awashlogs | catch-all for march!

It matters not, for your beauty can put many of them to shame, Pyra.

[ He’d say as much even while sober. A gentle, sensitive beauty like her…why, even Master would be hard-pressed not to fall for her! But speaking of— ]

Why, I wish—I wish I could sing right now! [ hic ] Even as you both paint a flightless bird upon your canvases, I am blessed with a richer source of inspiration in the both of you. Alas, that my harp would interfere with the work of such lovely hands…

[ She laughs happily when he compliments her, shaking her head. Oh, typical Tristan. ] Your flattery... [ A pause, and then she jokes: ] Will get you everywhere.

[ With that said, she'll finally take a seat in front of her canvas....

Still working on her wine though, as she glances to Saber. ] As for singing... I don't know. [ She makes a show of bringing a hand up to her chin in thought. ] Should he, Saber? [ A teasing hand-flap, as if she's gossiping. ] He's just standing there. I think singing would make this more of a challenge for him.... and I wouldn't mind a little more entertainment~!

[ How hard can being a model be, anyways?? ]

[ but why male models

Nero, surprisingly able to hold most her drink and still, well, Nero enough to go along with these great vibes, nods excitedly. ]

Of course! Your voice is a fine enough instrument!

[ Sometimes it's the only instrument one needs to express their joy through song, she can even speak from experience!!! And Tristan can finally drop that mixtape... ]

[ Look if he had his way he’d be painting a pretty girl in the nude too. Alas, for now he must fight to keep still, the influence of the alcohol making him feel as though he’s constantly teetering on the edge of some precipice.

It’s kind of exciting. ]

It is truly an honor to earn such praise from an exalted singer like yourself, Saber.

[ He’d mean that too, even while sober. Yes, her technique could use a bit of work, but who else can compare to her when it comes to passion and inspiration? Does technique matter when you’re absolutely shitfaced anyway??

He takes another swig of that sake. For strength, or something. ~~Good thing there aren’t any recording equipment around here barring their paints and canvases~~ ]

Now, what shall I sing about? Perhaps two fair flowers, both so different and yet so profoundly arresting, that all who stop to regard them are filled with joy for the rest of their lives…

[ Now if only that were true in his case. ]

[ .... ]

Saber, since the both of you come from the same world-- I have to ask.

[ Finally, she sets down her dish of wine. ] I know already that you are an amazing woman, but how is it that you can listen to his words and not....

[ A look to Tristan. ] Just want to hug him to death! He says such sweet things...

[ Yup. Party be on tilt y'all. ] "Filled with joy for the rest of their lives"-- If you must know, I think that immortalizing your beauty upon a canvas will inspire joy on whoever looks upon your depiction.

[ She's a little tipsy from both praise and sake, but screw it. With Pyra's words, Nero nods wholeheartedly, umu, and takes a pencil and begins to sketch, a little...wobbly-like. That's all right, though. It'll add to the...the beauty of the piece. What's a human work of art without a few human errors? ]

For someone such as myself [ a touchy-feely hedonist with little in the way of shame or reservation ], it is difficult, yes! But I have spent much of my life resisting honeyed words. [ Un...successfully, honestly, considering how easily she actually falls for praise. ] Besides, as an emperor, I cannot dole out my affection so freely and easily, lest it stop being the privilege and honor it is! Fortunately for the two of you, I consider you worthy...

[ Look, Tristan will survive getting turned into a Picasso. What he won’t survive is a three-way embrace while he’s drunk off his ass and half-naked in a house full of remarkably lewd images of his not!king whilst posing in front of two women he happens to like very, very much!!!

Not that he’s sober enough to realize that. Good thing Wei Wuxian isn’t around to poke fun at him for this, because he’s not gonna come out of this whole thing unscathed. ]

Ahahaha, is it permissible to touch the model while he is performing? [ If you can call that performing, anyway. ]

Particularly when such fair hands are better suited to other tasks? [ Wait…is he sounding vaguely responsible? Better fix that— ]

After all, much can be said of the grandeur of your affections, Saber, to say nothing of Pyra’s exquisite womanly graces…

More flattery! Just what are we going to do with you. [ Alright, time to... actually try drawing him. She can do this. T-totally! ]

Speaking of emperors and knights....

[ Here it comes. ]

Are you two, ah, ..... You know. Like that? [ SIRE AND VASSAL SHE MEANS but the wine is making her word it as suggestive as possible. ]

[ Like "that"? Of course, Nero's thoughts flit to the least-appropriate-in-context-of-a-culture-that-is-not-Roman, which means that...is she thinking that they're...colleagues with benefits? ]

What?! Are you insinuating...?!

[ She has a lover of her own that she does not intend to betray at all! Even if she is worlds removed from where they are now. This sort of subject is something she is normally absolutely fine with, but to be asked so suddenly, so brazenly, throws her off her balance for just a tad. ]

[ And Tristan is similarly thrown off, his drunken flush now a shade redder, though he comes to an entirely different conclusion.

But it’s still absurdly inappropriate anyway and it almost manages to sober him up— ]

Oh…Oh, no. Far from it. [ Ah, he feels sad now. There is only one person he’d ever be a vassal for, anyway, although his and Nero’s shared master comes as a close second.

In any case, for a knight like him who’d once turned his back on his king—for Pyra to imply that he might be betraying his king again by submitting to the will of another monarch…aaah, it’s too much!!! ]

I am hardly worthy…

I'm-- oh, I'm sorry. [ She waves a hand, fortunately the one that isn't holding the brush dipped in paint. ]

I was just thinking how nice it would be to... have someone you're bonded to like that, here. [ A wistful sigh.

But she chuckles, moving on! Although that still doesn't clear up either of their assumptions. ] But if that's not the case, forget I said anything! Hehe~ [ Hic ] The two of you coming from the same world must be nice enough.

[ She is bonded to someone like that, even vassal and liege in a sense, somewhere out there in the worlds apart, in the digital sea of SE.RA.PH. One Nero refuses to let herself forget, to etch those memories on her own being. ]

That is so. Having a familiar face in a Singularity such as this is...

[ She thinks to herself for a moment. Comforting? Nice? Pleasant? It's not a very familiar face, not at first at least, but having something, anything to cling to and able to depend on has been nothing if helpful. Yes, that's it. ]

Helpful. Immensely so.

[ Almost a bit absentmindedly (or rather, tipsily), she starts to paint the outline of said knight's familiar face. ]

[ “Bond” is such a strong word though…it’s so volatile and unpredictable when it’s applied between him and someone who’s basically the face of his deep and abiding regret, even if he’s considerably warmed up to Nero by now.

Hence his relief is palpable when Nero volunteers that word—“helpful”—thus cementing them both at an appropriate distance. ]

Yes, how aptly you’ve put it, Saber. [ Is there a twinge of regret in his voice? Nah, you’re both just imagining it!! ]

Though we have had little reason to come together before… [ Her disconcerting likeness to Artoria Pendragon, notwithstanding— ]

There is much to be said about working together toward a common goal.

[ Pyra's painting is going to fare far worse than Saber's...

Whatever, she'll just call it abstract.

Meanwhile, she casually continues asking about them: ]

But the two of you were working together even in your homeworld, weren't you? [ Or, she assumes that they might have been! She actually doesn't know much beyond that they're... spirits. ] Whatwuzzit... Saber, you have-- ah, that "Noble Phantasm" thing, don't you? [ Which is a great big glitzy theater! ] Archer, what is yours?

[ They worked together, yes. Not often, thanks to ~~class advantages~~ Tristan's avoidance and their peer groups not overlapping much, but seeing each other in Chaldea from time to time counts, doesn't it?

The Noble Phantasm question is more important, anyway. Nero already knows what it is, of course, and everyone in Chaldea knows what Arash's is, too, so she keeps mum and doesn't answer in his stead. ]

That is quite a personal question you are asking.

That is fine, Saber. I have no reason to hide it.

[ He smiles. Pyra already knows his True Name, after all, though she doesn’t seem aware of the history behind it. But he should probably apprise Nero of the fact eventually. ]

That fair instrument which I carry with me always. [ Save for this modeling session, anyway. ] That is my Noble Phantasm.

[ When Saber says that it is a personal question, she brings a hand to her mouth. Oh, right, right; something like that would be, wouldn't it? She's about to apologize, but then Tristan tells her that all is well.

Hm. ] They manifest differently, then. [ Interesting! ]

A grand hall, a harp.... If I didn't know better, I'd assume that all of your kind of spirits' Noble Phantasms are for entertaining others. Does either of you know someone whose Phantasm is a... buffet? Or perhaps an entire orchestra?

[ Maybe... maybe these Noble Phantasms aren't something she should speak about so lightly, but she's had enough wine to feel rather giggly at the prospect that such power magics are used to entertain. ] Ah, well, speaking of the subject of entertainment-- Saber. [ A nod towards her. ] I spoke with Wei Wuxian recently about your offer to use your Theater as a venue for the wedding... But he declined. [ A sad shake of her head, but in the end she sighs. ] I'm guessing it was too much for him and Xie Lian.

[ There's Tawara Touta for his ever-refilling rice Noble Phantasm, but that's not very varied in terms of dishes. Perhaps...Emiya's Unlimited Kitchen Works should count? Who knows. At any rate, when Pyra continues speaking, Nero looks up, aghast at what she has to say. ]

Too much? Why, they think too little of themselves. Who would not be content with chapels so glamorous, theaters so opulent as to dizzy the senses, for their wedding?

[ For a moment, Nero looks like she's about to burst into tears, wetness welling up in her eyes, but thankfully for the both of them, she simply exhales melodramatically. ]

...Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose.

[ Pot, kettle. ]

If that is what they desire for themselves, I will not begrudge them of that.

[ Mozart’s got the creepy headless angelic orchestra bit covered, thanks. But Pyra’s not wrong in her assumptions—the sheer variety of Noble Phantasms he’s seen in his brief time at Chaldea has sure been…something. It’s no wonder that she’d be intrigued!

These thoughts course but briefly through his intoxicated mind before they latch onto a single word—wedding—whereupon the rest of her words seem to crash into each other in his head and threaten to snap him out of his carefully cultivated drunken stupor. When Nero responds to such an absurd statement with all of her imperial indignation behind it it feels as though sobriety’s ready to kick him to the floor and stomp all over him. ]

A…wedding? [ He can’t help but reveal his eyes in surprise. ] Between Wei Wuxian and…Xie Lian?

[ Why has he never heard of this? Why hadn’t either man spoken to him about it? Sure, he can see a need for discretion in such a small town, but one’s a good friend and the other’s, well, his roommate! Maybe they hadn’t wanted to invite him to the festivities at all? Oh, how sad… ]

[ Pyra’s thoughts and feelings on the wedding are generally happy and exited.... but underlies with some very seriously complicated feelings as well that she had been trying to push aside.

Focusing on things like actually planning the whole thing with Shen Qingqiu has actually served as a good distraction, ironically enough. And while she thought that speaking about this to friends would be good as well, clearly she’s getting disapproval from Saber.

First: Saber. ] I thought the same thing as well, actually. But maybe neither know you are an emperor? And to refuse an offer like that would be insulting. But if it their wish to have something less... golden, then...—

[ And then Tristan suddenly seems upset. ] —Eh?

You didn’t know?!

[ She’s going to need more alcohol for this. Don’t mind her as she finishes off her drink. ]

[ Gods, she's going to need one too at this rate. ]

He did not tell you either?!

[ She's hurt on his behalf too, if he's even hurt to be left out in the dark like this... ]

I cannot believe this...do they truly think so little of their friends...?

[ He needs more alcohol as well but his cup’s already drained dry. How sad…then again, sobriety would’ve helped him think through this shocking turn of affairs. Or at the very least, the news might’ve given him pause considering that he knows Wei Wuxian wasn’t really the type of guy to leave his friends out of the fun.

But. His friends…getting married! Right under his nose! Honestly!

Oh, he’s hurt; he’s definitely hurt. Much as he can understand the secrecy, being a two-timing cuckhold himself, a wedding is going above and beyond your average secret love affair. That’s the kind of thing that deserves to get out in the open! ]

How sad… [ He recalls a time when Wei Wuxian had echoed Nero’s own question—do you really think so little of your friends? Is that it, Wei Wuxian? Xie Lian? Is that it? ]

This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing, and neither of them have given me any indication that they were, well… [ Lovers? Well, that sort of thing is more acceptable in modern times, isn’t it? Not to mention that plenty of the Servants back at Chaldea already swing every which way— ]

[ She looks from Saber to Archer and then back to Saber....

There's something about this. Something that's very wrong that she's only just starting to pick up on. But what could it be? Because it took her a while to figure out they were married, and it had seemed back then that neither would actually have told anyone about it save for someone accidentally finding out! What could it mean....?!

Nope, she's had too much wine to think further about this. ] O-oh, um, it was a surprise to me, too!

As it turned out, they were already married-- which they kept secret-- way back in January! But they just didn't have a proper wedding! But now, now they hic, now they're gonna have a proper ceremony. 'Cause we're all gonna plan it!

[ How to cheer them up. Think, think! ] A-archer, do you want to-- I was going to ask this of you already, why don't you sing for their wedding? [ Damage control, damage control! ] And Saber... I know they declined using your Theater, but how about decorations? And flowers? S-see? We can all do this... together!

[ ... ]

Not that I.... don't understand.

I'm upset at them too for not saying anything. You want to be happy for them and celebrate their union, but it's-- [ Oops, too much paint there. Tristan does not have that much hair! ] Sometimes, it's hard to make others happy when they don't tell you what's going on!

So I hope that we can all be happy at this wedding. I really do...

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