Noble Men

[Ethan Matumaini]

Ethan sat up, though not without difficulty, and sighed, clearly looking defeated. "I surrender." he said with a deflated voice. There wasn't even a chance for revival, quit while you're ahead. He stood up unsteadily and glanced at Felicity, sulking after having lost the fight. It wasn't often he got to do that and he was grateful just for being able to have some fun every once in a while and act like a child with the childhood he missed a lot of, but that didn't take away the disappointment and resent of not winning.

The Prince held his hand out to Felicity as a sign of good sportsmanship.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Surrender. The moment she heard it, she held the sword out wordlessly and Percy took it from her. Victory. She didn't lose. She refused to lose. To anybody. She even had trouble losing to her own Father. Often went away with cuts and bruises from her efforts. He stood up, held his hand out. She took it with a smile, the thrill of her victory starting to fade.

"Thanks for the match," she said, "Hope I didn't hurt you too bad."

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

"Hurt me? You didn't hurt me at all." he said, though he was lying because it actually really hurt when she headbutted him and it still did. He kept on a fake smile though to conceal the pain. "I was just a bit shocked was all." Despite losing, he rather enjoyed it, in fact it was the most fun he'd had in years. He'd had to grow up too fast and it wasn't fair.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Shocked. Huh. Yeah, right. Fine. She'd drop it. She was a big girl. She could tie her own ha9ir ribbons and everything. She wasn't petty enough to challenge his claim. She knew how much it had to be hurting his pride. She smiled.

"I know. I hit like a girl, right?"

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

Ethan moved closer to Felicity, closing the distance between them. He looked down at her and smiled, he was very confident though he didn't brag about things. "I wouldn't say that. You're strong, that's an admirable quality." he looked down at her torn dress, resisting the urge to laugh, it was all quite comical really.

He moved his gaze from her dress, up to her eyes. "You have beautiful eyes." he said. Flirting built up his confidence, though he rarely had any serious intentions.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The young Princess narrowed her eyes, opened her mouth. Who ever said hitting like a girl was a bad thing? She hit harder than anyone she knew, and she was a girl. His response offended her, him assuring her that despite her gender, she was indeed strong. Sure, he probably didn't take it that way, but-
Why was he looking at her that way?

...Oh.

Her cheeks were ugly red again.

"Oh. Err.... thanks? But you can thank my dad for them. I certainly didn't do anything."

Awkward. She said something awkward again. Why was she so bad at this? The tea was certainly cold by now...

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

Ethan couldn't help but laugh at her for the things she was saying. He couldn't help but like her either, she seemed nice enough, and down to earth too. She was so similar to him, and yet so different...

"So I was wondering if we could be friends?" he asked with a friendly smile. Being too forward would lose everything and being too slow would gain nothing. Everything was a game to him, you win or you lose, there is nothing in between.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Friends. He said friends. The girl let out a slow sigh of relief. Good. For a moment, she thought he wanted something else! She smiled, gesturing at the table with a nod of her head. She'd forgotten her ruined gown already. Mother was going to kill her. This dress had been specially made for her by a famous Naboo designer.

"Friends, yeah. I don't mind. I don't have many. One more is welcome."

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

Ethan nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat at the table again. It had hurt his pride and he wasn't willing to let it go just yet. "I'm sorry about your dress. I'll take the blame since I started it." he said, without a hint of apprehension at all. His clothes weren't torn so much as they were muddy, the whole event was actually quite humorous.

"Me neither, thank you." he said with a smile.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The girl shrugged, sitting down. It wouldn't matter. Maraea had seen it all and would tell Mother. Still, nice of him to offer. Mom would be much less unhappy if Prince Pretty-face had actually been the one to ruin the dress. But he didn't.

"Nah. Mom probably already knows by now. She knows everything. Come. Have some cold tea with me."

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

Ethan laughed at the offer for cold tea, it probably was cold by now anyway. "I'm sorry nonetheless." he said with an apologetic smile. He put his elbows on the table, though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help it, it was a bad habit.

"So what are your family like?" he asked. It seemed a pretty neutral question.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"Family?"
What a question. Honestly, she hated that question. It was awkward.
"Well, theres my mom, Queen of Naboo, strict but kind. Then there's my little sister Celeste. She's... perfect. At everything. And Cyril, my big brother. He's... more like mom than he likes to admit. And Daddy. He's just the best. He taught me to, well..."

She gestured at the sword still laying on the ground then her torn dress.
"You get the idea. What about you?"

[member="Ethan Matumaini"]

 

[Ethan Matumaini]

"Queen of Naboo..." he repeated under his breath. "That must be a pretty big job, Naboo has seventy five times the amount of people we do." he said incredulously. She seemed fond of her parents, to say the least.

Ethan smiled and glanced at the sword, then looked back at her. "Yeah, I get the point."

"Me? Oh, um... well there's my dad, he's a good man and a good ruler, he always manages to get people to listen to him. There's my twin sister, Esther, who's been my best friend for the last seventeen years, my younger brother Jakeob who's mischievous but can get away with it unlike the rest of us." he paused for a moment. "My older brother, Haiden, was assassinated two years ago in spite of some sort of political dispute." he shrugged. Although he missed his brother, it was no good feeling sorry for himself because that wouldn't solve anything. He had changed when he went into politics anyway so it was best to keep the memories of the brother he once knew.

He didn't mention his mother, mainly because there was nothing to tell. He had never known her long enough.

[member="Felicity Mason"]