Wake Up Call

[toomuchbull]

[After this]

Rider doesn't know how he makes it back to the Tohsaka household after his encounter with Saber. That he does at all is impressive, as is the fact that he manages to walk around the house without making a noise.

Well, up until he gets to Chiyo's room, nudges her once, then flops onto the floor elegantly. Damn whatever complaints she has about blood on the floor.

Comments

[eien_no_chou]

Chiyo is not a morning person. Rather, she is not the kind of person you want to be near when she wakes up, having been likened to an angry bear roused from hibernation two months early. Her hair is sticking up and her eyes hold close similarity to a panda's, and long fingernails grasp at the air until finally she finds the switch on her bedside lap and turns it on, staring flatly at the bleeding man on her floor.

"What on earth do you want," she growls. "Don't just come into my room and make a mess like that."

[toomuchbull]

Rider stares upward at the ceiling and lets out an exhausted breath. "I've been a bit run through my abdomen by Saber. I believe that fixing a wound like this is your job?"

[eien_no_chou]

The sound that escapes Chiyo is more commonly heard in wounded bison. She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes, swings her legs out of bed, and shuffles over to where Rider is sprawled out and bleeding into her favourite carpet. "Sit up, if it's gone through to the other side I need to see how bad it is," she mutters, forcing her eyes open again every time they stick shut. She looks her age like this, a mother of five pushing fifty, no makeup to hide the odd imperfections that the lamplight throws into much too sharp relief.

[toomuchbull]

"It definitely went through to the other side," Rider confirms, propping himself up on his elbows, then sitting straight up. "I tried healing it up a little so I could get here but--"

He gestures tiredly with one hand, then pokes at the stab wound with the other. Truth is he managed to only knit up the entrails in so much that he could return home, but that was all he had managed.

[eien_no_chou]

It's a wound typical of Saber - small but deadly, thin yet cutting through vital organs and arteries with surgical precision. Having healed this before, she understands the manner in which she fights now. You'd think Rider would get the same sort of hint, but maybe that was asking a bit much. Chiyo reaches into the drawer of her desk and withdraws her butterfly hair comb, keeping it between her fingers at the winged insect comes to life with a flutter of crystal wings. Maybe she's desensitized, or maybe she's just tired, but Rider's bare torso doesn't bring the usual unwanted thoughts to the surface.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to stick a finger in your wound and twist it," she says, though as the words heal her mouth the skin on the outside knits closed and ruins her threat.

[toomuchbull]

"She engaged in battle unexpectedly, not giving me the time I needed to summon the axe to defend myself," Rider explains. It is, admittedly, a vast over-simplification, but it isn't a lie either.

No part of Rider is going to become accustomed to the feeling of magic knitting flesh back together. There are currents singing through his body, regenerating tissue, making the old merge with the new as if nothing has been punctured to begin with, and he can even feel the blood in his veins change volume, back to how it should be. Such acute bodily awareness should not ever be, and yet, here it is.

"This won't happen again."

[eien_no_chou]

"No, it won't," Chiyo murmurs, sitting back and stilling the butterfly in her hands. "I've had enough of this. I believe we have gathered sufficient intelligence. We should begin to act." After a pause, she pushes the heels of her hands into her eyes again. No, she's thinking too rashly just because she's tired. After more sleep, then she should plan properly their next move. "There, fixed. Is there anything else before I go back to bed?"

[toomuchbull]

The fact that Chiyo isn't angry - or is too tired to be angry - is one of the best things Rider could have hoped for, given the situation. He pokes where the wound was, as if expecting it to keep bleeding, and when his fingers come away clean, he breathes again.

"No. I'll find a place to rest for the day."

[eien_no_chou]

Emoting is a little beyond her right now - all she does is silently stand, get back under the covers, and turn the light off, dismissing her servant until at least noon.

[eien_no_chou]

The snow is mostly melted now, but the bottom half of Satoshi's snowman-in-progress has survived the night once again. The young boy tugs on his boots and wades through slush to continue adding ever more onto the round ball of snow and ice which is supposed to be the head were he only able to lift it. Instead, he sticks to shaping the features just right, having stolen a carrot from the kitchens a while ago. Nobody else in the house is awake at this hour - though usually he'd see Asuka sneaking back in after a night out somewhere he isn't allowed to know - so he gets full run of the place without any admonishment. A little piece of freedom that he savors.

[toomuchbull]

Rider wakes much later than noon. It isn't until three o'clock that he dares to manifest himself, and he does so outside just in case Chiyo's temper has caught up with him.

The snow is still weird. What's weirder is Chiyo's youngest now in the backyard, trying to make a sculpture in the stuff. Rider watches for a few moments, not quite sure why this is the boy's chosen medium.

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi is looking around for some more good snow to use when he spots his mother's mysterious friend and waves. "Hiya!" he greets, cheeks and nose red from being out in the cold for some time now. He notes the tanned man's skeptical look at the snow. "Do you want to help me make my snowman?"

[toomuchbull]

"Is that what this is?" Rider gestures at the snow balls. It's a bit dumb to yell across the yard, so he walks over to where Satoshi is, feeling the snow crunch under his feet.

[eien_no_chou]

He marvels a little bit at the man's ability to walk on the cold snow without thick boots like he has, before quickly nodding his assent and sliding over to the main body of his snowman. "Yeah, this is the body and that's the head. I've been working for aaaages on it, but it keeps melting a little bit, so I have to keep building it."

[toomuchbull]

"Why is it taking so long?"

Rider considers the snowman in front of him, runs fingers over to see how tightly packed the snow is. It reminds him of wet sand, but infinitely easier to mold.

"And could you use some help?"

[eien_no_chou]

"Because people keep telling me to go inside before I get sick," he pats down the tracks left by Rider's fingers until the snowman is completely smooth again. "Shizuka picked me up the other day because I wouldn't go back in."

The offer of help makes Satoshi light up like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. "Yes please! I can't pick up the head to put it on top, can you do that? You look strong." He wonders if all grown up guys have big muscles under their shirts, and looks at his own reed-thin arms, flexing them experimentally.

[toomuchbull]

Rider looks down at the head, then up to where it is supposed to go. "Are you adding things to it's face first? I have no problem with picking it up but--"

Well, he's not about to tell a child he's short. Rider knows that any kid would be offended at that, and he only needs one Tohsaka in a perpetual state of anger at him.

[eien_no_chou]

"Oh! Right," he picks up the stolen carrot and bluntly stabs it into the snowman's face, wriggling it about in the snow before it gets stuck fast. "Now we need stones for eyes..."

[toomuchbull]

"Hmmm." Rider casts a look around the backyard, then notices a little patch of exposed garden that's come through. There are stones there, and he walks over to see if any of those will do.

They're all pale yellows and bieges, probably covering up the dirt the plants use for nutrients. Such light colours won't show up in the snow, they need to be dak-- ah.

Rider picks up two medium sized stones, one pure black and the other pale grey. The black one is rough to the touch, the grey one run smooth like a river rock. He carries them back and holds them out to Satoshi for inspection. "Will these do?"

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi takes them from his hands and turns them over, feeling the textures and examining the shapes. He holds them up against the snowman's face for size, and then nods with a satisfied air. "Yes, perfect!" he declares, digging them into the snow so they'd stay. With one finger, he draws an upturned line though the snowy face of the snowman, creating a wide smile. "It's ready!"

[toomuchbull]

There's no strength involved in picking up the snowman's head and lifting it onto the body. True, it is a bit off center, but Rider easily nudges it into place, then looks to Satoshi for approval. "More to the left or right, do you think?"

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi strokes an imaginary beard, imagining he's some great architect building just one of many statues in a beautiful city. "Turn it a little so he's looking towards the door of the house." Then it'll surprise Shizuka when she comes out to scold him inevitably.

[toomuchbull]

Rider does so, carefully pivoting the head as to not loose too much snow. Still, he has to admit it looks like the head might fall off. He picks up a handful of snow and pats it around the head carefully, just to make sure that the support is there.

"Better?"

[eien_no_chou]

"Better," Satoshi grins all the way up to his cold-bitten ears. He steps back to admire his creation, hands on his hips and nodding with the satisfaction of a job well done. Grinning, he holds out his hand to Rider to shake. "Thanks!"

[toomuchbull]

Rider stoops down so that they're both on eye level, then takes Satoshi's hand in his. "Now, if you're smart, you'll head in before anyone catches you out here."

[eien_no_chou]

As much as Satoshi wants to believe he's smart, he doesn't want to go inside yet. He wants to go with Rider and show him the cool church that Risei showed him, and point out all the things he learned, and maybe introduce the priest to him and they could all go out to the ranch together on Risei's bike.

Shizuka's clattering in the kitchen brings him back to reality, and though he pouts and hangs his head, he mutters "okay..." and shuffles his way back through the snow to the house.

[toomuchbull]

Rider straightens up, getting an Idea in his head as he does so. "I'll race you around to the front, so no one'll know you were in the backyard. If they see anyone, it'll be me!"

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi immediately spins on his heel, his smile restored, and sets off at a run without another word. He slips on some hidden ice a few times, but pretty soon he builds up to the top speed he can get with this sort of ground. He doesn't dare look to see if Rider is behind him, because if he does he'll almost certainly run into a tree.

[toomuchbull]

Rider is Rider. To say he has the advantage is an understatement, so he lets Satoshi have a good headstart, waiting until the boy has disappeared around the corner and then some. It's only then that he breaks into a very slow run, and in no time, he's caught up to the young boy.

"Come on, you can still beat me!" he laughs, daring to offer a hand to pull Satoshi along.

[eien_no_chou]

Rider must be a secret athlete, because he runs like there isn't any snow on the ground, or any air resistance around him. Physics forgets to apply itself. Laughing, Satoshi grabs his hand and lets himself be pulled along in that torrent of impossible energy, squealing with delight and managing to swing himself in front just before they reach the front door.

"That was fun!" he giggles breathlessly, sitting down with a thud on the steps. "Let's do it again!"

[toomuchbull]

"Hmmm," he says, considering. "How about we do it tomorrow? Do you have any free time where no one will be looking for you?"

[eien_no_chou]

Satoshi thinks on this. "Tomorrow is... Sunday..." he nods. "I'm not doing anything at all, I get free study and maybe go up to the stables." He gasps. "Can we go together? Okaa-san said she'd be busy, so we should go ourselves so we won't bother her!"

[toomuchbull]

He beams. "Can you ride?"

[eien_no_chou]

"Only the ponies, okaa-san says I'm too small for the big horses," he rolls his eyes like this is ridiculous, especially since he's nearly eleven now. Just one more month. "One day I'm going to ride Makuro."

[toomuchbull]

"Well," Rider says, drawing out the syllables. "Ponies or not, you might be able to keep up with me easier on horseback.

"What time works best?" The grin is utterly conspiratorial and delighted.

[eien_no_chou]

To match him, Satoshi also drops his voice to a whisper, leaning forward. "Let's go in the morning before okaa-san is awake enough to stop us!" It's terribly bad of him to do something behind her back, but the thrill of it makes him grin all the same.

[toomuchbull]

"Seven o'clock then?"

[eien_no_chou]

He salutes, straight backed and with fingers red from working with the snow. "Yes sir!"

[toomuchbull]

"I'll meet you at the car then."

And with that, he holds the front door open for Satoshi, certain that no one is looking for them. This violates the agreement with Chiyo about leaving her children out of the war, but then again, who is Rider to not encourage a person to have a bit of fun. Sitting around the stuffy Tohsaka household is one of the worst things he can imagine. Doing this, well, at least the boy will remember it in the future, after the war is done. That's a good enough legacy as any in this modern world.