open to all;

[swordboning]

Who: Archer swordboning and YOU. (Maybe Athena too)
When: December 15th and on
Where: Right here where you need him. At least in the streets.
What: Golden Archers is sadly open. Come get your top tier food of choice.
Rating/Warning: Nah.


[Archer was fully cringing at the emblem Athena made and the fact that it was pasted on his apron. Well, inwardly at least. Athena got to have her way with the things went around here since she was the one who put in the money and most of the work. That meant her lame idea of what was great ended up plastering almost anything that had the surface for it.

But for a food stall, there was a serious lack of menu. Archer, though, intentionally wanted that. Restricting himself would only be admitting that he couldn't make things that people wanted outside of said menu. Obviously, there were some restrictions because supplies of some things were exceedingly rare or impossible to find. Which meant that rich people places had to be visited for that. But here were reasonable prices for fresh cooked food.]

Before you ask, there's no menu. So just tell me what you want.

[Customer service needed a little bit of work, however. And no, Saber, you weren't getting any free food.]

Comments

[psycholawgy]

[ Here come the waterworks... ]

Oh, Ai! That's so kind of you-- [ And she holds back a sob. ] I bet Archer's glad to have friends like you!

[swordboning]

Harder. The person you're attacking is wearing armor and has probably deflected that weak strike. Next, he's going to skewer you.

[emotive]

... I don't think... We're friends... I hesitate to call it that.

[psycholawgy]

[ She only just wanted to fight monsters... why would those wear armour?! Well, whatever! With a grunt, she lunges forward with the stick. Much better this time around. ]

[psycholawgy]

Huh? Why do you say that?

[emotive]

Well, he's been helping me train too. I can appreciate him putting effort into spending time on my combat skills.

But in the end, I don't think we understand each other well.

[swordboning]

Keep it up. Until you're sweating, I don't want to see you stop.

[psycholawgy]

But you have ESP!

[ ISN'T THAT HOW IT WORKS!!! ]

[emotive]

I-I don't think that's how... Never mind. [Ai doesn't think telepathy really helps build bridges, let's just say.]

I don't read minds, Athena. Not anymore anyways.

[psycholawgy]

Wait— What if I need to run to get something for a customer?!

[psycholawgy]

Why not? Did something happen?

[ Her own hearing was much worse before, and grew slightly weaker over time. Maybe something like that happened to Ai, Athena thinks. ]

[emotive]

[... That's right. They were friends, but there was very little Athena Cykes knows of the esper, Ai Thao Kha. Ai had been taking in all this friendship and had given little in return. In a way that was fine. But was it something that could last if Ai held back?

Thankfully, the answer comes out more easily than she thought it would.]

My telepathy was too potent for me to handle when I was younger. It put too much stress on me, so it was decided that I shouldn't have to use it for a while.

[When she WILL use it again, that's up for debate and if she ever meets the magic user that sealed her powers.]

[swordboning]

You better start working harder then.

[psycholawgy]

[ She frowns, because she sure knows how that feels like. Athena could hear people's hearts, and it drove her crazy when she was younger, but... to be able to hear people's thoughts. It must have been more difficult. ]

If it's for your own good, then it was a good decision.

[psycholawgy]

You got it! I got this!

[ Archer's seen Athena get worked up in a negative way before, so her getting worked up over something in a different vein might be... different. She's now giving it her all, and possibly more than what she has. She's definitely practising now, and treating it as an intense workout. ]

[swordboning]

[When it looks like she's good and tired, Archer interrupts.]

Shift your right hand to the 2/3rds position and grab it with your left hand at the 1/3rd position.

[emotive]

It probably was...

[She would have turned out to be a fairly different person if she had access to people's thoughts so easily. That or she'd be dead.]

That being said, there are times I can hear some thoughts as if they're whispers. But most of the time, not at all.

[prosecutory]

[One of those types, eh?]

Shall I have a word with her so she doesn't waste your time anymore?

[Edgeworth isn't sure how persuasive he can be towards Athena, but perhaps he could get Phoenix to help him out here.]

[codere]

Wouldn't that be a good thing? [ She thinks for his sake he'd want the distance. ]

It just means we should value what little time we have together dearly.

[swordboning]

It's not a good thing no matter how you word it.

[Just staring at her.]

When I say I wish to spend time with you, I'm not saying it just to satisfy you. It's what I want to do.

[swordboning]

As a matter of fact, don't waste your time with that. I already agreed to the terms here and I won't go back on that.

[True stubbornness here. And despite his words, he enjoyed making food.]

[psycholawgy]

You don't hear anything from Archer, then?

[emotive]

Nothing.

It's fine though. There's no need for it and I feel like if I kept my telepathy, it'd be harder for me to deal with people and I already have enough trouble as it is.

[codere]

I don't understand. [ Maybe this is why she gets along with Shirou so well? ]

[swordboning]

[Sighing a bit but he's cool with explaining for the moment.]

You're the person I care for the most. Therefore, it's only natural to want to be with you as much as I can.