The Handsome Pageant, a competition in which Jove had signed up accidentally and now was being forced to go through with due to the fact that signups could not be rescinded. There were plenty of people who had shown up for this event, one of whom he had even met briefly in Bosco on a previous travel engagement. Shichiro was a fellow Rune Knight, though to call him a friend would be quite the stretch. He was an acquaintance for sure, but that was all they had become in the brief stint which the worked together to aid in Reiner's succession to the throne.

The handsome pageant was broken up into three categories, and with each category would come a question which the individual was suppose to answer. While the audience was not yet aware of what these questions would be, everyone understood the three categories. These categories were as follows; Beach Attire, Bad Boy, and Sweet Theme. The three seemed fairly straight forward, all things considered, but that was part of what made them so easy to break the norm. After all, anyone who saw the three would plan for the same type of apparel. It was only natural, as the three usually came with a certain mindset, but Jove was a different sort person. He didn't look at common things and arrive at a common sense solution. Sadly, he was much more complicated than that. It wasn't necessarily a good nor a bad thing, and there was no guarantee it would help him in any given situation, but it was how things were.

The beach attire, for example, would usually draw one to think of a swim suit. However, that's not all there was to beaches. People would often go for grilling, for relaxation or to tan. As a businessman himself, he often found himself at the beach to enjoy vacation. A break from friends and family, a step away from monotony, an ability to embrace the finer desires and whatever impulse may pop into his mind. It was something he enjoyed when he had been working in finance, but had yet to find an opportunity for since becoming a Rune Knight.

For bad boy, many would expect the stereotypes. However, to defy generalized cultural norms and embrace whatever pop culture was at the time was the simple solution. Counter culture went well beyond the broad stratum of fashion, and one could achieve the bad boy attire in an entirely unique approach. It was how Jove himself planned to approach this problem, at least.

And finally, there was the Sweet theme. This one was much more difficult to parse. It seemed to imply just that; To make one come across as sweet. This one was the hardest, as there was no real cultural establishment of what made a man sweet. Being an entirely subjective topic, this would be the most difficult of the three for Jove to broach. Still, it was time for the categories to begin, and Jove planned to win it all.

WC: 510/2000

The first of the three categories; Beach Theme.

Joved decided to tackle this in his own way, and it would take time before he saw whether or not his decision would pay off. Stepping into the changing room, Jove stripped down from his normal attire. The judges had seen him in his day-to-day clothes when he had first stepped on stage, and so he wondered if the contrasted appearance would do anything to aid in his grading. He wasn't one to normally care about his physical appearance in such a shallow sense. He certainly didn't think of himself as particularly handsome. Still, while he was always the first to take a shortcut, this was someone else's event. Regardless of if he had signed up intentionally, he did not want to ruin it simply due to his own laziness.

Slipping off the dress pants that he had worn just previously on the stage, as well as the undergarments beneath them, he would change into the shorts he had prepared for the beach theme. Ivory white shorts which reached just beyond his knee. When the light hit them just right, one could see the feintest of reflections upon the fabric. The reflection, not sheen but instead a matte sort of fabric in appearance, gave off the image of islander flowers, adding a second layer to the image.

Taking off his dress shirt, suit jacket, and tie, he would replace them all with a button up white top which would be left open. His body was devoid of scars, but his body was that of someone who experienced constant physical stimulation. Hard abs, obvious pectorals, and arms which were wiry with muscle, were all accentuated by the open button down shirt. On his forehead, rather than his eyes, were a pair of circular sun glasses that had a sky blue tint to them.

His feet were now wearing sandals, a leather strap slipping between his big toe and the other digits of his foot. The sandals were a light brown, such a tone that they'd easily fit into the coarse color of the beach. In his hand, though it was not clothing, was a bottle of beer. It brought the look together, as if screaming that he was a businessman who had come to the beach for a weekend of rest and relaxation after a long week of tight deadlines.

Making his way back to the stage in response to his name being called, he walked the open floor to demonstrate his look. The first judge asked his question, and Jove answered the same way he always would. "I'm just a middle aged office worker who became a rune knight. My look hopes to encapsulate the working man, and to demonstrate the relaxation and peace the beach brings." His voice was deep, his words precise. He held a natural modesty, though to the judges who did not know him, it may have come across as an intentional attempt. Making his way off the stage and back to the changing room, Jove prepared for the second of three looks.

Beach1

Beach2

WC: 1033/2000

Back into the changing room, Jove stripped off the previous rounds clothes and put back on his under garments. This second look was a play on his normal appearance, which was that of a business professional. It would be an alteration of the lowbrow white collar worker, and capture the sense of rebellion against the norm. In order to do that, his outfit would likely remind the judges of the outfit they saw him in before the first round, and that memory would go into adding to the total look for round two.

Placing on a pair of pure white pants which gave reference back to the first round, Jove avoided the desperate move of vying for contrast between his appearances. Instead, he embraced the same color scheme so that he could tie his looks together. The white pants, which fit him well and had just the right looseness of fit, were held to his waist with a black belt with a silver buckle at the front. This distinguished the belt from any normal leather strap, and due to its contrast with the white fabric, it gave off a different vibe all together.

So rather than match the belt to his pants, he instead matched them to his shoes. Black socks, with black dress shoes, the lower half of his body kept the black and white color scheme. His top half added the desperately needed splash of color. His shirt was a vibrant blue, appearing both light and dark depending on how the light hit the cloth. The shirt was not too tight, but as he would walk and turn, the cloth between the buttons would move to give a glimpse at his bare skin from before. Instead of putting it on display, by flashing just a peak here and there, it held a sort of risque factor.

His jacked was white, matching the pants, but it was not buttoned at all. Instead, the jacket hung loosely on his frame. His arms went through the sleeves, but when he walked the jacked tended to catch the air and billow every now and then. The final part of his look was the tie, which was not wrapped around his neck. Instead it was wrapped around his right fist, as if to protect his knuckles from an upcoming violent interaction. If done wrong it would have come across as cheesy, but in this context it brought the look together and gave Jove an intimidating aura. His eyes were sharp, piercing like a hawks. His hair was slicked back, but held together in a messy way that gave truth to the style.

As he made his way to the stage and walked around, showing the appearance, the second question came.

"I guess I'd just remind them that everyone else alive has a story as deep and rich as theirs. Make the effort, however hard, to hear of another's life before focusing so solely on your own. In my experience as a rune knight, the vast majority of conflicts I've run into have been the result of misunderstanding. How much better could we all be if we took the time to comprehend, rather than just listen."

His words came from the heart, and he surprised even himself with how honest he answered. With that, he made his way off the stage in order to prepare for the final round.

Bad Boy Look

WC: 1602/2000

For the final sweet theme, Jove decided to go with kind looking middle aged man. It had a sense of sweetness to it, and once again he would use props to tie the look together.

Putting on a pair of blue jeans, slight rips and tears to give it the frayed white fabric look at the thigh of one leg and the knee of another. Tiny frayed areas were scattered at another few places among the jeans. His shoes in this instance were white leather, his socks incapable of being seen even as he walked due to the loose fitting jeans.

His upper body adorned a beige sweater, which fit loosely around his torso and held tight to his forearms. It was a casual look, and one that he had finished slicking back his hair for. Instead of the rough and ready style his locks had previously been kept at, he now looked refined and calm. Truly, he encapsulated the middle aged businessman on his day off. Making his way out, he walked off the stage and to a table where he sat down, grabbing a cup of coffee and newspaper. Holding the paper in front of his face with one hand, and his other held the drink halfway between the table and his lips. He didn't know if his look encapsulated sweet, but it did by his subjective understanding.

As he sat, making full use of the room to draw out the most of every look he showed off today, the final question came from the final judge. The question caught him off guard.

For a moment he held out hope that his mind would go somewhere. He hoped a face would flash before him. Perhaps a childhood location, or somewhere which he had seen on his travels. Nothing came to mind though. The word "home" held only emptiness, and there was no recollection of anything that he could consider to be a home.

"I assume it's somewhere which I feel safe. Not physically, necessarily. Just... Somewhere that I do not have to notice how out of place I feel." His words were surprisingly morbid for someone who had only just recently talked of understanding and openminded approach. Perhaps he needed to take the time to understand himself? Maybe that's what this answer said. Standing, he would make his way to the changing room one last time. He had done this handsome pageant, yet now all he was left with was a bitter taste in his mouth.

Sweet Look

WC: 2024/2000