And when the cherry's ripe with blossoms

[swordedpast]

Characters: Archer (swordedpast) and OPEN.
Setting: All through today, floors 97, 60, and 1, as well as the stairs.
Format: Tagger's choice.
Summary: In a month without any proper food other than nutrition bars, Archer follows the trend and makes his own for Rin by slaughtering and cooking a giant bullfairy.
Warnings: Blood and gore from the poor monster. Nothing else so far.

[ floor 97 ]

[ It's always a risk going out onto the ninety-seventh floor. Of course, it's easy enough to hide from monsters when you're so small as to be insignificant to them in comparison, but when you go out there already prepared to fight, with no powers to back it up...

Archer's taking precautions, of course. He projects his familiar twin swords before stepping off the stairs, and he stays in the shadows until he finds what he's looking for: one of the mangled bullfairy creatures, struggling weakly to fly, snapping bones whenever it fails and lands on its pitiful legs. If Archer were a fair fighter or a warrior with honor, he'd probably feel bad about taking it on, even though it's three times his size. Fortunately, he doesn't truck with any of that nonsense, so as soon as the way is clear of any bigger, nastier beasts, he sets on the struggling bullfairy with his swords flashing.

It takes longer than it should to kill the creature, not just because of its size and the lack of supernatural powers on this floor, but because Archer has to keep dodging away and leaving it bleeding pitifully whenever it looks like something more dangerous might be approaching. In the end, it expires not from any single mortal wound, but from the combination of several lesser ones and blood loss.

And then, without any change in his blase expression, Archer begins to dismember it. ]

[ stairs/elevator ]

[ There's no kitchen on the ninety-seventh floor, and even if there were, it would be really inconvenient due to all the giant monsters lumbering around. As a result, once the bullfairy has been messily slaughtered and pulled to pieces, the task remains of bringing it to the sixtieth floor. Fortunately, both this floor and the one Archer aims to reach are not far from an elevator stop, so it's not nearly as difficult a task as it could have been.

Still, it does result in great trails of blood and gore all over the stairs and elevator as Archer makes multiple trips carrying chunks of freshly dead monster to the kitchen. Given how helpful the worker units have been in the past few days, he might feel the slightest pang of guilt over leaving this much for them (and anyone with the wrong job) to clean up. Maybe. But he's good at ignoring pangs like that. ]

[ floor 60 ]

[ To be honest, Archer isn't that familiar with cooking quite this much from scratch. He's gotten some practice a few times before here in the tower, but it's still something he's working on. So the process of him pulling apart the great pieces of dismembered bullfairy to find edible meat, fat that can be used to fry the meat or add to soup stock, and bones that can be boiled for soup is somewhat messier than it has to be. And it does have to be pretty messy from the start.

Eventually, though, he settles down into the rhythm of cooking: stirring wild vegetables and herbs gathered from various garden-like floors (but not the poisonous greenhouse; he's not stupid about these things) into a pot full of slowly cooking soup or a pan full of thinly-sliced meat, watching over the pots and pans in question, and--in between all of that--occasionally pausing to clean up a bit.

Yes, he's wearing an apron. It's not as if he cares about getting blood, guts, and other cooking materials on his clothes, since he can just materialize those at will as a Servant, but cooking without an apron is improper in a way that he just can't ignore. ]

[ floor 1 ]

[ The resulting meals will feed Rin for several days, but there's still plenty left. And wasting food is just unacceptable. But Archer can't let people know that he's giving away food. That would totally ruin his image. What is he to do?

Answer: haul the remaining food down to the cafeteria as quickly as possible and leave out pots of soup and trays of beef fried with wild vegetables, then disappear into spirit form as soon as he can. No one will catch him being nice like that, will they? Surely not. ]

Comments

[Stairs/Elevator]

[ajealouswind]

[Archer is not the only one out performing grand acts of messy big game hunting. For his elevator trip down is interrupted, as the doors swing open to reveal Kain. Being a man with a lance, a dragon-like helm, and a trussed-up and very dead chocobo dragged alongside him.

He looks surprised, even with some of his face obscured. It looks like a slaughterhouse in that elevator.]

...what the?

[He really should just hurry and elbow his way on, but... but explanations are needed.]

[swordedpast]

[ Archer's currently carrying a big chunk of the torso of the poor dead bullfairy. He doesn't seem fazed by all the blood getting all over him. He might seem a little bit fazed by the new arrival in the elevator, but not much. ]

Is it so difficult to tell? Not everyone hunts as neatly as you.

[ajealouswind]

I can tell that you've been hunting. Determining what you've been hunting is another matter.

[He awkwardly shifts the large dead bird beside him, and sighs deeply.]

I think we can both fit. Move over.

[No he does not want to wait for the next one, the next one could take an HOUR, and something could try and eat him AND his supper.]

[swordedpast]

[Archer glares at that command, but all the same, he steps to the side.]

Haven't you seen the ninety-seventh floor? There are some enormous monsters there...of course, since our powers are nullified they're not easy to hunt, but the weaker ones are manageable.

stairs

[puppy_lancer]

[Lancer tsks his tongue as he stares the messy stairs and the guilty party hefting the meat up the stairs.]

You gonna clean that up later? I know I ain't.

[Okay, so that's technically a lie. He'd probably have to given that he's a janitor, but the more he can actually get someone to clean up after themselves, the less work he has.]

[swordedpast]

[ Archer just keeps walking, with the enormous haunch of dead monster over his shoulder. ]

I don't believe it's my job.

[ ...he probably will, though. ]

There are worker units, aren't there?

[puppy_lancer]

Yeah, there are, but who knows how fast they'd get to it.

[Lancer follows after Archer, watching the slab of meat trail blood everywhere.

[swordedpast]

Is that such a problem? That they'd be slow. Surely the people coming and going on these stairs have seen worse than some monster blood.

[ He doesn't even bother looking at Lancer. ]

floor 60;

[angramaintsu]

You're wearing an apron.

[ Rare is it that Rin actually travels to where her Servant is (he's the one who has to come to her), but she thought to surprise him today with a visit. That, and she is curious as to how he spends his time away from her. ]

That's rather cute of you, Archer. [ Ufufu. ] Don't tell me that came from your world.

[swordedpast]

[ This is, yet again, what it means to have E-rank luck. The last thing he wanted was for Rin to see him in his apron. ]

Cute? Your sense of such things must be skewed--no, it must be deranged if you can say that. There's nothing cute about me.

[ He has to keep talking, perhaps a little too fast, so that he doesn't start to blush. ]

...it was in my trunk.

[angramaintsu]

So it does belong to you. [ Almost all of her belongings were in the trunk when she arrived. ] Mm, it suits you.

I rather like it. Although, you should craft yourself the dress to go along with it. I could loan you a pair of my stockings.

[swordedpast]

There's no need to wear a dress just because I've got an apron! An apron is a practical thing, you know. Dresses...

[ He scowls down into the soup he's cooking. ]

Anyway, you'd kill me for ruining your stockings.

Floor 1

[relinquishing]

[Guy did make a habit of going to the cafeteria at least every once in a while, although everyone had been right - the nutrition bars were like eating gravel and paste. But to step off the elevator to the distinct smell of cooked meat, vegetables, stews... It couldn't be the work of an admin. Not Jason; not from what he's heard.

He quickly glances around, only briefly catching the silver-haired man as he finishes hauling a pot and turns to leave. Nope. Sorry, stranger, he's going to make sure you get proper thanks.]

Hey! Hey, wait up a minute!

[swordedpast]

[ Archer is already in spirit form by the time Guy calls out to him. He thinks about just fleeing anyway--

--but it's too late, really. Besides, what if the other man has something important to say?

He rematerializes. ]

What.

[relinquishing]

Haha --- what's with that look? I didn't mean to startle you or anything.

[He gives a nod to the buffet.]

Are you the one who's saving our stomachs today?

[swordedpast]

I'm hardly startled.

[But he frowns a little as Guy starts to indicate his gratitude.]

What a dramatic way to put it. I merely cooked more than I could save, so I decided to spare some for others.

Floor 60

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch was getting worried. He hadn't been able to find Tohko anywhere...

The smell of cooking meat drew him to the floor. It was a promise of human activity. Maybe they'd seen Tohko.*

...Ah, excuse me. *Enoch approaches, but stays at a distance, not wanting to interrupt. As it is, he only sees Archer from behind and doesn't recognize him from the run-in in the research library.*

[swordedpast]

Do you need to be excused?

[ Even as he speaks, Archer cuts some more fat away from the meat and sets it down in a pan, all business. ]

What is it you want?

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch lets the response go. He has a problem here.*

I can't seem to find my friend anywhere. Have you seen a young woman with long black hair done in two braids?

Floor 1 because I'm a jerk

[semantating]

[ ... He is, unfortunately quite able to see this kind of thing, Archer. Pity for you! Also, Break is hanging out here not because food (he doesn't much care; he's quite bare bones anyway and Sharon isn't here to make him eat properly), but because people are fun to observe, and, well... a servant of sorts himself, he is good at this kind of thing. ]

Leaving so soon after such a generous contribution to the local populace? I would expect you would want to be lauded for your compassion!

[swordedpast]

[ Snap! Archer fades back into view from spirit form, as if it makes much difference around whoever this guy is. ]

You shouldn't build up expectations like that.

[semantating]

[ He waves a hand airily. ]

Come, now, isn't that what every good-natured helpful person wants? To be praised by the masses so you can ruin all their hopes and dreams later?

Floor 97

[proteusmoon]

[ The first time Cecil walked out onto the ninety-seventh floor, she decided rather quickly that it was one of the floors she would do her best to avoid and to remember to tell others to always avoid whenever the opportunity presented itself. With the lack of proper food this month and Kain having just returned from his dead world, though, the paladin decided that she would risk it just this once and pray she could be successful in slaying something that may be edible.

But her lack of knowledge about the sort of creatures that roam it is her disadvantage because before long, a large, red, gelatinous cube won't stop pursuing her. There were creatures of similar nature on her world, so she already knows her sword isn't going to do anything and even if powers did work on this floor, she's never known any black magic. Between dodging to avoid being crushed by the gigantic monsters and fleeing from the jelly cube, Cecil is already plenty worked up by the time she comes across another hunter, so while she doesn't mean to be rude, she can't help yelling at him: ]

Jelly! Headed this way!

[swordedpast]

[ Normally, that sort of warning would send Archer fleeing into spirit form. He can't do that here, so instead he blinks for a second before older instincts kick in.

He gestures sharply with one bloodied sword towards a narrow alleyway between the towering empty buildings nearby, then dives for it himself. ]

[proteusmoon]

[ Cecil doesn't need to be told twice; she sprints in the direction of the alleyway as well, slipping between the walls right behind him. She takes a deep, steadying breath, but her eyes run over his weapons. She's not fazed by the blood, but she is a little worried he may not be able to get back to his kill. ]

...I'm sorry.