Kirei "problems" Kotomine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
god_damned) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-09-07 04:40 pm
god_damned) wrote in towerofanimus2013-09-07 04:40 pm
To see a world in a grain of sand
Characters: Kirei Kotomine and OPEN
Setting: The Dormitories (1-04). Floor forty-eight (the graveyard). Aaaand wildcard meanderings which you can happily place at your leisure!
Format: Brackets.
Summary: Kirei wakes in the Tower and explores his new surroundings.
Warnings: General disclaimer that Kirei is an awful person, discussions of suicide in his thread with Claudia, and specifics will be added as necessary.
Dormitories
[ He reads the letter, and he feels nothing.
What should he feel? Sorrow? Perhaps another person would label his utter lack of response as a state of shock or disbelief, as if he were denying the gravity of the message. However, while Kirei is reserved about taking those words as full truth, it is not a fool's hope which motivates him to such skepticism. What was lost in that world that he could mourn? Very little, in the end.
However, there is the War he left behind – and with it, he left behind the Grail, and his one chance to have his questions answered.
Perhaps it isn't nothing after all, but the feeling in his chest is not that of an honest man. But does it matter? Now, there is no remaining trace of his life save for a trunk of impersonal, unimportant things.
Regardless, he opens it, changes into his vestments, and exits into the hall. ]
Floor Forty-Eight
[ It is only natural that he finds himself in a place like this.
The graveyard stretches before him: like an echo of the world which he has been told is gone. He steps toward and kneels before a stone, trying to read its worn lettering with no success. It is difficult for him to determine why he makes the effort; perhaps he expects to see a name he recognizes.
Perhaps he expects to see his own. ]
Wandering
[ It is similar to the day he woke with the Command Spells, in a way, when he finds himself in this place. He was thrust into a world of unknown to him, of magi and their Holy Grail War. At the beginning, he had not understood his involvement in such a battle. Then, he spoke to Archer...
Perhaps this Tower is the same: he does not understand it now, but he can explore. He can discover more of it, and of himself.
But will what he finds favor him, or destroy him? ]
Setting: The Dormitories (1-04). Floor forty-eight (the graveyard). Aaaand wildcard meanderings which you can happily place at your leisure!
Format: Brackets.
Summary: Kirei wakes in the Tower and explores his new surroundings.
Warnings: General disclaimer that Kirei is an awful person, discussions of suicide in his thread with Claudia, and specifics will be added as necessary.
Dormitories
[ He reads the letter, and he feels nothing.
What should he feel? Sorrow? Perhaps another person would label his utter lack of response as a state of shock or disbelief, as if he were denying the gravity of the message. However, while Kirei is reserved about taking those words as full truth, it is not a fool's hope which motivates him to such skepticism. What was lost in that world that he could mourn? Very little, in the end.
However, there is the War he left behind – and with it, he left behind the Grail, and his one chance to have his questions answered.
Perhaps it isn't nothing after all, but the feeling in his chest is not that of an honest man. But does it matter? Now, there is no remaining trace of his life save for a trunk of impersonal, unimportant things.
Regardless, he opens it, changes into his vestments, and exits into the hall. ]
Floor Forty-Eight
[ It is only natural that he finds himself in a place like this.
The graveyard stretches before him: like an echo of the world which he has been told is gone. He steps toward and kneels before a stone, trying to read its worn lettering with no success. It is difficult for him to determine why he makes the effort; perhaps he expects to see a name he recognizes.
Perhaps he expects to see his own. ]
Wandering
[ It is similar to the day he woke with the Command Spells, in a way, when he finds himself in this place. He was thrust into a world of unknown to him, of magi and their Holy Grail War. At the beginning, he had not understood his involvement in such a battle. Then, he spoke to Archer...
Perhaps this Tower is the same: he does not understand it now, but he can explore. He can discover more of it, and of himself.
But will what he finds favor him, or destroy him? ]
no subject
[ It seems like a dismissive, untrue reply -- but it is honest and it is revealing. Most would have no hesitation. They would view the horror of this Tower and see it as such. Kirei has felt no fear, no dread and no anger at his abduction.
Quite the opposite, he's been compelled... and that sense builds in intensity as he gazes at the figure before him. ]
What do you mean by that?
no subject
[ And Avenger nods, accepting that response because Kirei was an open book he had already read, already flipped the pages open and seen the words, the desires the man carried inside him. And that reply was easy to decipher.
His upturned hand (those intricate, black red-edged tattoos cover his fingers too, crawl under his fingernails and coat the skin that's hidden under those arm wrappings) drops back down to his side. He's still smiling at the priest, a boyish grin. ]
Exactly what I said. No more, no less.
no subject
He smiles, with such enthusiasm and youth, and it chills his skin -- but the reaction feels pleasant, rather than off-putting. ]
What do I call you?
no subject
He recovers from the mock-bow and bobs backs upright. ]
It's a bit of a mouthful to say all the time, but I'm sure you can swallow it. [ Yeah, he gets the feeling Kirei wouldn't try shortening it to 'Angra.' ]
no subject
Angra Mainyu... [ He repeats the words, his voice uncharacteristically soft and almost unsteady. His heartbeat quickens and his body is tensed. Is this fear? No. Fear would make his instinct tell him to run. Instead, this is the opposite: he feels draw forward.
He takes another step towards the boy. Slowly, he returns the bow, and his gesture is far more respectful than the one Avenger gave. He realizes he is showing weakness: leaving himself open for assault as he lowers his gaze, but he does not hesitate. ]
My name is Kirei Kotomine -- do you know it already?
[ It's only partially betrayed by the familiar way the boy has addressed him so far. Something else seems to indicate it; like the feeling churning in his gut. ]
no subject
His hands idly curl into loose, half-fists at his sides.
Kirei was one of the very demented few people who would not be stirred to the action of attempting to eliminate his existence, in this Tower or in their world. And once, Angra Mainyu had reanimated him with a black clot of mud for a heart. He had no worries about the man jeopardizing anything by spilling his name to nuisances and consequences were not things Avenger overly thought about. ]
That's correct. I do.
[ Kirei returns the bow to him—with much more respect in the gesture—earning a bemused smirk from the Servant. The unprotected nape of his neck is, noted as a clear opening for an attack with murderous intents, then dismissed. ]
You're a kinda interesting person, priest. [ While you're alive anyway. A corpse is very boring, and Kirei's had hardly been an exception. (Not 'interesting' in the definition of the word that implied mystery and puzzles and fascination. 'Interesting' in that the man's desires were crooked, curiosity, and the fact that Avenger enjoyed horrible things and potential mass human suffering.) ]
no subject
The name Avenger carries a certain power to it, like some descending Archangel, with righteous judgment. ]
How do you know me? [ Somehow, it seems beyond simple knowledge of his name -- that this boy knows him. That he has seen his heart. ]
no subject
Still with that amused, boyish smirk on his face; ]
Eh, how did the Grail know you? [ He clicks his tongue. The priest had been submerged in the wish-granting machine, that's how. Ah, Second Magic or whatever the hell this tower used; such a pain in the ass. Or a source of entertainment, depending on how you looked at it. ]
no subject
I do not know. Even though I have lost my Servant, the Grail saw fit that I continue as a Master.
[ It's odd, how compelled he is to speak to this figure before him. It's not the same as Gilgamesh, full of smug implication; it's something stronger. ]
chugs in on the slow train
Angra has to tip his head slightly back to look at Kirei directly in the face though, because man, he's tall and this body is a teenager. ] Your role didn't seem finished, so it would be a shame to let the curtain fall right there.
[ He'd thought it was funny in conscious hindsight. ]
it's okay; i'm on board with you
He's so close, and Kirei seems fixated on him. He stares back, his heart beating quick in his chest in a manner which is unfamiliar. His hands slowly clench at his sides, forming fists, to fight the temptation to reach out and touch him. He wants to, to verify that the boy is in fact real -- and some stranger part of him wants to follow the lines of those tattoos with his fingertips.
Something tells him they might burn to the touch. ]
What are you trying to say?
then we can plod along together i guess! :')
The narrowing line of his focus, the slow, controlled movement of his hands curling into fists; Avenger notices those careful expressions of interested maybe-bewilderment, fixated response to him. He enjoys it because coaxing out reactions was fun.
He leans forward and lightly thumps the priest in the chest with a fist—right over his heart, before taking a step backwards again. ]
Then lemme me be awfully nice and spell things out for ya'. I know you like the Grail knows you, Kotomine. There, can you work things out from here?
holds your hand
There is only so many ways to take that. What the boy is implying seems impossible, but what he senses from him... he has never heard of any eighth Servant Class, nor felt such a strong pull of energy...
That thump of Avenger's fist on his chest stirs him, and when Avenger backs away, his own hand lays over his heart. Beneath his palm, it beats more quickly than he is used to -- and his throat feels tighter. ]
But how-- [ He begins, but he doubts there will be any rational answer, so he cuts himself short. ] Yes. I think I understand.
[ As much as he can attempt it, at least. ]
I have -- questions. [ His voice stalls in an unfamiliar way. ] Will you answer me?
frolics with you in a field of slow tags
The priest still has a heartbeat within his chest, which solidly confirms what Avenger deduced from the lack of taint that he sensed from Kirei; that his heart is still red and filled with blood, not black and pumping mud through his veins. ]
Uh-huh. Good for you. [ He answers vaguely, not under impression they needed to hammer out the specifics behind what he was and how he'd came to be in existence, in regards to the Holy Grail, in the first meeting. Kirei clearly didn't get all of it, but he was trying. He understood the major details at least.
Avenger tilts his head, then huffed quietly when Kirei's voice stalls. ]
Questions? Of course, don't you always have those?
[ . . . Right. This was the man who'd bring an end to the world just for an answer to his questions. ]
[ He spread his arms to both sides for a moment before letting them drop back to his sides. He really couldn't promise he could know the answers to what Kirei wanted to ask him. ] Well, I'll do my best if you want my answers.
Re: frolics with you in a field of slow tags
[ He finds the words hard to grasp for a moment. He watches Avenger, almost cautiously, as he finds his words. This boy, looking carefree and smirking, could hold all the answers which he has festered in his brain. Kirei's voice is steady as he continues. ] I lost my Servant, but the stigmata which marks me as a Master returned.
[ In demonstration, he touches those Command Spells with his opposite hand. ]
Can you tell me why?
[ It is a simplified version of the real question, which is: ]
Why was I chosen?
no subject
[ It was, in all honesty, a rather simple reason; the Holy Grail was partial to whose who would only wrought destruction and death with their participation in the the Grail War. Kirei had looked like he could use a helping hand in dealing with that repression anyway.
He claps his hands together once. ]
The desires in your heart were appealing. There were a few open spots for Masters left, so you were chosen.
. . . That's all there was to it.
no subject
My desires.
[ He repeats this under his breath, and with uncertainty. ]
I did not believe myself to have any.
[ Past tense -- not the way he would have phrased it a scant few days before.]
no subject
[ Yeeeah, don't think he didn't notice that past tense. ]
But it's not really my place or part of my job to say how things are for ya', so think whatever you please 'bout your desires.
[ That line is delivered casually. Avenger rocks back on his heels, hands dropping back to his sides again as he returns Kirei's stare unblinkingly. ]
no subject
[ He admits this honestly, more than he would have before. ]
I'm trying to understand.
[ And despite Avenger's words, Kirei still looks at him, as if he might... assist, somehow. ]
no subject
I highly doubt understanding's a thing that pops up overnight.
[ He's listening to what Kirei is saying at least. Even if he doesn't make the effort to appear Attentive or Respectful. ]
Hey, what's the look on your face for, priest? [ Oh no, buddy. His tolerance for Kirei was fairly wider than the vast majority of the human race, but still. He was holding nobody's hand through this affair of questing for personal, existential answers. ]
no subject
Which Avenger has noted. ]
It's nothing. [ He answers, not lying; he's already concluded from Avenger's words that he will not be forthcoming. ] Never mind it.
I expect to be handed nothing.
no subject
[ Then he grins cheerfully. ]
Great! Good to see you're quick on the uptake. [ Of course he shouldn't expect to be easily handed anything. That's life for you. Moving the conversation right along: ]
Seen any other familiar faces here yet?
no subject
I did not think this would be possible.
no subject
That's this Tower's work. Don't have a clue if they're abusing a few Magics to make it happen or not, but the results are surprising.