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[angramaintsu]

Characters: Dark Rin & YOU.
Setting: Floor 48
Time: November 9
Format: Quick to start, will match
Summary: The tower taunts Rin when she's already in a poor mood.
Warnings: Characters are likely to be endangered if they provoke her.

    ►►► FLOOR 48;
[ Rin knew the moment he was taken from her. Any Master can feel the bond ripped from them and if that wasn't enough indication, the Command Seals along her flesh went dormant. In fact it was the hand she found herself gazing upon in the graveyard, sitting on a freshly dug (up?) patch of dity, the formerly vibrant red seals now barely seen against her pale skin. If that wasn't evident enough, then the stone marker with the name L A N C E R was indication enough of who she lost. Rin's never had anyone in her life, so for the brief time she held a Servant was the most social interaction she's ever had.

Losing him stung more than she's willing to let on.

For those brave enough to seek her out, they might feel a more ominous presence in the air around them. Yes, she's vulnerable without a Servant, but in no way is she weak. Willing to advertise that much, she hopes it's enough to keep people away.

Later on the evening, even if she's left, Rin will return to this place not to mourn. No, she'll wait around as though expecting him to return. For all of those jokes she often cracked about him being a puppy, it was her that will wait patiently for him to come pick her up. ]

Comments

[angramaintsu]

A stupid kid...

[ Shaking her head as though it can deny it ever happening. ] Why would I have ever?! I never would save anyone!

You must have me really mistaken for someone else.

[ Except she sounds so desperate. Almost as though she wishes it was the truth. ]

[swordedpast]

I'm sure I don't.

[ He keeps that expression on, both resigned and confident at the same time, but the resignation starts to creep up a bit more. ]

I guess you might need to be saved before you can save anyone else, huh? I wonder who'll do that. But it's not my business; I'm only your Servant, in another world that might be destroyed.

[ And he has to say it-- ]

...in this case you made the right decision anyway.

[ She said she had a different Servant. Now that he thinks about it, that can only mean one thing. ]

That kid's better off dead there and then. There are better people for you to save, once someone's set things right with you.

[angramaintsu]

Don't say that! [ Rin might have not known Shirou personally, but she's watched how Sakura's never once stopped looking at him. ] To someone... that boy must have been something special. He must have... well, you know! Someone must have loved him! His parents! His friends!

[ The pressure of the gemstone in her palm begins to hurt noticeably, so she lessens her hold on it with a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. A small process meant to help keep whatever lies dormant within her calm. ]

I know I made the right decision. [ She says after all of that. ] It's part of the rules of the Holy Grail War. I've met his Servant in this place and if he had really called forth Saber to fight my Lancer that day... it would have been problematic for me, you see. So I had to do what I did.

[ Bitterly adding on: ] Besides, what's the point in saving me? I already have blood on my hands.

[swordedpast]

To someone...? Then that someone was a fool who needed their eyes and heart checked.

[ His own smile is bitter as well. But he waves a hand dismissively to indicate that he's done with that topic. He won't talk about the boy that this Rin didn't save any longer. There's far too much potential there to simply give things away. ]

It's all right. I'll let whoever steps up to save you know that all of that blood is a mistake, and you're not really a person who wanted to shed it. I'm sure they'll understand. It's not something you could tell them, since you don't admit to making mistakes. So I'll be of some use after all.

[angramaintsu]

Probably, but she--! [ Rin cuts herself off too quick when he dismisses it. Surprisingly she listens to him and obeys, giving a nod. ]

No one is going to step up to save me. [ 'Stupid' She should add. ] The bad guys aren't the ones who get rescued by heroes. It's the defenseless people I might hurt that are going to get saved.

That's the way it works in VHS, right?

[swordedpast]

[ All of that is a troubling thing for her to say. It's so troubling because it reminds him that this Rin hurts defenseless people, so how could he defend her? Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to do as she says and save the she hurts? And to do that--

No, he's not going to think about that right now. It makes him a bit sick. ]

A VHS? You're hilariously behind on technology as always, Master.

[angramaintsu]

H-Hey! What are you going on about with me being behind on technology?!

[ Huffing up and shaking a finger. ] I'm not behind!

[swordedpast]

They use something called "DVDs" now.

[ He's not even getting into stuff like Blu-Rays...yet. Maybe he'll take her to the right floor later... ]

I don't think you'll ever figure it out, so you should just give up now.

[angramaintsu]

DVDs...

[ You know what? That sounds like a challenge and if anything, this Rin doesn't back down from one easily. ]

I'll figure it out. Instead of a TV, it's a DV now?! Delevision?

[swordedpast]

[ His eyes gleam just a little. ]

Wrong. It's still a television. Like I said, you're the one who's fallen behind.

[angramaintsu]

I haven't fallen behind. You're just being unreasonably difficult!

[ Fretting aside. ] What does a DVD stand for?!

[swordedpast]

"Digital versus ditz." It's a story about you.

[angramaintsu]

I somehow don't believe that.

[ She's not ditzy. ] Come on, I asked you a serious inquiry. You should give me a good answer to justify me wasting my time.

[swordedpast]

It's digital video disc, Rin. That was obvious.

[angramaintsu]

Don't be stupid, Archer. If it was obvious, would I have asked?

[ Probably. The curse of being a magus. ] It's not as though I got to enjoy those type of things growing up like an ordinary teenager.

[ Remember? Her life was in a basement. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He doesn't know about the basement. He can only begin to guess about the worms. But he knows that Rin Tohsaka's life was troubled enough, and Rin Matou's life was worse.

So he looks away, frowning pensively. ]

This tower has DVD players. You're doing yourself no service by refusing to learn.

[ In other words, why can't she try to enjoy herself now? He'd like her to. But of course it comes out that way instead. ]

[angramaintsu]

... Because I'd have to rely on someone else.

[ It comes out weakly, but it's there. ] I can't do that.

[swordedpast]

You're thinking about this wrong, Rin.

[ The barest moment of hesitation. ]

It's not "relying on someone else" if that someone is a tool meant to serve.

[ It's not that he has any problem with admitting that's what he is. It's not that this is anything but stating the obvious. But somehow, he feels like he's losing something by admitting it to Rin. How strange. ]

[angramaintsu]

A tool.

[ Rin repeats the word as she thinks it over. ] I never thought of Servants like that before.

[ Having no one, she felt closer to Lancer than a Master ought to. He was more than a Servant, almost as though he were a... ]

Right, that's what Servants are in essence. Then I should pick up this lost tool in red and use him as I see fit.

[swordedpast]

Really?

[ He might sound a little too hopeful about that; how strange. ]

You must not be that great of a magus after all. Well, there's always time to make up for it. I don't have anything better to do than serve you, so you might as well.

[angramaintsu]

I won't make a contract with you though, Archer.

[ Unable to look at him when she says something strange, Rin instead focuses on her shoes. Allowing someone else to see her nightmares up close? No, she can't risk it. ]

That shouldn't be a problem for you, right?

[swordedpast]

[ It shouldn't bother him that she's willing to use him as a tool, but not accept him as a partner. It shouldn't bother him. It shouldn't--

Ah, but... ]

It'll be harder to babysit you without a contract, you know.

[ Keeping an eye out for her will be more difficult this way. He wants to tell himself that's all that bothers him. He tries to tell himself that's all that bothers him, but he still feels troubled. ]

[angramaintsu]

Will it really be that much trouble, Archer?

[ Her attention is caught with that as she looks up towards him, curiosity shining through her eyes more than any other emotion. Opening her mouth to say something else, she finds herself unable to tell him the truth. That the last time she had a Servant, it ended with her hurting them severely. Damaging them in a way that can never be repaired. ]

[swordedpast]

You're the sort to get into trouble easily, and I can't be everywhere at once.

[ It's just as well she doesn't tell him that. He could all too easily respond by saying that there's no way of damaging him worse than he's already damaged himself. There's nothing that could make him more broken.

As it is, he just gazes at her serenely, his face composed. ]

[angramaintsu]

Guh...

[ It's difficult to tell him no when he looks at her that way, so she'll be brushing out the grass from her leggings and skirt fully. ]

Not here. I'm not going to make a pact with someone over the grave of my last Servant. It's not classy.