[ mashu darts away, a few dozen feet ahead of them, stopping at the door to the willow dorms. ]
I'm fine with fish, that stuff's easy. [ mainly because it doesn't take long to cook, depending on what type of fish it is. ] But if you wanna do chicken, I can gather up the spices and cut the vegetables?
Either is good, I'm not picky. We might as well eat whatever there's more of in the pantry - that way I'm not imposing too much.
[Is it really imposing if Sweetgum barely gets enough to eat in the first place? Robin grimaces, a little upset at himself for already falling right back into place, in the mindset of a peasant with all the pressure of the nobility bearing down on his shoulders.]
...ugh. Let's just see what we have to work with.
I WAS WONDERING HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN TBH
[ it takes yukari a moment to answer, 100% sure she's going to get some resistance from robin on what she's about to say: ]
No, take as much as you want. [ it's not imposing at all, in her opinion. she trots up the stairs to the door, sliding inside and holding it open for robin even though he's a fuckin ghost and can just ghost bullshit his way inside. ] There's barely anyone here. I dunno about what Servants need to eat, but we get more stuff than we know what to do with, and I'd rather someone eat it than have it go to waste.
[ which is also kind of a heavy hint that robin should just take some shit from the pantry and take it into the sweetgum dorms, but she's not stupid enough to say that out loud after all the other missteps she's had in this conversation already. ]
[Robin seems unsurprised but disappointed by her response. It's not aimed at her, but at the unequal distribution system.]
If you have more of anything useful than you know what to do with, what you should do with it is give it to people who need it.
[Money, old clothing, food, it applies to just about everything he can think of. There's always someone worse off.]
Ah, but if anyone asks, I just borrowed it, okay?
[For all the missteps, this is a huge leap forward. She's basically encouraging him to steal without encouraging him to steal, and he's definitely going to take advantage of that. He'll leave plenty of food for the people who live here, of course, but he'll see to it that his own are provided for, too.
He's not sure when Sweetgum became "his own", but maybe they always have been, since he realized what the social structure here is like.]
[ if yukari was wearing glasses, this would be the part where she'd glance suspiciously over them at robin. ]
... I don't think anyone in Sweetgum would appreciate me treating them as a charity case. [ mainly because she would h a t e being treated as such. yukari always offers to pay for lunch or clothes or something whenever she's out with someone of a lower class (because the only person she knows in holly is archer and he doesn't know what to do with his money, either), but there's always a fine line between being helpful and, well, treating someone like they can't get along without her help. she'd rather not cross that line, even though she knows from experience just how difficult it can be to ask for help, especially when it's needed. ] Hakuno-chan and Caster seem to do fine, so I'm pretty sure I'd be insulting them if I tried too hard.
[Robin doesn't respond at first, the traces of a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. Of course some people are going to react negatively to receiving help, but that doesn't mean they need it any less, right?]
...If people don't want your help, they're welcome not to accept it. That's their business.
[His tone is carefully neutral as he speaks; she may know about his father, but the rest of his story is still locked up tight. He's more than satisfied with letting Yukari assume he's the same Robin Hood from the famous legends, especially when she's more or less agreeing with the people who sold him out.]
But it isn't right to just sit on resources you don't need.
[ if robin believes that yukari is anything like the people who turned against him, then this next question might come as a big surprise.
after, of course, she spends a minute or two mulling it over. yukari's very hesitant about shaking up the established order here, not because she doesn't care, but because she can't let go of the feeling that if they do accomplish something like tearing down the hierarchy, what then? what if she or robin leaves, like mumei-san? what if they get kicked out of arden grove, and the people are left to suffer in the wake of their bad ideas? she spent all her time healing the innocent people who didn't want to get caught up in all the fighting, and she's mostly worried about them and all the fallout they'll have to deal with.
even with her regenerative powers, granted to her from the mother of magic herself, yukari wasn't enough to spare everyone. ]
[It's a pleasant surprise of a question, at least.]
...You probably don't want to hear my advice on this, since most of it is illegal.
[His suggestions are all considerably more extreme than the original legends suggest, and since he's just decided it's fine to keep Yukari in the dark about his real identity, he's not about to throw that away.]
[But no, he'd kill people. Especially if violence broke out again.]
I'd just suggest...you know. A quick, uh, reallocation of funds, perhaps some of it going to those in the community with a more...sympathetic ear, maybe? Once it's done being distributed to people who need it, of course.
[ she didn't omit violence... she just omitted killing people. violence is totally fine in small, controlled doses.
the problem with violence is that it rarely stays in small, controlled doses. ]
... Yeah.
[ for some reason, this feels like december, when everyone was trying to make up their minds about if they wanted to fight, and what they wanted to fight for. yukari never thought she'd have to ask herself those questions again and unfortunately, this situation isn't as easy as saving the world. ]
...Well. I prefer hacking at the root of the problem, but there's merit to treating the symptoms, too.
[He tried to do both, in life - and ended up biting off more than he could chew. After a while, he understood why the original Robin Hood didn't work alone.]
I'll respect your decision, no matter what it is.
[That's not entirely true. He wouldn't respect a decision to reinforce the status quo, but he knows Yukari is better than that.]
But you can think about it later. Thinking too hard makes food taste bad, you know.
[ for some reason, her immediate thought was 'no you won't,' but she won't say that. she's trying to get on robin's good side.
until then, she's not going to let this go. not yet, anyway. in fact, she's going to run with the metaphor: ]
Say you do hack at the root of the problem, and you manage to destroy it... What do you do if you inadvertently set out more decay and disease through the rest of the forest?
[ "i'll think about thinking about it later, later." ]
I take responsibility for it, and do whatever's necessary to calm tensions. But forests are a lot more resilient than you think. Even if they're damaged, they grow back just as strong. Usually stronger.
[Of that, he has faith. Even if things take a turn for the worse, if it results in a tyrant being overthrown, a better system can and will be put into place.
Thinking otherwise just means he wasted his life.]
[ ... there's really nothing more yukari can say to that, and she's starting to realize something very upsetting: a hero's life isn't something to aspire to. she never believed it was in the first place, but meeting people like tamamo-no-mae and robin hood... it just throws into stark contrast just how awful a hero's life can be.
if she ever sees junpei again, she's going to give him a thorough talking-to. ]
... [ yukari tries to think of something to say, but no words come to her. lips press together again and her fingers curl at her hips. yet, she has to do something.
a slow breath fills her lungs, steeling herself and pushing down her desire to keep everyone at arm's length. yukari doesn't feel comfortable enough to pull robin into the same kind of hug she gave to tamamo, but she still reaches for robin, sliding her palm against his and letting their fingers thread together. a gentle squeeze of their hands, and yukari hopes that says everything that words can't. ]
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no subject
I'm fine with fish, that stuff's easy. [ mainly because it doesn't take long to cook, depending on what type of fish it is. ] But if you wanna do chicken, I can gather up the spices and cut the vegetables?
WRONG JOURNAL LMFAO
Either is good, I'm not picky. We might as well eat whatever there's more of in the pantry - that way I'm not imposing too much.
[Is it really imposing if Sweetgum barely gets enough to eat in the first place? Robin grimaces, a little upset at himself for already falling right back into place, in the mindset of a peasant with all the pressure of the nobility bearing down on his shoulders.]
...ugh. Let's just see what we have to work with.
I WAS WONDERING HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN TBH
No, take as much as you want. [ it's not imposing at all, in her opinion. she trots up the stairs to the door, sliding inside and holding it open for robin
even though he's a fuckin ghost and can just ghost bullshit his way inside. ] There's barely anyone here. I dunno about what Servants need to eat, but we get more stuff than we know what to do with, and I'd rather someone eat it than have it go to waste.[ which is also kind of a heavy hint that robin should just take some shit from the pantry and take it into the sweetgum dorms, but she's not stupid enough to say that out loud after all the other missteps she's had in this conversation already. ]
no subject
If you have more of anything useful than you know what to do with, what you should do with it is give it to people who need it.
[Money, old clothing, food, it applies to just about everything he can think of. There's always someone worse off.]
Ah, but if anyone asks, I just borrowed it, okay?
[For all the missteps, this is a huge leap forward. She's basically encouraging him to steal without encouraging him to steal, and he's definitely going to take advantage of that. He'll leave plenty of food for the people who live here, of course, but he'll see to it that his own are provided for, too.
He's not sure when Sweetgum became "his own", but maybe they always have been, since he realized what the social structure here is like.]
no subject
... I don't think anyone in Sweetgum would appreciate me treating them as a charity case. [ mainly because she would h a t e being treated as such. yukari always offers to pay for lunch or clothes or something whenever she's out with someone of a lower class (because the only person she knows in holly is archer and he doesn't know what to do with his money, either), but there's always a fine line between being helpful and, well, treating someone like they can't get along without her help. she'd rather not cross that line, even though she knows from experience just how difficult it can be to ask for help, especially when it's needed. ] Hakuno-chan and Caster seem to do fine, so I'm pretty sure I'd be insulting them if I tried too hard.
no subject
...If people don't want your help, they're welcome not to accept it. That's their business.
[His tone is carefully neutral as he speaks; she may know about his father, but the rest of his story is still locked up tight. He's more than satisfied with letting Yukari assume he's the same Robin Hood from the famous legends, especially when she's more or less agreeing with the people who sold him out.]
But it isn't right to just sit on resources you don't need.
no subject
[ if robin believes that yukari is anything like the people who turned against him, then this next question might come as a big surprise.
after, of course, she spends a minute or two mulling it over. yukari's very hesitant about shaking up the established order here, not because she doesn't care, but because she can't let go of the feeling that if they do accomplish something like tearing down the hierarchy, what then? what if she or robin leaves, like mumei-san? what if they get kicked out of arden grove, and the people are left to suffer in the wake of their bad ideas? she spent all her time healing the innocent people who didn't want to get caught up in all the fighting, and she's mostly worried about them and all the fallout they'll have to deal with.
even with her regenerative powers, granted to her from the mother of magic herself, yukari wasn't enough to spare everyone. ]
... What else should we do?
no subject
...You probably don't want to hear my advice on this, since most of it is illegal.
[His suggestions are all considerably more extreme than the original legends suggest, and since he's just decided it's fine to keep Yukari in the dark about his real identity, he's not about to throw that away.]
no subject
Then tell me what you'd do without killing people.
no subject
[But no, he'd kill people. Especially if violence broke out again.]
I'd just suggest...you know. A quick, uh, reallocation of funds, perhaps some of it going to those in the community with a more...sympathetic ear, maybe? Once it's done being distributed to people who need it, of course.
[Stealing and bribery. The good old stuff.]
1/2
partly waiting for robin to go up to her room, but also because she should have seen that coming. ]
Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, yeah, I know that's your claim to fame.
no subject
But what else? Or is that as far as it goes?
no subject
[Because she expressly omitted violence.]
So I'm not the person you should be asking. I already know what I'm prepared to do, so you should take the time to figure that out too.
no subject
the problem with violence is that it rarely stays in small, controlled doses. ]
... Yeah.
[ for some reason, this feels like december, when everyone was trying to make up their minds about if they wanted to fight, and what they wanted to fight for. yukari never thought she'd have to ask herself those questions again and unfortunately, this situation isn't as easy as saving the world. ]
no subject
[He tried to do both, in life - and ended up biting off more than he could chew. After a while, he understood why the original Robin Hood didn't work alone.]
I'll respect your decision, no matter what it is.
[That's not entirely true. He wouldn't respect a decision to reinforce the status quo, but he knows Yukari is better than that.]
But you can think about it later. Thinking too hard makes food taste bad, you know.
[They haven't even made it yet.]
no subject
until then, she's not going to let this go. not yet, anyway. in fact, she's going to run with the metaphor: ]
Say you do hack at the root of the problem, and you manage to destroy it... What do you do if you inadvertently set out more decay and disease through the rest of the forest?
[ "i'll think about thinking about it later, later." ]
no subject
I take responsibility for it, and do whatever's necessary to calm tensions. But forests are a lot more resilient than you think. Even if they're damaged, they grow back just as strong. Usually stronger.
[Of that, he has faith. Even if things take a turn for the worse, if it results in a tyrant being overthrown, a better system can and will be put into place.
Thinking otherwise just means he wasted his life.]
no subject
Is that how you died?
no subject
[He was ready to do it, though. To die like that.
In the end, he was made a scapegoat anyway, so the result probably would have been the same either way.]
i somehow lost this notif wtf???
if she ever sees junpei again, she's going to give him a thorough talking-to. ]
... [ yukari tries to think of something to say, but no words come to her. lips press together again and her fingers curl at her hips. yet, she has to do something.
a slow breath fills her lungs, steeling herself and pushing down her desire to keep everyone at arm's length. yukari doesn't feel comfortable enough to pull robin into the same kind of hug she gave to tamamo, but she still reaches for robin, sliding her palm against his and letting their fingers thread together. a gentle squeeze of their hands, and yukari hopes that says everything that words can't. ]