Sweeten My Coffee

Poetic duel

This day's evening grows near. Behind scratched high walls that make up the long fence around Red Velvet's house, a pack of dogs lies quietly on the torn grass. The canines are all gathered just before the staircase to the front door, waiting like soldiers for their former commander.

They can smell the change in the air. Winter has come to pass, leaving behind only a few more days of potential rain left. One dog happily wags its tail, thinking of all the things it will do with master Velvet once flowers begin to bloom and the garden goes from a dull brown to a happy green.

Behind the menacing door of the house and through the door to the living room, their master has his head pulled back towards the ceiling, black hair with red streaks spread out all over the sofa. A small dog nuzzles under his palm and whines needily. 'Chiffon, you are so spoiled.' He mumbles and moves his hand to pet the soft hound.

The dog happily obliges and stays still to enjoy the interaction. 'There there. I know you want me to stay, however...' He removes his hand and slowly pushes himself up from the sofa, his exposed chest flexing all its battle scars. '...refusing to show up is the same as admitting defeat.' He cracks his knuckles and stretches upwards with a groan. 'I will do a warm up and be on my way.' He takes a hold of a toy from near a shelf and puts it on the floor. Immediatelly, Chiffon sticks to it like a magnet and begins biting its cylinder shape for the treats hidden inside.

Red Velvets glances at him and snorts. The sight is too cute to ignore. It takes him a bit to realise that he is losing time. Pulling his eyes away from the scene, he shakes his head.

'Focus, soldier!' He orders himself and gets on the floor. 'I must win this.'

His body tightens up as he begins his first set of push ups, followed by sit ups using weights and more exercises that he feels are needed to warm his body. Its not long before he feels ready to spell some real poetry to that commander's face.

Heading out the door, his red and black attire match his thirst for war. His aesthetic is enough to help label him as one of the most stylish people in the kingdom. That is, if he ever washed his clothes properly and showed up in social events.

His hounds admire his long hair as they flow behind him. There is nothing heroic about this man, but he still manages to captivate their hearts. His goals always manage to become one with his followers. Or at least they did before he was stripped from the right to act on them.

'Brothers and sisters, take care of the house while I am away.' He declares on the last step of the stairs. The dogs bark and howl with joy, obediently scattering around to find their assigned places for when he is away. Red Velvet places his hand on the gate, gripping the cold iron tightly. Three separate mouths breath hot air towards him. The man turns slightly, gazing into one pair of the three headed hound's eyes.

'Cakeberus, keep everyone in check. I can not take you with me today.'

The beast breathes out with exasperation. It was hoping to join its master in battle.

'Another time.' The gates are dragged back, opening up the way for Velvet's path.

It isn't long before light meets dark in an opening within the woods outside the kingdom. The place is close to either of their houses, although Espresso's is approximately the closest one. However, the former commander sees no trace of his neighbour nearby. That might be for the best since he won't have to think about the safety of someone other than himself when fighting him.

Madeleine arrived here first. His shields are settled to lowly float around him while he keeps his sword nicely cocooned inside its golden sheath. The plan is to make this quick and clean. A victory not easily achievable but necessary for his sanity. He despises it when his sword gets filthy, especially if its with dirt or any other lowly substances. To counter that he usually uses light magic to keep out any material from touching the blade, but that can only help when he isn't fighting with it.