[Open] Dip, dip, and swing....

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka waits beside the canoe, which is drawn up in a foot of water with its bow on the sand. Two paddles are in the bottom of the boat. Friends and strangers, all welcome

Comments

[daddyissuesjnr]

Melou's heading down to the lake. It's one of his favourite places to spend time, not that he would admit it.

He hadn't counted on someone else being there, though, so when he spots Hisoka he stops and stands there, awkwardly, trying to decide whether or not he should just turn around and walk back to the house.

[daddyissuesjnr]

"But it looks boring," Melou says.

[in_summer_leaf]

"Is it hard for you to find things to do, at the Mansion?" asks Hisoka, curiously. He knows boredom is a hazard for people who came from lives that were filled with difficult emotions and events, though he doesn't know if that is the case for Melou.

[daddyissuesjnr]

That would be the case, for Melou. That and the fact he hates fun.

"There is nothing to do here," he says.

[in_summer_leaf]

"What did you do before you got here?" asks Hisoka.

[daddyissuesjnr]

Melou hesitates. It's not a question he really wants to answer, but it would be awkward if he didn't, so. "I was busy ruling my kingdom," he says.

Compared to that, boating is just silly :|

[in_summer_leaf]

[Moved left to avoid post crush.]

[in_summer_leaf]

"You were a prince? A king?" Rhetorical question, but Hisoka is curious, now. "That must have tied up your time."

[daddyissuesjnr]

"A king," Melou replies. "And it did."

Particularly since the kingdom he inherited had been torn apart by war and Lancelot was bringing an army across the sea to kill him. But he's not going to talk about that.

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka considers him. "Would I know your name, I wonder?"

[daddyissuesjnr]

Well, there's one way to find out.

"King Melou," he introduces himself. "Ruler of Britain."

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka thinks about Geoffrey of Monmouth's history. Melehan? Something like that. "Who was your father? Or your predecessor?"

[daddyissuesjnr]

Melou hesitates, again. He doesn't like to talk about his family, his father least of all. "His name was Medraut," he says, after a moment, trying to sound cool and neutral and hide his reluctance. (Wouldn't want to give off any hints that his father was a traitor, after all.)

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka nods. "Yes, I know who you are, then," he says. After all, it isn't so strange to meet a person of the Arthurian saga, here; after all, it's probably history that has been mythologized in the mists of time. "Are you here alone from your world, or do you have friends or family with you?"

[daddyissuesjnr]

Melou suddenly looks wary. Very wary. "Did somebody tell you about me?" he asks.

[in_summer_leaf]

"No disrespect intended," says Hisoka. "Tales of your era have spread far and wide."