dear_mun | On that Love/HMD meme thingy...

There is...something unattractive about stuffing one's face with food?

[Says the man who drinks upwards of six barrels (yes, BARRELS) of wine per meal.]

Some people think that...

Those are the kind of people I'm hoping that think I'm not cute. It's embarrassing to know people think of me that way.

That people...find you attractive? You're an odd girl, aren't you? Most women would be overjoyed to find that a man finds them attractive!

In any case, you should not be embarrassed or ashamed of being an attractive woman. When you possess such qualities, or any qualities for that matter, you should flaunt them!

[She sighs and folds her arms.]

But that's not really my style. I don't want to start flaunting myself just because people think I look like, Isk.

Besides - you know me, I'd much rather go around taking on the bad guys, finding new adventure, getting covered in dirt and scraping my knees... that kind of thing. The last thing I want is for everyone to start treating me like I'm any other girl.

[Rider stares before he holds a hand out. As if there's a painfully obvious fact she's missing.]

You do realize that different men find different qualities attractive, correct?

Some men find women who, as you say, enjoy adventure, take on bad guys and willingly enter battle, incredibly attractive.

Certainly none of my wives were so tough and brazen!! I would have enjoyed a nice change of pace such as that!

[..../siiiiiigh Riiiiiderrrrr...you were doing so well up until that last sentence!!]

[The girl pauses for a moment - just to take in what Rider's said to her, when it suddenly dawns upon her what it is she thinks he's actually trying to say to her.]

Rider, You can't mean that.

Really though, I'm nothing special - there's plenty of other girls and women I'm sure that have way more than I do going for them.

[He heaves a long sigh and claps his hand on her back.]

Would you quit being so self-deprecating?? Other women may possess qualities that you do not, this is true. But you in turn possess qualities that other women lack!

[Why do you think he had so many wives?? Each one had something the other lacked, and Rider is a greedy man by nature.]

Besides, I have yet to encounter a woman with your spirit - the Holy Grail would have easily found you worthy of becoming a Heroic Spirit like myself.

[Though that's a fate he wouldn't have wished on her.]

[One of these days, she'll be prepares for one of Rider's back-slaps. She falls forward quite a bit as he slaps her back and lands on the floor. He's right though - she is being rather self-deprecating right now. Saft does a hell of alot of amazing stuff but she never really stops to admire all she's done - she's always too busy focusing on all the negative stuff, despite the brave face she puts on things.

She rolls over and glances up at him further listening to what he has to say about the young woman and she just sighs defeated but rather humbled by his words.]

Iskander...

[She smirks.]

You're never going to let me think any less of myself, no matter how much of a fight I put up huh?

[Rider leans down, hands on his hips as he stoops to meet her gaze - and he does indeed have to stoop between his height and her position on the ground. He grins down at her, a daring glint in his eye.]

I don't lose fights, be they verbal or physical.

[Over-confident? Oh yes. But that's Alexander the Great for you!]

Have you forgotten? I am ISKANDAR, KING OF CONQUERORS!!

Is that so?

[Picking herself up from the floor, she grins and places a hand on her hip.]

You know, maybe having a real fight with you someday might do us both some good. Heck, we could eve put a wager on it for something if you want to make it interesting.

Whaddya think?

[Iskandar stares, at first wondering if she's kidding. But then it occurs to him that she's serious and he laughs a bit. Still, he's amused and touched by the notion and tussles her hair.]

You're welcome to try, Saft. But I'll warn you now, I'll not go easy on you.

[He totally will. Rider couldn't hurt her if he wanted to.]

If you wish to fight me, it would be ungentlemanly to ignore your request. I would gladly oblige!

Great! In that case I want you to make the wager. It's only fair since I get the feeling you don't really want to fight me anyway.

[And actually? Yeah the thought of fighting Rider hand-to-hand is actually a little scary. He is alot bigger than she is.]

A wager you say? Hmm...well, what did you have in mind then?

[He chuckles a bit, grinning down at her.]

No disrespect meant, but what could you offer me to bet?

Well, If you win, How I start giving myself a little more credit where credit's due and I start doing all those things I wouldn't normally dream of doing?

I know it's nothing much in the way of a wager, but it's the best I can offer right now. Unless you can think of something better?

[Rider clapped her on the back, but he did mind his strength this time so she should only stumble a bit.]

You should do that anyway, so declares the king! I need something more substantial than that, you know how greedy I am!!

[Or if she doesn't, she should.]

Wine, gold, promises of glory and victory; these are the things to properly bribe me with!!

[He suddenly grins and leans closer to her.]

If I win, you join my army. I made you the offer before, remember? How about that for a wager?

Sounds fair.

Okay then, you've got yourself a deal.

[She smiles up at him.]

So then I guess the next thing I should be asking is how should we fight? Hand to hand? Weapons? ~~Video Games?~~

Good then, but you've yet to identify what you want if you win.

...which, you won't, but still! Principle of the thing!!

And as far as how we should proceed with the fight...

[That's a tough one. He doesn't want to hurt her but, he also isn't one to back down from a fight or pull his punches.]

I would say no weapons, hand to hand sounds fair enough. We will grapple as was tradition in Macedon!!

If I win?

[Unlike Rider, Saft's not all that greedy - she's not entirely sure what she'd want from him. The thought of having Rider as a servant though is pretty tempting - but then again The Holy Grail might have something to say about that.]

If I win, I want you to knock off the whole obnoxious King act. No yelling, no talking down to others and definitely no more smacking your friends around the back and almost rendering them unconscious.

[The request might seem a little harsh, but despite how eager she is to fight Rider, she knows it's impossible to win against him and she hopes she means no ill will by it.]

I can't say I've ever grappled anyone before, but I'm looking forward to our fight, Iskandar King of Conquerors.

"Act?"

[That was the problem really; it wasn't an act, that's just how he was! Rider acted the same way as a heroic spirit as he had in life.]

But, very well, if that's what you want!

[He reaches up and unclips his cloak so that he's only clad in his tight armor. Rider then drops to a crouch, anchoring his feet against the ground and grinning to her.]

First person to pin the other against the ground for five seconds wins. Are you ready?

Well - you know what I mean.

[Hahaha Oh Gods, they're actually doing this. Saft lowers herself into a similar stance meeting his grin with one of her own.]

Five seconds...

Alright I'm ready.

[~~Come at me broskandar.~~]

[Rider waits, fingers flexing before his foot slides forward, pushing between hers to try and knock her off balance. Then he reaches forward to grab her by the arm and twirl her around so that her back is to him, and moved to slide his arms under hers to press his hands behind her back and pull her into a full nelson hold.]

[Damn, that was faster than she had anticipated. Poor Saft thought she might have least been able to trip him first or something. But nope, he's got her. She could cheat right now and use her one big advantage over him - but that isn't fair and totally not something she would pull on her friend. So she'll struggle just a little but overall? Yeah, she's accepting this defeat.]

[Rider drops to his knees, pushing Saft down with him, holding her as tight as he can without hurting her - and he's clearly holding back his immense strength. Otherwise he would easily, and accidentally, squeezed the air right out of her lungs.]

[He keeps his grip and counts in his head, hoping to keep her down the full five seconds to win the wager.]

[Wriggle-Wriggle! Maybe it would have been easier to cheat like she'd be thinking of doing.]

Yeaaah, not happening and the clock is ticking. 5...4...3...2...1.

And there you have it Rider.

One defeated dragon-girl to add to your armies.]

[Rider laughs as he releases her, slipping his arms free as he stands up.]

I told you, Saft! No one defeats the King of Conquerors!!

[He reaches down, extending his hand to help her up.]

So, welcome to the army of Alexander the Great.

...You got me.

[She smiles and takes his hand.]

Then again, I must have been seriously kidding myself if I ever thought I stood much of a chance against you.

[Finally getting to her feet.] Either that or I really wanted to join your army. [Wink.]

[At first he's ready to yell at her again for deprecating herself - but then the final sentence is spoken and Rider grins down at her. He moves to sweep her into a tight hug.]

I KNEW IT! I KNEEEW YOU COULDN'T RESIST THE SIREN SONG OF BATTLE!!

I assure you, Saft, we shall ride victorious into battle and defeat anyone foolish enough to call us 'enemies'!!

How hold on a moment!

[Gah! Rider bear-hug time. Rider's so happy to have finally gotten Saft enlisted to his army. But he seems pretty dead set on getting her to actually fight besides him.

Look's like she's just gonna have to go for it. Saft maybe not be the best at battle but she likes being at his side and if she's going to join his army then at least she gets to be near the guy more often.]

You still need to teach me how to fight remember? I've never had sword training before.

THERE IS NO MAN BETTER SUITED TO TEACH YOU THE ART OF WAR THAN I, ISKANDAR, KING OF CONQUERORS!!

I will teach you all you must know to be a true warrior!

Who knows, you could become quite a conqueror yourself one day!

[Though that would likely mean that they would find themselves opponents, which Iskandar is not anxious to wish for.]

Well, I'm not sure I'm cut out to be quite the conqueror you are...

Besides, I'm pretty sure I already have certain duties to Dragonsbayne when I'm old enough to take on those responsibilities.

There are no conquerors like me! But you might come close!

[He grins, too excited that they'll be fighting together.]

You make your own responsibilities when you're a conqueror!! No one can tell you what to do! You would make a fine queen of conquerors!

[No, this is not Rider proposing, but it could easily be misconstrued that way.]

A queen...?

R-really?!

[Rider would be the first to tell her that, wouldn't he? Especially when a majority of the time she has no confidence in herself despite sometimes making out that she does.]

Why not!?

[Rider grinned, ruffling her hair.]

You doubt yourself far too much!! You have strength yet to be seen, at least by me!! You need only unleash it, show people what you can really do.

Embrace the strength granted to all rulers by the gods; then take more!!

I guess something like that would be pretty awesome.

Though if I'm totally honest, I'm not sure I like that title. Why can't I be a king like you? I mean there's not really anywhere that says a King HAS to be a male right?

Why can't a girl be a king too?

[Make way for Revolutionary Girl Saft.]

[Normally this idea would have thrown Rider into a rage, but after meeting Saber...]

So long as you have had time to enjoy being a woman - being king requires much responsibility, and leaves little room for simple pleasures, like enjoying flowers.

[Sexist Rider is sexist. But he does have a respect for women leaders.]

But care for yourself first. The last female king I knew put the country first, a foolish move indeed.

But that doesn't make any sense.

Wouldn't her country be more important than what she wanted? Then again, I get what you're trying to say...

My grand-father makes alot of wrong choices because he thinks he'sputting the welfare of the people in Dragonsbayne first. Though that's caused alot of revolt in the past. The laws are there to protect everyone but even so - not everyone can always agree to them.

Classic mistake.

The role of a ruler is to be a figure of envy! The king must be greedier than all, stronger than all, laugh the loudest, roar the longest - in short, the king must think first of himself, for all will look to him. They will love and envy him, many will seek to become him.

Without that, if a king thinks only of his country and puts the people before himself, he is a pushover. A useless figurehead that gives all the power to the people. Stupidity.

[Also known as democracy. Spoken like a true tyrant, Iskandar.]

[She frowns and crosses her arms, she's not so sure she agrees with what you just said Rider.]

That's fine for someone who uses his greed to win the people's hearts, I mean from what I've seen you've not actually done anything bad. You win over people quite easily. But there are people who can do the exact same things but go out and hurt people by doing it.

I suppose in the end it all comes down to personality.

[Seems like a sad history lesson is in order.]

Saft, you must come to realize that I was not a benevolent ruler. I abused my power, as any king has a right to do.

Slaves were openly abused and mistreated under my rule. Women were second-class citizens and had no rights - they could not vote or hold office as women of these times do. That was not how things were done, and I did not work to see them done.

My word was law. I ordered my army to march when I thought my kingdom was not vast enough. I hunted down a single man across Asia at the expense of my soldiers because it was within my power to do so.

All a king has is his power. If he elects not to use it, he is a fool. Others will, and others will kill for it...

But then why would you think I'd make a good ruler?

We both know I'm like super hesitant to push myself into doing anything like that. Sure I come off as confident all the time but deep down I'm frightened.

I'm scared if I start acting selfishly I'll become just like my father.

And knowing how many people he hurt

the lives he destroyed to get where he did?

...That's not the sort of person I want to be.

Being a King is not a burden for just any man to bear. However, you are no man and at any rate, you are not just any individual. You are Saft.

Being a King would force you to be selfish, and to be a point of envy for your people.

But you're still putting the idea of being selfish in a negative light! You would give your people something to strive for - be the person they want to be!

What is so wrong with that?

I guess I'll never really quite get it.

[She smiles softly.]

You're right though. The only person I want to concentrate on being is myself.

[Pressing her head up on his side, Since headbumps are a little difficult when he's like a zillion times bigger than she is.]

Thanks, Rider.

On that Love/HMD meme thingy...

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Omg that reference just made my day!!

<- Huge Utena nerd over here.

Looooooove it!

...Why did I picture Rider trying to do Akio's car thing? /Hides face in hands/

Because if Rider were a classy bitch, he would!

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