erbe | Eins

The Grail should have kept you up with the times. If it hasn't, this is a table. Not an ottoman. Please treat it as such.

[She smiles brightly despite the dark circles beginning to form under her eyes from lack of sleep. The expression is clearly a mask for the anger boiling under her skin.]

[He's totally going to hang out invisible and just put his feet up on all the tables from now on. See how she likes that. He stands up, clearly peeved at her being so childish.]

Tch. I get summoned from across the void to fight your enemies and I'm expected to have table manners. [But you know what? He picks up his chair and sits down. This time all four legs on the floor.] Besides, I'm not that ancient.

[Look, even if she is forced to be a frugal lady some of the shit in this huge house is expensive, and replacing it would be a huge inconvenience wallet-wise, so no feet on the table!

Her water comes to a boil. Rin lets out a small sigh, and stands from the chair to tend to it. Carefully she removes the kettle from the heat. She then pours the hot water into a cup that has a cheap teabag in it and its string dangling over the rim. No expensive loose-leaf here with a mesh strainer or anything. However Greed might notice that the delicate porcelain she uses as a teacup might be expensive even if the tea isn't.]

You're a servant, not a dog. I shouldn't have to expect to clean up after your mess.

[Now that the fake smile has disappeared her tiredness shows more plainly on her face even if she's trying to keep a neutral countenance.]

[Ugh, there's that word again. Servant. He really hates that part of the deal, when it comes right down to it. He was the one who was going to be doing all the hard work here and this contest was more about him than it was her. She was only here to provide an anchor. Mages had a funny way of seeing things.

Still, it wasn't forever... But what a pain. He takes his cup when she returns, but that's when he notices that without her smile, she looks exhausted.]

... yeesh, just how long did you spend setting up this whole thing?

Some time. I had to decipher an heirloom from my father that had a few things inside — including the catalyst which I used to summon you. Then I had to clear the study to make room for the summoning circle in the most ideal room in the house in regards to ley-lines. After that I had to prepare the sigil making sure each curve and rune was perfect. Practice my lines, and—

[Her hand lifts to politely cover a large yawn she tries holding back.]

All this after a long day at school. My mana is at its peak around 2am, so...

[Huh, that does sound like a long day. No wonder she was exhausted. Somewhere in the subcockles of his heart he feels a twinge of sympathy for her, but it's faint. And overshadowed by the realization she is going to school. He nearly chokes on his tea.]

The hell? You're going to fight in a war and you bothered to go to school?

Yes, of course. I probably won't be going in today, but I do plan to go back after I rest. I can't let anything slip that something is different.

[She's confident this is how things should be. Rin swirls the tea in her cup just a little before bringing it to her lips. Gently she breathes some air on the surface to cool it before sipping.]

[That was right. Stealth was pretty important. She was the weak link in the chain, which meant he really needed to keep her in good shape. Much as he wanted the attention, this wasn't a good move in the long run.

So he finished his tea and stood, leaning on the table.]

Then I think it's time for you to be hitting the hay. I can't have my Master dozing off in the middle of a battle, can I?

Oh yeah, and what happened to pumping me up with coffee?

[Though she can't protest too much. She's bleary eyed with heavy lids. She'll probably sleep until midday tomorrow. Rin sips down most of her tea so she can head to bed after it.]

That was before I knew you summoned me while being basically half-dead. [Which might explain why he's in the Prince's body instead of his own...] Frankly I'm lucky you didn't summon me missing an arm and leg.

No, you're lucky I haven't commanded you to sew your mouth shut. I'll see you in the morning.

[With that fake smile plastered on her lips again Rin stands, and takes her tea to the sink. She briefly rinses it out so the liquid won't stain the delicate porcelain, and then begins to walk out of the kitchen.]

[Cheeky. She pulled a stunt like that on him, he's not convince he would be willing to watch her back. No Grail was worth that!

Still, he watches her leave and does not follow. Instead, once she's gone, he takes up his own teacup and likewise, rinses it out and sets it next to hers. He was the personification of greed, which came with a healthy respect for property. He could take care of hers as much as he would his own. For now anyway.

After that, he faded into invisibility. She wouldn't get much privacy having a Servant around, but at least for now she'd get to be alone while he decided to go inspect the grounds. After all, guard duty was precisely the reason he'd been reborn the first time.]

[He'll find his rounds incredibly boring since, as she had said, the seventh servant hasn't been summoned yet. Everyone seems to be holding off for that. He might notice many traces of magic around the house, but every one of them is incredibly faint. Traps for intruders — and those are just the ones he can sense.

Aside from that the Tohsaka home is quite spacious — especially for a home near a city in Japan. The yard is a manageable size, but the building itself has many different rooms, and looks like it used to house a family of four with a guest bedroom. Each hall has plenty of room for foot traffic, the kitchen and formal dining spaces are separate, and so on. Though Rin may be frugal with her food it seems like the family's wealth lies in things handed down for generations. There are many old books on magic, expensive looking furniture, and everything else you'd expect from a wealthy family.

He'll have plenty of time to take it all in. Rin doesn't stir until early afternoon. Groggily she pulls herself out of bed, brushes her hair, and then shuffles downstairs for breakfast in her pajamas and slippers.]

[Well. That made for a boring night. After about an hour of wandering aimlessly about the home, he actually picks on of the empty bedrooms... and decides to just lie there. But since he can't actually sleep, he eventually finds the room with a television and turns that on. He was in for one hell of a marathon of pointless television.

The next morning was different, because it wasn't even morning anymore.

There was a story of a tired mage who, after wishing hard to summon a Saber, was gifted with a companion pure of heart and diligent to a fault. When at long last she woke from her labors of summoning, she was greeted to a servant not only prompt and on point, but willing to be humble enough to cook for their new master, in spite of having once lived a life or prestige.

This was not that story. Instead, this story involved a tired mage who may have got her Saber, but this servant was not diligent or humble. He was in the kitchen, he had a lunch that she was probably welcome to have, but it wasn't one that he had made. Instead, it came inside a flat cardboard box and probably had enough grease to to slide Mount Fuji to the other side of the country. It was a pepperoni pizza that Greed had somehow managed to order and have delivered and he was already eating it on the paper plates the delivery boy had provided.

Mercifully, his feet were on the ground.]

Hey boss! Dig in. Hope ya don't mind that I used your card. Pizza boy didn't seem to notice I wasn't you.

You did what?

[Her peaceful just-had-a-great-sleep face immediately twists into something twisted and angry. Her eyes grow wide with fury as her hands clench into tight fists. How — how dare he. How dare he use her things without permission. Overstep his boundaries as a servant. Does he even know the meager budget she puts herself on and for what reason? Of course he doesn't. Thinking about it makes her blood boil over.]

[He shrugs, clearly unperturbed by her anger.]

Yeah, you had nothing but junk around here. Figured my star mage was going to need some real food in her if we're going to win this war.

[And well, if he eats some of the food too, what's the harm? No way a girl like her is gonna eat a whole extra large pizza with extra cheese all by herself. That's just nuts.]

[When she speaks it's through grit teeth.] Do you have any idea how much that cost, and if I could even afford it?

[There's plenty of food in the house, but it's all cheap. Instant meals and the like. And here he is with a huge pizza — and in Japan pizza is not cheap. Her feet, donned in slippers, take her as fast as they can to the table, and she SLAMS her hand down on it as hard as she can.]

Did you even think at all?!

[Some empathy would be really good right here, but Greed never had much to spare. He eyes her dully, recalling only that he technically should be on good behavior because the fist pounded in front of him has three command seals on it.]

Honestly? Not really. Nice digs like this? I figured it wasn't a problem. But hey, lesson learned. Besides, once we have the Grail, money will be the last of our problems.

[Is he going to have to live on a budget, though? He's not sure he can do that. If Rin is broke, he might just have to figure out some other way to make some cash. He's not going to go fighting other Heroic Spirits waltzing around like some hobo.]

[Fuck it.

FUCK IT. Rin holds up her hand and begins an incantation. Her expression is absolutely furious, and mana begins flowing about her. After the incantation is finished she hollers at the top of her lungs:]

You will obey me, and not do anything without my permission!

[TAKE THAT YOU BUM ASS FUCKING MOOCHER]

[Holy shit, can she do that? Can she actually do that? His strange connection to the Grail doesn't provide an immediate answer so he's actually just a slight bit worried that maybe she actually worked.]

Are you fucking kidding me!? I'm a servant, not a slave!

[Damn... he even feels compelled to follow her, too. Ugh, is that what Dolcetto had to put up with all the time?]

You're the one who went through my things and stole my card to use it without my permission! How the hell else am I supposed to prevent you from doing it again?

[It's not like she actually wants to treat him as a slave, or else that command would have been the first words out of her mouth.]

Maybe actually telling me first!? [He's pissed. Like, beyond pisses. If there's one thing he's not short on, it's his own sense of vanity. And that order just completely destroyed it. But he only has to follow orders if she says them, right? So if he can keep her from talking... A mage could be a powerful ally even without a tongue.

He stands up and advances towards her. His index finger and thumb discretely go black, taking a razor's edge to them.]

Take it back.

[It's not like the command could even make him do something he doesn't want to do. He may feel inclined to do what she says, but if it's something he doesn't want to do, or if he wants to do something against what she has previously said, he'll just need to muster a bit more will power to do it. The order was too vague to be absolute, or even halfway effective. Mostly just a waste of mana.

But she doesn't know that, or if she does she's too fired up to care. Rin's fingers curl and her nails scratch the table surface.]

No.

[It's unfortunate that Greed has not yet learned that, given he's had no additional order to disobey. Which means he sees himself as having no option. He's going to have to just rip out her tongue and call it even.]

Alright, then I'll have to make sure it's your last order!

[And like that, his right hand turns into a complete claw and he dashes towards her, ready to take her by the collar. He's fast, but not so fast as to not give her time to react.]

[Despite being in her pajamas Rin is not slow either. The moment his hand turns black she's in a defensive stance, and when he lunges at her she dodges. With athletic speed she hits away his hand — her own glowing with mana flowing through it. She then steps in close to him, and deals an open palmed blow to his stomach that's only meant to shove him back to put space between them.]

What the hell are you doing!?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject