KENOS INBOX

[erbe]

COMMUNION

Reaching out to Rin is like stepping into a moonlit parlor. Everything is quiet, muted, and neatly tucked away. Almost like a "lobby," of sorts to keep visitors away from the rest of what goes on in her head... and her heart. This space is cool, and placid. Much like the surface of a lake in winter as it reflects the pale glow of the celestial bodies hanging above it in the sky.

A reflection of serenity rather the true thing. A mask of elegance to hide anything that may be unsightly. Anything that may betray her.

✧ Specifics

✦ Unable to block out: Harbinger
✦ Compatible with: Iconoclast | Advocate
✦ Discord Accrual: Exalt

(CODE)

Comments

[erbe]

That's right. My Archer was eliminated not long before I found myself crawling out of the soil and roots of that tree. Though I suppose at that point the war had gotten out of hand.

[With the dishes clean (but not put away...) Rin returns to poke at Mordred's side to startle her away from Rin's stuff.]

Trying to get at something, Sir?

[uproared]

[ With a barely-suppressed squeak: ] Hey, knock it off! What are you, a kid?

[ She growls, not helping the dog comparison, but she's placated by the "Sir" enough to back away a few steps. ]

... I just wanted to know what your wish was. You're pretty weird for a mage, so I thought it might be less boring than the usual 'power' or 'prosperity' crap.

[erbe]

Oh, that's all? I didn't really have one. I just wanted to win.

[Tohsaka knows that's "weird" but it's the truth.]

[uproared]

[ In disbelief, ] So, what, you just wanted it for a trophy? "Winner winner chicken dinner, here's your fancy wine cup"?

[ And then the laughter starts. ]

I get it now. You're not a weirdo — you're completely insane!

[erbe]

[Mordred laughs, and Tohsaka can't bring herself to be angry. After all, her Archer was surprised as well. In fact the mocking almost feels like nostalgia...]

Mm, well... it just means my goals wouldn't conflict with that of my Servant's, right? Not that it really matters here anyway.

[uproared]

Assuming they believed you. That's the sort of thing someone says when they're planning on hittin' betray at the last minute.

[ Her laughter dies down, though she's still grinning. ]

And what about your Servant, huh? There're some real freaks out there, with even freakier wishes. Not your responsibility?

[erbe]

I didn't have a catalyst for him, so even though I couldn't guarantee myself a Saber I believe we were compatible enough.

[And really... the dreams, the memories, of him hit home a little too hard. Her childhood ideals which were whittled away by her upbringing reflected in the cruelest mirror she could imagine. Could she have ended up like him if not for the cards falling as they had?

Tohsaka doesn't like to think about that, and instead scolds Certain People to ease her anxieties about it.]

Do you have a wish to share?

[uproared]

I guess. But man, getting stuck with an Archer, of all things? They're barely one step above an Assassin when it comes to bein' cowardly bitches.

[ Lol. If only you knew. ]

My wish only affects me, and Britain. You don't need to concern yourself with it.

[erbe]

[Cowardly? Aren't they still one of the knight classes? Though maybe she shouldn't speak up to defend Heroic Archers. She has only known the one, and he had been an especially weird case. Starting, but not ending, at the way he seemed to prefer his dual blades over his bow.]

Less like concern and more like curiosity.

[Tohsaka drops herself on the bed. It's getting late, and her medicine was the last thing to do before washing up and turning in to write in her diary.]

[uproared]

[ And she's basing her entire impression off Tristan, so they're even. ]

You mages sure like to pry. First my True Name, and now this?

[ Says Mordred, who has been prying into Rin's business since she got here. ]

Whatever. My wish is to— [ She sees Rin drop onto the bed, and lets out a sulky huff. ] Hey! You know I'm still here, right?

[erbe]

What's the problem? Can a chivalrous knight like yourself not contain their urges when they see a woman splayed out upon her own bed? It's fine, I'm still listening.

[Even so a mischievous grin cuts across her lips as she looks up at Mordred with those turquoise-blue eyes.]

[uproared]

[ Surprisingly, Mordred just rolls her own. ]

Don't make me laugh. I like troublesome women, but you're far beyond that. I wouldn't touch you even if you begged.

[erbe]

[Yeah, that's exactly how it should be. No one has really denied her so quickly and so flatly, but that's how it should be. Especially with a person who knows how mages are, and what they can be like. Rin's grin fades into a more neutral smile, and she pulls herself up to simply sit on the mattress instead of splaying herself across it.

Were it anyone else who had shown interest in her before maybe she would have pressed her luck, but Mordred is too familiar with "her kind" to be able to get away with that successfully. Rin accepts this as it is.]

Good. There are more important things to worry about in a place like this. Is there anything else you need from me before I turn in, Sir Mordred?

[This time the title is less of a tease and more of a deliberate way to distance her from the wild woman taking up space on her bed. They are not peers, they are not friends, and they are barely comrades. She appreciates the reminder.

Will Mordred return to the subject of her wish, or be thankful for the easy dodge?]

[uproared]

[ That was... abrupt. She might even feel bad if she was a marginally better person. The Sir still manages to get a slight blush out of her where the flirtiness didn't, but she takes the chance to put some more physical distance between them as well. ]

Nah. [ There are still plenty of questions left unanswered, but now isn't the time. ] I'll see ya around, Red.

[ And she's gone as quick as she came, dematerializing to pass through the wall again; all traces of her mana receding into the distance. ]

[erbe]

[Tohsaka will take roughly twenty minutes to wallow over the end of that encounter. Over how Mordred was complaining yet still didn't seem to want to seek her out as a Master (a failure on Rin's part, Tohsaka will assume), over how she didn't even press for her name, and the realization hits her just how hard it's going to be to survive in this place.

And how, out of all the people from her home, she's the only one. Weren't there people who deserved it more? Sakura could reinvent herself here — her soul reborn without her old body littered with worms. Or Emiya... he could have fit in so well with the Meridians and not ever have to doubt himself. He wouldn't be alone, because there'd be people with the same ideal supporting him.

She spirals. For a good twenty minutes the vibes are absolutely atrocious in that dorm. But after that? She gets back to it. Because what else is there to do but survive? If she just rolled over and let herself be snuffed out it would be even more of an insult to the people who didn't get to make it this far.]