A SAVAGE LAND FOR A SAVAGE NIGHT

[professorlionface]

WHO: EVERYONE OF ALL AGES
WHERE: The Xavier Institute
WHEN: June 15th, early evening to all night long!
WARNINGS: Who knows! Language is likely, violence is possible, dancing is mandatory.
SUMMARY: prom night prom night gotta get down on prom night
FORMAT: MINGLE

As you enter through the doors of the Danger Room, the sound of cicadas chirping clues you into your arrival to a tropical paradise. Red and orange lights show a room transformed, vines all along the walls and trees that seem to reach the beyond the ceiling. There's no doubt now, you're deep in the heart of the jungle. You can almost feel the heat of a distant volcano, the humidity wafting in from a river just outside, but that's only your imagination. Luckily, someone had the foresight to bring an exterminator into this jungle beforehand, as there isn't a bug in sight.

Fierce papier mache dinosaurs look down on your throughout the room, some perhaps planning their next meal, others regarding the intruders to their home with something not unlike fear. From the stage, the gleaming jaws of a downed Tyrannosaurus look on at the partiers, hungry even in its taxidermied stated.

But there's one ornament that stands above them all: the mirrored surface of what appears to be a pterodactyl man, reflecting the lights all across the room in ways most disco balls only wish they could.

Welcome to the Savage Land. Hope you survive the experience!

quick links!
DANCE FLOOR
REFRESHMENTS
SIDELINES
OUTSIDE

Comments

[gandere]

Archer, I want to go home already.

[ Rin, on the other hand, doesn't do well when she's surrounded by several individuals and it shows. While she might have initially wanted to be the center of attention, the realization her dress doesn't make her stand out as much bored her to tears. Now she's just another pretty face stuck with a group of friends and that just won't do for her.

What does do it for her?

Complaining gratuitously to her Servant. ]

[swordedpast]

I'm sorry, Rin.

[ There's no sincerity in his voice. He doesn't bat an eye as he glances at her, then looks back out to the dance floor. ]

As I wasn't the one who brought you here, it'd mess things up if I were the one to take you home.

[gandere]

Huh, Archer?

[ Is he upset her with? She studies him curiously in an attempt to gauge just how sour he might be, but accepts the coldness all the same. ]

I didn't think you'd want to come with someone like me.

[swordedpast]

I didn't say anything about that. It's not as if I wanted to come with you.

[ He didn't. He definitely didn't. So why did the sight of her arriving without him make something twist in his gut? ]

But you came with Saber and that kid, so shouldn't you go home with them? Things will probably be out of order otherwise.

[gandere]

I was thinking of loaning my Servant back to Emiya so that the two of them could have an enjoyable evening together.

[ Is she playing match maker? No, that's just the best excuse she can muster and even then her shoulders slump. ]

I know you didn't want to come with me... so you don't have to say that.

[swordedpast]

What?! You can't do that. I would never obey that boy, so don't even think of it. He's a pathetic fool unworthy of a Servant like me. So--

[ But in the midst of his tirade against Shirou, he notices something. He notices that Rin's shoulders are slumping, that she looks dejected. Before he can stop himself, he holds his head high and says something to stop that. ]

So instead of whining about how you need to go home, dance with me, Rin.

[gandere]

[ She meant Saber, but now that she thinks about it? Referring to the both of them as her Servant isn't ideal. Maybe Servant A and Servant S? ]

Huh, what?

[ Suddenly she's yanked from her thoughts back to reality. ] Dance with you?

[swordedpast]

[ Vaguely, belatedly, it occurs to him that if she says loaning her Servant back to Shirou, she probably means Saber. Isn't that strange? He schemed so hard to unite Rin with Saber and free them both of their inconvenient Emiyas, but now he can't help but think of Rin as his Master and himself as Rin's Servant, no matter what.

Firmly, he puts aside that thought. ]

Yes, dance with me.

[ He can't regret saying that. He can't regret things for this brief window of time in which he is determined to make Rin happy for the night.

Archer holds out his hand and bows his head just slightly. ]

Everyone else has been rude and stupid enough to ignore you. So I will fix that and give you a worthy dance partner.

[ The song playing now is upbeat, so he doesn't have to worry about the dancing getting too personal, as well. ]

1/2

[gandere]

T-They haven't been ignoring me, you idiot!

[ Quick to defend her "popularity", she raises her voice and points a finger towards him. Impulsive really, but it can't be helped. Archer did state a truth, but one she rather neglect. ]

[gandere]

Wait, you're going to dance with me?

[ It hits her again just what those words meant. Archer? Doing yet another domestic couple related activity with her? What has she done to deserve this affection, she wonders as she lowers her hand towards his. ]

Yes, of course you're going to dance with me! We're going to dance so much that everyone else will be envious that they haven't noticed us sooner!

[swordedpast]

[ He grasps her hand without hesitation. ]

Everyone else at this pitiful party will be sorry they aren't us.

[ And he pulls her out to the dance floor as the perky music continues. ]

[gandere]

H-Hey wait, I don't know how to--!!

[ What objections she may have voiced is cut suddenly in her attempts to dodge people as he drags her out. There's a bit of resistance in her arm, but not enough to actually put up a fight against a Heroic Spirit. ]

Ugh, complicated. You always make things so complicated.

[ Her words may be a complaint, but the tone she speaks in is anything but ire. There's just something about how he yanks her out of her comfort zone that's too endearing for her to contest. Gazing around the room, she studies other girls her age for a better idea on how to dance to this kind of beat. ]

[swordedpast]

I am a complicated man, but that's fitting. A complicated woman is the one who summoned me.

[ To be honest, he's no dancer either. As the song continues, he keeps narrowly avoiding stepping on her feet. ]

[gandere]

[ Her lips twist up in concentration as she frowns, spending most of her time staring down at the ground to ensure she's not stepping on his own. ]

An amazingly complicated woman summoned you and somehow the Grail bestowed the knowledge of dance to you? I wonder if that's because we're man and woman?

[swordedpast]

Do you think the Grail anticipated this event, Rin? I don't. I think I'm just naturally grace--

[ He nearly trips and falls. ]

--ful.

[gandere]

[ Reaching out to steady him: ] I know you are, but you're aligning well with me.

[ That's the best she's got to retort with oops. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He catches hold of her arm and blinks at her. ]

Are you saying you're as graceful as I am?

[ Oh, good. The song is ending. That means they can stop this charade and--

What's that? There's a new song starting? ]

[gandere]

Save for stumbling all over the place. [ She teases in a softer voice as her head perks up. ]

Oh, this is a nice tune.

[ Looking up towards him, Rin waits for him to properly pull her into the posture commonly associated with slow dancing. ]

Archer?

[swordedpast]

[ He stares down at her.

He was going to stop. But he can't when she looks at him like that. When she reminds him that he really is her partner, in more ways than just for this dance. ]

It's trite and overplayed. Haven't you heard it on the radio? Well, I suppose this is a new version. They slowed down the beat.

[ Are his cheeks red? Is he starting to blush?

'In another life, I would be your girl. We keep all our promises, be us against the world. In another life, I would make you stay, so I don't have to say you were the one that got away...'

He's blushing. ]

...you deserve a better song than this, Rin.

[ He pulls her into his arms for the dance. ]

[gandere]

Then after we're done here, you can find us a better song.

[ Us. They really are partners and she can't see herself using that term with anyone other than him. Another step in to get as close to his chest as possible, Rin rests against it with the knowledge of knowing just where every groove is. Not from the armor he wears, but from seeing it herself just recently. Subtle, she glances down to where that scar is before she faces him once more. ]

We can do that sometime this week. Have a dance in the living room with some song playing in the background. Softly, of course. We wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors any.

[ She has to talk about the future because she can't deal with the present right now. Archer, with cheeks so red, talking over the lyrics of the song is a sigh she wants to preserve, but is scared of all the same. ]

[swordedpast]

[ Her head against his chest feels right, even with such a stupid song playing in the background. The blush gradually fades from his cheeks.

He told her he would give her this dance, so for a few minutes, he has to leave aside regret. He can contend with it later; he always does. ]

...I'll be busy later this week.

[ Later might be now. ]

[gandere]

Put it aside for me.

[ A selfish request unlike her, but she still says it. ] A job is just a job, you can get a new one. Work is always keeping you from me and I just won't stand for it much longer.

[swordedpast]

[ His heart shakes in his chest. His heart rattles against the scar that Rin so recently saw. He's sure she can feel it.

But his voice is calm. ]

That's impossible. It's serious business, to do with Vulcanus.

[ In other words, it's a hero thing. ]

[gandere]

Oh, it's that?

[ There's no resistance from her, but her body slumps against his in inevitable defeat. Rin's learned by now that there's no changing Archer when it comes to those matters.

Even if she's brave enough to ask him to do something for her. This is why she's not allowed to have the things she really wants and instead settles on frivolous possessions that mean nothing. ]

You're going somewhere I can't follow, right?

[swordedpast]

Yeah, I'm going to the South Pole.

[ He says this without hesitation or any indication that he's joking. But...

...he also continues to hold her close.

Like his arms remember a time when one girl could have been more important to him than the world, even if his brain doesn't. ]