the ladies love us when we pour shots; (CLOSED)

[gandere]

WHO: Tohsaka & Kotomine, possibly an interruption by a third party
WHERE: A strip club
WHEN: October 2nd, late night
WARNINGS: Nudity..........................
SUMMARY: So a barely legal adult and priest walk into a titty bar.
FORMAT: The amount of time it takes for Rin to go from comatose to bitch

[ Frustrated with more than just Kirei's ramblings of their personal business over the network (which she's still frowning about the next day), she decided that they no longer could conduct their conversations over text messages. No, there were things that needed to be said face-to-face, man to now woman, priest to magus--no wait, maybe not so much that last part since how would she even begin to explain inviting a priest here?

Not that she exactly told him what here was. No, all Kirei received was a message to meet her inside this location at X HOUR and she only grew more nervous as the clock ticked closer to that time.

Well, it's not as if he'll order his Servant to kill her. The location was ideally a distraction just in case Lancer did show up (he can thank her later for it) and was public. With a number of people here, no one was going to be able to try anything shady against her. Especially considering her looks. She was likely to be defended over anything else should he make an attempt on her life. Though she may just take his life for her own if he keeps her waiting any longer. Unlike most people, she didn't come here to stare at boobs even if they were decent looking, but instead chose this location not only for being public, but because the chances of her Servant finding her here are slim. The last place Saber would ever enter willingly is a sex-filled hive and Archer's brain would just break down at the sight of the sign before he could ever approach.

Now she just has to hope Kirei has a more iron will than those two to join her inside. ]

Comments

[god_damned]

[ Given the last few discussions they have had with one another, Kirei approaches this invitation with a reserved sense of caution. He has two Servants at his command now, so he is not in fear of his life -- but between herself and Kiritsugu, there is both Archer and Saber to stand against his own: two against two. However, as far as he assumes, Rin is only contracted to one of those two Heroic Spirits, whereas Kirei can call upon both of his own at any time. Should it come down to a confrontation, Kirei is prepared for it.

However, as he realizes where they are meeting, that option seems much less likely to him. He slows his pace as he reaches the the club, his eyes narrowing up at it a little. He almost pulls out his communicator, to double check he had received the proper coordinates, then he sees a figure with familiar twintails already waiting outside the doors. ]

Rin?

[ There is a glance at her, then at the brightly flashing sign of the building she's standing in front of, then back at Rin again. ]

Is there something you wanted to tell me?

[ Obviously there is, or she wouldn't have invited him out, but his tone implies Something Else aside from the usual. The kind of Something Else one might be concerned about when their charge is standing outside a strip club of the same gender.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. ]

[gandere]

[ Did he forget that the entire prologue is Rin's Lesbian Adventures At School? ]

I wouldn't have called for you if it was just for a social get together where we awkwardly sip tea while making small talk. [ If there's anyone she's outright rude to, it's the priest. ] There are many things we need to discuss, but I assume you won't call for your Servant here.

You'll be too distracted.

[god_damned]

I see.

[ Actually, he doesn't. He isn't quite sure which leaps of logic led Rin to believe that this was the best solution, yet here they are. ]

Do you truly intend to actually go inside?

[ She really has changed in the years away from him. ]

[gandere]

You're a priest. Are you really going to tell me a bunch of naked women are going to bother you when there are far more of them in paintings found in the finer arts?

[ Don't underestimate a Tohsaka's intelligence, especially one who seems to be investigating one of his other Servants. ]

Come on, we need to talk and I'm not going to do it out here in this cold air.

[god_damned]

You're comparing these dancers to works of art? That is quite the line; telling them so might earn you a date, Rin.

[ Kirei knows her well enough to know that fighting this now will be pointless, so he goes along. He makes a gesture, inviting her to lead the way. ] If you insist.

[gandere]

[ Rin doesn't need any lessons from Kirei on how to bag a date with a lady, thank you very much. ]

We have a table set aside for us already.

[ How she's managed to do that being 'underage' herself is incredible, but maybe she's used a bit of magecraft to accommodate her. Nothing wrong with that in her eyes so long as she doesn't use it for anything improper. Not that sneaking into a strip club at her age is improper at all, no.

Once inside, she'll sit down with her back to most of the dancing going on in the background while inviting him to sit across from her. A spot where he's sure to be able to see more than he wants to. What a brat. ]

I wish to speak to you about the Fourth Holy Grail War.

[god_damned]

[ To his credit, Kirei barely looks up. Surveying the area is instinct, but his gaze doesn't linger on anything in particular. It would be common for some to commend him on such will to resist temptation, but that would require temptation to be felt at all. He is, after all, an empty man.

He seats down, as he is indicated, and he gives Rin his full attention. ]

What about it?

Does this have to do with your father's Servant?

[gandere]

Partially.

[ After her little outburst about speaking about her mother over the network, the Fourth Holy Grail War has been on her mind. Investigating Gilgamesh to figure out a truly fitting punishment has admittedly been the least of her concerns. Vulcanus has taken priority, but it isn't as if she can just stop to take back her words. ]

A number of things happened during the time so I thought maybe I should have you give me the full story of them. You refused to do so in my youth, but as you can see I'm a mature adult now who is capable of understanding the cruelties of war, so you have little reason to deny me.

[god_damned]

Very well.

[ Their surroundings are indeed obnoxious, and his state of dress is certainly drawing quite a few looks -- but Kirei keeps his eyes on only one woman. ]

But you must remember: I do not know how the War ended.

[ The lie has held up fairly well so far, regardless of Gilgamesh's arrival. ]

Where would you like to begin?

[gandere]

On the actions of my father.

[ Understanding why Archer betrays him is something she needs to know before she can punish the Servant. Kirei can give her those answers. Whether they're truth or fiction has yet to be seen, but she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. ]

I want to see if he conducted the war along the same manner I did. Seeing as you've witnessed it as well as worked beside him, you should be able to tell me that much.

[god_damned]

[ So they are to speak of Tokiomi Tohsaka here, in this place, while a few of the dancers seem to be gravitating in this direction.

He wonders about Rin's motivations. ]

Your father acted as any magus would.

He commanded Archer from a distance. [ A small smile flickers briefly: 'Archer,' a class which apparently favors the Tohsaka family. ] However, his personality was often at ends with the King of Heroes. They were bound together due to your father's relic; not any capability. That was made obvious.

Archers are a willful class, as you know, [ another smile ] and he did not take to Tokiomi's orders so easily. Tokiomi was forced to use a Command Spell upon him, and an already uneasy union turned sour. Archer continued to resist your father, and he could not persist in using his Command Spells since...

[ A pause, and a forced bit of thought: ] Ah, you know the ritual your father intended for the Grail, yes?

[gandere]

The ritual?

[ There was very little in the notes he left her regarding how he summoned a Servant, only the proper way to do it. Furthermore, it appeared as if most things involving the relic used to call forth her father's Servant had disappeared from the Tohsaka family belongings as with anything else having to do with the war. Things she didn't bother to look for in the first few months after losing him despite her anger, no, she had to tend to a mother who was sick instead. ]

No, so tell me of it. [ So pushy. ] Besides, I had no problem using a Command Mantra to force Archer to listen to me.

[ Until the route Unlimited Blade Works happened. ]

[god_damned]

[ Kirei smiles. He places one elbow on the table, and rests his chin on his palm. He is leaning in, like many of the other men at this establishment do, but his focus is on another woman entirely. ]

Tokiomi's ritual involved the sacrifice of all seven Servants -- seven, including his own. He needed to save one Command Spell to force Archer to end his own life.

[ And, according to Rin, Kirei will make that same command years in the future. ]

Their conflict now is a little understandable, don't you think? Tokiomi was going to betray him, so Archer did so first.

[gandere]

Wha-? [ Speaking of betrayal, her voice does just that.

The thought of her father using all seven Servants to sacrifice themselves for some sort of ritual (of what remains unspoken of so far) causes her stomach to drop. What if he had asked her to do the same? The thought of having to bring harm to the beautiful Saber or the loyal Lancer hurts just as much as having to hurt Archer just as he hurt her.

Was it just a pre-requisite to the Archer class to be able to betray one's Master?

Kirei's attention on her is just as unsettling as the atmosphere does little to dissuade his focus. He has her vulnerable and trapped without anyone to come to her rescue. ]

N-No way, my father wouldn't do something so selfish! He was a kind man!

[god_damned]

He was also a magus; one who was devoted entirely to his cause.

[ This is certainly not the place for such conversation. Kirei glances up, idly, to one of the nearby dancers. She does meet his eyes, and she smiles, making an effort since she knows he's watching -- but for all her admittedly graceful motions, his response is bland disinterest.

His gaze returns to Rin easily enough. ]

You must understand: Servants vanish at the end of the War regardless. They are not living beings, truly, like myself and you. Their deaths are not something to mourn; they died years ago.

You know all this already.

[gandere]

[ What does it say about the man who ignores half naked women in favor for the one who doesn't look old enough to be here? ]

Of course I know this, but...

[ She's too attached to a Servant to think of using them that way. Her gaze falls to the floor in guilt as Archer fills her mind. ]

So he was just going to use them for...

[god_damned]

[ It says what he takes pleasure in: the broken look on the girl in front of him, rather than the alluring ones on the women dancing behind her. ]

For his own gain, yes.

[ He regards her calmly, his voice level. ] This has been your family's desire for generations; you mustn't think little of him for this choice.

[ A careful, practiced pause; ] Do you?

[gandere]

No, of course not. I could never... even if father wanted to...

[ Her answer is broken up and drawn out as she thinks on the horrors of using the other Servants in that way. In the end, they were just tools, but it would have been easier to think of them in the manner she initially thought of them in; faceless familiars with no personalities were a lot easier to kill off than those with humanoid faces. ]

No. I have to stand firm by my father's decision so I will.

[ Even now Tokiomi's influence over his daughter is resolute. ]

[god_damned]

Tokiomi has a loyal daughter to the end.

[ He remarks with a smile -- one which isn't very kind. ]

That remains, however, if you could ever attempt to imitate his plan... however, I suppose that doesn't matter, since the City has no Grail.

But it is something to think about, isn't it?

[gandere]

There's no point in thinking about it anymore. [ Rin argues mostly for herself, but a part of her has to pull out this twisted dagger from her heart. ] There's no Grail and there's definitely not seven Servants here to use in that manner.

... Though I wonder why there's no information about it in the texts he left for me to decode. Nothing in his will...

[ Did he intend to not have his daughter follow in his footsteps after all? ]

[god_damned]

Who can say?

Perhaps he expected his own victory to be secure... however, he is not a foolish man. He did prepare his will in time, after all.

He may have had the foresight -- after all, see what has become of you and your Servant... I do not imagine that his goal would be obtained, even if he had left you the instruction.

[gandere]

What are you trying to say, Kirei?

[ She's having trouble following, but that's due to her attachment to her father weighing her down above all else. ]

[god_damned]

Perhaps I should speak a bit more clearly...

A father knows his child. [ He says, even though Risei Kotomine had no idea what kind of son he raised. ] It could be, before things even began, he could see the young girl before him would not have the heart to carry out what he planned.

After all, if he had told you what to do, would you have given up Archer? Or Saber?

[gandere]

[ No, no she wouldn't have. ]

If it was in father's will, I would have found a way to succeed at what he wished for me as well as keep my Servants. [ Rin Tohsaka, the girl who thinks she can do it all. ] Besides, it would have been easy for me to give up Archer seeing as he betrayed me pretty quick.

[ She should have not said that. ]

[god_damned]

[ His eyes widen, minutely, and he seems to sit up a little taller in his seat. ]

He betrayed you? [ He has drawn the comparison: the fate of Tohsakas to be spurned by their Archers -- but he did not think that Archer had wronged Rin more directly than his destructive state of mind. ]

When?