Fate Series: Mordred Oneshots

Beats Per Minute

Just going to try and stick with some relatively low action fluffshots for these last two so no spoilers.
____________________________________

        His breath touched the air in a short puffy cloud. He'd be at home in warmth if it weren't for his landlord being so unreasonably deceptive. Just hours earlier, he had rushed to get his belongings from his former apartment  since he had been forcefully kicked out. His frustration had reached its limits which was why he found himself sitting in his usual spot on the steps of a local temple.

        He let out one more sigh before his fingers began to run across the strings of his guitar. Immediately, he caught the attention of a few pedestrians with his aggressive rhythm, one similar to that of his favorite anime soundtracks. His eyes were closed so that he could concentrate and ignore the cold biting at his fingers. This song was one he had created himself and was mere moments away from completing an application to get an audience with an official record company when he got an unexpected visit.

        "Mommy look," he heard a child call, no doubt pointing at him. He almost felt better at the idea of these random people hearing his one of a kind sound. More of their praises reached his ears, lifting him from his previous sorrow. With a final strum of that guitar, he ended the melody, a small fraction of the original work. His breath caught in the air again, but noticed the presence of something else there.

        "Snow?" he mumbled. It temporarily distracted him from the grand applause he recieved. Remembering his manners, he gave short bows to those around him. It was then that a particular person caught his eye as the crowd dispersed. She wasn't clapping, and she didn't seem particularly interested in the piece he had just performed.

        "Hey," she called to him as he sat there and stared. "You shouldn't be put here playing this when it's cold. You'll freeze." (Y/n) could make out the subtle traces of concern in her expression and gave a small smile.

        "Thank you for your concern, but I'm okay," he assured.

        "Are you sure? You were late today..." The girl's words confused him.

        "Huh?" He shifted a bit in his place on the steps. Those green eyes focused on him as if trying to see something that wasn't there.

        "You never arrive late. You come to this spot twice a week and I've never seen you even a minute late. But you're here almost two hours later than your usual time. Did something happen?" She gave a tilt of her head as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat.

        "You...always come listen to me play?" (Y/n) was shocked by this news. He had always assumed that no one paid him any special attention, but here this girl was standing in front of him with his schedule memorized just to hear his guitar bear its music. She seemed to suddenly shy away from him when she took notice of his surprise.

        "Of course I do," she muttered. "It's good music and it's free." (Y/n) almost laughed at those words, but a sneeze stopped him from doing so. "You really should get out of this weather though. Come on, you won't be able to play anymore if your hands freeze off." A small yet noticeable amount of snow had begun to settle on his clothes, so he decided not to argue with her.

        "I guess you might be right," he agreed as he began to put away his instrument. "And thank you. Knowing that you like hearing my music means a lot."

         "Hey, aren't you going to tell me your name?" she asked before he could stand up to leave.

        "Oh, sorry. I'm (y/n). Nice to meet you," he spoke. The grin that she gave him hit a bit differently than he was used to.

        "I'm Mordred. Want to go get a coffee to keep warm?" (Y/n) could only bkink in surprise. "Don't tell me you're one of those green tea kind of people. Or maybe you just don't like coffee?"

        "Sure, sounds cool," (y/n) blurted out. He simply didn't expect to be going anywhere so soon. After playing his songs to rid himself of his worries, he intended to go back to the storage unit where all of his things were being held until he could get a permanent residence. A hotel was his current home until then. It never occured to him to even stop anywhere else.

        "Got any places in particular that you prefer?" Mordred asked. He quickly shook his head to avoid saying anything stupid. "Alright then let's go to that old man's place! I bet he'd be willing to give me a special or two."

        "Old man?" Of course, (y/n) had no idea who Mordred spoke of nor did he know where they were headed, but he followed after her as she began to lead the way to this mysterious coffee shop. It was a little strange at first since neither of them said anything as they walked.

        "You feeling any better?" Mordred suddenly asked. She had to have been referring to whatever circumstances had him arriving late.

        "Was I really that bad? I didn't think anyone would have noticed," (y/n) wondered. "I'm alright though. It's nothing to worry about." He caught her glance back at him with a smile, but decided not to say anything about it.

        "I was heading home one day when I heard you playing that guitar. I've only ever heard that type of quality in the music of real musicians, the kind that pour their entire being into their songs. You've got talent, ya know." Mordred slowed to a stop as she said those words. "Have you considered going to get it officially published? Your music, I mean."

        "Yeah but I haven't gotten the chance to submit my application. It's probably going to be a while before I can now though. Just ran into an issue that might cause some problems, so I have to get that taken care of first," (y/n) admitted. That seemed to be the answer she was looking for, so Mordred didn't press the matter any further. The shop they walked into was relatively empty save for a couple of regulars and the staff.

        "Oi, old man! I've got a guest. Got anything special for em?" Mordred called. The person she spoke to wasn't old at all, or so it seemed. He looked up from the cup he was cleaning with an annoyed glare.

        "Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?" Regardless of the man's irritation, he offered them both menu's and pointed out the day's specials for them.

        The shop was relaxing, and (y/n) soon came to know everyone that was there. Emiya, the shop owner, often snapped at Mordred for her comments, but everything was rather peaceful aside from that. As the time passed, (y/n) almost forgot about his current predicament until it was time for him to leave.

        "Still cold out here," (y/n) breathed as a gust of wind attacked him. "At least the snow isn't still falling."

        "Aren't you glad you decided to go somewhere warm?" Mordred's smile was something he had quickly grown accustomed to.

        "Yeah, thanks for that. I really needed it," (y/n) nodded.

        "No problem. Come by any time. The old man 'll give you a special discount just because. And here, you can call anytime you want to meet up. I'll still stop by all your performances of course." Mordred gave him a card with her number written on it. "Oh, and don't worry about that record company. I'll put in a good word for you. See ya!"

        Before (y/n) could ask what she meant by that, she had already waked off. With a shrug, (y/n) looked back down at the card with her number on it before turning to head home. He flipped it over out of curiousity and went wide eyed at the contents. How could he possibly have known that Mordred was associated with one of the most reputable companies in the music industry?!
____________________________________

Alrighty, one last oneshot to go. Hope you all enjoyed this one though. Until next time you spectacularly awesome readers!