awashlogs | [CLOSED] April Catch-all

My l—Saber, I…I am grateful for your regard for me.

[ To think she’d been willing to share one of her memories with him! The honor is beyond words. ]

But I must confess that I…sometimes fear what this world might do to you. To all of us.

[ Just as Bedivere's role was to offer a perspective of common kindness, Tristan's is to see the somber side of things. And while Saber plans to keep his concerns in mind, Artoria has her own role to fulfill: a king must appear unflappable and infallible so that his people may feel they can rely on him. ]

We must be in dire straits indeed for a vaunted knight like yourself to have such profound concerns.

[ Her tone is light, but she smiles slightly to show she doesn't mean to mock him. ]

Please, speak freely of the cause of your fear. I value all the wisdom your experience has to offer. The words of caution you have for me today may preserve me someday in the future.

[ He can tell that she’s jesting, but his expression grows darker still. She isn’t wrong, after all. ]

This town has a way of exposing secrets, Saber. Often by touch alone. I have seen into the depths of sorrow this town holds, and my past has likewise been revealed in this manner. That is how my True Name came to be revealed to a number of individuals in this realm.

And this tendency is more concerning to you than physical threats such as the recent dragon invasion?

[ It's a sincere question. The exposure of secrets, while a severe imposition, is not as alarming to her as the possibility of another attack in the near future. Maybe that's just how she's been conditioned, always having to think of the next inevitable battle. ]

Such physical threats are rare…though now I am not certain if that might still be the case.

[ Even so, it’s vastly preferable to him than to have somebody else probing at his heart. Nobody needs to deal with all that baggage! ]

We will be fortunate if such things remain a rarity.

[ Though the town survived the dragons astoundingly well, architectural damage aside. If that didn't wipe out the town, perhaps nothing will. ]

I will keep your counsel in mind. However, you need not fear for me, and I confess that I feel some shame that you ever would, as gentle as your concern may be. I must wonder again at the things you have seen.

[ Regarding Camelot, that is. She doesn't expect him to explain if he still deems it irrelevant, but that singularity seems to have left an impression on him. ]

[ It’s hard not to tense up at that reply. He wants to protest—maybe tell her that he didn’t mean it that way, that he didn’t want to imply that she was weak or anything like that. There’s a look of profound anguish that he just barely suppresses by taking a deep breath and giving her this non-answer: ]

Such things are only the work of fate.

[ Talk about ambiguous... but that's fine. Saber sighs and rests her hands on her hips, wondering how this visit got so gloomy. The sadness vortex of the Knight of Lamentation might as well be a sorcery in its own right. ]

In any case, if I cannot give you my memory, I can at least share it in words. Since you were good enough to tell me about your Master, I had hoped to show you mine.

…Emiya.

[ A man he’d worked with, but never really known that well ~~because all anyone actually cares about is his cooking~~. ]

He must have been a good master.

[ She doesn't miss the way Tristan says the surname only, as if already familiar with it. ]

As a magus, he was sorely lacking. He summoned me by accident, and his flow of magical energy was completely cut off from me. As a person, he was unbelievably reckless. If I was not a spirit, his lack of sense and self-preservation would have aged me twenty years. He was a bewildering, frankly infuriating person to try to keep alive.

[ With all that off her chest, her expression clears. ]

But yes, I valued him as a Master. We did not always see eye to eye, but I would say we both grew vastly from our partnership.

[ He’s silent for a moment—and a little wide-eyed at the rant, honestly—as he attempts to reconcile the Emiya—with either Emiya he knows with the one she describes. But of course they are both Counter-Guardians, and thus of a vastly different nature compared to most other Servants.

But still… ]

Oh! I—I am… [ Sorry? Is she upset or happy that she’s had him for a master? He certainly seems below par compared to his master, but even so, would it be an insult to acknowledge as much? And most of all—what does she mean to say by all of this? She couldn’t possibly be telling him of her own experiences as a Servant purely to try and get closer to him… ]

That is, I am pleased to hear that it turned out well for you, my liege.

[ she just wants to bond geez!!!! ]

Quite so. In the end, I believe we were a very good match.

[ And she hasn't even said anything about his cooking yet... ]

Perhaps you know a version of him as well. Is there a Servant Emiya among your ranks of the Archer class? He would have white hair and a red coat.

[ It's... kind of a coat? ]

[ Bond??? DOES NOT COMPUTE ]

I know of two fellows named Emiya, including the man of which you speak. They are both also contracted to my master.

[ Ah, he gets it now. Since Master’s been to Fuyuki, clearly this is building up to more questions regarding the Singularities. That makes him ease up a little, even if the thought of a troublesome young man such as the one she’s described puzzles him. That sort of person is deemed worthy of being master to the King of Knights? Emiya seems to have lived quite a more storied life than he’d realized… ]

[ Two? She's been contracted to two different Emiyas, but Kiritsugu wouldn't... or maybe he would... anyway. ]

My, my. It is beginning to sound like your Master is contracted to every Heroic Spirit under the sun.

[ And speaking of the sun... ]

Are Gawain and the others there as well?

Not everyone.

[ Thinking of Agravain, Gareth, et al. ]

But yes, Sir Gawain is there. As are Sirs Lancelot, Mordred, Bedivere, and Galahad.

Quite the contingent. I should not be surprised that so many of the Round Table are present, but I will admit that I feel some pride upon hearing it.

[ It means the world has readily acknowledged the goodness of her knights, after all. And there may be more who have become Heroic Spirits but not yet been summoned by the Master of Chaldea. ]

[ He wonders if he should point out that there are two Lancelots, unaware as he is of her previous encounters. Ultimately, however, he decides against it.

Better that she remains proud of her knights. Or at least, the ones that hadn’t failed her horribly and aren’t kind of stuck here at the moment, the dastards. ]

Yes…

[ Is that a…legitimately happy smile? It’s a tiny one, to be sure, but… ]

And we owe much to the one who has guided our blades.

[ She's still surprised to hear such comments coming from him, but she doesn't let that feeling show on her face. Perhaps one day when she's summoned as a normal Servant in her prime, she'll be able to take that kind of compliment fully to heart. It's gratifying to see him smile though, and her own expression softens in answer. ]

You flatter me. I may have had a hand in gathering you, but your deeds were all your own.

[ Her smile tilts a little, dryly. ]

In fact, I have to wonder at how much any of you were guided by my hand. I am certain your Master would understand me well. You would not be so memorable in the eyes of humanity if you were easily contained, every one of you.

[ ... Except Bedivere, of course. ]

[ Except even Bedivere went against her orders that one time which he will not speak of— ]

Well, we…

[ There he goes again, being all contrary to his king like this. She does have a good point, though, in allowing for some dissenting voices. But still! Remember that you’re talking to the guy who’s more famous for his shitty love life than for his combat prowess. ]

We owe it all to you, my liege. If we had not your ideals to guide us by…

[ Ah, but why even remind her of such a terrible burden? That was why he’d left her court the first time around… ]

Our debt to you can never be repaid.

As ever, Sir Tristan, your humility is unparalleled. This is one area in which I cannot hope to match you.

[ Yes, it's really no use trying to insist that he owes her no debt. Better that she argue with a fire that it needn't be so hot.

Her smile cools, a touch of King Arthur returning. ]

If that is how you feel, however, then I would ask something of you. It will not be an easy request, and I do not command you as a king, but I hope you will hear me with an open heart regardless.

[ Ah, now this is more familiar to him. More comfortable, like they’re settling back into the old times even if she has to make a point of saying that she’s not going to order him around as king. Does she want him to fight somebody? To bring back some impossible item from the forest? To throw himself off a cliff? He’s absolutely going to do it regardless. ]

I would hear and obey.

[ Satisfied with the seriousness of his consideration, she continues. ]

I ask you to foster a spirit of cooperation with Mordred.

[ INTERNAL FUCKING SCREAMING JUST wHAT THE FUCK!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!! ]

[ Okay, maybe some of that screaming went external with the way his expression quickly flickers from shock and horror to outright resignation. ]

I…of course, my king.

[ Boy, she wasn’t kidding when she said it wouldn’t be easy. His head’s spinning. This version of Mordred is even more frustrating than the usual, and here he thought he’d learned how to work with her by now.

If only Master were here…! ]

If—If that is all you require…

[CLOSED] April Catch-all

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