[THERE. She'll just... weakly joke her way to one side of those implications, and the fact that she actually considered the 'offer' for 0.015 seconds before he clarified it.]
[Weak as it is, Robin accepts the joke for what Hakuno intends, because they've been poking fun at their...attractions to each other, he supposes, for a while now.]
I just, you know, I'll...good luck with all of that. I hope you find someone.
[He falls onto his side, lying across the bed. Being someone's motivational support is hard, even as early in the game as deciding to be in the first place.]
[After all, he's dead, and the only "future" he had before now - the possibility of being summoned in a Holy Grail War - is really no future at all. Being brought here, for all the trouble and pain and frustration it's brought, really is something of a miracle. For the both of them.
He rolls over to face her.]
...This might sound weird coming from Robin Hood of all people, but when it comes to your goals, you should be selfish. Don't settle for anything less than what you want.
[That goes for all of her goals, including romantic ones. Lord knows she deserves everything she wants and more.]
[It helps that she sees him as 'Robin' first and foremost these days.]
I'm... good at being selfish. Or at least, I used to be.
[...Hakuno you were willing to die for humanity, you dingus.]
But, this is one goal where I can't be; or at least, not wholly. It... it's embarrassing to even say it, so you can laugh if you want. But, I want to properly face, treasure, and fall for somebody. Fussing, arguing a little bit, compromising, moving forward together... a simple, unremarkable, comfortable love.
[How is he supposed to laugh at something so earnest? He can understand her desires for something unremarkable, in a general sense; it's how he wants to live himself.
Any snarky comments about how he argues with her all the time are kept firmly shut before they can happen.]
You're probably the only person in the world who thinks of arguments when she thinks of her ideal relationship.
No, no, it's always that sort of vapid "We'll always be happy no matter what" bullshit...
[Just how many of those very expectations has he left unfulfilled?]
...Well, maybe the way you're looking at it is more realistic. I'm not happy very often, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but there's no way you could be like that all the time.
[He accidentally said more than he'd wanted to there, so maybe if he says something else she won't realize he talked about himself for a hot second.]
I guess that's what they call being down-to-earth.
Nobody can always be happy. If you are, it wouldn't really count, I don't think; without the downs, you can't recognize the ups, right?
[She bounces on his mattress, for the sake of making him bounce too.]
I learned early on that not looking at less than happy occurrences doesn't really change much at all. I don't have many standards to speak of, but I'm honest, if nothing else.
[But if you spend too much time thinking about the downs, the ups just seem insignificant.
He'd better not say that out loud, though.]
You have no standards at all.
[Everything she does is the action of someone who has poor taste. Robin's convinced of that. He can respect her for a lot of things, but he'll never understand the choices she makes.]
But honesty is a good trait to have. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about there, either...
[After all, he's the most dishonest person he knows.]
[It's a simple response, but it takes Robin several long moments to process it. When...is the last time he ever faced anything head-on? In his personal life, as a Heroic Spirit, in battle? He can't remember. He's not sure if he ever has.]
Nah, there's no such thing as a kind lie. People can tell themselves that all they want, but they're wrong.
[It always comes back to bite you in the ass eventually, even if you only had the best of intentions. Robin, after all, is something of an expert when it comes to paving the road to Hell.]
[Hakuno really is the most resilient person he knows. Maybe the most resilient person in human history - because despite her origins, she's definitely, unquestionably a human.]
...Yeah. You're right about that.
[He's quiet for a while, though he doesn't offer many glimpses into what he's thinking about. Whatever it is, it's serious, because that sparkle of mischief in his eye that usually accompanies his deflection attempts is nowhere to be found.]
Thanks, Hakuno.
[It's a small thing, but it encompasses more than he could possibly say to elaborate.
He must have had a name before becoming Robin Hood, but he can't remember it. That had never really bothered him. After all, it had been his decision to kill that nameless peasant in the first place, to replace him with someone else. But there's no need for a Robin Hood here, so who is he without that?
It's Hakuno who gave him the answer, and with it, his name. It's not an especially creative one, derivative as it is, but it's his, and he never would've come to accept it as anything more than an alias if Hakuno hadn't so diligently gathered up what was left of a broken man and tried her hardest to put everything back together. There are pieces missing, and it'll never be exactly the same, no matter how hard she or anyone else tries. But for all the uneven lines and imperfections, it's an identity for him and him alone, a chance to reach toward that quiet, distant dream of a peaceful life. And he thinks, for a moment, that maybe it's not a lie at all, and everything will be okay.
He doesn't think he'll ever be able to thank her enough for that.]
Edited (0/10 would not recommend phonetagging, it ate an entire sentence) 2017-01-22 06:47 (UTC)
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no subject
[Because that's sure what it sounded like.
Why does he do this to himself.]
no subject
[Give her a minute, she's a bit shellshocked.]
O-Oh, too bad, that one was pretty smooth.
[THERE. She'll just... weakly joke her way to one side of those implications, and the fact that she actually considered the 'offer' for 0.015 seconds before he clarified it.]
no subject
I just, you know, I'll...good luck with all of that. I hope you find someone.
[He falls onto his side, lying across the bed. Being someone's motivational support is hard, even as early in the game as deciding to be in the first place.]
no subject
[Why? Is she talking about this??
Robin doesn't care. He's been very emphatic about that. he's probably just being polite right now.]
It's just... overwhelming, having an actual future ahead of me. Having specific goals in nonspecific orders... helps.
no subject
[After all, he's dead, and the only "future" he had before now - the possibility of being summoned in a Holy Grail War - is really no future at all. Being brought here, for all the trouble and pain and frustration it's brought, really is something of a miracle. For the both of them.
He rolls over to face her.]
...This might sound weird coming from Robin Hood of all people, but when it comes to your goals, you should be selfish. Don't settle for anything less than what you want.
[That goes for all of her goals, including romantic ones. Lord knows she deserves everything she wants and more.]
no subject
[It helps that she sees him as 'Robin' first and foremost these days.]
I'm... good at being selfish. Or at least, I used to be.
[...Hakuno you were willing to die for humanity, you dingus.]
But, this is one goal where I can't be; or at least, not wholly. It... it's embarrassing to even say it, so you can laugh if you want. But, I want to properly face, treasure, and fall for somebody. Fussing, arguing a little bit, compromising, moving forward together... a simple, unremarkable, comfortable love.
no subject
Any snarky comments about how he argues with her all the time are kept firmly shut before they can happen.]
You're probably the only person in the world who thinks of arguments when she thinks of her ideal relationship.
no subject
[She pokes her tongue out at him.]
At least, I hope so.
no subject
[Just how many of those very expectations has he left unfulfilled?]
...Well, maybe the way you're looking at it is more realistic. I'm not happy very often, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but there's no way you could be like that all the time.
[He accidentally said more than he'd wanted to there, so maybe if he says something else she won't realize he talked about himself for a hot second.]
I guess that's what they call being down-to-earth.
no subject
[She bounces on his mattress, for the sake of making him bounce too.]
I learned early on that not looking at less than happy occurrences doesn't really change much at all. I don't have many standards to speak of, but I'm honest, if nothing else.
no subject
He'd better not say that out loud, though.]
You have no standards at all.
[Everything she does is the action of someone who has poor taste. Robin's convinced of that. He can respect her for a lot of things, but he'll never understand the choices she makes.]
But honesty is a good trait to have. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about there, either...
[After all, he's the most dishonest person he knows.]
no subject
[Which is... different. Probably.]
Mm. Well, sometimes a lie here and there... might be kinder. But, I prefer to face things head on, if at all possible.
no subject
Nah, there's no such thing as a kind lie. People can tell themselves that all they want, but they're wrong.
[It always comes back to bite you in the ass eventually, even if you only had the best of intentions. Robin, after all, is something of an expert when it comes to paving the road to Hell.]
no subject
[He's not wrong.]
Maybe so. But sometimes the words 'it will be okay' can be stronger magic than any Code Cast.
['It will be okay.'
'It doesn't hurt that bad.'
'I can keep going just fine.'
'I'll get through this.']
no subject
...Yeah. You're right about that.
[He's quiet for a while, though he doesn't offer many glimpses into what he's thinking about. Whatever it is, it's serious, because that sparkle of mischief in his eye that usually accompanies his deflection attempts is nowhere to be found.]
Thanks, Hakuno.
[It's a small thing, but it encompasses more than he could possibly say to elaborate.
He must have had a name before becoming Robin Hood, but he can't remember it. That had never really bothered him. After all, it had been his decision to kill that nameless peasant in the first place, to replace him with someone else. But there's no need for a Robin Hood here, so who is he without that?
It's Hakuno who gave him the answer, and with it, his name. It's not an especially creative one, derivative as it is, but it's his, and he never would've come to accept it as anything more than an alias if Hakuno hadn't so diligently gathered up what was left of a broken man and tried her hardest to put everything back together. There are pieces missing, and it'll never be exactly the same, no matter how hard she or anyone else tries. But for all the uneven lines and imperfections, it's an identity for him and him alone, a chance to reach toward that quiet, distant dream of a peaceful life. And he thinks, for a moment, that maybe it's not a lie at all, and everything will be okay.
He doesn't think he'll ever be able to thank her enough for that.]