ic inbox (kenos)

[gravings]

I will definitely put something here this time

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[gravings]

Not that I know of. But there's a lot I don't know.

[ She gave up trying to pretend she knew anything before she ever started.

But she does know one thing. Her tone takes on a gentle note of lecturing. ]

More importantly... it means she can be powerful in ways normal people can't, and she doesn't always have the same logic as a living person. So getting into a fight with her would be very dangerous. Please try to avoid it.

[ God knows Mordred will look for any excuse to laser Eustace into oblivioun. ]

[lockedon]

[ Mordred deserves to laser Eustace into oblivion, so this is fine actually.

Unfortunately, what I want OOCly and what Eustace wants ICly are two very different things, and though Eustace is still hung up on the fact that Mordred was at some point famous in her lifetime, he trusts Gray enough to listen attentively to her mini-lecture.

He does have one point to make though. ]

I'm not looking to get into a fight with her, but there's only so much I can do when she's constantly hounding me.

[ She's like a tiny yapping attack dog....which is ironic, given that he's the one with the animal ears. ]

[erbe]

Gray?

[Her offer may be genuine but in the light of her brining a gift and it getting rejected a seat at the table is... is...!]

Do you not like egg tarts?

[epiprocta]

[ Oh. That's cute. The way she so sincerely and earnestly holds Add up in her hands like she's proud to show him off, even when her eyes are still a little puffy and red from crying. It's enough to earn the flick of a pointy ears and --

it feels alright to set aside the gloomy thoughts that had been dominating his mind, at least for a few moments. Sure, his head still feels like a mess of too many tangled thoughts, but it's calming to know at least one thing for sure -- he did the right thing in retrieving Add and returning him to Gray. No doubt about it, when he looks at that grateful, relieved look on her face. ]

... yeah, sure.

[ The bench creaks quietly when Gen heaves himself back onto his feet, slinking forward a step so he can ruffle Gray's head over her hood, as he periodically does. Not hard enough to dislodge her hood, but just hard enough to be obnoxious. ]

Don't have any other plans tonight. But you know it's not like I got him -- [ tilting his head towards Add ] -- back for you just 'cause I wanted anything from you, yeah? [ And finally, he straightens Gray's hood to an approximation of its original position, then pulls his hand away. ] Just didn't want that fucker to think he could mess with you and get away with it so easy.

[gravings]

[ He has a point. Gray looks to the heavens for inspiration, because only God knows how to get Mordred to be less Mordred. ]

I'm not sure why she dislikes you so much. Did you have a bad first encounter?

[gravings]

[ A blink passes before Gray realizes her mistake. Her expression explodes into panic. ]

No! Or, um, I'm not sure because I've never tried one, but I've liked all of your cooking... The tart was something I'd already made.

[ And there's always room for more dessert... ]

[gravings]

[ Gray receives her obnoxious head ruffle patiently, though she's starting to wonder if she's getting too old for such things. Even if Gen is overly tall and Gray hasn't grown nearly enough to look just one year his junior, they're essentially peers. At the same time, she'd be sad if he stopped doing it. She wonders if he'll still be doing it when they're both in their twenties. ]

Do you think he'll be angry?

[ She doesn't care about Silco's feelings, but she does care about him trying to retaliate against Gen somehow. ]

[erbe]

I see.

[She sighs and settles herself at the table.]

If you're looking to show off for me, I suppose I cannot deny you.

[If the intent is that Gray wants to impress her, that's... cute. She'll have to squash the bloom of warmth and excitement that unfurls in her chest.]

[epiprocta]

[ Gen isn't exactly planning on sticking around in her life long enough for them to reach their twenties. But if that hypothetical situation were to come true, rest assured Gray -- he would definitely still be pulling the same obnoxious shit as his main expression of affection. ]

Nah. [ The lie comes smoothly. Maybe a bit too smoothly, if anything. Gen looks away as he follows it up with a puff at his cigarette, murmuring his followup around it. ] He doesn't know it was me. And he might not even notice I took it -- his place was a mess.

[ This is something he decided to do, so it's not a matter Gray needs to worry about.

And with that, he gives her a rough thump on the back to nudge her back towards her home. ]

C'mon, go fetch your thing.

[gravings]

[ Gray has actually just been on a baking kick and happened to make a fruit tart this morning, but she also can't deny that she'd be pleased if Rin was impressed by her evolving baking skill. Most of all, she's just relieved that crisis has been averted. She quickly scoops up some stew, cheese, and bread for herself and sits with Rin at the table. ]

I don't know many hot dishes, but I think my baking has improved lately. If you have any tips for me, I'll be glad to hear them.

[ But that will be later. She hurries the conversation along. ]

By the way... did you need somewhere to stay tonight?

[lockedon]

[ Does even God know how to get Mordred to be less Mordred.....

But it's not Gray's job to make sure Mordred behaves herself. And while it might be Eustace's job to moderate how he behaves around Mordred, he's pretty sure nothing he can do at this point will alleviate the deep dislike she has of him. ]

It was back at the shrines. In Horos. [ Which seems like such a distant time now. ] I don't recall doing anything out of the ordinary.

[ He was just being himself...which tbh is enough to provoke anyone into disliking him. ]

[erbe]

No.

[It's a tempting offer, but in the end she has to decline. Spending too much time in Springstar means, even if miniscule, Discord accumulation. She'll have to be careful. Especially after what happened to Dark.]

I have somewhere to sleep.

[Her shop. And no one will ever know!]

[gravings]

[ If Silco really has no clue, then this will have been the best case scenario... but Gray still has to worry if Silco has some kind of security system set up at his place. He seems paranoid and crafty enough for it.

Gen's thump sends Gray trotting back into the house, eager to talk to Add but knowing that any conversation will take more time than the short walk will allow. Instead she returns to Gen in quick time with a picnic basket, which she holds out to him. ]

I've been trying to improve my baking, so we have a lot of practice pies in the house. I've been meaning to give you some, so...

[ She's loaded the basket with a large apple cinnamon pie and an assortment of smaller meaty hand pies. Even if Eustace and Dokja assure her otherwise, she's a bit worried they're getting tired of eating assorted pies, so it's probably for the best that she offloads on Gen. ]

[gravings]

[ Back in Horos... Things were more tense back then, but even so, Gray can't imagine Eustace doing anything legitimately offensive without him knowing it. She'll just chalk it up to Mordred being Mordred. ]

If it helps, she didn't like me much at first either. If it weren't for my face, she probably would've stopped paying attention to me.

[ That detail comes out of her with surprising ease; the topic of her face was once close to taboo, but she can at least be (fairly) certain that the legend of King Arthur would mean nothing to Eustace. ]

Actually, she was a famous knight, but it sounds like she didn't like a lot of the other knights. Maybe you remind her of them.

[ The suggestion isn't completely serious, but she could see Eustace as a knight in a different universe. ]

[gravings]

[ So she has somewhere to sleep, but there's no shower or means of washing laundry. The plot thickens. ]

Okay...

[ Mages and their secrets. Knowing better than to pry, Gray spoons some stew up.

The stew is simple and straightforward in terms of spice, but it's been cooked with care and hearty for it. The bread is fresh and crisp at the crust, and the cheese is strong and buttery. That said, it's a decidedly rustic, unadorned format for a meal; at the end of the day, Gray is British to the bone. ]

[lockedon]

[ Truly Gray's power of imagination far exceeds his own, because he can't imagine any timeline where he ends up as a knight in service of someone else. Maybe it's because he's traveled with too many storybook knights, whose ideals and convictions he can appreciate but not fully adopt for himself.

But also: ]

Because I don't like many other people?

[ It's an objective statement and not any sort of hurt accusation. He knows the (mostly true) image he projects to other people. ]

[epiprocta]

[ He's not exactly sure what he'd expected Gray to come scurrying out of the house with, but 'an adorably cliche basket of pies' sure wasn't on the shortlist of candidates. What is she, little red riding hood.

He can't help raising an eyebrow at her explanation, exhaling a long streamer of smoke through his nose before drawling, ] So you just wanted to dump your leftovers on me, huh?

[ Of course he knows that's not the case; he just can't resist the chance to prod at her a little more. Gen reaches forward even as he makes that shitty quip -- not to take the basket, but to flip off the covering and pick up one of the little hand pies. A quick sniff confirms that it smells good, and Gen manages to eat about half the pie in one large bite. ]

... pretty good.

[ Said with his mouth still mostly full. ]

S'this what you've been spendin' most of your time on lately?

[gravings]

[ Gray blinks. She knows he can be stoic and reclusive, but she wouldn't have categorized him as a misanthrope. ]

I was thinking more that you're serious and disciplined...

[ Though when she thinks about it, her sampling of Round Table Knights (Kay, Mordred) would seem to suggest that they were more incorrigible than not. ]

[gravings]

[ Gen can feel proud, because Gray does have to take a little of umbrage with him calling the pies "leftovers"... as if she would ever give him anything so sad-sounding within her own power. But first she watches him take a pie and immediately destroy it by half. As always, his sheer eating potential impresses her as much as his poor manners astound her. (He'll find that even if it isn't warm anymore, the pie's pastry shell is still flaky and buttery, and stuffed liberally with meat.) ]

I don't need to take care of Slow Dancer anymore, so I've had extra time. And someone mentioned that they missed homemade pies, so I thought I could give it a try...

[ Slow Dancer could be a handful, but Gray misses the satisfaction of taking care of her; as ornery as the old horse was, Gray was grateful that Slow Dancer even trusted her enough to stay with her.

And just so they're clear on the matter, ]

I'd like to make you food fresh from the oven, but I don't always know where you are.

[ A gentle comment on the surface, but a pointed accusation from Gray. Recently a CERTAIN SOMEONE just disappeared from sight for a couple weeks and she doesn't know why?? ]

[erbe]

[No follow up? Has she gotten so used to the pushy people of Kenos that somehow she is struggling with Gray? Ridiculous. Tohsaka will make up her own, more palatable conversation.]

Hm... also, do you know a man named "Eustace"?

[She has to confirm something.]

action.

[salvageable]

[ Here's Dokja with a finger tapping against his chin as he surveys the kitchen from behind the kitchen island. He looks like he's taking stock of what they have, his lips moving silently as he makes mental notes to himself. He'd invited D over for dinner but the problem is that he... isn't sure what dinner is supposed to be. And then there's the fact that Dokja doesn't even know D is a vampire because he's stupid and blind and sometimes a guy acts weird but is just a guy.

It had seemed like such a simple plan when he'd spoken it out loud, but now he's realizing that this is coming with its own set of complications.

Fortunately for him, he's spared from causing himself brain strain when he hears the sound of footsteps heading for the kitchen, and Dokja glances over his shoulder, already knowing who it is because only two other people besides him live in this house and they've all learned to recognize each other's footsteps by now. ]

Hey, Gray.

[epiprocta]

[ He's a little distracted licking off a (delectable) crumb of crust off his lips, savoring the flavor of the meat filling as he slowly chews through that enormous mouthful, but Gen does still blink when he hears that subtle barb in Gray's voice. And sure, it'd be easy to dismiss that as just a gentle comment, something Gray's saying solely to refute his prodding, but ... he's always been a little more astute than most people give him credit for. ]

Mn. [ Give him a second to swallow and then give a satisfied little huff. That pie really is good, even if it's cooled. ] Just had some stuff come up for a while.

[ Is he going to elaborate at all? Absolutely not! Gen instead takes another, slightly smaller bite before continuing. ]

Don't worry. S'plenty tasty even if it's not fresh-made. I mostly ate stuff from convenience stores back home, y'know. [ He brushes a stray flake of pastry from the corner of his mouth with his thumb before casually adding, ] But just let me know whenever you wanna kill some more time with cooking, and I'll see if I can head over. You're pretty good, so I'll never say no.

[ Unfortunately for Gray, Gen is a shitty, shitty teenager, so that offhand comment is the closest he'll get to admitting that he really appreciates her consideration. At least the speed with which he's managed to demolish the handpie proves he's being honest about her cooking being excellent. ]

[gravings]

[ As a diminutive pocket of a person, Gray's footfall is indeed very different from Eustace's. As light as she is, she tries to step even more lightly, as if worried about bothering the ground. The effect is even more pronounced in this household of prohibited outdoor shoes.

She blinks up at Dokja when he addresses her. She's hooded even indoors, but she is at least wearing her light and breathable home cloak. ]

Yes?

[gravings]

[ Gray may be overly conscious about not being pushy, especially in the company of a mage. A mage with a history of retreating if Gray prodded about the wrong things, in fact...

She blinks, a look of dumb surprise crossing her face at the question. ]

Um. Yes, very well, actually.

[ She'll explain more in a moment. But first, she has to make sure this isn't a Mordred situation (as unlikely as that is). ]

Why do you ask?

[gravings]

[ As expected, he doesn't elaborate on where he's been — and now that they're in opposing factions, there could very well be legitimate reasons for secrecy. There's plenty she can't discuss with him on her end, after all. In reality, she has no ground to complain on; it's her own worries and frustrations that nag at her.

In Horos they spent plenty of time apart, but it still felt like she had easy access to him. Now it feels like he's moved two towns over — though that fails to capture the vastness of the space that actually exists between their positions now. She wonders if this is something like being homesick, though obviously Gen is not a house.

He says he'll never say no if she calls for him. For food, though she has no doubt he'd come regardless. ]

I'll let you know.

[ If he comes more often, Eustace can see him too. Gray resolves to bake something again soon.

She begins to hold the basket out again for him to take, reconsiders the movement, and then steps forward to wrap him in a one-armed hug soft and warm with feeling. With disregard for his shitty teenager obliqueness, she makes a clumsy bludgeon of her heart. ]

If you're ever hungry... or if you miss eating something, I'll make it for you. But you have to let me know.