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Yup.

[ He puts his head on his hand, chin on his knee. ]

It's.. visible, to me. This inky purple stuff floating about. A human who looses himself too much to, lets say, his love of killing and hurting things? I don't see a human anymore. It's kinda like... they're an ogre in their hearts, so that's what I see, and.. gotta deal with the reach and hunger of.

[ He shrugs. Ogres are small fry. ]

I was chasin' something off that was gunna make me turn into somethin' like that. Only, well, probably wouldn't have been an ogre. If a bloodthirsty human grows twice, or thrice their size from what we call 'malevolence', home... imagine what a spirit - a seraph - like me would be. Or an earth seraph. [ He tilts his head toward the mountain. The power to do that, but gone mad and warped into a monster. ]

[Due to years of training and pouring over mythology, she has a healthy appreciation of the things he speaks of; if not in exact terms and the way he means, then in her imagination.
It might have been nice to have had someone like him around, in those years growing up with Kirei.
As he is now, it seems like a small problem, but she can remember the energy she faintly felt off of Zaveid at the festival. If what he describes were to happen, and he went out of control... Yes, she can agree that would be problematic. Maybe even disastrous, given the way he speaks; the way he looks over the mountain as he tells her of earth seraphs.

All this time, she thinks she's underestimated him.]

I see... [Trailing off, Rin tucks her hands under her armpits for warmth and looks out across the sky.] Then it would appear thanks are an order.

[ And that's without mentioning that he'd literally become a dragon - ruled by the power and hunger he has.

He's happy, right now, there's no stink of scales and malevolence to the air. It's Reyfalke as he knew it, not how it is now. Thanks, Ozuma, even if it was really confusing..

But he blinks at her, staring blankly for a moment. He hasn't mentioned that he usually hunts these kinds of monsters - humans giving into their problems, other seraphim who'd fallen. ]

I don't need thanks for keepin' my own skin in one piece. [ ... Although if, for some reason she does actually feel thankful about ... whatever it is that she thinks he did, she might notice a tiny, tiny uptick in his energy. A drop, and he seems to be a leaky pail. ]

'nless you're thankin' me for keepin' the kid safe, in which case, again, didn't do it for thanks. [ He's doing it so the kid has a chance. So he doesn't lose him again. ]

[She smirks. The placement of his name on the door makes a lot more sense now.]

Could it be you're a softie, Zaveid?

[Fufu. Laughing, she cuts him off before he can respond, if he tries it.]

I don't know which kid you're talking about, or what your reasons were. Even if they were purely selfish, simply put, it worked out as a favor to everyone in this castle by proxy. The things the Queen sends our way are annoying enough without throwing in a shirtless ogre.

[So of course she feels grateful, even if just by a little. It's a passing thing, like when she's grateful someone made enough dinner for everyone, or when the person ahead of her in the shower left some hot water for her. "Thanks where thanks is due", she would say.

As she wasn't there to know what it was like, nor is she emotionally tied to this situation, it's the best she can afford, but it comes naturally to her. Sometimes Rin is so selfish herself, she loops back around to being unselfish.]

[ A big softie? Yeah, that's him, under this somewhat wild, shirtless exterior. He.. has absolutely nothing to say about that, kinda glancing away in that way that says he's thinking of something ... probably long ago. ]

Point. Don't really wanna think about coming back with a crowd of people I may or may not have eaten. [ Since death isn't permanent here... and he is very sure he knows what will happen to him is going to be a bit bigger than a shirtless orge. ]

What a coincidence; I don't want to think about being eaten.

[She tips her hand, as if to say "hence the gratitude", then returns it to her side.]

Instead, just focus on getting better. I can give you more mana another day, but it sounds like you would do better with one of these vessels.

[ He laughs a little, because yeah, it doesn't sound pleasant to be on that end either. And he's not quite back to where he'd make a comment about some kinds of eating- ]

Mine is, uh... not here. [ Home, hopefully survived and moved on to work on that dream of his- ]

I'd have to break my pact - which I could do, but... [ He scratches at the back of his head. He likes the kid - all the kids. Maybe he shouldn't think of most of them as kids, but with Edna's shape... ]

And vessels are tricky. I don't have anything that would work, so I'd have to ask Ozuma... or ask a human... [ And there's probably better things he could spend favors on. Probably. ]

It could be an object? Huh...

[That's interesting, and she notes it, but she understands too. Even having multiple favors, Rin's always reluctant to spend them unless they're really needed.

She thinks something like this would qualify, that said. As much as her jewels, or medicine for her Magic Crest. But if humans would do, well then, the only thing better than getting what you need is getting it for free.]

Is there any reason you couldn't reforge your pact in the future?

Objects are really picky. They gotta be the right kind of clean, and if you're the wrong kind of seraph it just doesn't work quite right, and then there's all sorts of fun that can happen 'cause your vessel can get carried off... [ Fun, right. Totally fun. ]

... I'd need Sheps and the Lady of the Lake to be here, but... nah, I could break another just as easy as that one. [ .. It'd be more uncomfortable for other people to see him break the pact than it would be for him to.

... And he firmly shoves the thought of 'if they would have him back' out. Yeah, their first choice is alive here, but that's beside the point. He could be sub-lord again if they would have him. ]

.. I'd be losing my flames of purification, though. Only got them 'cause of the Lady. ... Not that I've really needed them here... [ ... And it would be another person to get used to. He's... stubborn on it. ]

... They're not even hot, can't cook on 'em. [ ... Cause that's what you try to do with potentially holy fire, right? ]

[Maybe if they're so weak you can't use them for what they're meant for (or you know, you just want a good s'more), but Rin still looks at him unimpressed.]

No offense, Zaveid, but sentimentality is a poor reason to cling to. If the point of our mission in this world is to defeat the Queen, by limiting yourself like this you're only postponing the time it takes for you to get back to your true vessel.

Now more than ever with your weakened state, it's something you should consider.

[ Well, the fire's not meant to be hot for normal things anyway! Still burns right through malevolence, but doesn't really seem to hurt anything that isn't already malevolent. ]

Even when memory and bits and pieces like that are all you have left of people, huh? [ If his voice is a little low and flat, it's not really anything against her. Yeah, cause sentimentality is what made him take forever with Eizen. How many hundreds of people did he have on his hands now, since he didn't save him when he found out he'd fallen? He doesn't really want to think on it.

So if there's a little bit of a bitter look, it's... just what she's brought up. Is he actually dead, home? Given the risks involved... ]

The fire's sorta helpful. Got us through some idol-doors? ... Combined with a few flashbangs, so probably more... yeah, what it could be. Most people around here don't need it.

[ ... And then a tone 180, he's cheerful again. ]

Then again, who'd want to have me in their head, right? Even if I can't hear a vessel's thoughts, they'd get my commentary.

["Even when memory and bits and pieces like that are all you have left of people, huh?"

She looks away, not knowing what to say to that, and uncharacteristically quiet.

(if it was... no, not him. if it was Shirou...)

He keeps speaking, and she tunes back in. The more bitter he sounds, looks, the more placid her own expression is. The things he'd lose aren't without their uses, but that's the way war is. Sometimes you make — must make — sacrifices for greater gains. For survival. To let someone do the job better, or just to fight stronger tomorrow.

No, she has nothing to say to any of that either. Certainly not to disagree with him, or reassure him continuing to cling to precious people and precious memories is the right choice.

(maybe if she were a better person, she thinks, but pretends she doesn't)

He cheers up then, but Rin's not certain whether she should consider it genuine or not. It sounds more like a man trying to let himself off the hook than anything, but she doesn't call him on it.]

Ah, I shouldn't be surprised. You said it was a pact, so it makes sense it would be that kind of relationship.

[She might be failing to understand here Zaveid means literally in their head, but doesn't seem perturbed with the more straightforward implications: hearing his thoughts, and the like.]

It doesn't sound dissimilar to a Master and Servant contract.

[ That's nice. He does it a lot - joking and teasing or otherwise making an ass of himself so he doesn't have to get to know people - to get attached before they go.

He tilts his head at her, bright orange eyes catching the light.

Master and Servant contract? That sounds like something that he doesn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. ]

Mind explaining? Or is it time for me to go first instead?

[ Zaveid is the wind, in some way, and even without his history he would resent those titles and what they would imply for him. ]

Hm? Oh. [She forgets sometimes those words wouldn't have the same meaning to others.] No. It's my blunder for mentioning it in the first place, so I should.

Masters and Servants are partners in a ritual war in my world. One human and one Heroic Spirit, they fight together against six other teams to split the same prize.

[The way she speaks of it, lightly touching a strange stigmata on her right hand, it's clear that despite the terminology, she considers Masters and Servants to be equal. If this weren't the abbreviated version, it would be more apparent Servants are the more powerful.]

Think of it like a symbiotic relationship. [She sighs, then taps the side of her head.] It's a deadly war, so trust and communication with your partner is implicit. My own Servant spoke in my head frequently, for instance.

[ Yeah, they really don't mean the same. Particularly not when he knows what humans can do- ]

Oh, somewhat like the Shepherd-Seraphim pact. Only we're usually against Lords of Calamity or just general malevolent humans or critters than, uh... war.

[ He stares blankly at her for a moment. War's a big mess for him, remember that talk of negative emotions? Fear was listed. War's pretty great for that, and his thoughts turn to Tiamat and that other hellion in the basin after. ]

... You're not talking armies and fields turn to mud with blood, are you, in 'ritual war'. Cause that seems like a fucking stupid thing to turn to ritual.

[She shakes her head.]

It's more like a battle to the death among seven mages.

[For someone her age, she probably says that much to calmly. But. It's what she's trained all her life for, see. Rin smiles, and there's nothing sinister attached to it, no love for the implications her words have. It's just how it is.

In truth, though she wouldn't know it, she's trying harder to sound unbothered by it than she actually feels herself. Confident as she tries to sound, it still paints her expression bittersweet.]

It's not a noble cause, like yours.

.... That sounds like a dumb idea, just saying. That prize better be fantastic. [ he.. doesn't particularly understand the idea. Seraphim aren't without wants, without dreams or ambitions, but greed can lead to falling, so they're pretty good about vices. Even if no one probably would beleive him if they saw his favored foods. ]

Not every Shepherd goes down in history as a good guy. I can think of a few that got written out because they ended up ... helping a lot more hardship form than they solved. [ ... That's... probably the most diplomatic he can get about it. ]

... Unless, you weren't talking about Shepherds and their pacts, in which case I have to start laughing at the idea. [ Because that would mean his.

And noble is the last thing he thinks can apply. ]

["That prize better be fantastic."

She's clearly trying not to chuckle here, but no, she doesn't say. Only traces lines in the mountain earth at his bedside with the tip of her shoe, and marvels at how real it feels.]

A few bad apples don't outweigh the majority, do they? To make it into history books at all speaks for how highly these Shepherds are viewed.

[And with names like shepherds and seraphim, they'd have to be. Rin imagines those ones who caused more hardships were absolutely scandalous.]

If that made you think of another matter, however, and find it quite laughable, could it be you're something of a black sheep, Zaveid?

[...Please don't tell Sans she's making puns.]

... Given a Shepherd united the continent I was hanging around last, and brought on one of the better periods of peace? [ ... Yeah, usually they're pretty great. ]

It depends on the times. Shepherds save people. But people don't always like the people being saved. [ A shrug. Y'know how humans are, right, Rin?

Tell on someone making puns? Why would he ever do that? But there's a bit of a lightening up to him - he looks a little more lively, even if there's no magical upswing to go with it. ]

Well, maybe my Shepherd sheared a bunch of that away. [ And if he stretches his legs out - low riding black pants and all, it is totally unrelated. Right. ]

[She thought she did. And then she met Shirou Emiya. There's someone who just doesn't get how people are, for better or worse. Either because thinking of him alone puts her mood in higher spirits, or because Zaveid's joke really is that charming — or perhaps any measure of the two — Rin laughs lightly at that into her hand. Then:]

You think highly of him, don't you?

[ He's silent for a bit. ]

Yeah. Kid helped me keep a tricky promise. Didn't know anythin' about why I was doin' what I was until about five minutes prior, still backed me up without question. [ He laughs too, looking sort of distant. ]

Or maybe he's too sweet. Like a puppy or something.

Oh, that type. [Still smiling, Rin raises a finger.] The kind that spin everything you know about people on its head, and you never know if they're the best or the worst for it.

[She knows someone like that. Or well, she'd refuse the idea anyone could be just like Shirou, reminded of him or not. That's no way to get a measure of a stranger. But it's enough, she thinks, to feel confident giving her next response.]

If he's like that, he'd want you to take care of yourself, you know.

[ Zaveid flinches exaggeratedly. ]

Low blow from Lady Rin~

[ He laughs, looking away. ]

Not far off, though. He'd probably even be happy I knew how to break the pact, even if it means he's weaker for a bit.

[What can she say? She only strikes where it counts.]

Time works differently here.

[Dropping her arms, she leans back on one, and glances shortly at the seals on the back of her right hand once more. It's become a habit, to confirm this theory of hers — make it more than a theory, but a guarantee in both fact and heart.]

I would bet you good money he wouldn't feel it at all, until either the moment you returned to your world, or if he were to come here instead. At which point, [she snaps her fingers] it would only be as long as it takes to renew your pact.

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