☘ 009; [action]

[riastrad_ridire]

[introspection]

[Certain parts of Lancer's most recent conversation with Rin had lingered in his mind ever since, making the former Servant wonder--if only for a moment--if he was doing the right thing. If a situation arose that found Rin to be in danger and needing a Servant, then Lancer would give Mayfield whatever the damn place wanted in order to become a Servant. Gods only knew what kind of things he could lose in that situation, but if that was the price of keeping his oath to his Master...]

[If that was the case, wouldn't it be better if he was prepared for such a situation before it happened? One trip to the post office and he'd be back to normal. Able to stand against Gilgamesh, Saber, Assassin...and Archer. Lancer was every bit as much a hero as they were, and yet he was still so far behind them. It was a blow to his pride, and pride was one of the most important things Cu Chulainn had.]

[The thought was a tempting one...but the risks outweighed any benefits and Lancer knew that. He had no idea what it would take to reclaim his status as a Servant; he could probably forget everyone he knew. Rin, Connla, Sakura, Garviel, Diarmuid, Nina--could he risk losing everything for the sake of his pride and abilities? And if he forgot who his Master was, how the hell would he know to protect her when the situation presented itself?]

[...No, Lancer was fairly certain now that he'd been right to shoot down Rin's idea of turning to the post office. It was too much risk for too little reward, simple as that.]

[But if he didn't go back to being a Servant soon, Lancer knew the time might come where he would have no other choice.]

[A; afternoon; around Mayfield]

[There is a distracted Lancer wandering around the city in general. Which may be odd, as more often than not 'distracted' is not a word that would describe him that well. He's off guard, lost in thought, and probably just walked right past you.]

[B; evening; Olney's Tavern]

[That night would find one bartender leaning back in a chair and writing in a gray notebook. A second dark blue one is on the bar next to him, ignored for the moment. What he could possibly be writing is anyone's guess. Also difficult to determine is whether or not trying to read it would even do any good.]

Comments

A: [ Action ] - Downtown Mayfield

[inababanchou.livejournal.com]

[ Let Souji distract you temporarily from your magus woes, Lancer. Souji is coming out of the hardware store with two bags of charcoal briquettes both on his shoulders. Also half of his exposed skin is wrapped in bandages and he has a wicked swollen black eye, but because he has the peripheral vision of a man looking down a tunnel he'll just ram his charcoal bags into you. ]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[Oh, that was unexpected. So much so that Lancer actually stumbled just a bit at the sudden impact.]

...the hell're you doing?

[Also on his mind: 'What truck ran you over, kid?']

[inababanchou.livejournal.com]

[ With a quiet grunt Souji bends over and puts them on the ground. He looks pretty terrible, actually, but he cracks a small smile. ]

Hey Lancer. Grabbing charcoal for the pool party so we can grill.

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Okay, better question.

Who 'd you piss off so badly they decided to step on you?

[inababanchou.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine from home and I had a chat.

[B]

[gandere]

[ Man, staying out late and past her curfew every night (Archer will learn to never try to push one on her again) meant she was a sneaky tsundere..

And snuck her way into the bar.

Reaching over to try to grab at the dark blue notebook.... ]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[Go ahead, Rin. He's not going to stop you.]

[Hope you can read Gaelic.]

[gandere]

[ FML as she flips through the pages.

Oh well, she knows someone who could probably very well read it so maybe she'll try to get away with slipping into the waistband of her skirt, under the back of her shirt. ]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Don't bother. I seriously doubt Connla can translate that for you.

[Not even looking up from what he's writing, nope.]

If you want to know, you could easily just ask.

B

[brotherseyes.livejournal.com]

Lancer! Hi!

[Nina had gone by Olney's specifically to visit Lancer, as it turned out. It was easy enough to ignore the glares from the drone populace when you were with a friend, and anyway, he was good at cheering her up, something she needed more and more of lately.

When she saw the blue notebook, though, she reached out to grab it without asking. Typically she wouldn't do that without asking, but if her perceptions about Lancer weren't wrong, then she suspected he wouldn't mind.]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Yo, Nina.

[He didn't raise an objection and hardly even blinked when she took the notebook. Lancer was more than confident that only three people in Mayfield spoke the language written on its pages--a version of Irish Gaelic at least two thousand years out of date. So whatever it was he was writing, there wasn't much chance it'd be common knowledge.]

How're you doing? [Lancer shut the second notebook in his hand, leaning on the bar with a smirk.]

[brotherseyes.livejournal.com]

I'm alright. I came here because I was wondering the same thing about you, actually.

[Idly she flipped through the pages. It was true, she had no way to know what was written on it, but she studied them curiously anyway before shutting it and setting it down.]

Well, that, and I wanted to apologize. I know I haven't been pleasant lately.

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Me? I'm fine. Same as ever, pretty much.

And don't worry about it--far as I'm concerned there's nothing to apologize for.

[hontobakabaka.livejournal.com]

[Walking into the bar, aiming the full force or her apathetic deadpan at the disapproving drones she sits down and looks around.]

"Hello?"

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Yo.

[He shut the notebook, giving Ruri a slight wave.]

Somethin' I can do for you, kid?

[hontobakabaka.livejournal.com]

"Two things. I need 5 bottles of high proof liquid, preferably 180 proof or higher for an experiment. That and I'm told bar tenders are the poor man's psychologist and I need to get into the adult mindset on something."

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[Well, that was unexpected. So much so that sure, you get five bottles placed on the counter.]

Whatever, go ahead.

B

[sanctusdei.livejournal.com]

[Hey there, have a half-drunk Theo wandering up to your table. Don't mind him - he remembers Lancer from his previous stay here. They actually managed to get along, somehow.]

Hey. There you are. Thought you fell off the face of Earth. Mayfield. Whatever.

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

...?

[He glanced up, faintly confused; Lancer thought he was done with running into people that apparently knew him.]

Have we met?

cuz his mun kept forgetting to tag him sooner, sob

[sanctusdei.livejournal.com]

[He looks confused. He'd figure out the answer if he wasn't so tipsy.]

What? 'Course we have. Not like I know a bunch of guys with long blue hair or somethin'.

awww ;3;

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Sorry, you don't look that familiar. When'd we last talk to each other?

[A; afternoon; around Mayfield]

[lunawolves10th.livejournal.com]

[Thump. Guess who you just walked into.]

Cu Chulainn.

[ Garviel looks down at him. ]

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

[...whoops.]

Sorry, Garviel. Guess I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going.

[lunawolves10th.livejournal.com]

That is all right. You are not hurt, are you?

[riastrad-ridire.livejournal.com]

Course I'm not. It takes more than that to hurt me, y'know.