[video] -> [text]

[structuraldefect]

[The camera picks up a deep red couch and stone for a moment. The couch is empty. For the moment. Someone walks in. Heavy footsteps. Sits down in front of the laptop. Dull eyed and empty. Wearing a priest's outfit. He peers into the laptop for a few moments. Not particularly long, but not a quick glance. He seems to be clicking something, or else checking it.

Ah. He's got it now. He shifts his gaze from the keyboard up to the red blinking camera light.]

I'll be right back.

[Voomp. The video closes. Not suspiciously quickly. Don't get any ideas. Just a hanging moment, as he finds the right key, and x's it out.

A few moments later, this text appears.]

Now then. What can you tell me?

(OOC: Two things!
1. if you haven't hit up Kirei's permission post, you might wanna do that!
2. This is a double intro! R's Gilgamesh (effulge) will be hopping around at will! You should fill out his permissions, too!)

Comments

[structuraldefect]

There's little I can change about that.

[croibhristeoir]

You're not affected by much, are you?

[structuraldefect]

And you are?

[croibhristeoir]

I've come to expect most to react with confusion or at least mild surprise upon encountering this place.

[structuraldefect]

And what would panicking accomplish?

[croibhristeoir]

A fair point, I have to admit.

[structuraldefect]

There you go.

[croibhristeoir]

So what is it you intend to do, once you've become accustomed to the sort of community you're now associated with?

[structuraldefect]

I wasn't aware I intended to do anything.

[croibhristeoir]

I certainly have no way of knowing that, hence my question.

If you assume you speak to an enemy Servant, you should realize I've no connection to the Holy Grail War at the present time. My concern lies only in preserving some measure of tranquility in this place.

Of course, that assumes that you are connected to the war, so forgive me if I am in fact mistaken.

[structuraldefect]

And if I've no idea what you're talking about?

[croibhristeoir]

[...Was it possible he didn't know yet? If perhaps he became involved later? Then again...hadn't the war's supervisor also had the name 'Kotomine'? If Lancer's memory was indeed correct, it was hard to believe someone likely associated with the presence of the church wouldn't know.]

[Still, it was best to not confront him directly, least of all when Lancer wasn't certain of the facts as he recalled them.]

Then I should illustrate my point this way: I am not your enemy unless you choose to push me into such a role.

[structuraldefect]

[And yet they all talk of him like they know his. That doesn't seem very fair. ]

And neither am I.

[croibhristeoir]

[Life's a bitch when you're a Nasu.]

Hopefully we can remain that way for the foreseeable future.

( ACTION. )

[structuraldefect]

[He looks up from the keyboard, across the room to where Gilgamesh has taken up lounging. He closes it slightly, not enough to shut it off, but not so that it's blocking his view. New messages make a pinging noise, so he won't miss any conversations by paying more attention to this one.

He scoffs. A quick glance upward, towards the ceiling, before focusing again. The beginning of a smile spreads across his face before it fades away, schools back to almost normalcy.]

He's got his answer now.

( ACTION. ) wow gay

[structuraldefect]

He pushes the laptop away a little. Carefully. He's not sure how delicate it is. There's a thought in his head. Nagging at him. He should tell Tokiomi. It's what any loyal partner would do. Isn't it? Alert the other to something strange going on. It should be a complication. Might make the war more difficult. Even though he doubts Tokiomi would get much use out of something electronic like this. But still. He should tell Tokiomi.

So, why is he still sitting here, arms crossed on the couch, wine glass both too far and not far enough to reach?]

They all sound so knowing. [He sighs, shrugging his shoulders. He looks pensive. Almost worried. Not quite there enough. But he's thinking, and it bothers him.] But for every warning they make, they stress how normal it is. It seems as though they can't decide for themselves.

( ACTION. ) just jump him, gil

[structuraldefect]

[Sometimes he wonders if he knows what, exactly, Tokiomi's gotten himself into. He knows better than to ask out loud, of course. And there's very little to be done about it now. But Tokiomi tends to... turn blind eyes to things that he should, maybe perhaps, keep an eye open for.

Kirei's just sitting here, an enemy Master if nothing else, and it nags at him. If anything, he worries if he's seeing perhaps too much. Archer is impossible to ignore. Somehow. He commands attention. Well, the way he commands a lot of things. And there's something in the line of him that compels.

Kirei's rests his chin in the palm of his hand. Not quite bored. Just thinking, perhaps too much, about what sort of day this has been, and what it will probably continue to be. He shifts his gaze from Archer to the wine to the computer, not particularly flitting. Just not staring, closed and empty.]

I suppose we'll just have to pay closer attention. There does seem to be some consensus, in the broader view, but variations come up much too frequently to be ignored.

( ACTION. )

[structuraldefect]

[He slumps more. It's stressful. Not worrying. Not panic inducing. Just a heavy weight, in addition to the one he's already carrying. The right words seem so far away, so fleeting. He clasps his hands together beneath his chin. Thinking again. Trying to support his head, but it seems to lower under the weight, as if his strings have been torn and frayed.

Archer makes everything he does seem effortless. A snap of the fingers, a tilt of the head, and everything sloshes around him like the wine in his glasses. But it never spills over, never tips, except in precise, careful amounts. Never seems to stain him. Not like the ones Kirei carries, too closely, that spill over him and overflow.]

There must be a reason they all stay. Why some of them seem to like it so much, for all the supposed dangers.

kirei stahp

[structuraldefect]

[He thinks. He does that a lot. He crosses his arms as he does so. Not quite leaning back. But he's let go. It's a simple enough conversation. It just takes a bit of spin and polish, to sort the bundle of thoughts he'd gathered so far. If he were a different sort of person, he'd wonder at how easily giving information to Archer seemed, how the words just seemed to pour out of him unceasingly and with little effort.

But he's not that sort of person. What sort of person is he?

He doesn't want to know. Not entirely.

Once he knows, he's not sure he'd be able to turn back.]

They treat the most stunning revelations as if they're common. So, therefore, they must be here long enough for them to have gotten used to this place's [A pause, before he settles on] quirks.