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

[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.

[angramaintsu]

I hope you're not expecting for me to cling to you after you've made me look so stupid.

[ Huffing up, she doesn't use any force in getting away from him. Instead she just sits there close to him with a hand there to support her and the other digging through her hair playfully. ]

If I had a tail, I'd raise it in defiance.

[swordedpast]

It doesn't matter if you cling to me. I'll stay close enough to keep you warm.

[ He stops scratching her head and simply rests his hand there. ]

Don't you know? Cats lift their tails when they are happy, too.

[angramaintsu]

I think if a cat ever raised their tail to you, it'd be for an insult and not the other reason harumph...

[ Except for her. She'd raise it out of happiness, but she's not going to openly admit that. ]

[swordedpast]

Is that what you think?

[ Now he does the unforgivable: he musses her hair with that hand. ]

Haha, I bet you can puff up like an angry cat too.

[ It's too cold to let go of Rin; he has to stay close to keep her warm. So he has to keep distracting himself from what he's doing with trivialities and mockery-- ]

[angramaintsu]

A-Archer!

[ Bringing a hand to try to repair the damage of her hair. ] S-Stop that! What if people see?!

[ Yes, she's that worried about people seeing. Not the two of them holding on to each other, but her hair falling out of a ribbon. ]

May as well--[ Reaching up to tug at one of the ribbons, she attempts to free her hair. ]--since you've messed it up.

[swordedpast]

Ah--!

[ It's one thing to tousle her hair, and quite another to see it spilling free from the ribbon. His throat tightens with sudden unexpected emotion.

Why does she do that to him? ]

Maybe if you wore your hair like this more often, you'd seem less like a kitten and more like a, a grown wildcat.

[ Stupid. That didn't come out right at all. ]

[angramaintsu]

I'd prefer a tiger. [ Holding onto her ribbon, she moves to the other side to free that bit of hair as well. ] A wildcat...

Are you saying I can't be tamed, Archer? Dangerous words to admit to as my Servant.

[swordedpast]

[ He starts to look away, a blush on his face, as she releases her hair. It seems indecent to see it, like looking at her bare legs, even with all he's already done to her. (No, with her.) But then she asks a question. ]

Of course you can't be tamed. That's why you need a keeper. The wild Rin, with me along to desperately hold onto the leash. Yeah, that's how it goes.

[angramaintsu]

My keeper.

[ She repeats the word as though it were a new title. ] I could settle for that.

[swordedpast]

I'm not giving you a choice. You took me as your Servant, so I'm fated to look after you now.

[ He's confident, but he's still blushing slightly. How is it that she can do that to him now? He should be more jaded than that. ]

[angramaintsu]

Hey Archer.

[ Cheering up just a bit as she glances towards his eyes. ] Does that mean if I go to kill the administrators of this tower, that you're going to stop me?