#[[Lost Little Astronaut]] - Gawain

[lost-kingsmen]

@empressofthelibrary

((It's just a sketch, for now, but I've got some colorful plans. >:3c

I'm imagining Gawain still trying to finish his train of thought but while screaming. XD The poor guy almost never gets to talk about his nerdy interests, so getting him started is kind of like opening the floodgates and he can't concentrate on anything else until the first thought is done.))

[sunshine-knight]

“Ouch, sorry! You okay?” ((*slides Gawain into your inbox* for Lost-Kingsmen?))

Bailey stepped back, hand pressed against her forehead -- more from instinct than injury -- and reached out to steady the person she'd run into. The groceries swung from her outstreched hand,

“I'm fine! Are you --” She stopped short, registering the armored figure before her. “Um. Are you... Okay?”

Her mind raced. Gawain is here? Why is Gawain here? Is there trouble? Do I need to suit up too? How do I do that with him right here, thinking I'm a civilian?

She blinked, shaking her head to clear it. You need more information -- play ignorant and bank on the temporal wackiness of this city. “Is there, uh... Are you... Lost? Sir Knight?”

[lost-kingsmen]

The armored figure already seated on the balcony shifted slightly, raising their head and sitting up from a slouched, unguarded position to look up at the newcomer. Orange eyes flared bright when they realized they were looking at one of the party guests, and the figure jumped to their feet in an ungainly hurry quite different from the quiet composure they'd seemed to have earlier in the night.

"He-hello! Hello, sir." Gawain frantically ran through a checklist in his head - shoulders back, spine straight, make sure his cloak wasn't stuck between the couch cushions - as he tried to pretend he hadn't just been caught sleeping on the job, and looked around, as if to see how many people had witnessed his slip up. It didn't seem to relax him that only one person had.

"I was, uh, just resting for a moment. Yeah..." Gawain looked somewhere around the man's chin and hoped that was close enough to pass for eye contact. If his accent started to sound a bit more posh to cover his nerves, Gawain hoped the man wouldn't point it out. "My apologies...sir." Oh, god, he hadn't looked at the man's face long enough. Who even was this? The knight had paid less attention to the guest list than he had his employers reasons for dragging him halfway across the country to attend. "I didn't mean to be in the way. I'll just, uh. I'll just be going, then."

Open rp: Charity event at Gotham University

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The charity event wasn't one Bruce had set up but had decided to go along and sponsor anyways. Was the event boring to him? Yes yes it was but he needed to be here to save face and show that he was in fact fine despite being 'away on vacation' for several weeks.

He sighed softly, glass of sparkling grape juice in hand as another oddly perverse couple left him be. Bruce slips away from the main crowd to find a more quiet spot to enjoy himself, only to find the spot he usually hides away in taken already.

Hm. "Well hello there."

[lost-kingsmen]

"...ow." Gawain said despite feeling no pain from the wooden pole that had just been smashed across his chestplate. He hadn't felt anything more than a dull vibration, and he was trying very hard not to think too deeply on that.

"Care to try that again?" The knight glared at his would-be attacker. "Or can we save a trip to the landfill and skip straight to the talking?"

[lost-kingsmen]

@pipertheseapancake

"Look, I know this may seem rather unbecoming," Said the suit of armor dangling from the fire escape by its ankle. "But rest assured that I have everything perfectly under control." The helmet turned, as if looking around at the alleyway pavement, the fire escape's ladder, the half-filled dumpster, all just out of its reach, and then it slowly turned back to its original position.

"But, ah...if you happen to be in possession of a spare minute or two to lend a hand, it would be greatly appreciated."

[lost-kingsmen]

@sunshine-knight (cont. from [x])

"Ah..." The orange lights within the shadow of the helmet shifted, though it wasn't entirely clear if it was for a grimace or a smile. He knew that his reputation in the hero community was less than stellar - should he play into that? Would it be weird if he didn't? He'd hardly interacted with the public outside of his employer's rich at events and Sigil City residents and his social skills were terribly rusty. He hadn't been trained for this!

"Well, unfortunately, no. I'm not the one who's lost...oh, bollocks. I don't think there's any saving my dignity with this one." The knight seemed to pause for a steadying breath before straightening up and clasping his hands politely in front of him.

"My lady, have you seen a cat run by here?" He asked, defaulting to. "Orange, three legs, little cowboy hat, red bandana? Answers to Ace? I've, um...I've lost him."

[lost-kingsmen]

"All good for take-off, captain!" Gawain replied, flashing cheery thumbs up even if she couldn't see it. It was impossible to see any kind of smile within the void of his helmet, but it was clear in his voice that he was smiling.

"We have some time to kill, you want to go flying?"

[lost-kingsmen]

@local-homeless-dragon

"Now, I know this may look bad..." Said the sword-wielding knight blocking the only exit in the room to the distinctly dragon-shaped creature. "But I swear I didn't know you were in here."

[lost-kingsmen]

@the-starlight-hunter

"Why do you do this? We've talked about this before - I know we have." Gawain drummed his fingers against his chainmail sleeve as Branwen grudgingly gave up the shiny, though distinctly non-edible item she had snatched from this poor visitor to their city. "You can't just eat things that don't belong to you."

[In my defense,] Branwen pled her case with a sulky clatter reminiscent of metal silverware against a dinner countertop and adjusted her perch on the knight's pauldron (she did not fits, but nevertheless, she sits). [It looked delicious.]

"That does not work in your defense." The knight sighed and closed his eyes for a moment (or rather, the glowing lights within the void of his helmet flattened into horizontal lines before resuming their round shape) and then looked at the tourist. "Again, I am terribly sorry."

[lost-kingsmen]

(cont. from [x])

@tokay-thefuckingvigilante

It was a few seconds before the knight made any indication he'd heard the call and started to look around. He was used to hearing voices that others usually did not (Chopper's grumbling, Branwen's pleas for snacks, even Guinevere's occasional commentary) but those who knew his name hardly ever used it, and he hadn't expected anyone else to, either, with Blüdhaven being so far from Sigil City.

And after all, with a hero as widely known as Nightwing patrolling their streets, why would anyone in Blüdhavee have ever heard of a rookie hire from Texas?

When his initial glance around didn't immediately reveal a hidden speaker, a piece of the plume of his helmet broke away and took the shape of a long, draconic-esque creature with sharp, snapping teeth. It calmed down to just a low growl, however, when Gawain raised a hand toward it, and allowed him to nudge it out of the air and onto his shoulder.

"Easy, girl." The knight scratched lightly behind one of Chopper's spines. "No-one's taken a whack at us yet. They may not be hostile." His companion snorted disbelievingly, but stayed quiet as Gawain raised his own voice to call out,

"Aye, that'd be me. Who wants t'know?"

[lost-kingsmen]

As Danny talked, Gawain's eyelights slowly rounded out from their smiling slight tilt to a wide, stunned oval shape. That...was far more of an answer than he'd been expecting, and still contained an annoying number of unfamiliar terms. Damn, and he'd thought he'd gotten all caught up on his current events.

Okay, okay, he knew who the Justice League were, at least. From the context 'Lanterns' probably went with 'Green Lantern' (there were more than one??), and if the heroes were already on the case, then it probably wasn't something that he had to worry about, right? Oh, but Aether's cover story of Gawain being his 'bodyguard' to excuse why he was around so often meant that he wasn't exactly out of the public eye, and he didn't exactly look human anymore and he'd never figured out that invisibility trick Griflet swore he should be able to do so hiding wasn't really an option-

"....that's naff." The knight said at last, sounding more than a little lost. The Reptilitones traded looks and whispered amongst themselves (Crisis? What number is this? Bad time. Not here.) for a moment before the largest one opened her mouth.

"Put it in the box, boss." Branwen advised out loud in the voice of what sounded like a young boy. The words were choppy, and sounded like they were mashed together from two different occasions - but they worked to pull Gawain out of whatever thoughts he was stuck in.

"Right! Right..." The knight gave his head a shake and rolled his shoulders, as if physically shrugging off the thoughts. "Sorry. Guess that's what I get for asking." He chuckled a little. "Ah, your turn for a question, yeah?"

Gawain thought about his next question for several seconds before speaking. If he asked the right one, he might be able to answer a few of them in one go...although, with the way things had been going, it was more likely he'd just end up with more questions. It never hurt to try, though.

"You mentioned a 'GIW' before," The knight said at length. "What - or who - is that?" It probably wasn't good, considering the context was that he'd need to get a warning if they were seen in the area.

[lost-kingsmen]

[[1 and 2, + 11?]]

1. What’s your full ability, to your understanding? (Bonus Q for muns: Does this differ from their actual full ability? Or their potential?)

"Ah, well....quite a lot of it is down to the armor, not me, necessarily." Gawain knocked the knuckles of one hand against the shiny golden metal of his chestplate. "A reliable source of mine tells me it's been enchanted for increased speed, strength, durability, reflexes, and etc...though, nothing so fast as Flash or as strong as Superman, of course!" He laughed a bit, only a tad awkwardly, and raised his hands in an exaggerated shrug.

"The rest is all more 'ghostly' things, but it's not as much as you might expect for one. I've never managed true invisibility, but I can sort of muffle my movements," In demonstration, the knight jumped in place a few times, causing his armor to rattle and clank before suddenly falling eerily silent while still in motion. "And I can sometimes pass through walls but...ah..." A pulse ran through the plume of Gawain's helmet, fraying the edges in a quick but outward show of embarrassment. "It's not really something I can do on command.

"I'm far better at flight." The knight clasped his hands behind his back and lifted himself a few inches off the ground for emphasis, eyelights turned up at the bottom in a clear smile. "I can't say I've clocked my top speed or anything, but I can get around Sigil City faster than any taxi, that's for sure!"

((Oooooh boy, do I have plans for this kid in the future. XD But this post is already pretty long, so I'll save those for later!))

2. How do you consider your power: a curse, a blessing, a responsibility, or just an extension of who you are?

"I...suppose I haven't thought about it too much." Gawain admitted, slowly lowering himself back down to the ground. It had been quite the purposeful mistake; if he spent too long dwelling on any topic of such importance, it very quickly became overwhelming, and he was no longer in a position where he could get so distracted. That and it was scary. So sue him - therapy was expensive and avoidance was free.

"Its....a combination of things, I guess?" Gawain looked down at his hands; at aged leather and straps with stitched seams and faded friction marks instead of skin. "The entire reason I'm...like this...is because of a curse." One that had been cast hundreds of years before he'd been born, and hadn't even been meant to punish his ancestor. "Bound to the suit, I mean. But...if there was no curse, I wouldn't be here right now." He closed his hands with a creak of leather and metal.

"I wouldn't have had the chance to meet my brother, or my friends," Or his uncle even if by 'meet' he really meant 'occasionally glimpsing through the workshop windows or at a distance around the city'. It was something, and he would take it over nothing. "I wouldn't've gotten to watch all the Doctor Who series I've missed, or see all this cool future technology. It'd be ungrateful to not call that a blessing, aye?

"And this hero thing, is-...well, it IS a responsibility for me." Gawain let his arms drop back to his sides. "I've been tasked with protecting Sigil City and the people who live there, whether I'm ready or not, and I'm going to do that."

11. How easy was it to gain control over your power? Did you have to train to keep it from use, or did you have to work at bringing your ability out?

"Some of it was easy, some of it is....still a work in progress." Gawain shifted his weight uncomfortably, looking conveniently away from the question. "But thankfully, I don't often have to be phasing through walls or giant robots like Martian Manhunter, so it isn't often a problem."

[lost-kingsmen]

@littlebadger liked for a starter

"Once again, thank you." Gawain held resolute to the glowing fishing line looped around the head of the spectral horse as a makeshift halter. "I wasn't prepared to have to chase her down - she normally doesn't like to come out when we leave Texas." The horse started to lean back towards the bushes over the fence, and Gawain very pointedly tugged her head away again. "She's very grateful you didn't use the thermos."

"Guinevere would be more grateful if she were able to finish her snack." The horse snorted. "If the gardener did not want his bushes to be eaten, then he should not have planted such delicious ones."

[lost-kingsmen]

Some figures in the magical community have picked up on the fact that Gawain appears to be very careful about his choice of words on the rare occasion that he does speak to other heroes (ex: avoiding saying "thank you" outright, asking "may I know your name?" instead of "may I have your name?", and etc.).

This has led to the assumption that he is some sort of ageless fae being, himself, attempting to blend in with humanity in a new and modern age. Theories on the 'why' range from an attempt to reinvent the typically negative depiction of fae to having unknown and potentially malicious intentions, and most magic users on the hero scene tend to avoid Sigil City as a precaution.

[lost-kingsmen]

Late Knights in the Lizard Lair

———

((Arthur has told Gawain a thousand times that they aren’t calling his shed workshop the ‘Lizard Lair’. I need to put this down now. My phone is starting to lag from all the layers the file has to open.))

[lost-kingsmen]

((Gawain if he were in Danny Phantom except I had no art style reference and did it all from memory alone.))