Identity Crisis

15:37] A pair of modestly heavy footsteps come to a halt a mere few meters away from their senior's own pair of feet. Walter seems serene as he makes appearance amidst the mercenary's guild, uncharacteristically so. There's a certain atmosphere of surrender to his posture's expression, though it still looks decided all in all.

"Hi, Ede." He sternly greets, making no gesture. Yet a keen enough eye would've probably been able to make out an obscured, pensive frown taken shape at the ceiling of his olive stare.

He's marginally taller now. His muscles seem to have congealed in their development route, instead making his figure appear more cohesive in proportion. His sword is also different, like it's undergone several instances of melting, re forging and modifying. A heavier, more brute-force function leaning nyeshk axe sits comfortably among his arsenal.

There's a pause, as he seems to struggle to speak further, as if the words cause him some degree of ache.

"I need you." It's unclear at first what he meant by it. Though a light shake of his head would surely permeabilize his feelings. Walter needed to talk from heart, like him and the mercenary would.
(Walter Docro)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[15:50] "Hey."

The languid disposition currently weighing her faculties down is shed in the face of Walter, her stance straightening and assuming proper firmness. It had been some time, perhaps a few months, since they had last had an exchange of note.

"Whaddya need?" She inquires with a slight angling of her head. "I'm free, more or less, I think." Prisoners disregarded, but they would get their attention some other time. From the way Walter was comporting himself, this was likely important to him.

As always, Edelaide was taut in every tone imagineable; muscle, voice, and behavior.

By habit, her hand drifted to the hilt adhered to her hip.
(Edelaide Astaret)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[16:29] It takes her practically no time to greet him, which does spark an ounce of warmth within the dog man's heart. At times of estrangement with the gang such as this one, some truth was always found from introspection, and perhaps the most clear of them all would begin to surface.

Walter huffs, reaching out to do the unthinkable and rid himself of the prison that was his dog face, once more revealing his more vulnerable version - albeit this time with the dense contrast of his blossoming maturity. He was no longer just a cute kid, instead knocking on the doors of manhood.

There was no one around to make any snarky remarks other than the mercenary, who had bore witness to his countenance already. Perhaps, part of him allowed it to be so, just out of earnest trust.

"I feel trapped." He confesses, lackadaisically. His steps bring him over to the bench nearby, only for him to sit with both knees facing his senior. "There's tension rising among the group. I'm partly to blame, but so are Yersin and Pherete."

It was particularly the later and her mate of choice, then himself. Yet, he couldn't quite handle not reading it as an inequitable spread, or at least not without it feeling like pity or defeat.

"She's... more than I can handle, y'know." Walter shakes his head begrudgingly. "It's not just the romance between those two, it's the secrets, it's the threats." A pause, as he reminisces the unpleasant chapter. Some rage builds up beneath his vague frustration, making his words push their way out of his throat rather than effortlessly fire off. "It's like I'm the oval side of the triangle, I just keep getting bounced and played. And there's nothing I can do about it."
(Walter Docro)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[16:59] As he speaks, she listens attentively whilst perched against the stone support near his position. Her arms overlap in comfortable security, her figure leaning further into the stone as she falls into profound contemplation in desperate attempt to remediate his plight.

She was candidly not much of a leader, nor an organizer. It goes without saying that there were a select few who looked up to her, but Edelaide was - for the most part - a cruel and unrelenting force who had no time to negotiate or establish friendly relations. Action preceded all.

"I'd hate to advise you in something I don't have much experience in myself. I was raised to follow orders and execute them as efficiently as possible.

If it were me, I'd beat them into place, but that doesn't seem like anything you'd want to do, since you love them. Right?"

Her head tilts back and brushes against the hedge's extremities. "Are you going to retreat because it's too difficult? Too heavy of a burden to bear? That's the talk of a spineless coward. Assert yourself, and do so without room for ambiguity."

Blue eyes angle upon his person.

"Or your story with them could flicker away like candlelight. You could... Join us.

That's only a small offer, though." But it was there.
(Edelaide Astaret)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:02] Coming to a stop before Edelaide, Kari would nod once and respectfully even so. He parts his lips, to speak.

"Greetings, lady - I presume you are lady Edelaide, the one Tiernay spoke to me of, one adept of crafts?" - he would take a wild assumption, simply idling in there, confidence and pride exuding his frame.
(Kari Nekane)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:10] There's a long winded pause, as Walter merely traces back her words to individual altercations past. It was hilarious, for the most part - yet with no shortage of maddening frustration to boot. It wasn't rare for him to draw influence from the mercenary's overbearing character to face adversity, in fact - he read it as a beacon of unrelenting force. Yet, it had done him no right.

The young man's head curls and shakes from side to side, less enthusiastically this time around.

"Edelaide. You're underestimating me." He calls her out, now almost ominously stabbing through her eyes with his own pea-stare. He's not playing around. "Beat them into place? I've tried." He had, he really had. "But I literally. Cannot."

If she knew what the secret was, they'd probably be hard pressed to look for an alternative. Yet, he had an oath to stick to - there was more at risk than just the first line of loss once the truth came out, that being his own life forfeit.

Only then, footsteps rummage from his back. Walter's hands haphazardly see the mask slid back on, having him once more take the identity of the dog before his countenance was revealed to anyone but her.

"I can't tell you everything. If I do, I'll die." A pause. "And eventually some of them, too."

A pause, as he reincorporates the façade. There was no obvious solution.

(Walter Docro)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:11] Walter Docro says, "Don' mind me, they need you f'somethin'."
[17:11] Edelaide Astaret says, "Ah..."
[17:11] Urizen had nothing to input, save for a greeting to Walter and Walter alone. "Hey, kid." Urizen makes his way to the bench.
(Urizen Lee)