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]

[—Ah. That's it. That's the part that breaks Rin's immersion and ruins her generosity. Tohsaka rolls her eyes a bit with a sigh.]

You know... it's not quite believable that someone would come into a shop for people and ask for products geared toward animals. Would you like to walk out and start again?

[gravings]

Huh?

[ Gray's sad attempt at a rich posture drops immediately with her shock at Rin's flip-flop in attitude. She doesn't understand, where did things go wrong?? Rin surely can't have deduced the situation already... ]

H-Human soaps can be safe for horses too. We used to use them all the time... ah.

[ Maybe that wasn't the point. ]

[erbe]

Is that right? A lady of your standing doesn't look like the type to be washing horses.

[Gray, please. You're endearingly cute and it's squeezing her heart like a vice, but she cannot tolerate this. What if she tries this in front of Silco or Sebastian? She wouldn't survive.]

[gravings]

[ Gray's head lowers miserably, missing the refuge of her hood. She could probably make up some excuse about only overseeing the care of horses, but she already knows Rin won't buy it. The jig is completely up. ]

... Sorry. It's me, Gray.

[ Be amazed.......... ]

[erbe]

I know. You don't really conceal your magical energy, so I had my suspicions.

[Rin curls her knuckle and 'knocks' on the lid of one of her product jars.]

If you actually are looking for horse wash then anything with Sage, Hyacinth or Jasmine should do the trick. I think those are non-toxic to animals of that size, but you might want to double-check.

[gravings]

[ How kind of Rin to carry on like Gray didn't just try to deceive her. Still, Gray feels deeply silly about it — and that she should probably drop Reines's likeness now before she sullies its reputation any further.

She lets go of Alter Self, revealing her normal appearance — sans hood. At least she's had the time (to muster up the courage) for a proper haircut, so that her haphazard cut from the labyrinth is neatly trimmed up into an A-line bob. ]

So you knew from the start...

[ Mortifying. Her face, it's so red. Just to have something to do, she slowly picks up one of the jars Rin names. The jasmine. ]

If it weren't for my magical energy, do you think I might have passed...?

[erbe]

No.

[Rin isn't the type to overly coddle or sugarcoat things. She's blunt in a way most would find rude or insensitive.]

You didn't have confidence in yourself, and I think you didn't have a clear focus on your goals and reason for being in my shop. I think you need to work on your purpose and your conviction. Beyond that, instead of filling in the blanks with what this lady should have been interested in, you did it with pieces of yourself. It made it even easier to pick you out.

[Ah, but Rin cannot criticize her entirely. How could she when Gray's hair is so cute and perfect? Reaching out, like she had in during the Oracle, Rin runs her fingers along the ends of Gray's hair.]

This is a really cute style for you.

[gravings]

[ Blunt is what Gray is used to when it comes to instruction, so she takes no offense to Rin's version of it. Of course, it's never pleasant to hear about how badly she's done something, but she listens, and takes the advice to embarrassed heart.

She's deep enough into trying to internalize what she could have done better that she's taken way off guard by the fingers at her hair. She startles, hugging the jar to her middle. She's so often hooded that a touch to the back of her head is as unexpected as a touch to her bare stomach. Even so she obediently stays still, turning her head only a little to look at Rin. ]

Th-Thank you! It's the first time I've had a trim like this, so I wasn't sure how it would go...

[ Is it common for girls to touch each other's hair after a cut?? She supposes she wouldn't know. ]

To be honest, I've grown to like it being so short. It saves a lot of time.

[erbe]

Since a mage's hair can hold and gather mana it can be important for one to let their hair grow out. However since you are not a mage, I think this is perfect for you. And if you like it? All the better.

[Letting go of Gray's hair, Rin lets her hands fall by her side. Blue eyes watch Gray carefully. Happy to know that she's pleased with her new image, and that something good came from that Oracle trial at least.]

[gravings]

[ Gray's jitters and self-chastisement fade into a small smile as she sees that Rin is pleased. Maybe she'd thought, just a little bit, that since Rin had witnessed King Arthur herself, she'd disapprove of the change...

Gray at least knows about the importance some mages place on their hair thanks to her mentor's own obscenely long hair. She resists the urge to speak of him, figuring that Rin might not care. Though the thought of her mentor reminds her of something else... ]

I forgot to ask. Have you happened to meet Flat yet?

[erbe]

[Rin's cheery demeanor plummets suddenly at Flat's name.]

He insists he knows who I am. I hadn't met him prior to seeing him at the Tomes.

[gravings]

[ ... Okay so Gray isn't too surprised at the divebomb in Rin's expression, but she is surprised at what Rin says. ]

He said that? He must come from further along, then...

[ But he's still the same old Flat to Gray. Time is truly a construct to someone like him. ]

Did he mention meeting you at the Clock Tower?

[erbe]

[Tohsaka pinches the bridge of her nose. As if remembering the pain of a headache.]

Yes. Something about being a senior classmate.

[gravings]

[ Rin's phantom headache cannot stifle Gray's excited gasp and little lean forward. ]

Really?! So you did end up coming to our classroom!

[ Or... some version of Rin. In some version of their hypothetical future. ]

I guess it's not that surprising. I can see you fitting right in.

[erbe]

A-ah, Gray? Are you trying to make fun of me again?

[Fitting in?! With that unhinged cryptid of a man? Maybe dying with honor in the Holy Grail War might have been a preferable choice.

Well, at least she's here now. And doesn't have to think about the implications of Shirou Emiya ditching her sister to learn magecraft in London.]

[gravings]

[ In hindsight, she can see why Rin would say that. Not all mages looked on the El-Melloi Classroom or the Lord who headed it favorably. But naturally, Gray feels a need to put in a good word. ]

My mentor had a reputation for being able to bring out the potential in his students, so I'm sure you would have enjoyed being there. And actually, the class got popular enough that we'd often have students auditing. It was a very lively, and very talented classroom.

[ She's glowing... ]

[erbe]

[UGH!!!!! Why? Why does she have to look so cute like that? Why did she have to look so happy? It's too much! Rin groans.]

I'm not sure I'd be entirely satisfied with a classroom that had him in it.

[Flat, she means! What a grating boy.]

hi why is rin groping mitsuzuri

[gravings]

[ If only Gray could be confused about what Rin means by that. ]

Truthfully... he did give my mentor a lot of stress. He has a different way of looking at things, and enough talent that he can be hard to predict. But he was very kind to me when I first arrived in London.

[ So please be nice to him!! When they aren't fighting over Oracles and such. ]

NOT GROPING

[erbe]

Yeah, and if you're nice to him now you'll be even, so that clears the slate.

[She won't be nice! Especially if they're on opposite sides.]

[gravings]

Rin... I think you're the only one who measures favors that way.

[ Big favors, maybe. But these are just nice, friendly, casual favors. Sometimes people just like to be nice? ]

[erbe]

—Are you sure? How many standard mages are you familiar with? I'm not talking about weird ones like Flat.

[IT CAN'T BE JUST HER. IT'S THE MODERN KIDS WHO ARE WRONG.]

[gravings]

I'm not a mage, but I was still a student at the Clock Tower. And I met a lot of mages while I was accompanying my mentor, too.

[ So a fair amount?? Imagine Gray being more entrenched in mage society than actual mage Rin. ]

Of course, they all kept track of certain debts... but I've actually thought that mages can be easygoing in the strangest ways.

[ Y'all weird. Except for painfully normal Caules. ]

[erbe]

[Hrm.]

...Well, I suppose things would change since my father had studied there. He had graduated well before having me.

[She actually has no idea what to say so she's just side stepping around it.]

[gravings]

[ There are a lot of factors that could explain the difference in mindset, really. Maybe mages from the FAR EAST were a bit different culturally — or maybe Gray's experience is a bit skewed given her time spent around her mentor and the Modern Magecraft culture. But in the end, she thinks it's probably pointless to try to examine what's normal or not among a population of socially extraneous shut-ins. ]

Were there a lot of mages where you lived?

[erbe]

You know, oddly enough? Yes. My father had granted allowance for the Matou family to settle on our lands, the priest who ran our local church had studied as a mage under my father, and apparently we had a rogue sneak their way in without alerting the overseer — who was also my father.

[So much for mages who don't like to share. Maybe that's why her dad ended up dead.]