Museum sightseeing [Sentinel]

So hot. Waay too hot for Cassius's taste. The poor young man even had to give up his usual long, dark pants for one of his new shorts. He was happy that he was sort of an athlete, so he didn't need to feel ashamed to be revealing his muscles. Still, he wasn't quite used to this temperature. Sure, it could be like this in UK, but it was so damn rare... Cassius decided to change his shirt for a more loose alternative - a plain white T-shirt plus his beach sandals. With this equipment, he moved out. It was high time he went exploring.

School started not so long ago, which meant that they still weren't really doing anything productive, thus Cassius was left with time on his hands. He swiftly reached the San Malarus Island from his dorm and took refuge in trees' shadows. As he walked down the road, he got reminded of his home. Not that he was already homesick, but the atmosphere and general feel of this place... Something about it. At least he knew where to go if he ever got homesick.

The heat was starting to get really annoying. Cassius was so glad that he changed his attire before going out, but it still wasn't enough. As a result he was starting to seek refuge in an actual building, instead of just shadows. He had no idea how far he'd gotten from the bridge connecting the two islands, but he found himself near an apparent museum of sorts. /"Might as well. Perhaps I could get a souvenir for Krystal?"/ He wondered. It might've been too soon, though. With a little shrug he headed inside.

It was so much better inside. Too bad that Cassius was a little bit sweaty, which made him shiver because of air-conditioning. /"I approve of the AC, but geez..."/ He ran back of his palm across his forehead, to sort of wipe off the sweat. He had no idea where to start. Sure, he got inside of the museum, but what now? He looked around. There weren't that many people, most likely because people were outside, living their lives. He went a bit further in, not sure what he was supposed to do next, looking around again.

Sentinel and Maria were exploring the museum. The young girl wanted to look at some Greek artifacts since that was the civilization her history class began with. Apparently, she may have a project over it, and because it was for an educational purpose Sentinel saw no reason to argue. He agreed to take her to the museum. However, he should have known better that any educational trip with Maria turns into a bit of a field trip of fun and excitement. Granted, she had front row seats to Curoe's next show on the line! There was no way she could fail such a simple project, that promise alone seemed to motivate her beyond what sweets did. Not to mention she had to keep moving in order to stay warm, this place was pretty cold.

Sentinel, however, was struggling to keep up with the hyperactive eleven year old girl. She ran through a museum jumping from exhibit to exhibit. Even though Sentinel could not tire, it was difficult to keep up with her. Reading the panels, and if she could touching the items that were displayed. The android told her multiple times to be careful, and one time she glanced back to see if Sentinel was still keeping up with her. Unfortunately, she ran slam into Cassius. The young girl bounced off his leg and onto her butt. She looked up with slightly upset eyes, "Sowwwy, I didn't mean to run into you." Sentinel came up and helped Maria up, looking at the man. "I'm sorry if she hurt you, sometimes she forgets herself." He looked down at Maria, "Did you apologize?" The young girl nodded and looked at person she had run into, waiting for the man to accept the apology.

Cassius was wondering with which exhibit he could start, when he felt something bump into his side. It startled him a little bit, but swiftly recovered. When he turned to face the source of the bump, he saw a young man helping up a little girl. It was apparent, that the one who caused this wasn't a something, but instead a someone. The young man asked if she apologised. The girl nodded in response, looking at Cassius. "Indeed she did. And you don't have worry about anything, little lady. Nothing happened." He bowed a little, in their direction. Cassius' English side showed off once again.

Suddenly, Cassius felt a little bit awkward. He wasn't the best in socializing, so he had no idea how he should break the ice. Still, he had try. At the very least, they will get a good laugh out of it. "I would actually like to ask. Which exhibit would you recommend me to have a look at first?" That seemed legit enough, for Cassius.

"Everything's alright Senty! Nothing bad happened!" Maria would say to her guardian once Cassius let her off the hook. Her guardian sighed a little bit at this, before nodding in agreement. "I suppose you're right, but that doesn't mean nothing will happen the next time. You have to be careful and watch where you're going." Sentinel would tell the young girl, who nodded a bit signaling that she understood and would try to do better. Sentinel looked up when the young man asked which exhibit he should look at first. Sentinel paused for a moment as if in thought, but he was more confused about why the boy was asking him. Did he look like a staff member of some sort? Probably not, but regardless he should be kind and answer the boy's question. "It depends on what era or civilization you are interested in. We just got done exploring the Greek area since Maria has a project over that subject."

A slight realization struck him, "Ah pardon my bad manners, my name is Alphonse Sentinel, and this is Maria Farren." He would offer Cassius a slight bow as he introduced himself, and Maria would wave at him. "Oh! You can come with us as I review what I've learned today! There are a lot of cool Greek sculptures and stuff!" She would say excitedly with a wide smile on her face. It was evident that she wanted him to say yes, she always liked meeting new people, and it would give her a chance to impress Sentinel enough to take her back to the local circus. The android would give a slight nod, they were in a public place therefore Maria was fairly safe, not to mention Sentinel was there to protect her. He saw no harm in it.

The girl sure was energetic. However, she well understood her brother's instructions. Wait, brother's instructions? Cassius had no idea what kind of relationship was between those two. But one thing he could say almost for sure - there's no way they were a father and daughter. This was none of his business, though. As he pushed these thoughts away, his question got somewhat answered. The man had a point in saying that it depended on Cassius' preferences to determine his destination. Then swiftly afterwards he got to know their reason for being in the museum and names.

Cassius also received an invitation from the girl, who he now knew was named Maria. Apparently she wanted him to tag along with her and Alphonse. Cassius had pretty much nothing better to do at the given moment, so he didn't mind going with them. With his usual calmness in both voice and face he would reply: "Sure, I'll join you. You can lead the way and I shall listen to you, Maria." He sounded a bit too serious, but he couldn't really help it. Cassius lightly adjusted his glasses, ready for their little adventure in the Museum to begin.

Maria smiled and would thank Cassius before turning around and leading him to the Greek part of the museum. Sentinel would hang back and nod politely toward Cassius, "Thank you for entertaining Maria. She and I appreciate, it helps her retain the knowledge that she has gathered. For her, she simply enjoys meeting new people. I must warn you she may become more than a little energetic, and will bounce around quite a lot. So don't be surprised if she bumps into you again." The android would say as they walked to the Greek part of the museum. The young girl would lead them past various sculptures, vases, armor, weapons, and busts.

The eleven year old would gesture to the exhibits around her with a bright smile on her face. "What do you wanna learn about first Cassius? I read up on all the information on these exhibits. So what do you wanna learn about first! I'd be happy to answer any questions!" She would with  a face of anticipation waiting to hear her new friend's answer. Sentinel would lean over a bit and whisper, "She's a guide in training and she doesn't even know it yet." He would chuckle slightly at his own words, cracking a smile as he looked back at the excited Maria.

((Sorry for the short post, so tired....))

The girl would thank Cassius and start walking towards the Greek exhibit. Cass was ready to follow her, but Alphonse's words made him slow down in order to listen. According to him, Maria was quite energetic kid who likes to meet new people. Even though Cassius himself wasn't quite the people person, he didn't mind Maria's bubbly nature. Cass would nod to Alphonse in response and continue following the little lady.

As they passed various Greek-related sculptures and such, Maria questioned Cass as to what he wanted to know about first. Before he answered, he heard Alphonse whisper to him. Cass couldn't help but to chuckle with him as he responded in equally low voice: "With such enthusiasm she could pass for one even at this very moment." Cass could easily see Maria happily leading kids on a school trip around the museum. With this amusing thought in mind, Cassius would reply to Maria's earlier question: "I'd like to start from the beginning, ma'am. The order afterwards will be up to you. If that's alright with you, of course." He would then point at a series of ceramics in glass display cases a bit behind them, near the entrance to the Greek exhibit.

Cassius' comment made Sentinel laugh a bit louder than before, and this caused Maria to turn around and eye the android, "Senty? What's so funny?" She would ask placing her hands on her hips, and the android would wave it off a bit, before responding, "Nothing Maria, you're doing great. Keep up the good work." He would say offering her a thumbs up, Maria would look at the android not fully believing what he said before eventually giving in and returning to her "tour". She would lead Cassius and Sentinel to a map, and point to the region marked "Greece".

"Greece began as a group of city states that at first were quite separated and distant, but eventually came together when their existence or civilization was threatened. Furthermore, Greece put an end to the Dark Ages as they re-discovered literacy and adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and they also revitalized an interest in art through their clay works and unique pottery." Maria would continue to give details about the early founding of Greek city states and their importance while Sentinel nudged Cassius.

"I think she could be a better teacher than a tour guide. She learns very quickly, as you might imagine, and she is eager to share knowledge with others. What do you think about that?" The android would ask curious as to what Cassius might think about that idea. Maria thought they were paying attention, but perhaps she was a bit too caught up in teaching them everything she knew about Greece to notice the conversation they were having between each other.

Cassius felt kinda bad when Maria heard Alphonse laugh a bit too loud. He didn't want to make her angry, by any means. However, she seemed to be too kindhearted to get mad about such a petty thing and brushed it off when Alphonse gave her a thumbs up. A wave of relief washed over Cass. Maria then started to explain general history of Greece and Greek civilisation. He vaguely recalled something like what she was saying from his history lessons back in England. He didn't want to say that his school was bad, but Maria's explanation was far more interesting.

That's when Alphonse nudged the young man. Alphonse was asking about Maria being a teacher. What a coincidence. Cass was pretty much having very similar thoughts. "I very much agree with you. In addition, I was actually thinking about the same thing. I believe you might be a psychic, Alphonse." He would reply to him with a nod, while trying his best to listen to both Maria and Alphonse.

Sentinel shook his head when Cassius mentioned he was a psychic, "I don't believe in such things to be honest. I find it to be fake or planned out, with technology things like levitation really aren't that impressive. Thus I don't find magicians very entertaining, Maria on the other hand...she loves them. So don't tell her I told you that, I want her to have as much fun as possible while she still has the freedom to do so." The android would say before turning his attention back to Maria's hyperactive and educational tour. At the moment she was discussing how the first sculpture the Greeks made was to originally honor the gods, granted they did not have the understanding of the human form that their later artists would soon discover. She even mentioned that their capturing of human form was displayed in human figures in black painting found on Greek pottery.

Sentinel glanced over to Cassius, "You got an interest in art or anything like that? Or are you more versed in some other subject of learning?" It was an honest question the android was a bit curious to see if Cassius was a history nut, which could be helpful if Maria ever needed a tutor, and he was unable to aid her. The other reason would be that he was working on a project with a rather tight deadline, granted he liked to be able to help Maria whenever she needed it. Though if he couldn't be then having a back up plan would be a good idea. However, if he could help it he would rather not rely on a back up plan to work one-hundred percent of the time.

According to Alphonse's response, he didn't seem to be fond of magic in general. Not that Cassius believed in existence of magic, but Alphonse seemed to almost hate it. It was somewhat surprising. However, the girl was apparently a polar opposite. What took Cass by even a more of a surprise when he was asked to keep all this as a sort of a secret from the young girl. That's when Alphonse went back to paying attention to Maria. /"Good idea."/ Cass thought as he nodded and turned to see the girl. She was talking about Greek sculptures, gods and a bit later on some pottery. That's when Alphonse shifted his attention back to Cass with a question.

He was asked if he was interested in art. The young Englishman would be quite the liar if he said 'no'. Even though he still haven't had the chance to play the piano. His heart ached at the thought of that. He would face Alphonse and respond: "Indeed, I am interested in art. Mostly music, mainly piano. I do enjoy running aswell, though." Cass had sort of a balance, when he thought about it. Reminded him of 'kalokagatia'. A beautiful person is pretty on both inside and outside,  basically. Originated in Ancient Greece. What a coincidence. However, Cass felt like asking Alphonse the same question in return. "What about you, Alphonse? How's your relationship with art?"