(no subject)

[arkadia]

[OOM: "Aren't you cold?"]

So, they lost, and also Eden's jacket is singed, because while Kuja might have been cautioned against violence, he was apparently not cautioned against 'near brushes with violence by way of summoning magical exploding stars very, very close to the poor Ursus keybearers'.

The two had returned to Daybreak Town slightly charred and with nothing to show their union for a day's work of worth, and the only small blessing was that neither of their Chirithys seemed to want to lecture them about it.

Bar provides him with a mug of coffee, and Eden responds by ordering a pot of sugar and dumping the whole thing in. He then orders another pot of sugar and dumps that in. Then a third. Finally, he lifts it and takes a sip. It tastes foul. Excellent.

Comments

[auxin]

The young lad in armour nearby raises an eyebrow.

"You got your own teeth?"

[arkadia]

"If I had someone else's, that would raise no end of uncomfortable questions," Eden replies immediately, and snaps his teeth quickly at the other lad to show that his teeth are, indeed, all his own. He takes another sip of the coffee. "This is awful. Why do people drink this stuff?"

[auxin]

"I don't think they put all that sugar in." Auxin says.

[arkadia]

"They've made a mistake, then, it's the only thing masking the bitter," Eden says.

[auxin]

"Have you tried milk?" Auxin asks.

[arkadia]

"In passing. It doesn't have that caffeine boost I need right now, though."

[auxin]

"No, like, in the coffee."

He sips his weak tea.

"You should probably drink that one though, since you just wasted all that sugar."

[arkadia]

"Why would you want me to insult cows like that, person? Why would you suggest that I desecrate their life's work like that?" Eden asks, frowning.

With an air of righteous indignation, he sips his coffee again and wrinkles his nose. "Ugh."

[auxin]

"Don't think the cow sees where their breast milk goes." Auxin shrugs.

"If you don't like coffee, why did you order it?"

[arkadia]

"But what if it did. What if right this second that door opened, and it came in and saw someone using milk in their coffee. Imagine the tears streaming from its cow eyes," Eden said. Beat. "And I wanted caffeine. It's surprisingly difficult to get a hold of in Daybreak Town."

[auxin]

"Can't be worse than being forced to breast feed forever."

[arkadia]

"Depends how much you hate coffee," Eden replies. He pauses, waggling a few fingers at Auxin's armour. "That must be uncomfortable to wear. Isn't this meant to be where you relax? Take in the sights? Enjoy the unspoken agreement to pretend that there's no danger here?"

[auxin]

"Is there danger here?" Auxin asks.

[herr_bookman]

"Eden, what on earth are you doing?" Autor asks as he approaches, his eyes slightly wide. "That's way too much sugar for one cup of tea."

[arkadia]

Eden pauses with the cup halfway to his lips.

"... That sounds like a challenge," he says gravely.

[herr_bookman]

Autor hesitates. "It's not a challenge," he says, slanting him a look. Then he straightens his shoulders. "But it might be. Why are you adding that much sugar?"

[arkadia]

"Have you ever drank coffee? I feel like you wouldn't be asking that question if you'd ever drank coffee. It tastes like despair," Eden says, ordering another cup of coffee and, without looking away from Autor, emptying it into the coffee.

[herr_bookman]

"You know, I've never had coffee, so you might be right," Autor says, tilting his head. He orders a cup of tea for himself. "But surely that much sugar will rot your teeth. Anyway, it's been a while since I've seen you. How are you?"

[arkadia]

"I encountered someone I'd only heard about in passing today," Eden says. "There was a lot of silk. And feathers. And yet they hardly seemed to cover anything, I'm not sure what they were really doing there. And it was snowing in the world we were in and all."

Honestly, Eden might have to sneak into Anguis Union just to see if Kuja's student record says anything about repeated cases of hypothermia.

"People say this is where I'm meant to be asking how you are. Eating well? Not accidentally been caught in the webs of giant arachnids? Haven't woken up to find somebody rubbing spices into your skin? Been enjoying the weather?"

[herr_bookman]

"Silk and feathers? And rubbing spices into my skin? Good heavens, I don't know how you come up with this stuff," Autor says, flummoxed. He sips his bracing tea. "I actually have been enjoying the weather, come to think of it. Thanks for asking. Have you been making use of the sauna lately? It's still open."

[arkadia]

"Just running through the possible terrible things that might have happened to you," Eden says easily. "Yes, I'm really not sure where he got either of those things from. Presumably clothing merchants. And maybe some bird nests - I should have asked him, I see that now."

This coffee really is awful. Eden gulps some of it down.

"If coffee were allowed in the sauna, I would offer to visit it with you now." Beat. "Is coffee allowed in the sauna? We don't have a sauna at the Union, so I don't really have a frame of reference."

[herr_bookman]

"It's unlikely that I'd wake up in a web," Autor points out, furrowing his brow. "Maybe you can ask him next time you see him, though it's just as unlikely that he garbed himself using birds' nests."

He runs his thumb along the handle of his teacup. "I don't think coffee is allowed in a sauna. I'm not actually sure," he says. "But why do you drink it if it's so incredibly awful?"

[arkadia]

"Depends how fast the spider works. And how long you're asleep for," Eden chirps.

He peers at his coffee mug. "Shame, that. I'm mostly drinking it for the energy boost. It's been a long and mostly wasted day."

[herr_bookman]

Autor shudders. "Ugh. I'd rather not think of giant arachnids working on me while I slept," he says, sticking his tongue out. "If you're after caffeine, might I recommend tea instead? You don't have to add copious amounts of sugar to it to have a decent cup. What about your day was wasted?"

[arkadia]

"Heartless Suppression missions get posted to all of the unions, but can only be turned into one. I was helping a teammate out with one, Kuja of the silk and feathers was also doing the same mission, we lost a wager, he turned it in to Anguis, and we might as well have spent the day eating ice cream."