crowspace | call me out v. 11.0

You can say that. Our Master actually takes you places instead of leaving you in the cupboard.

[Probably because Kajii is actually a productive member of society as opposed to a lazy mess, but It Is What It Is.]

This may be the only time I get some sun in a month.

Maybe our Master would work with you more if you weren't so difficult to work with...

[Or if they didn't have a different Archer as their waifu, but, you know.]

Maybe I wouldn't be so difficult if our Master weren't so cruel to me!

[David rolls over onto his back to fix Kajii with his best kingly glare, which is somewhat mitigated by the fact that he's a babyfaced idiot lying on the ground mid-tantrum.]

You should talk to them.

Edited 2018-02-23 04:06 (UTC)

I'll gladly have that conversation after we return. Which requires you to stand up.

[You can't glare at anyone effectively from the ground.]

I don't want to. I'm going to stay here and keep sheep. It's good grazing land.

[His sour expression turns thoughtful as he actually plans out his life beyond lying in the dirt and whining for the immediate future.]

It wouldn't be hard for Master to visit, right?

You do realize you'll have your mana supply cut off long before you can raise sheep?

[...Like, David does actually know that, he doesn't seriously intend to live here. Right?]

...Yes.

[Even though magework doesn't come intuituvely to him--it never has, especially compared to most Caster spirits--he's more than aware of how untenable his cunning plan is, practically speaking. It shows in the stubborn pout on his face and the worried twisting of his hands.]

I know. Maybe I'd just like to dream about raising sheep without having my hopes dashed by rude people like yourself.

[Kajii sighs heavily. Really, David is so difficult to work with, it's no wonder their Master doesn't summon him much...

But he can't say David's position is completely unsympathetic.

Kajii takes a seat on the ground next to David.]

Alright. I won't say a thing.

[David's eyes light up with a shine that belies his true age, and if only for a moment, he looks truly young and energetic and excited. It's hard to catch him when he does show his exhaustion, but it's equally rare to find him truly, genuinely happy, the kind that drips out of him like rich honey.

He settles back down onto his back, a harp resting in his hands like it was always there: a transition so smooth that it's difficult to tell where he even procured it from:]

I'm glad you came around, you mean old coot.

[Kajii's reasoning is simple: he can't get David to move, but he also can't abandon David here, and maybe David will be a little more willing to go home if he knows he's keeping another Servant from returning.

That said... it is nice to see David smile so genuinely.]

I'm only thirty-one, I'll have you know. Aren't you older than me?

[Summoning ages aside, David did live to be seventy.]

Ah, I don't care about all that. I prefer being young. Less stuff to worry about.

[He says it lightly, without much weight in his tone, but taking it as a purely lighthearted statement would be foolish at best and disastrous at worst. There's less stuff to worry about, certainly--and less things he has to confront about the person he grew up to be, and the person his son grew up to be, and the awful things that befell his line. He'd like it to be as simple as laying in the grass and playing music for eternity.

...Kajii is allowed too, or whatever. It's nice to have someone pet his hair when he's in a mood.]

You act older, anyways, and that's what counts.

I don't think that's how that works.

[Being young doesn't make their troubles go away. It doesn't remove the issue of the end of humanity, or of David's son supposedly being the cause of that.]

...Which means you really are childish, hm.

[David can have one of those hair pets right now. Though Kajii supposes he'd rather have a beautiful girl stroking his hair instead.]

Is that all you know how to say? "I don't think that's how that works"? You don't know how boring you are, I swear. Let me have hyperbole and dreams, you menace. I told you you're an old man at heart.

[David melts into the touch, craning his neck for a better angle. Sure, beautiful girls are always great, but when it comes down to it, David isn't picky...about gender, anyways. Anything else is fair game for his complaining and niche tastes, tastes that Kajii happens to at least somewhat fit. He won't acknowledge anything further than that.]

I might be childish, but I'd rather be young and handsome forever than get wrinkles from frowning.

I'm a romantic except when I'm giving advice.

[And David is someone in desperate need of advice, which is why Kajii comes off as an old man to him. A very pretty old man who gives gentle hair pets, but old nonetheless.]

You're a Heroic Spirit, you'll be young and handsome forever.

Not if I get wrinkles from frowning all the time! It would ruin my complexion and handsome expressions if I had worry lines all over my face. They don't look good on me, I can tell you that. I've done plenty worrying for a lifetime, so I'd really rather relax and have a good time. With my sheep. And you, I suppose, if you learn to stop nagging.

[David reaches up to affectionately pat Kajii's cheek, already seeming to be dozing. He's not, of course--he has no real need for sleep--but he likes to pretend to be tired so he can get special treatment and not have to be held accountable for the things he says.]

I bet you don't know the first thing about sheep, too. You're pretty dead weight.

[Kajii knows that David doesn't need to sleep, but he won't call him out on it. At least unless he has to carry David to the leyline himself while David pretends to sleep.]

I might not be much of a shepherd, but I'm a far better writer than you.

[yeah his novel is better than the psalms, what're you gonna do about it]

[Any facsimile of sleep vanishes instantly as David sits up to fix Kajii with an intense indignant look.]

That's not true and you know it.

[He will willingly concede to most attacks on certain work ethic and moral related traits of his, but he'll tolerate nothing about his writing prowess. It's one of the few things he still has, even in this younger, more limited version of himself.]

[Kajii just smiles even more widely, like he's gotten the upper hand for the first time today.]

It's alright, we can't all be the best author. You have plenty of other feats to be proud of, so you can admit your loss.

[David is here as the hero who slew Goliath with a stone. If he was here as the writer of the Psalms, he'd be a Caster. Besides - Kajii has nothing else to his story but his stories, he can at least claim to be better than David.]

[David crosses his arms with a huff, deliberately turning away in a childish approximation of annoyance. Really, it's almost good that he's here as his younger self, because a grown man exhibiting this behavior would be even more pathetic.]

That's not how it works! I can be good at many things, you know. I'm a renaissance man.

[Thanks, Da Vinci-chan, for teaching this petulant king the phrase.]

If anything, I should be all the better for that. Having all the skills and feats I possess while also writing the best--generally conceded, of course--series of songs only reveals my talent more. I mean, um--it's all to glorify my God, but you have to admit that I'm the superior writer. Just for truthfulness.

[Da Vinci-chan talking to David is kind of terrifying as a concept. Kajii is going to track her down later, after they finally Rayshift back.]

Of course I've read them, and they aren't bad. [Damning by faint praise.] But at the moment it sounds more like you're glorifying yourself than your God.

[David pales, shaking his head emphatically.]

Absolutely not! I won't take such slander of my character and spirit lightly, especially when you're saying it with insults to my skill. If I were king, you could be killed for such a crime as blasphemy.

[He seems to have entirely forgotten his spiel about how being younger is better, with a fussiness that reaches new heights, even for someone like him. He's insulted, of course, but more than that, taken aback that someone would even think to say that about him, despite his more than pompous attitude about his talent.]

But you prefer being younger, you said, so today I escape with my life~

[Not that he would just let himself be executed. Besides, their Master might have something to say about them killing each other.]

[Haughtily, he settles back down, turning his head away in supposed irritation. Even if he is cranky, even if his partner is being awfully rude to an innocent shepherd, he still wants to be loved upon.]

Hmph. Whatever. You're lucky for that.

[David can still get hair pettings, even if he's never been innocent a day in his life.]

If you were a responsible king, we wouldn't be here having this conversation. We'd have Rayshifted already.

[So the point is moot, except for where David's pride is wounded.]

call me out v. 11.0

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