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

[carptricks]

[. . . oddly enough, that statement is met with an amused grin on kaito's end. someone here understands that sentiment veeeery well]

[he also makes a mental note never to take archer at face value in future conversations, yup]

So you say, but you're giving away all of your secrets to a perfect stranger. I don't even think you've introduced yourself yet.

[swordboning]

Everyone just calls me Archer. Hence the name of this place. And yes, I do use a bow but I have a preference for swords.

[People ask that a lot but he's the only Archer he knows that uses blades. Well, uses them properly at least.

Metal toothpicks are going to down though.]

[carptricks]

[jerks a thumb towards himself]

Kaito! Kuroba Kaito, no black feathers included.

[heh heh name jokes]

Any particular reasons why you favor swords over bows, contrary to your name?

[swordboning]

[Bad jokes are awful. Inwardly grimacing but total lineface on the surface.]

I'm a blacksmith so swords are going to be my preference between the two.

[carptricks]

[inwardly pleased with himself!1]

A blacksmith working as a cook? I guess it must be pretty hard to find blacksmith work in a futuristic city like this one.

[swordboning]

I'm not looking for blacksmith work though I have plenty. I make specialty weapons by request, which means I can make what I want and deny requests if I want.

[It's no real surprise that a lot of people would want some kind of special enchanted weapon, which kept him busy.]

This is more of a side job done as a hobby. Which, by the way...

[Taking out the finished balls, giving it the delicious sauce and mayo topping, and sliding it in front of Kaito. Along with a toothpick.]

[carptricks]

[scoops up a toothpick and immediately buries the tip into one of those pieces of takoyaki]

Flexibility of schedule is a good thing. Gives you more time to do something that it's obvious you really enjoy.

Time to see if your skills are just as impressive as that big head of yours, then!

[TAKOYAKI MEET KAITO'S MOUTH :9]

[swordboning]

[Archer starts cleaning up. He's absolutely confident in his own cooking skills, at least. Then again, all he's good at is cooking, cleaning, and swording so he only has a couple places to focus his non-existent pride.]

Try not to burn your tongue.

[carptricks]

[. . .]

[it's so delicious holy shit]

[. . . kaito's poker face is sturdy, however, and he keeps his expression even as he reaches for a second bite]

Second piece and no burned tongues. I'm a professional at this.

[at. eating hot food??? apparently]

[swordboning]

I'm sure you earn a lot of money in hot foot eating contests like that.

[carptricks]

Hey! For all you know, I could earn a living that way.

[stuffs another piece of takoyaki into his mouth]

[swordboning]

I get the feeling you'd have better success as a poet.

[carptricks]

Or an artist?

[he says with raised eyebrows]

[swordboning]

I haven't seen your art so I'm sticking with what I know.

[Terrible.]

[carptricks]

[a snort; not at all offended, just amused]

Sounds like you should drop by the CERES Game Center sometime! I managed to pick up a job as a performer there.

[while he chews on his third piece of takoyaki, he flicks his wrist and produces a deck of cards from thin air (MAGIC), which he proceeds to spread across the food cart counter. all of them are face down]

[swordboning]

....I know you're trying to impress me but I can pull something better out of my sleeve.

[Quite a large shrug comes out of this.]

But what do you want me to do here?

[carptricks]

It's not about what you or I can pull out of our sleeves.

[he slips his fingers underneath one card at the end of the line and flips it over, which in turn flips over the rest of the cards until they're all face up. all different cards! seems like a pretty standard deck]

For now, all I need you to do is watch closely.

[swordboning]

I hope this is real magic and not going to be a slight of hand trick.

[He looks but doesn't really focus. Part of the joys of being an Archer class.]

[carptricks]

Sleight-of-hand magic is just as real as spellcasting magic.

[which is all he says as he scoops the cards up and starts to shuffle them]

So it looked like a normal deck, right? No doubles, no marked cards, no anything. . . although the first four cards on the top of this deck are pretty unique.

[he stops shuffling and flips the first four cards over-- they're all jacks, and each one is of a different suit]

[swordboning]

[Sighing.]

Right. What are you going to do with those?

[carptricks]

Nothing. They've got a mind of their own and a tendency to jump to any place of the deck they wanna jump.

[flips the jacks over so they're face down again]

Far be it from me to stop them from doing whatever it is they wanna do.

[swordboning]

Or you they could stay on the top. Not doing something is the same as having the choice of doing something.

[carptricks]

And I choose not to take away their free will.

[drops the stack of cards on top of the first overturned jack, so it's technically at the bottom of the deck]

This one tends to prefer it up top, anyway.

[. . . and then he flips over the first card on the stack, which is-- GASP-- the jack that should have been at the bottom]

[swordboning]

[He is essentially the king of not impressed. Of course, nothing impresses him so he just smirks.]

Is there anything else left to this other than moving cards?

[carptricks]

[kaito's used to dealing with skeptics; his stride isn't broken]

You don't believe me when I say they have a mind of their own?

[takes the second down turned jack, flips it over to show archer (it's the jack of clubs) and then slips it into the center of his deck]

[A PAUSE]

If you're that skeptical, you might wanna check your apron pockets.