[open]

[lumelume]

WHO: Mado and you!
WHAT: Just a weird asshole causing disturbances in the Gallows and surrounding area, explicitly here to make friends!!
WHEN: Kingsway!
WHERE: Around and about!
NOTES: Possible NSFW depending on who shows up and what their intentions are!

I. The Gallows Courtyard

He hasn't been kicked out yet, so Mado has to make the most of the time he has left. He's not overtly panhandling, but he is busking, with a floppy old hat put out to collect coins while he alternates between doing acrobatic feats and magic tricks, taking breaks to simply shake a tambourine and sing beautiful, plaintive Antivan love songs.
He plays to passersby, strolling alongside them and, at times, offering them opportunities to join.

"A song for you, ser!" he calls, and Maker have mercy on the victim.

II. Lowtown

Hightown being far out of his budget when it comes to entertainment, Mado can be found in some of the slummier taverns, offering services similar to his street busking but with hope of receiving drinks rather than money.

He sits on a table, crooning a drinking song while several of the local boozehounds sway and slosh their mugs around, at least one of them weeping with passion.

His eye is easily caught by a face either familiar or interesting, and it isn't long before he slips over with a bow and a brilliant smile.

III. The Ferry

Periodically, a little brown-and-white spotted dog will hop onto the ferry right behind someone, sitting close and casually looking around as if it belongs to them.
It's the very same dog that been seen wandering around the Gallows, begging and doing tricks for scraps, but the owner, if it has one, has not yet been identified.

Comments

III

[muckspout]

Edgard straightens up from a sprawled out position the second the dog approaches him. He is positively beaming. A dog! He holds out his hand to him, allowing him to sniff, and then pats him on the head.

“There’s a good boy,” He whispers in Orlesian.

[lumelume]

Since Edgard is on the ground and being friendly, all the more reason for the dog to come even farther forward and boop its nose against his, tail wagging. They're friends now.

[muckspout]

Edgard laughs. "Easy!", he pushes the dog back gently. He pets him with one hand and then pulls a chicken leg out from somewhere under his shirt with the other. Where did it come from? How long has it been there? Who's to say?

[lumelume]

Whatever the case, the dog doesn't seem to care. It sits back on its haunches with its front legs tucked up prettily in front of him, clearly trained to beg in such a way that it's just as cute as possible.

I. hey now busker

[sulahnan]

"You know working for Riftwatch earns you regular wages, right?"

She's not the ser he was trying to charm, but she's there, sitting off to one side and trying (key word, that) to scribble notes down in a journal. Usually, but for the regular sounds of people talking and hurrying from one place to the other, the courtyard is quiet. Usually.

But her point is: you probably shouldn't be busking here.

[lumelume]

Now's a good enough time for a break, and, recognizing Athessa, Mado saunters over to plop down next to her. He wipes the arm of his jacket across his forehead, then pushes his hair back out of his face, grinning at her.

"What use would I be to Riftwatch? Do they need acrobats?"

[sulahnan]

"Maybe. I was a dancer before I was a mercenary," She shrugs. There are plenty of ways to utilize that skillset. "Depends on what you can do with what you...can do."

[lumelume]

"Really!"

How exciting.

"Well," he muses, looking out at the bustling courtyard, "it's a military organization, isn't it? So there's fighting?"

i

[deceivingly]

"Okay," Doki says, and she stops walking. She folds her arms over her chest and looks at him, this silly man with his tambourine. Expectant, patient, she remains, waiting for her song.

[lumelume]

[lumelume]

He launches into a ballad about the beautiful strong lady with the painted face, a song which definitely didn't exist in this form longer than a few minutes ago, but he is selling it with everything he's got.

She fights a bear, defeats it, and then becomes the new bear in its stead.

i, sorry I'm late

[cozen]

"Please," Bastien says—having already stopped to watch some trick or another with his head cocked and good-natured curiosity on his face. Beneath it, he's a little wary. The last time they had a strange guest in the Gallows, it ended in fire. But there's no outward sign of anything but appreciation for the entertainment.

a bastien is never late, nor is he early. he arrives precisely when he means to

[lumelume]

The only fire that might break out in this case would be if Mado accidentally gets too excited and kicks over a lantern, but that's not bound to happen anytime soon, as it's the middle of the day and there are no lanterns present.

Having said that, he's clearly very excited by the prospect of getting to sing to someone else, and hops into position with a shooka of his tambourine.
"Your name, signor?"

[cozen]

"Bastien," he answers, with a little bow that's more of a head nod and playful hand flourish than anything that would count as genuflection.

He'll need a name back, but it can wait until after his song.

I

[keenly]

Colin's eyes widen in surprise and a little discomfort when a stranger accosts him on his way to the ferry. There doesn't have to be physical contact to provide a very physical response, because it seems dreadfully rude to be called out and not stop. But Colin's ear picks up the language and he smiles, listening.

At the end of the song, he drops a few coppers in the hat and tucks his hands under his arms shyly.

You are from Antiva? he inquires in lightly accented Antivan.

[lumelume]

The musician grins at him, giving a dramatic bow in response to the coins.

"Rialto!" he exclaims, "yourself?"

[keenly]

Denerim, Colin says lightly, but my mother was from Treviso.

yseult, meet mado;

[sulahnan]

After ascending the eight flights of stairs to get to the Division Head offices, Athessa pauses outside of the Scoutmaster's door.

She turns to look at Mado and all his boundless energy, holding out a hand in a staying gesture. Down, boy.

"Lemme go in first and announce you."

Still watching him (just in case), she reaches up and raps her knuckles against the door. Knock knock.

[lumelume]

Mado simply bounces on his heels and waits, the nervous energy emanating from him in waves.
Is this a bad idea? Probably! Will he do it anyway? Apparently!

[sulahnan]

"What are you doing?" She asks, as if it isn't obvious what he's doing.

[hassaran]

From inside, Yseult lifts her voice and calls, "Come."

[sulahnan]

She leaves the full-body fidgeter known as Mado in the hall for the moment, stepping in first and closing the door behind her.

"Scoutmaster," she greets, taking only a few strides towards where she usually stands when she gives reports. "My reasons for being here are twofold: first, there is a potential new recruit I agreed to escort up here to meet you. I can't vouch for his skill, but I figured you'd want to judge for yourself whether or not he should be escorted off the island."

Athessa's bearing is not what it was six months ago, when Yseult described her as uncertain. She is, of course, the same person, but with the volume turned down. Calm, maybe tired, but clearly making good on her promise to take her training seriously. Rather than looking to Yseult with her head angled forward in contrition, her regard is level, and steady.

I

[bignasty]

It’s around mid-morning before Dumas has navigated his way out into the courtyard, buttery sun bright off the flash of his jacket buckles and the even steelier grey of his eyes. He breathes in deep, the salt air rolling in across the flagstone, the earthier stink of the stables on the wind, and the tail end of breakfast in the kitchens, all set to the backing track of Mado’s tambourine.

His approach is as meandering as it is inevitable -- slow enough to watch the interaction between this courtyard menace and any passers by before he’s near enough to square up and clear his throat.

“What’s this?” he wonders aloud, one hand to his hip and the other hooked under his scruffy chin, really working the old gears to process what he’s towering over. HMMM.

“Someone’s lost their little hat.”

[lumelume]

Mado always knows when he has an audience, and has had plenty of time to become aware of Dumas' presence. If it bothers him at all, he shows no sign of this, instead giving the tambourine an inviting little shooka as the watchman approaches.

"Begging your pardon ser, but they haven't! That hat is mine," he points out cheerfully.

[bignasty]

Shooka.

“Oh.”

Oh.

“This is your little hat?”

Still not-quite following, Sylvester points down at the hat in question, as if there might be some other hat on the scene of questionable pedigree. For his part, his hair is cocked up silver into a crest, swept back rough from his face and let to do what the wind will have it do. He looks at Mado. Looks down at the hat.

Look back to Mado again.

“You keep coins in it?”