Reverie Inbox

[fujimaru]

It's Ritsuka! I've either fallen asleep or couldn't find my phone in time, so leave a message.

[ text / action / etc]

Comments

[cultfavorite]

. . . You were on the beach in your pajamas? Well, I guess it isn't worse than the other options they give us for free. You ought to see the terrible thing I have to wear swimming.

[HE DOESN'T KNOW SHE SLEPT OUTSIDE,

He pushes the milkshake over to her without comment.]

[fujimaru]

[ NOT THAT MANY PEOPLE DID, IT'S FINE, only Da Vinci was even slightly told. ]

--Oh, no, I just wore my uniform. I don't have pajamas yet.

[ Ritsuka is not exactly raringly ambitious to get Echidna tokens, so she's mostly just been going with what she currently has, between the freebies and the two tasks that Cerberus has won since her arrival. She's slept in this uniform plenty of times! It's comfortable!

But she takes the milkshake with a surprised blink, tilting her head. ]

For me?

[cultfavorite]

You might think of asking the suggestion box for something useful next time. Like pajamas.

[AND NOT BALLS! He leaves that unspoken, but he offers it with the tiniest twitch of a smile, uncertain if that kind of playing around is still—all right.]

And yes, it's for you. I thought you might like it . . . normally I would get us drinks since we're at the bar, but I've already promised Ingo drinks at some point and I don't want to overdo it. And you don't seem like the type, either.

[fujimaru]

I've only asked for useful things. Everything I've gotten from the box was for a purpose.

[ EVEN THE BALLS, though she's not going to clarify about that unless he asks. But she smiles back, small and tentative. ]

...It was a good guess. I don't drink. Technically, I think I'm legal for it, now? But I know too many people with magic livers who'd want me to drink with them if I allowed it.

[cultfavorite]

[HE KNOWS! But he already feels a lot better just having her play along, and seeing her little smile; his expression smooths out more.]

Ha, I see how it is. You really never do anything by halves . . . and you probably won't budge even here, will you? Not that I'm going to encourage you to drink, specifically.

[fujimaru]

Yeah. Cleaning up after someone after they've had a drunken bender really puts you off that kind of thing.

[ She will take this milkshake, though. This part is fine and uncomplicated. ]

Besides, Da Vinci-chan is here. What if someone else shows up? They'd definitely take that knowledge back and tell everyone else.

[cultfavorite]

Ah . . . well, now you have me thinking for the first time in quite a while about what I would have to face if Mars or Jupiter were to suddenly arrive . . .

[oh god don't think about what a PR nightmare that would be to deal with don't think about it]

[fujimaru]

Just Da Vinci-chan alone was a surprise! I'm not expecting it, but I'm not not thinking about it.

[ His concern is a little funny, in a way that is both part of and separate from the current mess that is everything else going on right now. She gives him a sharp little grin before trying the milkshake. ]

Mash aside, I think most of my Servants would do okay here. Some would definitely be more okay than others.

[cultfavorite]

[He should have brought himself a coffee . . . maybe later. And he sees that smile! She's making fun of him a little!! (He deserves it.)]

You were worried about how she would handle some of those tasks, weren't you? I take it that means most of your—Servants, aren't such pure-hearted people.

[fujimaru]

Most of them aren't.

[ Her smile softens into something a little more lopsided, a little more genuinely fond. ]

They're called "Heroic Spirits," but you don't have to be a hero in the same way we'd think of them, in the modern day. A lot of them were--warriors, I guess, for a lack of a better word. People who made their name in battle.

...but there's a lot of them who'd probably handle a task like this pretty well, too.

[cultfavorite]

I see . . . we have similar legends, of course. Though most of ours involve Pokemon. As you might imagine. There isn't much in the way of history of humans distinguishing themselves in battle. Most of those legends end tragically . . . it's an interesting difference. So they've been hardened by battle . . . I can see how such a person might be given to indulge in this kind of game, too.

[fujimaru]

Most of our legends end pretty tragically, too.

[ And even the stories that end well can still have tragic points where a legend could be born. Ritsuka has never actually read the whole of The Count of Monte Cristo, but she knows enough to know that Edmond Dantes had a better ending than the one the King of the Cavern knows, in Chaldea. ]

You don't become a Heroic Spirit if you were completely satisfied with the way your life went. ...But a lot of them are pretty happy to indulge in other things while they're summoned.

[cultfavorite]

Your Servants, then . . . they're spirits who were heroes in life, for the most part, but have regrets. And so they're summoned back to the world of the living, by the living, to serve them? . . . It's fascinating. But they aren't alive now, either. You've mentioned. Da Vinci . . . she had regrets, but she's still come to terms with having lived and died, is that it?

[fujimaru]

Regrets, and...

[ She goes quiet as she trails off, tracing an idle pattern in the condensation on her glass.

Omnipotence is too much for humans to handle. My work shall be done within the limitations of mankind.

After a moment, she shakes her head. ]

Things left unfinished, I guess. A Servant's life is supposed to be a temporary one--under normal circumstances, they work together with their Master for the chance of having a wish granted.

It is living, just... one that can't last for long, most of the time.

[cultfavorite]

A wish? So that's the reward . . .

[He looks at her glass too, where the melted wetness is beginning to trickle down the side. Then he stands, moving away from the table.]

I invited you here to play pool with me, actually. If you want. Or maybe darts, though I've never tried that one before. Do you want to play with me? While I ask you what you think of wishes. Ha.

[fujimaru]

I've only gotten like one crash course in playing pool, so you'll have to deal with that.

[ But it's not a no; she also rises to her feet, following him. ]

Darts, I'm okay at. I played softball in junior high, so I've got semi-decent aim.

[cultfavorite]

You're about the only kind of player I might actually beat, then. I only learned to play it myself a few weeks ago, and I haven't had much opportunity to practice against anyone in the meantime. Maybe you can show me how to throw a dart after this . . .

[He does kind of want to know. The allure of Hobbies here is a strong one, and darts is a pretty solitary game. It might not be bad to have another option for nights when he's bored or overwhelmed and needs something quiet to focus on out of Cerberus, which is what he already does with practicing shooting pool.]

[fujimaru]

Oh, I see how it is, go after the newbie.

[ She says it with mock-solemnity, picking up a pool cue to brandish it at him, pointing it like a sword for a second. ]

Akira-kun showed me, when I told him I didn't know how to play. I learned darts before I came here, though. And poker, but I suck at that one. I'm not allowed to play anymore, on account that people felt bad for how bad I was.

[cultfavorite]

I never learned poker . . . I was going to say you could teach me, but maybe not, if that's your reputation at it.

[He grabs the end of the stick and moves it away with a huff of a laugh, grabbing the rack to rack the balls on the table.]

Too open-faced for it?

[fujimaru]

The rules aren't hard.

[ She does poke his arm with the cue lightly, then pulls it back to hold it in a more safe position. ]

But yeah. I'm just very bad at bluffing. Robin said it was like taking the whole "taking candy from a baby" adage too far.

[cultfavorite]

[He swats at it idly, but he's mostly putting the balls in the right order, which there is one of and I used to know it but I don't remember what it is. He knows it! And then he's going to grab a cue and chalk it up.]

Another Servant of yours? One of the less innocent ones again? I don't know. I think you manage bluffing in other situations better than he might think . . .

[fujimaru]

[ This is fine because I only know how to play pool based off that one Try Guys video, we're doing great,

She tilts her head, bemused. ]

One of them, yeah. Pretty much anyone I namedrop is going to be one. And he tries to paint himself as a bad guy, but mostly he has a lot of bad habits.

...what do you mean by that?

[cultfavorite]

For one thing, you're excellent at telling me things like that you're an ordinary girl with a straight face.

[Ha. He smiles at her, grabbing the cue ball to place it on the table and then bringing out a token.]

Heads or tails?

[fujimaru]

Heads.

[ She answers automatically, but she's still bemused, her brows drawing together as she looks at him. ]

I'm not bluffing on that, though? I am.

[cultfavorite]

[He flips the token and it comes up heads! Congratulations, Ritsuka, have fun breaking the balls. Saturn leans on his cue and watches.]

I know you think you are. Perhaps the trick would be to teach you the different hands backwards, so that you were convinced all the good ones really were bad. Ha.