Chapter Text
The red archer stands in his kitchen. Well, Chaldea’s kitchen. Everyone has gotten so accustomed to his cooking that it’s just become his kitchen now. And he’s fine with that, he has no qualms cooking for the Servants and staff of Chaldea, some days it’s even enjoyable. At the end of the day he cleans up the counters, putting away pots and pans and utensils, making sure every surface is spotless before he leaves. Taking off his apron, he hangs it on the wall and turns to look at the darkened cafeteria to scan for any straggling Servants or staff. Someone stands on the other side of the counter. How did he miss them? Was he too absorbed in cleaning to notice?
“Done for the day already, Archer?” A cold voice cuts through the air. He recognizes it.
The Servant is clad in black armor that really doesn’t fit the setting of the cafeteria. Blonde hair tied into an intricate bun. Her stare is fixated on the archer, dead yellow eyes that almost seem to glow in the dark. Her face shows no emotion.
He really doesn’t want to deal with this Servant at this hour but responds nonetheless. “Mm. Did you have one last request?”
“If you are willing to fulfill it.”
-
After going through the hassle of preparing yet another meal, he goes through his end of the day routine yet again. He hastily locks up the kitchen so he has an excuse if anyone else came to the cafeteria. He looks to the cafeteria yet again. That Servant is sitting at a table in the dark, eating what he made for her.
Her name was Artoria Pendragon, but she was not the Artoria that he had known obviously, it took no genius to know that. Emiya wanted nothing to do with her, but he couldn’t easily deny her what she wanted. Even if what she wanted was a simple hamburger.
She scarfed down the burger like an animal, stuffing it in her mouth as if it were the last burger on Earth. He almost watched her with disgust, disdain, but it was more like… disappointment. This was no king. A poor imitation, just a manifestation of what a king shouldn’t be. But he couldn’t bring himself to hate this imitation. The real Artoria Pendragon had yet to be summoned to Chaldea, so now this faker was what they were left with.
“Why are you looking at me, Archer?” The Alter said, or at least that’s what it sounded like since she still hadn’t swallowed her food.
Her question almost made him jump. She seemed too focused on her food to have noticed him.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” He dodged her question.
“Apologies.”
…
The burger was finished in minutes. Well, he hoped she enjoyed it at least.
“Do I know you from somewhere, Red Archer? Your constant stare bothers even me, you know.”
“I doubt that.” He wonders briefly if he should lie to her to prevent the inevitable. “I suppose at one point we did know each other. But you clearly don’t remember, so it doesn’t matter.”
And maybe it’s for the best, he wanted to add, but refrained.
“True, I do not remember any knight of your skill. But there is still a sense of familiarity. It’s quite a bother.”
This they could both agree on. Emiya preferred not to interact with anyone he might’ve known in life, but sometimes those interactions were inevitable.
“I’m not interested in being friends,” she almost muttered. “but I do hope we were on good terms. It wouldn’t do to be enemies with such an amazing cook.”
He almost didn’t know what to say.
“I’m not so low that I wouldn’t cook for a Servant simply because I don’t like them.”
“I suppose that’s good to know regardless of our past.” she stands up from her table and bows her head slightly. “Sincerely, thank you for the meal.”
Emiya nodded, and muttered something just so she couldn’t hear. “Always, Saber.”
-
In a way, it was comforting to know the Altered Artoria still kept her ferocious appetite. It was like the one thing that connected her to the real one. She would always go to the cafeteria and order absurd amounts of junk food, eat it all like it was nothing, and leave. Emiya eventually got used to it; you can’t always be bothered by seeing evil versions of your past friends, he discovered the hard way. This Alter would probably not be the last, knowing the Grail. So for now, he just cooked burgers for an old friend. They shared no words, but the least the archer could do was make the once king a good meal.