king "#1 shitposter" gilgamesh (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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epidemiology2016-03-03 09:58 pm
babbylon) wrote in epidemiology2016-03-03 09:58 pm
Entry tags:
[closed] smartass little girl, always on the run.
CHARACTERS: Gilgamesh and Rin
DATE: March 5th
WARNINGS: Mild description of gore; nothing else anticipated.
SUMMARY: Gilgamesh checks in on Rin, now that she's had ample time for recovery.
[He really shouldn't be bothering with this.
He really shouldn't have bothered in the first place, but with that imagery stuck in his head—of a pretty girl, torn and tattered and pushed to the end of her life—he just couldn't stay away. It reminded him of Saber herself, bloody and broken on that wretched hill. Something beautiful caught in the midst of something tragic, which would always serve as a lure to the King of Heroes. Even if he'd promised to stay away. Even if this, more likely than not, was a bad idea.
Shishi precedes him, romping ahead in the hall and nosing his way into Rin's room without so much as an invitation. He snuffles and grunts, wags his tail excitedly, and perhaps it's for the best that Rin might see the mount before the master. He makes for a stunning image, too, padding on over to say hello.
It's as if he knows Gilgamesh may just need an extra bit of leverage before entering. They were technically still on sour terms, after all.]
DATE: March 5th
WARNINGS: Mild description of gore; nothing else anticipated.
SUMMARY: Gilgamesh checks in on Rin, now that she's had ample time for recovery.
[He really shouldn't be bothering with this.
He really shouldn't have bothered in the first place, but with that imagery stuck in his head—of a pretty girl, torn and tattered and pushed to the end of her life—he just couldn't stay away. It reminded him of Saber herself, bloody and broken on that wretched hill. Something beautiful caught in the midst of something tragic, which would always serve as a lure to the King of Heroes. Even if he'd promised to stay away. Even if this, more likely than not, was a bad idea.
Shishi precedes him, romping ahead in the hall and nosing his way into Rin's room without so much as an invitation. He snuffles and grunts, wags his tail excitedly, and perhaps it's for the best that Rin might see the mount before the master. He makes for a stunning image, too, padding on over to say hello.
It's as if he knows Gilgamesh may just need an extra bit of leverage before entering. They were technically still on sour terms, after all.]
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rin wakes as though from slumber, then, jolting up and jostling both shishi's head and the heavy bag of gems resting in her lap. her smile has disappeared. she feels (and appears) scandalized, watching gilgamesh grin at her like his own ego's received a thorough stroking.]
Peace?! Why would you have reason to ask for something like that, for peace? You're no friend to us!
[she's more confused than outright angry.
... does she have to accept his peace offering to keep the gems?]
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[It's bluntly stated, but not really in such a way that suggests he's being snide. It's the truth of the matter, as getting along didn't entail friendship. Archer was no friend of his, and yet they managed their own separate peace; if he could wrangle cordial terms from him, than Rin's grudging respect should prove simple enough.]
That does not prevent us from making amends. Unless you'd rather I be left to my own malicious devices...?
[Alright, now he's being snide. Just a little. He couldn't help finding some amusement in being cast as the villain in her eyes.]
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rin is completely silent for a few long seconds, and he would have to satisfy himself with her glancing away from him to return her attention to the lovely bag of gems propped upon her lap. quite diligently and slowly, almost as if she's rewrapping it to hand the gift off to gilgamesh again, she collects the top together and winds the ribbon tightly around it to hold it stable, tying it at the end with an elegant little bow. she even coaxes shishi's snout from her thigh with two hands.
really, it's amazing she's been able to do all this, so far, without her hands trembling.]
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Don't try to threaten me! It'll get you nowhere!
[that's not true, of course, but she's counting on (1) her own mettle and (2) archer's strength, called in a pinch if she needs it, to allow her to confront a heroic spirit of gilgamesh's power one-on-one like this, inside her bedroom. the situation could easily go sour in a number of ways and she's aware of that.]
You have been the only one making trouble! And yet you have the gall to prance on in here acting like romancing me with a present of gems will erase it all. Well, it won't!
[she raises a hand and points at him accusingly (albeit from a very safe distance).]
I can't trust anything you do or say. You only do what suits you at the time. Even if peace is what you honestly want, it would be a mistake to believe it will last longer than it amuses you.
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Awhile ago, this would've incited his anger, put her in a situation like with the mistletoe—or worse. He would've hit her, he would've broken her, he would've ended her long before Archer got a chance to intervene. The fact she can so boldly address him, then, and expect to emerge unscathed from it, speaks to her naivete as well as her failings as a magus. It's almost disappointing.
Almost, but there's a certain fire behind it he must respect. That she would be so brave, and so unyielding, in the face of what very well could be her death. It is foolish, yes, but it also catches his attention, keeps him captivated rather than incensed. He doesn't bother to refute anything that she's said; instead, he reminds her with a softness that doesn't quite suit him:]
The geas remains yours to employ.
[He tilts his head. He blinks just once, the pupils of his eyes contracting to the thinnest of slits.]
What would you ask of me, that your qualms might be soothed?
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rather, rin thinks it's her duty to command him in this manner, to face him with this power. after all, he's a powerful, extraordinary being himself. he won't give her the time of day or listen to her—and in fact, he may be more likely to kill her—if she isn't trying her best to be loud, herself. it's the only option for a young magus whose father summoned this heroic spirit.
it wouldn't be a lie, however, to imply this sort of enthusiasm comes naturally to rin. probably, even if she believed it was a bad idea, she would be shouting at him. even if she was afraid, she can't show him that fear, so the fear is "nonexistent".
she has faith in archer. she has so much faith in archer, and the thought gilgamesh could kill her before he suffered the full wrath of unlimited blade works is arguably not a blip in her mind.
rin retrieves her pointing finger and wilts a bit, awkwardly dropping her shoulders, though, once he mentions the geas. she remembers it, of course. but is she reluctant to use it? —no, that probably isn't the case. still, she doesn't call on it, not yet.
staring into thin, snake-like pupils, she answers honestly—as she's learned she must, with these servants.]
... Answers.
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Then ask.
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What is the truth about my father's death, and your role in it?
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Are you willing to suspend your bias and hear what I have to say on the matter?
[...he needs to make certain this won't be a waste. As she should well know, hearing was different than simply listening. He will explain, but not if she's going to write him off from the start as the token villain in the tale. It's only fair.]
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he is a villain, too. he has done vile things and he would be remiss to forget that. clearly, whatever the bond between gilgamesh and tokiomi was, it was different from her bond with archer, and rin is inclined to shove a heap of the blame for that off on gilgamesh himself.
she stands firm and she offers her practicality freely.]
As much as I can. How seriously you seem to take my request will play into how I react to what you say, I imagine.
[it's a pointed remark hinting at his playfulness and inappropriateness before, in the jails and from then on.]
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Quite frankly, he wouldn't apologize for what he's done in her future, partially because he has yet to experience it but also because he trusts that any of his own actions carried a certain degree of logic to them. Was it wicked? He wouldn't doubt it. Was it necessary? He wouldn't doubt that, either.
Was it evil? That was a different matter entirely, and a judgment he'd very much disagree with.]
Your father sought the Grail for himself, as you already know.
[His words are measured. Slow, up until the moment they're not. Then they're bitter and sharp.]
What you did not is that he intended to discard me, by way of ordering suicide, once it was within his possession.
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but gilgamesh will discover that rin remains true to her word. she listens, and the anticipation sticks into her spine, yet she hears him out and she doesn't budge or even twitch, not when he reveals her father had intended to have his own servant take his life. that's...
well, she can't deny that perhaps it was the only way of "dealing" with gilgamesh once the grail had been won. it is also the case that, by her beliefs, a heroic spirit always defers to his or her master. the master's life comes before the servant's.
but this doesn't match with what she (thinks she) knows. would her father ever discard a powerful servant? was it necessary to have gilgamesh commit suicide? was she expected to have archer kill himself, the servant she forced into a contract here just to keep him alive, if they had proved victorious in winning a non-corrupt grail?
she's more intelligent than to criticize him or praise him without hearing further, so she fails to contribute much.]
Go on.
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[He's not being snarky or evasive. He really and truly isn't certain how else to elaborate, as that illustrated the crux of the matter and justified all the actions that followed, in his opinion. But Rin was a curious girl, an insistent girl, and it doesn't surprise him that alone fails to satisfy.
So he goes on, in that same even tone, which suggests neither gratification nor guilt.]
I sought to save my own life. The man known as Kotomine Kirei sought another path; thus it was shown, and through your father's death he came to know and embrace himself as a monster. Kirei drove the knife into his back, and relished in doing so. You were deceived by him from that point on.
[He still remembers, will never forget, the look on his face. The day Kirei's heart died, the day he discovered his destiny: to act as an agent of wickedness and discord.]
I accepted him as my Master henceforth and... ah, you seem to know how the story goes even better than myself after that point.
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try as she might, it's difficult to disguise this violent of a reaction from gilgamesh—but no doubt he's expecting it, when kirei's is a name spoken in the room. it makes her so mad. like before, she knows he isn't lying when he says kirei played a role in her father's death. that slippery, conniving, despicable son of a bitch... she grits her teeth, and kicks the side of her foot into the wooden leg of her bed, hard, the dull thud echoing throughout the room. he deserves nothing but hell, if only the deepest layer of hell would have him.
gilgamesh is wrong, though. she doesn't know how the whole story really proceeds, not yet. she wasn't even aware gilgamesh and kirei were partnered as master and servant prior to her arrival here, although she had suspected wrongdoing on kirei's behalf, and archer has basically been the one to fill in the blanks she hasn't experienced.
she seethes, but she bides her rage.]
And when Kirei was stabbing my father in the back... where were you? What were you doing? A Servant would realize his master was in danger of dying.
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[That's it. That's all he can argue in his own defense, and he wouldn't bother with much more, anyway. In the face of her building anger, Gilgamesh appears numb. At the time, it had been quite an amusing farce, one he sneered to think of, but now...
Now, everything seems like one big waste, knowing what he could've had for a Master—but never would, not back home. Just a doddering magus overinvested in himself and his own affairs and a snake he helped foster, one that would someday become so poisonous that in another world and another time neither of them would ever get to see he'd lust after madness itself. A madness beyond wiping everything clean which even he could not espouse.
Gilgamesh just stares at her, eyes blank. It seems this is the extent of explanation she will receive on the matter.]
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rin glances away, gazing straight into her bed with such determination shishi might wonder why she isn't exactly staring at him. but her hands at her sides clench into fists, and the news is difficult to receive... although her face is unusually blank. now, it's hard to read. the anger has not dissipated—he would be a fool to believe that—but it's as if she's defeated, another tohsaka laid to waist or dead on her feet.
perhaps she would cry, if doing so in front of gilgamesh wasn't the equivalent of a death sentence in her eyes.
and still she speaks.]
Why would my father want to kill you? I thought our Servant was the only way we were able to access something spiritual like the Grail.
[she knows so little. could it be? she's so naive, even now.]
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Why would any Master desire to rid themselves of a Servant?
[There could be any number of reasons. For Tokiomi, it was because Gilgamesh was too rebellious, too independently minded—ironic given Rin's own inclinations towards acting by herself. In the end, Gilgamesh would've been a better fit for the daughter than the father. Rin had a sharp tongue, but her heart was kind. Gilgamesh had already seen through to the truth. Gilgamesh had learned, here, that it could've been better. It just wasn't.
His tongue turns sharp, too, thinking back on it.]
I am King; my law is absolute. But the reality is inescapable, even for one such as myself. We are bound in this realm, we act as your slaves because some corrupt artifact deems it appropriate. You magi, and your tendency to meddle... if anyone warps the world, it is your kind, not mine.
[So it was he that saw to drown everything in despair. But who was it that sustained him? None other than a man, one meddling fool who reached beyond himself.]
*waste, jeez
[rin mutters a reply while she's not facing him, but it could be no clearer. he did demand she listen to him, but she will defend herself and her kind when it delves into opinions rather than explicit facts.
after all, the way she sees it, she isn't denying magi are capable of wrongdoing. far from it, in fact. but there are some magi, those from lineages like the tohsaka's, who uphold the rules—avoid harm being dealt to regular humanity, use the holy grail's power for "noble" goals which were not, at least, composed of destroying or mass-warping the world.
above everything else, rin knows her father always had his reasons.
or else, this is what the image of her father she keeps with her in her heart tells her.]
If he was going to order you to commit suicide at the end, it would have been for a reason. [a reason outside of considerations like personality—as a proper magus, her father would have been immune to such things, she thinks.
desiring to kill gilgamesh was the same as implying, in her father's mind, that gilgamesh had to die for some important reason.
but, even as she stands there, and she realizes she doesn't know for sure if she could command her own servant to commit suicide for the holy grail, it finally dawns on her—she spills out the words mildly surprised by them herself:]
He left me your summoning catalyst as part of my inheritance...
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The Root.
[The words leave him as if sacred, though he could care less for them in truth. But for magi, it was the true Holy Grail. A power above and beyond all others, from which everything in the known world originated. A literal stairway to heaven, a door that extended outward, endlessly, to every path and every reality possible. Surely Rin had heard of it, at least. All magi lusted for it at their core.
Gilgamesh stares at the wall as he speaks, his expression turned away and otherwise unreadable beside.]
That is the prize your father sought. He dedicated every shred of his will to its discovery and exploitation. He loved it, the idea of it, even more than he loved you—you put him on pedestals, girl, but he was as selfish as any other magus. Unlike you, I could venture within his mind, and unlike you...
[His eyes flicker over his shoulder, cold, callous, cutting.]
I knew him in a fashion not even a daughter dream of. That is how I know these intentions to be truth.
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Wh-What? The Root...?
[it's not a concept beyond her knowing, certainly, but she also wasn't as fully educated on her father's true motives as gilgamesh might expect from the heir to his former master. her neck whips around and her blue eyes land on him like she doesn't notice; it was and is an unconscious gesture, she's so confused.
and yet he'll note she does not mourn her father's replacement of love for her with some other, perhaps less warm and familial goal. they were a family of magi. they weren't warm or human from the beginning. to the contrary, gilgamesh's answer lines everything up perfectly. gilgamesh must have needed to die to access the root—or that would be the case, if anyone wasn't aware the grail waiting for them was entirely corrupted.]
I don't know... anything about that... [suddenly on her guard—but not necessarily against him—rin stiffens, dropping her eyebrows in sadness and biting her bottom lip. barely, her head is shaking, her long hair shifting over her shoulders and across her chest.]
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Gilgamesh considers walking out on her. He should, by all rights, as it's become clear there are certain things she won't and can't understand. And he doesn't care to lay out every last card before her, not that it matters anymore. It doesn't matter, it stopped mattering the moment they left that world and entered another beyond the binding force of the Grail, where magi need not be makers of war and Servants need not be their instruments for it...
It doesn't matter, so in respect that, he turns on his heel again. He makes the trek back to her beside. He kneels. He looks at her and speaks low, free of his usual affect, free of anything, calling first to Shishi:]
Shishi, come.
[Shishi rouses himself from his dozing and nudges at Rin's side, affectionately.]
Rin. We both have made our own decisions, in faith that they are just and proper; those decisions lie behind us now. The decisions that lie ahead, however, have yet to be determined. I am not about to go hunting for your head, nor anyone else's. If you show me the olive branch...
[His hand reaches upward and outward, though it touches nothing. It is against the rules.]
If you show me peace, then I accept it. I have found my own now. My Master— [now, and only now, there is a crack in composure] —she cares for me.
[As Tokiomi could not and would not. All just part of a grander scheme, and yet he fell to another. Fitting, Gilgamesh thinks with everlasting bitterness.]
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her meek, almost surprised face remains. she's entranced by his ruby eyes, there's no escaping that, but she has not been trapped by them—she doubts them.]
What was "just and proper" about most of what you've done to me and Archer?
[rather than putting him on the spot, critiquing him for every single move, she's truly curious. if he's asking for peace, he would have to expect actions such as bugging her servant incessantly or pushing her into the side of a building for a bruising kiss wouldn't fly by unacknowledged.
the break of emotion for his master, too, is noteworthy. her expression tenses with some image of determination, although he would feel the impression it's only to communicate how serious she is.]
If you hurt Pearl, I won't stand for it. I need to ask you another question: Why is peace between us so important to you, especially now?
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[No, that's not entirely true. He knew it once, beside his brother, his lover, his friend, but that was so long ago that it feels like some days it may not even have existed at all. At the very least he doesn't speak of it to anyone else, beyond Pearl herself. She asks of him this and he must think.
He looks down at his own hand and murmurs, mostly to himself:]
To drown the world in a thousand curses... to reset what has been broken, to correct a collective mistake... to wage war, to scheme, to murder... I knew those things, or else I would know them, in this future that the lot of you would swear has claimed me. I do not deny it. I do not apologize for it.
[Apologizing meant acknowledging he'd done something beyond his own control, which he refuses to accept. Though he is not vengeful now. These are her answers, for better or for worse. This is the truth, whether she'd embrace it or spit upon it. For a man who seemed to favor falsehoods, he scorns them now.]
But here, there no longer lies a need for it. Hurt her? You forget already, the marks upon her hand, the same words she could speak—"kill yourself."
[Not that she'd ever. His hand becomes a fist, and he meets her determined glance with one of his own.]
I am Gilgamesh. I do as I please, with whomever I please, however I please. And at this time, it pleases me to follow a Master that preaches harmony.
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it's extraordinary, but it also makes sense to her in a way it only can for a heroic spirit like gilgamesh. this matches his antiquity and his morals. perhaps she could be more scathing against him, but rin has no urge to oppose what men such as him simply are—it's not her business, it's fruitless, it will go nowhere, and it doesn't interest her.
he might view it in the tremble that ripples through her features, her posture.
"peace" for the sake of enjoying peace one had never experienced before, or not experienced in some time, is effectively a convincing argument for rin. her wiser inner voice may deny gilgamesh's claims, suggest he's lying or his confessions are flimsy.
but she wants peace for archer. she wants peace for him, so even before she could resist, gilgamesh has won the battle of wooing her to his side.
at least, tentatively.
she bows her head, gazing at him uncertainly and questioningly.]
You're counting on me to take you at your word. That you say you want peace so you'll no longer cause us trouble. ... I would have to put my faith in you. I would just have to trust you turning over this new leaf somehow surpasses your misgivings towards my family and the Gilgamesh I know.
[he has already won her trust, to some small measure. she's so weak, really, thin and not well-defended in emotional matters.]
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I want what she wants.
[It's a simple sentiment, isn't it? It isn't because he's suddenly become so noble, or that he'd even try to convince he deserves forgiveness for his misdeeds. It's neither merited nor desired. Rather, it's because a much stronger force has entered his life now, a force he would be lost without. He remembers those days, during the winter, that he spent alone and miserable. As the enemies were closing in again. As the war seemed to start anew.
He could've handled it. He could've rid himself of them. But a different way had been presented to him. Maybe it was better and maybe it wasn't, maybe he'd come to regret approaching her and Archer and maybe he wouldn't. But for now, this is what his heart tells him to do. To accept the blow to his pride, to kneel at her bedside, and to give her what simply wasn't possible back home.
He bows his head, too, and does not meet her eyes. Briefly, yet undeniably a show of submission.]
I want... freedom. Would you not provide?
[If it is purposeful, this turn of phrase, then it is absolutely precise. He seems to know instinctively how to strike at the core of her.]
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