Fleeing from Corsets (Ayame & Aiden)

[Ayame Li Britannia]

On the sixth floor of the Pendragon, in the upper west chambers, life carried on as normal. The maids were bustling about, the guards were as stiff as statues, and from the room at the far end of the hallway…

“YADAAAAAAA!!!”

A certain princess was trying on dresses. Well. More like a certain army of maids were pinning the girl down and shoving her into whatever layers they could without getting bitten.

“Hime-sama! Please stop acting like a child! I told you before that this would have to be done sooner or lat—will you kindly stop biting Maria? You are not a wild animal!” Though, if anyone were to walk into the room at that moment, they would probably disagree. And they would probably be justified in thinking so.

For there sat the Third Princess of the Imperial family, Ayame Li Britannia…hair disheveled, a maniacal look in her eye , teeth firmly clamped on a poor maid’s arm. In short, she looked like something that walked out of the Jungle Book.

Hissing at the maid as she let go, the young princess scuttled further back on her bed, crouched and clutching to Pon-Pon to her chest. The elder woman, who stood by the door and thereby blocking the exit, sighed and rubbed her temples tiredly.

“Now, Hime-sama…I know you don’t like this. Believe me, I know. But this is something that has to be done. The sooner we decide on which dress, the sooner we can pick which shoes, and then we can finally decide on what hairstyle would be most appropriate. After all, this is the Emperor’s wedding, and I will not tolerate you looking like a—Alice, kindly bar the windows. Thank you. Now, as I was saying…”

Ayame growled as the maid stood by the large window that led to the balcony. The woman flashed the princess an apologetic smile. Ayame huffed and looked the other way. Bugger. Exit number 2 blocked.

“…think this dress would be most stunning on you. The color is particularly hard to find, so I’m certain no one else will—

“Can’t I just wear whatever it was I wore to that shindaling a while back?” Sensei froze and turned to the young princess, blinking twice.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Y’know, that shebang Kuro-niisama had a while back. That masquerade thingy. Couldn’t I just wear what I wore then? Sans the mask?” it seemed like a perfectly good option. Ayame knew the dress fitted fine—it wasn’t like she had grown since. Seemed like a perfectly logical idea, so—

“Absolutely not!” Ayame blinked at the sharpness of the answer. O…kay…apparently it wasn’t such a logical idea. “How could I possibly allow you to wear the same dress twice in a row?! It’s unthinkable! Imagine what the others would think! Why, they would start to gossip that we cannot afford to purchase new gowns! And for the Emperor’s wedding? No, I simply cannot believe you would suggest such a ludicrous idea!”

Ayame blinked dryly. Seriously? That was the reason for why not? Because some gossip queens might start talking about it? Ayame sighed loudly. As if she cared. “Well, frankly I thought you would take to it more than my previous suggestion.”

“Jean shorts and a tank top are not appropriate wedding attire.” Ayame sniffed delicately.

“I’d wear that if it were my wedding…” She muttered. The elder woman merely sighed.

“Enough. You are expected to arrive in formal attire, and it is my responsibility that you live up to those expectations. Now, among these seven, which one do you dislike the least?” Golden orbs scanned the seven mannequins set up in her room. Each wore a glamorous gown, a gown most girls her age dreamed of being able to wear. Ayame made a disgusted look. Each one consisted of pink, frill, froof, or a combination of the three. The eyes slid back to the woman by the door, who was looking at her expectantly.

A light bulb went off in Ayame’s mind.

“If I had to pick…I’d say option 5 is the least gag-inducing.” Sensei’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Well. That was faster than expected. Walking over to the fifth mannequin, the woman inspected the dress the princess chose. Immediately, she frowned in suspicion. It was pink. The dress was pink. If there was one thing anyone knew anything about the third princess, it was her hatred for pink.

“Hime-sama, are you sure this is—She froze as realization dawned upon her. Without turning from the mannequin, the elder woman closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

Oh, bugger.

“She’s escaped, hasn’t she.” It was more of a statement rather than a question.

“…yes, Ma’am.” the chorus of maids bowed their heads in apology and in shame, bracing themselves for a speech about being too soft on the girl. However, rather than rebuke her little army, the Etiquette teacher merely smiled. A smile that said shit was about to go down.

“Well then. Bring her back.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Children running everywhere. Colorful streamers decorating the place. A man handing out animal balloons to people. The smell of cotton candy mixed with popcorn. The sounds of the merry-go-round.

“Now this is what I’m talkin’ about.” Ayame grinned widely to herself as she bopped her way through the crowds of Clovisland. Yes, this was the life…no dress fittings, no being shoved into corsets, no being threatened by a certain Sensei, and certainly no chorus of maids calling her—
“HIME-SAMA!”

Ahh shit. Ayame “tch”ed under her breath and bolted off as fast as she could. This was not snazzy—here she was, finally in Clovisland, and what was she doing? Running away from an pack of ladies armed with pins. Go fig.

Muttering some curses under her breath, Ayame made a sharp left, only to collide with something hard, causing her to land on her rear end.

“Itai…sorry about that, I was looking the other way…” she apologized as she rubbed her head. ‘I swear, this is becoming some sort of sick pattern…’ Looking up to see who it was she ran into, Ayame’s mouth dropped and a finger pointed in shock.

“It’s you!”

[Aiden Hughes]

There was a single question that was tugging at Aiden’s mind ever since he’d gotten on the train that would take him to this place. It wasn’t exactly some existential question that hung over his head as if he were asking for the meaning of life, yet at the same time it wasn’t some base question that could easily be answered with mathematics, or through simple logic. Yet, for all its lack of grandiose meaning, the question seemed to cut to the very core of Aiden’s being, and at the same time for its lack of an obvious answer the question did, indeed, seem to be answered quite easily. The question he had in mind as he walked through an entirely unfamiliar threshold, in spite of its elusive nature, was very easily phrased: why was he here?

Aiden had been born and raised in the homeland of Britannia. His story wasn’t one of fantastic trips to foreign destinations, or a tour of duty beyond that of his own home. Certainly, his circumstances were fantastic in that he had devoted himself to his calling far earlier than most would, but at the same time who really expected the son of Roderick Hughes to be anything but a military pilot? Because of this lack of extensive traveling, it was no real surprise that Aiden had never been to this particular place, this “Clovisland”, named after a former royal Britannian prince. However, the scene around him seemed altogether completely unfamiliar. He was taken aback by how the bright lights had stunned him, and how the smells of the food being served at stand after stand excited his senses in a way he was not used to. His life had been one either entirely of peaceful, noble leisure or strict, sparse militarism; there had been no in between for this young man. However, here he was presented with a scene in which children, many not much younger and even older than he was, were enjoying themselves without a care in the world. In spite of the fact that many of them were Elevens, and those who were Britannians were for the most part of a far lower class than he, that seemed to matter little in this realm of “good times”. Aiden had believed himself well versed in all forms of social interaction, but he hadn’t been prepared to sit atop a speeding car as it plummeted from an astronomical height back down to earth. Did such things really excite people such as this? Looking at the way in which they reacted while on such rides, he supposed their feelings might be similar to his own in the heat of battle. To a civilian, after all, even the most tame of thrills must seem a huge change.

But still, nothing in this observation had answered the question at hand. On his day off, after returning to Area 11 for the emperor’s wedding, one wouldn’t think to see Aiden Hughes walking around some theme park. But here he was, and he only had a faint idea of why. He’d heard that young princess; Ayame, she had told him to call her, speak of wanting to go to this place when they’d happened to meet in Pendragon. He had realized at the time that he didn’t have the faintest idea of what this place was, or why she’d wanted to go there. All he had decided was that he wanted to figure out more about the girl, and to do so he clung to whatever he did know about her. So, after a quick search he’d found that this “Clovisland” was actually an amusement park in Area Eleven, one that had been around for quite a long time. The park had been updated to prevent decay, but its essence had remained the same, and it was open to both Britannians and Elevens. Immediately, he understood why those around the princess had refused to even consider allowing her to travel to such a place. Yet while he understood their qualms, he felt as if he also understood something of what was in the third princess’ heart, and as such her desires even seemed to match his own. Just as he longed for the thrill of battle and the rush of adrenaline one gets while battling a powerful foe, so too could she long to break the monotony of a royal life in coming here. It stemmed beyond that, however, as Aiden knew within his heart. For he did not merely seek battle for the sake of battle, but rather he longed to distinguish himself through his actions. To be an individual and not a symbol of Britannian perfection, as some might put it. Putting himself in her shoes, he realized that to be a royal princess was to live the life of a symbol; to be a figurehead around which a nation can gather strong.

Such a life seemed to him such an unfortunate torture, though he understood the necessity of it. Still, he felt something along the lines of pity for her situation, and as such he wanted to help her break it. He’d decided that if he could get to Clovisland and assess the route they could take, then he may be able to escort the princess there himself sometime during the after party of the wedding, when celebration was in full-swing. Certainly, if it were found that he had aided in endangering a princess of Britannia, even the kindness of certain members of the royal family wouldn’t be able to completely divert his punishment, yet for some reason even the threat of losing everything that had mattered to him, such as his status as a Britannian pilot, didn’t even register in his mind as he made these plans. One had to stand up for both oneself and one’s ideals, and for the sake of this he would even risk such a serious charge. The princess…Ayame, she would have the thrill, the fun that she so sought. And she would have it in spite of everything her supervisors insisted upon.

Funnily enough, just as he affirmed exactly how he was going to go about this, a strange thing happened that had reminded him of that fateful day in Pendragon. Someone had rounded a corner and immediately smashed into him, falling to the ground.

“Itai…sorry about that, I was looking the other way…”

As she murmered her apology, Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise. He found he knew that voice, and he looked down to the woman at his feet to find none other than the one he had been making plans for, Ayame Li Britannia. She noticed him, as well, and pointed to him in a state of shock that seemed to rival his own. He was about to respond, to help her to her feet, when he suddenly heard a chorus of voices shouting the same thing, continuously.

“HIME-SAMA!”

Looking up toward the source of this cry, he found he understood the situation entirely. Looking at the young woman, he held his hand out, feet poised to dash away as soon as he was given the word. His eyes attempted to convey his desire to help, but he felt as if a vocal explanation was needed.

”Take my hand, and you won’t return to them until you decide to.”

~~~~~~~~~

(OOC - I'd like to apologize for the quality of this post. I'm a bit pressed for time, but wanted to post so as to give you the option of responding. I hope it doesn't interfere with your ability to respond.)

[Ayame Li Britannia]

Ayame gaped like a fish at the man standing before her. Well. Talk about a coinkidink. Turns out the dude she rammed into, was the same dude she collided with not too long ago back at the Pendragon. Funnier thing was, at that time she was also fleeing from a certain army of maids. Hrm.

At this thought, Ayame’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. Wait. Last time the guy had no idea who she was, so she didn’t think he’d rat out on her. But this time was totally different. Now, he knew damn well who she was and knowing that, it was more than likely that he’d know exactly what she was running away from. After all, there weren’t many things that the Third Princess ran away from—Sensei, angry Sylvie, and dress fittings being the main ones. The young spazz felt her heart rate quicken. Would this guy now see it as his civic duty to haul her ass back to the Pendragon? Her grip on Pon-Pon tightened slightly.

No way in hell.

For some reason that was beyond Ayame’s train of thought, most people back home thought she was totally bonkers for loving to visit Clovisland. According to Sensei, the place was a ‘third-class place that was highly unsuitable for a Princess of this Empire.’

Ayame thought it was heaven. This was one of the few places she could run around and not have people scream at her or rebuke her for being crazy. Plus the food was good. Good food is always a bonus. And let’s not forget the rides! The rides were the best part—the tea cup one where she would spin until she was dizzy, the crane and shooting games where she would always win and piss off the booth dude, and her favorite—the roller coaster. That was the one she lived for. Being able to scream at the top of her lungs and no one to tell her to shut up because they were too busy screaming themselves. Bliss~

So if this dude thought she was going to simply let him pick her up and carry her off back home without getting a single ride in, he was sorely mistaken. She’d Pon him first.

Raising her stuffed panda slightly in preparation to strike if needed, Ayame opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing here, when a loud chorus of female voices cried out not too far away.

“HIME-SAMA!” Ayame whirled her head around, eyes wide in panic. Frak, they were fast. Sensei must’ve sent out the good ones this time. Bugger.

“ Take my hand, and you won’t return to them until you decide to.”

“Hah?!” Ayame half snarled as she braced herself to be picked up. Uh uh. No way was she going with him. Nu-uh. Nope. No siry. No way in hell—

It was only then his words sunk into her head.

‘Wait a sec…did he just say…’

Suddenly she could hear a chorus of angels sing, and a light shown down upon the man. He now had to white wings sprouting out of his back. Big fluffy ones. Ayame’s eyes teared up dramatically. Angel! Savior! AMIGO! Ayame took his hand and held them in hers, her eyes wide and teary with gratitude.

“HIME-SAMA!” Ayame blinked, her eyes now wide with that familiar ‘oh shit’ expression, rather than with appreciation. The angels stopped singing, and the fluffy wings were gone. Her grip tightening on the man’s hand, Ayame turned and, rather leading rather than being led, bolted down the street as fast as her legs would take her.

Running full speed through the crowds, somehow managing not to crash into anyone, Ayame did not look back once but kept her grip firm. The voices of Sensei’s maids were becoming fainter, which meant that they were getting farther ahead. Ayame grinned to herself. Alright. Now…where to go?

The map of Clovisland popped up in her head.

Making a sharp right, Ayame ran into one of the side alleys that led to the back of the Fun House. Finally letting go of the man’s hand, Ayame let out a deep breath, as she leaded against the wall of the alley. They should be safe here. It was an obvious hiding space. So obvious, the maids would overlook it.

Looking over at her companion, Ayame grinned cheekily. “Well, that’s was fun.” Ayame let out another breath and she reached into her bag and pulled out a box of Pocky. Opening it, she popped one in her mouth before holding it out in offering. “Here. It’s the dessert double chocolate special one.” she said, her pocky stick bopping up and down with each syllable.

She was glad this dude was cool…he seemed cool enough the first time they met, but that could’ve been because Nii-sama had been there. At least now she knew this dude was genuinely awesome-sauce drenched.
“So whatcha doin’ all the way over here— She blinked to herself. Come to think of it…what was his name again?

Her eyes swiveled over to him and her eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought.

….
…….
……….

“Ah fudge.” She was never good at remembering names. Faces she could do. Names, not so much. Finishing her pocky stick, Ayame cleared her throat before grinning sheepishly at the man. “Uhh, don’t take this the wrong way or anything…I’m really bad at this…so…uhh…ahahaha…” She laughed nervously.

“Um…what’s your name again?”



_{OOC: No worries, your post was fine~}

[Aiden Hughes]

For a moment, Aiden believed she absolutely was not going to agree to come with him. This was likely a result of her immediate reaction to his request. The look of rejection and even disgust that crossed her face directly after he'd offered his hand had made him regret the offer. How could he have expected her to go along with something like this? Although she seemed to be a rebellious and youthful spirit, that did not necessarily mean she'd see him in any sort of positive light. Besides which, why would she want his help? If she was so determined to deny any and all in the Britannian structure, then would he not be included in that? He almost withdrew his hand in shame, as he imagined how she must see him. One among a countless number of sniveling military men who offered nothing but monotony in her eyes, that's all he was. Perhaps due to his own insubordinate nature, if she got to know him he would stand out ever so slightly, but even then it would not be enough. It would be like gazing at a patch of off-white amongst a sea of white. One could keep track of it so long as they paid attention, but it would be so unremarkable that one may as well lose sight of it.

Just as these thoughts began to formulate, and he had all but resolved to step aside and allow her to find her own way, he found that she'd grabbed his hand and rushed off with him. It was almost comical, really. He had expected to escort her away from these people, and keep her safe, but now it seemed as if she was pulling him along as the shock of her acceptance just registered. It was only near the end of their run that he began to keep up with her, as he finally realized that her reaction had been all that he was hoping for. They came to a stop in a nearby alleyway, away from the shrieks and callings of the women searching for her.

“Well, that was fun.”

As she commented on the rush of the chase, and offered him a treat of some kind, he suddenly found himself feeling much more confident in his actions. So long as she approved of what he had done, he would follow this course of action wherever it took him. He accepted her offering with a smile, taking a small bite of the treat after bowing his head in gratitude.

”Thanks, I appreciate it.”

After sampling the small bit of pocky, he found that it was absolutely delicious. Eyes widening slightly, he ate the remaining amount in one bite, barely savoring its taste in his rush to finish. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he suddenly sniffed. He hadn't eaten yet today, as ordinarily it wasn't a problem for him to go long periods without food. However, having that small snack seemed to have opened the flood gates, and he became aware all at once of the countless delicacies that were all around him. From popcorn to funnel cake, candy to fried foods, he found that each individual treat emitted a particular smell, and these smells combined to form an overall nirvana for the olfactory system. His stomach rumbled loudly as this realization hit him, and he blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing at this. ”Sorry, it's been a long day.”

“Um…what’s your name again?”

Finding that she did not remember him well enough to call his name to mind, he continued his laughter, altogether seeming quite amused. He didn't quite know why her response had pleased him so much, but at the moment he couldn't say he felt anything but glad that she could not remember his name. If he were to think on it, he supposed it was because it went to show how little status and family name meant to her. Aiden found that he did not ordinarily need to introduce himself more than once, to anyone. Regardless of whether they were military or noble, his superior or his subordinate, they all remembered his relationship to his father. As such, it was not difficult to pull out the name 'Aiden', when one's last name was such a given. Yet here she was, unable to remember exactly who he was, not judging him based on his family or predetermined expectations, but on what she saw before her. The release he felt, from the pressures of others, could simply not be explained to someone who had never experienced his particular situation. As his laughter died down, he wiped the ghost of a tear from the corner of his right eye and responded to her question.

”The name's Aiden, though judging from the way in which I've heard you talk about others, I doubt that name will stick.” Yes, Aiden. That was a name he could honestly say was his, and as such that was all that was necessary in an introduction. He chuckled slightly once more, as if he were relapsing back into his short laughing fit, before stifling his amusement and once more opening his mouth.

It seemed a strange thing to him, how much we all cling to our identity and yet distance ourselves from our name. It's a dangerous thing, to lose oneself. And in identifying the whole of our being with a mere two words, as if classifying a scientific discovery, it seemed as if there was a certain loss of humanity. At least, that had always been his experience. He was Aiden Hughes, or the son of Roderick Hughes, and yet there was so much more he had to offer. So much that nobody took the time to see about him, but rather threw under the category of troublesome behavior. He was proud to be his father's son, that much was true. He had always cared for and honored the man who had raised him, and yet there comes a time in which the comparisons between them had to stop. 'Living in his shadow' was not an adequate phrase to describe what he had been through throughout the whole of his life. It was as if his father and he were one at times in the eyes of onlookers, and he did not feel comfortable being fused with a man so dramatically different from himself.

But now was not the time for such philosophical thinking about his own existence. He had gotten what he wanted, more time with the Princess, with Ayame. He wondered if she felt similarly about her own state. Everyone deserved a chance to define exactly who they were in their own terms, rather than in the words of others. Smiling, he turned the conversation once more back to her.

”And you are?”

[Ayame Li Britannia]

Ayame felt her stomach clench in an unpleasant way. Ugh. Cue guilt trap. Sure, she was notorious for having the memory of a sieve when it came to remembering names, but it still didn’t make her feel any better. ‘Hope I didn’t offend him too much…though, I wouldn’t blame him if he is pis—

The sound of Savior-san laughing snapped Ayame out of her thoughts. Eh? She blinked twice slowly. Ok…ay…either he’s perfectly cool with her suffering from short term memory loss, or he’s completely lost it and she needed to call the men in the white coats.

She wasn’t sure which one.

”The name's Aiden, though judging from the way in which I've heard you talk about others, I doubt that name will stick.” Ah. Option numero uno then. Ayame let out a sigh of relief. Thank the Cupcake Man.

Grinning cheekily, Ayame stored his name in her head under the ‘Snazzalicious’ category. Hopefully, now she’d remember it. It usually took her a bit, but once a name stuck, it stuck. It was just a matter of it sticking that was the bitch part. For Ayame, names really weren’t all that important. To her, names were generic, commonplace. Hell, in her opinion, whether or not someone would play flytackle football with her was more important than what their name was. Maybe that’s why she was so fond of giving nicknames to people—besides the general fact that she usually forgot their names, by bestowing nicknames to people, she associated them with something that stuck out. Something that made one ‘Bob’ different from all the other ‘Bob’s out there. That and nicknames were so much fun~

Ayame gave Aiden a look-over and bit her lip in thought. ‘Aiden.’ It had a nice ring to it. It rolled over the tongue easily enough—not a mouthful like some names she’d heard before. Seriously: there’s something seriously wrong if a name uses every single bloody letter of the alphabet. Names should be short, sweet, and concrete. Nothing complicated. ‘Aiden’ was a good name. She liked it. Her eyes swiveled over to Pon-Pon, her eyes having a silent conversation with the stuffed panda. Should she? If so, what should it be? She didn’t know a great deal about this guy except for the fact that he was prone to being in the same place as her when fleeing from Sensei, and that he was snazzy. Her mouth scrunched up in thought. Well. This was going to be tricky.

“Aiden, huh…” she said softly, letting the letters roll off as they wished. Very nice name...seemed almost a pity to give him a nickname. She bit her lip in thought as a grin crept up the side of her mouth.

‘Almost’ being key word.

”And you are?” Ayame snapped her head up and looked over at Aiden, blinking twice. Wait. Was he…did he just…

Her grin grew wider.

Leaning off of the wall, Ayame bowed down with a flourish of her arms.

“Ayame, local spazz case at your service.” She stood up fully, her grin wide. “Yoroshiku.” she said, holding her hand out. “So, whatcha doing all the way out here, anyways? I mean, I’m all for having company and everything, but…” Ayame trailed off, tilting her head in question. It was rather weird, now that she thought about it. Beyond her, she couldn’t think of any other Britannian who would come here willingly. Most who did came here to take her back home—the usual Britannian nobles avoided this place the bubonic plague. But who knows? Maybe this dude was fond of rollercoasters? Maybe his inner child squealed at the thought of spinning for ten minutes at top speed? Maybe he was a natural at crane games?

Who knows?

Suddenly a loud growl emitted from the belly of the Third Princess. Blinking twice, Ayame looked down, her mouth forming an ‘o.’ Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she prodded her abdomen with her index finger. “Oy. You hungry?” Another rumble was her response. Well, now that she thought about it, it had been a while since breakfast. Plus, she spent a large portion of her day struggling and running from Sensei and her army. She looked back up at Aiden, a sheepish grin gracing her face. Come to think of it, didn’t his stomach make a familiar sound not too long ago?

“Well. I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” she said, clearing her throat. Grinning up at Aiden, she tilted her head towards the food court. “It’s 2-for-1 Tuesdays today.” Her grin widened.

“How d’you feel about nachos?”

[Aiden Hughes]

When he delivered the final line of his introduction, Aiden had honestly thought himself remarkably clever, even smooth in the way in which he had asked Ayame for her name. He supposed asking such a thing was rather funny, as he so clearly knew her identity, but that honestly was not the point. As previously mentioned, Aiden had very rarely been given the chance to truly identify himself as anything other than what his name showcased. He'd introduce himself, and immediately everyone knew everything about him and how his life should be run. It was infuriating, and the pomp and pretentiousness of the nobility was a big factor in his separating himself from that life. Yet when the girl had asked him what his name was, he didn't feel any pressure whatsoever behind the question. It wasn't a weighted question that would determine how he was treated for the remainder of the conversation. It was not a way for her to judge whether he was a duke, earl, or any other worthless title so as to further her own agenda. She simply wanted to know, and such earnestness was very rare in Aiden's life. He had been able to identify himself without giving his father's name, without conjuring up the metaphorical boots that he needed to fill. That had been a welcome change, and the more he observed of this girl, the more she seemed to him to have the up-front personality he'd suspected she might possess.

As you might imagine given the glowing description of its effect on Aiden above, this chance to introduce himself on his own terms was something of a phenomenon to the young man. As such, he truly wanted to share in this pleasure. He would not act as if he knew anything about the inner workings of the girl's mind, for he knew no such thing. She remained to him as enigmatic, mysterious, and exciting as is possible by one person. However, putting himself in her place, being a member of the royal family seemed to him altogether exponentially worse than merely being a noble with a famous father. From a young age, this girl was probably told what to do, how to do it, and who to thank for it. She would have expectations set for her that were so high no one could ever hope to truly attain them, and she would be asked to sacrifice not only pleasantries such as regular outings to Clovisland, but also her very sense of self to the crown of Britannia. And all of this for a royal group that, from everything Aiden had seen, was not exactly the most compassionate of families. No, actually, he would amend that statement. After seeing how she and the first prince had interacted with one another, there might be a certain caring within the walls of the palace that he had no way of seeing. But regardless, history had shown that being a member of the royal family brought nothing but trouble to anyone who wished to individuate themselves in a non-conventional manner.

Taking that as a given, Aiden sought to bring to this girl the same peace of mind that he had had in the moment in which he had been able to introduce himself as 'Aiden'. It seemed a silly, almost trivial matter, and he knew that if he ever brought it up to his mother or even his closest of friends they would likely say he was simply being cross with the system, as was his nature. But regardless of what anyone said, what he had felt in that moment was true freedom, regardless of how small a dose he'd been given. The freedom to mold oneself to one's liking, and to damn the consequences. He wanted her to have that same freedom, for she likely needed it more than he did.

However, years upon years of proper upbringing could not be so easily forgotten, and Aiden had to admit that there was a moment after he had asked what her name was that he'd gone into something of a panic mode. What was he doing, asking a member of the royal family, a princess no less, who she was? After all, she knew that he was well aware of her name, and asking her to repeat herself was nothing short of unacceptable. He heard his father's voice for just a moment, damning his lack of common sense and reminding him that his station in life did not rise so far as to allow such action. He felt ashamed of his words, and was certain that this girl couldn't have received the message and understood why he had asked what he did. In his mind's eye, he saw the girl's face become completely taken aback, as she responded in an offended manner that she was 'Ayame Li Britannia, third princess of Britannia', and that he was nothing but a commoner who she had the misfortune to run into twice. After this scene played out in his head, it was no surprise when she looked at him with incredulous eyes, as he closed his eyes and braced himself for a stern chastisement and the feeling of isolation that would come from once more being the only one who felt confined within his station.

“Ayame, local spazz case at your service.”

Aiden opened his eyes and looked into the grinning face of the girl in front of him, as she gave a mock bow and didn't seem to be offended whatsoever. He blinked once...twice...three times before trusting that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and that the girl's apparent grin was not merely a look of anger that his subconscious had distorted based on its impossible wishes. Not only did she not seem to be angry with him, but if anything she seemed to be in a better mood than she had been previously. A wide grin shot across Aiden's features at this. He couldn't have thought up a better outcome than this, as her answer seemed to be the very height of a casual and informal introduction. And the fact that she had also added that she was 'at his service'? It wasn't as if Aiden was hoping for her to literally become his subordinate, but rather it was the whole idea that she was laughing in the face of every single book and lesson in etiquette Aiden had ever known. The very notion that she would even say such a thing to someone like him would give her sensei, the woman that he'd met that exuded the very essence of proper, noble Britannian living, a heart attack. He laughed at her display, extending his hand to gently shake the hand that she had held out to him. He supposed a shake sent the right message, although everything he'd been taught since a very young age told him that he was meant to plant a small kiss on the top of her hand if a woman held it out to him. To be honest, it was rather hard for him to resist performing this action, both because he had done this so many times and because he'd already come to value Ayame as a person. However, it was this value on his part that stopped him from doing so, and rather forced him to shake her hand. He doubted very much she would take kindly to such a course of action, and he definitely did not want to come across as some overly formal noble.

“So, whatcha doing all the way out here, anyways? I mean, I’m all for having company and everything, but…”

At this question, he thought to himself for a moment. Why had he come to Clovisland, after all? Well, as had been explained earlier, he guessed he had come because she mentioned it. However, he didn't want to sound like some kind of shifty, creepy fellow who based all of his actions around words she had mentioned in passing. Come to think of it, he had been thinking a lot about what he didn't want Ayame to see him as, when he was the one thinking about how great it was to be able to be himself for once. He supposed this was the definition of hypocrisy, but it didn't feel as such. He wasn't altering himself because he was forced to; he was altering himself because...well, he couldn't put his finger on why, but the answer was in his head somewhere. For now, he just opened his mouth and answered as honestly as he could while still keeping up appearances.

”Well, when I met you the other day you mentioned that you wanted to visit this place. And I realized that I had never been here...or to any place like this, really. I figured it might be cool to see it.”

There, that was an honest enough answer. It made him sound somewhat pathetic, he supposed, as he had never been to a place like this. Gazing around at the various children running from place to place with their parents, he felt as if this was something many children much younger than him had experienced continually. He put this thought out of mind, however, as his childhood had been good enough for him. He had nothing but fond memories, at least of the time he'd spent having fun, regardless of how few and far in between those moments might have been.

Suddenly, he heard a growl that greatly resembled the one his stomach had emitted just moments before come from the direction of Ayame. He couldn't help but laugh as she questioned her stomach as to whether or not it was hungry. He was feeling somewhat strange, and he couldn't exactly determine the source of this feeling. It felt as if his body as a whole was being kept at the perfect warmth, and he looked around him to check whether he was standing near a hot pipe or something of that nature. Failing to see anything, he shrugged off the feeling as an odd result of his hunger.

“How d’you feel about nachos?”

He nodded at her suggestion that they get something to eat, citing some sort of special the stands must have been having on this particular day. While he knew what nachos were (they were, after all, just chips), he couldn't exactly place how he felt about them. Come to think of it, if he had ever had nachos, he couldn't remember the experience whatsoever. Feeling as if this was a very weird thing to say, he chose to nod his head once more at her question, answering in spite of his ignornace.

”I think they're great.”

She had tilted her head toward an area that seemed to be very dense with stands serving foods of all kinds. Taking a step toward the area, he turned his head to her once more, with an oddly unreadable look on his face. Finally, a smirk worked its way onto his features, and he spoke with confidence, nodding toward the food court.

”I'll bet you I get there first.” Aiden said, and stood there for a moment to allow her to catch on before finally dashing off toward the source of the delectable scents.

[Ayame Li Britannia]

Ayame bit her lip in thought as she waited for Aiden’s verdict on her suggestion for sustenance. What if he didn’t like nachos? What if he thought nachos weren’t snazzy? Or worse: what if he was lactose intolerant?! She had been rather abrupt with her suggestion, not even bothering to ask what his preferences were. ‘But it wasn’t like I was like ‘gar, we shall have nachos now biznich!’ I asked him how he felt about them…that’s gotta count…right?’

…Right?

“I think they’re great.” Ayame blinked up at the dude. Well. That settled it then, now didn’t it? Nachos it was.

Visions of cheesy, gooey, warm nachos filled the Third Princess’ mind. A goofy grin spread across her face. ‘Nachooosss~~’ Oh yeah. Nachos it was

Opening her mouth to suggest they go and grab some before the crowd started forming, Ayame paused when she caught the look on her companion’s face. She tilted her head. Eh? The look…was unreadable. Void of emotion. Kinda like them guards’ faces back home. No matter how much she tickled their noses or poked their sides, their faces remained stoic as if carved into stone. A slight frown crept down her face. Well. That wouldn’t do. Here she thought she found a fellow nutcase/potential flytackle football buddy. Wouldn’t do at all if really turned out to be some boring schmuck. The frown threatened to deepen as her eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion.

The following however, completely erased any and all doubts Ayame had about this man and his nature. After this, the man was officially recognized by the spazz as a total and utter fellow freakazoid. A comrade in a world of statues and Miss Manners—a friend.

The smirk he gave her caused Ayame’s to raise one eyebrow in suspicion. She knew that smirk. She often donned it herself. It was the smirk of trouble. She felt her own mouth twitch automatically upward in response.

It was the smirk of fun.

”I'll bet you I get there first.” With that statement, he bolted off, leaving Ayame dumbstruck for a few seconds, her eyes blinking rapidly at his retreating form.

Wait. What the—did he just…challenge her? In a race? Ayame felt the smirk on her face come fully, a competitive spark flashing in her eyes.

Oh how this was so worth Sensei’s wrath.

Ayame was known to be many things among the residents of the Imperial Family, as well as amongst the nobles and military who served them. She was crazy, obnoxious, loudmouthed, cheeky, and occasionally a downright lovable pain in the ass. However, there was one other characteristic of Ayame’s that often went unnoticed, simply because it was never triggered: her competitiveness.

Ayame was a monster when it came to competitions.

This was particularly so when it came to her two areas of expertise: baking and athletics. If anyone tried to outdo the Third Princess in either of these two categories, she’d tear them apart. Of course, for the most part, she showed good sportsmanship when it came to competitions. She wasn’t some evil bitch who took people down without mercy and then gloated about it afterwards.

Rather than see her competitors as enemies to pulverize, Ayame valued those who challenged her more than most other people. Maybe it was due to her status as a princess of the Imperial Family, but not many people actually gathered the spinal cord to challenge her to anything. So, for her, having someone openly challenge her to something was a rarity. A rarity she valued greatly.

Ayame felt her cheeks warm with happiness as her legs quivered in anticipation. Positioning herself in proper sprinting stance, Ayame squeezed her stuffed panda to her chest, took a deep breath…
“Yosh…let’s go, Pon-Pon”

And bolted.

Racing through the crowds, the world around the princess blurred out as her focus remained strictly on what was in front of her. Namely, Aiden and the nachos stand.

The wide grin never leaving her face, Ayame’s eyes flashed to the left. The map of Clovisland popped up in her head again. She had the advantage here—having frequented this place many-a-time, Ayame knew all the shortcuts to pretty much every stall here. She would easily get to the nachos stand if she took the third alley on the left side, make the first right, cut through the merry-go-round, and then pass the shooting gallery. It was so easy…

Ayame’s eyes flashed back in front of her. But that wouldn’t be fair, would it? Aiden, as she recalled, had never been here. He didn’t know this place like the back of his hand. Ayame may be extremely competitive, but she wasn’t low.

Her grip on Pon-Pon tightened and her eyes became more focused. Only one thing to do then: win this the ol’fashioned way.

Outrun him.

One would think that Aiden had the upper hand in this situation—after all, he was taller than the princess, and thereby had longer legs. Longer legs meant longer strides, meaning longer distances covered in less time. However, Ayame, despite her five-foot stature, had managed to outrun a 7’ German runner once before. It defied any and all laws of physics, and often made one wonder what exactly the third princess was fed as a child. One could only conclude that the teen was the epitome of an energizer bunny loaded on caffeine. Complete with espresso shots.

Picking up speed, Ayame closed the distance between herself and Aiden enough that he could heard her call out from behind.

“Mada mada maddaaaa!” she laughed maniacally as she sped past him, her legs going full throttle. Seeing the nachos stand a mere few feet away from her, Ayame grinned as she kept her legs going for the final dash, until finally screeching to a halt in front of the stall, her arms going up and landing on the counter, the result her hoisting herself in midair. “Can I get two specials, please?” she ordered, smiling widely at the taken aback owner, who blinked at her for a few seconds as his brain tried to process how a blur of blonde suddenly landed in front of his stall.

“S-Sure thing…o-one moment please…” the man said as he backed away and set out to fulfill the order.

Handing over the appropriate amount of money, Ayame took the two boxes and walked over to Aiden, giving him the classic ‘V for Victory’ sign. Holding one box out to him, Ayame gave him a cheeky grin.

“My treat, since you were snazzy enough to race me.”

_{Hope this was ok ^^;;}

[Aiden Hughes]

This was something of a risk for Aiden, and he'd known it was going to be from the time he decided to challenge her to a race. The most obvious risk came with his lack of knowledge about and experience with the girl in question. Any and all young men will tell you that one of the most nerve-wracking things about deciding what course of action to take when around a young woman is taking into account the individual likes and dislikes each girl had. Everything from what food to eat to what game to play should be decided in terms of what she would prefer. Now, he knew that Ayame was a big fan of having fun, and venturing off on her own, independently. He did not, however, know if she would be up to chasing after him in the hopes of beating him to some nachos stand. Considering her height, it almost seemed unfair that he had been the one to initiate the race. Along with this lack of knowledge about if she'd go along, there was always the risk that she would just ignore it and continue on with her day. He couldn't exactly blame her, what he had done might be considered very rude by the general populace.

For a moment, he felt a pang of regret for doing this to her, and considered slowing his stride somewhat to allow her to better keep up with him. He wasn't sure if he would let her win, as it might be a bit too obvious that he had done so, but he could at least make sure it was close. However, just as he began to relax his muscles a bit more, and start to slow down, suddenly he heard something coming up from behind him. Now, Aiden was not out of shape, nowhere near. As a soldier, he always prided himself on being up for his duties both in and out of his Knightmare, and from the moment he began preparing for a life of military service he'd kept himself in peak physical condition. As such, although he wasn't necessarily sprinting at his top speed, he was moving quite quickly from the get-go. The wind whipping his face and throwing his hair into disarray was a testament to that. But from the sound of whatever it was that was following behind him, it was gaining on him, and quickly. Now, several possibilities had run through his head from the moment he'd heard this sound. Perhaps there was some sort of tram car bringing people around Clovisland that he had failed to notice previously? That might be able to catch up to him, but he believed he'd heard the sound of running, which ruled that out. Could it be a park employee that sought to stop him from running through the park with reckless abandon? Maybe, but they almost assuredly would not be able to catch up to him.

Suddenly, a final possibility struck him. Could someone have come for Ayame? Maybe, in an effort to force her to come back, they had sent a bodyguard or agent of some sort to retrieve her. It would make sense that they would pursue him, as his aiding in her escape could be interpreted as kidnapping by someone who did not know any better. Regardless of this, his thoughts didn't revolve around the possibility that he would get in deep trouble for his actions, but rather he suddenly flashed back to the very first words he'd said to her when they'd met up just recently. “Take my hand, and you won’t return to them until you decide to.” That's what he'd told her, and he hadn't lived up to his end of the bargain. He'd all but decided to turn around and confront whomever it was that was following when they finally caught up to him, and he had trouble believing what he saw passing him. Looking almost like a blur to him, even at the speed with which he was running, Ayame passed him and continued running toward the stand. Shaking his head in disbelief, he picked up speed as well, hoping to catch up. However, by the time he'd increased his pace, the stand was already upon them, and she was already speaking to the owner of the place. Slowing to a stop, he put his hands on his knees and took a moment to compose himself. It had been a long time since he'd pushed himself to run that quickly, and he couldn't believe what it was that had forced him to do so.

Anyone who had met with Aiden within the past few years knew that he was a more competitive individual than most. In battle, he always sought the most challenging enemy, so as to test himself and feel the rush of victory. He wasn't exactly hot-headed, but he did have something of a chip on his shoulder, and it always seemed as if he were trying to prove something with his victories. As such, losing a race was not something that he ever planned to take gracefully. He straightened up as the owner finished giving Ayame the nachos, and had every intention of demanding a rematch now that he knew what he was dealing with. However, as the girl turned and approached with food in hand, he couldn't help but put aside such thoughts in his mind, in favor of paying attention to her grin and the way she spoke to him. He didn't even mind her celebrating her victory, something that he would ordinarily flip a table over. It was odd, but if one had asked Aiden if his behavior was abnormal he would have responded in the negative. The only thing that seemed weird to Aiden was the fact that although his breathing had steadied, and his muscles didn't ache, the rapid heartbeat that had picked up during the race remained, and had even continued its acceleration.

“My treat, since you were snazzy enough to race me.”

He accepted the box, thanking her with a small nod of the head and a smile. Looking down at it, the nachos looked just as he'd expected. Chips and cheese; it didn't seem to be anything really special. However, as he scooped a bit of cheese up with the chip nearest his hand, eating it, his eyes suddenly lit up. It felt as if the world had come crashing down around him, and he wondered how many other things in his life had been a lie. After all, he'd fully believed that at his home he had received the best cuisine one could get, and had been told so often how lucky he was to live such a life. But here was something that put all other foods to shame, and it was to be found in a place such as this. After moving to a small nearby table, and offering Ayame a seat, he continued eating at a somewhat rapid pace; not necessarily so quick as to be considered gross or unsightly, but as quickly as he could without making an ass of himself in front of her.

After finishing a good three quarters of the box, he sat back and decided to savor the rest for a bit longer, turning his thoughts once more to their race. He decided that if Ayame could win the race, then she could handle having someone gunning for her. ”You're faster than I expected. Next time I won't go easy on you.” He gave her a good-natured smile, clearly conveying no malice or sore feelings, and ate another chip. Things had been going better than he'd ever anticipated, but he somehow felt like there was so much more he wanted to tell her, or things he wanted to ask her. At present, however, he couldn't think of much. Aiden just wanted to savor this moment, as he hadn't felt this free in a very long time. Looking around, there were so many possibilities for what they could do, and where they could go. However, thinking about it, wasn't it Ayame's wish to come here in the first place? She was obviously familiar with Clovisland, so maybe she had a preference. He decided to let her speak up if she wanted to head somewhere, as from what he had seen she was not shy about expressing her desires. Instead, he would ask a question that he'd been wondering about for the past few minutes.

”How long do you think it'll take them to catch up?”

(OOC - Your post was great, don't worry about it.)

[Ayame Li Britannia]

As Aiden popped a nacho into his mouth, Ayame couldn’t help but grin when she saw his eyes lit up. Yup, that was the power of nachos. Mind-blowing people since 1943. Ayame popped one into her mouth as well, and immediately felt giddy on the inside. No matter how many times she had them, the taste never got old. Sensei once told her that she should be careful of the food served at Clovisland because, according to her, one “could never be certain whether that’s really cheese they’re using.” Ayame knew what she meant—that the reason they were so addicting was that the nachos were spiked. Ayame also knew that Sensei was a wee bit paranoid of outside food ever since that one incident with the taco.

Tacos and Sensei never got along well.

Ayame bopped behind Aiden as he led her to a small table nearby, making sure to roll her eyes dramatically as he pulled out her chair for her. Well. She supposed that in the great span of things, this guy was being pretty snazzy towards her. So far she hadn’t gotten kissed on the hand, for starters. When she had held out her hand in greeting, a small part of her was praying that he wouldn’t mistake her gesture for the typical Royal Lady’s Greeting. Fortunately, he understood that her holding her hand out did not mean she fancied a snog, but rather an actual handshake. Plus, this dude actually raced her. That was another rarity. Whenever men ‘raced’ Ayame, it was usually her running away from them, rather it being an actual competition. Rarely did the teen have a chance to be in a full-fledged competition with someone.

Ayame paused mid-chew. Wait. Had she been too harsh? Sure, Ayame found it to be an insult if someone went easy on her simply because a) she was a girl or b) because she was a princess, but still…what if this guy took to loosing not so well? Ayame could sympathize with that—she hated losing, but she never got too upset over it (granted it was a fair fight). But who knows? Maybe she offended him somehow? Swallowing thickly, Ayame looked up at Aiden and opened her mouth to apologize for getting too serious over the race, but the taller man beat her to it.

“You're faster than I expected. Next time I won't go easy on you.” The smile that followed allowed the third princess to breathe in relief. Good. He wasn’t offended. On the contrary, he said ‘next time,’ meaning that he’d like to race her again. Normally the ‘go easy on you’ comment would have had earned a Pon-Pon beating and verbal assault about being a pansy and lacking certain male parts, but Ayame felt that this guy wasn’t serious when he said that. Rather, she felt he was only teasing her, and that at the time, he had been giving it his all. So rather than beat the man and call him a eunuch, Ayame merely grinned as she popped another nacho chip into her mouth.

“Sore wa domo~ You aren’t half bad yourself.” Her grinned widened. “I look forward to our next little race.”

Ayame leaned back in her chair and squinted up at the sun’s glare. Hm. Already been two hours, had it? My, how time was flying~ Ayame felt a grin creep up the side of her mouth. Sensei was probably pissed beyond all reason by now. But you really couldn’t blame her—forcing the young spazz to try on twelve different types of dresses in one fitting was simply torture! Ayame had managed to narrow down the selection to seven before she snapped—she thought she did pretty well, considering. But did Sensei? Nooo, the older woman thought Ayame was being childish and an overall pain in her non-royal-but-practically-there derriere! Ayame leaned back forward and popped another nacho into her mouth, munching angrily. Stupid Sensei, wanting her to wear frilly dresses. Stupid, mean, poopey-head Sensei.

”How long do you think it'll take them to catch up?”

“Hm?” Ayame snapped her eyes over to Aiden, not sure what he was referring to at first. Then, it sank in. Ah. Sensei’s army of maids. She had almost forgotten about them. Swallowing a nacho, Ayame leaned back in her chair, her nose scrunched to the side in thought.

“Well, it’s been two hours since I came here, so odds are by now they’ve given up. I think. I hope.” She said, her confidence lessening as she glanced around, as if waiting for one of them maids to pop out of the bushes, armed with a dress to stuff her in. Sighing heavily, she returned her gaze back to Aiden and offered a tired smile. “Imagine: all this for one bloody wedding.” She picked up a chip and poked it into the cheese absentmindedly. “That is one thing I am not looking forward to.” she grumbled, sighing again.

Ayame loved Alastair. Really, she did. Granted she hardly saw the man with him being the Emperor and all, but she still loved him as a half-sister would. And she was fond of Arella, his fiancé. She had a quirky personality and painted pretty pictures. Ayame liked pretty pictures. It was just this wedding…it was a bloody thorn in her side. The dress fittings, the hairstyles, the sheer drama of it all. Not to mention how the actual day would be. The weeks leading up to the wedding were torturous enough as is. She could only imagine what hell the actual wedding day was going to be like. There would be the dances, the talks of marriage, and the more than willing suitors up the wazoo. Ayame swallowed a nacho thickly.

Suddenly the nacho didn’t taste so great.

Pushing the half eaten box aside, Ayame looked over to Aiden, forcing the thoughts of the wedding from her mind. She was here to enjoy herself, wasn’t she? Smiling up at her companion, Ayame rested her elbows on the table and held her chin in her hands. “So.” She began, cracking a toothy grin. “You say you’ve never been here, oui? Well then I, a local here, shall take you wherever you wish.” Her grinned widened.

“Whatcha feel like doing?”

[Aiden Hughes]

All in all, things weren't going badly for the day. Aiden hesitated to say that things were going well, because he didn't want to leave the door open for some force of nature to punish his presumptuousness, but things definitely weren't going bad. Upon his telling her that he would have to try harder next time, Ayame definitely understood how he'd meant it, which pleased him. After saying that, images had run through his mind of his suddenly being the victim of some sort of stuffed panda attack, and he looked down at Pon-Pon at her side, remembering that she had told him he was classified as a 'WOMD'. At the time he'd taken it to be some kind of a joke about how nonthreatening the thing was, but now he was starting to realize that very little of what she said was meant to be taken lightly. In fact, if he were to be perfectly honest, thinking that she might be made angry with him was a greater scare than anything he'd experienced, at least lately. This was coming from the boy that didn't mind plunging into suicidal situations for the sake of getting the rush of adrenaline that came with it, so it was most certainly saying something.

For instance, he had made the mistake of pulling a chair out for Ayame to sit. He'd been trying to watch himself, and not be overly formal, but after living a life in which being formal was essentially all he was expected to do, sometimes habits caught on. To him, pulling a chair out for a woman was the same as holding the door for someone walking behind you might be for someone else. He did it without thinking, and when he forgot to do it or neglected to, he suddenly felt quite guilty for it. Even in this situation, he was sure that if he had failed to do so for Ayame, there would have been a part of his mind that chastised him for his unpolished nature. It was almost as if the way he'd been nurtued had forced his mind to develop a system that checked and rechecked his movements, making sure to punish any lack of care on his part. It was quite infuriating, but he had lived with it for so long that he was used to it by now. Regardless of what his mind was trying to tell him, pulling the chair out had been a mistake. He'd seen Ayame roll her eyes at him, and had at first taken it to be an actual expression of exasperation with him, rather than a dramatic gesture meant to convey a message, and the thought had frightened him to no end in that moment. He got that knot in his stomach, a feeling similar to the one he'd gotten when his power supply had run out on the battlefield and he'd been stranded in enemy territory in the dead carcass of his Knightmare, only about a hundred times more intense.

Such was the effect the girl's opinions had on him, and he would readily admit that it bothered him slightly. After all, he'd lived his life based around the opinion that the only thing that mattered was doing whatever he liked, and distinguishing himself from the nameless, faceless band of nobles that he'd been expected to join. He wanted to be different from them, different from his father, his own unique individual, and it didn't matter what anyone else had to say about it. So why, then, did it matter if the girl had rolled his eyes at him, jokingly or otherwise? Perhaps it was because she represented the free-spirit that he for so long had tried to be. Perhaps it was that he admired her for breaking out of an altogether even higher level of social standing than his, and doing so even more successfully than he had. Perhaps it was for any number of reasons, but in the long run did it really matter? Thinking on it wasn't going to change the fact that he cared; in fact, thinking too much on the subject might just increase the effect such actions had on his own self-opinion. Therefore, rather than linger, he moved on to the next order of their 'business' for the day.

After he'd asked when the army of attendants would be catching up to them, he was definitely pleased to hear that she believed they would have given up at this point. That was one less obstacle they had to a day of fun and reckless abandon, and he couldn't suppress the grin that came across his face when she'd said those words. Then, she moved on to an altogether completely different topic, one that he hadn't expected to be brought up this day.

“Imagine: all this for one bloody wedding.”

He perked up at her mention of the upcoming event. Of course, he'd inferred from their last meeting that she was being forced to prepare such useless frivolities as dresses and hairstyles for her brother's wedding. However, Aiden had his own decision to make in regards to the Emperor's big day. He had received an invitation to attend the wedding as a member of nobility, and although his status did not exactly make this abnormal, as many nobles had been invited, he took the invitation as something of an insult to his individualism. Regardless of what the intention was, Aiden could not get past the thought that he was being invited not as 'Margrave Aiden Hughes of Britannian Nobility', which he could have dealt with, but rather as 'Aiden Hughes, Son of the Former Knight of Two'. The very thought of this enraged him, and he had immediately discarded the notion that he would attend the wedding at all. However, recently he had also been invited to join in the defense of the wedding as a member of the security detail. Now, that prospect he definitely considered, although it meant he would not witness the Emperor wed his beloved bride. That was fine by Aiden, however, as such things didn't interest him as much as the prospect of battle. He had been given the option of opting out of security detail in favor of attendance at the wedding, but he was to tell his superiors what his intentions were within the next few days. Aiden believed wholeheartedly that if he chose military detail over attending as a member of the audience, it would be said that he was doing a disservice to his father's memory. Such was his conflict, and he therefore completely understood what Ayame meant when she continued that statement.

“That is one thing I am not looking forward to.”

Aiden imagined what it would be like if he were being forced to attend the wedding, and be around all of those hypocritical and pompous aristocrats all by himself. It was an upsetting thought, and he couldn't help but feel something along the lines of pity for Ayame's situation. He remembered the day his father's funeral had been held, and so many in attendance had been noblemen who had come to give their condolences. He hadn't recognized a single face, and with each laugh and exchange of pleasantries he felt his hate for the nobility growing. In this situation, a situation in which Ayame would be around an exponentially larger number of people with little to no interaction with friendly faces around her, Aiden understood her seeing the situation as something of a living hell. Though he supposed that at least the occasion was a joyous one, that much could be said for it. He nodded his head in an understanding manner, closing his eyes solemnly and responding to her statement. ”Yeah, me neither.”

“You say you’ve never been here, oui? Well then I, a local here, shall take you wherever you wish. Whatcha feel like doing?”

Aiden hadn't really thought about what he wanted to do in this place. He was completely unprepared for this question, especially considering he had just decided to let Ayame go wherever she wished just a few moments ago. However, looking around, he saw that there were many possibilities when it came to things they could do. There were roller coasters, carousels, carnival games, all sorts of fun. Looking around, however, he saw one attraction that brought a particular smile to his face. There seemed to be an arena in which many people of all ages were maneuvering padded carts around, smashing into one another and having a grand old time. The sign above the arena said 'Bumper Cars', a title that Aiden might have guessed had he considered the adjective 'bump' instead of 'smash'. He supposed 'Smasher Cars' sounded quite violent. Chuckling at the thought, he gestured over toward these Bumper Cars.

”Perhaps we'd both like to take out some of our frustrations on these poor, unsuspecting guests?”

[Ayame Li Britannia]

When she thought about it, Ayame was pretty damn lucky it was Aiden she had bumped into. Given her current streak, those she usually collided into when on the run was someone who was sent to pick her up (literally) and whisk her back screaming, kicking, and (more often than not) biting. The last time Ayame snuck out to Clovisland, she barely got past the main entrance when four soldiers appeared from the bushes and flytackled her to the ground. Well, attempted to. It was a valiant effort, but being the (self-proclaimed) Queen of Flytackle Football, as well as a shrimp on sugarload, had its perks.

One being able to dodge flytackles extremely well.

Ayame grinned goofily to herself. Cost of hiring several soldiers to bring back the Third Princess = Several Hundred. Cost of seeing those soldiers kiss Mother Nature = priceless. Of course, she made it up to them by baking some cookies. Everyone forgave a cookie.

As she waited for Aiden to choose their next destination, Ayame’s mind wandered back to Sensei and the horror that would await her when she got home. Deep down, despite all the protesting, the young teen knew that eventually Sensei would win and that come Dooms Day (as she liked to call it), Ayame would not only have to dress like a picture-book princess, but would have to act like the epitome of one. Polite smiles, graceful posture, dancing with men she frankly didn’t give two shits about…

Ayame mentally blinked to herself. Wait. Was she supposed to be accompanied by someone? Normally, Ayame attended parties by her onesy, but nowadays Sensei was nagging at her at how inappropriate it was for a woman of her age to attend such galas unaccompanied. She also vaguely remembered Sensei chuckling victoriously to herself one day, saying how wonderful it was for Ayame to finally have a personal knight who could accompany her to events.

She felt a slight grimace grace her face. While she had no issues with Homo-Homo-kun beyond the whole ‘personal stalker’ thing, he wasn’t exactly someone she’d wish to link arms with. But then again, this went for pretty much every male out there. Maybe she’d just go with Euric…last she checked, he didn’t have any significant other who he would bring to this shebang, and she supposed it wouldn’t be considered weird if brother and sister came together. After all, it was pretty well known that the First Prince was probably the one male Ayame was closest to. But then again, knowing the First Prince’s schedule, he’d probably be busy fixing any last minute details. She sighed softly to herself. Buggeration.

Eyes rolling over back to Aiden, Ayame mentally wondered if he’d be present at the wedding. She presumed from his initial tendency for being super formal that he wasn’t your average Joe. Military dude? Nobleman? Whatever/whoever he was, Ayame was pretty sure this dude got an invite—practically everyone did. And judging from his response when she mentioned it earlier, Ayame concluded that he’d be attending. This was of slight comfort—the more faces that didn’t make her want to crawl under a table, the better.

“Perhaps we'd both like to take out some of our frustrations on these poor, unsuspecting guests?” Her companion’s voice snapped Ayame out of her daydream. She turned her head and her eyes fell upon the suggested entertainment. Her mouth twitched upward. Ahh, bumper cars~ Nothing like smashing into one’s fellow man to let off some steam.

Pushing her chair back, Ayame stood up and gave Aiden a cheeky grin. “Alrighty then…allons-y.”

Walking over to the bumper cars stand, Ayame reached into her pocket and pulled out a large string of different colored ticket stubs. Breaking off two bright orange ones, Ayame handed it to the teller, who then opened the gate to let the pair enter. Without even looking around, Ayame marched over to the one car she always used—it was the obnoxiously bright green one complete with polka dots. She grinned as she buckled herself in (securing Pon-Pon on her lap as well).

The automated buzzer sounded, signaling the countdown to the start of the ride, and Ayame felt the grin on her face widen.

3…2…1

The buzzer rang, and Ayame pressed her foot down on the pedal full throttle, an excited shriek coming out. Screw Sensei and her wrath. Screw the upcoming wedding.

Playing bumper cars with a newfound buddy was so worth it.


_{Sorry for the super late post x.x;;}

[Aiden Hughes]

When deciding on their next activity, Aiden had taken a number of factors into consideration before making his final selection. Naturally, given his unfamiliarity with the area and what exactly Clovisland had to offer in terms of entertainment, the selection had to be something that he could both see clearly and be able to understand its function through only empirical observation. That much was a given. However, at the same time, there were also a few other criteria. Along with being in close proximity to their location, the ride in question would need to look fun. Aiden wasn't the most up-to-date on what fun was, but he somehow knew that with Ayame, the attraction that looked the most chaotic would be considered the most fun. And, in all honesty, he couldn't say he wasn't looking forward to colliding with a few guests as they stood in line. Ayame retrieved a couple tickets from her pocket, and these apparently gave them both access to the ride in question. Being as honest with himself as possible, Aiden did not like the feeling that he was being escorted around the park by the girl to his side. In his mind he imagined his father's reaction to the situation as a whole; not only had he allowed the girl to pay for lunch, but she was also providing him with these tickets, as well. Due to his upbringing, Aiden couldn't stifle that slightly awkward feeling that addressed him as a freeloading good for nothing. It wasn't just the money that did it, but it was also the fact that the girl had beaten him in a foot-race in spite of him being much, much taller than him.

This led him to the final factor he had to take into account before selecting their activity. Aiden wanted it to be something he could use to get back at her for winning that race earlier. Considering his own significant skill in piloting a Knightmare frame, he deduced that with his lightning-quick reflexes and ability to manipulate even the most basic frame with the finesse of an expert, he would be able to handle one of these cars. Walking into the arena beside Ayame, he looked around and took inventory of the choice of vehicles before finally making his decision. Whereas Ayame had chosen a car whose color scheme matched her own vibrant and lively personality, Aiden had selected one with more subdued tones. In fact, although the fact didn't strike him at the moment, the colors of this car mirrored those of his father's Knightmare frame almost identically. Smirking slightly as he made his way to the car, he couldn't help but imagine the look on Ayame's face when he was zipping around the arena, knocking all challengers out of his way and running circles around her slow-moving car.

Jumping lightly into the car and doing his best to squeeze his long legs into the car that was clearly intended for someone of average height, he yawned and stretched upward slightly, cracking the knuckles on either hand before opening his eyes and looking down at the control scheme. Aiden had been expecting the controls to resemble something similar to a basic Glasgow frame in nature, supposing that such recreational vehicles wouldn't have access to the higher-order technology that came with the upgrade to a Sutherland frame. In truth, Aiden actually preferred the Glasgow to the Sutherland, as he found the former to be a bit less clunky and more responsive to his split-second commands on the battlefield. However, the smile quickly faded from his lips as he finally looked and saw what he was being provided with. There were two pedals...he supposed one for acceleration, and the other for the brake, just like the typical civilian vehicle. However, the only way one would be able to navigate seemed to be with this simple steering wheel; the thing had no other abilities. Looking around at the children and few adults around him, he wondered if he'd selected the wrong vehicle for use. Perhaps he was the subject of some in-joke among the regulars here, who had selected the cars with true technological prowess, while he was piloting something that resembled a bare chassis.

Looking to the side, Aiden was about to ask the conductor what the meaning of this lack of control was, when suddenly something of a buzzer rang out, and the cars sprang into motion. Realizing that the would need to evade or perish, Aiden immediately pounded his foot down on the rightmost pedal, accelerating wildly forward. He had never used one of these cars before, and as such was having a hard time controlling the speeding vehicle with only the simple wheel he'd been given. Almost immediately, he was hammered from behind by a few of the other guests, and sent careening to the side by this interference. Trying to redirect the wheel so as to avoid a collision with the wall, Aiden knew that he would be unsuccessful, and braced himself for impact. Hitting the wall, Aiden opened his eyes and let out a relieved sigh when he found that there hadn't been more damage done. Suddenly, two more vehicle ran directly into his, further pinning him to the wall. Entirely prepared to retaliate against these rude drivers, he turned to see two small Eleven children, a boy and a girl, smiling and laughing as they looked at his reaction.

Aiden had a strange relationship with children. Whereas he was not always the most sociable, and rarely agreed with anyone around him, young children always seemed to be attracted to him. Perhaps it was because of his fiery and impulsive attitude, or maybe it was because of his height and the fact that in spite of the fact that he towered over them, he still exuded a somewhat brotherly quality about him. Looking into the faces of these two children, Aiden's anger and frustration over his situation quickly turned into amusement and self-mockery, and his mouth widened into a grin as he laughed at his own lack of skill in this situation. ”Oh, am I no good?” He questioned, addressing the children who obviously had more practice than he in this area. ”Well, don't count me out yet!” Exclaiming this, Aiden turned his wheel sharply to the left and put the pedal to the metal, knocking into the little boy. ”Catch me if you can!” He yelled back as he sped away from the two, who quickly corrected the trajectory of their cars to engage in hot pursuit.

Now that he'd gotten his feet wet, controlling this car wasn't as difficult as he had first believed. As such, he knew what his next objective had to be. Scanning the arena for his target, he quickly found Ayame's location, and made to get his revenge before the time limit on their ride ended. His car speeding forward like a bat out of hell, Aiden positioned himself to collide with Ayame's car, letting out a victorious cry as he was sure the collision would occur.