[ ayaka was intending to use the library as her little hideaway spot in the mansion full of mostly volatile strangers. her desire to be alone is even stronger today, and she figured that maybe she could take a book and hide in the corner of the library but...
[ Richard's sitting with a small pile of books, seemingly mostly scripts for some plays and an illuminated manuscript for good measure, with one of the former currently open in his lap.
He's also, probably unsurprisingly, changed out of his armor and into some of the clothes provided in the villas. Fitting in aesthetic-wise might not be as important here, but it sure beats being in the armor the whole time. ]
Oh, Ayaka! I had come across this library and, well, I couldn't help myself but to see what was here. A lot of it is natural texts and things about ettiquite and the like, but there's some dramatical works, as well.
[ Not quite as targeted of a selection as Sigma's base of operations, but beggars can't be choosers. ]
I wasn’t looking for anything, no. [ she shakes her head as she takes a seat next to him. ]
[ ayaka’s not surprised to see the small stack of books next to richard, but she does find his interest in music and theater to be a curious thing even after all their time together. it makes sense he would, considering the actions that she has experienced with her own eyes and the bits and pieces of his past that she’s been able to see, but it still has her reaching out for one of the books in the stack, going through the pages without reading any of the text.
after a few seconds of pretending to read, she sets it down on her lap, and speaks up. ]
Hey, Saber. Are you… okay with this?
[ the lack of holy grail war, the mysterious kidnapping situation, her general existence as a killer who is only pretending to be ayaka sajyou— you know. ]
[ He's more than happy to let her take something from his pile, even if he's pretty sure her intent here isn't necessarily to read. It's been a stressful few days (before and after their awakening here), so maybe some quiet is in order while they can still get it.
Richard's nearly back into the script when Ayaka speaks up again, and looks at her, smiling slightly. ]
I don't mind if you're looking through what I've taken here, but I can help you look for something else if these aren't too your liking.
[ By the look in his eye, he's got a pretty good idea about what she actually means other than his predictable tastes. ]
[ Once everything is said and done, and Andrew is in good hands and Ayaka's able to get out of the ballroom on her own power, he'll follow suit right behind her, happy to let her lead to where they go next. ]
Do you need me to get you anything? Food or anything?
[ He knows the answer, probably, but he'd still be remiss if he didn't ask. ]
[ ayaka's nursing a cup of coffee in her hands, staring at it in hopes that it will somehow help her focus on what to do next. ]
Honestly, I don't think I have an appetite after all of that. [ really, andrew's coughing spell was just the cherry on top of the terrible sundae. ] I'm just tired.
[ her shoulders sag, as she turns around to look at saber. ]
Do you still have the violin you had in the theater?
[ Once he gets Ayaka out of the library, the only place that Richard can think to take them where there's at least a short amount of time that they'll be alone is the Primrose suite. He knows there's not a lot of time before some of them start filtering back to the room, like they did last week, so they have to be quick.
But it's not the highest priority right now, as he sets Ayaka on the floor of the powder room, closing the door behind him. He's practically bristling with energy, like he's been charged with something, but his tone is even as ever as he watches her carefully. ]
[ the world comes to her in snapshots. one moment she’s wrestling siobhan to get the knife away from her, and in another she’s sinking it into her abdomen. and then… then…? when did saber get there? how much time passed between the murder and being led back? she remembers being led to the fountain and back to the burning library where the urgency of the fire had brought forth that primal instinct to live once more… but all of this she remembers like a spectator watching a scene unfold before them.
the impersonal and passive version of her comes to a logical conclusion that strikes her mind and soul with the force of a sledgehammer.
‘you killed siobhan roy.’ ]
I- I don’t… No one was awake… I couldn’t…
[ she’s curled up with her legs pressed close against her chest. there’s scrapes on her hands, the gravel from them washed off or removed with all the movement. they’re not bleeding badly, but there are patches that are still lightly oozing blood. ]
I-I’m sorry. Saber, I— because of me— I— you— aaaah…
[ the words fail her. the horror of having made saber an accessory to her crimes. if her legs weren’t failing her, she’d try to walk away. but there’s nothing she can do but stare at her partner with shell-shock horror. ]
[ He's not sure what, precisely, she's apologizing for. Whether she knows what he did – taking matters into his own hands to ensure that, when it came down to it, no harm came to her. The fact that she's looking at him, and not over his shoulder for the little girl that's not actually there, is a good sign as any, but he can't be sure. And asking right now doesn't seem like it'd be particularly helpful to getting her to calm down somewhat.
He's helpful in starting a fight, or forcing his way through things like a wild animal. In cases like these, for as talented and strong as he is, he doesn't know what to do. It's almost like the reality check he had been given after fighting with the King of Heroes, but he doesn't even have the wherewithal to let himself burn out of magical energy and fade away.
Wordlessly, he stands up to move out of the powder room for not even a minute, returning to her on the floor with the items he got between the two weeks, the analgesic vial and the spray he had received before they went to the library. ]
Are you hurt anywhere?
[ His tone is quiet and gentle, which seems like a mismatch from the fire in his eyes that doesn't seem to go away. ]
[ as richard leaves, ayaka's sight doesn't follow him. maybe it'd be better to say that she isn't looking at him, but simply forward.
in his absence, however quick it is, she sees it. the figure, much smaller than her, staring back at her. with her hood pulled down, she can see it now. the transparent blonde hair and pointed ears sticking out, with blue eyes staring back at her. when saber's back, her face is in her hands. she doesn't want to see her. she doesn't want to see him. she doesn't want to see anyone.
his question sounds distant, as if he were talking from hundreds of meters away. with a shuddering breath, she tries to assess the damage and comes up with nothing but static. with a shuddering breath, she tries to give whatever information comes to her head. ]
I-I tripped. My hands... I think my ankle... oh god, Saber what did I do?
[ another person dead because of her. once again, her hands are marred in the blood of others, like the monster that she is. ]
[ The door to the Primrose suite closes behind them with a quiet click, and almost immediately Richard lets out a long sigh. That was... not how he was expecting things to go in the slightest. He can only stare blankly for a second while he just kind of. Resets. ]
[ as richard sighs, ayaka finally lets whatever bravado was holding her up crumble like a sand castle. like a puppet with its strings cut, she buries her face in her hands, and simply starts sobbing. ]
[ He moves to console her, but stops. It's not right for him to try and do that – after all, is he not the one who dragged her into this in the first place? ]
... I'm sorry.
[ He doesn't regret it, but it doesn't mean he likes it. ]
[ saber's apologizing? what for? it's her fault for dragging him into this. if she had done the right thing and simply confessed, if she hadn't done what she did to blade... if she hadn't followed along with andrew when she knew that the other girl was wrong...
so many sins, all stacked on top of her like weights. siobhan's blood is on her hands, and now so is siffrin's. how many more people's lives is she going to take?
her words fail her as she continues to sob, but she replies to him with a shake of her head. "it's not your fault" she wants to say, "it's mine." ]
[ ayaka’s washed up and, due to today’s events, avoiding the narcisssus suite like the plague. so she’s in the sitting room of the primrose suite, her forehead pressed against her knees.
at least she’s not crying this week? small victories, right? ]
[ Waiting to swap back into the armor at the last possible minute after also washing up, Richard tries his best to linger without necessarily hovering, beyond depositing some water on a table next to her at some point. She isn't crying this week, it's true (though he'd understand why she was, even if this was nothing like last week), so he's not sure if the same approach is needed, or really wanted.
He watches her with her head against her knees, and coughs slightly. ]
Do you want to talk about it?
[ He's mad at himself for not sticking with her so she didn't have to deal with that, but it's how it happened. It ain't about him right now, anyway. ]
[ she straightens her back, fixing up her glasses on her face as she looks up at richard. she wrings her hands on her lap, and a part of her fears that, if she glances down, she’ll see them covered in blood again. ]
Andrew had talked to me earlier this week… she was afraid that she was going to be used as bait after last week. I thought if she was with us, she’d be safer, but…
[ Once Ayaka's settled back in the Primrose suite, having gotten her shoulder fixed, Richard's sitting at the end of the bed she's been using since she moved over. The energy that's seeping out of him is kind of charged, if not a little rancid, after everything that happened. It's hard to have anticipated it all, but this...
He glances the shoulder where Siffrin was embedded in not that long ago for a few beats, before back up at her. ]
[ ayaka can feel the charged energy in the room, and she doesn’t like it in the slightest. the shoulder still aches, despite it being healed, though she’s not sure if that’s psychosomatic or real.
she can’t look at richard in the eyes, however, and her gaze is fixed on the hands on her lap.
ayaka doesn’t bother asking how richard is doing. at this point she doesn’t need a master’s link to have a pretty decent idea of his state of mind. ]
[ Richard exhales through his nose, looking away from her as he eyes a relatively unremarkable part of crown molding near the ceiling. Whether he actually believes it not doesn't really matter right now, and... it's not really about him at the moment, anyway. ]
I suppose it could've gone worse. [ though, like. this is still very bad, for him. ] I should've stepped in sooner.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
w1 monday
ah. ]
Saber? What are you doing here?
no subject
He's also, probably unsurprisingly, changed out of his armor and into some of the clothes provided in the villas. Fitting in aesthetic-wise might not be as important here, but it sure beats being in the armor the whole time. ]
Oh, Ayaka! I had come across this library and, well, I couldn't help myself but to see what was here. A lot of it is natural texts and things about ettiquite and the like, but there's some dramatical works, as well.
[ Not quite as targeted of a selection as Sigma's base of operations, but beggars can't be choosers. ]
Were you coming to look for something, too?
no subject
[ ayaka’s not surprised to see the small stack of books next to richard, but she does find his interest in music and theater to be a curious thing even after all their time together. it makes sense he would, considering the actions that she has experienced with her own eyes and the bits and pieces of his past that she’s been able to see, but it still has her reaching out for one of the books in the stack, going through the pages without reading any of the text.
after a few seconds of pretending to read, she sets it down on her lap, and speaks up. ]
Hey, Saber. Are you… okay with this?
[ the lack of holy grail war, the mysterious kidnapping situation, her general existence as a killer who is only pretending to be ayaka sajyou— you know. ]
no subject
Richard's nearly back into the script when Ayaka speaks up again, and looks at her, smiling slightly. ]
I don't mind if you're looking through what I've taken here, but I can help you look for something else if these aren't too your liking.
[ By the look in his eye, he's got a pretty good idea about what she actually means other than his predictable tastes. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
w1, post trial
Do you need me to get you anything? Food or anything?
[ He knows the answer, probably, but he'd still be remiss if he didn't ask. ]
no subject
Honestly, I don't think I have an appetite after all of that. [ really, andrew's coughing spell was just the cherry on top of the terrible sundae. ] I'm just tired.
[ her shoulders sag, as she turns around to look at saber. ]
Do you still have the violin you had in the theater?
no subject
It's been a long day. You need your rest.
[ He blinks at the mention of the violin, thinking he left it back at the theater for a second, but – ]
I left it in my quarters when I went back to change. [ ... ] Do you want it?
no subject
[ what good would it do if she had it? it would just pick up dust in her room. ]
I just thought... well... it's not an electric guitar, sure, but it was nice to hear you play it back in the theater. Before, you know.
[ before it all went to hell???? ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
lol. lmfao. (w2 invest/pre-trial)
But it's not the highest priority right now, as he sets Ayaka on the floor of the powder room, closing the door behind him. He's practically bristling with energy, like he's been charged with something, but his tone is even as ever as he watches her carefully. ]
Ayaka. Are you okay?
no subject
the impersonal and passive version of her comes to a logical conclusion that strikes her mind and soul with the force of a sledgehammer.
‘you killed siobhan roy.’ ]
I- I don’t… No one was awake… I couldn’t…
[ she’s curled up with her legs pressed close against her chest. there’s scrapes on her hands, the gravel from them washed off or removed with all the movement. they’re not bleeding badly, but there are patches that are still lightly oozing blood. ]
I-I’m sorry. Saber, I— because of me— I— you— aaaah…
[ the words fail her. the horror of having made saber an accessory to her crimes. if her legs weren’t failing her, she’d try to walk away. but there’s nothing she can do but stare at her partner with shell-shock horror. ]
no subject
[ He's not sure what, precisely, she's apologizing for. Whether she knows what he did – taking matters into his own hands to ensure that, when it came down to it, no harm came to her. The fact that she's looking at him, and not over his shoulder for the little girl that's not actually there, is a good sign as any, but he can't be sure. And asking right now doesn't seem like it'd be particularly helpful to getting her to calm down somewhat.
He's helpful in starting a fight, or forcing his way through things like a wild animal. In cases like these, for as talented and strong as he is, he doesn't know what to do. It's almost like the reality check he had been given after fighting with the King of Heroes, but he doesn't even have the wherewithal to let himself burn out of magical energy and fade away.
Wordlessly, he stands up to move out of the powder room for not even a minute, returning to her on the floor with the items he got between the two weeks, the analgesic vial and the spray he had received before they went to the library. ]
Are you hurt anywhere?
[ His tone is quiet and gentle, which seems like a mismatch from the fire in his eyes that doesn't seem to go away. ]
no subject
in his absence, however quick it is, she sees it. the figure, much smaller than her, staring back at her. with her hood pulled down, she can see it now. the transparent blonde hair and pointed ears sticking out, with blue eyes staring back at her. when saber's back, her face is in her hands. she doesn't want to see her. she doesn't want to see him. she doesn't want to see anyone.
his question sounds distant, as if he were talking from hundreds of meters away. with a shuddering breath, she tries to assess the damage and comes up with nothing but static. with a shuddering breath, she tries to give whatever information comes to her head. ]
I-I tripped. My hands... I think my ankle... oh god, Saber what did I do?
[ another person dead because of her. once again, her hands are marred in the blood of others, like the monster that she is. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
LOL. LMFAO. (w2 post trial)
no subject
no subject
... I'm sorry.
[ He doesn't regret it, but it doesn't mean he likes it. ]
no subject
so many sins, all stacked on top of her like weights. siobhan's blood is on her hands, and now so is siffrin's. how many more people's lives is she going to take?
her words fail her as she continues to sob, but she replies to him with a shake of her head. "it's not your fault" she wants to say, "it's mine." ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
1/2
2/2
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
w3 post invest
at least she’s not crying this week? small victories, right? ]
no subject
He watches her with her head against her knees, and coughs slightly. ]
Do you want to talk about it?
[ He's mad at himself for not sticking with her so she didn't have to deal with that, but it's how it happened. It ain't about him right now, anyway. ]
no subject
[ she straightens her back, fixing up her glasses on her face as she looks up at richard. she wrings her hands on her lap, and a part of her fears that, if she glances down, she’ll see them covered in blood again. ]
Andrew had talked to me earlier this week… she was afraid that she was going to be used as bait after last week. I thought if she was with us, she’d be safer, but…
[ obviously not. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
w4 tuesday, post meeting
He glances the shoulder where Siffrin was embedded in not that long ago for a few beats, before back up at her. ]
How is it feeling?
no subject
[ ayaka can feel the charged energy in the room, and she doesn’t like it in the slightest. the shoulder still aches, despite it being healed, though she’s not sure if that’s psychosomatic or real.
she can’t look at richard in the eyes, however, and her gaze is fixed on the hands on her lap.
ayaka doesn’t bother asking how richard is doing. at this point she doesn’t need a master’s link to have a pretty decent idea of his state of mind. ]
Guess everyone knows now.
no subject
[ Richard exhales through his nose, looking away from her as he eyes a relatively unremarkable part of crown molding near the ceiling. Whether he actually believes it not doesn't really matter right now, and... it's not really about him at the moment, anyway. ]
I suppose it could've gone worse. [ though, like. this is still very bad, for him. ] I should've stepped in sooner.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
w4 curfew
Well, it seems that we're stuck here for the night.
[ Good thing he had brought some of the bedding from the suite in case this arose! ]
no subject
[ she slides down against the wall, watching saber try and fail to open the door. ]
If it all goes well, we’ll be back in Snowfield soon, huh?
no subject
[ which is probably for the best. who knows what part of the château is being defiled with sin.
After a few more tries on the door, he sighs, moving to sit down next to her. ]
When all goes well. [ ... ] It's hard to believe that we've known each other longer here, come to think of it.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)