PSL (closed)

[1stknight]

[Honestly, being summoned was quite the surprise to Bedivere. Being a saber, he knew he was at a disadvantage. After all, there were so many more sabers even just from the Round Table who were much more famous, so surely they would have been summoned over him. In fact, he was sure it had happened countless times before. That one master he had met, the one from Chaldea, they had spoken of singularities and grail wars to span several worlds and timelines. And with so many fine Sabers to choose from, he was sure that he hadn't ever been summoned before. The short time between the 'creation of his legend' and 'now' notwithstanding.

It made him feel a touch inadequate, if he was being truthful. After all, he was a simple knight. The master who had summoned him, he deserved better than someone like him. But if he was the one who was summoned, then he would fulfill his duty to this new master. Nothing would be done in half-steps, never again.

So as his form solidified in the summoning circle, Bedivere offered his new master a warm smile. Once again, his life was sworn to someone else's. Whatever his master wished for, Bedivere would help him achieve it.]

Saber, Bedivere. I am honored to be summoned by you. From now on, I shall be your Servant.

['I am honored to be summoned at all' was the truth, but he didn't speak that.

Then he paused, and he took a survey of the situation. The summoning circle was expertly made, but this man in front of him...well. He didn't look like a mage. He looked like a normal person. Perhaps it was a disguise? Or maybe there was more to this situation than he could see immediately. He would have to wait for his new master to respond in order to find out more.]

Comments

[neverwashere]

Ah, yes, the delightfully scintillating act of handholding. [Was it just him, or was Bedivere shy about something?] Very scandalous. The peak of steamy purple prose and the highlight of regency fiction. Certainly not for the faint-hearted. To think mine comes with the added bonus of repelling the effects of most abilities.

['Most,' because fuck Goncharov's virus and Dostoevsky in general.]

I suppose we better start stockpiling tonight, hmm? It's better to be prepared for emergencies, too.

[Unfortunately for Dazai, dream sharing was a two-way street. He wasn't even aware Bedivere saw a memory from his past last night. Having Q and Q's history with the Port Mafia on his mind later might lead to something unexpected.]

[1stknight]

You say that, but I'll have you know that holding a fair maiden's hand and gracing the back of it with a kiss used to be quite scandalous indeed!

[Bedivere absolutely had ruffled feathers over how Dazai was teasing him. The scowl on his face wasn't truly angry, though. Just flustered, and a touch embarrassed.

He also started moving vegetables back over to Dazai's plate.]

If we're stockpiling tonight, then eat up. No leaving until your plate is clean.

[neverwashere]

My dear Ellis, you're in a country where, until a few decades ago, the baring of ankles and napes was considered a form of nakedness. [His smile widened. Flustered was a good look on Bedivere.] Shall I hook my foot around yours instead? That'll really get the crowd going.

[Well, no, but playing footsie counted as PDA.

Shame the flirting couldn't keep him from pouting again once the veggies were back. He glumly prodded them on his plate with his chopsticks.]

'kay.

[A beat. Now, this wasn't his kink, but if it meant making Bedivere blush more -]

Daddy.

[1stknight]

We're at a table, nobody would see that well enough to be scandalized. [A pause.] But still, please do not do it.

[And then there was the daddy comment and Bedivere couldn't fight the grimace. Instead he held up his hand to his mouth, as someone would do to cough politely, but instead he just pressed the curled hand to his face. Be patient, Bedivere. Dazai was trying to get under his skin.]

Caring about your well-being does not make me your father.

[neverwashere]

[Bedivere said to not do it, but Dazai heard 'I dare you.' Maybe after this: not causing a scene was beneficial.]

Oh, I wasn't talking about you being my actual father.

[Fried vegetable wasn't the sexiest food ever, but Dazai would be damned if he didn't try to hype it up as such. He gave Bedivere a sultry look as he bit in to make up for the lack of food sexy points. Whether he succeeded was up for debate.]

Makes me wonder in what other ways your care extends to.

[1stknight]

[To his credit, Bedivere kept a straight face and didn't react in a large way to Dazai's attempts at being sexy. But his tenseness absolutely gave away that he was trying to remain disciplined and not react, rather than not feeling a reaction to Dazai's antics at all. A weaker-willed man may have run from the shop in embarrassment. Bedivere, however, took it all without his voice cracking.]

That, Dazai, is not appropriate talk during dinner.

[...mostly without cracking.

Be strong, Bedivere. Be strong for England.]

[neverwashere]

[How that very slight crack seemed amplified, noticeable only because Dazai had been looking for it. He licked the tip of a soy-sauce dipped vegetable before taking it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

The smile on his face spelled trouble. Unfortunately for Bedivere, Dazai had remembered Kunikida's earlier reaction before leaving for lunch.]

What, then, does my dear Champion suggest?

[While he might have to refrain from using the words 'Servant' and 'knight' out here, loaded synonyms were acceptable substitutes. Doubly so for those that had period-relevant references.]

[1stknight]

How about you tell me about yourself? We have been inseparable for two days now, and yet I barely know you.

[The topic choice was deliberate. Bedivere was asking politely, and nobody would mistake his words for being rude. But for a man like Dazai, the question was a very personal one. Either Dazai would talk and Bedivere would learn more about him, or Dazai would nope away from flirting to avoid the conversation.

Bedivere did not consider that Dazai might flirt more, though. Or that Dazai might get angry.]

[neverwashere]

[Shame. Dazai could acknowledge it was his own fault for leaving an opening.

He would talk as Bedivere wanted. Unfortunately, Dazai was also used to leaving non-answers and wasn't above to using his charm to deflect certain topics.]

Well then! I'm a detective and an admirer of beauty, grace, and delectable seafood. [That the first two wasn't new information was irrelevant. The last one was a non-incriminating throwaway for the sake of listing three things.] You're certainly the first two, and comparable to the finest pearls from the depths.

[1stknight]

[And he just KEEPS GOING this is sending Bedivere's soul somewhere.

He just. Let his forehead fall into his hand, and he sighed.]

Dazai.

Please stop complimenting me.

[Maybe the 'please' there would help because Bedivere was definitely getting flustered by all of this. Why flustered? Maybe because he knew they were strangers and that Dazai just had to be the flirty type, since Bedivere was nothing like the compliments he was getting.

...well okay, he would accept 'graceful'. Bedivere did take a small bit of pride in how he fought and how he carried himself. But the rest were superfluous in his mind.]

[neverwashere]

Why?

[Nom nom veggies.

Accept the praise, Bedi. Or don't and blush more. Dazai was happy with either option.]

[1stknight]

Because I have known you for all of two days, and I can tell from the ease at which they tumble out of your mouth that you use flirting to get what you want from people.

You are my master. You don't have to con your way into getting what you want from me. I will follow your commands even without the use of a command seal. All I ask in return is that you treat me like your servant and ally, rather than some obstacle to overcome.

[He hadn't meant to be harsh, but sometimes a firm reminder of the situation was needed.

It wasn't that Bedivere disliked the flirting, necessarily. It was that he didn't believe it to be genuine. And for someone like Bedivere, who took matters of the heart seriously, he didn't want to get used to flirting that would mean nothing in the end.]

[neverwashere]

[-- !?]

...Ellis. [Dazai placed his chopsticks on the its rest, a neutral smile melting in to replace his surprise.] Where did you get the idea I treat you like an obstacle? Moreover, if I wanted to con you, we wouldn't be speaking like this.

[It was true.

It also didn't address the small problem that Dazai has little idea of how to handle this kind of prolonged contact without joking or flirting. Even back in the days when he hung out more often at the Lupin, personal details were glossed over or kept to unacknowledged observation. After Odasaku's death and his falling out with Ango, there never had been a good enough reason to let himself be that comfortable with just anyone, without pretense.]

[1stknight]

[He did feel bad for how the conversation was going, though. Had he misjudged Dazai's intentions? Unfortunately, Bedivere did not hold himself in high regard, so he assumed nobody else did either. He had always assumed that any attraction would come after months of working together, or after a long courtship. Not two days in to a stressful Grail War.

The possibility of being wrong was there, but Bedivere had been alive for 1,500 years and thought he knew how the universe worked.]

Then please, enlighten me. How would you be speaking to me if you wanted to con me.

[1/2]

[neverwashere]

[An empty smile was easy to pull off with his current mood. All he needed to do to add the right touch of emptiness was to recall how he had to explain to Chuuya the first time around that, no, they weren't executing an uncontrollable eight-year-old for killing off the very first squad that had been assigned to the pipsqueak, and shouldn't he be kissing Dazai's shoes in thanks for not letting Q thin more of their numbers?

Something like that. It had been a very bad day, and goading Chuuya was automatic.]

Wouldn't you like to know?

[He cocked his head just so and wondered if this was enough to halt Bedivere's line of questioning. Dazai so disliked any circumstances that necessitated using this mask.]

[2/2]

[neverwashere]

[Point made, he blinked to dispel that nasty expression as he reached for his tea, training an unreadable gaze on Bedivere as he took a sip. Belatedly, he realized that there was an unexpected benefit to laying out that card: perhaps it wouldn't be too jarring for Bedivere if that old darkness bled into Dazai's expression at some point during this Grail War.]

Given our constant proximity to each other and the ovearll situation, there's little point and no strategic benefit in tricking you to that extent.

[THere was something else he wanted to add - that playing pretend for more than twenty-four straight hours was exhausting, or that it wasn't worth the non-existent overtime pay - but he refrained. Admitting to the first part was a touch too personal given how he had to maintain a state of hypervigilance in the years he was with the Port Mafia.]

[1stknight]

[It wasn't the demonstration Bedivere had been expecting, but it was effective nonetheless. Not just because such a face was scary- and it was, make no mistake about that- but because those dead eyes reminded him of a time not too long ago, when similarly dead eyes fell on him in an entirely different context.

His heart twisted in his chest at that thought, and for a moment he forgot where he was as he lost himself in nightmares of the past. But the moment was over as quickly as it had begun, and he realized that Dazai was talking again. What had he just said? Something about strategic benefits, but he had missed most of it.]

-ah.

[Bedivere hadn't realized he had been holding in his breath.]

I-I see.

[He was actually left without much to say, too. Even if he had requested it, he was still shocked by the results.]

[neverwashere]

Great!

[A reflexive smile wasn't a genuinely cheerful one, but at least he didn't look like a dead fish now. By the time they finished dinner and started their walk back to the dorms, Dazai's mood had lightened enough for him to whistle while enjoying their stroll.]

Maybe there'll be more news tomorrow. [On the other participants, he meant.] If I lent you a spare phone or something later, will you be able to search for any unusual incidents on the news while I take a shower?

[1stknight]

I can certainly try.

[If Bedivere was still shaken up from their dinner conversation, he didn't show it. The man's polite look was good at covering whatever emotions he may have been feeling.

That said, he was no technology whiz. Figuring out how to use the phone in the first place would take some time. But by the time Dazai would get out of his shower, he would have a better understanding of that bit of technology. The fact that Dazai had to re-bandage himself would give him that extra time to work with it.]

[neverwashere]

[Before he went off for a shower, Dazai opened the browser app of the spare phone and pressed the address bar. The virtual keyboard that popped up should be a decent cue for typing, right..?

Ah well. Time to put this UI's supposedly intuitive design to the test.

(It was an older model. Worked fine for phone calls, but tended to be slow for certain websites)

The fresh bandages he wrapped around his neck stood out from the loose neckline of the thin long-sleeved shirt he wore. It was decidedly less formal than his work clothes, and Dazai plopped down on the couch next to Bedivere to check on the Servant's progress.]

Find anything?

[1stknight]

[It was intuitive enough that Bedivere didn't suffer too many setbacks. Though being around technology before, albeit weird technology, helped.

Bedivere ended up sitting on a cushion (cross-legged once again) as he scanned the sites, looking for hints of what had been going on. And by the time Dazai got out of the shower, he would find Bedivere frowning down at the phone.]

There is a report of a dead goat found near a burned patch of land in the forest, close to where I was summoned. Any remnant of a summoning circle has probably been destroyed, but I would say that it is safe to assume that this is the fourth servant.

[neverwashere]

Fancy.

[See, this was why the news was convenient: they could both put the thing that happened towards the end of dinner behind them and not acknowledge it.]

What's next - cow? Lamb? Actually, is there a farm near that forest?

[1stknight]

Hopefully they don't use human sacrifices.

[Well. Beyond idiot mages who use their own blood and then die after.]

But if there is four now for sure, then the War could start in earnest any day now.

Are we going to investigate that area tomorrow? or deal with the Mafia?

[neverwashere]

I'd rather not stir the hornet's nest by being spotted on a second consecutive day, so I guess we're going on a nature trip.

That isn't just about the War. The Agency and the Mafia have butt heads a couple of times before, so their guys will always take note when one of our known members shows up in their territory.

[This much was a given, never mind that it didn't cover why Dazai, personally, disliked going back to those places any more than necessary.]

[1stknight]

The forest it is, then. Be sure to rest up tonight, it sounds like tomorrow will be a long day.

[Ah, there were the mother hen instincts again. If nothing else, Dazai would be well-fed and well-rested during Bedivere's time as Dazai's Servant.]