Is this Fate? Nah, couldn't be! (Arthur/Juuya)

May the bridges I burn light the way.

|| Word Count: 406 || Thread WC: 406 || WC Needed ??? || Job Approval ||
Enemies: ???
— @Arthur Harrington

Arthur Harrington

HP: 2640/2640 MP: 1890/1890

The scenic town of cedar was getting colder this time of year. It was the time of year when Arthur needed to bundle himself up in either a coat, his armor, or an aura of light before he went outside in order to keep warm. There was very little that wasn't actually pierced by the bitter creeping cold besides an active aura of light magic. Normal heavy clothes restricted his movements and stifled him, while the metal of his armor tended to seize up and become frosty in colder environments. Knowing that using magic like that was probably inadvisable at the moment, considering he was just going to go out for a snack, Arthur decided on wearing his parka as he got dressed for the outside weather. His new apartment in cedar was very quaint, in all honesty, with all the amenities he could have asked for including and not limited to lacrima showers, heat, and air exchanging.

His favorite part about about his new apartment, however, was that it was located just above a small bakery near the town's square, where a few other fresh food vendors always set up shop. And his balcony was large and great too, having enough room for him to set out a blanket and sprawl out his rather large form in the sun. Arthur was just thankful though that he had a balcony in the first place, as his last apartment required him to go out into a public access park for all of his sunbathing. Stepping out into the apartment building's hallway the paladin made a friendly greeting towards an older couple. They were rather nice, if not a little nervous about sharing a building with a mage. Arthur could understand that, not everybody could control their magic as easy as he did, and some people had rather destructive magic types in general. Arthur couldn't help but think back to that sea monster that would have destroyed everything in its flailing spell casting. Is that how the couple thought of him? He'd have to bake them a basket or something, or get them a nice little thank you gift for being so welcoming. When Arthur had first moved into his new apartment, they had been there to help and provide food and drinks. And while he hadn't needed the physical help at the moment, he more than appreciated the free food. they had made sandwhiched of some kind and all he knew was that they had been great. Thinking of the memory fondly, Arthur smiled and entered into the descending stairway. Finding himself at the door to the street not soon after, Arthur braced himself for the cold weather as he pulled the glass doors open and stepped out into the frigid air.

Frigid air sent chills down his spin as goosebumps erupted across his skin. This would be a long winter, so it seemed from how everything was this cold already. Maybe it was just like this in Cedar, though, as Arthur had never wintered in this place before. It definitely wouldn't be like wintering out on Amber Island, that's for sure, but it'd be a nice experience nonetheless. Stomach growling as he walked past a few farmers stands, Arthur resisted the urge to chow down on some light. Sure, it satiated him, but he was craving some real actual food, and the last thing he wanted to do at the moment was freak out some of his potential neighbors by grabbing light out of the sky and violating in publicly. Arthur was nearing his favorite bakery stand when he first heard it. Over the sound of the crowds general churning conversations, Arthur's slayer senses picked up what appeared to be two men having what seemed like a very heated conversation. Too curious for his own good, the nosy man slipped through the crowd with a few excuse-mes and sorrys nearing the kabob stand. Arthur had eaten there one time, and that one time had truly been enough. It's not as if the food was bad, because he was sure people liked it, but Arthur was not one of those people who even remotely enjoyed their food in any capacity of the matter. But the mother and son duo were still in business so obviously they had to be doing something right at the very least.

When Arthur heard the taunt about the son wearing an apron, Arthur knew a fight was about to break out. The son working the stand was never the patient type of man, and if Arthur hadn't know any better, he would have assumed him to have some type of aggressive disorder, reacting violently and fighting a fair amount of his customer base. Again, they had to be doing something right if not only their food sucked but so did their hospitality. Breaking through the crowd, Arthur came to see a rather peculiar sight. The mother was holding back her son with her arms linked with her son's, and a rather tall man who's face was not seen to him at this angle. Knowing this tall guy was probably the instigator of this incident, he continued watching the scene unfold. He wouldn't intervene, not just yet. When Arthur saw the older woman struggling to hold back her son though, he couldn't just stand by and watch, regardless of how entertained he was by the whole affair. Sighing, he breached the crowd's cover and walked past the tall man and towards the older mother.

"You know, Agatha, you probably shouldn't keep putting your son on shifts like this if you know how he's going to react this way to pretty much anything. I think it would be an unwise decision given your reliance upon keeping clientele and other things."

Arthur turned towards the tall guy, looking at his face and holding back a shocked reaction. Covered in wrinkled and discolored sheet-burns, the man's entire neck and underneath his eyes were purple and eye-catching. Arthur had never seen burns like that before, as it was like the flesh itself was just dead but not yet willing to fall off. If not for the fact that the two didn't know each other in the slightest, Arthur would have began pumping the otherwise young-looking man full of his healing magic right away. Though, there was a feeling in his stomach that stopped that urge, maybe it was some type of magical condition? Regardless of the boy's burns, Arthur had to speak on the matter at hand.

"So, you're the instigator. Food not to your taste or what? Easiest thing to do in that situation is just ask for a refund and then take your money politely and leave. I'm going to guess you didn't do any of that, right?"

May the bridges I burn light the way.

|| Word Count: 355 || Thread WC: 1890 || WC Needed ??? || Job Approval ||
Enemies: ???
— @Arthur Harrington

Arthur Harrington

HP: 2640/2640 MP: 1890/1890

It was a nice resolution to the conflict, really. The young man didn't lash out and attack him nor the shopkeeper. Instead, the disgruntled customer simply chewed at his food and finished the rest of his kebab in apparent distaste. Thankfully, the fight had just been with a disgruntled customer, no more, no less. Arthur frowned as the young man tossed his chewed kebab stick down onto the ground. It wasn't unexpected for someone of his age to litter like that, but the brazenness of the act had caught him off guard, to willingly just litter while somebody who had already called him out was watching him plain as day. Though, there was a part of the paladin that understood where the young man was coming from, having been in his position before with incorrect orders and missing food, but never to the point of expressed anger, however. Arthur liked to think he had more self control over himself than that, but really only control in regards to his anger. Most of his vacation habits had proved rather strenuous of both his self-control and his joints. Now that he thought about it, Arthur would definitely have to take some type of flexibility class or yoga class to take advantage of the situations commonly offered to him. The young man was definitely moody though, from how he stuffed his hands into his pocked and cast his gaze downward as he sulked away. It would have pretty emo if not for the actual fight the customer had started. Arthur chuckled when the emo turned around to give the shopkeeper's son the middle finger alongside calling him a sissy. To be fair, the paladin wasn't going to lie and say that the look on the son's face wasn't amusing him. Arthur couldn't really relate to being that affected by being called a name, but he could understand that it didn't help anybody who already had a rather weak psyche. Turning to the shopkeeper and son, he spoke.

"That was definitely interesting, sorry bout that folks. Hopefully I got him to head off. If he bothers you two again I'm sure you two know where to find me.

And it had been true, there had been people in Cedar who recognized him occasionally or were attempting to track him down to sign autographs. Arthur didn't really mind this that much, and he certainly didn't mind the one or two civilians who had tracked him down bc of injury or illness of themselves or others. That's what Arthur practiced his magic for, after all, to spread and form his benevolence into action. With that in mind, he knew that the two would be able to find him if they really needed to. His landlord was sick of the fans trying to get into the building, but he couldn't help with that.

---

This part of Cedar's shopping district was rather pretty, to be honest. With how the stores had green bronze roofs and textured fabric storefront canvases, it all looked both rustic and gothic at the same time. Arthur was looking into all of the storefront windows at the merchandise they were advertising. While the bakeries and chocolatiers were the fronts that caught his attention immediately, he was really looking for a few outfitters or clothing stores. He was in need of a few warmer clothes for the coming season, alongside just general wares due to his generally limited wardrobe. Looking into the window, Arthur saw the multiple rows of what appeared to be men's clothing. The store's bell rang as he pushed the glass door open. The smell of old wood immediately hit him, alongside the aroma of rich fabrics and old books. Rather strong, but not unpleasant to be honest. They had plenty of coats, sweaters and pants. Arthur was the type of person to take his time while shopping, considering himself somewhat frugal in regards to freely spending money on clothes. He didn't particularly mind paying for quality materials, but he didn't like to be frivolous either in any way.

The rack of sweaters was daunting, with how much variation was displayed upon its neatly organized shelves. Arthur wanted something festive, that's what he knew for sure, something that he could wear to a social event should the need arise. Arthur browsed the red sweaters before finding something with green and white argyle patterns. Now he needed more clothing for just general wears. Khaki pants were good, and he didn't quite feel comfortable with wearing jeans, he didn't like the way the fabric rubbed against his skin. With his casual wear catered to, he needed for something for home, something he could lounge around in without needing to care for style or anything of the sort. What he needed were pajamas and sweatpants. Grey sweatpants were easy for him to acquire, and they were actually very well made from what he could tell, having cuffs at the bottom to cinch and fit the baggy material alongside a general band at the waist. And they were so soft too. The pajamas were generally the same, different in that they had a red plaid pattern and no cuff of fabric at the bottom. What Arthur wouldn't buy, however, were any of the graphic t-shirt designs he could see being displayed in the store across from this one. It's not that he didn't like them, because he found them rather endearing and cute when worn on others, but it wasn't the image that he wanted to put out for himself, although most of the people he meet and interacted with usually left good reviews, so it wasn't his style that would get him into trouble or anything. To just add more quantity to his wardrobe itself, the paladin picked up a bundle of plain white tshirts and black t shirts before approaching the woman at the counter and paying with a fair sum of jewels. Leaving the store, Arthur clutched his shopping bags in hand and thought about his purchases. Today was a successful haul, and his week was going rather well aside from the hiccup with the emo a few days past.

May the bridges I burn light the way.

|| Word Count: 470 || Thread WC: 3388 || WC Needed ??? || Job Approval ||
Enemies: ???
— @Arthur Harrington

Arthur Harrington

HP: 2640/2640 MP: 1890/1890

Arthur was walking down the busy street when he felt it. There was something in the air aside from the winter's chill. The crowds avoided him as he walked, though that was greatly his own fault as he made no conscious effort to hide his magical presence. He didn't feel the need to, and he had heard others describe it as somewhat welcoming, but he guessed that didn't apply when it was strong enough to put civilians on edge. He never noticed it anymore than the 'this guy is kinda weird lemme let him pass' kind of way, and it was rarely really commented on. Arthur was suddenly struck with the thought that nobody probably wanted to tell him because of how it made non-mages normally feel. It would explain a lot, looking back on it, why people tended to be nice to him. It was an interesting little revelation he had upon himself. Maybe he wasn't as charming as he had once thought.

A fat flake of snow landed on the front of his face, fracturing his reverie and confronting him with what had distracted him not mere moments ago. it was a little sensation, one that interacted with and mingled with his own, almost drowned out by their difference in strength. Arthur could swear that he felt a little fiery presence nearby, one that was rebellious yet meek, wanting to remain unseen. It sparked a memory in him that he had yet to correlate, but he remembered that it had left an impression on him not too long ago. A smoky smell of meat replayed in his mind before the memory jolted back into the conscious and he was reminded of that little emo punk. That's exactly who it was. Now, Arthur was never the best at magical sensory tracking, but he could tell the general direction it was coming from. Down the road, he though, as the little flame burned in the cold. Arthur passed by an angry looking couple and continued in his pursuit. The flame's presence was getting closer and Arthur could make out what looked like the head of a tall man and it had to be him. Arthur was likely to have been seen coming, given his general height and lack of presence control, but he did his best not to shout out or say anything alarming. Instead, he approached the emo looking man and saw what he was doing. The older teen was looking through what was definitely a money-filled wallet. It wouldn't have been suspicious if not for the fact that the punk looked like he was surprised and deviously excited at the contents. Sighing, the paladin spoke out at him in a deep tone.

"So, I'm going to guess that isn't your own wallet? I don't even have to guess though, do I."

It was clear that the older man was obviously disappointed, not unlike the tone of a disapproving teacher who had just graded somebody's paper. Finding the punk again in this town was certainly a coincidence, and having located his presence twice surely meant he had it in his mind the next time they encountered eachother.

May the bridges I burn light the way.

|| Word Count: 313 || Thread WC: 3824 || WC Needed ??? || Job Approval ||
Enemies: ???
— @Arthur Harrington

Arthur Harrington

HP: 2640/2640 MP: 1890/1890

Arthur held back a blush at the comment, the punk was right. It was entirely possible that the man hadn't actually stolen anything but was just looking suspicious with a wallet. That was no evidence of a crime, but it was still pretty hard to believe the teen was just counting his money in the middle of the street like that, as he seemed like the kind of person who had a little bit of street smarts at least. And what if Arthur had indeed profiled the man? What would he do then if he had mistakenly put blame on the guy just because of the bad first impression he had made during the kebab debacle. It was hard for the paladin to know what to do or say, because he truly felt as if he had overstepped his bounds. Getting sassy with a kebab store owner was no crime, and probably wasn't evidence of the man's character at large. The paladin sighed, knowing he was in the wrong here, and he couldn't just let the man walk away with that in mind. Arthur had essentially profiled the older teen because of the situation they had found themselves in earlier. He wasn't going to let his general distaste for the youth's attitude to stop him from apologizing when he definitely had to. Jogging up to the leaving man, he said.

"Nah, dude, I'm sorry. I just thought since you were causing trouble at that kebab place that you'd be doing the same thing. It just looked a little funny that you were counting your money in the middle of a street. I wouldn't do that, it could attract the wrong kind of attention to yourself and you could find yourself being robbed or something, alright?"

Arthur had no clue what to say after that, but he knew he had to say something else otherwise the man would just keep walking and that'd leave a sour taste on his tongue. He didn't like it when he pissed off people who didn't deserve it, so Arthur would try to be friendly to the guy at least. Talk about his scars? Nope, bad idea. Weather? Nah, too stereotypical for someone who was just looking for an excuse to talk. Magic? Yeah, probably the best course of action in regards to conversation topic. Arthur knew the man had some in him, from how his signature presented a small fire or embers on charcoal.

"Ah, so you're a mage, right? I could feel your magic presence from down the road so I just had to check and see if you were up to something. Again, sorry for all this, I tend to be a bit overzealous in my job sometimes. You in any guilds?"

Hopefully, the questions would get the man to stop and talk at the very least. He didn't seem very sociable, only looking for the opening to pack up and leave. It was kind of funny, actually, how the emo punk was acting.