Fairyland Chronicles - Character Side Stories

[Aaronock]

OOC: Katarin is a fake character I made up to play this story out.

You may also take this time to write your own stories involving your character(s) as it pertains to the current heRO storyline.
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The twenty-six year Ezekiel Stalker old stood in front of a mirror. His hair decided to act more disagreeable with him than usual today. He had tied the knot as usual at the bottom of his mid-back length hair, but the bangs decided to splay and split across both his eyes. He puffed his cheeks and blew at them in frustration. This would certainly put a damper on making a good appearance for when his visitor arrived. Normally this wouldn't matter much to the man, but he liked looking professional for fellow Rogue's Guild members.

Especially ones that would help him practice proper manners.

Not that he didn’t know about proper manners, he learned about, and used daily proper speech patterns some long ago time as a small child. “Just, how did that saying go?” he pondered a moment, “Ah yes, you either use it, or lose it.”

He had to remind himself why he'd bother to go through all this work to learn something that didn’t seem that important so long ago. It really came down to his client. Someone who held what seemed like mighty powers wanted him to find a way to subdue a most rambunctious fairy. The fairy called herself “Lucretia.” She had already a month earlier went and run amok summoning plants and insects on a Fairy Auction. Spewing out nonsense about how she’d take the world back to a state that didn’t have humans living in it.

The employer had left the details of the task vague, and left Ezekiel with the impression he could use any means available to subdue the fairy and her plans. Why his current employer would want his assistance on this task went beyond his head. He didn't ask questions about his client’s intentions. Ezekiel never asked unless it could break a rule from his personal moral code. And once he took a job, he made sure he'd do what it take to complete it to a proper, successful conclusion.

And just after taking the job, that fairy Lucretia coincidentally began an attempt to conquer Payon. The attack echoed many similarities to the one previously seen in Fairy Land about a month prior. She made headway to the Payon Castle, to find some sort of treasure. However, he struck a path hastily to her in the Payon throne room. A few moments between them made hardly any dents in her violent psyche. Instead, she conjured more monsters to at his face. He blamed himself for this failure to assuade her, and now had to rectify it.

A knock came to the door at that very moment as he finished his thoughts. He'd have to forgive his unruly hair, and just push the bangs behind his ears. A few more adjustments on his jacket and pants in front of the mirror, he called out to her, "Please come on in Katarin."

She let herself through.

"Ha ha, nice try Ezekiel, but proper decorum would require you to actually remove yourself from the mirror long enough to open the door for a lady of my status." She made her way to him and gave a flick at the back of his head. A smile shined towards the reflection before the both of them as she saw her new student’s face turn to a scowl.

"Now, now, you called for me. Taken time out of my own busy schedule just to help you practice proper conduct with people." A compliant Ezekiel to her, always equated to the most interesting one. He knew how to act professional in his work, but outside of the actual job, everyone at the guild knew how little civility he showed. Him coming to this realization on his own would mean too much fun for her. She'd milk these next few days to see him wince and fail miserably at this task with glee.

And Ezekiel had already failed right at the beginning.

Katarin took his hand, and moved him from the mirror to the table right behind them. Ezekiel managed to take charge and pushed one of the wooden chairs out for her. She kept a straight face now, and sat herself down. He took a place in the chair opposite from her. The female stalker placed her hands on the table, and crossed her hands, then gestured to her student to do the same. Her back went straight, and then he followed.

Nodding, she found herself pleased, and ready to finally begin. Practicing for hours seemed futile. He had figured out for the most part when to use a 'please' or a 'thank you,' but always received a flick at his fingers for missing to state ‘yes ma'am’ and ‘sir.’ His voice the whole time sounded mechanical. Could he not at least fake some sort of goodwill with her? The day nearly came to a close with no fix to the robotic voice problem. Until near the end of the lesson, Ezekiel spoke out of turn while they played out a scene where she gave him her coat.

"Oh great and mighty teacher, I am at a loss! I do not know how to play honest with beautiful words," Ezekiel’s voice quivered with desperation. She didn't know why he wanted these lessons, simply that he asked for them. Her continuous flicks to his still crossed hands on the table hadn't helped alter his speech patterns. He tried so hard to not growl or act unpleasant every time, but the hilarity of her tactics had already begun to wane. What work did he have in mind that required him to face her torture? She truly began to feel sorry for him, especially with the sudden change of tonality with his speech patterns. But...what he just said actually had an inflection of sincerity. She continued to just give a cold harsh stare. She'd break him and see a true moment of candor from him yet.

A few moments of silence occurred between them, and a pout crossed her pupil's face. Finally he undid his crossed hands, and propped them on the table to pull himself from his chair. A bow came from his head. "I'm sorry teacher, but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. You, of all fellow Rogue's Guild members, know how rarely I turn to any of you for personal help. Desperation pursues me, if I don't learn how to do this properly, it could mean failure of a job..."

She held up her hand to cut him off. No need to hear anything further. Katarin heard exactly what she had looked for all along from these lessons today.

A deep breath came from her chest, "You pass today Zeke, just next time, no need to bang your hands on the table." The man's jaw dropped. He still wanted an explanation, and Katarin would finally throw him a bone. "You need to share more sincerity. You already know how to act professional while doing the actual work. Now you need to back your words with an inflection of caring instead of venom to your clients and friends too. In other words, drop the stupid tough guy act for all of us every now and then!”

The point would have almost gone over his head had he not already been berated on this exact subject the previous night by Catherine (Cutty) McWren. A new, personal challenge stood before him. How best to speak your truest feelings when he didn’t want to? His client didn't kid when telling him he'd be tested to his limits to stop Lucretia. However, he staked his own reputation on succeeding, and he wouldn't let this bit tie him down forever.

Katarin brought him back from his thoughts one final time while giving him a small pat on the top of his head. "We've had enough practice today. Tomorrow, let's get ourselves some tea, and enjoy some more proper conversation and practice those table manners." She walked herself to the door, this time giving a signal that she could handle the door alone without facing disciplinary action.

He took a sidestep back to the mirror, taking a long moment to look at himself. His bangs had gone astray once again. A frown almost formed on his lips, but the man blew it out last second. Instead, the most encouraging smile he could muster crossed his face. A Tuesday meeting with Cynbel would arrive sooner than expected. His own current situation at hand certainly lacked dull moments in between at least.