#1 cockblocker (衛宮 士郎) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anti_altruisms) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
epidemiology2015-12-07 07:50 pm
anti_altruisms) wrote in epidemiology2015-12-07 07:50 pm
Entry tags:
this is me forever
CHARACTERS: Archer (anti_altruisms) and Gilgamesh (babbylon)
DATE: December 7th
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: The Original Flavor Hero and a Faker walk into a bar...or a rooftop?
[ Though Archer spends a fair amount of time near Rin, there are also times that he wanders. She is his Master, and he has ceded his will and his power to her, but even so, he does need his space.
The days and nights blur together here, and it is one such evening that he spends at the highest point in the city square. He can see everything from here, and while very little reveals itself that he hasn't already noted, the cool night air ruffling his coat could almost make him think he's free.
The solitude is soothing in its way, but of course, it couldn't last. Archer senses the other before he sees him, and truthfully, some part of him knew this moment would eventually come. ]
You've recovered, I see.
[ More than that, if the prana he's sensing is any indication. ]
anti_altruisms) and Gilgamesh (babbylon)DATE: December 7th
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: The Original Flavor Hero and a Faker walk into a bar...or a rooftop?
[ Though Archer spends a fair amount of time near Rin, there are also times that he wanders. She is his Master, and he has ceded his will and his power to her, but even so, he does need his space.
The days and nights blur together here, and it is one such evening that he spends at the highest point in the city square. He can see everything from here, and while very little reveals itself that he hasn't already noted, the cool night air ruffling his coat could almost make him think he's free.
The solitude is soothing in its way, but of course, it couldn't last. Archer senses the other before he sees him, and truthfully, some part of him knew this moment would eventually come. ]
You've recovered, I see.
[ More than that, if the prana he's sensing is any indication. ]
no subject
Tracking his movements. Trying to pinpoint his position, but he's good. He's fast. Or, if not fast, certainly experienced enough to make up the difference. As for Gilgamesh, there's neither the desire nor the capability to hide himself; his prana output has effectively tripled thanks to his contract and so Archer would be able to sense him from miles away. He's no thief in the dark. He walks in the light with pride, for all to see.
He steps out from behind the tower spire and grins, not the slightest bit sheepish for having been caught.]
Indeed I have. And you're also looking a bit different.
[Archer had not shot him down at his weakest. He would not do so now, so he approaches without hesitation.]
Rin Tohsaka... do you know that girl from somewhere?
no subject
It's true, however, (and Gilgamesh notes it rightly) that his demeanor is different that it was in the bowels of that filthy prison. He's more pensive, the efficiency of a cold-blooded killer smoothed over and hidden by a more passive sort of attitude.
He still has it in him to scoff at the other's commentary, so of course, he does. ]
Why ask questions you already know the answer to?
no subject
[Rather than launch into yet another impassioned speech about how he was the King of Heroes and thus straightforward answers were his due, he lets that speak for itself. His hands find their way into his pockets and it would be easy to mistake him for someone young, someone innocent, if not for those blood red eyes.]
And because I am curious about you. Your "signature" does not correlate with other Servants, leading me to only one conclusion.
[Those serpent's eyes narrow, calculating as ever.]
You're a fake.
no subject
Honestly, he was wondering when they were going to have this little talk. In a way, he had expected it when they first met back in the woods, but perhaps, Gilgamesh only truly sees it now with the power of a Master bolstering his strength.
A faint, wry smile touches his lips, there and gone in a moment. ]
My path to the Throne of Heroes wasn't as "pure" as yours or the others', that much is true.
[ He doesn't dispute that he's a fake. He's known that for quite some time, that he's a sham who pursued a broken ideal, and it doesn't especially bother him to hear the other say it.
Still- ]
You have no right to anything where she is concerned.
no subject
[Gilgamesh cocks his head. Forget all the rest, he has just been challenged, and Gilgamesh never backs down in the arena. Especially not when he's in tip-top shape and therefore very much inclined to defend himself if it became necessary.
Or strike first.]
How do you figure? She is but a fragile magus. You know she is weak as well as I do, so why did you form a contract with her?
[His lips part in a savage sort of grin. Suggestive.]
Have you fallen for her, perhaps? She is quite beautiful...
no subject
Like before, Archer shows nothing when Gilgamesh needles at him. The man can say she's fragile all he likes, but Archer knows better. She is strong, a worthy magus indeed, and while he might wish for freedom, a time when he wouldn't need to be so contracted, he could ask for no better Master.
As to the not-so-veiled implications the other tries to me, Archer simply brushes it off. If he was capable of love once, he doubts he is anymore. ]
She offered, and I accepted.
[ The bare facts, without any embellishment. ]
The Tohsaka family has suffered enough grief at your hands.
[ A warning in itself -- Gilgamesh may play with those who are here and shine a different sort of light on himself if he so choose, but there are those here now that know exactly what he is, as well as what he's done. ]
no subject
[Gilgamesh raises brows at that veiled accusation. He couldn't really mean anyone else considering he'd never even met his heir until ALASTAIR, and even then, that was a bit of a stretch. So rather than take offense, he just pushes for more details.]
I'm afraid I don't quite know what you're referring to, otherwise. Or how you would even have knowledge of such a thing.
[This was beginning to look more than a little suspicious.]
You seem to have a bit too much knowledge overall. For a fake, that is.
no subject
Again, he scoffs. ]
A close enough imitation is, in effect, the real thing.
[ He looks at Gilgamesh squarely. ]
How I know makes no difference.
no subject
[Which was true, for the most part. She was pretty to look at and he'd fed on worse before, but beyond that, she held no real interest for him. Though if he was being honest bratty little girls fell precisely along his personality type, but...
He's clearly not going to make much progress harping on the matter. So he opts for a different tactic.]
But I do have an interest in those who've broken the rules. You're like Arturia, aren't you?
[Caught between worlds and between lives. Out of balance and out of sync with everything around them.]
You never made a proper accord with the Grail at all. Something else chose you.
no subject
The subject changes to, arguably, even less comfortable territory. Of course, Gilgamesh would know of Arturia, and while his circumstances are similar, they are also very different as well. ]
I was chosen by nothing.
[ If anything, he was the one who chose to become this -- a cleaner removed from the bounds of time, with no hope of ever being free. ]
Those who safeguard human history only ever choose to become what they are.
[ Guardians. ]
no subject
[It's finally become apparent, and Gilgamesh utters it with zero intonation, with no judgment one way or another. Mystery solved, and really, how depressing. He has no empathy for this man but he's familiar with the role he's playing, and not even the King of Heroes can find much room for mockery.
No, he can't even call him a man at all, can he? He's a glorified vacuum cleaner for humanity's mistakes. And Gilgamesh knew, firsthand, there were so very many to sweep up. He shifts a little, folds his arms and considers Archer more evenly now. More seriously.]
Enslavement to the Force isn't a matter of choice. You wear your shackles the same as the rest of us. They bind you. They break you.
[They destroy you.]
And in the end, when the world devours itself whole, you will still remain, forever trapped in that cycle. The beast that knows an eternal cage.
no subject
The other man calls him a beast, and it's true. If he could shed his human guise, he knows something far uglier would lie underneath, exposed for all to see. He might not have seen his end, the dark path he would eventually walk, but Archer remembers the day he sold away his afterlife. He chose his shackles, the chains that bind him fast, and nothing will ever break them.
It's why, even if he wasn't wrong, even if his wish was something beautiful, he will always have regrets.
Archer waits until Gilgamesh finishes, and after a moment, he scoffs softly in response. ]
I'm well aware of what my fate entails.
[ He knew, and yet he never truly grasped the grim reality of it until it was too late. ]
There's nothing you can say about it that I haven't seen and experienced many times over.
no subject
Ultimately, it leaves them at an impasse.]
Then this must just be another assignment for you.
[Gilgamesh never saw it that way himself. As a diversion, maybe, but never a matter of course. It's hard to grasp. He looks up, settled as anything.]
You never answered me, back there. Within the cell.
[Why won't you do it, then?]
no subject
Archer remains where he is, standing as he has been for the entirety of this conversation. He doesn't let his guard down, but then, he never does. If Servants are weapons by nature, surely, he is all the most so given how many times he's fought and how long he's been trapped in this cycle. He told Rin in the forest when they first found each other again, that he would always be a cleaner, whether working for ALASTAIR or some other power, and it's true. This is simply another assignment to him.
As for the all-important questions...well. He seems to think about that for a little while before he gives an answer. ]
I decided that if I slew you here, it would change nothing that has already transpired in the time to which I was summoned.
[ Certain things cannot be re-written, after all, and besides that- ]
Vengeance isn't a policy I normally entertain.
no subject
[It's only an inkling he has so far, but the way Archer spoke, and the way Rin reacted to his presence when they shouldn't have crossed paths at all in the past... it leads him to believe his actions were something to be reviled. Something terrible, something vengeful, something unlike anything in his own war.
Of course, whether or not that was actually true was for Gilgamesh to decide. But he has to know. What sort of "me" did you meet?]
no subject
Archer lets out a soft breath of a laugh. ]
'Wickedness' is subjective.
[ His own hands are steeped in blood, and he's a far cry from the saintly figure Saber cuts with her holy sword and noble demeanor. ]
You were loosed from your shackles at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War and granted incarnation.
If you were guilty of anything, it was taking the agency of your station to its extreme conclusion.
no subject
He had fluffed up his prana a bit earlier to catch Archer's attention, but the other Servant will now sense a distinct sort of serenity to it. Archer may not be at ease, yet it seems that Gilgamesh has found his peace with the situation. He relaxes. He trusts he won't receive an arrow in the face for it.]
I see.
[By this account, it also explained why Archer was so wary. It all made an almost absurd amount of sense, so much that he can't really take issue with anything.]
I wonder if those same events will come to pass here.
[He doesn't really need to wonder, without the presence of the Grail. He's probing at Archer a bit. Gauging reactions, searching for a potential opening.]
no subject
While there are certain things even he does not approve of, Archer understands very well the intricacies of the World's system and how certain hierarchies have been established. Gilgamesh is the first and oldest Heroic Spirit, and his origins granted him certain privileges and power that others would never have. He acknowledges this, and perhaps, in the deepest, darkest moments of his own personal despair, he might have even seen the merits of a cleansing the world and wiping the slate clean.
And yet, some part of him could never truly envision such a future at his own hands. As much as he has grown to hate his station and despise the ideals that brought him to this bitter, never-ending cycle, some part of him could never truly abide the end of the people he once cherished. He lived a lie, a life dripping in hypocrisy, and yet, deep down inside, something of those hopes and dreams still remain.
His eyes far away, focused on something, perhaps, that only he can see, Archer remains still. Gilgamesh has settled, relaxed even, which is more than can be ever said for himself. He is always on guard, always controlled, because he knows what happens when he's permitted free reign. Rin offered him a contract out of kindness, and he accepted, not only because she desired it, but because he knew she tempered him in ways he can't fully explain. He isn't human anymore, but being around her, he could almost believe he is.
After a long moment, he finally answers. ]
They won't.
[ A firm statement, devoid of inflection. ]
If you choose the path of most destruction, it will end the same way.
[ With a well-placed arrow between his eyes. ]
no subject
Gilgamesh looks to the sky and tries to imagine such a thing. Himself, at his most furious, his most wrathful, murderous and wishing to cleanse the earth of every living soul to start anew—yes, he could see that. Once, he wanted that. He wanted to crush all that was wasteful in the world and "renew" humanity, as he believed necessary.
He just never found the ways or the means to do it. Of course, there was Ea at his disposal, but it was no mere tool to be whipped out at every opportunity. It required a plan, something methodical, something absolute...
I must've manipulated the Grail somehow, Gilgamesh concludes. Such a plan would require great power on an unimaginable scale to pull off, even o one already so powerful he could destroy the very planet itself with a single swing.
Once again he realizes why Archer acts as he has been. This was a threat to all he stood for. Therefore, they could be nothing less than natural enemies to each other. However, he does not speak foolishly. He has grasped the very concept of why Gilgamesh exists and for that... for that, Gilgamesh may just be the slightest bit grateful.
Because someone understood.]
Perhaps. Perhaps not. We are both cut off from our source of agency. We've no Earth to defend or desecrate now.
[Gilgamesh dares to grin.]
Only one big mess to tidy up.
no subject
He lets Gilgamesh parse his comments for himself, and he supposes the man has a point. They are both cut off from the Earth, the source of their agency, but at the same time, Archer doesn't feel truly free. This is only a temporary diversion -- work that he's used to doing, only under the thumb of someone else. He may be able to stretch his wings a little here, so to speak, but the end result will likely be the same.
Gilgamesh smiles, and notably, perhaps, he does not. There is indeed a mess to clean up here. How it is finally done remains to be seen. ]
Perhaps.
[ Turning on his heel, Archer once again begins to walk away. ]
no subject
But Archer will endure the unshakable feeling that someone's watching him for the rest of the night.]