( closed ) you and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals

[defenceless]

CHARACTERS: Koltira (respired) and Rin (defenceless)
DATE: Shortly after Undyne and Pearl's post on the network!
WARNINGS: Nothing, actually! I promise...
SUMMARY: Rin helps Koltira out with a magic fix.


[it's not accurate to say she's not nervous, but... desperate times call for desperate measures. that's especially true in the case of koltira, an elf she'd already committed to aiding long before. the current circumstances of nalawi simply make it more essential that they all bond together, if they can possibly do so.

her hotel room in komo isn't perfect, but it will have to work. for that matter, she isn't exactly sure if any of the transfer methods between two magi (or a magus and her servant) that functioned in her world would also go off without a hitch when someone entirely foreign entered the equation—but if koltira feeds and runs on magic, what's inside him couldn't be that unusual compared to her own circuitry. right?

she sits on the small bed in her room waiting for him, bundled up with a blanket around her shoulders. she's shivering.]

Comments

[respired]

[ He might have rejected Rin's suggestion out of hand if not for two things: his own desperation, and her insistence that it could be done without his mana drain. If she could offer him something without suffering on her part, he finds little reason not to accept.

Not that he would have refused her otherwise. He is dying; he feels it. Feels the threads of his body fraying. True death is a fate he still wishes to avoid; as such, he will do anything to reinforce the thread. Take any source, as much as it can give, as often as it can give. He feels nearly feral with need and exhaustion, but if he is a beast, he is starved. Too malnourished to threaten anyone.

Gilgamesh's words echo in his mind. He wonders what those two are to each other, briefly. Not his business. ]

Are you certain about this, Rin?

[ He comes in, finds her trembling. Doubt pricks at him. ]

[defenceless]

[rin peers up at him as he enters, albeit shakily. her skin is pale, even pale to the point of blue, and what little color there is collects in her cheeks, putting up one more defiant struggle of blushing.

why she's blushing would be clearer once he comes closer to her; she is undressed beneath the blanket, enough for it to be hard to glimpse any patch of clothing, and her legs are completely bare.]

Yeah, I am. Don't question me.

[isn't he glad she's still displaying that characteristic attitude? as far as magic users go, she's not quite a corpse herself.]

I'm old enough to know my words mean my promise.

[respired]

[ He glances at the blanket, and at her legs, and at her blushing face. Her whole situation, generally, feels questionable. He makes a 'hhmnn' noise in his throat. More than anything, he's concerned about the shaking and shivering. Typically not a good sign in the living.

But her tone brooks no argument. ]

I do not doubt that, Rin.

[ He lingers where he is for a moment. He's not discomfited by her state of undress, but he does wonder what she intends to do--and how she intends to do it. ]

I await your kind instruction.

[defenceless]

[she can hear him worrying about her. it's enough if she just stays quiet, ignores the concern, and is direct with him when she speaks. adjusting her clutch of the blankets in her hands, rin counts on her words to convey understandable directions for him to follow—not even sticking out an arm or pointing to her side with an elbow.]

Sit down beside me.

[respired]

[ He does as asked, gingerly; he feels exhaustion radiating throughout the network of his muscles and nerves, wearing on him, begging him to sleep. But sleep brings no satisfaction to the dead, regardless. He's tried. ]

Tell me what you mean to do.

[ Tell me it won't make you suffer. ]

[defenceless]

[it's a small bed, anyway. it wouldn't provide much of a comforting rest. with the two of them sitting along the side of it like this, they most likely crowd it.

she nods in return to his request; she can't refuse him an answer like that, and she wouldn't want to.]

It will be simple. It won't hurt me. [yes, she knows by now what he wants to know.] I'm going to establish a link to provide magical energy to you when you need help, like I said before. It might not be successful... I'll have to concentrate, but the results will hopefully be something that will pay off.

[respired]

[ That seems fine enough. He nods along with her explanation, apparently satisfied that all will be as she says. It's worth a try, at least, particularly if it comes at little cost to her. ]

Direct me, then, and I will do as you ask.

[defenceless]

Um— [now for the difficult part. rin gestures at him a little awkwardly, never staring quite at him as she does so.] Undress. N-Not enough to be indecent, but,

[rin, everything about undressing is probably indecent.]

you... you know, right? As a grown man. You know what I mean.

[respired]

[ Truthfully, Koltira doesn't have much of a standard for indecency anymore. He's desensitized to the body as a concept, having spent years butchering corpses like so much meat. He looks at her impassively as he shrugs off his coat, as he pulls the black shirt over his head (revealing sharply drawn tattoos on his forearms, on his back and chest--wickedly curved like knives, and glowing cold blue).

He slips his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and pauses, glancing at her. While he may not have much sense of propriety, he's not tone deaf; Rin's stammering came through loud and clear. ]

Is that sufficient, or shall I continue?

[defenceless]

[there you go, koltira. neutralize the mood by bringing in thoughts of corpse-slaughtering.

she doesn't ogle him or anything as he pulls off his coat and shirt, but it's difficult to avoid chancing a glance at the ethereal glow of the tattoos covering his skin. her first thought is,]

Is there enough room?

[which might not make the most sense right away, and is certainly both an indication she's looked at him and she hasn't bothered to answer his question yet. darker color floods her features as she shakes her head to dismiss the idea.]

It's sufficient! Of course, it's sufficient. Don't worry. There just needs to be enough contact so that we both reach the same body temperature.

[which may be easier said than done, in koltira's case, she suspects.]

[respired]

[ If she does happen to glance at him for more than a few seconds, she'll notice that his body, while lean and muscled, is criss-crossed with faint scars. They are largely inconsequential, though, aside from the thick, obvious line of scarring across his stomach. It stretches across his entire abdomen, as though he was stabbed and somebody kept twisting the blade.

But there is plenty of room. ]

Hmm. That might be a lengthy proposition.

[ He holds out his hand, which will be unsurprisingly cool to the touch. Room temperature, baby. ]

[defenceless]

[the scars add to koltira's story. it's a definite shift from gilgamesh or archer, who would magically heal any wound likely as soon as it sliced the skin. koltira, too, has the hint of magic to him. his vulnerability reminds her of shirou, as though these are the marks of battle a man earns when he fights. it would be perverse of her to ask for an explanation about even one of them.]

Is that so...? [she knew he ran "cold", judging by the frost from earlier, in chantes. rin pushes off her embarrassment long enough to turn to him, resting her bare hand in his. a lengthy shiver travels up her arm almost unbidden.]

C-Cold.

[good job, rin.

but that means that she has to lower her body temperature to the level of the room's, and she drops her blanket, revealing she's wearing nothing but her bra and panties.]

[respired]

My apologies.

[ He does not like to see her in discomfort, but he supposes there's little help for it. When her blanket falls, he doesn't have much of a reaction; were he still alive, he might show concern for propriety, but his sense of bodies has changed considerably since his undeath. They are less objects of desire for him and more, simply, objects. Not to say he was without attractions: but in this moment, he is troubled only by the depths of his frailty. ]