The serpent tangles in the lion's claw;

[swordedpast]

Characters: Archer (swordedpast) and OPEN.
Setting: Various places in the tower during the event, March 17th through March 23rd.
Format: Tagger's choice.
Summary: After a week of brooding, Archer throws himself into preparing for the worst when the weather goes wild.
Warnings: Nothing so far.

Archer is not sociable at the best of times in the tower. The most contact he's likely to have with its other residents is when he's cooking Rin's breakfast, and he doesn't exactly make a habit of being friendly then, either.

But for the past week he's been virtually invisible. Literally: nearly any time he can get away with it, he's been in spirit form, nothing more than a lurking presence around the corner. The return of his muddled memories of the Fifth Holy Grail War, and his part in it, has left him more inclined to brood than ever. So anyone with decent spiritual awareness may, in the days leading up to the start of the spring storms, notice a wandering presence, a nearby sense of power, drifting through the stairs and the floors of the tower--but shying away from making contact with anyone. On rare instances, that same presence can be spotted on one of the quieter floors, this time in corporeal form, brooding in some corner. But he speaks with no one.

At least, until the rains start. Then he's a man with a mission.

[ SPRING: floor 80 ⇒ stairs ⇒ dormitories. ]

[ It's one thing to get food when the cafeteria is empty and the restaurant not functioning, but that won't matter if none of it can be kept dry. Archer himself hardly needs to eat or stay out of the rain, but Rin does, and so he's on a quest to find materials for shelter. He finds success at the top of the fourth block, on the floor with the circus. Carefully avoiding the sinister clowns, he grabs a relatively small tent, pulls the tarp down, and sets out to carry it back to the dormitories, where he'll be taking it to room 1-15 and setting it up to provide shelter.

What? Yes, it's theft, but it's not like the worker units are around right now to stop him. ]

[ SUMMER: various floors ]

[ The heat doesn't bother Archer. He doesn't need to eat or drink, and physical discomfort has been the least of his problems for a very long time now. So the sultry and stifling heat of summer is nothing but an opportunity for him to head out searching for food and water for Rin. Any floor that might have something that can be scavenged for food falls to his attention--he searches for edible plants on floor 101, he seeks water among the crystals on floor 99, he tries to grab fish on floor 79 (though the water there seems to be salty, and not drinkable), he checks for meltwaters on floor 66, and--

--when the thunderstorms come, he is briefly trapped on floor 68, dodging lightning as he dashes up the stairs. He can't simply go to spirit form when he's carrying food. ]

[ AUTUMN: floor 89 ⇒ stairs ⇒ dormitories. ]

[ By now it's clear enough what's going on. Spring came first, then summer, and now it's fall: that means winter is next. So, with his previous brooding well and truly set aside for the moment, Archer is making a serious effort to stock up on certain supplies. That means that, once again, it's time for some judicious theft.

The hotel has the most pertinent of those supplies, which is why he can be found carting heaping piles of heavy blankets to the stairs and then back up to the dormitories. He has even less patience now for anyone who might try to stop him than he did a few days ago when it was only water he was defending against. He expects winter to be brutal, and no one will stop him from defending his Master against it. ]

[ WINTER: closed to Rin. ]

[ It's time.

Archer has barely spoken to Rin since the fairies' geas wore off. He's brought her breakfasts without a word. He's set up that tent for her during the rains. He's guarded her during the thunderstorms and the tornados. But he's been a silent presence throughout.

Now, as he appears to present her with the piles of blankets he stocked up during autumn (along with some scrounged supplies of food and drink, carefully prepared to hide their humble origins), he's prepared to finally talk in order to convince her to use them properly. ]

Comments

[swordedpast]

...I've met her. I treated her as nicely as I treat anyone, and that's that.

[ So: not very nicely. Except in brief moments. ]

You're shivering already. Let's build the fire.

[ He reaches into the corner of the tent to sweep over a pile of wood and some leaves that he gathered during 'autumn.' ]

I trust you can light it, at least.

[angramaintsu]

What about the smoke?

[ Yes, she's worried about suffocation. ] I don't want to smell like it.

[ But for his sake she'll disguise it as something petty. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He catches onto her real meaning in an instant. His eyes flicker around the somewhat rough tarp draped around them, and he reaches out to arrange the flaps near where he was building the fire a moment ago so that some sheer material is exposed directly above it. ]

You'll smell like shadows no matter what else clings to you, so don't worry about it.

[angramaintsu]

[ Finding it strange now that he can say that to her without a pained look, Rin pauses to recover from the mental recoil of the statement. ]

So long as I draw the shadows towards me instead of others, I can settle for that stench.

[swordedpast]

[ He hesitates, something unreadable but probably regretful flickering in his eyes. Did he say too much?

But he accepts now that this Rin has darkness inside her. He wouldn't be able to touch her if she didn't. He wouldn't--

Fresh memories make him bite his lip for a moment. ]

I don't mind it, except when you say things like that.

[angramaintsu]

... But you were--[ She stops that shortly before finishing it. ]

I just don't know what it is I need to say these days. With Sakura here now, I--well, it's alright for me to be this awful person if she's not, right?

[ Desperation seeps into her voice all too easily. ]

[swordedpast]

[ It's just as well she doesn't finish it. How can he possibly explain that all her shadows are what make him suited for her these days, and that's why he says things like that? ]

Do you expect me to tell you what to say? That's asking too much of a Servant.

[ But the distress is showing in his eyes now, even as he tries to be cool and composed. ]

There might be one way I could tell you such things, though.

[ So he starts to say something unwise. ]

[angramaintsu]

And what way is that?

[ Interest snagged. She doesn't look away from him when she speaks, waiting expectantly for an answer. ]

[swordedpast]

[ Second thoughts flicker in his eyes. But he has second thoughts about everything these days, not to mention regrets, so he pushes them aside. ]

I see what happened to Saber now. The Sakura of a world like mine corrupted her.

[ He takes a breath even though he doesn't need to. ]

You should do the same to me.

[ It feels like offering himself up to the funeral pyre, but it's not as if he's not self-destructive enough to do just that. Besides, it makes sense in his head. What better way to keep a close eye on the grail's mud than to cover himself in it? ]

[angramaintsu]

Wha...

[ What little of a heart she has sinks whenever he suggests that. It's true. Saber's condition was because of that Sakura, but this girl has already endured what it's like to put a true hero through that. ]

Lancer, I...

[ She whispers the name of a Servant she no longer has here with her in the tower with a look of horror. Everything else around her, including Archer, is blanked out as shadows consume her mind at the memory. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He freezes.

Stupid. He knew she'd had a corrupted Servant, one who was a true hero unlike him. And he knows she's a girl with a soft and pitiful heart. Why didn't he put two and two together?

Because it never occurred to him that she'd think of him as a true hero who could be ruined. He's already beyond ruined. The reminder that she doesn't see it that way twists painfully in him. ]

Rin, wait.

[ But she's gone. He'll have to do more than call out to her. The thought comes to him that he should embrace her and soothe her, but with it comes the memory of those bruises on her. Of course he can't do that.

Instead he reaches out and catches hold of her hand. That's all he can do. ]

It's not that way with me.

[ He's on the brink of telling her that he's not like Lancer, he's not a real hero and he's already been destroyed so whatever she can do to him is fine. But when he looks at her like this, he can't do that. ]

...I'll learn all I need for you while staying myself. But it might take me a while, and I might need help.

[angramaintsu]

[ That hero that used to smile so confidently was one she made unable to do so. Sure, he still had an air of arrogance about him that wasn't easily dispelled, but she ruined him. Rin knows it and carries that with her every single day she's able to think.

If only she can eliminate those thoughts. ]

Archer?

[ He brings her back quickly just by taking her hand and she's left staring at him in confusion. One moment he's telling her to ruin him, the next he's taking it back? ]

You're so wishy-washy. [ At least she can still manage an insult. ]

[swordedpast]

Unpredictability is an asset, Master. Your enemies won't know what to do against a Servant who says one thing one moment and another the next, so be grateful.

[ He's smirking, the seriousness gone. But his fingers still twine around hers, like he's afraid she'll fall back into shadows if he lets go. ]

[angramaintsu]

I don't know what to do with a Servant who behaves that way.

[ Tightening the top of her fingers around his the best she can, she pulls his arm closer towards her. ]

Stay with me, Archer.

[swordedpast]

[ She's as unpredictable as he is. He isn't prepared at all to feel her hand tighten on his.

The memory of what she felt like in his arms hits him, and, paralyzed by it, he does nothing to resist her tugging him closer. ]

That was always the plan, Rin.

[angramaintsu]

I mean... stay with me.

[ She's never been any good at emphasizing how she felt unless violence was involved. ]

It'll be warmer with you here. Warmer than the stupid fire.

[swordedpast]

[ She should be held. She should have arms around her, proving to her that she can be held. His free hand goes to her back to start to pull her close. It rests between her shoulderblades. ]

Yeah.

[ But his breath hitches, and he stops. He can't refuse her when she looks at him like that, when she speaks in that voice, but he can't fight the waves of guilt and shame at the memories either. ]

[angramaintsu]

[ His reluctance is all she needs to know that she can't be held. With a laugh to try to mask her sorrow, she lets go of his hand to hold out her own dismissively. ]

I changed my mind. [ Better she makes it what she wants than call him out for it. ] I'll be just fine on my own.

[swordedpast]

Don't think of me as a fool who'll believe such ridiculous things.

[ His voice is low and pained. ]

You're never fine on your own.

[angramaintsu]

I'll believe you to be the fool that you are, Archer. I've been alone for so long that I know what's best for me. [ She doesn't. ] I've been alone so long that I don't need anyone else. [ She does. ] That's because, because I'm never truly alone!

[ Her emotions are more chaotic than ever before as she pulls away from him entirely. The leaps in the logic leave even her confused as she stares hard at the fire in the background. ]

I don't want a Servant who second guesses me even when it comes to something as simple as holding each other for warmth.

[swordedpast]

[ He shouldn't touch her anymore. He shouldn't, but it's somehow easier now. Besides, doesn't she need it? Looking distressed and alone like that, doesn't she need it? ]

Quiet.

[ He presses a hand over her mouth. ]

It suits you to babble about strange and trivial things, not about how alone you are.

[ He can't separate out the different emotions he feels at touching her--bitter shame at the memories it conjures up, disorienting strangeness at how unusual it is for him, and some odd warmth--he accepts them all this time. ]

[angramaintsu]

[ Did he just shush her? Rin reacts as a child would by biting his hand (softly, not without much force behind it) as a warning that covering her mouth is not something he can get away with.

Kind of hard to look intimidating with such a red face though, Rin. ]

You shut up first.

[swordedpast]

[ He just looks at her for a moment. That sullen red face. Her teeth biting sulkily at his hand. What is his hand doing on her mouth in the first place?

It's just so absurd. ]

...hahaha.

[ Then he laughs. It's not the crazed laugh she heard before, but a sincere one. He's really amused. ]

Haha, I'm really sorry, Master.

[ His hand leaves her mouth and jumps right behind one ribbon, where he...

...scratches her head vigorously? ]

It's just that you're acting like an angry little cat. So I think I should treat you as one.

[angramaintsu]

I'm not behaving as though I'm an angry little cat.

[ She sulks just as she were one. Why, she doesn't even make any movement away from his hand either. ]

You really do say too many stupid things.

[swordedpast]

This is a stupid place, so I'm entitled. You're entitled to say stupid things as well, so I won't press you about them for now.

[ It's too cold to let his own pain stop him from helping her, you see. So even as he scratches her head with one hand, he slips the other around her back to pull her close. ]

And I won't let you freeze either.