briefing ♔ a song will only scratch the skin

[wynn]

♬ Storm Coming - Gnarls Barkley

WHO || Wynn, Thomas, Christos, Francesca, Luthir, Arthur, Merlin, Katniss, Ethan [Closed]
WHAT || Russia Mission Briefing
WHERE || Knights HQ, the Round Table room
WHEN || Mon, Feb 27th, shortly before 5pm.
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

Just as before, accessing the secret room where the Round Table is housed requires using the Knight's access card to open the glass class beside the mural of the War in Heaven, located across from the ballroom entrance. Using the fire extinguisher as a lever to activate the "door" mechanism reveals the long torch-lit hall plastered in artworks depicting the Knight's history. The tenants of the Knighthood hang large and foreboding over the doors at the end of the hall, which stand open to reveal the brightly lit Round Table, and the majestic crystalline dragon statue presiding over it.

Come in, find a seat, meet your teammates if you haven't already. Wynn will be with you all shortly.

Comments

[luthir]

[Luthir's beat all you bitches here. ELF PUNCTUALITY MAGICK.]

[socialgraces]

[Francesca arrives next, as she took extra caution to be prompt. She didn't want to be the object of Wynn's disappointment. She'd felt the pressure of that reproving gaze before.

She sits directly across the table from Luthir, her simple greeting accompanied with a smile and a nod in his direction.] Luthir.

[luthir]

[He nods in response, in his uber-dignified way]

This must be quite a mission. [It's obvious he's drawn similar conclusions to her based on the roster.] A Dragon's Claw, even.

[socialgraces]

Yes. Quite interesting. [She alternating her focus between Luthir and the entrance.] Any idea of what it could pertain to?

[luthir]

I may have an inkling, yes. Wynn's consulted me on an issue that's been brewing for several years now. I think it may be coming to a head.

[socialgraces]

[She nods, understanding he's not going to elaborate. He's waiting for Wynn.] I see.

[socialgraces]

Well I suppose I won't be left in suspense for much longer now.

[everyredcent]

[And here's the other early bird, because he hates being out of the loop. 8| He doesn't say anything, just moves to sit on the same side as Francesca, leaving one vacant seat between them.

He casts a glance over at Luthir as he settles into his seat, adjusting the heavy dark cloak he wears to rest comfortably beneath him. Hmph. Of course there's an elf.]

[socialgraces]

[She watches Christos enter and take his seat as she finishes off her last sentence. Strangely, she's suddenly unsure of how to greet him, so she gives him a half smile before looking down at her own hands. He hates surprises, and he seems cranky. She'll wait for him to talk first, just to delay getting her head bit off.]

[militarized]

[ Being early is hardwired into Ethan's brain by now, to the point that he's pretty comfortable in expecting he'll be the first to arrive -- so, when he enters the round table room and he's not, there's a moment's surprise, but it's followed up by a jovial grin. ]

I can see you're all doing an excellent job of looking dour this evening. [ He moves to take a seat directly beside Francesca. ] Hope I didn't miss the good stuff.

[everyredcent]

[ He can ramp that dour meter up even higher if you're going to go pointing it out 8| ] As we're not all gathered yet, I imagine you haven't missed anything.

[king]

[ Arthur's next to arrive, the safe side of punctual. He's going to go sit on the far side of Ethan and Francesca — and save a seat for Merlin, who is pretty much guaranteed to be late. ]

[ He seems more interested in the statue than the gathered group, but he still gives a nod on his way to his seat: ]

Evening.

[socialgraces]

[Francesca perks up in realization.] Christos, [she calls past Ethan, trying to sound as if she's unaware of the bickering] this is my squire, Ethan Mavery. [And she turns to Ethan, gesturing in Christos' general direction.] Ethan, this is Christos La Krail, a close friend of mine. He'll be on this mission with us... obviously.

[And with the impending awkwardness already setting in she turns in Luthir's direction.] And this is Luthir Reedhym, who is also joining us. [Trailing off at Arthur's entry.]

[befree]

[Katniss enters exactly two minutes before the scheduled time, not wanting to be too early or at all late. Too early means she'll have to talk to others, and too late means she'll be thought of as weak, because tardy people clearly are weak and shouldn't be dealt with.

But apparently she arrived a couple of minutes too late, as her eyes scan the room and notice Ethan in the seat between Francesca and Christos. Clearly, this seat must have been intended for her.

Oh, and look. Arthur is here already too. She barely spares him a glance and instead moseys on over toward her good bro Ethan. Where she stands chair side and just stares at him. She doesn't look annoyed, or anything much other than questioning.]

Hello.

[This is not said in a normal tone of greeting, this is said as if she's really saying "I'm here, now you can move."]

[militarized]

[ Ethan gives a nod to Arthur as he arrives and takes his seat, then looks to Francesca as she introduces, letting his eyes hover on Christos and Luthir. ] Good to meet all of you. Something tells me we'll be getting to know each other pretty well. [ He looks up as Katniss enters, giving her a smile that says he isn't moving anywhere so stop being an awkward fuck when she just stands by his seat. ] Now there's another familiar face. How've you been settling in?

[socialgraces]

[Francesca looks up at Katniss standing next to her. She's just gonna pretend like this isn't really happening and actually be polite, to everyone.]

Oh, Katniss, you can sit here. I'll move down. [She's completely polite and friendly about it, since it's, you know, a logical solution. She gets up and moves down just one seat to make room for her. She actually wants the girl to sit by her, and she gives her a welcoming smile after settling into her new chair.]

[befree]

Fine.

[Making sure to keep the answer to one, non-committal syllable, she frowns and moves to slide into the offered chair. She's glad that her response could be to Ethan's question, or Francesca moving down the bench. She likes Ethan enough to not make a fuss over this, but his rank of potential ally is now moved down a notch in her mind.

He is now filed away in her mind as takes things that don't belong to him - not necessarily good for my being territorial.

She glances over at him one final time before slouching down in her seat and staring at the table instead. She wants to look over at Christos to judge his expression, but can't bring herself to let anyone know that she cares enough to know what he thinks.]

[socialgraces]

[Francesca does chance a glance in Christos' direction, trying her best not to look just a little smug by the turn of events.

After a few moments, she turns her attention to Katniss.] Have you ever flown in an airplane before?

[everyredcent]

[At first Christos was so busy being offended at Ethan sitting down in the place that he had obviously reserved for his squire or at least decided he had after the fact that he doesn't even bother to respond to the introductions. But then said squire of his shows up and makes his entire evening with her defiant stance against the man. He's bursting with pride over here, really, but he keeps his face blank.

It's really just a huge letdown, of course, when Francesca brings compromise into the situation and leaves him sitting next to Ethan. This was not what he had envisioned. At all.

And THEN SHE HAS TO BRING UP FLYING IN AN AIRPLANE 8|

He turns to visibly glare at that comment, not deterred by Ethan being between them. He's more than content to glare at him instead.]

[luthir]

[/sitting entirely alone on the other side of this huge table despite the fact that he smells like flowers and a brisk spring breeze]

[servant]

[He's not too terribly late...he hopes. And Merlin's thankful that there are no taverns close by, lest Arthur accuse him of being at one.]

[he stays close to the wall after coming through the door, but then spots the chair on one side of Arthur and quickly slips into it.]

Sorry.

[bancroft]

[And in complete contrast to Merlin's wall-hugging entry, Thomas bursts through the doors, throwing both arms out to address the company.] I certainly hope that wasn't you I heard apologizing, Merlin, my boy. Apologies should be saved for sincere occasions of a much more grievous nature than tardiness.

[He moves to the table, clapping Christos on the back, which prompts the dark elf to go rigid in place, his expression clouding instantly as he refuses to turn to look at Thomas behind him.] La Krail! Always good to have your cheerful company with us. [He glances down the line at Ethan and Katniss in turn] Not to mention some fresh meat. Wonderful. [He places a much more gentle hand on Francesca's shoulder in a nearly gentleman-like manner] My dear. [And then looks down to Arthur and Merlin, smiling with those slightly-too-sharp teeth of his] And the Once and the Future, even. Well. I imagine Merlin will be glad to have a friend along. [He continues past the two of them, popping into a seat beyond them, nearly in front of the two doors to Wynn's chamber, and places his feet up on the Round, lacing his hands behind his head.

It's only when he's settled in that he seems to notice Luthir and starts visibly] Nine hells, Luthir, what are you doing all the way over there? Did you turn into a leper and no one bothered to tell me? That's the sort of thing that should make it over that little phone network of ours, you know. [He grins aside towards those on his half of the table] Brill idea, that one. Almost wish I'd thought of it myself.

[king]

[ As second impressions go, it's — well, it's not particularly changing the one formed the first time, when Bancroft had sung on the table. Arthur manages not to look to put out at being Merlin's friend when it is clearly the other way around. But he does give Merlin a wry glance. ]

And hello to you too, Sir Bancroft.

[befree]

[Katniss is about to respond to Francesca when more men enter the room, and she watches them speak, turning fully in her chair to look over at Arthur as he does.

She watches him closely, then glances over at Merlin, remembering they have some sort of bond. She makes a note to figure out fully what it is - later of course, no time for that now - and then turns back to face Francesca and answer the question about airplanes.]

Flying doesn't seem very natural.

[She prefers her feet on the ground where they belong, thank you. All kinds of things can go wrong in an airplane. She's imagined a wide variety of them, and isn't very excited about having to be trapped on what she likes to think of as a tin can of potential misery and death.]

I can't remember ever having flown before, though.

[socialgraces]

[Francesca smirks at Thomas' entrance, none of it surprising. She watches the reactions of the others in the room and her face softens when he addresses her.

She brings her full attention back to Katniss when the girl turns to her.]

We'll most likely be flying to our mission destination. I just wondered if it was something you were familiar with.

Christos is an excellent pilot, by the way. Perhaps he'll be ours for this flight. [She's trying to give her a little security in their common method of transportation. She hopes Ethan won't mind her not mentioning him. She just figures it would be more comforting for Katniss to be able to put her trust in Christos.]