[[ IC CONTACT POST ]]

[swordedpast]

"You're calling this number for Rin Tohsaka, right? Leave a message and I'll tell you later how embarrassing her attempts to listen to it were."

[ pause, small sigh ]

"If you're calling for someone else, you probably have the wrong number, but this is Archer. Make it quick."

Comments

November 19 ✘ Action ✘ Evening

[gandere]

[ There's a loud crash. Honestly, this sort of noise should be expected with only a thin wall (and an even thinner door) separating the two apartments. It doesn't sound serious, but something's certainly shattered in one way or the other.

If Archer were to investigate, he'll find his Master neighbor dressed in the strangest of attire. Yellow wasn't her usual color, a drastic opposite of the bright red and blacks she associates with, but the cat head pattern helps retain the image of childishness she often shows. Pajamas, of course. Her hair is a tangled mess, suffering from the effects of laying around for longer than she should, and is void of the usual elegance of curls and ribbons she often prided herself on.

At least she's getting good at cleaning her messes. What remains of something that was at least a week old and another broken plate are being swept up into a dustpan. At least she was making an attempt to eat as evidenced here. It only took her a couple of days. ]

[swordedpast]

[ He's still recovering from the day's shopping trip when he hears it. He all but flies to the door connecting their apartments, a can of chicken broth still clutched tightly in one hand. ]

Rin--!

[ And then he opens the door.

And he just stands there.

His brain is suddenly not functioning.





Cat pajamas. ]

December 24 ✘ Action ✘ Evening

[gandere]

[ Rin was never one for holidays. That's why when Archer brought home a tree with the intention of decorating it for her, she was apprehensive. That seems like a thing a family would do and Rin's family... well, they never did things of that nature. Sakura was too young, her mother was too sweet, and her father had no reason to invite others over for a holiday party. Although, if there was ever an occasion where guests were over to celebrate something, Rin was always locked up in her room studying away. That was the life she chose willingly, but even if she didn't, father would have made it her life.

It doesn't bother her too much.

Sitting outside of a shelter next to a Christmas tree, she just finds herself looking over the trashed object. Torn between using magecraft to patch it up and ignoring it, Rin finds her mind wandering elsewhere. Right back to a tree that wasn't her own. ]

Stupid Archer.

[ It slips out, but feels so natural to say. Everything he's said to her so far has left her close to tears, so why was she wasting time thinking about him now? It's not as though he's capable of missing her (why else would he leave at the end of the war) or thinking about anyone other than himself.

Not that it bothers her. It's only recent that it does. A fluke, she tries to tell herself.

At least now she only has to deal with her "younger" self. The tiara from the dungeon has about fallen apart, leaving her with just a couple of the gemstones. Rin's clever enough to understand a curse when it's been brought to her, so to be haunted by her younger self didn't bother her. Some companionship, even if it's just herself, was better than none. ]

Are you mad? [ Whispering to the visage only she can see sitting beside her, the elder magus doesn't face her. ] About never celebrating holidays, that is. I thought I was going to be alright, but it pisses me off.

[swordedpast]

[ He's been looking for her now for four nights. On the first, he barely slept, so worried was he. The next day, he searched all the harder--but still to no avail. So it was time to go back to work and pretend things were normal.

He didn't do the greatest job of it.

It wasn't until someone at the supermarket he works at mentioned seeing a particularly distressed teenage girl matching Rin's description at a nearby shelter that he came alive again. Of course, that also meant interrogating the poor customer in question, which didn't get him any bonus points with his employer, but somehow, he didn't care.

All he cares about now is that he's on his way to finding Rin again. He's no longer helpless to protect her.

All the same, he still manages to nearly miss her when he races up to the shelter. ]

Rin! Rin, where are you? Rin--

[ And he stops, abruptly, as he catches sight of her in the glittering lights of the tree.

Words desert him. ]

text ✉ early afternoon

[gandere]

[ Last night was a disappointing one for Rin. After an earlier agreement, she was the one responsible for the next holiday. That holiday? New Years. So whenever she couldn't find Archer, the feeling that she did something wrong began to seep into her thoughts. She slept in just in an attempt to avoid him, but now that she's awake (thanks a lot, sunlight)? She's annoyed. ]

where were you last night archer [ Adding his name just to confirm that it's him. ]

[swordedpast]

[ Rin is texting him? How shocking. He replies quickly. ]

I took holiday hours at work for extra pay. It's necessary to keep you at the standard of living you expect.

January 1 ✘ Action ✘ Afternoon

[gandere]

[ After their short exchange earlier in the day, Rin and Archer weren't exactly on good terms. Which is why she decides to actually speak with him in person. Maybe it will be easier for her to tell him how she feels (upset primarily, hurt moderately) if she faces him. They're Master and Servant now, so there's no excuse to keep emotions a secret.

She's a quiet young lady, so she might have made it into Archer's apartment without little attention drawn. When she doesn't find him in the kitchen or the living room, she slowly advances towards his bedroom without second thought. It isn't the first time she's seen his bedroom having chased Idiot enough times in there, so the thought that it's wrong rarely clicks in her mind. ]

Archer, are you in here? We need to talk.

[swordedpast]

[ Any other time in this world, Archer would jump a mile at the thought of her coming near his bedroom. He's gotten used to doing foolish things like that here--foolish, normal things that he secretly enjoys.

But right now, he thinks that's probably a mistake. So he doesn't jump, and he doesn't flail. He just keeps packing. It's a small bag he's putting together, with only a few changes of clothes and toiletries. He's planning on trying to blend in at first, so he needs such things.

He is faintly irritated, though, that he hears Rin's voice now. It makes him question if it really is such a good idea to run off to North Africa to try to stop an imPort dictator. Of course it is; he's no good for Rin and it's obvious now that he failed her on New Year's. But-- ]

There's hardly time to talk.

voicemail;

[waiting]

Hey. It's Bradbury.

[ there's a pause that runs a little too long to be casual and he sighs. ]

How serious were you about going after Jenny Quantum?

[swordedpast]

[ And after a while, he picks up. ]

Do I strike you as a man who would joke about things like that?

She needs to be stopped.

text ✉ sometime after he's left for work

[gandere]

(=^･^=)

text ✉ five seconds later

[gandere]

(=^･^=) meow!

letter ✉ late evening

[gandere]

[ While people normally leave notes on the counter or the outside of the fridge via a magnet, Rin's carefully placed a rolled-up piece of paper in the rice cooker. He's bound to find it. There's a pie in a box neatly tied up with a slice taken out of it, a hint she's already had her dinner. ]

Dear Archer...

text w/attached photo ✉ afternoon

[gandere]

[ It must suck to be Archer especially since after Rin was taught how to actually use her phone decently, the number of stupid messages he receives multiplied. ]

Archer, you said I could have a cat.

[ Attached to this message is cat532.jpg. ]

This one has a top hat on it.
Find it for me.

[ ... and yes, she might have saved well over five hundred pictures of cats by now! ]

[swordedpast]

[ Not this day, and not the next, but the one after...

Something appears in Rin's apartment while she's still sleeping. It waits for her on the couch when she's awake.

It's a plush cat. With a little plush top hat sewn on. ]

letter w/gift ✉ early morning

[gandere]

[ There's no chocolate today. That's an old tradition and honestly, what kind of chocolate could she give Archer? It seems silly to place their relationship to scale just by the sort of sweet she gave him so instead she settles on a new idea thanks to the network. She's carefully picked through all of the chalky hearts only to have the ones that say "MY HERO" across them in a neat little bag tied with ribbon. Said bag can be found on his kitchen counter because if there's any place she's certain he'll visit... There's a small note tucked underneath the bag almost carelessly as though it were left impulsively. ]

Archer,

Your cat misses you. Don't neglect it's needs by leaving it with such a sour person all the time.

[ What she means to imply is she misses him and wants him around. Unfortunately, this is Rin Tohsaka and it's never that easy. ]

february 15th, just after midnight

[swordedpast]

[ He meant to check in earlier, but things went a little astray today. Why do things like that keep happening in this City?

So Valentine's Day has come and gone when Archer slips back into his apartment for the first time in over a week. He knows he shouldn't bother. Rin hasn't cut off the flow of prana to him as she can in this world, so she probably doesn't care that he's gone (of course, if she had, he'd tell himself that it meant she never wanted to see him again). He has business in Southwest Phoenicia. He should leave without looking back.

But he has trouble doing things without looking back these days. It's a consequence of being so burdened with regrets. Before he leaves for some foreign country to be a hero (or at least stop a hero, which is close enough to the same thing), he has to come back here to remind himself of what he's rejecting.

He moves a few things from the freezer to the refrigerator. He checks that the rice cooker is clean. And then, as he's preparing to put some dishes away, he sees the bag of candy hearts. ]

Why...?

[ It's the first thing he's said since coming back here. He sounds honestly confused. ]

voicemail; backdated to feb 10th

[waiting]

So how good are you at speaking Arabic?

voicemail; backdated to feb 10th

[swordedpast]

[ It's a little while before he calls up with a response, and he sounds particularly cold today when he does. No greetings or anything. Just a response. ]

I never communicated much when I traveled. I know a few words and that's it.

Someone else should do the talking.

text ✉ afternoon, backdated to february 15

[gandere]

stupid archer did you really leave the country?

if you don't come back here i'm going to cut your prana off.

i'll do it.

i swear i'll do it.

text ✉ evening, backdated to february 15

[gandere]

did you feel that?

i used a lot of my prana to build useless figurines.

i have an army of them and i'm going to use them to take over the city.

crystal owls and horses will rob banks.

when you come back, we're going to be rich.

text ✉ nighttime, backdated to february 15

[gandere]

i slipped in the bathroom today.

i told you that cheap rug was going to get me killed.

now i'm dying.

hope you're happy.

voicemail ☏ morning, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

Hello Archer. In case your stupid eyes were gouged out by some sort of foreign bird, I thought it wise to leave you a message to show my displeasure of you leaving.

[ There's the sound of cars in the street nearby and suddenly a man yelling "What are you doing? That's my car!" in the background before: ]

Right, this should sum it up.

[ The rest of this message is a very loud car horn that doesn't let up for a couple minutes. ]

text ✉ morning, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

i think they're trying to arrest me.

for stealing a car.

i didn't even drive it.

text ✉ later morning, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

the police officer was really sweet.

i told him i was being abducted and now that guy is in jail.

serves him right for tattling on me.

did you get my message?

just wondering.

text ✉ afternoon, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

received a noise complaint from the neighbor in the building across the street.

so i blew open their window.

just looking out for you while you're away.

text ✉ mid-afternoon, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

cats are flammable.

idiot is mad at me, but it was an accident.

text ✉ evening, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

by the way someone thinks we're dating.

so i bought lingerie.

if you come home tonight, i'll put it on for you.

text ✉ evening, backdated to february 16, sent five seconds after

[gandere]

never mind lace is also flammable

text ✉ evening, backdated to february 16, sent five seconds after

[gandere]

we're also not dating.

for the record.

it's in text now so it's for real.

text, w/attachments ✉ night, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

hey archer i've been listening to music that was popular in this country in 2004.

because i've got all this free time, you see.

tell me which one should be my new ringtone:

[ Attached to this one are three different mp3s: stupid, stupider, rin. ]

text ✉ night, backdated to february 16

[gandere]

archer what is a ringtone?

text ✉ late morning, backdated to february 17

[gandere]

archer i learned my lesson.

can you just come home?

text ✉ afternoon, backdated to february 17

[gandere]

i managed to turn your television on today while you were gone, archer.

the remote has too many buttons.

i found a few news stations and watched them.

nothing about what's going on over there so that must mean you're safe.

you know if you weren't it would all be my fault.

because i'm not there to support you and make sure everything goes according to plan.

you have no one watching your back.

that seriously pisses me off.