A figment of the imagination

[cray]

[It had been a couple of days now since Cray's little incident with the tree, he had shut himself away from everybody for a while but he was out again today, and it seemed his somewhat odd behavior hadn't stopped.

Today, he could be seen running around the castle grounds holding a rather heavy barrel above his head. Normally, it would take two people to lift the thing, but Cray was a big fellow, towering over most people at 6'4 and with a broad physique to go with it. Occasionally he could be heard muttering the words "Pain is only in the head."

Someone with a military trained eye might recognize what he was doing, it was a form of training and punishment used often in the military. One of the last things Elenor Silverberg had said to him was "I'm going to have to train you all over again from scratch", and since she wasn't here, he had decided to do it alone. Lumping in all military training while he was at it.]

Comments

[belfar_agent]

[ Here comes the fun police. ]

Excuse me! You can get hernias lifting heavy objects by yourself! Don't you know that?!

[cray]

[He slows his pace a bit when he hears a voice, but he doesn't stop nor lower the barrel.]

"I'm fine. Pain is only in the head."

[belfar_agent]

Who told you that lie? Hernias are real, and Budehuc's medical staff is non-existent as far as I know. You know what people do to wounded soldiers when they can no longer go on? When they're in so much pain that they just want the suffering to end?

[cray]

"I can take care of my own wounds. If I could attach a fake arm to my every nerve ending, I can fix a hernia."

[belfar_agent]

Get real! As if you can just cut yourself open and perform surgery like it's nothing, who do you think you are?!

[cray]

"I'm Cray, and I'm telling the truth."

[He put the barrel down then pulled up his left sleeve revealing his full left arm, metal from just below the elbow down, there was a lot of scar tissue where metal met flesh, but the connection was pretty clean. And the arm, oddly enough, behaved like a real arm.]

[belfar_agent]

[ She's trying hard not to look impressed by this invention, being an engineer herself! ]

Wh-- that-- that's got nothing to do with hernias!! There are plenty of survival stories of people cutting off their limbs, but nobody can cut themselves open and fix their internal organs!! Do you have some kind of superiority complex?!

[cray]

[He put his sleeve back and picked the barrel up again.]

"No. But if I had to do it, I'd do it. Like I did with my arm."

[belfar_agent]

Grr!! Y-You can't just do it!! How can you be so-- aughh!

[cray]

[No point in telling this one he can't 'just do something'! A lot of his greatest achievements were things he 'just did' when he needed to. Such as building a merchant empire that spanned two countries in less than five years.]

"If I have to I can..."

[duke_of_hazard]

[ Whistles to himself, slightly impressed by the man's strength. ]

Slow down there, Kong. You look like you're ready to go to war!

[cray]

[He just keeps going.]

"I'm always ready to go to war. But it doesn't hurt to train..."

[duke_of_hazard]

Well, can't argue with that.

Any reason why you're turning up the intensity today? I mean, I've seen you around before.

[cray]

"I fucked up in the past, my mentor said to me she'd have to train me from scratch. Well she's not here so I'm doing it for her."

[duke_of_hazard]

But why now? Last time I saw you was in a beer drinking contest. Kinda negating all the this supposed training, you know?

Not that I'm judging, pal. Drinking and fighting are some of my not-guilty pleasures!

[cray]

"I can still drink beer and train or fight, I just need to not do them at the same time. But you know sometimes a drunken brawl is just what the doctor ordered."

[duke_of_hazard]

Hah! Sounds like we go to the same doctor.

[cray]

[He cracked a smile at that.]

"Heh, excellent."

[novilunium]

Are you training for a war that none of us know about?

[cray]

[He just kept running.]

"This world is always at war, somewhere, doesn't hurt to be prepared."

[novilunium]

Perhaps you should go to your somewhere, then, and stop being such a noisy nuisance here.

[ She says it to his retreating back, obviously grouchy at having her sleep interrupted. ]

[cray]

[Doesn't stop. just keeps going.]

"Well excuusseeeee me, princess!"

[innkeeper_erin]

*Watching Cray silently from afar as she's doing laundry. The barrel looks very heavy even for a man like Cray! She hopes no harm come to him, but she's ready to help if something bad happens*

[cray]

[He seemed pretty unstoppable, going a good few laps of the castle before beginning to tire, he slowed down for a bit before finally stopping and putting the barrel down, panting heavily.]

[innkeeper_erin]

*calling out to him while squeezing water out of a pair pants* Sir Cray, are you fine?

[cray]

[He looked over his shoulder when he heard his name called.]

I'm fine... Just tired.

[innkeeper_erin]

Your training is... pretty extreme. Are you preparing for something important?

[cray]

[He shook his head.]

No. But it doesn't hurt to be prepared anyway, right?

[charming_chiketsu]

What an imposing display.

Your reputation as a feared man was well earned I see.

[cray]

Imposing huh? I'm not trying to be scary. Just keep in shape.

[charming_chiketsu]

You're a naturally intimidating fellow then I suppose. Then again, anyone carrying a giant barrel like that would turn a head or two.

[cray]

[Naturally intimidating huh? Maybe he was, most people didn't know he was really a big softie at heart though.]

I just needed something heavy to practice with...