HOME | DD

Description

Soon after the meeting, 's Damian notices Erskine's reaction to being Ari's mentor, and decides to see if the guard has any problem with the arrangement, giving a calm but penetrating stare as he waits for an answer.

It was a fun roleplay, brief as it was~
______________________________________________

Erskine listened quietly to Damian's words as he sat in a neat posture, tail-tip twitching calmly over his forepaws, which he hadn't bothered to clean since they always looked dirty whether he licked them or not. The tom blinked slowly and his ears were perked forward; it was quite nice hearing Damian speak so calmly and properly- after all, he wasn't always so... pleasant.

He allowed a small, good-mannerly smile as Sin and Resemee were appointed their students. The both of them were admirable in the way they conducted their duties, and the young cats assigned to them seemed rather promising themselves. Living in this city taught one better than to assume, but he could certainly at least hope that both of them led long lives in Suran.

The next student in line was Ari.

"You have reached the age in which you are ready to learn," Damian began the classic words. "You have proven yourself to be strong and fierce, so we hope you will accept and embrace your future as a Guard of Suran..."

The dusty-furred tom watched intently, green eyes focused and curious. Who would be Ari's mentor? Perhaps Jake? Iacha?

"... We entrust Erskine with the task of teaching you how to become a great protector. That is all."

Aaaand something inside him flinched.

Erskine found himself laying one ear back as his jaw tightened, his expression neutral but his tail curling tighter around him. This was a great honor, and he was genuinely surprised that Damian found him trustworthy enough to be a mentor to someone, but Ari? Figures that he'd get the meanest one out of the bunch. He had some work cut out for him.

Nonetheless, this was no time to get lost in his thoughts when the ceremony was only now over, and he raised his head to take a look at his nearby surroundings. After all, Ari might want to formally meet him.

Damian jumped stood atop the ledge, his eyes turning to gaze quietly over the new mentors before landing on Erskine. He frowned, watching the emotions cross the younger toms face as he processed this information, his tail tightening and an ear laying back. He knew the tom wasn't exactly happy with the student he had been given, but Damian full well knew his reasons. He had taken the student's basic personalities and found a mentor he found best suited for them, and after a moment of thought, he jumped down from the ledge, padding quickly to the Guard's side.

"Erskine." He meowed with a sharp nod. "I know you don't seem very sure of my choice, and if you have any qualms about it don't hesitate to ask me. If you have a question, such as why I chose you, then it would be best to do so now." His silver striped tail waved calmly back and forth behind him, waiting patiently for the tom's reply.

"Erskine."

Erskine hadn't even heard Damian's paw-steps, and was quite surprised when he realized the leader had settled beside him.

" know you don't seem very sure of my choice, and if you have any qualms about it don't hesitate to ask me. If you have a question, such as why I chose you, then it would be best to do so now." The leader's tail waved patiently behind him.

The tom's paws stiffened, and he momentarily swiveled one of his ears, hoping that Damian at least couldn't see his embarrassment. Had his thoughts been that easy to tell? However, he politely dipped his head. "Er- no. No, I trust your decision, and if you find me worthy of a student then I'm honored to fulfill my role as mentor. I wouldn't call it qualms... if anything, slight apprehension. Ari won't be easy, but I never back down from a challenge." Believing he had said the right things, Erskine quickly gave his paw a lick before making a brief swipe over his muzzle.

Blank green eyes watched the tom for his minute actions, how his body moved in reaction to his emotions and how he held himself. He sat down quietly, listening to the tom talk about why he had reacted as he did earlier and flicked an ear.

"Yes, Ari was hard to pick a mentor for. But after considering his personality and the other guard personalities I decided you would be the best one for him. I figured you would be best able to teach him to be more responsible and not so... Aggressive, if you get my meaning. And as you said, you don't back down from a challenge, I knew you'd be the last one to give up on training him, if you even decided to give up."

Erskine sat in silence as his leader replied, and found himself blinking in surprised gratitude at Damian's reasoning. They were the closest things to compliments he'd probably ever get, and proved that the prickly cat really did pay attention to the needs of his gang cats. That was something Erskine respected.

"I will make sure to use my skills and experience to the best of my abilities," he said with a nod. "Besides, Ari may have his... tempers, but he and I share certain qualities that I know I can work with... And he has the right ferocity for a guard." Now that he'd said it, Erskine realized it was true. Neither he nor Ari were real talkers, even if the latter could be a bully at times. They each had quiet natures that might make the training less difficult than he may think, but at the same time, Erskine wasn't going to build his hopes up with assumptions. His own thoughts tempted the tom to grin stupidly at himself.

The dark tabby nodded solemnly to the guard as he began to understand why he was chosen. He felt a small spark of pride towards the younger tom as his mind began to click under the leader's words. At least he hadn't chosen a dense cat to lead the brash and rather headstrong apprentice. He could have given it to Paige, but her own personality was against her, and even Jake had been ruled out upon deciding that the two cats would probably fight with each other too much to really do anything.

Finally he stood and stretched, his spine cracking as it popped, his chest fur touching the ground and he stood, shaking his head. He rolled his shoulders, eyes glancing around for the dark brown shape before turning back to the tom.

"That was all I wanted." He meowed. "Figured you'd like to understand why I chose you instead of someone else given how you looked a bit nervous about training a cat like him, but I trust you'll handle him the way he needs to be." And with that the Suran leader stalked off, heading back towards his den.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Erskine responded with a nod, waving his tail once as Damian made his way back to the leader's den. Deciding that he, too, had spent long enough sitting here, the tom stood on all fours, stretching his back legs. He couldn't afford staying in one spot when his job involved doing just that thing, anyway. Erskine gave a few more glances around to see if Ari would be presenting himself.

Description

Soon after the meeting, 's Damian notices Erskine's reaction to being Ari's mentor, and decides to see if the guard has any problem with the arrangement, giving a calm but penetrating stare as he waits for an answer.

It was a fun roleplay, brief as it was~
______________________________________________

Erskine listened quietly to Damian's words as he sat in a neat posture, tail-tip twitching calmly over his forepaws, which he hadn't bothered to clean since they always looked dirty whether he licked them or not. The tom blinked slowly and his ears were perked forward; it was quite nice hearing Damian speak so calmly and properly- after all, he wasn't always so... pleasant.

He allowed a small, good-mannerly smile as Sin and Resemee were appointed their students. The both of them were admirable in the way they conducted their duties, and the young cats assigned to them seemed rather promising themselves. Living in this city taught one better than to assume, but he could certainly at least hope that both of them led long lives in Suran.

The next student in line was Ari.

"You have reached the age in which you are ready to learn," Damian began the classic words. "You have proven yourself to be strong and fierce, so we hope you will accept and embrace your future as a Guard of Suran..."

The dusty-furred tom watched intently, green eyes focused and curious. Who would be Ari's mentor? Perhaps Jake? Iacha?

"... We entrust Erskine with the task of teaching you how to become a great protector. That is all."

Aaaand something inside him flinched.

Erskine found himself laying one ear back as his jaw tightened, his expression neutral but his tail curling tighter around him. This was a great honor, and he was genuinely surprised that Damian found him trustworthy enough to be a mentor to someone, but Ari? Figures that he'd get the meanest one out of the bunch. He had some work cut out for him.

Nonetheless, this was no time to get lost in his thoughts when the ceremony was only now over, and he raised his head to take a look at his nearby surroundings. After all, Ari might want to formally meet him.

Damian jumped stood atop the ledge, his eyes turning to gaze quietly over the new mentors before landing on Erskine. He frowned, watching the emotions cross the younger toms face as he processed this information, his tail tightening and an ear laying back. He knew the tom wasn't exactly happy with the student he had been given, but Damian full well knew his reasons. He had taken the student's basic personalities and found a mentor he found best suited for them, and after a moment of thought, he jumped down from the ledge, padding quickly to the Guard's side.

"Erskine." He meowed with a sharp nod. "I know you don't seem very sure of my choice, and if you have any qualms about it don't hesitate to ask me. If you have a question, such as why I chose you, then it would be best to do so now." His silver striped tail waved calmly back and forth behind him, waiting patiently for the tom's reply.

"Erskine."

Erskine hadn't even heard Damian's paw-steps, and was quite surprised when he realized the leader had settled beside him.

" know you don't seem very sure of my choice, and if you have any qualms about it don't hesitate to ask me. If you have a question, such as why I chose you, then it would be best to do so now." The leader's tail waved patiently behind him.

The tom's paws stiffened, and he momentarily swiveled one of his ears, hoping that Damian at least couldn't see his embarrassment. Had his thoughts been that easy to tell? However, he politely dipped his head. "Er- no. No, I trust your decision, and if you find me worthy of a student then I'm honored to fulfill my role as mentor. I wouldn't call it qualms... if anything, slight apprehension. Ari won't be easy, but I never back down from a challenge." Believing he had said the right things, Erskine quickly gave his paw a lick before making a brief swipe over his muzzle.

Blank green eyes watched the tom for his minute actions, how his body moved in reaction to his emotions and how he held himself. He sat down quietly, listening to the tom talk about why he had reacted as he did earlier and flicked an ear.

"Yes, Ari was hard to pick a mentor for. But after considering his personality and the other guard personalities I decided you would be the best one for him. I figured you would be best able to teach him to be more responsible and not so... Aggressive, if you get my meaning. And as you said, you don't back down from a challenge, I knew you'd be the last one to give up on training him, if you even decided to give up."

Erskine sat in silence as his leader replied, and found himself blinking in surprised gratitude at Damian's reasoning. They were the closest things to compliments he'd probably ever get, and proved that the prickly cat really did pay attention to the needs of his gang cats. That was something Erskine respected.

"I will make sure to use my skills and experience to the best of my abilities," he said with a nod. "Besides, Ari may have his... tempers, but he and I share certain qualities that I know I can work with... And he has the right ferocity for a guard." Now that he'd said it, Erskine realized it was true. Neither he nor Ari were real talkers, even if the latter could be a bully at times. They each had quiet natures that might make the training less difficult than he may think, but at the same time, Erskine wasn't going to build his hopes up with assumptions. His own thoughts tempted the tom to grin stupidly at himself.

The dark tabby nodded solemnly to the guard as he began to understand why he was chosen. He felt a small spark of pride towards the younger tom as his mind began to click under the leader's words. At least he hadn't chosen a dense cat to lead the brash and rather headstrong apprentice. He could have given it to Paige, but her own personality was against her, and even Jake had been ruled out upon deciding that the two cats would probably fight with each other too much to really do anything.

Finally he stood and stretched, his spine cracking as it popped, his chest fur touching the ground and he stood, shaking his head. He rolled his shoulders, eyes glancing around for the dark brown shape before turning back to the tom.

"That was all I wanted." He meowed. "Figured you'd like to understand why I chose you instead of someone else given how you looked a bit nervous about training a cat like him, but I trust you'll handle him the way he needs to be." And with that the Suran leader stalked off, heading back towards his den.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," Erskine responded with a nod, waving his tail once as Damian made his way back to the leader's den. Deciding that he, too, had spent long enough sitting here, the tom stood on all fours, stretching his back legs. He couldn't afford staying in one spot when his job involved doing just that thing, anyway. Erskine gave a few more glances around to see if Ari would be presenting himself.