#OC:Dale Covington

[quincyhorst]

KOQ HCs: Gareth Barrett #2

Gareth and Friends:

Like I said, because of the low image he had of himself and his struggles at socializing, Gareth spent a huge chunk of his life lonely. But at least things didn't had to be so grim for him.

For example, as a child he soon befriended Clover Fortune, daughter of the family the Barretts served. She was slightly older than him, just by 2-3 years, but that didn't stop on them being very attached to each other. Having a superior similar on age meant an easy way of learning butler skills; but even if Gareth tried very hard to serve Clover she didn't like seeing their relationship as master-servant. In fact, despite not being related by blood nor documents, she considers him deeply as a younger brother.

Aside from the main mansion, Gareth would also have some opportunities to meet new faces; such as in one of the many parties done by the Fortune's and their contacts. Being given the very simple task of serving little pastries to the invitees, that night he stumbled upon a girl who would become his best friend, Sienna Hayley. Being of similar circumstances, the two bonded quickly as both desired to make friends. Since she was a fan of baking, the two soon developed the silly passtime of having tea parties together, even at local school of Oldfolk. The procedure was simple, Gareth would serve the food Sienna would make, giving his friend time to eat by herself. However in many occasions she also offered him to join in too, not wanting to see him just standing there "like a pillar". A bit unusual for a butler, but it at least made his friend happy. Plus, Sienna's muffins are the best!

However, not everyone seemed on par with this idea, as one day both friends were sorrounded by some other Oldfolk students who had no good intentions at all. While Gareth was ready to try and defend Sienna, soon the rascals were scared away by a mysterious jockey that appeared out of nowhere. His name was Dale, and while he didn't care much about the two nor their parties at first, he couldn't stand seeing injustice nearby. With the surprising offer from Sienna to join them in, soon Gareth made yet another friend.

But like shown before, Oldfolk school did not always bring him friends. Although Gareth wasn't a person to make enemies, his cold exterior would give others the wrong first impression. And plus, the closest thing to a rivarly he would had was with the child of the Rotten, Lance. Though it was mostly because the helmet boy often tended to act quite snarky to others, boasting about his ties to royalty, but also specially towards Gareth due to their shared knight naming motif. IN FACT, knowing the tragic fate of the knight Gareth at the hands of Lancelot, this often gave him a sense of superiority, constantly joking about it to the keeper. However, for better or worse, Lance is one of the few people Gareth's not afraid of standing up to.

Despite everything at least, their rivarly never went too far. Specially with both boys knowing a stuff like a fight could damage intensely both the reputation of the Rotten, the Fortunes, and the Barrett all at the same time. Besides, they found a better way to express their rivarly without much harm: Soccer. I'll talk about Gareth's entrance to this sport separately, but let's say that both players are always striving to be better than the other, and often tend to have 1v1s.

However, there's a strange factor that also tones down their shared tensions, and that is... Clover herself. Whenever she's nearby or when she spectates any of OF's soccer matches, Lance's bickering atitude towards Gareth is reduced exponentially. The butler assumes is because she's older and thus more intimidating, but there's times where he notices Lance often staring at her way too much. Just in case, he's keeping an eye on him.