capeandcowllogs | The sky is red and the sea is blue

Entry tags:

The sky is red and the sea is blue

WHO: Tsundere #1 (

swordedpast) and Tsundere #2 (

gandere)
WHERE: Near the MAC
WHEN: Monday, January 28th
WARNINGS: Probably nothing except general emotional dysfunction.
SUMMARY: Archer nearly gets dragged into the Wild Hunt; Rin intervenes.
FORMAT: Prose.

He's late coming back from work tonight. Actually, he's not even coming back from work exactly, because he got off a couple of hours ago. It's just that since then, Archer has been weaving his way through the side streets and alleys of the City, trying to shake some pursuer he knows is after him. Whoever or whatever they are, he knows he can't bring them home to Rin. If he confronts them, it has to be somewhere safely far away from her. Or at least, that's what he spent about an hour and a half doing. After that point, he realized that there's no singular pursuer on his tail, but that something dark and magic is afoot. In which case, Rin could be in as much trouble as he is already.

The thought also crosses his mind that maybe Rin could help with this malady--after all, she's the master of magecraft here. He dismisses this thought quickly--he's already making plans to shield her from his troubles when he goes after that girl in Southwest Phoenicia, after all. He can't let himself rely on her for this.

He's still thinking that he can't let himself rely on Rin to help him when he's two blocks away from the MAC and the sky opens up above him. It's midwinter, but thunder roars in his ears and lightning blinds him. Hail falls--hail, at the end of January. Now he's certain this is magic, but that certainty doesn't help him, because he's just as certain that his pursuers are here. He goes from a swift walk to a run, trying to suppress the rising dread, or at least channel it into a productive urge. It doesn't matter if they're chasing him, but Rin may be in danger, and that's something else.

Archer makes it almost to the MAC itself before he realizes that it's not just rain and thunder he's hearing--it's hoofbeats. And they aren't just chasing him: they're asking him to join. He comes to a stop in the middle of a small park. The lights of the MAC would be easily visible through the rain, if he weren't surrounded by the ghostly cavalry roaring past him.

He's two hours late for dinner, and he's trying to remember why he shouldn't take up arms against all sinners and ride. It's something to do with what he's two hours late for, and who's waiting there with it.

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The storm starts to fade. The ghostly attackers aren't all defeated, but they've taken enough damage from Rin's fury that they're beating a quick retreat to find easier prey. As the spirits leave, the foul weather trails after them. The last of the rain patters to the ground, and suddenly the weather is cold but fair again, with the moon and the streetlights providing plenty of illumination.

That's unfortunate, because Archer is suddenly terrified of seeing Rin's face. He's terrified of hearing what she has to say instead of letting the storm carry it away. And he doesn't want her to see his face as she speaks, either.

It's too late, though. He's standing not far from a streetlamp, so the pain in his eyes is all too clear, and it has nothing to do with the blood soaking his leg where the hellhound's teeth grazed him. He's kind of angry too, actually. He'd have liked to keep watching her when she's like this--to keep looking at that head held high, pale with the effort she's put forth. He'd have liked to look at her like this and feel the need to protect her sneak inside him where he's used to only having empty bitterness and self-loathing, but--

When she says something like that, he thinks he's done the opposite of protecting her. He's probably broken her somehow.

"Is that so?" His shoulders slump, and he lowers his gaze. "Sorry, Rin. I really got it wrong this time."

"That's alright."

Her words are meant to encourage him, to really convince him that everything will be okay, as her arm drops to her side in her exhaustion. The body of this magus isn't meant to fight as she has and despite the resilience she put on display moments ago, her spirit to stand tall leaves with the hoard.

"I'll just have to be right when you're wrong. That's why we're..."

Rin recognizes too easily that she's saying things she doesn't mean to say as the crushing weight of realization overwhelms her. Combined with the low amount of prana coursing through her circuits (barely enough for Archer, but she's at her limit) and the subtle winter wind is enough to bring this star crashing down into the earth.

But it takes much more than that to encourage Archer, and it's impossible to convince him that everything will be okay, because he knows it won't. Fortunately, he knows one other thing for certain: that when Rin falls, he needs to catch her.

It's good to have a Servant's speed. Rin never hits the ground; she's in his arms in a second. He's grateful--grateful that he could catch her, and grateful that she didn't get to finish what she was saying. It was probably something he couldn't bear to hear.

He makes his way back into the MAC and to their shared apartments as quickly as he can. Somewhere along the way, he comes to the alarming realization that it feels good and right to be holding her, that he likes the way her head rests against his chest...so he does the natural thing and shuts down that part of himself with a thought. He detaches himself completely from emotion and simply thinks on what he has to do: making sure Rin is safe and will be well.

That's how she winds up on her bed, in her underwear (yes, he took off her ribbons and her stockings as well) and wrapped in all the blankets in both apartments. The bed has been moved a bit, dragged closer to the heat. Archer himself sits next to the bed, waiting in perfect silence. He hasn't even bothered to fix his own hair from the rain. He'll simply wait until he's certain that Rin will be all right. Right now, he has no other purpose--

--and he's trying not to think about how that makes him feel.

The first thought she has when she begins to stir is that it feels nice. What 'it' is remains unknown to her, but there's warmth to fight off what might be considered an oncoming cold. She can't get sick. What happens to a Servant if their Master falls ill? Instantly her mind leaps to how Shirou was injured and Saber was seemingly unscathed as a result. Wasn't all of that excluded due to some special exception?

The fogginess doesn't leave her mind as the blanket moves up over her mouth to her nose. If she breathes just a little harder, it'll heat up the area around her face more. Her hair is around her face and heavy enough to leave her wondering if she passed out right after they got home. That's right, she went to help Archer and they walked back here.

At least that's what her sleepy mind is convinced of.

It isn't until she rolls over on her side to look at the man sitting nearby with confusion. Since when was Shirou in this place? More importantly, what the hell is he doing here? He should be back at home studying or something more important than dying his hair.

Oh.

"Archer?" She hasn't even noticed her current condition as her head rolls back flat against the pillow. "Is it morning?"

He doesn't move when she stirs. He doesn't turn to look at her when she calls out to question him. His eyes merely flicker slightly to the side as she speaks. "It's late at night. It was still early enough in the evening when you passed out."

There's no emotion at all in his voice. It's strange, actually. With his hair askew, his bangs down on his forehead, it should be easy to see the face of the boy called Shirou in him. But he's not wearing any face that could be mistaken like that. His expression has about as much feeling as the display of a digital clock with the power cut.

He has to be this way right now, or he might have some emotions about the things Rin said to him.

It'll take her a few minutes at least to notice any such expression, so for now she focuses on herself. That's her most natural setting and so long as she's too tired to comprehend the bigger picture, she'll rely on what she does know.

"What a pain... my sleep schedule is going to be all sorts of messed up."

So she complains about something fruitless instead of her current condition. He's fortunate she hasn't tried to climb out of the bed at any rate. Then that expression of his might crack.

"We won, didn't we?"

He's grateful for her sleepy-headed self-interest, insofar as he can feel gratitude at the moment. There's other things it wouldn't do for her to notice--like all the dried blood still clinging to his leg. The hellhound didn't land a truly debilitating hit on him before Rin took it down, but it's still an injury that would send a normal human to the hospital for stitches.

"That's wrong." He does his best to keep his voice level. He's succeeding pretty well. "It's not as if it was much of a battle, but it's more like you won. I--"

--stood there, and thought that you were beautiful, and that you were someone I could fight side-by-side with.

His composure cracks, just slightly. He draws in a quick, agonized breath and ducks his head to stare bitterly down at the floor. She's really getting in the way of all his plans. This whole place is.

"You were injured."

Rin recalls that much without having to pick up on the trace of it in the air. Someone who spent a majority of her lifetime drawing out her own blood is quick to catch on to the smell. Pushing an arm up underneath her, she tries to free herself from the weight of the additional blankets.

She gives up soon after she starts.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have shown off so much." Because that's what it was. It wasn't the fear of losing Archer that drove her to attack them relentlessly. "I'll be feeling this for another few hours."

Days really. Fortunately she doesn't have a job to force her out of bed or school to attend so it'll be alright for her to just rest. Archer's leg though, Servants can heal themselves can't they? So she shouldn't worry about it for now. Those are her thoughts as her head hits the pillow once more.

"It's minor. Go back to sleep." His voice is still toneless. He's still not looking at her.

All the same, he waits until he's certain she's sleeping again before he gets up and leaves the room. It's a weakness, but he hates to leave her side.

He cleans his wound; he changes into the few spare clothes he has; he puts his hair back into place. And, unable to think of anything else to do, he makes tea for when Rin wakes up.

(He made her tea the first morning after she summoned him, too. That feels like a million years ago; how much has changed, here in this City? When did he come to assign any value to their days together here, and why can't he stop? Her body in his arms, her head on his chest--)

He brings the tea into her room and sits down once more against the bed.

If Archer tells her to sleep, then she will. There's no more questioning whether it's the right thing to do or not, she just simply does it.

Usually when she dreams, it's of the past. Sometimes of Archer's, most of the time of her own. It isn't long before she's thinking of things that can never be and of a man who is incapable of holding anything dear having her in his arms.

She snaps free of it soon enough with the invitation of tea.

"Archer?" Reaching out for him with an arm fully outstretched, she pauses to take note of how bare it is. Funny, even her pajamas were long sleeve. "What the?"

He'd hate to admit it, but here in a world where he sleeps and breathes, Archer has had some dreams of his own--and since renewing his contract with Rin, some of them have been of her past. It's something he shouldn't think on, he knows. But he can't help it. The images of her passing each day in the lonely chill of that big house stay stuck in his head, and they leave him aching for the chance to make a home for her that isn't so lonely--

It's fortunate that her puzzled awakening snaps him out of those thoughts. It's unfortunate that he's still not entirely thinking straight, because he answers the implied question casually without hesitation. "Your clothes are on the radiator; they need to dry so you don't catch cold."

"What are they doing there?"

It's taking a while to sink in, but that's to be expected when she's half asleep. If her clothes were on the radiator, then what was she wearing right now?

"Are they ruined?" Instead of questioning this very moment, she focuses on a material topic instead. "My jacket... It's going to be alright too, right?"

Cherishing it above all else came naturally when it was from him.

At least she's wearing her underwear--that was soaked too, but even when he's deadening his emotions as much as possible, Archer knows better than to risk some things.

Right now, though, he doesn't show any indication that he did anything significant at all. He simply answers her questions in the calmest possible voice. "They're drying on the heat. They'll be fine." Why does she care so much about the jacket, anyway? It's not even from their world. "I'd say 'don't run out into a storm in them again,' but it probably won't happen again...it was an unusual circumstance."

"A little bit of rain never hurt anyone. It helps plants grow and grass turn green."

An idle comment as she moves her legs out from under the covers and towards the floor. Only when she's about to throw them off of her entirely does she realize the air is touching her bare skin. With a shriek, she dives to the floor opposite of Archer, blankets following in on top of her. Don't worry, the loud thump was just her head.

"What did you do to me?!"

"It's the middle of winter, so nothing is growing." It's hard for him to keep his face expressionless and his voice emotionless with her around. Some exasperation creeps back in. "Or did your display back there shake you up so much you scrambled the seasons?"

He starts to get to his feet. Why was he sitting on the floor brooding anyway? Rin is here, she's awake, and he needs to be able to keep up with her--

What was that thump?

"I didn't do anything to you! Except--" He scowls down at the floor. "You had to do something silly like rescuing me, so I took care of you afterwards."

Feeling around on top of her bed, she finds a pillow and yanks it to her chest before popping up. There's blankets up around her shoulders, but she needs as much armor to place between her nude body and Archer.

"You took my clothes off!" She accuses him loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

"Yell a little louder next time. There might be someone ten floors away who didn't hear you." He's definitely sulking now. That's fine; it keeps him from blushing. "You were soaked through with freezing rain, so naturally..."

He trails off, looking away from her still.

"Well--with my luck you'll catch cold regardless."

"Even my stockings!" Leering towards him. "Was that necessary?"

He saw. It was enough to bring her to tears, but she manages not to fall that far. Instead, she nestles her chin into the pillow as she glares.

"I won't catch a stupid cold. I have a strong immune system!"

To be honest, he's relieved that she's yelling at him. That's a lot easier to deal with than when she's protecting him. He falls quickly back into the usual role. "Pardon me for not trusting your strong immune system to fight the damp when you've just needlessly depleted your prana like that."

He folds his arms over his chest. "But there's no reason for me to stick around now. I can go back to my apartment so you'll be free to put some dry clothes on."

"Don't leave."

Her tone is more firm than desperate. If he walks away from her, she'll just wonder if he's really in that apartment next door or back out in the storm with those spirits. The way their cries resonate in her mind even now. It was powerful sorcery, enough to make even her question whether or not she should have joined them.

She trusts Archer.
She just can't trust him on his own.

"That's an order from your Master. Are you going to disobey me?"

He doesn't want to leave.

If she sounded desperate he could dismiss it as neediness that leads to poor judgment of his character. But she doesn't. She sounds like his Master making a decision he can't make for himself.

So it strikes him that he'd like to stay. He thinks that it would be good to fight again at her side while she looks as beautiful as she did back there--

"No. I think I'm having a rare spell of obedience tonight."

"Good."

With a sigh, she looks towards the dresser in the room. All she has to do is get something out of there to wear, but crossing the room in her current state of undress isn't going to happen. She could just ask Archer to get her something, but instead she turns to lean her back against the edge of the bed. Pulling her knees up to keep the pillow position there, she thinks back on the last time she held her legs like this.

"Say Archer, are occurrences of that nature common? If so, we'll need to readjust our battle plan for this place."

It occurs to him that her shoulders against the edge of the bed look awfully fragile. Like someone should be there to put an arm around them, or something like that. He knows it can't be him, but someone should--

Archer banishes the thought. She's asking him about something business-like. He has to answer in kind. "That's what I've heard..." He can't return to his place leaning against the bed now that she's there, so instead he lowers himself to sit against the far wall of the bedroom. "But I was also told that these happenings don't often leave the City. If you're tired of them, we could go."

He knows even as he says it that it's impossible. It can't happen.

"Do we even have enough money for a vacation?"

Rin knows the answer well enough to that. Archer can barely support the two of them, right? She's not very good with money, but she is aware that they are doing what they can to get by.

"Well, we should stick around regardless. If those fiends cause too much trouble, we'll have to do what we can to help the people here. There are those who don't deserve to be hurt by them."

She thinks of Calvin to start with, but there are others. Charlie, Kat, Kanaya. It's weird to think about that, but try as she might to dismiss it, they continue to intrude on her thoughts.

"I'm not talking about a vacation, Rin." He keeps speaking even though he knows that it's impossible. "I'm talking about moving and spending whatever time we have in this place away from the mess of this City. You'd be safer and less troubled by these stupid spirits."

He keeps talking about things like that. It's not like trying over and over again to jump a hurdle even though you know you can't make it; who would do a thing like that, anyway? (He can't remember who would do a thing like that.) It's more like standing beneath the hurdle punching yourself for not being able to make it.

It's because he can't give Rin a life free of those troubles. Even if he were physically capable, he'd refuse to walk away from this City and its heroes, and the people they need to save. So he has to remind himself of how he's failing her. But it's strange; she doesn't seem to mind.

He presses a fist to his mouth for a second, forgetting that it's something he's seen her do, to try to erase any trace of a smile. Any hint of gratitude for the fact that he knows she'll choose to stay, just as he would.

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