She led the Masters through what felt like a long twisted yet also somewhat simple path of corridors to the rooms of the Fujimarus one of them having two beds, (Meanwhile the recently summoned servants had been requested to stay for the time being, save for Keziah who followed Irenaeus, like a lost puppy)
"We modified the rooms to what we assumed would be your preferences, hope you don't mind. They weren't intended to be for long-term use, but we tried to make them as comfy as possible."
Ritsuka replied with a genuinely happy smile on his face, reflecting how grateful he was for even being thought of, especially after everything, "These rooms are just perfect for us, right,Rika?"
Rika nodded and yawned, her mind still somehow racing a million miles a minute due to all the excitement, causing her to be overwhelmed, and even more tired "Yeah, it is. Is it a problem if I choose to sleep early?"
da Vinci shook her head, the smile on her face not seeming to leave "No, it's not. Please, if you're tired, go to sleep."
"Thank you… G'Night…." both of them muttered as they slunk off to their beds, wearing goofy smiles on their faces.
On that note, Ritsuka and Rika passed out on a bed, leaving Irenaeus, now wearing a neutral face, alone to go to his room, Keziah continuing to trail behind him, looking at him with a fascinated look on her own face.
"Are you going to undertake this form of cellular respiration as well…?"
"Yes. I assume you don't really need to?"
"No. I have… other plans. Presuming that I'm allowed to do so."
da Vinci looked at Keziah and then Irenaeus and then giggled, "Seems she really likes you!" to which Irenaeus simply raised an eyebrow in response to said statement, before nodding. "....Anyways, here's your room."
Irenaeus looked at da Vinci with a pensive look, "Do you actually teach people here? I know given all we just had to take in, it's a weird and frankly irrelevant question, but….." to which da Vinci nodded
"It may not look like it, but we actually do, well, some of us do, but that's not our main objective."
Irenaeus nodded, seemingly about to ask more, before settling on saying, "I see." He then sat down in the unfamiliar bed, slowly getting comfortable as he proceeded to lie down. Keziah watched silently as he tossed and turned before finally seeming to fall asleep.
Upon seeing that he had fallen asleep, she then looked to da Vinci and asked "Do you have a library?" in a voice that didn't match the energetic and overjoyed persona she seemed to have upon her arrival, but rather being more serious.
da Vinci looked at her and simply replied, "Yes. Why?"
"I wish to study some things. Would it be a problem if I used it?" She asked, her voice vaguely sheepish, not wanting to be a burden. "I'll return to spirit form as soon as I've gotten what I want. I'm, uh, a very fast reader…."
"Not at all."
"Thank you. Please lead the way."
(The next day…)
Irenaeus woke up and saw that his room had a shower and immediately began to take a nice hot shower. Afterwards, he dried himself off and promptly changed into the issued uniform, the Mystic Code he had been given the previous day during his lesson, afterwards he went out to the cafeteria, wherein he found the Archer that was summoned assisting with breakfast, quietly rotating between several different breakfast dishes.
"Archer, right?" He asked, a hesitant tone very much obvious in his voice
"Yeah. That's me. Do you need anything?" Archer asked, a hint of concern in his own voice as he saw the hesitant youth in front of him.
Irenaeus seemed to conflict with himself, struggling to even speak up before simply sputtering out, "....Do you want some help with breakfast? I'd prefer to try and pull my weight around here."
Archer shrugged in response, not seeming to be too disturbed by his indecision, "Go ahead, if you really want to."
Irenaeus proceeded to help with making coffee and waffles, and various other foods alongside several others who had been there, the air filling with a smorgasbord of aromas that would eventually coalesce to a wafting scent of pure food.
Meanwhile, the amounts of people who were lined up to go get some food to start the day coming in like a massive tidal wave, while he struggled to assist with making what could be considered enough food for everyone present, and not step on the toes of everyone else present.
After the breakfast rush was satisfied and began to subside, Archer walked up to Irenaeus, the latter sweating from the amount of work he had to do… or maybe just from being too close to a lot of hot surfaces. "Thanks for the help. You want something to eat?"
"....I'll just take some waffles and tea, if that's not a problem."
"Not at all. Just wait."
Not long after, his food was done, and Irenaeus had sat down to eat his own food, a fresh piping hot stack of waffles with maple syrup and hot tea, and even had some maple syrup with it too. As he took his first bite, his eyes widened and began to water. He then took another bite, allowing his saliva to mingle with the chunk of food in his mouth, consuming with newfound slow sobriety
'Archer's cooking tho… Is he some sort of god of the kitchen?!' he mentally questioned while having the dopiest look on his face, being shocked that even a mere bite of the food was bringing him to tears
Sadly, before he could even take another bite of EMIYA'S heaven-sent cooking, he was greeted by Keziah, seemingly lost in thought, who sat rather closely to him on his right hand side.
"Good morning, Contractor…" she said, while eyeing his food, seemingly fascinated by it.
"...Are you hungry?"
"Servants don't need food, but…" she trailed off, not bothering to look at him, salivating lightly as she stared at the food in front of them
"...Do you wanna try?"
"...Would you mind if I did?"
"I don't really mind." Irenaeus said, taking a knife and fork, using them to cut the waffle and quickly making his way to get another fork for him to use. When he returned to his table, he saw her sitting still, not having touched the food. He handed her a fork for use, but all she did was stare quizzically at the implement, while holding it in a reverse grip.
"...Is there a problem?" Irenaeus asked
"Not really… I just don't know… How to use a fork…." Keziah replied, the embarrassment on her face evident from the way she didn't even meet Irenaeus' eyes.
Irenaeus nodded, before getting her to look, "Do you want me to show you?"
"Would you?"
"Yeah…."
Irenaeus used his fork to move some of the waffles of the side, and cut a waffle by holding it down and cutting it with the knife. "You want some syrup?" he asked, offering a small container of syrup in front of her, which she took and poured a rather small amount, amount to a light drizzle on the waffles Irenaeus sliced, before taking her fork, piercing the waffle and picking it up, tentatively picking it to her mouth and biting it off, chewing slowly.
"Well…..?" Irenaeus asked, seemingly interested in her reaction.
"Very soft. The syrup is very… sweet…. …Is this what you like to eat for breakfast?" Keziah asked, nodding her head.
"Yeah."
"Hmm… I think I may be fond of them now…. Waffles…."
"That's great to hear." Irenaeus nodded, trying to be polite, noticing the stares of some of the other people in the cafeteria, struggling not to start squirming in his chair, the others watching like they were witnessing a man use a landmine as a frisbee
Immediately after the stares subsided, there was an awkward tension between the two, compounded with several of the others dispersing, on account of finally finishing their food and continuing to go about their day, and Irenaeus beginning to finally eat the remaining waffles and drink his tea, which by that point had turned rather cold, while trying to avoid the overall awkwardness of the situation. It would be rude to just tell her to leave and she seemed to want to be present…..
On Keziah's end, she seemed to notice his tension and decided to speak up. "Why do you wish to help restore humanity?" She asked with palpable curiosity in her voice
"... Because we need to set things right and save those who perished?"
"....That makes sense, given the entities you've primarily interacted with are human. But….
"But…?"
"...Let me cut to the chase, seeing as you're my contractor, I figured it would be best to ask you this: Is Humanity itself good, or bad? Is it worth saving or should we let them all die? Do you want to do this out of obligation, or maybe perhaps for glory? Or…. Do you genuinely feel bad about what happened to humanity, Contractor?" she asked, her voice even
Irenaeus exhaled, somewhat despondently. "….It's still a lot to take in for me. I guess thinking about it now, I think about how so many innocent people, just living their day to day lives, basically had it all stripped away… Maybe they're suffering. Maybe they didn't feel anything. Maybe… Some part of this feels nice for them. But, regardless, it's basically the end of the world, if we don't do anything about it. ….I've always wanted to try and be… Never mind. I guess, it's a bit of both obligation and just feeling bad…" Afterwards, Irenaeus sat still, a thoughtful look on his face, hands folded as both his pointer fingers pushed on his lips. "...At least, I wanna try to make things right."
"...I see. Thank you."
"I just have to ask, what brought this on?"
"Well… I was curious. I'll be watching your career with interest."
"...I see. That's… understandable."
She then turned around, "Oh, I forgot to mention, the Director wants you to attend a meeting. If you hurry up, you might make it." To which Irenaeus wolfed down his waffles and downed his cocoa, lamenting the rush slightly
"Lead the way." Keziah gestured for him to follow her.
Alter Ego Keziah's stats:
True Name: [REDACTED]
Gender: Female
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Parameters:Strength: C
Agility: C
Endurance: C
Prana: DLuck: ?
Noble Phantasm: EX