Chapter Twenty-Five

Matters of Diplomacy

Saber was not surprised to see Archer setting the table after her shower. The shrill chime of a clock striking nine rang through the quiet stillness. She jumped at the sound and he smiled up at her. "Breakfast is ready," he said.

She bit her lip, heat flooded her cheeks, but she took the seat that was next to his and looked down at the generous breakfast before them. He handed her a cup of tea, again prepared to her personal preference, and sat down. Grey eyes met hers and he said, "Next time, knock when I'm in the washroom."

"I am . . . sorry, I was concerned and then curious with what I saw," she said as she lifted her chopsticks to her omelet.

Archer said, "And what about if I walked in on you in the same situation?"

I would have wanted you to take the initiative and join me, she thought wildly before shaking her head. She said, ". . . I understand your point."

He said, "So." She looked up at him, his cheeks were the color of the mantle he once wore as he idly fussed with his tea cup.

"So?" she replied after swallowing, savoring the mingling of flavors within the eggs.

Long, bronze fingers began to strum against the table and Archer was visibly fidgeting. He stared at her and suddenly asked, "Would you please go out on a date with me?"

"A . . . date?" Saber asked with a cant of her head as she studied him.

He looked away and said, "I shouldn't have asked. Hell, I don't even know if you know about what a date is."

"Yes I do. It is the modern form of courtship where a couple will do something together to assess their compatibility and grow closer to one and another," Saber said with a smile, "Irisviel taught me about them actually."

Saber bit her lip as she realized she hadn't thought about her friend in a long time. The woman who had been at her side during the majority of the Fourth War when Kiritsugu had decided to fight on with his assistant had been someone Saber had grown close to. Archer was quiet, his eyes downcast as he poked at his food idly with his chopsticks. Then those steel grey eyes looked at her before going down again.

However the brief glance was all Saber needed to see the naked question lurking in those iron colored depths. A question she wondered why he would ask. A simple question, maybe born of curiosity if it was anyone else but Archer who wanted to ask it. Archer didn't ask idle questions. She had been around him long enough to know that, but she had also been around him enough to know when he wanted to know something.

She kept her council and held that information to pursue at a later date in hopes to learn more about who the man she wanted to be with was.

Archer spoke first and he said, "You were close to her."

"Yes. She acted more of a Master than my real Master did," Saber said with a shake of her head before looking into his eyes. She smiled and said, "As an answer to your question, I would like to go out on a date with you."

To say that Archer's face lit up would have been an understatement. His eyes brightened to look like molten silver and a broad, true smile instead of his normal sardonic look blossomed across his face. He said, "That's . . . thank you, Saber."

She reached out and lightly patted his hand. "I do enjoy our time together even when we're not . . . being carnal."

More color rushed into his cheeks and she felt hers aflame as well. He replied, "So do you know your schedule? I need to see how bad my apartment has been damaged and start repairs, but I can always stay here until then. And it's been a while since I've had fun like this. Just to be with someone I like."

Its been a while, Saber thought with a smile and she said, "I would enjoy the experience myself, Archer."

"Good," he said, "I want us to have a relationship and all that entails. I want to get to know you and you to know me in a non life threatening capacity. I want this to build naturally between us and I don't want to rush into anything and hurt you."

Saber stared at him for a moment, shook her head and said, "You really are something."

"I just want to do this right. It's not like I've really done this before and I want to do this properly, well as properly as I can," he replied with a tiny smile.

Saber looked at the clock, winched, and said, "And soon I need to be at work, I apologize . . ."

"No, I understand, but do you understand what I'm saying?" Archer said with a smile that made her smile in return.

She nodded and said, "Of course . . ." Because I want this as well. I want to know you, all of you.

"I asked Saber on a date."

Matou Sakura's eyes widened and there was a loud clatter from where Shirou had dropped the two by four he'd been carrying. She turned to where Archer was nimbly mixing drywall and asked, "You did what?"

"I asked Saber out on a date," Archer said with a tiny smile.

Sakura stared at him with an open mouth as she saw Shirou quickly gather up what he had dropped and headed to the part of the building he was in charge of repairing. Sakura, Shirou, and Rider had volunteered to help Archer repair his home and shop. As Shirou had pointed out, it was the least they could do after all the other version of Sakura's lover had done for them.

She'd expected him to be his normal sarcastic self, but instead he'd been wearing a silly grin on his face despite nearly dying and having his home badly damaged last night. Then he had happily dropped the bombshell that had caused Shirou and her to all but shut down. Rider on the other hand was grinning herself and Sakura could see her shoulders shake with restrained mirth.

Sakura asked, "What about Nee-san?"

"I'm going to call Rin and tell her," Archer said, "She'll be furious and state that Saber's not good enough and then I'll have to spend a long time convincing her it's okay."

Sakura blinked and asked, "What what about how she feels about you?"

"Rin's my closest friend and the closest thing I have to family. She doesn't feel that way about me, not in the way you're thinking," Archer said with a sigh.

Sakura bit her lip and said, "But I thought . . . It always seemed that . . ."

Archer walked over to her and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "Rin and I are close, we always will be. If she needs something I'd be in England in an instant. Same with me needing something and her being in Japan. However, we're not in love. It could have ended that way, but it didn't, and we both know that. I love Rin, but I love Rin like I loved Ilya."

His eyes darkened at that and he shook his head before looking Sakura in the eye again. He said, "Don't worry, your sister will be happy. We'll make sure of it, but right now Rin needs to find out who she is after all that magus propaganda had been branded into her by her father before she can go into something like a relationship."

Sakura blinked, nodded, and said, "Ah, that's . . ."

"It's a good thing. It means that Saber's becoming a person," Rider said from where she was nailing a board into place, "Which is something the two of you wanted."

Sakura nodded and said, "I understand. I think."

Shirou called out, "Hey, Sakura, can you lend me a hand?"

"Of course, Sempai," Sakura said before running off to help her lover.

Archer was smoothing out a bit of dry wall when Rider walked over to him. She said, "Sakura was keen on you and Rin getting together. She thought you two fit nicely."

"Why does everyone just assume that I want to be with Rin?" Archer said with a sigh as he looked at the statuesque Gorgon.

Rider shook her head and said, "It's like the one person that Rin gets along best with is you. Which is something I envy you for."

Archer smirked and said, "Rin your type, Rider?"

"Other than you, my choice would be Mitsuzuri Ayako," Rider said tapping one finger against her lip with a small smile.

Archer looked at her and said, "I'm sorry."

"It wouldn't have really became anything but a few nights of fun," Rider said with a smile as she held up the bucket of paste for him. He frowned and slopped some onto the wall and she said, "Someone like you wants a commitment. I don't. Even though you are someone I count as a close friend. And the only person I truly trust with my bike."

"And I'm going to get it running again," Archer said as he looked into her alien eyes.

She nodded and said, "I know. That blond idiot really set you off."

"You have no idea," Archer said as he smoothed the mixture upon yet another hole in the wall, filling it before smoothing it down.

She whispered to him, "I doubt our display is going to sway him."

"I know," Archer said, "So I'll kill him, get it over with, and see where things go with Saber."

Rider chuckled and said, "Being around you has snapped some steel in her spine again. I prefer her like this than the morose wallflower she'd taken to being."

"Good," Archer said before looking at his friend again. She knelt down to work on a lower hole, some of her hair had escaped her braid and pooled upon the floor. He asked, "How are you doing?"

"Sakura has more than enough prana to heal what damage I took last night. What about you?" Rider asked as she looked him over with a frown.

Archer cleared his throat as he felt heat bloom in his cheeks and answered, "Saber helped. A lot."

"Archer, one more thing before she gets too close to you," Rider said as her eyes looked up at him.

Archer felt ice coil in his spine at her serious look and swallowed. He asked, "What's that?"

"You need to tell her who you where," Rider said before rising to her feet.

Archer sighed and thought, And I really don't.