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[uproared]

placeholder for now bc my hands are fucking frozen

val stop peeing in here

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[uproared]

[ She's equal parts annoyed and impressed that Gray has the guts to ask instead of being cowed by her bad attitude. Mordred prods her in the shoulder; much less kindly than her usual hair ruffles or hood tugs. ]

Does it matter? Just do what I tell you to.

[gravings]

[ Something about being shepherded back to life by a person makes them a little less threatening. Gray takes the shoulder prod with good grace, absently returning to position like a Gray-shaped door-closer-closed-door. ]

... Alright.

[ She says obediently... while thinking that "because I said so" is a child's argument. She turns to head inside, chicken and all. ]

I'll make some food for you. [ And tea, of course. ] Please make yourself at home.

[uproared]

[ Given Mordred's age, that checks out. The moment she's inside, she immediately starts sniffing and poking around; much like she did with Rin's place. If there's anything interesting, she's going to try and touch it. ]

So, you live here by yourself? Figured you'd be palling around with your lame Meridian buddies.

[ Her totally subtle way of seeing if there's anyone she needs to growl at. ]

[gravings]

[ If Gray's buddies are lame, she wonders what that makes Mordred. ]

Yes, it's just me. Mr. Eustace lives next door, though.

[ She puts down the chicken, which starts following her to the kitchen, and wastes no time washing her hands and getting to work. Meanwhile, Mordred will find most of Gray's house isn't very interesting to poke; there are a couple plants here and there, and homely patterned blankets draped over furniture, but overall everything is clean and functional like something out of a real estate ad — aside from the occasional root stabbing through a wall. Only one thing truly stands out: a set of lightweight padded armor on a stand near the entrance, lightly scuffed but otherwise polished to a gleam.

From the kitchen, Gray's voice drifts over. ]

How do you like your eggs?

[uproared]

[ Awesome?? Duh?? ]

You're telling me the mutt isn't dead yet?

[ She stops midway through lifting up part of the armour, and Gray can probably hear her footsteps heading back towards the door. ]

Forget the eggs. I'm gonna go Clarent his place until it blows up!

[gravings]

Ueh?!

[ Gray drops an egg and immediately turns to run at Mordred. If Mordred is still at walking speed, then Gray will try to drag her away from the door. If Mordred is already well on her way, then Gray will have no choice but to go for an emergency tackle. ]

[uproared]

[ Obviously the second, it's funnier if she eats shit. Despite being far stronger than Gray physically, Mordred squirms under her like a childish brat instead of just throwing her off immediately. ]

You never let me have any fun!

[gravings]

[ Gray will do her best to keep clinging onto Mordred then, for as long as it takes for Mordred to calm down... If she needs to take a few elbows and palms in the process, then she will endure. ]

I-Isn't there any peaceful fun you'd like to have?!

[uproared]

I'm the Knight of Rebellion, dammit! I don't know what peaceful even means!

[ Kind of sad, honestly... but she's still squirming, so she can go to hell. ]

I'll be real careful not to hit your place, so what's the problem?

[gravings]

[ Gray has zero wrestling experience, so in lieu of an actually effective attempt at pinning Mordred, she ends up giving her some sort of full-body hug. ]

Mr. Eustace is like my family. You can't Clarent his house!

[ Also there may or may not be a dog in there somewhere... it's Schrodinger's dog. ]

Why are you so cross with him?

[uproared]

What's that got to do with it? You think families actually care about each other?

[ Mordred's understanding of family is skewed, to say the least. As for the reason she's mad with Eustace — that's enough to hit pause on her struggles for a moment. ]

Now that you mention it... why the hell am I so mad at him? [ Read: it happened in the Before Times. She considers this for a few seconds longer, almost as if she's going to do the sensible thing and stop. Almost. ] Ugh... so freakin' WHAT if I can't remember? His stupid face is reason enough! Not to mention his shitty attitude! I bet he smells like wet dog, too!

[gravings]

[ If she hadn't revisited her village shortly before getting zapped to Horos, Gray might have agreed about the fragility of familial bonds. Either way, ]

Chosen family is a bit different from blood family, I think...

[ Gray relaxes when Mordred hits pause on her struggling. Then tightens her hold again when Mordred verbally chooses violence. ]

If... If you Clarent his house, then I can't make you food. And you can't come to my house again, either!

[ Lame, yet her only ammunition. ]

[uproared]

Like I'd know anything about that!

[ Angrily admitting to her own ignorance, just Mordred things. Gray's threat might be incredibly lame, but another Mordred thing is feeling guilt over making her sad... so faster than anyone probably expected, she caves. She twists and shoves Gray off her, raising the question of why she didn't just do that before, and sits up with a huff. ]

... Whatever. I can't afford to waste any mana on that bastard right now. [ She pushes down the jealousy at knowing nobody would ever defend her with such fervent emotion, replacing it with typical annoyance. ] But this is MY decision! Me! One I made entirely by myself! It has nothing to do with you!

[gravings]

[ Gray is ready to spring back up and go for tackle #2 when she gets bucked off, but thankfully it isn't necessary. She sits back on her shins with relief, her fluff-clad shoulders slumping. Thank goodness. Meanwhile, Mordred's insistence that Gray is a zero factor falls on deaf ears. ]

Thank you...

[ For not being a public menace for no reason?? Gray sighs and looks back up with a touch of concern. ]

Are your mana levels low?

[ How do Servants work actually. ]

[uproared]

[ Gray's thanks is met with a roll of her eyes, but at least it's not the aggressive, 'don't-thank-me-or-else' of before; just standard tsundere fare. ]

I'm not gonna disappear, if that's what you're hoping for. I've just been runnin' on empty ever since... [ The Blight, and the days she spent waiting at the tree for Gray to revive, without food or proper rest. ] ... Eh, it's not important. I could still take you in a fight, so don't get any funny ideas.

[gravings]

[ Gray wonders what kind of impression Mordred has of her...... ]

How do you usually regain your energy?

[ Seeing as how time doesn't seem to be doing the job. ]

[uproared]

[ She should learn not to think at all when it comes to Mordred................ ]

Sleeping and eating works. There are other ways, but I refuse to engage in them. A future king like me is above such depravity.

[gravings]

[ Depravity too much even for Mordred... It's nice to know she has limits. ]

Then you should eat. I'll prepare the food.

[ Like Gray was already trying to do... She hops up and offers a polite yet insistent hand to help Mordred up. Mostly so that she can drag Mordred away from Eustace's house. ]

[uproared]

[ Rude?? ]

You know one meal's not gonna fix things, right? [ Said as if Gray was expecting it to... she stares at the offered hand for a moment, her expression derisive, then sighs and takes it. ] You'd better not be doing this out of some weird sense of responsibility.

[ Only Mordred is allowed to feel that way. ]

[gravings]

[ She was half-expecting Mordred to ignore her hand, so she smiles with relief before bracing to pull her up. Mordred is lighter than Lord El-Melloi II was, which only makes sense from height alone, but it still feels unexpected. It's easy to forget that Gray and Mordred share virtually the same body. With an application of magical energy, Gray has her pulled up with ease.

She pauses briefly at "weird sense of responsibility," nonplussed. ]

Well, I don't want to see you disappear... I don't think that's so weird.

[uproared]

[ Ew, don't smile... that makes her feel things. Positive things. Positive things that quickly become negative when Gray opens her mouth again. ]

Of course it's weird, [ she says, rudely shoving past Gray with her shoulder to go back inside. ] How. Many. Times. Do I have to remind you that we're enemies? Weren't you relieved when I disappeared before? I keep saying I'm going to kill you, so why don't you listen?

[ She already failed to save her once — isn't that no better than killing her with her own hands? ]

[gravings]

[ This insistence again. If it wouldn't be begging for retaliation, Gray might point out that Mordred is factually one of the safest people Gray could be around; only one person in Kenos now has a proven track record of successfully protecting her Shard. But it seems the less said, the better — at least when it comes to Mordred's hypocritical foibles. Gray shrugs off the shove and follows Mordred back into the house, her reply lagging as she discards responses she thinks Mordred would only be more frustrated with. ]

Would you prefer if I said I hated you?

[ Maybe Mordred prefers to be disliked in the same way Gray prefers her face to be disliked?? ]

[uproared]

[ Yes. No. No. Yes. No. Would it be easier if Gray did? Absolutely. Does Mordred truly want her to? She opens her mouth to say "yes", closes it again with a tch. Eventually, she mutters: ]

... Not really. [ Even though she's facing away, the tips of her ears are noticeably pink. ] B-but that's not the point! Listen to what I'm telling you!

[gravings]

[ Cute... Gray is still confused, but she's getting the sense that Mordred is too. ]

Alright...

[ She makes her way back to the kitchen to quickly clean up the mess of her dropped egg. Good thing there are plenty more chickens where that came from. Again she asks: ]

How do you like your eggs?

[uproared]

[ Mordred is always confused. She huffs at Gray's unsatisfying (to her) answer, mostly because there's no part of it she can latch onto and continue shouting about; which was probably the idea. ]

Poached if you can manage it. Otherwise, anything is fine. [ As Gray goes back to the kitchen, Mordred goes back to poking at the set of armour she'd briefly noticed before the attempted property destruction. ] What's with this armour? Don't tell me you're training to be an assassin... you know that class is full of people too lame to quality as a real Servant, right?

[ oof ]