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[Blade Master Model 42]

"He really does love his craft. Grae dropped a bone onto his plate, and spoke low, so that only Heledd could hear. "... Milos understood as well as he could what it meant to sign on for this mission. He knew there would be Laguz, and he came along anyway. He was quite insistent about it, in fact. He is not a coward."

[Chevaleresse]

Heledd sighed slightly. Partially because Grae seemed to have missed the point she was making in part, and partially because the rest was vaguely annoying and liable to fall to her to address.
"Of course. A coward wouldn't have put up with me for this long, especially one his size. And I don't think I've seen him falter when it mattered." She rolled her eyes. "Speaking of, I suppose I should go bring that kid back at some point. . ." Despite her words, she made no moves in that regard, continuing to lounge in her chair.

[RedMageCole]

Once he had gotten a sample of the food (to which Milos looked rather glad about having tasted), there was a noticeably different tone in Milos' voice once he responded to Aurelia. Not a hint of his usual anxiety, nor the exhaustion from getting done with his dance. Just a confident, chipper voice enjoying the meal and the moment.

"I'm glad you had fun! If you'd like, I wouldn't mind having a dance with you again! Maybe perhaps less with the sword part, I don't get the chance to dance without it at all! It'd be nice to try it without having the sword tied to my arm!"

Milos realized how confident he sounded, just a spritz of shyness coming back to him as he continued.

"Sh-sheesh, what am I saying? I'm always happy to dance! It's just up to you if and when, of course..."

[Blade Master Model 42]

"If Milos is going to master his fear, rather than simply push through it, I expect it will only be by his own terms. And I expect that Joachim's attempts to hurry him along will make things worse, rather than better."

"He obviously doesn't trust me to do what's best for Milos, at least in his perspective. Any idea how I could earn it, aside from the obvious?"

[Twinwolf]

"I can see how doing it with a sword all the time would get tiring. I have to focus on my balance enough even without being weighed down like that."

"Yeah, it would be fun to do that again sometime. Not sure when we'll have time for it again though, considering how fast things move around this group..."

"You know, I think this is the best mood I've seen you in since we met. I'm glad it was so much fun for you too!"

[Gaterhyme]

Ah - she'd had half a mind to ask Heledd a question, but it seemed she was talking with Grae, and in a way that Claire could see that it would probably be rude to interrupt. In the meantime, she busied herself with the meat and vegetables, serving herself a second helping given the opportunity. There was no time for hesitation when it came to food - not that she was too worried about someone taking her share here.

Aya had left Raajak by himself at the table, and after a moment of thought Claire decided she was unworried enough to make a little side conversation with him, given the food was unlikely to disappear as long as the prince was providing it.

"Um," Claire said, clearing her throat, "so what did you end up thinking of the performance? Have you seen anything of the sort before?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Aya ... strides off of to go look for her catty cat Laguz companion.

She would find Joachim in the courtyard, standing near the southwest corner of the small building that had no discernible use across the road from the storehouse. It was far enough away from everyone that he didn't have to be around people, but still technically within the grounds so he wasn't breaking any rules. He clearly heard her approach, as his left ear swiveled in the wolf's direction, but aside from that he continued to stand still, looking up at the sky with his arms crossed.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Heeeeey, Joachim, buddy. How you holdin' up? You seem a little tense there."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"I'm fine. Shouldn't you be enjoying the dinnerrr?"

After a moment, he turned to Aya, putting his right hand on his hip.

"I don't agrrree with trrraveling with this prrrince. And I don't apprrrove of his rrrelationship with the prrrincess, eitherrr. And I'm thinking, Himos is the king because he is the strrrongest. And we need a strrrong leaderrr. Ella is weak."

He stopped there, to let her see where he was going with this for himself.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Aya shrugs.
"Came out to get some fresh air. And to see how you're doin'."
Joachim speaks. Aya thinks for a minute.
"Well, that sorts itself out, doesn't it? Iiiiif I'm remembering correctly, it's all down to a test of strength. If Ella's secretly really strong, she kicks her dad's ass, takes control and there's no complaining because she's proved herself. If she isn't, she loses and she's out, right? As for the prince....well, I mean, I'm not gonna stop him and Ella from sowing their wild oats, but if I get woken up before sunrise, I'm biting someone and I don't much care who."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Therrre will be a fight forrr the thrrrone when Himos is too old to hold it. Therrre WILL be a new king."

"And it's going to be me."

"Once we'rrre done with this mission, I'm going to trrravel and get strrrongerrr. I need to be powerrrrful enough to prrrotect Sampia frrrom the things we've seen. Someone has to carrre about ourrr people, and I don't see Heledd botherrring. That tigerrr doesn't even seem concerrrned with what he was made to do. And Himos? He's strrrong, but he only hirrred us forrr his daughterrr."

Joachim pointed back at the building they'd left.

"We - Sampia - as a people can only stay strrrong if we look out forrr each otherrr, even if that means being tactless sometimes. That's what that was about. Grrrae leads his otherrr soldierrrs well, but he coddles that dancerrr too much. They both needed someone to tell them the rrreality of what his behaviorrr would cause. Am I wrrrong forrr trrrying to look out forrr Milos?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Aya chuckles goodnaturedly.
"You do you, man. Travel, see the beauty of the world, get to know people. Strength only makes for so much when you gotta lead a nation, ya know. Not that I'd know any better."
"I'm kinda one of 'em country bumpkins, really. That sorta stuff is beyond me."
Then Joachim continues on and Aya is silent for a bit, as if deep in thought. After a bit, Aya speaks up, exhaling sharply.
"Alright. Back in Geumho, ya see, my family and I have a farm. A big farm, big space. I'd run around it all day long as a kid. You could live off the land there, but grain pays for clothes and things that you can't just hunt for, so that's what we farmed. But not always the same crops. Anyway, I learned a lot about farmin' out there, how you need to take care of some crops."
"Now, some crops, ya can shove out there. Needs a little soil, a little water, a little sun. That's it. That's all the care it needs to give ya something worth selling. Or eating."
"But others, ya gotta nurture 'em. Tend to them every day, make small adjustments, and they're real sensitive, so if you screw up, they'll die. But, at the end of the day, ya take care of 'em, they'll take care of ya."
"Now, Milos ain't some plant. But, well, I had to help raise eight lil' cubs because my Ma and Pa were always out carting grains to the depot so the fancy merchants can sell 'em. And.....well, some of 'em, some of 'em were tough little bastards. Rough, rowdy, could take care of themselves. A lot like you; ya could push them out of the tree and they'd fly."
"But others.....well, ya couldn't push 'em, because they'd fall, and they'd break. Ya gotta watch out for each other, know what they need, whether yer on a farm or runnin' a country."
"The short of it is, not that you're wrong for thinkin' what you do, but maybe Grae knows somethin' we don't. Maybe he knows somethin' 'bout Milos. Ya trusted him this far, right? A good leader knows what his men needs; maybe he knows what Milos needs too. 'Course, that don't mean I won't tease the boy or treat him like some kid. It's Grae's job to babysit him, not mine.""

[RedMageCole]

"Yeah... we do move around a lot, huh? I look forward to when everything gets settled, and we can just enjoy a little bit of relaxation..."

Milos' blush returns after Aurelia points out his happiness.

"Really? Haha... I hadn't really noticed... well, it does make sense, I guess! But I guess I've just... become grateful for everyone being around me."

[Sirus]

Raajak looked up from his meal of human-style meat at Claire's question. He liked the seasoning well enough, but apparently humans overcooked their food and it wasn't as juicy as he would have preferred.

: "I have not, no. I do not know much of dance, but it seemed very unusual. Do all humans dance that way?"

[Gaterhyme]

"No, some of us are much worse at it." She didn't think that was what Raajak was really asking, but she allowed herself that small moment of levity.

"Like they said, Milos is a battle dancer, so it can be different than dancing just for fun. I think... if you're lucky enough to have him dance for you in battle, then you'll definitely understand." She curled a strand of her hair around her finger. "It is dancing, just... there's something special about it. Almost magical." Her voice became soft, thoughtful. "More useful than magic, sometimes."

Claire returned to her meal. Although she was careful enough to account for table manners, the food on her plate was vanishing at a rather rapid rate.

"Do laguz not dance like this?"