Fish of OblivionAn internet cafe across the street from Ahnenerbe - 2:00 PM December 2nd, 2012
Albert grimaced at Saber's words. Don't go giving ma chère any ideas...
"Yes well..." he said. "While zat certainly is naive, I appreciate your resolve to do what must be done should ze situation call for it. I'm sure your Master does as well. Sometimes, 'owever, we must raise a 'and against ozers as an inevitable consequence of our fight for survival, even if we can only guess as to ze true threat ze enemy might pose. Caution 'as won more wars zan blind optimism, and sometimes ze best action to take when dealing wiz an unknown enemy is preemptive action."
With that said, the young Master took a copy of the laminated Geas scroll and began to review Leon's terms. The conditions outlined in the contract were surprisingly reasonable, and reflected a fair amount of thought being put into it.
So zat's 'ow you are, he thought. Unless the scroll was merely an elaborate ruse, it did seem to him like Leon was in fact the quintessential hero type. Honorable, honest, selfless to a fault, and so soft he was liable to be crushed the first time life or another person decided to step on him. The Master matched the Servant, it seemed.
"Zis is a good contract," he complimented Leon. "I can see your mozer did indeed 'ave some practice. Surprisingly, your terms are quite reasonable. I can zink of a few minor loop'oles, but none zat would really prevent me from signing in zis case."
He pushed it back.
"'Owever, you are right. As someone who works wiz souls and spirits regularly, I am not ze type to consent or agree to anyzing quickly. Especially not anyzing zat's legally or magically binding. I 'ave 'ad deals go very, very wrong before, just because I took too many zings on faiz. I may be young, but I've learned my fair share of lessons about never signing away parts of your soul for somezing as impermanent and temporary as an alliance. I'm afraid I will 'ave to decline for now. Per'aps if we decide to make zis partnership permanent later, I will consider signing it zen."
"Yes well..." he said. "While zat certainly is naive, I appreciate your resolve to do what must be done should ze situation call for it. I'm sure your Master does as well. Sometimes, 'owever, we must raise a 'and against ozers as an inevitable consequence of our fight for survival, even if we can only guess as to ze true threat ze enemy might pose. Caution 'as won more wars zan blind optimism, and sometimes ze best action to take when dealing wiz an unknown enemy is preemptive action."
With that said, the young Master took a copy of the laminated Geas scroll and began to review Leon's terms. The conditions outlined in the contract were surprisingly reasonable, and reflected a fair amount of thought being put into it.
So zat's 'ow you are, he thought. Unless the scroll was merely an elaborate ruse, it did seem to him like Leon was in fact the quintessential hero type. Honorable, honest, selfless to a fault, and so soft he was liable to be crushed the first time life or another person decided to step on him. The Master matched the Servant, it seemed.
"Zis is a good contract," he complimented Leon. "I can see your mozer did indeed 'ave some practice. Surprisingly, your terms are quite reasonable. I can zink of a few minor loop'oles, but none zat would really prevent me from signing in zis case."
He pushed it back.
"'Owever, you are right. As someone who works wiz souls and spirits regularly, I am not ze type to consent or agree to anyzing quickly. Especially not anyzing zat's legally or magically binding. I 'ave 'ad deals go very, very wrong before, just because I took too many zings on faiz. I may be young, but I've learned my fair share of lessons about never signing away parts of your soul for somezing as impermanent and temporary as an alliance. I'm afraid I will 'ave to decline for now. Per'aps if we decide to make zis partnership permanent later, I will consider signing it zen."
Fuyuki City, Miyama Town - 1:01 PM December 2nd, 2012
"Hrrrmmmmmmm..."
Ren Mizushima groaned, tossing and turning in bed. The way his body curled up when he was sleeping looked peaceful, but his face was worried and he still wore his glasses and the clothes he'd had on when he found her. It was evident that whatever had transpired last night, the boy had not gotten any good sleep out of it.
"Just five more minutes..." the magus-in-training mumbled, yawning. "Just lemme sleep five more minutes..."
He rolled over gently, brushing up against Rider. Ren sniffled, eyes fluttering and creaking open, the unexpected physical contact apparently enough of a shock to wake him fully. He looked up at Rider bleary-eyed, and confused.
"Mom?" he guessed through the thick morning haze, yawning. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, paused, blinked once, and then immediately realize three things. One, that was not his mom. Two, there was a strange woman in his bed. Three, he just called a strange woman that he woke up in bed with "Mom".
"Gyahaahhah?!" he blurted, backing up and off the bed in a scrambling, crab-like motion that dropped him onto the floor. He rubbed the back of his head, groaning again but this time in pain. He looked back up.
"You-!" he got ready to say, but then he remembered. Last night, when he'd gone out to pick up the professor's equipment. The lamp post. The strange woman who'd seemed tired and hurt. How he brought her home so she could rest on his bed and get out of the cold. Then how he'd fallen asleep, too tired from dragging her back home to explain anything to his mom or ask her to forfeit the couch for the night. Which had led to him climbing back into his own bed. Snuggled up with a woman he didn't know.
"I-I-I am so sorry!" Ren stuttered, immediately assuming the seiza position. "I didn't mean to-"
But then he caught hold of her words.
"You mean you... don't remember?"
Ren sat down in the desk chair, leaving the bed for Rider. Adjusting his glasses, his face still beet red, he started to explain.
"M-My name is R-Ren. Ren Mizushima. Ummm..."
He couldn't help himself. The woman was so beautiful. The shape of her body, the color and length of her hair, the way her words sounded like spoken honey. She seemed more carved from stone than something that had been born from an imperfect human womb. A work of divine art. Which was why...
He gulped. There were questions he had to ask her.
"Let's... just start at the beginning. How much of last night do you remember? Anything at all? It'd be nice if I didn't have to tell you about everything that happened after you collapsed, but it doesn't... really look like that's the case."
He laughed nervously, feeling a bit sick to his stomach. She was beautiful but that blindfold made her expressions so hard to read. Why was she wearing that? One of a thousand questions. But the biggest and best ones were...
Ren Mizushima groaned, tossing and turning in bed. The way his body curled up when he was sleeping looked peaceful, but his face was worried and he still wore his glasses and the clothes he'd had on when he found her. It was evident that whatever had transpired last night, the boy had not gotten any good sleep out of it.
"Just five more minutes..." the magus-in-training mumbled, yawning. "Just lemme sleep five more minutes..."
He rolled over gently, brushing up against Rider. Ren sniffled, eyes fluttering and creaking open, the unexpected physical contact apparently enough of a shock to wake him fully. He looked up at Rider bleary-eyed, and confused.
"Mom?" he guessed through the thick morning haze, yawning. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, paused, blinked once, and then immediately realize three things. One, that was not his mom. Two, there was a strange woman in his bed. Three, he just called a strange woman that he woke up in bed with "Mom".
"Gyahaahhah?!" he blurted, backing up and off the bed in a scrambling, crab-like motion that dropped him onto the floor. He rubbed the back of his head, groaning again but this time in pain. He looked back up.
"You-!" he got ready to say, but then he remembered. Last night, when he'd gone out to pick up the professor's equipment. The lamp post. The strange woman who'd seemed tired and hurt. How he brought her home so she could rest on his bed and get out of the cold. Then how he'd fallen asleep, too tired from dragging her back home to explain anything to his mom or ask her to forfeit the couch for the night. Which had led to him climbing back into his own bed. Snuggled up with a woman he didn't know.
"I-I-I am so sorry!" Ren stuttered, immediately assuming the seiza position. "I didn't mean to-"
But then he caught hold of her words.
"You mean you... don't remember?"
Ren sat down in the desk chair, leaving the bed for Rider. Adjusting his glasses, his face still beet red, he started to explain.
"M-My name is R-Ren. Ren Mizushima. Ummm..."
He couldn't help himself. The woman was so beautiful. The shape of her body, the color and length of her hair, the way her words sounded like spoken honey. She seemed more carved from stone than something that had been born from an imperfect human womb. A work of divine art. Which was why...
He gulped. There were questions he had to ask her.
"Let's... just start at the beginning. How much of last night do you remember? Anything at all? It'd be nice if I didn't have to tell you about everything that happened after you collapsed, but it doesn't... really look like that's the case."
He laughed nervously, feeling a bit sick to his stomach. She was beautiful but that blindfold made her expressions so hard to read. Why was she wearing that? One of a thousand questions. But the biggest and best ones were...