A Knight in Rusty Armor (and in love)

[3] Blue-Eyed Beauty

The bell rings, and all of the Knights, many of them now laden with gifts and new weaponry and equipment, assemble in the dining hall. The feast itself has not yet begun, so most of the guys are chatting and getting to know each other and goofing around. I can see the table being set, and it looks like seating is assigned. There's enough room at the ridiculously long table for all of us. ...Or is that several tables put together and hidden by a ridiculously long tablecloth? I have no way of knowing just by looking. Maybe I'll look under the cloth and try to determine the truth.

I stay in a corner, by myself, and try not to bother anyone. I really do. But thanks to my stupid ancestors, trouble is always guaranteed to find me.

"Ow!"

I cry out as someone's brand-new dagger— the one he was showing off to the guy near him and recklessly swinging around— clips the bridge of my nose. It's bleeding. It's bleeding a lot, even if the cut isn't bad.

"I-I didn't mean to do that," Daniel of Pridebanner, the dagger-waver, insists. Serin of Ridgeworth, standing beside him, disapprovingly shakes his head, but doesn't comment. I don't think I've heard him talk yet. He always seems to be watching from the background, like a cat.

"Tidus! Are you okay?!" Ezekiel runs to my side. He's accompanied by Lucius of Riversong, who's already carrying bandages.

And so, I spent most of the pre-feast party getting my face cleaned up and having a bandage taped across the bridge of my nose. Daniel hung nearby and kept peering over Lucius' shoulder, looking guilty.

"At least I look like I've been in battle," I laugh as Lucius makes sure the bandage is secured. He applied a serum, one that he literally just bought outside, that seems to have stopped the bleeding.

"I don't know that a dinner party counts as a battle," Lucius says teasingly. "I didn't think I'd have to pull out the first aid equipment before we even leave the castle."

Daniel, meanwhile, protests Serin's temporary confiscation of his dagger. Daniel seems like he means well, but he's always joking around and showing off, and it was bound to get somebody hurt. I just wish it hadn't been me.

I'm relieved when the announcer calls everyone to their seats. I can't help but wiggle back and forth in excitement as the cooks start bringing the dishes. It's more or less a buffet. We're allowed to have whatever we want, and don't have to worry about courses or eating in the right order. The King is at the very end of the table, and he gives some speech before we're allowed to dig in. I start to carve myself some turkey, just so that I already have it by the time the gravy boat makes its way back to me.

I've been keeping my head down to conceal my injury, but I feel like someone is staring at me. It's unnerving to be able to feel someone's eyes. I guess, without looking up, that I've been seated across from Victor. That guy has eyes that could kill, right? But then I notice that this presence isn't menacing. So, no, not Victor. I tell myself to act cool, count to five in my head, and then I look up.

I'm met with the bluest pair of eyes I've ever seen. They're a deeper blue than the usual pale color, almost turquoise, like the water in those commercials for beach resorts.

They're so blue that I can't think straight. ...In more ways than one.

"Are you alright? What happened to your nose? You didn't have that before."

"You're pretty." Blue-eyes raises his eyebrows very slightly. "Observant. Pretty observant." The eyebrows lower themselves again.

Good job, Tidus. Great save. Ten out of ten. Thankfully, the other guy doesn't seem hung up on my mistake and allows it to slide off his back.