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[sealeted]

[To be fair, that's an entirely different commitment to her. She likes Vietnam too much to ever allow herself to seriously view Gilgamesh romantically. But, naturally, for Robin to know that, they would have to actually talk about feelings.

And that's just crazy talk, is what that is.]

You make it sound like an imposition.

[She's teasing him back rather than replying head on, opting to just start working on the other side.]

[guerrilla]

[It sure is crazy talk. He hasn't even rightly worked through his own feelings yet; he's definitely not ready to try to figure out what Hakuno's are.]

I'm dead, but I'm not that dead.

[A cute girl giving him a massage is never, ever going to be an imposition, though he's not about to say that so directly.

His right shoulder is a little worse for wear than his left; he's right-handed, after all, so it gets more of a workout every time he uses his bow. It seems like he's in a little more discomfort with this one as a result, though he's trying to keep the noises and the twitching to a minimum.]

[sealeted]

[Man, same.]

Make sure to speak up if it starts actually being painful. It'd be a shame if I bruised up twenty percent of your charm just because you're trying to be 'manly'.

[Ribbing aside, she is taking more care after the first few experimental probes. Muscles aren't something you should necessarily brute force, after all, so she alternates angles and how hard she digs in, keeping an eye out for the bare scraps of reaction he lets slip.]

[guerrilla]

[He's about to object, insisting it's not something he's doing because he wants to look manly, but then Hakuno's words catch up with him.]

...Twenty percent? What's the other eighty?

[You can't just say something like that and then not tell him what the rest is, Hakuno!]

[sealeted]

Twenty.

[She taps his right bicep.]

Twenty.

[The left one.]

Your face is... well, it used to be fifteen, but recently I had to bump it up to twenty-five.

[He's so pretty, when he isn't covering his eyes. She knows not to push, though, so she tactfully doesn't raise the issue outright.]

...and the remaining thirty-five percent is a secret.

[guerrilla]

I bet it's my winning personality.

[He probably would've given his face a higher rating, himself. Even with one eye covered, he was handsome enough to woo village girls who had grown up being told that he was possessed by fairies.

Sarcasm aside, he is sort of curious about it, if only because he's sure it can't be his personality, intentionally crafted as it is to keep people from liking him at all in the first place.]

...Seriously, though, only a fifteen? I'm hurt.

[But joking around this will do for now.]

[sealeted]

[Actually, his personality is a solid ten percent. For some reason, she likes his warped sense of humor and their banter has gotten increasingly fun over time.]

It used to be higher, before you started getting stripped in battle. I reassign points as necessary.

[guerrilla]

[That still leaves 25%...the mystery deepens.]

So basically since the beginning, since that happened in my first battle here. Unless you're actually the kind of person who checks out the people who are trying to kill you...?

[He's got her number.]

[sealeted]

[Gosh, it's almost like she sees something in him that he doesn't, isn't it.]

.......

[She falls silent at that accusation, which could mean anything. But the way her fingers flinch back, brief but noticeable, all but screams 'bull's eye'.]

[guerrilla]

...Hakuno.

[His tone takes a turn for the incredulous.]

Look, I'm flattered, but think about your priorities once in a while.

[sealeted]

What!

[It's a short, defensive sound, punctuated by an embarrassingly weak hit to his shoulder blades. All in all, it's pretty much just another part of the massage. If he glances back, however, he'll get to see her ears and cheeks burning.]

I can't help the fact that multiple people who tried to kill me were also very attractive! O-Or that I noticed that fact!

[guerrilla]

[He laughs quietly when she hits him, then a little louder when he looks over his shoulder to see her crimson cheeks.]

Noticing someone and checking them out are different things, you know.

[He is never going to let her live this down.]

...So, how'd I rank? I must've been in the top five, at least.

[He might not have very many things about himself that he likes, but he knows he's handsome, at least.]

[sealeted]

I... uh, g-give me a second, I never really thought about it.

[They were all dead, after all.]

What criteria do you mean? Like... just Servants, just men...? Every enemy?

[guerrilla]

[Oh no. Oh, no. He's started laughing again.]

Every enemy? Yes, please, compare me to those weird...things in the Arena. I'm very interested in how I stack up to them.

[sealeted]

Well, there are those, yes, but there were Alter Egos on the Far Side. You might laugh, but they were more or less based on the Infirmary AI physically. With... a few tweaks, appearance-wise.

[And power-wise.]

They were crazily obsessed with me, but I can't say they weren't beautiful.

[guerrilla]

No, the Infirmary AI was pretty cute, I can see why you'd say that.

[She's the only thing he even remotely likes about the Infirmary, considering what went down there.]

But if they're all based on the same person, they only count as one, alright?

[So his chances of being in the top five are better. He's got a personal investment in this now.]

[sealeted]

No, they all had their own... quirks. There were three of them, so bundling in Sakura herself, four. I'll round down to half that, for fairness.

[Sorry, Sakura.]

But, all enemies, not just Servants... mm... I'd put you at ssseventh? Maybe sixth, maybe eighth. It gets kind of complicated. A lot of people have tried to delete me, but some ended up as allies too.

[guerrilla]

I didn't think I'd have to explain to someone who's won a war that someone is your enemy if they try to kill you.

[He's not even going to address this "seventh" bullshit. He's definitely top five in his own heart.]

[sealeted]

On the Far Side, our memories were taken by an Alter Ego. Aside from me, every Master and Servant over there was salvaged by her from their deletion.

[So...]

Leo Harwey and his Servant were there, if you recall them.

[guerrilla]

Who? No, never mind, I don't give a shit. You said every Master?

[She should be able to figure out what he's getting at, though he's not especially hopeful about the final result.]

[sealeted]

[You know, that blond prince-looking kid who exposition-babbled in a conversation with Blackmore in Week 2?]

Every Master there. And some of them didn't have their Servants.

[Her hands slow to a stop.]

...like I said, we were all brought over by the original Alter Ego. And, others were salvaged as their forced subordinates or playthings. You, a girl named Alice, and her Servant.

[guerrilla]

[If she thinks Robin gave a single shit about Leo Harwey and his shitty knight, Hakuno is sadly mistaken.]

...You know.

[This is a dangerous topic for a lot of reasons. It threatens to derail their conversation entirely, and it exposes a vulnerability Robin doesn't want to think about most of the time. But even so - ]

I don't mind being your friend, and it doesn't matter anymore, but I'll never forgive you.

[For what, he doesn't say, but given the topic they're on, it should again be easy for her to guess what he's talking about.]

[sealeted]

No, it's something that I'll never be able to forgive myself for, so I'm not selfish enough to ask that from anyone else.

[With a nearly-silent thump her forehead falls against his bare back.]

The opponents before Blackmore and you were Francis Drake and an eight year old boy with an avatar that made him look my age. After you, there was Alice and her twin Servant. Both of them were children too. And more besides. But, as much as the Moon Cell lets me, I remember. Every breath I take has a price tag. I know that.

[guerrilla]

[He stares straight at the wall as he responds, refusing to even so much as glance in her direction.]

...You're worth it.

[Blackmore himself had certainly thought so, at least. Robin, as harsh as it seems to say, isn't entirely convinced yet.

But he knows that even if she isn't now, she's working toward it. She'll be working to feel like she's worth that many lives for as long as she's breathing. He doesn't know if she'll get there - he knows he never would - but striving to be worth the sacrifices of other people is admirable in itself.]

If you weren't, I'd have killed you the second I saw you here.

[In defeating Blackmore, she'd given him some sort of salvation, and while it's a sad excuse for a consolation prize, at least he was given one at all.]

[sealeted]

That might be one of the nicest things that you've ever said to me.

[It may or may not be a stab at levity.

Her voice, the fingers on his skin, the slow breath she blows out, they're all trembling too much to make it seem like a joke. And, as ever, she's utterly sincere.]