6269/A Weird Sort of Christmas

A Weird Sort of Christmas
Date of Scene:	26 December 2018
Location:
Synopsis:
Cast of Characters:	Touta Konoe, 6802

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Touta Konoe has posed:
     It has been a busy day at Fairyland Hall with the Christmas holidays upon them. There were a plethora of guests visiting the capital and with these guests were many mouths to feed. Even with all the extra help it was probably a literal trial by fire to anyone who was still getting accustomed to the kitchen. But to each there own in that endeavor. But after being in grueling heat from burners for a prolonged period of time, the dinner rush ends and all those of the kitchen staff are dismissed. It's at that time that a certain new staff member is told to that her presence was being requested at the beach near the staff lodging.

     They don't seem to give a reason as to why. Though there is one thing to know. It's cold outside. If the heat from the burners was making it scorching hot inside, the ocean breeze really kept the chill of the winter air nearby this time of the year in this world. Well for whatever reason it appears that she's being called out that way, for whatever reason is for her to imagine.

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     Jeanne's been having a tough time with the kitchen, inside and out. Granted, the troubles are a little different on each end, what with the inside troubles being more related to getting impatient with heating things and the outside troubles being more related to setting people on fire. They're both enough to get her heated up regardless, though, and she doesn't even go out with a coat as she's called to the beach.

     Except it is kind of chilly outside. After a brief detour back inside (along with glares at anyone daring to look at Jeanne as she gets her coat), she heads back for the beach. Being seen without her armor or weaponry would normally be unheard of, but since she's started working here, she's gotten a little more used to the idea.

     Now to find whoever it is that's calling for her. "I'm here! What is it you want?" She calls out brusquely, arms crossed over her chest as she scans the area slowly. It's actually not a bad-looking beach, all things considered, but she's got better things to do than sightsee.

     For now.

Touta Konoe has posed:
     It's Touta. Of course it would be Touta. He may be dressed up a bit more than usual with a Santa hat on and his work attire but he's at the beach sitting at one of the outdoor chairs near a campfire. He waves her over with that casual cheeriness he tries to dish out. "I want you to come over here for a second! Why else would I have asked for ya?"

     He'll take a moment for her to sit down...Or for her to just get up closer before just standing awkwardly in the sand. But once she's close enough he'll just start talking.

     "So, you've been here a while? How you think you're managing?"

     It's such a generic question, it feels like he could be asking if she's actually getting accomodated to things here or if he's just asking her to rate her own work in a job performance interview.

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     Hearing and spotting Touta, Jeanne sighs lightly as she obliges and steps on over to where he's waiting. "Of course it'd be you. Who else?" She chuckles lightly and moves over to take a seat on one of the chairs provided, stretching her arms out overhead after not too long.

     She's certainly relaxing better than she used to, at least. "Is this a performance evaluation? My work is fine. I haven't killed anyone yet, and I've been trusted with preparing certain dishes already." She smirks somewhat proudly at that, conveniently neglecting to mention that said dishes mostly involve microwaving water or using a coffee maker.

     A moment later, she settles back into her more usual dour expression. "... Did you truly call me here for a work evaluation?"

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Gives a smile at those remarks. Yeah, the powerful Avenger had seemed much more at home than she had in her earlier weeks when she flung her sword at anyone and everyone and wasn't willing to remove her armor for any circumstances. This was probably a drastic change all things considered.

     "Not really, I just figure you've been here a while now I wanted to see if you were comfy. When I started here a while back it took some time to warm up to me. Besides, I wouldn't be keeping my agreement with Archer if I wasn't checking up on ya right?"

     Touta takes from Jeanne's example and slowly stretches himself.

     "Actually, there were a few things I wanted to ask you since you were a Servant and figured you might know something. Have you ever heard about a Servant class called 'Ruler'? If not, it's fine I've just been asking around with a few other Servant buddies of mine and no one seems to have a clue. But since you're also apparently some kind of special class I thought you might know something?"

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     "I'm comfortable enough. I earn my boarding as agreed on, and I do what I like outside of working hours. It works out for everyone." Jeanne replies with a self-satisfied tone, smirking again as Touta brings up his agreement. "If you didn't keep your agreement, he wouldn't have to worry about hearing from you. He'd have a smoldering hole where this place used to be to worry about."

     Despite the not-so-veiled threat, she doesn't look like someone that's about to burn the entire place to the ground.

     "Hmph. 'Ruler'... That'd probably be the class of someone that's beloved by many. Someone that can't be described simply by something like 'Saber' or 'Rider' because of their skills, but someone the public would throw themselves at." Jeanne goes quiet as she stares at the fire in reflection, turning to Touta several moments later. "... Why do you ask? Have you seen any around?"

Touta Konoe has posed:
     "Someone the public would throw themselves at...I guess that makes sense."

    He stays quiet for a moment in just as deep thought as she is. Perhaps even she can pick up on it or perhaps caught up in her own reflecting she wouldn't before he spoke up.

    "Oh uh, well see...There's a Grail War going on right now and apparently my great-gramps was summoned into the war as...A Ruler class. He says that he's suppose to be a neutral party in the Holy Grail War or something but I thought all Servants who participated in a Grail War were summoned because they were summoned by a Master to fight for them. Though with him, it's been...Really weird. So I was wondering if you could maybe fact check me on what the job of a Ruler is and how they're suppose to work in these Grail Wars."

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     Alas, Jeanne doesn't quite pick it up. She seems somewhat distracted and annoyed at something, although she's not going to verbalize just what it is.

     Or who.

     What does get her attention again, though, is the mention of Touta's relative as a Ruler. "Is that so...? Hm. That's the general role for Servants, yes. However, with what the Mage's Association called the 'Grail Crisis', there's likely too many people angling to summon Servants for personal reasons beyond entering a Grail War. Greed, power, whatever other reasons." She shrugs and reaches over to grab a stick, tossing it into the fire. "Of course, those with punier goals tend to die the fastest. A Ruler's role wouldn't... Shouldn't be any different."

     Jeanne watches that stick for a few moments, then turns to Touta again. "... And he said he claimed to be a neutral party? Either your great grandfather has no aspirations for a Grail fragment himself, he knows the danger sin using it, or he's lying."

Touta Konoe has posed:
     "Oh, that Grail Crisis in Denmark? Mmmm, I mean it's possible but I'm pretty sure this Grail War happened before that world had started it's unification but honestly, you may not be wrong still. He says he's suppose to be acting as a ref or something but I saw something that..." He stays quiet once more as he realizes something. "Ah, sorry Jeanne. This probably doesn't have anything to do with your grail crisis but I'm bothering you with it. My bad."

     Truth be told, it didn't seem like she knew too much about what was going on, or what the deal was with a Ruler was specifically. So if that was the case maybe he better just drop it.

     "Speaking of Grails, if you ended up with one what would you end up wishing for?" He has a general idea of what she might say but he'd rather hear her say it than assume.

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     "That, yes. Hmm.. He could be working with the Church, then. They generally pride themselves on staying out of the wars personally, but..." Jeanne raises an eyebrow as Touta apologizes, sighing once before getting up from her seat to approach him.

     She's scowling. Not the sort of scowl directed at someone she hates, but more one of annoyance. "What are you apologizing for? You asked me to come, and you asked questions. If you were bothering me, I have better ways of dealing with annoyances than answering them."

     Jeanne stares down at Touta for several moments longer before turning to the water, then starting to walk. She pauses momentarily, however, glancing back as if expecting him to follow her. "If I had a Grail, I'd want..." She doesn't answer right away, more focused on just walking along the water's edge. "... You /would/ like to know that, wouldn't you?" She laughs freely for a moment, then stares at Touta once again. "You didn't think I'd really answer something like that so easily, did you?"

Touta Konoe has posed:
     There's genuine surprise on his face as Jeanne gets up from her seat to stare him down. When she makes her remarks though there's a bit of a smile that purses his lips as he follows her. Though if she bothers to actually look his way it looks like he's got his hands behind his back or something. He follows along this fiery Avenger as she's about to declare her wish until she just laughs him off. Even going as far as to ask if she really thought that he expected her to tell him.

     "Of course I do. We're friends, friends shouldn't have to worry about that kind of stuff. Not like I was gonna laugh or anything but I guess I keep forgetting how important these wishes are for a Servant. I guess they're only possible with the Grail if people keep those wishes so close to them."

     "Anyway, I won't pry if that's what you're worried about but if you ever need some help you know you can ask any of the people here right? A lot of people have started recognizing you around the island. Even those kids ask from time to time if you're gonna go check up on them or something. Though, I gotta say I'm sorta suprised they were so excited after that whole flying food stuff. But I guess I'm out of touch with kids these days."

     There's probably some irony with someone who only appeared to be about 14 or 15 saying that, but he said it none the less. "Speaking of grails and wishes, did you ever end up getting anything for Christmas? You end up meeting up with some friends or anything?"

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     "Friends? That's..." Jeanne slows down briefly to level another stare at Touta, still having trouble deciphering his... All of him. It's another several seconds before she scoffs and turns away, turning into a vague sort of chuckle at the end. There's both amusement and wistfulness in that noise, though, and she pauses to stare at the sea instead. "Believe what you like. It doesn't matter to me either way. And I doubt anyone else here would understand."

     Jeanne picks up a rock and stares at it, then flings it into the ocean. "And don't think I meant that they wouldn't understand the feeling. I meant that they would not understand the situation." With that clarification, she sounds a little more satisfied as she turns back to Touta with a raised eyebrow. "Why would they want me to check up on them? Did they not learn not to come near me after the last time?"

     Children can be so strange sometimes.

     "I did not. I'm too old to believe in such things, and... You've met me, yes?" She raises her hand and creates a small spark of dark flames for emphasis. It seems as though friends and gifts are not exactly something Jeanne has many of.

Touta Konoe has posed:
     "Then I'll do just that." He says still giving a bit more of a sly grin as before. He watches her cast her stone into the waters. "Hey, don't doubt us just yet. Like I said before, we have alot of immortals here and many of them have gone through a lot of different experiences. I know you're a Servant from a couple hundred years ago, but some of these guys have been alive longer than you've been around. But like I said before, that's on you to do for yourself. Like you said before, you're old enough to make your own decisions."

     There was no reason to try and force her. He figured that just like with everything she had come to do on Fairyland Hall she'd come to do it in her own way at her own pace. As she answers his question on her friends and such he just raises smiles a bit.

     "Yeah, it's Magic. But..." It's at this point Touta pulls one hand from behind his back and portrays something to Jeanne. A black miasma envelops that arm, and once it fully envelops it the arm appears less human and more like some kind of demonic gauntlet of some kind. In fact, it practically oozes feelings of negativity and evil, something that probably seemed out of character for the smiling, charismatic boy. Guess he wasn't screwing around when he was saying he was a monster. "...Just cause you got the whole darkness thing going on doesn't mean you're stuck playing the villain."

     It's at this point he uses that very same demonic hand and reaches behind himself once more. "It's also not an excuse to say you're 'too old' to be celebrating. We literally have a 1400 year old strutting around the halls with the Santa suit on." Granted, the guy had probably been knocking back a lot of eggnog but he was still clearly in the Christmas mood.

     "So with that said, Merry Christmas from all of us!"

     The boy pulls out a rather large box, covered in red and green gift wrap and extends it towards Jeanne with that same demonic looking hand he had only just showed her a moment ago.

     If Jeanne had bothered to open up the box there she'd see that there were quite a few gifts and letters written inside. A bunch of drawings of flying chickens, of little children, and what appeared to be scribbles of her, more than likely drawn from the kids that had been 'borrowed' by her. There was a very formal letter from their boss, and then after all the drawings and letters there appears to be a case which when opened up appeared to be some sort of cooking kit. A basic one, but one none the less. There was what appeared to be a new knife, a knife guard, a whet stone, an apron, and even some sort of cookbook.

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     "Right, right.. The Multiverse does have quite the strange mix of... Everything, doesn't it." That's less a question and more a statement of fact as Jeanne waves a hand dismissively, pinching the bridge of her nose briefly while working all that out in her head. That would mean someone might understand the whole... All of it, wouldn't they?

     Not that she'd ever open up to any of these people about her circumstances, of course. She smirks again as Touta brings up her being old enough to decide, turning to him and crossing her arms again. "Just how old do you think I am, anyway?"

     That could be a dangerous question if the internet wasn't a thing.

     Watching his demonstration of magic contained in his arm, she furrows her brow as she takes in the sight and feeling of it all. She looks bothered by it, but there's a hint of something else in her expression as well.

     Not that she'll say anything to that end, of course. Instead, she keeps herself distracted with everything else. "Why not? I think playing the villain suits me just fine. Someone that spreads death and destruction, someone to be opposed, someone that the heroes have to struggle against as they chase after someone who's always two steps ahead? Better to be chased than to chase."

     She's rather proud of coming up with that on the spot. Jeanne is caught off guard again, however, when Touta brings out the gift box of all things.She's at a loss for words as she finds an even and dry patch of sand to set the box down and take a look inside, looking even more confused by the moment. "Why...? These drawings are terrible." Despite what she says, she still chuckles every now and then as she sifts through it all, taking a look at each drawing carefully while setting the letter aside for later.

     The cooking set gets the last look, but it's quite a long look as well while Jeanne sorts through everything inside. Once she's finished, she stands up, then turns to Touta with a baffled glare. "... What is wrong with all of you? You should hate me. Despise me! You know what I've done. You've seen it firsthand."

Touta Konoe has posed:
     Touta listens as Jeanne describes herself as a villain and doesn't really say anything at first. He doesn't really say anything as she opens her presents from everyone. He watches as she criticizes the children terrible drawings, and yet still laugh for what appeared to be one of the most sincere laughs he's seen from this dragon witch. As she looks at the cooking set and then ultimately stands up to stare at Touta with just a confused glare asking such rude questions about all of them. But...He'll try to accomodate the best he can.

     "When I was twelve I lost my memories in an ...Accident. My parents apparently died and I had no other relatives. I ended up being taken care of by a friend of our family. That friend is our boss, she wasn't the best parent but she took care of me even when I was being a real shitter. And trust me, I was a real jerk back in the day. That's about three...Well almost four years ago now. To me, she was a good person. Someone who was strict but kind...So you could only imagine when I found out that before I knew her she had killed people...A lot of people. For hundreds of years she had killed people...That's a long time to do that don't you think? But I never saw her as evil. All I knew was that she was the one who saved me. In fact, she's saved me in more ways than one and a lot of the people at UQ Holder probably feel the same about her!"

     He stays quiet like he's ready to go into a whole big story but he stops himself.

     "Why should they hate you? To them, you weren't a Dragon Witch. You weren't Jeanne the Avenger class Servant. You were that really silly girl in the Christmas get-up that let them go out and gave them presents."

     Touta stays quiet for a moment as he looks away from the girl and back towards the ocean, "Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is uh...Even someone who thinks there the absolute worst, most vile, horrible villain in the world can still have people who think that she's a great person..."

     Unlike Jeanne, he looks like he's struggling to get that message across at the end but it looks like he wraps it up somewhat nicely. "Oh right, you still didn't read the boss' letter yet have you? What's it say?"

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     It's Jeanne's turn to remain quiet as Touta explains the circumstances of him coming to Fairyland Hall. Of the boss. Of why she seemed so much older than she looked. Of why Touta seemed to be more afraid of the boss than Jeanne could figure.

     Perhaps she would make for a worthy fight someday. For now, though, Jeanne's attention is elsewhere. On something more current. She furrows her brow as he provides a decent explanation for why the children didn't fear her like sensible children would.

     And then she sighs again. "I... Did do that, didn't I? I'll have to compensate for that somehow, then." Shaking her head, the Avenger stares at her hand for a moment as the fire reignites for a moment, and then she peers back at that box of presents. "Still... They really should know better. You, too." Without elaborating further, she instead takes out that letter and turns it over once. "Not yet. I suppose it'd be... Rude not to look after going through all this hassle."

     It's not like Jeanne has anything else to open. Time to see what's in the letter!

Touta Konoe has posed:
     The letter reads as follows:

     Jeanne,

     Touta has informed me of your situation as a Servant and I've taken that into account with all things considered but I must ask, 'Are you stupid?' In what day and age is it appropriate to take children from an orphanage without informing anyone? And don't give me some excuse like that was okay back in my time. I was around during the 100 Year's War too and I know that didn't fly. For someone who supposedly could hear the voice of God you apparently couldn't hear the voice of common sense could you?

     Thankfully the little brats are alright though, even if we can't get them to stop hitting each other with those toys you gave them but a little pain's a good teacher I guess. It worked for that brat giving you this after all. But in all seriousness what you did was irresponsible. What you did put those children in danger, and without even telling anyone we assumed you had just abducted them. Personally, for something like this I'd kick you out of here no questions asked. But if I do that I'll have a certain idiot complaining in my office and I'll never get any work done. So your punishment will be as follows:

     You'll be covering for the rest of the staff that have taken up vacation days for the New Year. This means you'll not only be working in the kitchen but other positions as well. This includes working check-in, house-keeping, and also 'child-rearing' as I've heard you call it.

     You got them into the whole smacking each other in the face routine, so I'm sure you can handle what comes afterwards.

     Oh, also since you were so resilient to wear our uniform, I figured we would accomodate you with something you apparently are more willing to wear while working. So until the end of January you can accomodate all of these new positions while wearing this 'Christmas Suit' that all the kids were telling us about. And if you have any complaints you can choose to join Touta instead who I assure you will be receiving a full year's worth of punishment in one night when I see him next.

     Merry Christmas, Yukihime.

     Strict but ...Kind?

     "So, what she write?"

Jeanne Alter (6802) has posed:
     Jeanne's expression changes repeatedly as she goes down the letter. There's annoyance, acknowledgment, and a whole lot of confusion. It's an incredibly long process even considering the length of the letter, and Jeanne brings it up to her face a few times to hide how much she's scrunching to process all of it. Nobody said she was taking a test today, too!

     After a good five minutes, though, she finally puts the letter down. She's smiling, but it's an incredibly forced smile like she's just about ready to kill someone (but not the same smile as the times where she had killed someone). Truly, the Dragon Witch has half a mind to just blow the whole thing off and set some fires on her way out, but it could be worse. A lot of things could be worse, really. Jeanne clears her throat, closes up the letter, then slips it into an inside pocket.

     "She wished me a Merry Christmas."