creeps even more than I did if I started finding actually horror stuff like you're mentioning."

Though there was... what's her name's... animated armor suit. He stopped in the middle of the hall. Huh. Animated armor suit. Possessed bear costume. I wonder if there's some of connection.

Inside the ballroom, Krajn had stopped dancing to the old human music - if "dancing" had really ever been the right term - and instead was staring curiously at something on the wall. "Oswald," she called. "Come look at this. It's a large spider. Perhaps one of the ones that's been leaving webs everywhere."

She turned her head at his mention of food, not sure if it was a straightforward question or an offer. "Not really," she said, "and I doubt I'd care for most human snack food anyway." He seemed to have found carrots, but carrots weren't much good either - too hard for her teeth.

"Yeah, probably not," Harry agreed, entering. "And I think it's about time to head out of here, anyway." He stood back to give them (and the spider) some space.

[Castle ~ First Floor (Ballroom)] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

"I feel I ought to say something about never knowing what you'll like until you try it, but if your natural instinct is to avoid putting something in your mouth... well, it seems wisest to listen to that. "

Oswald smiled, snapping off a section of carrot between his teeth and chewing quietly as he approached Krajn's wall.

"So, what's this about a spider then?" he asked eyeing the wall for the 8-legged vandal. "Not one that spins messages into it's webs, I trust?"


that's all for now. little droopy eyed and I can't think of what else to write without making Oswald seem like too much of a blabbermouth

[Ballroom (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

"What? No, it's just an ordinary spider," Krajn said, giving Oswald a puzzled glance. "Can they even do that? Spiders, that is? I thought they were basically just a kind of animal."

There was indeed a large grey spider moving down the wall, though it was hard to spot against the faded blue wallpaper.

"And about the food," she continued, "well, I'm a vegetarian - like most of my species - but beyond that, there's also the problem of my teeth." She opened her mouth to show them off more obviously; they were quite blunt, clearly indicating a herbivorous ancestry. "Obviously not well suited for eating hard things like party chips, or even carrots."

She paused, letting Oswald look at the spider, and also taking a moment to marshal her thoughts. Goodbyes - the kind that actually meant anything emotionally, at least - weren't something she was particularly experienced with, but it seemed about the right time for them. Unless: "So, is it possible that we could give you a ride to wherever it is you want to go next? We do have a ship, after all."

Meanwhile, Harry leaned back against the opposite wall and quietly sipped his soda, occasionally glancing at his wrist as if there was a watch there (there wasn't, of course; his backup was more than enough of a timekeeper). He wasn't quite impatient to go yet, but he was totally looking forward to getting back behind the controls of - and just inside - the Flying Nerd.

[Castle ~ First Floor (Ballroom)] (Oswald, Krajn, Harry)

"Indeed they are," Oswald nodded, "indeed they are. But in this place and- ...if it were still yesterday, I wouldn't entirely doubt that brand of fantasy. I'd even put said spider- ah! There it is." he pulled his head back slightly as his eyes fixed upon the slowly descending spider. "...I'd even put said spider in the lineup of suspects who could potentially be our missing host, if ever there was one. But no, you're right, they don't normally do any fine writing outside the realm of make-believe."

He continued to watch the spider, looking passively content to watch its motions, if not terribly fascinated by the creature. His eyes briefly migrated towards Krajn for a moment as she explained about her eating tendencies. "I see." he said, glancing at the carrot half in his hand, "Well, some folks like to to cook them up to soften them a bit, and perhaps add additional flavor or make them part of a stew, but," his gaze returned to Krajn, "I suppose there may be more to it than that."

He took another bite off of his shrinking carrot, then broke into a grin as Krajn offered to help him out with his traveling. He turned to look at her directly, still grinning, although it was clear that he was trying hard to downplay it at that point. He breathed in deep, then said, "Krajn, I would love nothing more than to step aboard your ship, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be able to take me where I need to go." he raised one hand, gesturing at the castle around and above them, "I'm fairly certain that this place is not a part of my own world. However, I'm not entirely sure of where the two converge. I think I may simply have to retrace my steps, and to that end, the furthest you could take me is probably the bottom of the hill."

Oswald let out another low sigh, his eyes drifting downwards towards the tip of his snout. "But I do appreciate your offer nonetheless."

[Ballroom (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

"Oh," Krajn said. "I see." She glanced downward. Apparently Oswald had liked the idea as well, from what she could tell of his body language, though she wasn't certain whether it was because of her or because he wanted to see the inside of a spaceship - since his world apparently didn't even have what she thought a pre-contact human society should have. What an odd thought. I never did ask about that. Though I suppose it's really none of my concern.

"All right, then," she continued, "I suppose you can just walk with us to the bottom of the hill - whenever you're ready, of course," she added, shooting a glare at Harry, who was still somewhat ostentatiously checking his imaginary watch. (He ignored it, of course). "Our ship is - has also landed in that general area."

"Hey, by the way, dudes?" Harry said, speaking up for the first time since he'd stopped sipping his soda. "Indulge my curiosity for a moment - either of you mind missing the party in favor of whatever it was you were doing? Just wondering." The question, despite his plural address, was really directed mostly at Ozzy; he knew parties weren't really Krajn's thing.

This feels kind of incomplete, but I'm not sure what else to add.

[Castle ~ First Floor (Ballroom)] (Oswald, Krajn, Harry)

"All right." Oswald said, a softer smile appearing on his face, "One more walk it is then." His eyelids drooped slightly. "One last little walk. We'll just have to make the most of it."

He tipped his head down, seemingly towards his plate, then tilted his hood in the direction of the dining room. "There is one thing that I should probably take care of first, if you'll excuse me for a moment."

Just before he could step away for his excused moment, Oswald was caught by Harry's question. He paused for a few seconds of thought, taking the chance to chew on the bum end of his once-large carrot.

"Well," he began, once his mouth was free enough to speak, "without any second-hand telling, I can only imagine with inadequate accuracy how the party proceeded, or who was a part of it, aside from yourself and Madame Never-Gave-Me-Her-Name. In some sense, I do regret not meeting more people, and in turn not fulfilling the initial expectations I had upon my arrival here. So there is a bit of longing in me for that party which I'll never be a part of, but in knowing what I did experience on mine and Krajn's own ventures, I believe I am more than content with how these past few—or several, I should say—hours have gone. And that longing lies dormant as little more than unrealized potential for me to have minded missing the party." He paused for another second or two, blinked twice, then said, "In other words, no, I don't. I hope you enjoyed it though."

He gave Harry an almost comically friendly smile, then took another few steps away before pausing and glancing back, perhaps to see if he was still needed.

[Ballroom (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

Harry blinked a moment, still a little nonplussed at the way Oswald talked. Then he nodded and said "Okay, that's what I was guessing. Like I said, just wondering."

He glanced over questioningly at Krajn, who did her best to roll her eyes (something that looked fairly different on a qrtxian face). "Guess," she told him.

Harry shrugged and looked back at Oswald. "Yeah, sure, go ahead," he said. Krajn simply gave him a little wave.

[Castle ~ First Floor (Ballroom)] (Oswald, Krajn, Harry)

Oswald nodded, then turned away and headed back to the dining room, his pointed tail swaying gently to and fro just below his cloak as he went, until he passed through the doorway and disappeared from sight. He was gone for around two minutes, during which time one standing close enough or straining hard enough to hear could make out the faint sound of his humming.

He returned, not looking terribly different than he had before leaving, though there were a few more food items on his plate. A sharp eye might also notice that his cloak was just a little heavier, pulling down over his shoulders a bit more tightly.

"That'll be all." he said as he reapproached the two. "If you two are ready to leave, then I bid you, lead the way."

[Ballroom -> Castle Exterior (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

As Oswald left the room, Harry gave Krajn a glance. "So, uh. You two...?"

Krajn simply stared in response. They stood around in rather awkward silence for the next few minutes before Oswald came back. Once he had, Harry coughed quietly. "Ready to - yeah, you just said you were. Okay, then." He took the lead as they headed out through the hallway and the entrance hall, humming the music Priss had set up (and which he hadn't bothered to switch off) as he went.

Krajn, meanwhile, dropped back to walk alongside Oswald, eying his cloak thoughtfully, then suspiciously. In a hushed voice, she hissed "Oswald! You didn't take something from our nice, completely theoretical host, did you?"

The three of them exited the front hall and came out into the night. The clouds overhead had entirely vanished by this point, leaving a sky unaffected by any light from the ground and correspondingly full of stars. The air was cold but still, and the moon didn't seem quite as bright as it had before, making it much darker. Still, Harry seemed to have no problem with his sense of direction as he began walking downhill. After a moment, though, he stopped, and without turning around, said "Hey, just thinking out loud here: if we all turn around now, is the castle still actually going to be there?"

[Castle ~ First Floor (Ballroom) —> Outside ~ Castle Exterior] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

Oswald's eyes went uncharacteristically wide for a moment. His mouth opened slowly, but it took a few seconds even after that for any words to come. In a defensive, equally hushed voice he said, "Wha- nothing that wasn't already being offered." In quick but smooth succession, he tilted his head down, his eyes briefly flashing across his cloak, then at the ballroom they had just left behind, then at the back of Harry's head, and, lastly, he turned his eyes to Krajn herself. With a reluctant sigh, he reached his free hand into his cloak and, after a moment of careful rummaging, fished out something round and wrapped in a napkin. He gave it a squeeze, then did what he could to unwrap it with a single hand. He managed to expose the thing's brown-tan edge, then raised it to his mouth and took a bite, revealing it to be nothing more than a fluffy bread roll.

"There you have it." he murmured, re-wrapping the rest of the roll and returning it to his pocket. "Food doesn't come so easily out in the woods; certainly not prepared like this. If I may be so bold, I don't think it will see much better use now that the party has ended."

He fell silent as they stepped outside, frowning with narrowed eyes. However, after a second or so, the frown turned into a smile, and, speaking a little more jovially, though still quietly, he said, "Now if I had seen any valuables lying around..."

Oswald frowned in mild confusion at Harry's sudden question. "Perhaps physically. Perhaps not visibly." he said, turning his hood to the side, though it was unlikely that he'd be able to see anything behind him from that angle. "Why, would you like to give it a go?"

very drowsy while writing this, sorry for any mistakes

edited 14th Feb '15 11:56:01 PM by Ryuhza

[Castle Exterior (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

Krajn sighed. "You two are being ridiculous." She turned around; the castle remained visible, and to all appearances it remained resolutely solid as well. "You see? It's still there. What, were you expecting - "

She glanced over at Oswald and stopped mid-complaint, focusing on him more seriously. He'd seemed actually bothered before, much more so than she would have expected, and she cleared her throat. "Erm. Oswald, you do realize I wasn't being quite serious earlier, yes? I chose to refer to our host as 'entirely theoretical' deliberately - if ze would have seriously objected to you taking the food that was specifically set out for guests, I suspect ze would have also bothered to show up for the party." Morally, of course, the act was slightly more questionable, but not really - certainly not enough for even the average Qvn Jxilkr to complain, and Krajn thought she was much more flexible than that.

Harry sighed. This was a great time for them to be having a spat; he just wanted to get back to the ship. But on the other hand, he could totally understand why Oswald might want some food if he was going to be hiking back through those woods to civilization - wherever and whatever that was for him. "Hey, man, you know, even if you don't want to hitch a ride with us, we could always lend you some stuff. It's not like we can't replace it easily, with Krajn's people funding us at least." Krajn, for once, offered no objection to this suggestion.

"Anyway, come on," he continued, "moonlight's wasting." With that he started back down the hill.

Night.

[Outside ~ Castle Exterior —> Path] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

Oswald's eyes—though near invisible between the dark of the night sky and the shadow of his hood—lingered on Krajn for a moment, then pointed, a little hazily, to the path ahead. "Of course, of course," he said, speaking slowly and nodding just the same.

He lowered his head and continued to walk in silence until Harry offered to lend him supplies from their ship. Oswald quickly raised his eyes to Harry, holding on him only for a moment before dropping again in contemplation.

"The word 'loan'," he said after a few quiet seconds, "seems... optimistic. Though it pains me to say it, there's no guarantee that I'll be seeing either of you again after we part ways. And I praise my good fortune for granting me this night alone..." He fell silent again for another few seconds, then let out a sigh and said, "I'm not in any sort of dire straits, and I've measured out supplies and funds enough to cover my needs until I can reach the next town and find work. My immediate, prideful response is to decline your offer, gracious though it is. Yet..." he closed his eyes and gave another sigh, "yet here I am, shambling away from the castle with as much food on my person as I can discreetly carry. Perhaps it is wrong to let pride factor into my decision reasoning just now. But do understand, I don't mean to be a leech. If you were merely offering out of politeness, then allow me none of it."

[Path (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

"No no no, man," Harry said hurriedly, "you're not a leech. It's a real offer. And yeah, I figure we won't get the stuff back. But hey, the Alliance - where we're from - is pretty close to what they used to call post-scarcity, at least for essentials. It's not a big deal."

"Seriously, Oswald," Krajn added, "don't worry about the food. I was just trying to tease you." She spoke with more than a little nervousness; it would be terrible to have an argument just before they were about to part ways.

Why can't dealing with people ever be simple?

They continued to descend the path, and were soon near the bottom of the hill.

Short post because I really need to go somewhere shortly.

edited 15th Feb '15 1:26:07 PM by nrjxll

[Outside ~ Path] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

Oswald halted near the bottom of the hill, with a hand pressed thoughtfully against his mouth. His hooded brow was furrowed in much the same manner, lending him a look of contemplation that, even in the dimness of the night, was so intense it couldn't possibly be entirely genuine.

With a submissive sigh, he said, "Very well. I suppose if it means setting foot near this ship of yours, I'll take whatever excuse I can get." He smiled, then resumed walking to the hill's bottom.

Around the point just before the hill's slope began to level out, Oswald eyed Krajn—or at least what he could see of her dark form. "Yes, a tease," he said, in a voice just above a murmur, "I... I do know that." His mouth tightened momentarily into a frown, but, in continuing, he managed to say, "I'm sure it's simply my mind that's turning it into chastisement. Perhaps," his voice returned to a murmuring level, "that speaks to a different problem altogether."

[Path -> Clearing (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

Krajn tilted her head at Oswald and smiled sympathetically, but remained silent. She liked him, but she wasn't either inclined or temperamentally suited to play therapist.

The three of them continued trudging in silence for the next few minutes, passing the pumpkin patch, now entirely empty of everything except pumpkins - even the scarecrows that had been there before. It was still quite cold (or perhaps even more so, considering that it was well after midnight), and Krajn periodically wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Harry, by way of contrast, seemed much more at ease the farther away from the castle they moved.

In fact, though, it was really what they were approaching that made him happier. As they reached a large clearing, beyond which the path led out through the woods, he grinned. "So, Ozzy, you mentioned wanting to see my ship?"

With that, he sent a series of commands over his comm implant. There was a moment's silence, then with a dull humming noise a large chunk of space seemed to ripple as its camouflage coloring changed, revealing a roughly disk-shaped and very small spaceship, no more than about thirty meters in length. Its hull, now light blue, was curved and whorled in a manner resembling a nautilus shell. With a hiss part of the hull slid outward, spilling out cheerful-seeming bright lights, and reformed with the characteristic fluidity of programetal into a ramp.

Harry gestured extravagantly with one arm. "Behold, the Flying Nerd, my humble starfaring vessel and casa," he said with false gravitas. "Groovy, isn't she?"

"More accurately, isn't it yours and Cecelia's?" Krajn muttered. She glanced over at Oswald, and tipped her head upward slightly. "Sorry. Erm, so..." she trailed off, not quite sure what to say.

I think it should be 'I hate goodbyes', but I haven't actually said enough to know. That's the whole problem.

[Outside ~ Clearing] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

Oswald, who in the midst of their silence had begun quietly gnawing on a second carrot, looked up, blinking at the apparently-empty clearing ahead.

"Yes," he answered, turning his curious eyes to Harry for a moment, "is it nearby?"

As he waited for an answer that didn't come in words, he stuck the carrot back in his mouth, continuing to work away at it slowly. It was almost as though he were savoring it despite the copious amounts of napkin-wrapped food lining his pockets, and, indeed, still left on his paper plate.

Despite not making a terrible lot of noise beforehand, when the ship was suddenly relieved of it's invisible veil, Oswald somehow managed to become even more silent. His eyes widened considerably as the clandestine ship came into full view, and his expression on the whole was locked at awestruck, the carrot he'd been eating hanging out of one side of his mouth, held in place only by his clenched teeth.

It wasn't until Harry formally introduced his ship that Oswald seemed to make any sound at all. Or a series of sounds, rather. He was in the process of removing the carrot from his mouth, biting off what he could and leaving the rest for such a time when he would not be gawking. A moment or so after Harry announced the ship's name, Oswald made a strange snorting, coughing sound, as though someone had punched him in the gut just after telling him the funniest joke in the world. He winced and spat out a bit of carrot, then, once he had a few more moments to collect himself, said, "Sorry about that, I... ah, b- I bit my tongue."

was going to write more, but I'm tirrd

[Clearing (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

Krajn looked concernedly at Oswald, but her expression of sympathy was cut short by his verbal reassurances. Instead, she simply smiled at his impressed reaction to the ship and its camouflage systems. As truly odd as it was to have someone be completely unfamiliar with this sort of fairly ordinary technology, she also found it more than a little endearing to witness.

Harry grinned proudly as he gestured again at the Nerd. "Yeah, the name's a bit goofy, but she's one sweet piece of technology, even where we come from. Cthwui-designed, and nobody builds 'em quite like the cthwui do, but with all the comforts of a normal ship. I've had her for nearly two years now, and my eyes haven't strayed to another ship since."

He glanced between Oswald and Krajn. "Anyway, I'm going to head in and get your stuff, and power her up a bit." With that he climbed up the ramp and ducked inside the ship.

Left alone, Krajn looked over at Oswald, and exhaled. This might be awkward. "So," she said hesitantly, "I suppose this is about the time at which we'll part ways. I'm not particularly skilled at goodbyes - I don't have enough people I consider friends to have to make many of them - so I'm not quite certain what to do right now..."

[Outside ~ Clearing] (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)

"Oh, I do like it." Oswald said, once he'd had a few more moments to gather himself. "It's very... sleek. Or it seems that way to me, at the least. I'm sure I hardly need to inform you of the fact that I don't know the first thing about spacecraft this side of the Falcon but, ah- yes, it's much sleeker than what I had imagined."

He nodded his dismissal as Harry left, then took a step back and returned to gawking at the ship. "Flying Nerd," he murmured, smiling at the bizarre name.

Oswald turned his hood to Krajn as she began speaking, his smile beginning to fade, and fading more with each word. He didn't speak immediately once she had finished. Head hung and eyes downcast, he idly dug the heel of his boot into the ground. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh, then folded his paper plate in half and stuffed it somewhere under his cloak.

"Well," he raised his eyes to Krajn, "what's your stance on human gestures of affection?"

[Clearing (Oswald, Harry, Krajn)]

And... yes. Awkward.

Krajn rocked back and forth in place a little, trying to think. Her first response was to declare a firm "I'm not fond of them", but not only would it probably just make things even more awkward, it might not have actually been true. Certainly her natural instincts were to regard physical affection as reserved for relationships that were a lot more emotionally intimate, but she'd learned in training that the same wasn't true for all species, with humans being among them. And after all, it wasn't as if she had a better idea.

"I suppose that depends on the gesture," she said out loud.

edited 19th Feb '15 5:51:38 PM by nrjxll

[Outside ~ Clearing] (Oswald, Krajn)

Oswald's head lowered once more, a small smile slowly returning to his face, which then burgeoned into a quiet laugh; a laugh at something unspoken.

"Sorry," he murmured, glancing briefly up at Krajn, then indicating to one of his horns—or, more likely, his head—and saying, "a funny thought, just... mmn." His eyes fell and his feeble attempt at explaining his giggle did little to nothing to ease the awkward tension in the air between them.

A few more uneasy seconds later, Oswald raised his head and spread his arms apart in a shrug-like gesture. "What do you say to a hug then? You know... they're common, friendly, highly rated for g-goodbyes."

Oswald did his best to offset his little stutter with a confident smile, but his heavy brow seemed more worried than bold just then.

[Clearing (Oswald, Krajn)] Whoops, forgot Harry wasn't there last time.

"A hug, you say?" Krajn repeated, feeling slightly foolish as she did so. I'm sure he heard himself the first time - there's no need to for you to repeat it out loud.

She shook it off and considered the idea more seriously. From one point of view it sounded like a terrible idea; a hug was much more in the way of physical contact then she'd had with anyone besides Ghiln, ever. But from another point of view, it didn't seem that bad - at least when compared to the alternative. After all, she and Oswald would probably never meet again, and it would bother her to have their last meeting end awkwardly. And it'd probably bother Oswald even more; if the way his mind worked was any way nearly as similar to hers as she suspected, he'd probably spend quite a bit of time berating himself after this for letting his... whatever... get in the way of a proper goodbye.

"All right," she said slowly, "I suppose a hug sounds fine." She let her posture relax, but didn't actually move. While Oswald was obviously fairly larger than she was, her enhancements almost certainly made her the stronger out of the two of them; even if she'd been more familiar and comfortable with this sort of thing, it'd still be a better idea to let him initiate it.

"What were you laughing about, if I may ask?" she added.

edited 19th Feb '15 7:58:08 PM by nrjxll

[Outside ~ Clearing] (Oswald, Krajn)

"Oh that?" Oswald said, at the same time loosening the knots that held his cloak around his neck, "Well, as I said, it was a funny thought. I don't think I should describe exactly what I was thinking, but when you said 'that depends on the gesture', it stirred up some... ah, amusing mental images. That is to say, if you know much about human gestures of affection, a hug is really quite tame."

He finished freeing the cloak's neck strap, then, rather than leaving it draped over his shoulders, swept the cloak's length behind his back. He leveled his gaze at Krajn, then took a quick, if somewhat deep, breath and stepped forward.

"Well... here's to our time together." He said, offering Krajn a half smile as he came close, and took her into his embrace. It was a little stiff and restrained, as though Oswald wasn't sure how gentle he should be with her. "It's been a lovely night, Krajn. I'm glad I didn't have to spend it alone, or in the company of complete strangers."