21st Century United Kingdom
London, England
"I thought you were supposed to be watching the perimeter?"
Archer jumps at her voice. She'd never admit it, to her Servant least of all, but Rin gets some mischievous glee at surprising the unflappable Archer - especially given how rare she has the chance to
Is being stoic a requirement to be a monarch in this country or is it just these two?
"Ah, Master." Archer fixes her eyes at a point in the horizon, whether she's finally watching the perimeter or just avoiding her eyes, Rin can't quite tell. "There is nothing to report in a 500m radius from here. Except for a flock of sheep."
"Now, you're just showing off." Rin smirks and leans across the railing off the balcony. She knows Archer would never let an enemy sneak up on them. Being forced to temporarily switch locations after a mishap at an event is bad enough. Settling for an area in the middle of nowhere with no cellphone service –to the chagrin of Shirou, which she will never understand– and eerily vulnerable fields is even worse.
Although given how raggled the four of them have been the past few days, she can understand why Archer's attention keeps getting drawn to the two figures fighting below.
Thwicks and thwacks of wooden swords ring out as the two men trade blows almost faster than the eye can see. Well, to be accurate, one is standing still while the other is trying (and failing) to get past his Servant's defenses.
Shirou jumps back after another deflected strike, breathes in deep and pours water over his head. Rin can't quite keep her eyes off as the liquid drips over his exposed muscles. How his biceps clench as he tosses the bottle aside and lifts the wooden sword, how the wind ruffles his red hair, and his devil-may-care smile as he-
A cough brings Rin out of her reverie. And no she was not ogling. No. She was not.
Rin sneaks a look at her Servant who is now fighting to keep her face impassive.
Is that a cheeky grin?
"You can talk to him, you know."
Archer looks at her, amusement and some snugness crinkling around her blue eyes. "Oh, can I, Master? Should I teach him archery as well?"
I meant Lancer and she knows it. Oho, two can play at that game.
"Well, I was thinking Shirou could teach you how to cook. Lancer has a huge appetite, after all." Rin turns around and leans her back against the railing. "Or are former queens too proud to cook?"
They are interrupted when Shirou is disarmed yet again, but this time one sword flies far. Too far to be retrieved safely and-
"Ugh!" He cries out as Lancer punches (very lightly Rin hopes) him in the gut. Sand clouds form as Shirou falls down hard, gritting his teeth and hugging his stomach.
Lancer steps back and sighs. "Really, Shirou. That last move is a mark of an ama-"
Grits of sand fly towards the Servant, causing him to flinch. "Take this!" Shirou explodes from the floor and takes down Lancer with a solid tackle.
Or so it seemed.
When the dust clears, Shirou has a sword pointed at his throat. Lancer holds him down with a firm hand on his shoulder, knees and feet by the sides of his master's thighs.
Oh no. Using sand to blind an enemy is a coward's trick. Someone as noble as Lancer wouldn't be happy-
The blond Servant laughs.
Rin frowns, expecting the honorable Servant to feel cheated. She glances at Archer and sees that she's just as confused.
"Well done, well done, Shirou." He says as he holds out a hand for his master to grab.
"I-uh, you're not mad?" Shirou warily takes the outstretched hand.
"If you think this is the first time someone has tried throwing sand at my face in the middle of a fight, then you're mistaken."
"I'm not mad at you." Lancer chuckles as Shirou reddens. "It was a good strategy, Shirou. Don't try to fight fair when you're sorely outmatched against your opponent."
"It didn't work though."
"Of course it did."
"Hm." Archer says, fingers tapping on the railing Rin and she has both leaned on, avidly watching the fight. Rin frowns, not understanding.
"Look, Shirou. You are never going to beat a Servant in a fair fight." Lancer continues. "Even if you try the most underhanded tactics in the book, they can still kill you. In an ideal situation, I would do all the fighting for you, but we both know wars never go that smoothly.
I'm training you to fight so you can keep yourself alive if you're ever separated from one of us."
"Now, now, Lancer." Rin increases the power of her voice so the other two can hear. "Shirou managed to fight off Arch- I mean, Gilgamesh, last time!"
They look up, finally paying attention to their audience. Rin swears Lancer's eyes flit to her right for a second but when she blinks he's only focused on her.
"Rin, Archer! I wish you didn't have to see that." Shirou shakes his head and scratches the back of his neck.
"And the less we talk about that golden annoyance, the better." Lancer chuckles. "I suppose it's my turn to watch the perimeter now."
Before any one of them can say anything, the Servant bows, turns around and jumps in the direction of a faraway tree. Archer sighs and rolls her eyes, muttering something Rin couldn't hear.
"Hm. Looks like you have to catch Lancer if you want to talk to him." Rin turns around and walks back into the room, missing a withering look aimed at her back.
Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and establishing the teasing relationship between Rin and her latest Archer. Some tensions are still here between the two Servants and it's going to be a doozy convincing either of them to open up. As you've noticed, neither of them are particularly willing to open very, very old and very, very deep wounds.
Even if they realllly need to.
The next chapter's going to be kinda dark and angsty, focused more on Shirou and Lancer's relationship this time. With a good dose of Servant drama tossed in for good measure, of course.