[closed]

[sicharia]

Characters: Claudia Hortensia and Kirei Kotomine
Setting: Various places; throughout the event
Format: Brackets
Summary: Catch-all for various interactions over the course of the event
Warnings: Blanket Kirei warning; otherwise, will update as needed

Comments

[god_damned]

I could teach you.

[ The words come naturally, without much thought behind them. His tone is neutral, betraying little to it, and he wonders if he is perhaps crossing some boundary with the offer. She has already shied from holding his hand, and just now firmly declared their separation. Perhaps such an act would be unwelcome, but it is not exceptionally intimate -- at least not any more than she is being with him now, with her leaning against him. ]

If you wanted. [ He adds. She would have every reason to refuse. ]

[sicharia]

Oh. [The offer surprises her, but with how simply it's made, she wonders if perhaps it shouldn't. What she said before holds true, though: He isn't obligated to do anything for her. The offer is a kindness, then, and she doesn't have any right to expect that from him.]

[A second of silence passes before she has gathered herself enough to say:] No, I'd like that.

[god_damned]

[ For a moment, he expects her to refuse. She would be right to: she is understandably wary of him. When she consents, however, no surprise shows on his face. He simply nods his head, revealing no favor of his own on the matter. ]

There are certain techniques which do not rely on physical strength alone. It would compensate for your illness.

[sicharia]

I'm not as sick as I used to be. [She nudges him, but it's not as though she's really offended. She know she could, potentially, work herself until her body is falling apart all over again, given its inability to repair itself.] Thank you, though. I really... Please.

[god_damned]

I have noticed. Do you feel much pain?

[ The question seems automatic, like a rehearsed response. He is meant to be concerned for her health, despite feeling no such thing. He does feel an odd curiosity about it, as if he knows what answer he is hoping to hear. ]

You do not need to thank me.

[sicharia]

Mm... Not really. Not just from—moving around and doing normal things. [Or even not moving at all, as was sometimes the case.] I'm still not very strong, and I get tired easily, but it's still...

[...Well, to say "it's better than it was" doesn't even come close to being adequate. It's better than it has been since before she met Kirei—since she was a child, even.]

[Her body started breaking down the day she was born, after all.]

[She gives Kirei another light nudge, and she sounds teasing again as she tells him:]

But I am thankful, so I'd like to thank you, even if I don't need to.

[god_damned]

I see.

[ It's a clipped response. Should he not be glad, to hear the woman who was once his wife is in better health? That she suffers less? Strangely: no. It is the opposite. He wants to dismiss it as something else, or find some other explanation. Perhaps this disappointment here is a delayed response to her denial of her marriage -- but that is too obvious of a delusion.

He bows his head, watching her as she nudges against him. It's a light thing, so gentle and affectionate, and he is uncertain if he is meant to reciprocate that contact or not. The gestures are confusing in a way: she denied him, but stays so close.

After a moment of thought, he stiffly puts an arm around her. It seems to be the proper thing to do. ]

You should rest now. You have kept yourself busy today.

[sicharia]

Mm. All right.

[She has been widowed longer than they were married, but she finds herself falling back into those old patterns easily now. She pushes herself too hard sometimes, out of stubbornness; it's best for her health if she listens to his reminders to rest. She shifts against his side, getting comfortable against him as his arm wraps around her.]

Thank you. [She thanks him again, for everything, and lets her eye shut.]

[god_damned]

[ She should not be thanking him; not for anything. She gave her life for him, and the only sorrow he felt when he watched her die was due to it being by her own hand, rather than his own--

--a thought he has tried to deny, but he cannot. His hand tightens on her arm, in a way that might be mistaken for affection or desire for closeness, but instead it's rather grim.

Kirei says nothing, and he lets her sleep. ]