thehometree | But my life is more than a vision--

Entry tags:

But my life is more than a vision--

| characters | Archer, Shirou, Rin, and whoever wants to join them in their endeavor. Feel free to tag multiple headers and jump threads within them!
| date/time | Monday, May 4th, onwards through the rest of the week.
| location | Outside the tree, near the mists.
| rating | PG for now, who knows later.
| summary | A complicated series of domestic scenes unfold as Archer, Shirou, and Rin set to work building a miniature kitchen out where they can have real fire, only to be interrupted by a storm.

It's been almost three weeks since Archer and Rin arrived in the center of the tree and gained their wings, only to be met by Shirou and Saber as well. That's just about enough time for it to dawn on those who might be concerned with the domestic details of day-to-day life that they have such a thing here, in between the confusion, the struggle to organize, and the fears of more giant spiders.

Archer's highest priority might be the salvation of all the souls around him, as much as he hates it, but bit by bit a new concern creeps up on him, almost unconsciously. Every time he serves Rin a subpar, barely-cooked meal, it pains him a little deep inside where he thought he was only hollow.

He decides to act.

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Yeah. I like a girl like you--

[ He hesitates. ]

Ah, yeah?

Ehh? [ Not what she was going for. Suddenly his identity doesn't matter as much as what he's just said. ]

You mean to say you can tolerate my personality despite my quirks, correct?

[ He's on the edge of something. He should pull back from it. He should be cold. ]

Yeah, I know without being told that you're strange.

[ It's impossible to be cold when she's this warm in his arms. This was a mistake, holding her like this was a mistake, he can't--

Dimly, he knows that his bright days with Rin will end when he says this. He takes a breath and murmurs against her ear. ]

But I love that foolish part of you.

You should be like that. I'm saved by having a girl like you.

[ A week ago it was everything she wanted to hear when they reunited here. All that talk of being bound together by fate and of romance, though he was having none of it. What changed since then? Her contract with Shirou wasn't that obvious, but perhaps his feelings filtered through--no, no, no. That made no sense. ]

S-Saved? I don't really understand.

Is this something to do with your past, Archer?

I have no past. I'm nothing when it comes to legends and folktales.

[ He thinks of his attempts to make her tea over the past couple of weeks. He thinks of tidying up her little house. He thinks of touching her hair as he knelt at her side, dying. ]

But I am your Servant, Rin. Well, I'll have to go back to being a hero someday, but if I can protect you and see your smile until then--

I think I will be saved a little.

[ That's wrong. Rin thinks as she looks up to the man who holds her all while wondering if voicing her objection would snatch this moment away from her. There was so much of this world (and of him) that she didn't know of that taking an unnecessary risk intimidated her.

Then again, wasn't he the one taking the risk? All of those compliments and honest statements he threw at her might have seemed wonderful at the time though now they struck her as odd. What was so strange about the cold man acting warm suddenly? Questions will have to be answered at another time, she decides once it's acknowledged that there isn't enough information to go by. She doesn't want to return to the chill so soon after all. ]

Saving a hero just by smiling. That's a little messed up, isn't it? [ She's so good at this. ]

Isn't that a terrible thing to say, Rin?

[ But his voice is still warm. ]

You shouldn't call someone who's confessing such things to you messed up.

I suppose you're a little messed up yourself. That's fine. I'll save you too.

[ No, that's exactly what she should do to someone who is confessing these things to her. If Archer found out she was going to kill Sakura, could he really like someone as messed up as her? He speaks of saving her, but she's the exact kind of person he shouldn't be saving. All that time she allowed Sakura to suffer alone without lifting a finger to help her... that kind of person, the kind of person Rin Tohsaka is, doesn't deserve to be liked at all! ]

That only proves you have no idea what you're talking about. [ HMPH! ]

And that you're really messed up!

[ At least she's sulking in his arms. ]

Yeah...but I'm your messed-up Archer.

[ He doesn't think. She's too warm in his arms for him to think, too cute with her sulking face.

Somewhere in his brain, a part of him is frantically trying to get him to stop.

But he just rescued Rin from the rain, and it very nearly made him happy. He hasn't felt so close to happy in longer than he can imagine, much less remember. He doesn't know how to deal with it; he can't possibly deserve such a feeling, but maybe if he devotes himself wholly to Rin it's acceptable for him to feel that way.

He kisses the top of her head. ]

[ Whatever mental resistance she had up fades due to the combined efforts of his kiss and the heat of his body. Those arms of his feel too familiar, but Rin passes it off as a desperate attempt to understand the hero whose past remains much of a mystery to her. It wasn't so long ago she was curled up in this same bed with Shirou and look where that got her. Conveniently avoiding him and acting as if she was too busy to speak with him.

Archer was someone she couldn't ignore. By now she's grown used to the salads he brings her as well as a rare treat. It'll be... difficult to move forward from this point, but maybe it'll be easier with someone who had as much trouble as she did with these things. If they're both screwed up, then their mistakes can't scare each other off. ]

Do that again, Archer.

Again?

[ There's bewilderment in his voice. He sounds so much like a boy with orange hair, in that moment. ]

Aren't you greedy...

[ Then it fades, and his voice is cynical again, save for the thread of affection running through it. ]

All right. It doesn't cost me anything to do a thing like that.

[ He thought it did--he thought it destroyed him to be that gentle with another person--but if it makes her happy, then it rewards him as well.

He kisses her hair again, nuzzling lightly against her head this time. It's all right because it makes her happy; nothing else matters, in this moment. ]

[ Happy and sad both at the same time. As complicated as the war had been, it was at least something she could figure out in comparison to the man holding her. Why is it, Rin asks herself, that you think of someone forbidden instead of the one you do have?

Right now, she found it difficult to determine just who was the forbidden fruit between Archer and Shirou Emiya. The latter belonged to her sister, but not the one here. The former was a Heroic Spirit who had already lived his life, leaving everything that happened here to be a dream that could never be continued again. ]

If you keep this up, I'll warm up a bit too much. [ She teases knowing that that would be the breaking limit for them both. Too much too soon. ]

Hmmm.

[ He falls silent, at that. It's not her teasing that pushes him to stop--it's the hint of distress he can feel from her. Why is it that she's sad? He can't ask, right now. What if it's something he can do nothing about? ]

Then let's stop there, and merely keep you just warm enough.

[ His voice is calm now, and he pulls a little bit back from her, holding her only lightly now. ]

[ Far too much took place after he left her and with many of those details vivid in her mind like a fresh wound, she's incapable of relaxing. It'd be too easy to open up and tell someone, though what good would it do? It'd make him worry needlessly so and wear her pride down; therefore Rin's only option was to tuck those feelings away just as he tucked her in his arms. ]

We're okay together like this, Archer. [ He withdraws and it stings a little, though not enough to make a fuss over. ]

Careful with your arm. My stomach still hurts.

Mmm. We're okay.

[ It's not enough for her to be okay. He wants her to be happier than anyone else has ever been. But the gap between that ideal and the reality of her troubles is too far for him to cross right now. ]

Right, of course. I won't allow any further injury to come to you on my watch, Rin.

I wasn't sure if you were aware of it or not. [ Not that she's calling him out for it. Simply she's drawing attention to the fact she's kept it well hidden. ]

You aren't upset with me for arriving here in such a sorry state, are you?

[ He smirks a little, and though she might not be able to see it, she can probably hear it in his voice. ]

Don't underestimate my observation, Rin. If you are hurt, I will know.

[ He pauses at her question, though, before speaking more quietly. ]

With you? No. I'm certain that if you received injury or deprivation, it was for a worthwhile cause. You wouldn't lightly subject yourself to harm.

[ Does he know? Rin worries for a moment that his words ring true, but she's mastered the art of keeping her feelings to herself. There's no way he can know. ]

Hmph, it'll most likely scar in this place due to a lack of medicine. That irritates me, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

Deprivation though? What an odd thing to take notice of.

I am your Servant, Rin. I will notice what you are lacking.

[ His voice is quiet and earnest. ]

We don't have a pact so that's not true. [ Or else he'd notice what she passed onto a certain redhead. ]

Plus a woman should be able to keep some secrets from her partner.

Her partner...

[ He sounds faintly enchanted by that idea. Perhaps enough to fail to notice that she is, in fact, still hiding something from him. ]

Mmm, you should, anyway.

It keeps things enchanting anyway. [ She adds as an afterthought as if she could be anything like that. ]

You have some secrets of your own, don't you?

...

[ There's a pause at that, and when he speaks his voice is a little weary. ]

I do.

But you are brilliant, so it's only a matter of time before you uncover them and I'm defenseless before you.

If that happens and you're exposed before me, it'd only be fair I should join you on that level. [ While her voice isn't weary, it's softer. ]

Partners shouldn't have an unhealthy edge on each other after all.

Then I'll look forward to it, Rin.

[ The smile faintly returns to his voice. ]

The day you uncover my secrets.

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