|
Darkseeker
|
Avery raised an eyebrow, almost offended, but he ignored the lack of etiquette.
"Whatever you want to do is fine. I'm not really in charge of this project. More like...a supervisor. I'll talk to my father about the details, for now, you can do whatever works for you." He gave Aspen a light smile, and turned bumping his brother's arm. "Ready to fence?" He asked, with a devilish smirk. The two boys left the South Wing, and headed down to the training pit. It was right below the south wings bay windows, but Avery didn't bother looking up. He and Robbie stripped off their overcoats and vests, leaving their flowey white shirts on. They changed out their shoes for tall boots, and found their favorite swords. Moments later they were parting blows and laughing and chatting, the incident from earlier forgotten.
|
|
|
|
Neutral
|
Aspen just had become fascinated and focused on his new project. Of course it was just one wing but he still held onto the believe that if he did an excellent job then the king would be impressed and hire him full-time. Of course working self-employed had it's perks but he would rather get paid more doing something that was easier to put on a resume. "Whatever you want to do is fine. I'm not really in charge of this project. More like...a supervisor. I'll talk to my father about the details, for now, you can do whatever works for you." Aspen gave the faintest nod, his attention turning back to the wing in front of him. His excitement from earlier had returned. He became so focused that he didn't even realize that Prince Avery and Prince Robert had went to go fence. That is, until he turned around and saw that they were gone. Hopefully fencing would take out some of the prince's annoyance with his little brother. Before he got started, he took a few before pictures on his phone to look at and review his plans with the King. He also wanted to map out his vision so the king would have a better idea of what changes he had in mind. He didn't want to do any of the expensive work until he had the king's permission. He decided to start simple with washing the walls. It seemed like a good place to start until he had the king's permission to do what he had visioned laying eyes upon the room. He decided to go in the hunt himself for cleaning supplies around the castle. He figured it wouldn't be too hard to find soap, water, and a rag. Maybe a little bleach if he looked hard enough... Edited at February 20, 2023 08:53 PM by Ashes of Night
|
|
|
|
Darkseeker
|
Avery was sweating from the fencing, and his arms were beginning to hurt. He had no idea how much time had passed, but to his relief, Robbie looked like he was getting tired too. Avery finally took a hard step backwards, and was able to catch his brother's sword and ding it a few feet away.
They were both satisfied with their performance, and Avery started pulling off his leather glove when he heard Robbie start to speak. "If you do a handstand, and I stand on your feet, I could reach that window and talk to that guy." Avery stared at him. "And why in heaven's name would you want to do that?" A few minutes later, Avery was doing a handstand while his brother nimbly climbed to Avery's feet, and steadied himself there. "How," Avery muttered, "did I get roped into this?"
He got no response from his brother who stood swaying on top of his feet. A moment later, he heard the keen sound of a fist on glass, and his brother mumbling something to the guy inside. Avery took a deep breath. His abs hurt, and his left hand was on a very sharp pebble, without even mentioning the weight of a fifteen year old prince on top of that. He hoped Robbie would hurry up, or he was gonna drop him.
|
|
|
|
Neutral
|
He didn't know his way around the castle but it still didn't take him too long to find what he was looking for. He took supplies from the kitchen to wash the walls with. Soap and water would work and would be the cheapest option for now. No use in charging a cleaning fee and for cleaning supplies when most people had supplies on hand. Not even the castle was an exception to this. Aspen began working on the walls, giving them a good cleaning. It would take hours just to clean them by the looks of them. He could see why the king wanted to remodel the castle. Paint only looked good for so long, even if the walls were cleaned regularly. He finished cleaning the walls two hours later. He stepped back to further assess them. The walls were still stained but some of the yellow tint had faded. He would mention changing the color of the paint in his redesign plan. White and light colors worked well for common households, not so much castles that needed to appear breathtakingly stunning all of the time. He heard a tap on the window and jumped a little, expecting to find another guard telling him he wasn't allowed to be working here. Instead, he spotted the head of the prince's younger brother. He was a bit confused, questioning whether the younger brother was trying to distract him from his job so he wouldn't do his best job for the king. After a moment of hesitation, he approached the window and cracked it open just a little bit,"How may I help you, sir?"
|
|
|
|
Darkseeker
|
Avery shifted, and felt Robbie sway. The younger boy let out a string of words he wasn't supposed to use, and caught the windowsill. "Hey," Avery heard Robbie say. He could practically picture the smirk that was already on his brother's face, and decided to try and guess what his brother would say next. Most likely, he decided, Robbie would try to charm Aspen. Not in a romantic way, but Robbie liked being the favored brother. "So...what arre you going to do? I think you should repaint the walls the most offensive shade of puce you can find," Robbie suggested. Avery let out a snort. He knew it. Robbie was going to fake interest, and would probably end up actually being curious, and then, of course, everyone would love him. Avery's palms were stinging from the gravel drive, and he wanted badly to move a little bit further back onto the lush grass beside the palace. Robbie had other ideas, and leaned partway into the window, pulling it further open, and sticking his head inside. He wondered what they were saying, but only for a second. His balance was fine, but all the blood was rushing to his head, and he could feel a dull throb beginning. "Rob, hurry it up!" He yelled at his brother, who peered down. "Yeah, yeah. One second." Edited at February 21, 2023 03:38 PM by The Tea Drinkers
|
|
|
|
Neutral
|
Aspen didn't expect the younger prince to say what he did. The prince's attitude and tone of voice was confusing. It was formal like it should have been. Royalty were to address citizens with formal etiquette. He did reach out a hand to Prince Robert's shoulders to steady the younger prince when the prince swayed, muttered a strand of curse words, and caught the window seal. He tilted his head in a little confusion at the prince's hey. The confusion increased more when the younger prince acted to be interested in his plans on the castle. Well, he assumed that it was pretend. After all, maybe both brothers had one thing in common. He just didn't know why the brothers were trying to pick on him. "Your brother looks uncomfortable," He leaned to look down at Prince Avery just as Prince Robert leaned more into the windowsill. He moved back just before things got awkward. Things already got awkward once with the older one. At least the older one was about his age. "Rob, hurry it up!" He heard Prince Avery call and gave the slightest hint of a smirk. The poor older brother was once again stuck on the worst side of his brother's antics. He sympathize with Avery just a little for that. He also had brothers that put him through the ringer. "I do have plans for this wing but I'd rather make a blueprint and share it with the king before I share it with anybody else," He finished, offering his hand to the prince,"Perhaps I should pull you into the wing before your brother drops you." Edited at February 21, 2023 03:37 PM by Ashes of Night
|
|
|
|
Darkseeker
|
Avery vaguely heard a muffled conversation, and then the weight off his body lessened, and then dropped beside him on the grass. Avery flopped down on his back, making a pained face at the sky. Robbie slipped down beside him, a cheesy grin plastered on his face. "How was the upsidedown-ness? Your face is beet red!"
Avery smacked his brother, but not to hard. His arms hurt too much to do anything.
"Sorry about my brother," he yelled to the open window. Robbie stood up, and beamed at the window. "I'm not sorry! I want to help paint!" Robbie was already trying to climb a trellis to get up, and Avery snickered as the whole structure shook. Robbie dropped down, and scowled good-naturedly at his brother before looking back up to the window. "C'mon, Avey. I want help getting him to let me paint." Avery raised an eyebrow. "You do know the window is still open, right? He can probably hear everything you're saying. Anyways, his name is Aspen, if you end up talking to him." Avery stretched his stiff, aching limbs, and put his usual shoes back on, hoping his brother wouldn't do anything rash, or try to be a pain and bother the guy. "Anyways, he'll be around for a while. Dad is probably gonna have him redo him and mum's wing." Avery slipped his coat back on, and started away from the pit.
|
|
|
|
Neutral
|
Aspen was going to take the younger brother's hand and pull him through the window but before he did, Avery seemed to reach his max limit for his brother's little stunt. Both princes disappeared from view. He leaned against the windowsill to make sure they both were okay. Of course they were but Prince Avery did look rather red in the face. He heard Prince Avery's apology for his brother being a minor annoyance. Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. He was basically finished for the day anyway. He didn't move on without the king's approval. It just didn't seem right to move on. Even with his regular projects, he always had permission. "I'm not sorry! I want to help paint!" So that's why the brother was trying to pretend to be interested. He wanted to help. Well. he didn't see why not one of the princes or both of the princes couldn't help him paint if they wanted to. Painting was rather simple and would be his next task after the approval. He decided to leave the wing and go check on the princes. When he got there Prince Avery was making his way away from the pit.
"I've cleaned the walls but I'd rather not start on anything else without approval. Would it be okay if I sent you my blueprint stating my plans so you can share them with the king?" He said once Prince Avery got closer, giving the faintest indication of a bow before he addressed him. Edited at February 21, 2023 06:10 PM by Ashes of Night
|
|
|
|
Darkseeker
|
Avery nodded.
"I'll try to get them to him as soon as possible. He isn't currently in a meeting, so he'll probably review them sooner rather than later." He turned to his brother for a split second, then back to Aspen. "Is...is it alright if Robbie helps paint? I can tell him he can't if you'd rather him not." He wanted to make it clear that even though he held great authority, he was by no means forcing Aspen to take his brother on. "He doesn't know how to paint, in this sense. He can paint on canvas fine."
Avery hates feeling uncomfortable, and that was exactly how he felt. He wished he had gotten an easier job than this one, which required much talking to people, and then his father.
Just as Avery finished talking, Robbie caught up to them, covered in grass stains. Avery decided not to ask. "Am I allowed to paint?" Robbie pushed the matter. Avery sighed. "We were still talking about that."
|
|
|
|
Neutral
|
"Perfect, I should have the blueprint ready and sent to you by tonight," Aspen stated with a nod. He did have jobs booked for this evening but he got to work early and completed them before coming to the castle. He had been so excited that he had to keep himself busy to help calm him. At least that meant he would be quick with the blueprint and the king could give him approval to continue with the project. It would be easier to show the king his plans than began to explain them. Prince Avery glanced back toward his brother and then back toward him. He wasn't surprised to hear the question about Prince Robert being able to paint. After all, the younger man made it quite clear that he did want to help. "Well perhaps-" He began to speak but was interrupted by Prince Robert impatiently asked him if he could paint. He frowned a little, rubbing the side of his neck awkwardly. He hated being interrupted but knew to hold his tongue around the princes. "I'm not ready to began painting quite yet," His gaze slipped down to the younger prince,"But I don't see the harm in having an extra eager hand for when I do." His gaze slid up to Prince Avery,"Painting is rather simple. I've been painting walls since I was 5. I'm sure he'll learn quickly as long as he has a little patience and is truly willing to listen and learn." Edited at February 21, 2023 08:06 PM by Ashes of Night
|
|
|