The Modern Knight

Settling

The 22nd of February, 2014

Inside the room, Eggsy looked around the room as he approached the bed without a bag at the foot of it, feeling quite out of place.

"Roxanne," A female voice said and a hand appearing in his peripheral vision, "But call me Roxy."

"I'm Eggsy," Eggsy said, taking Roxy's hand for a handshake.

"'Eggy'?"

"No, Eggsy," Eggsy repeated, making sure he pronounced the nickname clearly.

"Eggy?" Charlie asked behind Eggsy, "And where did they dig you up?"

"You know we're not allowed to discuss who proposed us," Roxy chimed in.

"No need to bite his head off. Charlie's only making conversation, right, Charlie?" A blonde bloke with a yellow and red striped tie asked, walking up beside Charlie, "I'm Digby."

Digby held out his hand for Eggsy to shake, which he reluctantly did so.

"Digby," Eggsy confirmed.

"Eggy, this is Rufus," Digby said, pointing to the bloke on the other side of Charlie, "Rufus, Eggy."

Eggsy let go of Digby's hand then shook Rufus' hand.

"So, Eggy, are you Oxford or Cambridge?" Rufus asked.

"Neither," Eggsy said quietly.

"Saint Andrews?" Charlie asked.

"Durham?" Digby asked.

"No, wait, think we may have met. Did you serve me at the McDonald's in Winchester service station?" Rufus asked.

"No," Eggsy said, crossing his arms, "But if I had, I'd have give you an extra helping of secret sauce."

Eggsy had ended his sentence while making the hand motion of someone yanking one off.

"It's definitely Saint Andrews," Charlie said flatly.

This caused Digby and Rufus to snicker.

"Just ignore them," Roxy said as Eggsy turned around to face the bed again.

"Need a pen?" The other gal in the room asked, walking towards Eggsy.

"Cheers," Eggsy said, taking the pen.

"Amelia, isn't it?" Roxy asked, "Amelia, Eggsy."

"Hi, Eggsy," Amelia said, holding out her hand for Eggsy to shake.

Eggsy put Amelia's pen in his left hand before shaking Amelia's hand with his right.

"Don't take any notice of those guys," Amelia said while still grasping Eggsy's hand.

"That's what I told him," Roxy said with a small smirk in her tone.

There was a pause before Roxy spoke up again.

"It's just scare tactics," Roxy said, pointing to the name card and the body bag, "Classic Army technique. No one's gonna die."

Charlie, Digby, and Rufus started to audibly snicker amongst themselves.

"Shame," Eggsy said to Roxy as he started to write his name on the name card which he picked up from his bed.

"You know, I'm looking forward to getting this," Charlie boasted with a chuckle, "It'll give me the chance to get close to that Guinevere."

For some reason, this made Eggsy more cross than Charlie and his buddies judging him.

"Like she'd go for you," Eggsy said without turning around.

He had made sure to say it loud enough for Charlie to hear.

"And how do you figure that, Eggy?" Charlie asked, turning to face Eggsy once again.

Eggsy let out a sigh before turning around again, his arms crossed.

"Because posh, entitled guys like you piss her off," Eggsy said simply.

"And you know that how?" Charlie asked, getting annoyed with Eggsy.

"Because she's told me," Eggsy said with a smirk.

"As if. He's just trying to sound better than he is," One of the blokes who hadn't introduced himself yet said with a huff.

"If you think that, then ask her," Eggsy said with a smirk before facing his bed again, and continuing to write on the name card for the body bag on his bed.

Almost as if it was on cue, Nicolette re-entered the candidate dormitory.

"Once you've finished writing your names and the details of the next of kin on your body bags, please bring them to me," Nicolette said simply, not aware of the conversation that had been going on just before she entered the room.

One by one, the candidates handed Nicolette their body bags. When Charlie had turned his in to Nicolette, he had winked at her. When he turned away, Nicolette rolled her eyes before she started to speak up.

"You are here to 'interview' for a job position gentlemen, not to flirt with one of your handlers," Nicolette said flatly.

Eggsy couldn't help but chuckle at this.

"I tried to warn 'em," Eggsy said quietly, handing Nicolette his body bag.

Nicolette gave a small smirk and rolled her eyes at Eggsy before beginning to speak again.

"The 'job interview' will begin first thing tomorrow. You will be reporting to the front lawn at oh-eight-hundred hours," Nicolette informed the candidates as she turned to walk out the room, "I suggest you all get some rest. You're going to need it," Nicolette said simply before leaving the candidate dormitory.

Nicolette then went to deliver the body bags to Merlin. When she found the Scottish Kingsman, she dropped the body bags on his desk with a huff.

"You're an arse, Merlin," Nicolette said simply.

"And why's that?" Merlin asked with a small chuckle.

"We haven't even started training them and some of the boys are trying to flirt with me," Nicolette said with a huff.

"And? You know as well as I do that you'll set any of those boys straight if they make you cross."

"Still," Nicolette said with a soft pout on her lips, "I'm a Kingsman agent. Not a sexual object."

"Then show them that," Merlin said with a smirk, "Show them what it means to be a Kingsman agent."

"Does that mean I get to be the one to say something if they don't help Amelia?" Nicolette asked.

"If you'd like," Merlin said simply.

Nicolette simply smiled.

The 23rd of February, 2014

It was midnight. Nicolette wasn't lying when she said the "job interview" would begin first thing tomorrow.

The candidates were in bed, or returning to bed, in their dormitory while Merlin and Nicolette watched them through the two-way mirror.

"I still can't believe Kingsman ever cooked up something like this," Nicolette muttered.

"Limits must be tested, Nikki," Merlin said as he watched the candidates.

Nicolette drew a deep breath before taking a look at her watch.

"Midnight," Nicolette said.

"Then let's get this party started," Merlin muttered.

Seconds later, water started to flush the room.

All Nicolette could do was hold her breath while she watched.

All the candidates seemed to wake at the same time, but Eggsy was the first to turn on a light.