pineslog | some days i can't even trust myself ( CLOSED )

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some days i can't even trust myself ( CLOSED )

Who: elizabeth bathory & robin hood
Where: out and about in the town
When: march 22ndish
What: robin finally finds the leader of the 4* loli pack.
Warnings: a lot, but i'll update with specifics as they arise.

[ the ache for mana is different than an ache for food, though no less powerful. with blood on her fingertips, eliza makes her way through the back alleys of the quaint town; her claws curl. her tongue flicks out into the night air and her tail curls; there's blood in her mouth now. metallic. warm. not her preferred way of using it, but it'll have to do for now. with every precious drop there holds an amount of life force, something she can turn to mana and pour into every corner of her magical body. haaaa... if only masters worthy of her were easier to come by, she thinks to herself. surely there had to be at least one who could serve as her producer and keep her rooted more firmly to this... weird place.

this place is weird, even by eliza's standards. and she's seen some weird things. heck, she's done even more weird things. but this place... something about it just tipped the arrow on her mental scale to the weirdest of the weird.

now she feels... something. a magical pressure skirting through the air. drawing her fingertip though her mouth once more, a soft pop breaks out into the night as she finally cleans her claw of blood. ]

Someone's there, [ she purrs, and her tail curls up behind her. ] Show yourself, and I might be merciful.

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[There's a quiet rustle, and then Robin steps out of the shadow he's been crouching in. He'd been hoping he was wrong about what he saw, hoping what she was licking off her fingers wasn't blood, but of course the one time he's right is when he doesn't want to be.]

What's it matter if you're merciful to me? I can actually defend myself.

[There's no hesitation as he shows himself, a stark contrast to his usual dodgy personality. He knows Elizabeth - better than he'd like, sometimes - so he has an idea of how much criticism he can throw at her before things get dangerous.

There's a difficult expression on his face, and a tightness in his voice. He isn't angry; as a Servant, preying on humans is her nature as well as his own.

No, he's not mad at her. Just disappointed.]

[ you know, eliza's got a good bead on the way things work here in this town. old memories merge with new ones (she remembers ibaraki both as a human and ... not), things crash and mingle and sometimes just fall apart. eliza knows, if she wanted out of this without a lecture, she could just pretend she didn't know this guy and continue on her way.

but she's not that great of an actress when something takes her by legitimate surprise, and her shoulders stiffen as she sees robin's form slink out of the shadows. her tail twists in agitation, knotting on itself and then smoothing out in a harsh whip. ]

But you're in a class that's weak to mine, little mouse. [ and that drop of blood on her lip? now gone with a swipe of her tongue. ] I'd still need to exercise caution unless I wanted to kill you.

[ it's easy. it's so easy to just slip back into cruelty and cold aloof behaviors. this way she can at least pretend that it doesn't ache somewhere deep in her chest to know that she's let someone down.

someone, she remembers, who was the only one who believed in her. ]

So kill me, then.

[It's a dare, one he's reasonably confident she won't try. Even if she's relying on this method to sustain herself, even if it doesn't look like she regrets it...she doesn't get anything out of killing him. And though it looks bad, Robin's still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She's not always a good person, and she's done unforgivable things, but she's trying to be better than that. If she's really committed to that, then she'll stay put.

If she isn't, then it's not like anything of value is lost anyway.]

[ in a flash of gold mana, eliza's spear materializes in her hand. a twirl through the night air, the blade cutting the darkness... before landing, point down, into the street behind her.

dramatics.

she just wanted something to lean on. ]

... I have no interest in killing you, Robin.

What the hell are you doing, Elizabeth?

[She used his name, so he might as well use hers too.]

Have you not found a Master yet?

[He hasn't either, but he's a ho so it's not a problem for him to get mana in...less violent fashions...if it comes to that.]

[ what a ho, robin hood. but just like that, eliza gets defensive, standing up straight and her hips tensing. ]

Hah, don't talk to me like you're the pinnacle of servant-hood! How long have you been here? If you've just arrived, I don't expect you to have found one right away.

When did I say I had, moron? I'd think ears as big as yours wouldn't have any trouble hearing.

[Never mind that they aren't really big, they're just pointed.]

I'm giving you an out here, but getting this defensive this fast just makes you look bad, you know.

[Wait, no, lecturing a serial killer about how to avoid suspicion isn't what he wanted to accomplish here.]

My ears aren't big! They're an elegant almond shaped, like a dragon's should be!

[ yeah she's just.

going to continue getting defensive because even though she feels a lot less tired now, it's starting to sink in that... well, that was a thing. she has more blood on her hands, even though she was trying to avoid it.

the fact that it wasn't even her prey doesn't help at all. ]

Almond shaped like those fangs of yours, right?

[He's not gonna let her drop this that easily. He's an expert when it comes to deflection, so he's got an idea of how to combat it, too.]

No, those are more conical.

[ the better to puncture flesh. ]

[This isn't going anywhere. He might as well get to the point.]

...You know if you try this again, I'm going to kill you, right?

[He says it casually, like he's reminding her to pick up some milk at the store.

He likes Elizabeth, and he had - maybe still has - faith that she can become better than she is.

But first and foremost, he's a defender of the people.]

[ robin, you will eventually learn the lesson that archimedes suffered through: eliza can't be lead, or predicted. in time, though, she'll find her way.

with a soft huff, eliza places her hands on her hips and takes her lance up with her tail, letting it dissipate into mana. ]

Without a Master, you wouldn't succeed.

Doesn't matter. If I have to choose between living people and corpses like us, I'll choose the living people every time, even if it kills me too.

[Besides, Robin doesn't need mana or a Master to mix poisons.]

.... [ her eyes narrow for a moment, but you know, she shares this next piece of information not to save her own skin, but to make sure that robin knows what else is out there: ]

Then you'll be killing more than just me. [ she waves a hand, now moving to pass robin by so she can reach the main street again. ] She wasn't my prey.

[That's somehow both a relief and a shock at once. On one hand, he's glad she didn't kill anyone. On the other hand, it's...really gross to think about eating someone that's just been lying there...]

I didn't think Elizabeth Bathory settled for anyone's leftovers. You didn't have time for a rigorous torture routine to work up an appetite if she was already dead.

[That...may have been more hurtful than he intended, so he does his best to sweep that under the rug by...making things worse.]

...You go tell whoever did kill her that I'll hunt them down too, if I have to.

[ it might be hurtful, but it's true, so eliza doesn't let it bother her too much. instead, she shrugs her shoulders like she's shrugging off robin's words, letting them roll down her spine and off the tip of her tail. ]

Mmm, I was already hungry. And don't worry, hero. [ she turns around to face him, her eyes dark, a corner of her mouth turned up. ] Unless that guy killed her, she's still alive.

[ no life force to be found in stale blood, after all. ]

You were supposed to be the hero.

[He's not sure if this is for show or not, so it's better to err on the side of convincing Elizabeth not to hurt people.

Maybe it makes him an idiot, but the progress she'd been making leaves him believing she might yet make the changes within herself that she wants to.]

[ ah, that... makes eliza stop walking, and her tail anxiously twitches from one side to another. ]

... I can't be the hero if I'm dead, can I?

[ that's a weak excuse and she knows it. ]

..ha.

[Robin's exhausted.]

Don't you know people only care about heroes because of how they died?

[The nature of Servants is enough to prove it. Heroes, anti-heroes, and monsters alike, they all received those titles upon their death.]

[ eliza's quiet for a long moment before finally turning around to face robin, her lip curled angrily. ]

So what are you suggesting? I just let myself fade away?!

Of course not! Just...

[He'd offer himself if he didn't already know it'd be useless to her.]

...Just try to find a Master as quickly as possible. I'll give you some time to sort this out, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye forever.

[ perhaps not entirely useless — magical blood does have special properties, after all. ]

Yes, sir; right away, sir. [ her voice is dripping with sarcasm, like blood from a fang, and robin gets a sharp sneer from her. ] This place is just crawling with mages, kind of like rats. Finding a master should be easy.

Glad to hear it! Don't let the door hit your flat ass on the way out!

[He knows there aren't really any good choices here, but even so, there's an immature, childish part of himself that wants the way that no one gets hurt.

He's just not sure if there is one, in this case.]

My ass is not flat!

It's cute and round and perky, and you should enjoy the sight of it as I walk away from you!

[ she whips around again, her tail flailing up, displaying the underside of her skirt as she moves to storm off.

yeah, her ass is pretty flat, but look, don't let that distract from the way she shoves someone aside with a snarl and a hiss. they were just watching because the two of them were causing a scene but now they need to get out of the way. ]

HOBBLES IN WEEKS LATE WITH COLD HALF DRUNK STARBUCKS

BUYS YOU NEW STARBUCKS.

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