Quoted By:
Rising from your seat to share, you choke a bit on your saliva as all eyes fall on you! Most of these folks know who you are, of course, but if there’s one thing you know about yourself it’s that you’ve never been one for speeches… or introductions… or speaking… It’s fine, though! Volka set you up, just gotta follow her lead, right?
H-hey, you begin, how’s everybody… how’s everybody do-errr your name is <span class="mu-b">ANTON PEAS</span>! You joined because Volka asked you to!
“HAH! Lotta’ that goin’ around, ey?” Croons Vuuse as she stabs the blue-eyed Chytree with her elbow!
And an interesting fact is… about <span class="mu-i">you</span>, that is, hah… you’re… you barely remember who you are! Amnesia is… you got it! It’s what you have, probably!
Flopping back into your seat, you catch Volka staring your way with her big yellow eyes! Though she sends a reassuring smile your way, you can’t help but wonder if your explanation was good enough…
“Thank you, Anton! Next?”
Everyone’s gaze shifts to TT, who answers with a dismissive laugh! “Oh, don’t mind me! I’m Tzah-Tzie: Spinner Extraordinaire and Composer Par Excellence… not a conscript, sorry~”
“Vilah!”
“Dilah!”
Compared to TT’s enthusiasm, or lack thereof, the siblings knock it outta’ the park by leaping out of their seats in perfect sync!
“We wanna make Crossroads a better place too!”
“And we’ll crush anyone who gets in our way, so watch it!”
“Fun facts:” Dilah barks, neither girl abandoning their soldier bravado, “Vilah’s really good at seamstress work!”
“And Dilah can smell danger a mile away!”
Vuuse and her entourage are far from impressed, and though he doesn’t join them in a derisive eyeroll, it’s clear by his expression that Alton’s already considering jumping ship… the whole table goes quiet, however, when the soft-spoken Pesli leans forward in his chair smelling faintly of flowers…
“Pesli.” He intones with a weak, but pleasant smile, “One day, not too long ago, we realized all we had added to this beautiful world was fear. Grief. Corpses.” Shifting forward in his seat, the old man lets out a long, rattling sigh. “We wanted to return some beauty to this land… the beauty we stole. Even if it was only a little.”
His glowing, jack-o-lanternesque eyes shift over to Volka. “We believe in the Grand Marshall’s message. We believe in the Lamplighters.”
A humbling atmosphere blankets the table as the senior leans back in his chair, and when Alton begins his voice is far more reverent than it was before. “Errr, A-Alton Kies. Botched a mugging. These lot coulda killed me, but they didn’t. So I owes ‘em.”
The fish man opens his mouth to say something, but the words die mid-creation. “I uh… I guess it’s worth a try. Fuck it. And a fact about me is I know my way around a cookin’ fire. That’s it.”
>CONTD.
