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

[gravings]

... Yes.

[ Gray doesn't hesitate to be honest in that regard, her response faint like a whisper. She knows that Mordred was already dead, and that Servants are more like snapshots than living people. She knows that. But just like Add, Mordred still managed to be important to her.

And Rin and Mordred cared about each other too. Gray holds herself together, remembering that. ]

There were some things only Mordred could understand. Things I never thought anyone else could.

[erbe]

[There is no need to ask what those "things" are. Knowing who Mordred was, and having glimpsed some of Gray's struggle, Rin knew enough to piece it together. It's something that Tohsaka herself could never really understand. At least not in the way that people with similar experiences could understand each other. Not only that, but Rin considered herself relatively insensitive to the plights of others by default. Never could she make a connection so profound.]

At least you had her then, for a time. To know that even across space and time that you are not alone. As a mage to an apprentice of a mage: I am always open for questions.

[What goes unspoken is: I take this as a duty of obligation knowing I am trying to make sure that the world who would teach you in my stead does not return.]

[gravings]

[ It's a surprisingly optimistic way of looking at things, and Gray can't deny that Rin is right. It was a lucky thing for her to have known Mordred at all. Maybe she'll feel more lucky once the shock of loss isn't so close. ]

... Thank you.

[ Even if Rin is doing her best to sound clinically mage-like, Gray can recognize that Rin is trying to make her feel better. ]

I'm fortunate to have you too... even if it's only for a time.

[erbe]

[A-ah. The connection between them warms a little, much to Rin's dissatisfaction.]

Nonsense. I have not given you any service that another could not have done for you in my place.

[gravings]

Even so.

[ She dismisses the notion of service easily. But speaking of service... ]

I've also been meaning to thank you for helping D with that brush.

[erbe]

[There is a bit of something that seems like "grumbling" coming from her end. Like Words on a page scribbled over again and again until it's just a mess of scratches and ink.]

Technically he paid for a commission just like any other customer did.

[Kind of.]

[gravings]

...

[ Gray should've seen that coming. She sits in Rin's mental scribbles for a moment, the technically. A muted bubble of amusement floats back. ]

It's okay to say "you're welcome."

[erbe]

No — not when you're being thanked for an act that does not require a "thank you". You do not thank a retailer for selling you an item. You simply pay the money for it and return home. Do you know he even had the gall to invite me to your house? As if he has any jurisdiction.

[Unspoken: "as if I'd be welcome there," because she knows she wouldn't be. Tohsaka is the enemy now, and no matter how much an Advocate wants to play nice until the bitter end, the rest of the house isn't all like that. Rin and gray are on opposite sides for the same world. Technically they should cut the cord between them as soon as possible.

If only it were that easy...]

[gravings]

[ Mages can be very silly. As impassioned as Rin's rebuttal is, much of it blows past Gray like so much wind. Especially because Gray really is the type of person to thank a retailer for selling her something — though more specifically, she would be thanking them for being patient with her, for performing a service for her, even should money be the initial motive. Call her a country mouse; the villagers she grew up with were so closely knit that one couldn't take the efforts of the next for granted.

More importantly, Gray is surprised that D extended an invitation to the house. She doesn't mind at all, but... maybe he likes Rin more expected? ]

I don't think it's galling. You've already been here.

[ Had some food. Used the shower, even. Shockingly, Gray the Advocate is agreeing with D the Advocate. ]

Um, did he say why he wanted you over?

[erbe]

[Advocates are only allowed to be bullied. They are not allowed to gang up on her like this!]

To speak with you. I had met with him prior to our run-in at the gardens. Why else would he invite me to your place, if not to see you?

[She still Doesn't Get It, but...]

Are you both an item, Gray?

[gravings]

Huh?!

[ Immediate shock like a bop across the head. And a little bit of panic -- that maybe Rin has gotten that impression because Gray did indeed kiss D in service of bingo (and science). She hopes to high heaven that that wasn't caught entirely out of context by some bush-lurking paparazzo. It would make life invariably more awkward given that they live under the same roof. ]

N-No. Not at all. Why would you think that?

[ She may or may not think that D and Gen have something going on, actually, but. That's purely circumstantial evidence on her part. ]

[erbe]

[THEY'RE NOT!? That's surprising.]

When he came into my shop he seemed to feel really guilty about something, and he was quick to ask about what to give to you as a present. I thought maybe he felt guilty for what he did... during the... Harbing—

[Ah. She clams up. Rin allows her voice to trail off and refuses to say anything else.]

[gravings]

[ Guilty for what he did during the Harbinger Oracle? There's a silent spot of confusion. D didn't do anything at all to Gray during the Oracle...

Ah. She twists her mind to see what Rin saw. That D was cheating on Gray? She could laugh if she weren't so horrified. Where did Rin get the idea that Gray and D were in that sort of relationship in the first place? ]

He said it was a Christmas present. Maybe he felt guilty about not getting something earlier.

[ D is, after all, incredibly thoughtful and also hard on himself. Gray can see him beating himself up over something as small as the timing of a gift. ]

[erbe]

O-oh. Perhaps that is it. I suppose my assumption was a bit of an overstep.

[Then why was he so heartbroken over what had happened? It's not like he initiated any of it. Were Rin any more forward she would have climbing him like a tree. Disgraceful. Gray will notice a bit of sheepish regret on Rin's end.]

[gravings]

[ Gray doesn't think Rin is a bad judge of character, so it's especially curious that she'd come to this conclusion. Because Gray can feel so many of D's emotions through their shared Aspect, she's pretty confident that D doesn't have any of those feelings toward her...

(This confidence from someone who literally couldn't recognize someone having feelings for her if he were crooning over her right to her face.)

Gray shakes her head as if to clear the awkwardness away. She rewinds the conversation a bit in her head and tries to put herself in D's shoes. ]

Or maybe he didn't feel guilty about me... but about you?

[ nope it's still awkward ]

1/?

[erbe]

Hm? I don't understand why he would. I was just as pushy with him as I was with you.

[erbe]

[—Wait. Shit! She should have been more delicate about that. UGH!]

okay 3/3

[erbe]

Whatever. The most important thing is... you still have people looking out for you on your side. So, back to the point, you'll... you'll be fine. And I bet Mordred is much happier that she won't have to bother her afterlife dealing with this mess. I don't think she ever liked Yima that much anyway.

[gravings]

[ It's hard to focus on the rest of what Rin is saying after the first bit. Gray can picture it a bit too easily, but she staunchly reins all of that in before it can bleed back to Rin.

Rin has the right idea at the end of it. Think of Mordred... Think of Mordred...... ]

... You're right. Thank you, Rin.

[ This is all too embarrassing to be cogent for, or to continue to exist in really, so Gray just leaves it at that. ]

[erbe]

[Too mortified to say anything else, Rin cuts the connection.]