Chapter Fifteen
Offers of Camaraderie
Saber felt a tiny thrill when Archer said those eight meager words as she looked into those steel grey eyes of his. She gave a nod and replied, "I understand."
The half smile in return was brief and rather unsure, and it was an expression that lifted a good deal of weight off of her chest. She said, "I can show you where it is at."
Then Archer rubbed the back of his head and said, "I . . . forgot my toolbox."
"That seems rather unlike you," Rider said to the side with a small smile and a shake of her head.
Saber swallowed as he looked at the woman and she suddenly was displeased with her own slight build. It was a well known fact that there was something between the two of them, they were always teasing one and another. At first Saber had wondered since they were both so odd on their own that they forged a bond because of that. However after the past night Saber knew that Rider would have made the same realization that she had.
Archer was a man of worth. A good man with a past he regretted, but with an indomitable will to follow his own code. He stood up for others without any thought of his own safety and against all odds. He was not a famous hero from what Saber had put together, but she was not going to discount his heroics. If anything that was just something else that was quickly gaining him favor.
Archer shrugged and said, "I'll make do." He looked at Saber and said, "So, the air conditioner?"
"Yes," she said with a nod as she began to lead him to the kitchen. Most of the cook staff was taking refuge by the walk in refrigerator with the door open. She knew little of them and had no urge to meet them because they were so poor at their craft. Other than her tour on her first day, she had really not been to the kitchen.
So as soon as her foot touched the tile floor it slipped.
It was like walking on ice and she found herself moving forward against her will. A tiny cry left her lips as she shifted her weight and dug her heels into the tile to stop her flight. "Kitchen floors like this are rather slick, Saber," Archer said with a chuckle as he made slow, shuffling steps in his rather large boots.
She flushed and replied, "Thank you for the warning, even though it was a moment too late."
"Well, I would have thought you would have known about that working in a place like this," he said with a shrug before his hands slid into his jeans' pockets.
Saber looked up at him, almost having to crane her head to do so. He had the build of one of her knights or blacksmiths, but was considerably taller than most of them. She knew that in this day and age he would be considered tall for an Asian, but in her lifetime he would have been considered a giant. It was almost comforting to have someone his size at her side, as well as vaguely familiar.
She shrugged and replied, "I had no need to come back to the kitchen. Food is placed at the window and we have busboys that clear the tables for us."
"I can see that. I mean, it's bad enough that you have to put up with morons and assholes in the front of the house," Archer said with a shake of his head as Saber managed to get moving again, mirroring his tiny, shuffling steps.
Saber eyed him and said, "Are you going to taunt me for my profession as well?"
"No, I understand it was the only thing you could get at the time," Archer said with a shake of his head before smiling, "In fact, it was rather gutsy of you to work here."
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. She replied, "Really?"
"Service work like this is very difficult, more than most people realize. Not to mention the patrons are here to gawk at pretty girls, so you have to put up with that as well," Archer said with a sigh and shake of his head, "And to stay here as long as you have considering everything, yeah, you have nothing to be ashamed of."
She smiled at him until she looked to see his eyes looking at her thighs when he added, "Except that skirt."
She pushed it down and said, "I did not choose this uniform."
"I didn't say it looked bad," Archer said with a tiny smile as they reached the back door.
Heat filled her cheeks in a way that had nothing to do with the air conditioner being broke. He looked years younger with his hair falling into his face, giving him a disarmingly familiar appearance she could not put her finger on. The smile only added to it, causing her chest to become oddly tight.
She mentally gave herself a shake and opened the door before a blast of warm, yet fresh air hit her in the face. Compared to the sweltering interior of the Glass Slipper, the August breeze was a greatly refreshing change. Eyes closed, Saber tilted her face to the breeze before looking back at Archer. Her own eyes widened at the look at his face, wistful and awestruck at the same time, so at odds with his normal sardonic expressions. Heat filled her cheeks anew as she looked over to the mechanism surrounded by a small chain length fence that was currently quiet.
Swallowing, Saber pointed to it and said, "There it is."
"Thanks," he said with a nod as she followed him towards it. Sunlight glinted off his white hair in platinum flashes, almost like fallen snow. She watched as muscles rippled under his grey T-shirt and the fabric strained under his shoulders as he opened the latch to the fence and knelt in front of the air conditioner. She stood to the side and watched as he closed his eyes and extended his hands towards the unit.
Blinking, Saber heard him utter two words filled with purpose. Two words she had heard countless times before with Emiya Shirou as he worked in the shed to work on his magecraft. Sakura and Rin had explained it was his personal spell that he used to activate his power, so she stared as she heard Archer murmur, "Trace On."
His face twisted in concentration as his lips silently moved and his eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids as if he was dreaming. She felt the prana thrumming through him as his veins stood out in relief of his muscular arms for a moment before his body relaxed again. His chest rose and fall deeply with slow breaths and sweat was trickling down his face as he turned to look at her.
One hand absently reached up to wipe the sweat off of his brow, causing part of his hair to stand up ever so slightly, and she found herself smiling at his disheveled appearance. He blinked and asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing," she said with a shake of her head as she moved beside him. She held her skirts to her closely as she knelt beside him Japanese style and looked up at him. "Did you find out why it is not working?" she asked.
He nodded and answered, "Yeah. Luckily I can rig it for now with some Reinforcement until the part comes in."
"Your Reinforcement lasts that long?" Saber asked with a tilt of her head.
Archer rubbed the back of his head with a lopsided grin and a laugh. He answered, "Considering my skill range is rather select, I'm happy it can do that."
"Modesty, coming from you?" Saber asked with wide eyes.
He stared at her for a moment before laughing and nodding. He said, "Well, I couldn't appear afraid in front of Kings and Demi-Gods, could I?"
"I don't think you were afraid though," Saber said as an image of a devil may care smile from a knight garbed in red wielding twin blades against hopeless odds filled her mind.
Archer shrugged and said, "Not for myself, no, but for everyone else I was terrified. And angry."
"Angry?" she asked as she rested her hand in her lap.
He nodded as a screw driver of all things suddenly appeared in his hands. He leaned forward and placed it in one of the screws on the front panel before beginning to twist it. He answered, "Yeah, one of the things I liked about fighting in the War was that I didn't have to worry about my other duties, and then something I would have taken care of under other circumstances just happened to show up and threaten people that I cared about that had names and faces."
" . . . Damn it. To think , that no matter where I am, my job ends up being the same."
He grimaced before wrenching off that screw and handing it to her. Saber took it, his warm fingers brushing against her palm as he laid the rust laden screw. The memory had come up unbidden, but she wasn't going to deny it if it helped her piece more of Archer together. She said, "And as a Counter Guardian you have no prior knowledge to what you were sent to take care of."
"Ah. You still haven't become a Guardian yet. Then you wouldn't have had the opportunity to face the likes of that."
Did he mean that if I had won the Grail I would have ended up like he had?
Archer nodded and said, "Yeah. Which is one of the reasons I'm not going to complain that I'm alive again."
Another screw was placed in her hand, this one was completely stripped until it was cylindrical in nature. Tiny rust colored marks started to form on her pale skin as she closed her fingers over her palm, feeling the bits of metal poking into her flesh. She opened her hand and stared down at the growing pile of screws there before looking up at him.
She said, "During the War you said that I had not had a chance to become a Guardian yet. Do you think that if I did get the Grail that would have happened to me?"
"Yes," Archer said before placing his hands on either side of the panel. Teeth gritted, the man jerked the metal free with a loud wrenching sound as muscles tensed and flexed in his arms. The panel was set down and Archer took a deep breath before shaking his hands slightly with a grimace.
"I think I should have Reinforced before I did that," he drawled as he flexed his hands, and Saber noted that his knuckles were still pale with the effort he just exerted. He shook his head before letting his hands fall to his side. Grey eyes bore into hers and he said, "Which is why I'm glad that you didn't get the Grail. Well, that and it was a gateway into Hell, but that's another issue."
She frowned and said, "But if it would have helped my people, I would have gladly put myself through that."
"But it wouldn't have helped your people. It would have done whatever you wanted it to do to another version of your people, but they would not have been your people, Saber. You would have simply made another timeline," Archer replied with a shake of his head.
She looked down at the rusty screws in her hand and whispered, "Then it was all for naught. Everything I did to win, the betrayals I had to suffer through . . . In the end they are as worthless as these ruin bits of metal in my hand."
Large, work roughened hands rested upon Saber's and she looked up into Archer's face. He gently held her hands and said, "Maybe it's time for you to start over."
"I can't abandon my past," she said with a shake of her head as she felt her eyes burn.
Archer said, "I don't want you to. I can't abandon mine."
"Again, you are helping me and I have nothing to give you in return," Saber said as she swallowed a lump in her throat.
He smiled, transforming his face, and said, "Well, maybe helping you is helping me too. I'm not totally without ulterior motives."
"That is . . . oddly refreshing to hear," she said with a shake of her head, "And I thank you again."
Archer nodded before looking into the air conditioner. All Saber could see was dust, cobwebs, even a giant spider, and dirty coils of metal. She made a face and said, ". . . It is rather disgusting."
"I'll give it a thorough cleaning when I repair it for real. It still has a few years in it yet," he said before holding his hands out to it again.
She heard him whisper those two all too familiar words again and the unit flashed ever so slightly with silver light. Then suddenly it kicked on with a loud bang before there was a click and a loud hum as the fan kicked on. She smiled and said, "You did it."
He nodded as he lowered his hands with a smile. "Well, I still need to order some parts. And some new screws. Throw away the one that's stripped. It can make do without it for now."
She nodded and said, "Thank you, still I'm sorry that Rider called you so forcefully."
"That's just Rider. She knew me seeing you at work would make you uncomfortable and she couldn't resist. Still, you know you can stand up to her," Archer said as he stood up.
Saber rose up as well and said, "I would not want to cause Shirou and Sakura stress because of a disagreement."
"Mmmhmm," was Archer's grunted reply before he took the panel again. Saber moved beside him and he began to screw it back into the main unit. He said, "Maybe I need an assistant."
She blinked as he looked up at her with a smile. "It would be nice to have one who I didn't have to hide the fact that I dress up in body armor at night and prowl Fuyuki City for those who would harm it or the fact I'm a magus," Archer said in a slow, thought provoking voice as he rubbed his chin with his dirty hand.
Saber swallowed and said, "I have a job here."
"I couldn't match your pay with tips, but I'd fix lunch," Archer said, "And I've been looking for a good sparring partner."
Her eyes widened as she felt her chest tighten. What he was offering was simply too good to be true. To have his cooking daily as well as a chance to pick up a sword again for enjoyment . . . She swallowed and asked, "May I have time to reflect upon your offer?"
"I'll give you a week, and then I'll ask Issei," Archer said with a slight smile.
Saber bowed her head and said, "I will give you my answer within a week's time then."
"Good, I look forward to hearing it," he said with a smile.