[OPEN] The Wandering King's Responsibilities

[fauxcalibur]

Who: Saber and OPEN
When: Early May
Where: Various places around the Far Shore
What: Saber continues to do just about everything but what he was summoned here to do and this time it involves property damage.

[A - Target Practice – An Abandoned Temple]

[There are some strange noises coming out of an abandoned temple that's a bit off the beaten path. There are also bright flashes of light, the occasional shaking of earth as massive pieces of rock fall off the temple, and the smell of scorched, well, everything.

It's probably wisest to just keep walking and pretend you were never here.

However, if you can't resist seeing what the hell is going on or you feel like you should probably go put a stop to whatever sort of reckless property damage is being committed in there, Saber will poke his head out around a pile of rubble and wave cheerfully.]

Good afternoon! You wouldn't happen to have a lance, would you? Or some manner of rocket launcher?

[Somehow, he's not covered in dust and ash, but he is wearing his armor, which means he probably should have responsible adult supervision that he's apparently sorely lacking.]

[Playing Hooky – Saber's Temple]

[There's an important meeting going on to discuss what's been happening in the Heavens. As a god, Saber should probably be there.

But he's not.

Instead, he's standing out one the somewhat-maintained front lawn of his temple, looking at a laptop that he has set on the ground and nodding along to...something. If you're on the way to the meeting to actually be a responsible god or shinki or if you're also ditching and you make the mistake of coming close enough to the castle gates for him to see you, you'll get an enthusiastic wave and a greeting of:]

Hello! You wouldn't happen to know anything about coordinated dance routines, would you?

[How did this man ever accomplish enough to be a renowned historical figure??]

[Closed to Suzaku]

[It doesn't even take the sort of connection gods have with their shinki to know that something is wrong with Suzaku. Though he's more than aware of it, Saber has made a point of not saying a single thing about it. In fact, he's made himself scarce more and more, going out and finding things to do instead of sitting around the temple causing trouble like he usually does. After all, anything that might have happened is surely his fault and it would be rude of him not to give Suzaku space.

It would probably be quite easy for the two of them to avoid each other forever, except they do live under the same roof and Saber always wanders back to it eventually. When Suzaku does finally work up the courage to talk to him, it's easy enough to catch him by staking out the refrigerator or the television. It might take a bit of waiting, but he'll get there eventually.]

Comments

before the meeting

[swordofzero]

[Things have been building up it is true. Nothing as bad as two days ago, but the last few weeks, ever since the hiking trip have been rough. Nunnally's arrival and sudden disappearance, the memory of Zero.

Everything paled in comparison to what had happened with Hibiki. He hasn't been home since, spent two nights and a day being anywhere but Saber's temple. Half expecting his god to come baring down on him, to unname him and kick him out. It would be what he deserved.

It hadn't happened and that had made Suzaku even more nervous, silence was not good. Being yelled at, punished, he could accept that. But silence, not knowing how furious Saber was...

He was a mess. He saw the message about the meeting. He should go. It was important to learn what had been happening, know what had been discovered. He probably needed a change of clothes.

And he should face the music eventually. He went home to change, got clawed by a very annoyed cat who had not seen him in forever and was also starving.

The last was probably a lie, Suzaku knew that no matter how furious Saber and Edge were at him they would not let Kotetsu starve. But he was Suzaku's cat and Suzaku's responsibility. Suzaku entered the kitchen, cat hanging from his hand by his teeth.

He froze when he saw Saber. Froze still and stared in horror for a moment before lowering his eyes. It was now then.]

My lord.

[fauxcalibur]

Ah.

[Saber set down what looked like a bag of tiny caramelized crabs on the kitchen counter and shifted a little awkwardly. It was hard to mistake how Suzaku was feeling and he was a bit at a loss as to how to deal with it. There were some thing simple good cheer couldn't solve, things it would probably make worse, and those were always the hardest things to deal with.]

You...seem to be having a problem with the cat.

[At least that's somewhere to start.]

[swordofzero]

[Suzaku had been ready for many things to come out of Saber's mouth but this... Was not one of them. He stared at him in confusion for a moment and slowly looked down at the cat.] Oh... I think he just missed me, my Lord.

[Kotetsu seemed to sense he was being spoken about because he paused in his chewing on Suzaku's hand and looked up, seeing the interesting crabs on the side he scrambled up onto the counter to investigate. Leaving Suzaku cat-less and therefore with no where to focus that wasn't his god or the floor. He chose the latter.]

[fauxcalibur]

[Saber pulled a kanikko out of the bag and waggled it in Kotetsu's direction for the cat to paw at.]

It's true that he's only had Edge for company lately.

[It's in no way an accusation, but he knows Suzaku will take it that way, so he keeps talking.]

Though if you intend to continue to live here, that will at least mean he'll spend far less time clawing the furniture. By that I mean Kotetsu, of course. Edge's manners are marginally better.

[swordofzero]

[Kotetsu seemed happy at least. Suzaku watched the cat and his god for a moment before dropping his eyes when Saber spoke. The guilt of abandoning Kotetsu was not all that much compared to the guilt of everything else but he still felt it clearly.

The guilt only got worse as Saber continued to speak. He should train Kotetsu better. If he continued to live here. If. A big if. If Saber didn't kick him out.

Saber's being calm though, it's disconcerting. Suzaku had expected anger but without it he was not sure how to proceed.

There was a silence, dragging on for a moment. Then Suzaku dropped to one knee, a fist on his chest, the other arm behind his back.

My Lord. I'm sorry... [Sorry wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.]

[fauxcalibur]

[Saber smiles, though it's rare there's any other expression on his face. While it's not forced, it's practiced, like he's had plenty of opportunities to use this exact expression before.]

I assume you had your reasons. I won't say that I don't feel I'm entitled to hear them, but I can very well understand why you would choose to keep them to yourself.

[He looks back at Kotetsu, who's managed to catch the crab and now looks like he's regretting it, probably because of all the sugar it's coated with.]

Though should you choose to explain yourself, I think you can take some comfort in knowing it won't be anything I haven't heard before.

target practice

[yasei]

[ Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back, right?

Obviously Obi has to go have a look at what the noise is about and then he's a bit confused by what he's asked. ]

I have some knives [ a lot of knives ] but no lances.. I'm guessing I don't have any rocket launcher since I don't know what it is.

[fauxcalibur]

It's a very large metal tube that shoots rockets!

[That's about the extent of what he knows about it, but it's a weapon that's longer than it is wide and that's really about all that matters.]

Knives are a bit too small. Well, smaller is probably wiser, but if I wanted to practice with small weapons, I would be able to do that at home. Not that they really let me do it at home, either.

[yasei]

Okay! I got the metal tube bit!

[ Obi has no idea what rockets are, though. Huge arrows, maybe? How did the tube shoot them, though? ]

Point taken. Maybe you could improvise some lances out of other things. It shouldn't be that hard to make some simple ones. Do they not want you to use weapons, Mister?

[fauxcalibur]

Oh, they don't mind at all if I wish to practice swordplay or what have you!

[It's a pretty regular activity at the temple, actually. Which is part of the reason why he felt he needed to sneak away today.]

It's just that I can't really practice what I'd like to practice without vaporizing a wall or two and I'm quite certain my shinki would make me rebuild them myself.

[yasei]

Oooh, I see. It's more about not being a menace with it, then.

[ He kids. Probably. He sounds very cheerful about it. ]

How does that happen? Does it shoot superhot water?

[ They may not be entirely on the same understanding on what "vaporizing" means. ]

Target Practice

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Edge might, might just have been out here looking for his wayward god. Or rather, that had become his purpose the moment he heard all that destruction afoot.]

[And, lo and behold.]

You know, the honest thing is I'm impressed you found an abandoned temple.

[fauxcalibur]

[Busted.

Saber at least has enough shame to look sheepish.]

If I blew a hole in the wall at home, I would be expected to fix it, so...

[At least he planned ahead.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

You're darn right. Is there some reason you absolutely need to destroy things in the course of practice? [This is a question he's pretty sure he knows the answer to, honestly.]

[fauxcalibur]

It's rather difficult to know how destructive an attack is unless one destroys something with it, is it not?

[There's logic there. It's not good logic, but it's logic.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

This is you, why don't you just assume "incredibly" until proven otherwise?

[Two can play at this logic game!]

Playing hookey

[letteropener]

[Responsible mare that she is, Celestia is of course heading off to the meeting -- but when she spots Saber, she makes a detour, landing just outside his gates to pace in. By the time she reaches him, her form is human.]

I do, as it happens, but why?

[fauxcalibur]

I thought I might learn a few, but it isn't going as well as I'd hoped.

[He crouches down to look more closely at the video playing on the laptop, then pauses it and rewinds it to watch the same part again.]

I'm the only one home, so there's only so much I can do.

[letteropener]

Are you not going to the meeting? [The answer is pretty obvious, of course, but she wants to give him a chance to offer whatever self-deprecating reason he has.]

[fauxcalibur]

Suzaku is going, I believe, and I think it will put his mind at ease if I rely on him to tell me if anything important happens that I might need to know about.

[His eyes haven't left the laptop, which means he doesn't have to look at her. Which means he doesn't have to acknowledge that things are still a little awkward with his shinki.]

Also I'm not terribly interested in the manner of things usually discussed at these meetings we're always called to.

[letteropener]

I think we will miss out from you not being there. [Which she believes. Celestia resolutely thinks the best of him.]

Perhaps I could come back after it is done, and we can work on some dancing? I'd very much like that, actually.

A

[phantomtrick]

Nope, I don't have one.

[Ren looks up curiously. Doesn't look like he's got any weapons on him t all.]

I've got a toy slingshot. Does that count as a launcher? Just add a mini rocket.

[like that's going t work???? It sounds absurd but Ren says that in jest.]

[fauxcalibur]

[Saber frowns slightly.]

I could use it, but something so small wouldn't do a great deal. And it would be consumed more or less immediately as well. I learned that from using chopstick this morning.

[Apparently he's been at this a while.]

[phantomtrick]

That's a shame.

[Ren passes Saber the mini slingshot toy.]

If it's not a problem, can I see what you've been trying?

[Now he's a little more than interested.]

[fauxcalibur]

[He looks over the toy, which is an interesting little thing. A slingshot it a ranged weapon, which means he may not be able to use it at all. It would certainly be interesting to try out. Is it his perception of an item that determines whether he can make use of it or the nature of the item itself? For that matter, if he doubts that it can be used, can it be used?

But more importantly...]

You won't get this back if I used it. Generally something this fragile will crumble to dust as soon as I'm not reinforcing it.