Huh. [ It's a noncommittal sound, but Rin could probably take it to mean Bradbury is suitably impressed, even if he doesn't say as much. It's more glasses than two people need, and it's on the tip of his tongue to ask Rin whether she has all these glasses in anticipation of guests or in the hope of them.
Instead, he reaches forward to snag them a pair of glasses, then heading off to the living room. At least he's not going to have to mess around with a corkscrew, since the bottle opens easily with a twist of his hand. ]
So, why exactly do you think you need to keep yourself calm now? [ He is, of course, referring to her initial message. ]
I don't think I need something to calm myself down, Mister Bradbury. [ Her arrogance is overwhelming today as she watches him, leaning against the counter lazily. ] I know that I need it because a lot has been on my mind.
I rather not think anymore.
[ Every time she does, she's torn between feeling guilty and irresponsible. A rotten mixture that does nothing for what kind heart she used to have. ]
[ Did he really just ask a teenager girl if she wants to talk about her feelings? Closing the distance, she snatches the glass quickly into her hands. ]
I killed a man. [ And then she's downing the whole glass as if that will help get her drunk faster. ]
[ It's a good thing she grabbed the glass from him, or else he would've dropped it. Regardless, though the shock on his face is clear, he seems less concerned about the act -- he knows Rin's capable of killing (though, he thinks, she seems to be a lot better at getting killed) -- than the fact that she clearly isn't coping well with it.
He almost asks if it was Archer, then decides that's a stupid thing to ask. Instead, he shakes his head. ]
Take it easy on that stuff. [ Not that it will get her drunk, but he's afraid she'll choke. ] What happened?
It was that guy I spoke about on the network before. [ Pulling the empty glass away with a scowl. ] You know, the lizard man.
[ She didn't seem so upset about it when she first mentioned it, but now it's hitting her? In her mind, she's trying to think of a good way to mention the other man she's killed. Instead, she changes the subject by holding up the glass to the light in the room. ]
Anyway, are you certain this is alcohol? It tastes just like juice.
[ Now that she mentions it, he does seem to remember her saying something like that. There's a stab of guilt, quick and sharp -- he really needs to be paying better attention to this thing. But though he's a little fuzzy on the details, he's pretty sure he can't afford to let Rin realize something's wrong, so he's quick to distract her: ]
It'll hit you later. Anyway, that was a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it? [ She's being evasive, but so is he. That said, she seems to have a lot more to hide than he does, and he frowns. ]
[ Why does he want to know? Not that she suspects that he's the type of man to gossip carelessly, but he just might start doing so at the expense of her comfort. ]
Why does it matter? It happened and that's the important part, don't you agree? Talking about the specifics is a bit morbid.
[ He scratches at his cheek -- he's feeling a bit of stubble there, is going to need to shave tomorrow -- and shrugs, looking away. ]
I used to be a cop. Things like that matter. Whether it was self-defense, or whether you attacked first. Whether you used unnecessarily cruelty, or if you did it quick. Whether you planned it or you didn't. [ He turns his head just enough to glance at her, brow raised. ]
Lets the jury decide if you're guilty or not. Not that it makes you feel better if you believe you are.
[ Her question is abrupt, but she doesn't seem frightened by the idea. Maybe it'd be nice to be punished for not only one death, but another. She's experienced dying so she knows what it feels like to have to go through with it, yet she was still able to raise her hands to take lives swiftly. ]
Archer won't be comfortable with that. He might even attack you to keep you from doing that--you know that's the purpose of having a Servant, right? Even if they lock me up, he'll break me out and kill as many people as it takes to free me.
Even if you asked him not to? [ That leaves the question of whether she'd deliver such an order or not, but... best to leave that train of thought behind before they can dwell on it. ]
It's not my place to make that call. Can't go to court without clean hands, and all that.[ He shrugs. ]
I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Archer is a disobedient Servant. I tell him to sit and he does, only after he's finished doing what he wants and he decides it's a good time to sit. In short, he'll inevitably do as I ask on his own time.
It's rather troublesome and I rather not see more blood shed because I decided to kill a priest.
[ She slips up on that. Wasn't she talking about a monster and now it's a priest. ]
[ It's... a pretty big leap there, but Bradbury decides he can roll with it. It's what he's interested in, after all, more than whatever messed up web of loyalties and emotions make up the thing that connects Archer and Rin. ]
You must have had a good reason to kill him. [ More curiously, though... ] Why couldn't you just ask Archer to do it?
Would that have made it any different? A death by his hands is a death by my own seeing as he's my Servant. It'd be irresponsible for me to think otherwise.
[ Maybe the blood spilled isn't any less on her conscience, but ... asking someone else to do it, it would have removed the distance.
But Bradbury understands a little about death, and why it's sometimes important to do something with your own hands instead of asking someone else to do it, and he looks at Rin carefully, trying to meet her eyes.
He remembers, suddenly, a conversation on the Network. A man he'd spoken to in passing, who'd claimed to be Rin's guardian. A priest with a strangely fatalistic outlook, and a knack for asking questions that hit too many buttons. Bradbury takes a breath. ]
Rin, why did you kill Father Kotomine?
[ It's a guess, but unless Rin's particularly acquainted with any more members of the clergy, he doesn't actually know who else she could be talking about. ]
[ How did he know? Her eyes dart away as she finds herself unable to meet them as her gaze falls to the floor. Kirei Kotomine is the only priest she's spoken of knowing before, isn't he? ]
I'm not sure why I did it. [ That much seems honest. ]
He was in pain and suffering, so I told myself he would revive through the Porter if I did it. That's what I kept telling myself, but at the same time I was really, really happy to have actually done it.
[ Bradbury is capable of putting two and two together to come up with four, no matter what anyone else might think. He rubs at his chin, though, thinking over what she's said. If they were back home, no question about it, he'd still turn her in -- but things in the City are just... different. After everything he's seen, everything he's done, he knows things aren't just that simple anymore.
It's still really weird to be having this conversation, though, and he really wishes he'd brought real alcohol, now. ]
You had some kinda bone to pick with the guy, or something? [ He pauses, then adds: ] What's gonna happen when he comes back?
[ He reaches for the bottle to refill her glass, although he knows it won't do much good in getting her any drunker -- but the catharsis offered by a bit of alcohol isn't hard to replicate, if you've got a conscience heavy enough. His eyes are trained on her, sharp and curious, because there's clearly more to this story than he can easily take in.
His next words are chosen carefully, spoken with all the delicacy of a man cutting through a wire and not sure if it's going to result in him being blown sky-high. ]
I said before I wouldn't make our city's problems this city's problems. You understand, don't you? Grievances from back home should remain there or else you appear desperate in these petty attempts to involve others.
[ Sipping, her gaze falls again. Thinking of her father is painful enough on it's own, but telling someone who very well may fill that void for her? It's strange. The girl has so many problems in trying to sort out relationships that she's not sure why she's telling Bradbury before Archer. ]
It's not like I'm gonna go out and shoot the guy after you tell me.
[ If he even resurrects, anyway. But he thinks about Edward Nygma, and all the other alleged 'reformed' villains in the City, and shakes his head. He doesn't know why Rin seems to feel inclined to tell him anything -- or why this keeps happening to him. He pauses, considering what he can of the limited information he has. The man claimed to be Rin's guardian, but Rin claims he killed her father. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. ]
He said he was your guardian. Was that before or after he killed your dad?
[ Rin's confident that a good guy like Bradbury would go right after a devilish man like Kirei. That's why she has to be careful with what she says, but desperation creeps up on her. It'd be nice to actually just tell someone every little thought of her's without having to put up that mental wall. ]
After he killed my father. He was likely responsible for my mother's eventual death as well as my uncle, but there's no telling. In the end, I had no family suitable to raise me as a magus other than him and that was because my father had put him in a will to do so.
[ Well, she might not be wrong about that... he does tend to think with his heart over his head, especially when he has reason to believe someone might be a dangerous to the rest of the imPort community as a whole. He isn't even really sure how to take how... relatively calmly she's acting about the whole thing, all things considered. ]
I'm assumin' you didn't figure out that he killed your dad until you were older.
[ He can't imagine Rin, even a younger one, just letting a guy like that take care of her if she'd known that. God, his head hurts just thinking about it. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Instead, he reaches forward to snag them a pair of glasses, then heading off to the living room. At least he's not going to have to mess around with a corkscrew, since the bottle opens easily with a twist of his hand. ]
So, why exactly do you think you need to keep yourself calm now? [ He is, of course, referring to her initial message. ]
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I rather not think anymore.
[ Every time she does, she's torn between feeling guilty and irresponsible. A rotten mixture that does nothing for what kind heart she used to have. ]
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You wanna talk about it?
[ He's taken a seat on the couch, and he's already topped up a glass for her, holding it out expectantly. ]
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I killed a man. [ And then she's downing the whole glass as if that will help get her drunk faster. ]
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He almost asks if it was Archer, then decides that's a stupid thing to ask. Instead, he shakes his head. ]
Take it easy on that stuff. [ Not that it will get her drunk, but he's afraid she'll choke. ] What happened?
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[ She didn't seem so upset about it when she first mentioned it, but now it's hitting her? In her mind, she's trying to think of a good way to mention the other man she's killed. Instead, she changes the subject by holding up the glass to the light in the room. ]
Anyway, are you certain this is alcohol? It tastes just like juice.
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It'll hit you later. Anyway, that was a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it? [ She's being evasive, but so is he. That said, she seems to have a lot more to hide than he does, and he frowns. ]
How'd it happen?
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Why does it matter? It happened and that's the important part, don't you agree? Talking about the specifics is a bit morbid.
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I used to be a cop. Things like that matter. Whether it was self-defense, or whether you attacked first. Whether you used unnecessarily cruelty, or if you did it quick. Whether you planned it or you didn't. [ He turns his head just enough to glance at her, brow raised. ]
Lets the jury decide if you're guilty or not. Not that it makes you feel better if you believe you are.
no subject
[ Her question is abrupt, but she doesn't seem frightened by the idea. Maybe it'd be nice to be punished for not only one death, but another. She's experienced dying so she knows what it feels like to have to go through with it, yet she was still able to raise her hands to take lives swiftly. ]
Archer won't be comfortable with that. He might even attack you to keep you from doing that--you know that's the purpose of having a Servant, right? Even if they lock me up, he'll break me out and kill as many people as it takes to free me.
That's just what will happen.
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It's not my place to make that call. Can't go to court without clean hands, and all that.[ He shrugs. ]
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It's rather troublesome and I rather not see more blood shed because I decided to kill a priest.
[ She slips up on that. Wasn't she talking about a monster and now it's a priest. ]
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You must have had a good reason to kill him. [ More curiously, though... ] Why couldn't you just ask Archer to do it?
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Would that have made it any different? A death by his hands is a death by my own seeing as he's my Servant. It'd be irresponsible for me to think otherwise.
no subject
[ Maybe the blood spilled isn't any less on her conscience, but ... asking someone else to do it, it would have removed the distance.
But Bradbury understands a little about death, and why it's sometimes important to do something with your own hands instead of asking someone else to do it, and he looks at Rin carefully, trying to meet her eyes.
He remembers, suddenly, a conversation on the Network. A man he'd spoken to in passing, who'd claimed to be Rin's guardian. A priest with a strangely fatalistic outlook, and a knack for asking questions that hit too many buttons. Bradbury takes a breath. ]
Rin, why did you kill Father Kotomine?
[ It's a guess, but unless Rin's particularly acquainted with any more members of the clergy, he doesn't actually know who else she could be talking about. ]
no subject
I'm not sure why I did it. [ That much seems honest. ]
He was in pain and suffering, so I told myself he would revive through the Porter if I did it. That's what I kept telling myself, but at the same time I was really, really happy to have actually done it.
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It's still really weird to be having this conversation, though, and he really wishes he'd brought real alcohol, now. ]
You had some kinda bone to pick with the guy, or something? [ He pauses, then adds: ] What's gonna happen when he comes back?
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[ She's trying her best to be sarcastic, but the bite behind her words left her long ago. ]
Ugh--I need more to drink before I can even start telling you about that.
gdi i thought i replied to this
His next words are chosen carefully, spoken with all the delicacy of a man cutting through a wire and not sure if it's going to result in him being blown sky-high. ]
I'm listening.
it's cool we have our threads ALL OVER THE PLACE
[ Sipping, her gaze falls again. Thinking of her father is painful enough on it's own, but telling someone who very well may fill that void for her? It's strange. The girl has so many problems in trying to sort out relationships that she's not sure why she's telling Bradbury before Archer. ]
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It's not like I'm gonna go out and shoot the guy after you tell me.
[ If he even resurrects, anyway. But he thinks about Edward Nygma, and all the other alleged 'reformed' villains in the City, and shakes his head. He doesn't know why Rin seems to feel inclined to tell him anything -- or why this keeps happening to him. He pauses, considering what he can of the limited information he has. The man claimed to be Rin's guardian, but Rin claims he killed her father. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. ]
He said he was your guardian. Was that before or after he killed your dad?
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[ Rin's confident that a good guy like Bradbury would go right after a devilish man like Kirei. That's why she has to be careful with what she says, but desperation creeps up on her. It'd be nice to actually just tell someone every little thought of her's without having to put up that mental wall. ]
After he killed my father. He was likely responsible for my mother's eventual death as well as my uncle, but there's no telling. In the end, I had no family suitable to raise me as a magus other than him and that was because my father had put him in a will to do so.
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I'm assumin' you didn't figure out that he killed your dad until you were older.
[ He can't imagine Rin, even a younger one, just letting a guy like that take care of her if she'd known that. God, his head hurts just thinking about it. ]
Or anyone else, for that matter.