[Mari]

(( Rina ))

Raffine laid in a hospital bed. She'd come dangerously close to losing everything, including her mind and body, but she'd managed to defy fate and was now on the steady road to health. Even now though she'd seen better days. For now Raffine was bed bound, not strong enough to safely move around on her own as of yet. It was like torture to her; all she wanted to do was get up and start training back into peak fitness. Yet, she had her limits. It didn't seem like there was much she could do to.

The only thing more depressing than the knowledge that she was stuck here was that, over the hours, she'd come to expect that no one would visit her. I mean sure there was an apocalypse going on, but no one had remembered her birthday either. She couldn't help but begin to suspect that she was alone here, even though she had miraculously survived her terrifying encounter. How had she survived anyway?

She wasn't a hundred percent sure really. All she remembered were a pair of gentle yet firm arms holding her tightly and the disjointed voice of a prince answering her call. She must have passed out in that no doubt handsome prince's comforting grasp, but who was he? Would she ever meet him again? Was this her prince? Just the thought was enough to chase her bad feelings away, a smiling creeping onto her face as she distracted herself from the hours slowly ticking away.

[Rina]

...I wonder how she's doing? I am one of her saviors, but does she know? She seemed in critical condition.

Schezo's not that great either. Even if he could walk around, he can't exactly move freely with the bandages on his torso. It's good that the slashes weren't that deep, but any more could have led to worse things. He's understandably without his chestplate, just easing himself towards Raffine's room to check on her. He's not sure why, but it won't hurt to check.

Knock knock.

"Are you awake?"

[Mari]

Raffine heard a knock. At first she assumed it was a nurse and thought of it, but then a voice that sounded ... familiar to her... called out. Her heart jumped a few paces in excitement and she quickly moved to sit up, shifting and making herself as proper as she could manage in these awful hospital gowns. "I am, ...and to which prince do I owe the pleasure of being greeted~?" Raffine asked in a rather amused tone, folding her arms in her lap. She could not get up to open the door, or was at least unwilling to suffer that much.

[Rina]

Gah- S-She remembered that!?

Seems like Schezo dug himself a hole long before he had proper conversation with her at all. Well...he already engaged, might as well bite the bullet and keep it going. The fact that she remembered what he said to try and calm her down made him hesitate to speak up. Schezo gently opened the door, showing himself to Raffine. Aside from a few bandages and lack of armor or cape, he looks alright.

"...'Tis I, Schezo Wegey."

Upon entry, he took a nearby chair to sit by the bedside. He's not entirely familiar with her at all, but he did get a mention from her teacher. The partner he was with during the mission is also a fellow classmate too, but that's all the information he has on who she is.

"So, your name is Raffine, is it?"

[Mari]

Raffine hesitated a moment to take in Schezo's visage. Now, I hear you. Why would Raffine not question the white hair? Young people don't generally have white hair, do they? It would seem to indicate that Schezo was older than he perhaps appeared. Yet, there's one problem with that observation. ...Raffine herself had naturally pink hair. So y'know. Clearly Schezo was just cursed with a cool hair color too. "I am Ms. Raffine, yes. You know, it's funny. I don't recall much of what happened during my rescue, but I do recall your voice." Raffine offered, eyeing Schezo with interest and a somewhat coy lilt of her head away from him. She would have told him she was thankful he had saved her ... if Rider hadn't visited earlier while Schezo was being treated. She'd been left without clear knowledge of what his role in her rescue had been.

[Rina]

Raffine would be correct in that Schezo is WAY older than he appears, but not his snow-white hair is an indication. In fact, he's born with this hair color, as one would least expect. He's quite used to seeing others with wacky hair colors. Rulue has blue hair, Satan and Draco have green, just to name a few.

"That was the only thing that retained to your memory?"

So far...she's not bringing up the whole prince thing Schezo said to try and ease her. Schezo's mind relaxed a bit, but who knows when she'll bring it up again. He's not picking up on Raffine's coy mannerisms at all, though. Subtlety isn't his thing.

[Mari]

Raffine gave Schezo an inquisitive look in response to his question. For a moment she found his choice of words a tad concerning. Was there something else she ought to know? Why did he sound anxious? The idea that Schezo had done something to her crossed her mind for a moment, but she quickly passed this off as unreasonably paranoid. Rider had been there with him, after all. "...It was all I remembered clearly. Your herotic baritones calling to me to make sure I knew that my prince was there to save me~" Raffine replied in a rather sensual tone. She was also giving Schezo a knowing, expectant look. She wanted something; that much was clear.

"Of course, Ms. Rider visited me earlier and filled me in on the details." Raffine would add after a moment, not wanting Schezo to get the wrong idea of course. You know, the wrong idea about what exactly she wanted.

[Rina]

Oh, so Rider had came by while I was still undergoing my checkup.

Though, there was that one comment regarding the Dark Wizard.

"H-Heroic baritones...?"

Flattery isn't something Schezo's used to. First her teacher mentioned that being angry all the time would spoil his good looks, implying he's quite good looking. Now there's Raffine's comment about his voice. Schezo never struck himself as actually being handsome, in spite of his name's meaning: "the gorgeous man who defiles the gods." Schezo couldn't help but turn red. He tried to hide it by averting eye contact, but it's evident it's got him embarrassed. Never mind that Rider set some facts straight. Flattery is practically foreign to him.

[Mari]

Raffine lolled her head slightly in response to Schezo's embarrassment. What was he doing, exactly..? She didn't consider this for long however, as it was probably irrelevant.

"Why yes. I must say, it was a breathe of relief in what may have been my darkest hour." Raffine replied. She, of course, was opperating under the assumption that nobody had heard her pleading.

"Tell me more of yourself, Prince Schezo. I feel it odd that I only know one of those involved in my rescue." Raffine went on, eager to learn more about this prince. She wondered what he ruled over! ...Or had ruled over. She'd already gotten clued into this being a different world of sorts.

[Rina]

Oh boy, is "prince" going to be another P-word he doesn't want to be called? Maybe not, but time will tell how much it gets on his nerves. He only said those words in response to Raffine's shame-filled cries for a prince, but only to just calm her down. Again, digging himself a hole.

"Ahem...I see my voice has provided some comfort..."

In Raffine's defense, the both of them are practically strangers to one another, only just acquainting themselves now. She did break the ice first, might as well follow through. He looked back to her, making eye contact with describing himself in a few sentences.

"I do go by a full name: Schezo Wegey. As evident by how I dress, I know swordplay, but I also am proficient in magic. I once had a goal to rule, but..."

Schezo grew hesitant to finish that sentence, as he seems averse to describing failures. He's not the only one clinging to a prideful image. It's true that he once tried to take over Puyo Hell, but plans for that fell through. Though, he probably should have finished that sentence, or risk getting misinterpreted to being a fallen prince that lost influence.

[Mari]

Raffine considered Schezo's full name with mild confusion. That was not a prince's full name, or at least a formal full name. A monarch's full title always included the place they reigned over, which was lacking for one reason or another. Moments after Raffine began pondering this however, Schezo said something that gave her the answer she was looking for. He was a rogue prince! ...Interesting! Raffine had never considered this, and it did put a bit of a kink in her plan to become queen. ...Troubling, but at the same time intriguing. "What made you abandon your dreams of inheriting your kingdom..?" Raffine responded by asking, leaning in slightly. She was, of course, thinking about all her romance novels in which a rogue prince was the star while asking this question. ...Somehow she didn't think Schezo was secretly a werewolf though.

...Was he?

[Rina]

Hole depth: about 4 ft deeper. She needn't worry about Schezo being a werewolf though.

"...the plans I tried to conduct had unfortunately fell through, and my only option was to flee."

He hesitated, but he admitted to a failure of his in the past. But now Schezo's presenting it like he's a fallen noble even further, as if he had disgraced his princely name and had enforced a name change. It's all true, but it's all awkwardly presented in a way like it's some sort of fairy tale. Proper wording was never Schezo's strength, really. He better get his act together though, or he's going to dig himself deeper into Raffine's fairy tale fantasies.

"If I was stronger, I would have easily come to power, but alas, my abilities alone was insufficient. I continue to study the magic arts so I may succeed in my pursuits, but I still find my power inadequate... Even if I was born from a mother of magic and a father of swords, does my lineage matter if my aptitude is not enough to succeed?"

...that detail about getting his act together is going to take a while though. Though, unintentionally romanticizing it may present him better than if he were to say it straight.

[Mari]

...What if he was some kind of vampire, kept ever youthful by his immortality? She just hoped he wasn't one of those magic vampires because she wasn't confident she even had a magic bone in her body--not that she'd admit it. ...Did vampires even exist? ...Naaaah. Raffine snapped out of her thoughts as Schezo began explaining why he never rose to power. Raffine, of course, drifted to the really obvious and romantic answer to Schezo's answers.

" . . . Might it be possible that your destiny is not to rule alone as King, but to rule alongside another as King and Queen?" Raffine asked, allowing a hint of eagerness to slip into her tone.

[Rina]

"Maybe, but who wi-..."

Only just realizing what he was just asked, he just degenerated into a stammering pile of dork wizard. Him, having a love interest? Why, that's about as likely as Satan getting married to Rulue or Arle. In other words: next to impossible. Schezo has about zero luck in getting anything his way, it's no different than his nonexistent love life. As it stands, he's resigned to the single life by the reason of that there's no one else that would resonate and understand his personal hang-ups. In fact, the very idea of forming bonds is one of them. Schezo's sounding pretty flustered right now.

"W-What brought that up?! I'm not that attractive, I push away more than I can befriend, I am incapable of attracting any suitors! I am no one's prince!"

Well...other than Raffine, apparently. But she's still around a child's age, so she's out of the equation.

[Mari]

Raffine was somewhat taken aback. ...Well that wasn't the charming prince thing to say. She supposed this one wasn't quite as manly as she'd imagined, but then again... Who was to say that vanilla was the only good flavor~? Still, Raffine had never read a book in which this kind of angst went away without one heck of a fight. "...Y'know, sometimes I feel the same way." Raffine replied rather casually, attempting to get Schezo's attention more than anything.

"Well--Not about being unattractive." Raffine quickly corrected with a giggle, carelessly flourishing her hair.

She didn't seem to be able to help herself. "Look, Prince Schezo Wegey... All I'm saying is that most kings and queens did not rule alone. Why do you have so little faith in yourself? Have you yet to meet that special someone~?" she went on to ask, a tingling curiosity fueling her words.