capeandcowllogs | A SAVAGE LAND FOR A SAVAGE NIGHT

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[A blank look.]

You've seen me do battle in a dress and you say this now?

Hmph, that was armor.

[He gestures at his own hips.]

Like my coat and cape.

[Not that he's wearing them now.]

Oh, it's a cape? I had thought it was fashionable where you came for men to wear a skirt.

[Childish? Yes. Something she's wanted to say for a while? Definitely.]

It's a mantle.

It looks ridiculous. Be glad you are skilled as an archer, as anyone getting in to close range with you could easily use it as leverage against you.

[Though, to be fair, they'd have to get behind him first.]

I won't be taken from behind like that, king of knights.

[--so it slips out like that, as he sulks.]

[She crosses her arms and tries to keep from feeling triumphant at making him slip. Instead she decides to press it. Just to get a little revenge for him being so weird about her being in a dress.]

I see you've decided to take your guess as to my identity.

...!

[For just a moment, a guilty "OOPS" look passes over his face. No, not even a moment. A second.

Then it's gone, and he's crossing his arms and letting out a little huff of breath.]

Have I? You're a knight among knights so it's natural I'd call you that. Or are you admitting that it's more than a turn of phrase?

[So he tries to salvage this, his cheeks red.]

Archer, I've told you before. If you wish to make a guess as to my identity, I will not lie if it is right or wrong. You are an intelligent man. [Intelligent enough it gives her hope for Shirou.]

With how much time we have spent together since arriving here I would be very surprised if you did not at least have an educated guess by now.

Very well.

[He lifts a hand to point at her most dramatically.]

King of Knights, do you wield Excalibur here?

[....yeah, Taiga was definitely his "sister".

Part of her is disappointed the game is up, the other part is glad to not to have to dance around it any longer. It's not like she didn't know Archer knew. Of course she did. Now it's one less thing she can pretend to be ignorant of so that Rin may have her own privacy.

She stands proud, chin level, and puts on the airs of a king. Seeing as he wants to be dramatic, she might as well, too.]

Indeed I do. [She has to fight so hard not to call him 'King of Chefs' there.]

Congratulations, you guessed correctly.

[His shoulders slump a little.

He'd like to tell her that he's known for ages. That he's known forever, or close enough. But he can't give himself away like that.

So he lowers his dramatically pointing hand.]

I'd ask you to spar, but that would be meaningless. You are Saber, and I Archer. You'd beat me in a flash.

If it was a battle of swords perhaps, but if we went bow to bow you would definitely win.

[She's good enough with a bow to be able to hunt with one should she ever require to. Using it as an actual combat weapon? Nope. It was one of the few things Kay, rest his soul, ever bested her in. No, Saber's talents lay mainly with the broadsword when it comes to the many armaments a knight must know how to use.]

Do not underestimate your skills, Archer. If it was guaranteed I would win any and all matches due to my class, then what would the point of the Grail War itself be?

That said, if you ever wish for a friendly spar, no magic involved, I would not mind. It would be nice to fight an opponent with a mind as sharp as yours and the skill to back it up once more.

[....seriously. How does Shirou grow up to be him again?]

[For a moment, he hesitates. There's naked temptation in his eyes.

To spar with Saber, like old days when he thought he could still save her? When he thought he could still save anyone?

Then he shakes his head.]

Let's remain allies alone, Saber, and not go too far.

[She called them allies. It's not much, but she thinks it's progress considering the distance he's kept so far. Perhaps Rin is right. Perhaps the timeline can be altered and Archer's betrayal can be avoided if he's willing to consider her an ally rather than an opponent. Saber actually gives him a soft smile.]

Very well. Just remember if you would ever like to spar I will not say no.

[That's when a very nervous-looking teenage boy cuts in and stutters out a request to dance with Saber.]

Eh? [She's clearly not used to being asked in such a manner. Whenever she had to dance in the past it was with Guinevere, her wife.]

[Archer's attention quickly shifts to that poor boy. He fixes him with a piercing stare.]

Dance well for her.

[You cannot say this kid does not have balls, even though he looks like he's about to wet himself at the sight of Archer and his piercing stare. He stutters out a 'y-y-yes sir! I will sir! My hands won't even wander, sir!' before offering a shaking hand to Saber.

The look on the boy's face makes Saber bite her tongue on her apprehension about dancing. It would not be right to say no after he put so much courage into asking her and facing down Archer.

So she goes out on the dancefloor with this boy and gives Archer a look of such venom when the boy is busy trying to figure out where it's okay to put his hands. Saber decides to take the lead and guides the boys hands, leading him in a very formal waltz.

Turns out, Saber can do a slow dance.

As long as she's the one doing the leading.]

A SAVAGE LAND FOR A SAVAGE NIGHT

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