Welcome to Gaia! ::

Getting the note, the corners of Halle's lips lifted as he checked around to make sure no odd energy signatures (or the familiar one of Lisse) were approaching. Urgent huh? She wanted to show off. With a quiet huff of laughter to himself, he had to admit he wanted to show off too. It was good that she leveled up to squire, too. For some reason it felt off to worry about Mechelen as a weaker party, even if he'd yet to really get rid of the anxiety and guilt about potentially (or actually) hurting her.

Thinking about it for a moment, Halle found that he hoped she became a knight before him, too.

As he headed over to Meadowview, he considered the fact that she was besties with Almere. Did they know each other as civilians too? Were they classmates? The questions faded off as he walked up to the playground and saw her on the swings, letting the aura of another squire wash over him.

Yeah, that felt right.

With a grin, he waved and called out, "It suits you!"

His smile twitched at lazy bum. Internally he shouted I WORK VERY HARD ACTUALLY!! But it would look very...whiny and uncool to argue that outloud. Anyway, Mechelen was probably just joking, right? She was definitely praising him mostly, right? So just focus on that and don't be a weird loser in front of her. Again.

He also didn't comment on looking like a bard. Luke was the bard! He was a ranger!

Clearing his throat, Halle summoned a small wooden shield, shaped like a unicorn head. It somewhat matched the tapestry. Lysithea knights sure stay on brand, he thought, trying not to show any signs of pity.

How the heck is she going to fight with that?!

"Yeah...does it...um, what's the magic it channels?"

Rocking back on his heels, Halle gave the little tapestry a look that was maybe a little too polite before nodding. "It's pretty simple, honestly." A moment later, a huge wooden shield appeared. It was a cheerful copy of the smaller one in his hand. A moment later it was gone, reappearing on the other side. Feeling the seconds of power tick down, he dismissed it all together. Who knew if he'd need it later?

"Big shield," he summed up the magic with a succinct sort of satisfaction. At times he'd found himself a little dissatisfied not to have a more offense oriented magic, but with the uses he'd put it to in actual combat, it has proven to be flexible and helpful. There was also a sort of...control of the battlefield potential, which spoke to him on a deep level.

Halle didn't preen over the exclamation. He absolutely did not. But he did puff up, just a bit.

Scrunching his brow a bit at the mystery of Mechelen's attack, he stood and wait, eyes fixed at her movements, and then on the golden threads. In his head, he began to count, trying to figure out the speed she was working with. The threads reached out to him, and Halle was suddenly somewhere else. A familiar colorful unicorn sat in the grass and everything looked strange.

It took a long moment to realize he'd played games that looked a little like this. Everything looked like it was made of cloth...no, thread. Like the world's most arduous embroidery project. Moving around, he called out, "Mechelen? This is really, really weird. And cool," he assured her, "...but incredibly strange."

It felt, in a way, much more magical than his own ability.

When everything suddenly went back to normal (for a given value of normal), Halle was left standing, his hand reaching out to...empty air, now. Whipping his head around in confusion, he heard Mechelen's explanation, that it was basically all in his head, and flushed with total embarrassment.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked away from her. "The unicorn was there, laying in the grass and...it was weird? It all looked very handmade. I guess it literally made me think I was in the banner? Or a world woven like it, at least?"

With a huge sigh, he admitted, "It's kind of cool but, if I met it in a fight, also potentially scary. Especially coming back, like, I wouldn't know how the fight had progressed at all and wouldn't be very ready for whatever happened as soon as you dropped the magic."

Embarrassment faded, replaced by something a lot a warmer and nicer. Relief? I must be relief, at knowing that there was someone by him who wanted to train, to come up with strategies, and build up a capable team. A friend and partner with a similar vision.

"He's got a whip, and a good offensive magic to go with it," Halle answered, expression growing soft and fond as he met her eyes. "We should start hunting out youma as a group. Get used to our magic just in case..."

He exhaled, "November was busy, and there were a couple enemies that were way bigger, and way stronger than I was prepared for. Or that someone could face alone."

"A ballroom, huh?" Her wonder sounded fancy, at least the indoor areas. Though maybe the lodge on Halle had similar, he hadn't explored the building nearly as much as the forest.

Grinning at the mention of spiders he gave her a sympathetic nod, "I've got spiders on mine, too. They're huge," he added dramatically. "They're pretty, though. They have a big flowers on top. Maybe that sort of thing is typical for Lysithea? Beautiful wildlife, right down to the insects."

Rocking back on his feet, he eventually agreed to her request, and they began to plan the logistics of the next trip in-between testing out their new magics and limitations on one another.