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

[souredsweet]

[Kaoru is top brass on the S.S. Perception Trickery, to be fair. The smile shifts to something a little uncertain.]

Well... I must be able to support my clan. Sometimes I feel as if I'm not suited for it at all though, when I don't understand this or that.

[swordboning]

What clan and what year?

[Vaguely curious.]

[souredsweet]

The Nagumo, of Tosa... [There's a little thoughtful pause, and then:]

The year is 1864, if I'm recalling the calendars correctly? The first year of Genji. [THE ONLY YEAR OF GENJI but Kaoru doesn't know that yet.]

[swordboning]

1864. Right near the end of the American Civil War.

[Shaking his head. He's gonna know something soon.]

Before you die, your country is going to fall into a Civil War and those who support the traditional ways are going to lose. Keep that in mind. I'm probably disturbing a timeline but I personally don't care.

[souredsweet]

[There's a little noise - maybe of vague discontent - at that, but it seems that unlike the year names, Kaoru had been expecting this. Archer is literally the first person to even mention the possibility of disturbing timelines when talking about the future, even if he doesn't care.]

Things have been in turmoil for quite some time, no matter how hard people attempt to sweep it under the rug... Civil war is something that many consider unavoidable - or at least something that can't be avoided indefinitely. [A grim expression. Kaoru's hands fold together, and the gesture looks anxious.]

I've heard that those who support the shogunate are still heralded as heroes in the future, even so, and those from years much farther ahead than my own seem to be faring well enough.

[swordboning]

Take my word for it, for the sake of your great-grandchildren and further on.

[Reaching into the ice-cold of the quick freeze to pull out the custard.]

Stay away from the cities and don't get involved with anything that is coming for the next one hundred years. That's the only way you'll stay safe.

[souredsweet]

My... That sounds a little ominous. [JUST A LITTLE. Kaoru's gaze is fixed on the custard, but largely just to have something else to look at that isn't Archer himself.]

But that's my intention. If at all possible, I would like to safely withdraw from the sphere of politics and war. Keeping a clan safe in those conditions is a near-impossibility...

[Which is kind of true?! Sure, there are some important details Kaoru's skipping out on, but that's clearly nothing to burden a stranger with.]

[swordboning]

Good. I remember the year 1994 and having an interest in history helps. As long as you stay isolated, you should be fine.

[That was a year that stood out to him, despite his incomplete memory.

Still, carefully dishing out the custard and plating it. After setting a spoon on the plate, he hands it over.]

[souredsweet]

I'll keep all of that in mind. Thank you for the warnings, sir.

[Accepting the plate and forcing a smile, because dire warnings and bleak futures aside, this is still supposed to be a pleasant transaction.]

And thank you for the custard, as well. It looks lovely. [Shifting it to one hand, Kaoru slips the other into a pocket, withdrawing the points card to hand over.]

[swordboning]

You're welcome either way.

[No reason as to why he does this but the amount he charges is pretty minuscule, if he bothers to check.]

[souredsweet]

[It'll definitely be noticed when Kaoru checks later and Archer will probably be given a separate thank you then, but for now, Kaoru seems more focused on the food. It would be rude to just walk away without sampling at least a little and complimenting the chef for his hard work, after all.

So, after taking a small bite:]

—My! It tastes just as good as it looks. I'm certain you'll get plenty of business with food like this.

[swordboning]

Whatever happens isn't my concern. That would be up to Athena.

[Who started this business. As far as Archer was concerned, he just worked here. And was the sole employee.]

[souredsweet]

Athena Cykes? [Looking a little surprised!] Is she working on this as well, then? She does seem to enjoy keeping herself busy...

[How many jobs is this by now even, like five?? ATHENA SLOW YOUR ROLL.]

[swordboning]

The same one. She has nothing better to do than be a busy body, I assure you.

[In case the question was in doubt. And no one really questioned that.]

[souredsweet]

[That just earns him a laugh... It's true. It's so true.]

I'm a little impressed by the amount of energy she seems to have.

[swordboning]

There are just people like that in the world. For some reason, they tend to gather around me.

[The one person who doesn't want them around at all.]

[souredsweet]

Oh? So you attract high-energy people?

[GIVING HIM A LOOK... After a few seconds of quiet consideration:]

You seem to have an air of... how should I say it - someone "easy going"? [The modern term trips Kaoru up a bit.] Perhaps they're drawn to you because you're grounding.

[swordboning]

I also have terrible luck. Which means that Murphy's Law is not particularly pleasant in its treatment of me.

[Glorious, glorious, E Rank luck.]

[souredsweet]

Murphy's Law is a term that I'm unfamiliar with... [But it doesn't seem necessary to understand the overall point, at least.] Do you dislike energetic people so much that you would consider it bad luck?

[swordboning]

Murphy's Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. [People he gets along with the least tend to stick to him. That seems like something wrong.] Would it be a problem if I disliked them?

[souredsweet]

Oh! [WHAT A TERRIBLE LAW. Kaoru notes with vague chagrin that it seems to apply a little too often...

That said:] Only a problem for you, I would imagine... In my experience, energetic people don't seem to be dissuaded by much, so I'd imagine they wouldn't particularly care if you were dissatisfied.

[swordboning]

That much is stupidly true. They'd just keep trying to find ways to make me happy, which would be worse. But there's no stopping it.

[souredsweet]

It's somewhat admirable dedication, don't you think? Or - well, I suppose it would seem more admirable if you weren't the target...

[swordboning]

I still deal with it. Unless you'd like to take some of the slack.

[souredsweet]

[WAVING A FREE HAND nope, nope...]

I don't mind energetic people, but I do have difficulty keeping up with them. I would feel a bit badly, forcing them to deal with someone who doesn't have energy to match.