[Puzzle 016]

[hisapprentice]

[Fifteen.

Contrary to his nature, Luke rises early, gets himself ready, even tidies up his room - which is hardly messy to begin with. The last thing he does is place his stuffed penguin at the head of the bed, against his pillows, and hold down a sigh.

Hearing no other noise in the house, he puts on his hat and coat and heads for the stables. Best to use this early start to do something, and the horses are good company all around. He notices with some surprise that certain things, hanging on the stable walls, are easier for him to reach now than the last time he remembers struggling for them.

Once that's done, Luke considers and discards several now-too-lonely places: the bakery, the library, even the school. He spends a while in the tea shop, reading but not puzzling, and frowning at his tea. When that is too much of a strain he ambles to the bakery anyway, for a cupcake. Just one cupcake.

Which he promptly leaves in its bakery box on the edge of the fountain while he spends the afternoon trying to build a snow fort. There are already some odd half-finished sculptures around that he thinks he can use. Beside the box is his open journal; he stands over it for a while thinking about a message, before writing one (messy, because he wears mittens and the ink in the pen is cold too):]

Come play in the snow by the fountain. I'm making a fortress.

[[ooc: Pretend this is dated the 12th ok yes. Luke's arbitrary canonless birthday! /throws confetti. This is the part where I have no idea how to play a growing-up young man, but I promise to do my best.]]

Comments

[Voice]

[niceguypose]

[An answer is shouted back. Youth is so fleeting; why spend time writing letters when you can instead answer with a youthly cry?]

Very well, Luke-kun! I will come and join you in this activity!

[Voice]

[hisapprentice]

[Oh no he's the most enthusiastic and unwieldy person Luke knows.]

Er...well, all right.

[Voice]

[niceguypose]

Please, feel free to time me!

[And he'll abandon his journal at that.]

[Voice --> Action]

[hisapprentice]

[No. Luke is not timing him. Luke is sighing and tugging at the edge of his winter hat and working out how to hide within his fort but without somehow inviting Lee's enthusiasm to destroy it.]

[Action]

[niceguypose]

[Well, it will be sometime under a minute that Lee reaches the area, through a series of speedy leaps through the air. Stopping at the sight of the snow creation, he quickly scans the area for Luke.]

Luke-kun, I have arrived! Please tell me my time.

[Action] -> our other thread is a bit long in the tooth, do you want to drop it?

[complicatedliar]

[Loki, dressed warmly against the cold in a natty wool coat and a scarf, wanders by the fountain. Did he see Luke's message? He'll never tell.]

What is this?

[Action] -> and Luke is frustrated by that puzzle box to this day...

[hisapprentice]

[Loki surprises him, coming up all silent like that, and Luke's reactionary startle knocks out a bit of snow ceiling.]

Oh! [Through which he sticks the top of his head.] It's a snow fort.

[Action]

[complicatedliar]

Against what enemies shall these fortifications stand?

[...he's probably just messing with you.]

[Action]

[hisapprentice]

Whoever else shows up and wants to build one, I guess. I haven't seen too many people so far.

[Luke ducks back down, exiting his skeleton of a fortress.]

Or if anyone just starts...throwing snow at it.

Re: [Action]

[complicatedliar]

Is it a common occurrence, where you're from, having wars with snow?

[Action]

[reviling]

[Levi doesn't like being cold, but like most things he can't directly control he deals with it and focuses on other things. The cloak is warm enough for now, but he might have to find an alternative soon if it doesn't get warmer.

He's canvassed this area several times already, so what he's more interested in is people now; there's more than he thought at first, and becoming familiar with the inhabitants here is important to suss out who might prove to be a useful ally in the future - or a troublesome antagonist.

So: he's stopped by the fountain, watching Luke build the fort. He doesn't have many memories related to a scene like this; his own childhood was not so carefree. But he's seen children in the outer districts making snowmen and having snowball fights in the winters, and he contemplates how similar people can be, no matter where they've been or what they've experienced.

Levi's just observing for now at a slight distance.]

[Action]

[hisapprentice]

[While he is no expert on snow fort physics and architecture, he's a stellar example of enthusiasm. Luke's got some walls, a bit of overhanging roof-thing, and he's working on a crawl-around so he can get to a different spot easily without the imaginary opposing fort seeing him. Red-faced from the cold and the effort, he takes a break for a minute, pulling off his hat to let out some steam.

Oh, someone's watching. Luke gives a wave and a smile.]

[Action]

[reviling]

[Levi watches, muses vaguely to himself about how mankind is so predisposed to building walls while at the same time wanting to break free of them. How contradictory and hypocritical they could be as a collective entity.

At Luke's wave, Levi lifts his chin a bit, and slowly wanders over, his breath fogging in the cool air. He stops just short of the base of one of the walls, eyes glancing over the sprawling construction.]

What are you defending against, kid?

[Action]

[hisapprentice]

Oh, nothing yet. If anybody else wants to, though, they could build another one and we'd have a snowball fight.

[Action]

[reviling]

[it's a pretty impressive network of fortifications, if he wants Levi's true opinion - not that he's volunteering it out loud]

You got a lot of experience with this kind of thing?

[he squats down, scooping up a handful of snow (he'd found gloves in one of the shops recently), and packs it idly on top of the wall in front of him.]

[withoutdoubt]

[Jude saw the boy's journal entry, and out of curiosity and boredom decided to take a stroll to the plaza and check out this supposed fortress. When he sees him working in the snow, he approaches him.]

Need a hand?

[hisapprentice]

Sure, if you want! [Luke doesn't recognize him, but he raises a gloved hand from its post on a wall to wave.]

[withoutdoubt]

Sure. That's why I came, anyway. I saw your journal entry about this.

[He squats down to the ground, picking up some snow and piling it up.]

So what kind of fortress are you planning to make?

[hisapprentice]

A big one! If I can get enough snow, of course. I guess I sort of hoped other people would want to have a snowball fight.

[withoutdoubt]

So something suitable for a snowball fight then... Sounds easy enough. Something like that shouldn't take too long.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[Emil is quick to head on over when he spots the other boy in the tea shop, curious to see what puzzles he's working on this time. He's a little surprised when he realizes that the book Luke is holding appears to be an actual book rather than one full of puzzles, though. Maybe they're riddles instead?]

No puzzles this time?

[Action]

[hisapprentice]

Hm? [Puzzles, he said. Luke catches the question on his third mental replay.] Oh, no, not today. I'm, er, just reading.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

Oh...

[That doesn't deter Emil for long, though.]

What are you reading? Is it a good book?

[Action]

[hisapprentice]

[Oh. He drops his hands from the cover, revealing a "Sherlock Holmes" novel.]

I guess in a way I'm still sort of solving puzzles. I know I'm not nearly as good of a detective as he is, though.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[Emil recognizes that title-- he's read some of the Sherlock Holmes stories himself.]

I've read that one! I heard Sherlock Holmes was really famous in his world because of how good he was at solving mysteries. I can see why... he always manages to figure out who did it, even if there aren't any obvious clues. He notices all of these things I never would've thought of to look for.