A New Packmate

"Fascinating, truly fascinating." Damian spoke to no one in particular...despite having come to this very mountain with Mercury as a companion. Within all of two minutes of hiking he had spotted a species of grasshopper he had never seen before and completely forgot she was there. Without even a moment of hesitation he had walked right off the trail to catch the insect, and returned to walking it with the little thing in his open hand. For some reason or another it seemed to sit still, no intent to escape, and eyed Damian as if trying to identify him. The look was reciprocated by Damian through his magnifying glass. Somehow, some way, this proceeded for a short time while up the mountain before the grasshopper got bored of being looked at and hopped away.

Damian let out a small sound of disappointment vaguely reminiscent of a child having their favorite toy put just out of reach. With eyes nearly tearing up, he watched the little bug hop back into the forest. "Another day then, little friend. Another day..." His tone would almost make someone believe he was wishing farewell to his closest compatriot. After several long moments of looking downcast as he walked, he suddenly remember that he was in fact walking with his new companion Mercury. Well, thinking on it she was about to become his...boss? He pondered if that would be the right descriptor where guild members were concerned. With the guilds being a seeming mix of business, friendship, and family, he couldn't really find an appropriate word for what he was supposed to call Mercury... Then again, he was not much for over thinking pleasantries and titles in the first place. So unless reprimanded simply calling her by name seemed the most appropriate....probably.

He was once again distracted from actually addressing his companion...for all of three seconds. That was when they suddenly began to enter a more overtly chilling biome. Damian had not in his life experienced such a cool temperature in the middle of the day. Or one that wasn't a dry chill for that matter. The desert could be lethal at night, but it didn't exactly provide much in the way of moisture. Pulling his jacket a little tighter to his frame, he finally addressed Mercury. "So, that feels a lot like we're coming up to the edge of this 'eternal snowstorm'. Suppose it's time for these ghost wolves to judge my heart or something of the like?" His eyes gleamed with wonderment as he looked to Mercury for perhaps the first time in possibly an hour.

He couldn't even attempt to lie about or hide his overt glee at the idea of getting up close and personal with ghosts! (Or spirits or whatever they were, he didn't care he was just hyped!) He had always been fascinated with stories of haunted places and objects growing up, despite the fact his parents were trying to impress upon him some great "moral" lesson or some such. It just made him want to explore those places, touch those objects, and invite those troubles all the more! Granted these ones were apparently quite benign if you didn't intend to harm the guild in some way. Which couldn't be further from Damian's mind, all things considered. He was quite thrilled to be on his way to join up. Were the cold not starting to press in, he might have just rubbed his hands together in delight at all the new information and experimentation he was about to get up to!

WC: 591/591
Total: 591

@Mercury Arseneault

Damian was, admittedly, a little disappointed to hear that the "judging your heart thing" didn't have any special flair or presentation. He had been looking forward to seeing what that might look like, magically speaking. Well, he supposed not every new thing would be as grandiose as he might want. Nothing for it but to enjoy it as is then. Kneeling down, he gave the wolf that had approached him a vigorous petting about its' shoulders and a more...deft handed scritch around the ears and chin. In response the wolf's ears seemed to flip calmly to one side, and its' body seemed to sink in relaxation. Damian grinned happily in response, pleased that the wolf seemed to find his presence pleasant.

Damian was just returning to a standing position to talk to Mercury when suddenly he was being patted on the back and given a veritable whirlwind of speech from a short, rather scantily clad girl. It would be, for others watching him, almost comical how large his eyes widened in surprise. Seriously, what was with women in this country?! That they could go without full coverage even in such freezing temperatures was....well he didn't know what word properly encapsulated his thoughts on the subject. "I- I don't...I... Yes?" was the best he could get out in response to the minute girls questions before another stranger, this time a large man with a sword, approached and introduced himself.

It was now that Damian realized they had somehow come shockingly close to the guildhall, which now loomed over him out of the blinding white of the snowstorm. He was more distracted on the climb up than he realized. Being pat on the back by the short woman shook him back out of his thoughts. "W-well. Hello there. My name is Damian Beckett. I just moved here from Desierto to join a mage guild. N-nice to meet you!" His voice and posture both seemed a little stiff compared to before. He didn't really know what more to say or do in this situation. He was...not a socially aware person by nature, and the sudden surprise of people had thrown him off a step. His gaze flicking back and forth between the two, and then back to Mercury, he gave a sloppy, haphazard grin. "Sh-shall we speak more inside, where its' more...warm and presumably quiet?"

WC: 392/983
Total: 2,053

@Mercury Arseneault@SlayerMathis_

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the cafe-

Sipping from a white mug of coffee with a black Silver Wolf emblem on the front, Leona sat at a table clad in her green, white, and gold outfit with bike shorts underneath the skirt, Argent Gloves on her wrists, and Ses Revanche in her right boot. She had so many other things that she needed to be doing right now like paperwork, actually using her Daggerbook, studying for her Court Heiromesh Expert-level exam, or many other things, but here she was sipping coffee like she had nothing else in the world to do. Oh well. She could get to it later.

Leona finished the last of her coffee and set the cup down, then strode to the counter to pay for it. She plunked down the Jewels on the counter and walked towards the foyer. She had not been outside in awhile, so maybe she could go outside for a few minutes before having to go back to her office to get started on the guild paperwork that no doubt awaited her. Leona walked through the foyer to the guild entrance, opened the door, walked outside, and shut it behind her.

-Outside the guild hall-

Leona squinted in the midday sun as she walked outside the comfort of the guild hall and into the sort-of tamed wilderness outside the guild hall. As soon as she walked outside she felt a very powerful magic signature, a slightly less powerful magic signature, and a much less powerful magic signature standing in close proximity to one another. Intrigued by this, Leona decided to go take a look at the sources.

After a minute or two of walking Leona came across Ace Mercury Arsenault, Mathis, Poppi, and a new guy with dark hair who was petting one of the wolves. Leona had not seen the wolves in awhile because she either stayed indoors or on the go. One day she would have to fix that. In the meantime, she would talk to Mercury, Mathis, Poppi, and the new guy.

"Hey Mercury! Hey Mathis! Hey Poppi" Leona greeted the Ace who was the second-strongest member of Silver Wolf, the swordsman of Silver Wolf she had worked with on a job at Sombras Manor, and his companion Poppi, who had run reconnaissance for the pair on the job Leona and Mathis had undertaken at Sombras Manor. She then turned her attention to the dark-haired fellow who was petting the wolf and spoke to him.

"Hi there. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt, the Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf! How can I help you?" Leona introduced herself to him and then asked how she could help him. Drawing from the experience gained by greeting countless new people, Leona would take this slow and let the new guy ask questions at his own pace. Perhaps she could answer any questions he had that Mercury was not capable of answering... if there were any. Mercury was a lot smarter than Leona and was excellent Ace material because of that. Leona was glad to have her as part of the guild.

[Post Word Count: 515]
[Leona's Word Count: 515]

As quickly as Damian became comfortable with the new number of people, yet another arrived. Yet another attractive woman wearing clothing that seemed ill suited to the weather. Mentally giving in to the reality of the matter, he accepted that he was just going to keep seeing this everywhere he went in this country. This time however it was none other than his own would be guild master, who was somehow the most attracti- and he should really not be thinking such things. He bowed slightly at the waste and cast his gaze downward, reflexively defaulting to his village's tradition of deference to those above oneself.

Based off his mild magical sensory each person here was a new and inconceivable level of power above himself, with Leona being hard for him to even describe. It was almost tangibly painful to open himself up to sensing Mercury and Leona's power, and he scrambled internally to close himself off to it sensory wise once he realized he would learn nothing from it. He let out a slow sigh of relief as the pain receded. "Wonderful to meet you, Master Leona!" He was not sure if first or last name's were proper etiquette, but he figured apologizing for messing that up was easier than attempting to say her last name without practice.

He began to order his thoughts and questions about what to ask while Mercury addressed Leona, Mathis, and Poppi. Thankfully she seemed to talk him up a little, and Damian's cheeks took on a light reddish tone. He was happy to already have made an impression with his very minor talent in magic. That was a huge part of why he had come to this country to begin with after all! To spread the joy and wonder of insects, while increasing his own meager knowledge of both them and magic itself. He attempted, poorly, to return her wink as thanks. Thankfully she, and Mathis, were both familiar with Desierto and how the cold here would affect him. So she followed his prompt to go inside.

So did everyone, though not before Poppi tossed an accusation of a crush back at him. One might expect he'd sputter and bumble at such an accusation, but as he followed everyone in to the warm guild hall he simply let out a peal of laughter. Poppi was cute admittedly, but she also looked to be a teenager at the very oldest and was also apparently a living construct. His worry had turned to scientific curiosity, not attraction. As his laugh faded he had to wonder how being made of metal meant one didn't get cold if you still had senses to begin with. After all, metal was incredibly heat conductive and she should basically be frozen on the surface of her "skin". Perhaps it was the materials? Damian would ask Mathis and Poppi that at a later point.

Upon entering the guild with the others Damian found himself to be almost immediately comfortable. The dark woods and gentle orange glow lent a welcoming atmosphere that Damian adored. After walking up the harsh mountainside the plush carpet was also a welcome change. A stair well led both up and down to his right, and there was a number of doors straight across the lobby, all of which he could only guess at what they would lead to. However, true to Mercury's word before the first place the group ended up was a delightful cafe to the left of the entryway.

Damian sipped contentedly as his body warmed up. A steaming mug in hand of a sweet, steamy, light brown drink Mercury called hot chocolate. He had never had it before, but thanks to his sweet tooth he foresaw himself coming to the cafe to indulge in it often! After a mug and a half was downed, Damian refocused on the questions he had for Leona, and the group in general he supposed. After several long moments of mulling it over he only came up with two questions that hadn't been addressed by Mercury before they arrived. "So, my only real questions are...how does lodging work, and when can I start helping with research?"

WC: 698/1,681
TWC: 3,519

@Mercury Arseneault@Leona Jarnefeldt@SlayerMathis_

"Hey everyone! I'm glad to be here!" Leona received the greetings of Mercury, Poppi, Mathis, and the new guy with a hand raised in greeting and returned the greeting. All four individuals looked to be getting along and everything was going smoothly. Leona was late to the party, so there was undoubtedly a lot that had been discussed in her absence. She was sure that she could catch up with the conversation in short order. The quintet then took the conversation inside so that the new guy could get a glimpse at the guild hall... and get out of the cold.

"Between the two of us, we should be able to get things done and make the new guy an official member of Silver Wolf. I also don't mind heading to the cafe myself." Leona agreed with Mercury on both counts. Mercury had good ideas, which was but one reason why she was selected to be a Guild Ace. She would be a worthy successor should something ever happen to Leona.

What was the new guy's name again?

She then remembered that Mercury had introduced him as Damian.

"It's nice to meet you too, Damian!" Leona cheerfully greeted the new guy as the group headed back for the guild hall.

Leona was so forgetful and inattentive. From time to time she lived up to the worst stereotypes of her hair color.

Leona wordlessly followed Mercury, Poppi, Mathis, and the new guy into the guild hall to continue the conversation there.

-Inside the guild hall-

Since the quintet had ended up in the guild cafe, Leona decided to indulge her coffee habit a bit more and get another cup of coffee. It was a generic cup of coffee with few special attributes such as a distinct taste or distinctive aroma, but it had caffeine and that was all that counted. Leona took a sip from it and was pleased. She then turned her attention to Damian.

He stated that he had only two questions, one concerning how lodging worked and the other concerning when he could start helping with research.

"Lodging is pretty easy, Damian. The guild hall has an enchantment where it expands according to the guild's needs, so we never run out of room. As far as the furniture goes, you have to provide the furniture, but how you organize and decorate your room is entirely up to you." Leona explained to Damian how lodging in the guild hall worked. She then turned to the topic of when he could start helping with guild research.

"As luck would have it, Mercury is the Ace in charge of the Scholars division. She can tell you all about the research we do. And all you have to do to officially join Silver Wolf is to get the guild tattoo. You choose what color it is and where it goes... within reason." Leona answered Damian's second question, hopefully to his satisfaction. The Wizard Saint had learned how to answer questions with confidence and how to take things slowly so that she did not overwhelm prospective guild members and appear desperate for members. However, sometimes she left things out and made mistakes. Hopefully she had not made too many mistakes when she had explained things to Damian.

[Post Word Count: 544]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,059]
[Total Word Count: 4,063]