For others in the series:
Rin
Saber
Sakura
Illya
This was...easier than I expected. And somehow, more amusing than the others.
Yes, the described places are based on real locations, in Seattle.
Didn’t Even Make It (to the Mission Briefing)
Shirou still felt out of place, still felt like the entire world was staring him down. He hated the fact that whenever he visited these different countries, he had to rely on others to speak for him. Even here, in America, he felt out of his depth, his English too hazy to keep track of a full-blown conversation. He could read signs for the most part, thankfully, though…
This city sure had a lot of strange names for places. Issaquah, Sammamish, Tukwila…he wasn’t exactly sure how to pronounce any of them.
Plus, his company always gave him a dirty look whenever he admitted to being confused.
“You seek to be a savior, yet you cannot even speak one of the most common languages in the world,” Caren Ortensia said, a thin-lipped smirk marring her otherwise elegant skin. “Sad, really.”
“I can,” he ground out, “just not as fast as you can. And I don’t get all these regional names.” It didn’t help his nervousness that he had to rely on Caren to drive, and though she had performed competently, he could not shake the suspicion that she had no more of a proper license than he did.
They pulled into the hotel they had reserved, Caren listening to the instructions from the valet, then circled the building to the main entrance. Caren again spoke with the people at the front desk in, as far as Shirou could make out, fairly unaccented English, then took their keys. He, of course, was regulated to carrying their luggage; Shirou was certain that normally, the girl had very little in the way of travel gear, but had brought her entire wardrobe on this trip just to spite him.
“Hold on,” Shirou said, the moment they stepped into their room. “This…whoa, there’s a lounge space?”
Caren shrugged. “The Church pays for everything, and in situations like this they actually want us to be conspicuous. Magi, Dead Apostles, all of those sorts tend to shy away from being so noticed.” She hurried into the other room. “I need to use the facilities, excuse me.”
“Huh.” Shirou took a look out the window first, at the foreign city and its wonders, then back to the lounge. A couch and recliner sat to one wall, while a television and desk flanked the entryway to the bedroom. It all seemed a waste for a location they were going to theoretically be spending minimal time in.
He hauled his knapsack and her oversized suitcase into the bedroom and froze.
One bed.
He growled deep in his throat. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”
“Doing what on purpose?”
The doorway to the lounge and the bathroom were adjacent in the bedroom, so it felt like she had pounced up behind him once more. Shirou had taught himself not to startle, though, to not give her the satisfaction. “You got a one-bed room on purpose!”
That smirk, along with a dipping of her eyebrows and tightening around her eyes came, and she hummed in surprise. “Are you not supposed to be an expert at conceptualizing structures? There is a pull-out bed in the couch. I thought you would be more comfortable having separate spaces for the both of us.”
“Oh.” Now he felt stupid.
Probably the entire point, as Caren’s grin widened. “Did you think I would make you sleep on the floor? Or perhaps we would have to share the bed?” She leaned up close enough that he could feel her breath against his ear. “Perhaps you were thinking of what I would wear for sleep?”
“Just, shut up, shut up,” he pulled the suitcase further into the room and flung his sack back into the lounge. “When are we leaving to meet with the others?”
“Long after nightfall, so please entertain yourself until then.” Her smirk then shifted into a more innocent expression, a little more like a carefree girl her age. “I will be utilizing the amenities here and taking a nice hot bath, since that flight was long and troublesome for a lady.”
Shirou rolled his eyes. No ladies from where he was standing.
The devilish expression again. “Of course, if you feel the same, we could always share the bath—”
“Television and napping is fine,” Shirou grumbled, pushing past her and back out into the lounge space. A snicker followed him out, and he tried to ignore it.
“Well then,” Caren went to take some things from her suitcase, then back into the bath. As Shirou turned the television on, he was then met with the sight from the bedroom of Caren’s white blouse and blue jeans flying out of the bathroom door. The angle meant it was in fact landing where he had put the suitcase, but he was again sure she was doing it on purpose when a satin bra and matching panties went to follow.
He sighed. The things he did for justice.
It was still fairly cold out in the early spring night, so Shirou supposed not as many people would be out and about. Still, they waited until after one in the morning, their meeting scheduled in the absolute dead of night at two.
Shirou still was not exactly sure why they were staying in one hotel but meeting in another. To have places to fall back to, in case of an attack? He wanted to ask Caren, but he had a feeling the reason would sound obvious if brought up and it would give the priestess more ammunition.
Caren had changed into what he was used to seeing out of her, the almost nun-like blue dress and white mantle. A part of him wanted to know where she kept that red Conceptual Weapon of hers, but again, he thought she might use it as an excuse for teasing. It did, after all, bind men.
They had to cross two streets, a park, and circumvent the local conference center to reach their destination, and Caren emphasized the need to not be noticed. “By normal people, I mean. Unless you have some of those mind-wiping spells that other magi use.”
“You know I don’t,” Shirou said. “Why normal people, though?”
They ignored the crosswalk switch and darted across the mostly-empty street without it. “The one we’re hunting is pretty good about checking his bases, and not only does he feed on people, he pulls information from their memories first to see what they’ve recently experienced.” Caren shrugged. “At least, that’s what we’ve surmised. He is usually so good at evading detection, which is why they brought me here.”
“I see.” Shirou could not help it any longer. “Why then aren’t we all just staying in the same hotel so we wouldn’t be noticed by anyone but the hotel staff?”
“Well, I like the Crowne hotels, but Janus likes the Red Lion, and Ciel said something about preferring Hiltons…”
“Forget I asked,” Shirou muttered. So it wasn’t some logistical issue. Church Executors were just a needy, quirky bunch.
They passed through the park, moving by areas that were well lit and favoring darker ways, past a set of fountains and up various staircases. Shirou spotted numerous places to skulk and hide if necessary, though the park itself seemed very empty—
“Wait,” Shirou spotted someone up one pathway. He set Reinforcement to his eyes and peered through the darkness. “Er, a homeless guy, I think.”
Caren motioned at a fork in the path, through an underpass with more trees and decorations atop it. “This looks like it loops around.”
They avoided the direction with the homeless person and went through the pass, then circled back around the parkway with a clustering of trees and stonework decoration between them and their potential spotter. Shirou examined their new direction and shook his head. “Two more guys. They look like they’re having a conversation.”
“Perhaps we should risk the one instead,” Caren said, motioning back the way they had come.
“Two guys talking are more likely to be distracted and not care about us, or feel threatened in any way.”
“One person is easier to completely avoid detection from than two.”
They headed back under the pass, which also shaded them from either of their quandary’s view. “Maybe we should just circle the park entirely,” Shirou said. “The street was pretty dead anyway.”
Caren suddenly pushed him back so he was flush to the wall. “And now I see someone coming up the way we had come.”
Shirou sighed. “Make a break for it?”
“Hmmm.” She tapped a finger on her chin. “I have a better idea. Follow my lead.”
“Okay.”
He watched her carefully as Caren glanced to and fro out toward their hotel, then in the direction they were going. He waited for her to make a move, and was so intent on what came next that it did not quite process when she turned back to him, put her hands to his cheeks, and kissed him full on the mouth.
Shirou tried to resist, but beyond the sound of his own heartbeat drumming in on his ears, he could make out the footsteps of one of the people blocking their way coming nearer, and relented. Putting his arms around Caren’s waist, he pulled her flush to him so they looked like nothing more than a couple that could not wait any further to get some of their hormones out of their system.
The little whimper she made into his lips at that action earned a response out of his body, and he wanted to groan.
She withdrew slightly to catch her breath, and even in the dim light from the lampposts down the walkway, he could see the blush on her otherwise porcelain skin. The way his breath felt overheated probably was not helping, either.
Another footfall reminded him of what they were doing this for, and he jerked her back in, this time unable to deny it when he felt her tongue slide up to his skin. He met it with his own until they were moving in tandem, and he was sure the wet sound would make it to the ears of the ones they were avoiding.
Beneath her dress, he could feel the faint form of her body, felt her hips gently press into his, and the desire to know what kind of underwear she had changed into since her bath charged into his head and chased all other thought right out. He groped for her body, his hands coming to her ass, and he pulled at her dress while at the same time squeezing her body beneath, defeating his own actions.
Caren let out a “uuuahhhhh” against his lips, her hand holding his head to pull it down to her as she wobbled in his grip and seemed unable to meet him directly. She nipped up at his lips between breaths and started rolling her hips up against the tightness she felt in his pants.
He managed to pull her skirt completely up, exposing her to the night, and he felt around and came up with lace amidst the softness. She wiggled beneath his touch, whimpering, and Shirou tried to process what was supposed to be next.
A snicker from one side, and both glanced up to find the homeless man peering in on them.
Suddenly feeling extremely possessive, Shirou moved them around so Caren had her back to the wall, his own body blocking hers from view of the man. The homeless person seemed to take the hint and continued on down the path beyond their sight.
Shirou watched him go, but whipped his head back fast enough to feel a rush of blood when he heard a zipper and felt Caren’s hands against his front. He whimpered himself when she reached past his clothing to grasp him, stroking lightly, her thin fingertips moving around as if playing an instrument on his underside.
Distractedly, he pulled his clothing down just far enough, pulled hers back up over her waist. She lifted a leg as he moved the last barrier between them aside, and moved his length up to her. She shook in place, making a helpless noise each time he teased himself to her, each time her breath coming out louder and louder.
“Caren…I’m not…”
He didn’t manage anything further, though, as she hauled him back in for another kiss, and he lost himself fully. Her tongue thrust into his mouth, and he returned the favor, thrusting up into her.
She screeched, leaning her head back against the wall as he pushed in, his body half holding her up, her shoulders shaking with each pulse.
One arm curling around her leg to hold her in place, Shirou brought his hand up between them, feeling for her curves, squeezing roughly until she whimpered in pleasure. Her hand finally came up to grab his and pull it down, and he took the hint, once again reaching for her backside. Pressing even harder against her until her body was completely crushed beneath his weight, he clenched his hands into her skin while her other leg came up to wrap around his waist.
The warmth around him tightened, and Shirou held her so he could move back and forth completely level, pushing her shoulders into the wall. Caren’s head tilted back as far as it would go, mouth wide open, that teasing tongue of hers moving like it could lick him from there, and she cried out words in English: “Oh god, oh god!”
Despite the cold air, Shirou sweated, was sure he dripped right onto her as he leaned forward, tried to catch her mouth with his. He made it close enough to nip at her lips, her tongue, and she tightened around him at that, as if to draw him closer in.
His muscles tensed, and he felt the surge starting to form, and he pulsed into her hard enough that he was sure she would bruise, his skin making a slapping noise only hardly drowned out by her flowing clothes. “C-Caren,” he moaned, his voice garbled by his own breath. “G-gonna…”
“Fuck!” she said, still in English, and he was sure she hadn’t even heard him, “Fuck fuck fuck!”
Something had set her off, and her legs went taut around his waist, and in the coldness around he was certain warmth flooded her, and he could no longer handle it and came within.
They shuddered together, Shirou kneeling with Caren still in his lap, her legs still around him. He still felt like he was spilling into her even though he was certain at least a few minutes had passed as they gathered their breath.
“Coast is clear,” she said, in a clear but quiet voice.
He glanced over his shoulder to find that nobody was within his view. Gingerly, he pulled away from their pseudo-embrace to glance out down the path further, and saw the way to their destination was now clear. Somebody had left, maybe they all had, and Shirou was embarrassed to realize he couldn’t remember if and when it had happened, nor if he had cared at the time.
“Are you…happy?” Caren asked, in an even tinier voice.
He whipped his head back to her, his brain turning at the random question. Happiness had not really been a factor, now or even before in his life, so he was confused as to why—
Shirou snorted, whether at her or himself, he wasn’t sure.
Carefully, he leaned back in, met her eyes, then put his lips to hers briefly.
Of course, they were a good half an hour past when they should have met up with the others.
One of the meeting rooms had been obtained for use, though it was almost vacant when they pushed the doors open. Within, a woman similarly dressed to Caren sat, seemed to have been staring out the window until they made their appearance. Her head came around and an unhappy glare met them. “What kept you?”
“Unforeseen circumstances,” Caren said.
Ciel stared at them evenly. “And? What happened?”
“We encountered too many witnesses,” Caren said. “Nothing of consequence, though it was something of an inconvenience.
“Oh?”
Caren nodded, sincerely. “We avoided them all, however, and I am certain none of them would think twice of our features.”
Shirou fidgeted. Sure, nothing she said was a lie, outright, but…
The dark-haired Executor started picking up the remains of the various papers they had brought full of information. “And what did you do to avoid it?”
“Prayers to God,” Caren said. “There might have been curses, as well.”
The curious look the Executor turned their way made Shirou want to crawl into a hole. He said, “Anyway! Are we good to go for tomorrow evening?”
“Yes. The others have all the requisite information.” She handed one set of papers to Shirou. “You can go over all of that before then.” She then handed him a cell phone. “We’ll use this to communicate.”
He nodded. “Alright. Caren, let’s go.” He grabbed her by the elbow before the little priestess could say anything more. “Sorry for the wait and any problems we’ve caused,” he said over his shoulder.
When the doors were closed and the imposing Executor was no longer a factor, Shirou sighed. There was an intimidation factor from Ciel that reminded him of Saber.
“So, what should we do until tomorrow night?” Caren asked, beaming up at him.
Shirou said, “Oh god,” in English.
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Originally Posted by Caren Ortensia
