Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

And so, a dream was deterred. The person who once braided all that hair was surely Jeanne d'Arc, considering the hairstyles typically found in that strange family. Only one hailed as the Queen of Saints could have the patience to do all of that; he'd never find anyone else both willing and capable to do it. "Ugh. Way to tell me it's something I'll never see, Angie. You're a terrible dream supporter," he complained.

Spaced-out was one way to describe Charlemagne's current predicament, he supposed. If nothing else, it was a surefire way to avoid the actual issue. He didn't think anything off about being urged to eat; in fact, he thought it to be a good idea. Charlemagne was no heavyweight drinker. A few bites would probably help the beer settle or... something. "Yeah. I should probably just do that," he said while reaching out to take the stick from Angelica's hand. She was right in assuming he could take a bite without burning his tongue, if only due to burning his tongue a thousand times before. To do so, he first had to prepare. The once-bitten fish was hovering in front of Charlemagne's face as his lips puckered to blow. Slowly but consistently, his breath caressed the steaming piscine creature to cool it gently over several moments. By the time he took a bite right next to the opening created by Angelica, it was hot, but not burning─ just as he preferred. "Hmm. That should be better. That's caution at work," he said, offering the fish once more.

[Apollymi]

"Really? I didn't think it was that much terrible news..." she said seeming not to understand why he thought it was something which couldn't ever happen. As far as Angelica understood her current life situation, eventually she'd be able to leave this place and perhaps hang out with Jeanne again. If that happened, she'd likely braid her hair for her again among other things...

Whatever other things, she needed Jeanne for, one of them was definitely explaining something to her. Of course, it had mostly to do with her current level of interaction with this young man. Right here and now she watched as he went about eating this particular kind of fish with a strange amount of care. Actually she watched as he pursed his lips and blew gently on the fish. There was nothing in this action, it wasn't sexual in the least, but she was certain she shouldn't be watching him as intently as she currently was. Her brain had begun to wander around the softness of those lips and the sensation of that same kind of breeze across her skin she wasn't even sure entirely where she wished to feel it, but she was quite certain it'd be pleasant. Ah. She was still staring and quite silent. She should probably say something, about the time she noticed she did the only thing she could, she accepted the fish back and prepared to take another bite. "Show off," she murmured mostly to save face. She'd immediately begin blowing on a different spot near by to try this supposed action.

Her lips pursed only after her tongue gently traveled over them. A breeze left her lips innocently as she gave a few seconds worth of breath under the hopes of cooling the fish to a more appropriate temperature. Of course, she could only test it one way, with a gentle bite. Her mouth opened, her perfect teeth showed and then sank into the flesh of this creature pulling away an appropriate bite size only to manage to get it into her mouth without literally setting it on fire. This time around she could at least taste the food properly and she took no issue. "Caution is pretty good," she said after she finished chewing. She offered the fish back to him and they could continue to eat.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course you didn't. Stay innocent, Angie," he insisted. Wherever Jeanne d'Arc was, he believed she could be no friend of Aincrad's residents even if Father An had somehow been wrong about her apparent heresy. Little did Charlemagne know, he should have given advice such as 'stay innocent' in a more serious manner, and long before he did. Why? Well he wasn't aware of how she received his act of cooling the fish, but he would soon be aware of how he saw it from the other side. . .

Angelica called him a show-off. That wasn't unusual at all; she'd always been the type that would huff in moments like that. What was unusual, was... well, a growing list of occurrences around Angelica since they met this day. Here and now, he watched her blow on the fish just as he'd done. Alas, it wasn't a fish he saw, but something he shouldn't have been seeing at all. Why was such a simple act as blowing so very sensual? Why was he thinking this way again? Charlemagne was ignorant of the fact that something unusual may have been happening to him on a spiritual level, but maybe that had little to do with it anyway. His stare was brazen and nigh-endless, lingering on the blonde's mouth even while she offered him the fish once more. "Uh..." he muttered. Snapping back to reality, Charlemagne found a finger pointing at the corner of his own mouth, just below the bottom lip. "You've got a little um..." The statement didn't need finishing. He intended to point out a speck of food residue on Angelica's face. Of course, he also intended to look away, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. No, he was going to take the fish and bite directly into it, not once looking away despite knowing he very much should.

[Apollymi]

According to Charles, Angelica should stay innocent. She didn't think she'd delivered him bad news, and had no idea what Jeanne would be like upon meeting her again. Of course, she held firm in her belief that the girl herself wouldn't really change. Her base personality was too kind and her mana always felt far too pure even to Angelica for her to think anything could have actually corrupted the lass. She knew she'd been called a heretic but she didn't find out about that until after she was gone. She'd gone quite a while without talking to her father after that, feeling rather strongly that he'd been mistaken. She planned to take it upon herself to apologize to Jeanne whenever she saw the girl again, but much to her own chagrin she'd never come back. "Bleh," she managed. She didn't know what she thought about maintaining innocence in social situations, but she knew she wasn't really maintaining any here.

No, she'd watched this man blow on his food and hadn't known what to think about it. Perhaps they should have had more open conversations between them? They were doing very similar things and it should likely be considered odd between the pair of them. Neither of them had shown as much of this problematic interest in the opposite sex as they were currently showing each other right just now. Whatever the case, she managed to get through her bite without incident or so she thought. Apparently given Charles words and gestures she managed to actually get food on her face like a child. She huffed again, this time mirroring his finger point to his face and finding a bit of fish there. She'd drag it up to her mouth and eat it as well just a moment of mere microseconds did her finger have contact with her pursed lips and open mouth. It disappeared by the tip only to reemerge cleaned of the resident fish pieces. "Well it isn't my fault. It was good..." she finally managed. Such an innocent statement, nothing was truly meant by any of her actions but she couldn't know the effects of them.

[Bloodedge]

Hell. Without a shadow of a doubt, Hell was to be the final resting place of Charlemagne. All along, he'd known he should be looking away after pointing out that fish on Angelica's face. Even while biting into the fish again himself, he stared unabashedly as the most perverted thing of all time happened right before his eyes. He saw it, he studied it, and he... liked it. He wasn't supposed to like it. It was just a finger sliding casually between lips that looked to be cloudlike in texture. Wait, he shouldn't have thought that either! Worst of all, he shouldn't have that sinful feeling appear in his swim trunks.

Of course, Angelica had to top it all off with an unnecessary statement. It was good, she said after doing something so incredibly suggestive. That tingle he felt was suddenly something far more powerful and... frightening. "... Yep. Fish is good. Too good," he stated nervously, shoving the remaining fish in Angelica's direction. He had to run away, and there was no time to explain why. As such, an immediate sprint carried Charlemagne into the tent before he managed to... pitch a second tent, so to speak. Diving and falling inside, Charlemagne rolled into a seated position and proceeded to furiously press down against his own groin. Something really had to be done about that thing and its insolent sinning.

[Apollymi]

Whatever strangeness occurred for Charles, Angelica managed to let go of her own obsession briefly enough to just enjoy the food. Of course, she couldn't be blamed for what happened next, including the lad before her taking his bite but then giving her the fish and running off into his tent. That was strange. Angelica would take another bite, blowing on it gently but at least acknowledging the strangeness of this situation. "Chuck, are you okay?" she asked of the lad as she went on to take her bite and wait for his answer. Of course she seemed to be enjoying herself but this lad had been on edge since she'd told him about their future marriage. Perhaps it was too much to spring on an individual or perhaps he was having strange feelings and didn't know how to deal with them. She knew she was experiencing a similar problem at least.

Angelica would remain confused for a second or two, depending on the answer she receieved she might be heading over to the tent to check in on Charles. Of course, he seemed like he wouldn't really want help if he wasn't doing anything truly important. Perhaps he thought he'd missed some cool mark, or got some food stuck in his teeth or something. That seemed pretty reasonable given the lad's rather sudden exit and his love of being 'cool'. She could see him running off to avoid appearing uncool, though now that she was thinking about it, running off at random was a bit startling, definitely not whatever cool was supposed to be.

[Bloodedge]

There was certainly no coolness to what Charlemagne was doing at present, but he couldn't let himself care about that at the time either. He didn't have anything stuck in his teeth. He didn't think he'd missed an opportunity to be cool. He thought a thousand things that immediately shot from brain to crotch, providing all of his body's energy to the latter. This was officially the third time today, and he refused to let himself succumb to the treachery of his own hormones. Why were they even active so suddenly? He'd seen Angelica a hundred times, and nothing was unusual about their interactions today. Nothing had changed about her either, at least in terms of what he could see. What else could be a factor?

Whatever it was, it was a mighty force indeed. So mighty in fact, that he couldn't fight it; running was the only option. Sadly, he could only run so far... and that running would leave him offering no response when Angelica questioned his wellness. Too much focus was being used in a desperate, foolish attempt to push down an erection. Just like that, all the thoughts Charlemagne managed to escape today rushed back furiously, the old joining the new in an unstoppable medley of sin. "Go down, go down, go down, go down!" he chanted in repeated murmurs, still pushing away as if that would ever help.

[Apollymi]

Ah the simplistic ideas that Angelica had within her mind weren't at all what was going on with Charles. He hadn't even answered her back. She decided to give it a few moments while staring over at the tent and taking a few more bites of fish. She'd chew and look over ear most focused, but there were no words. Her chewing and swallowing and biting would eventually come to a gentle pause. She'd place the fish near the fire but not over it, to keep it warm on its stick while she chewed the rest she'd eaten and make sure she cleaned off her face.

She stood then and began walking over to the tent genuinely worried about the lad given his rather abrupt exit. "Chuck, you're not answering me and if I'm being honest here I am starting to worry," she said as she approached the tent. Still, it was a shut in space, and she wasn't completely brash, she wouldn't just enter in case he wasn't decent. Though she'd easily gotten naked in front of him, she wouldn't want to embarrass him if he was changing. "Seriously, are you okay?" she asked from outside. She knew she wasn't the only person with problems and that she wasn't the only one of the pair who didn't truly understand how to approach their current predicament, still... she didn't mean to upset him at all.

[Bloodedge]

In going from Charles to Charlemagne, he'd become touted as one with an iron will. Conquering the Labyrinth had to require something along those lines, right? Wrong! That had to be some cruel, in-advance joke of the universe, as the only thing similar to iron on him currently was his irritable prick. He even knew pressing down on it would do the exact opposite of help, but it was a desperate reaction, and once he started doing it... it was difficult to stop. Simply put, it was... pleasant.

Now, where Charlemagne's brain resided presently was rather clear; it could be found in his swim trunks. Not being in his head, however, would work to his detriment. Charlemagne didn't give any consideration to Angelica's concern, or the extent of it resulting in her approaching the tent. There was only room in his consciousness for... irrational rationality. Pressing against his groin was creating pressure, which worsened the problem. Its every twitch resulting in a rubbing against his trunks, which worsened the problem. What then, was the logical solution? He'd have to stop pushing, and he'd have to prevent that brushing sensation.

This obviously meant his best course of action was to pull down his shorts, let his rod be free of contact with anything, and lean back to relax while it finished being such an annoyance. "Ahh~" he sighed. He heard Angelica's voice and the question it presented. What he didn't realize, was how very close it sounded─ thus how close Angelica was to the tent. All would be well. Indeed, all he needed was a couple of minutes for that pulsing annoyance to subside before he could think up some excuse and emerge. Now then, what sort of excuse would he be thinking of? It was best to use the time he had for that purpose. . .

[Apollymi]

Charles had seemingly reached a state of minor relaxation. At least that was what Angelica could tell from the feeling of his mana. He'd been a bit... all over the place all day but she figured he was just under a bit of stress. The mana of humans often spiked a bit aroudn her anyway so it was something she learned to ignore for the most part. Still, she seemed almost acutely aware of the dissonance of Charles and only wanted him to feel better. Of course, she also didn't want to pry and she was pushy but she tried to respect his boundaries. This left her in quite the conundrum.

Charles had fled her side for reasons unknown. He was now in a tent all alone seemingly more calm than he had been. And she was standing outside of it a look of concern on her face as those giant curls of hers bounced gently as she tapped her foot. "Chuck, I'm going to need an answer out of you, or I'm coming in there!" she declared. Well, what else was she to do? It wasn't as if she could let him stow away for the remainder of their date. She didn't even understand truly what was going on with him in a moment like this. So, the only way she had to find out was to be direct, though she didn't want to infringe upon his privacy. This was the best she could do. If she received no answer this time, she'd have no choice, but to push back the flap of the tint eyes closed so she didn't impede upon his apparent need for privacy which she noted by his method of changing clothes.

[Bloodedge]

At long last, Charlemagne would reach ultimate reprieve. All he had to do was sit there and let his erection fade into nothingness for a minute or two. Much to his dismay though, Angelica had a different sort of plan in mind. She spoke of needing an answer, lest she enter the tent. If that wasn't enough of a warning to spark action, nothing would be. Immediately alert, Charlemagne's mind raced. What could he say? He couldn't just say he had an erection that needed to die, lest he invoke the weirdness of an allegedly-normal mana transfer. That was a level of sin he needed to run away from as quickly as possible.

So then, he needed an excuse, and quick. The erection couldn't be mentioned. He couldn't claim to be indecent, lest he risk Angelica brushing off anything silly and entering the tent anyway. What would work? Well, Charlemagne couldn't think of anything appropriate in time, so his declaration was simply... "Uh! Kinda struggling here!" Perhaps that was among the worst things to say for a successful diversion? Well, it was the best thing that came to Charlemagne's mind at the time. That would do the trick, right?

[Apollymi]

Ah to be inexperienced and religious. It was an interesting thing that one of these individuals saw a mana-transfer as potentially normal while the other saw it as a sin. If they were both less occupied by the strangeness of their bodies and thoughts they likely would have wondered over why they were taught such vastly different things about how interactions between them was supposed to work. Angelica had the most valid excuse, her interactions with others were limited, but Charles was having a difficult time and he had access to others to get advice from regularly. Weird though that was, it seemed he'd found his relief for at least a moment.

He was exposed within this tent, but Angelica's ultimatum had come with a strange reaction. The lad had claimed to be struggling within the tent. She could take that a thousand different ways. Considering the amount of trouble he'd apparently had getting dressed perhaps this was simply a normal amount of trouble. Her hand was on the flap of the tent already given how long that reply had taken him, so she was ready to push it open and make her entrance. In fact she was almost in the middle of the motion. A gentle breeze coming as she would have pushed with a bit more force if he gave any kind of strange action. "Is it the kind of struggle you need help with, I can come in if you want..." she stated plainly as she pushed at the flap prepared to either enter fully or do an about-face if he decided he didn't really need help.

[Bloodedge]

Maybe that stupid line Charlemagne offered would somehow work in his favor and deter Angelica's approach. For several moments, it didn't seem she would be bursting into the tent. Angelica instead posed another question, but lo, there was something entering the tent with it. A breeze crept in from the slight opening in Charlemagne's tent. That could have been fine. It would have been fine, but Charlemagne's current problem was a severe one. He felt like he could explode at any given moment, and even something as simple as a breeze could set him off.

In fact, that breeze posed a great danger. Just when he would have offered a response to Angelica's question, the gentle caress of wind against his bare groin decided something else would be happening. It all lined-up perfectly with the images flooding his mind. Had it been any worse, he may have suffered ejaculation right there in the tent. He didn't, of course... but it was close, and the satisfying sensation was notable. "Ahhh~" was all he managed, basically sinking into the futon at his tent's center. How was he meant to answer? He couldn't even remember the question already.

[Apollymi]

Charles was experiencing a rather strange time. Apparently, at the same time Angelica was sure he was having some sort of difficulty and because of how she was, she wished to help him. That being said, he wasn't exactly forthcoming with answers or anything in a moment like this. Her hand on the tent she'd begun pushing it open causing a little breeze only to not hear a real answer from the lad and instead hear a noise she wasn't sure how to quantify. Strangely, it sounded nice to her ears and she didn't immediately move away. She wasn't sure why but she felt like this but she found herself paused. What was she supposed to say? Hadn't she just asked him a question? Why wasn't he answering.

"Listen Chuck, I need to know if you need help or something..." yeah that probably wasn't exactly what she meant. Still, she felt like maybe she was witnessing technically something that she shouldn't. What was she supposed to do though? She couldn't really stop herself. Admittedly there was a bit of heat in her face and it was taking a great deal of patience not to just burst into the tent but that was partly a thing of curiosity. There was something about this barrier between them that was a bit mysterious and strangely entertaining to her in some way. Perhaps it'd be a good way for them to talk about the odder moments of their interaction without it being completely awkward for either of them?

[Bloodedge]

Angelica still hadn't entered the tent. Charlemagne had a bit of a mishap with his previous statement, but luckily, it seemed to work in the end. By his calculation, he'd bought himself another minute or so of reprieve, so long as he remained lucky in this endeavor. At least that breeze wasn't too long-standing. What was this now, though? Angelica needed to know if he required her assistance. Well, there was one way she could help. . .

Wait, no! That was exactly the thing he was trying to avoid; why was he thinking more about it now?! Something had to be wrong in the world for these thoughts to appear so suddenly. "Uh... I don't think you're really able to help with the kind of problem I'm having," he said, believing that to be sufficient enough. He fully believed she was more than suited to 'helping' him get rid of the current issue, though he certainly couldn't have that happen. This world had magic and all sorts of crazy things; Hell had to be more ridiculous than his old world could imagine.