Luke's Diner, Thursday

[geniuswithasmartphone]

There was a line of snowmen on the way into town and each one wanted a hug. And, well, who was Hardison to turn down a request for a hug, even from cheerful, animated snowmen? Though that did leave him a little chilly around the time he got to Luke's and so headed inside for a nice warm drink.

And somehow ended up getting convinced to paint holiday scenes in the windows by the busboy. Which, okay, didn't take much convincing at all. It had been awhile since Hardison'd had a chance to much painting and the scenes of a festive Christmas village made him smile.

Today's Specials
Weisswurst
Schäufele
Christsollen
Feuerzangenbowle

Less amusing was the argument he had with the dishwasher about not including an image of the Krampus, but Hardison hadn't expected the peace to last long anyway.

Luke's was open! And very festive!

[No OCD]

Comments

[imafuturist]

Tony was still doing his 'apology for threatening to kill you' thing. Which was why he braved the snowmen.

That and the hope of hot coffee to warm himself up with.

"I didn't know you were an artist."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Thanks man," Hardison said, glancing over his shoulder to give Tony a smile. "I mean, I'm just a dabbler. Don't really paint on the regular or nothin'. I think the last time I really did somethin' on a canvas was for a con, coupla years back."

He also sculpted, played the violin, and could make book forgeries, your one-stop shop for all your art theft needs!

"Yo, can I get you a coffee while I finish up this pane?" La la la, not a test, really!

[imafuturist]

"Please and thank you," Tony said with a relieved smile. "And I'm sorry about last week."

For vaguely threatening your life and being a massive tool. Like, basically some terrible hybrid of Norman Osborn and Victor von Doom.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison nodded at the busboy and leaned over to offer Tony a hand. "Man, you were all kinds of brainwashed an' crazy," he said. "Don't even worry about it. One time I was infected by an alien an' tried to kill Eliot. We all good."

Also, if Tony thought for one second that hand wasn't going to turn into an attempt to tug him in for a warm, 'I forgive you' hug, he'd clearly not been friends with Alec 'Literal Care Bear' Hardison for long enough.

[imafuturist]

Hardison was the best like that!

Tony laughed a little, having no problem with getting pulled into a hug. And not just because he soaked up affection like a sponge. "Says something about our lives, huh?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

And Hardison was a little extra clingy after the week, so that worked out well. "Yeah, except mine was normal 'fore I moved here," he pointed out. "It took comin' to a magic island for it to get all weird."

Because being a world-traveling thief and sometimes hacking people's subconscious was otherwise very normal.

[imafuturist]

"So, you're saying my world is weird?" Tony asked, trying to keep a straight face.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I wouldn't never insult a man's world like that," Hardison said, his hand over his heart and expression the picture of innocence.

"...I'd probably use 'bugfuck,' let's be real." How many alien invasions had there been, Tony?

[imafuturist]

Just the three! So far.

"Is it the power armor? Or the time travel?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Definitely the time travel," Hardison declared. "Battle armor's just cool. An' a natural extension of workin' rocket boots."

So sayeth Hardison's inner ten year old.

[imafuturist]

"Mine have roller skates in case the rocket part doesn't work." EVERY CANON OF TONY HAD THEM. OR SHOULD. C'MON, MCU.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You made Battle Heelys?"

YOU WEREN'T EVEN A DOG-ANGEL ALIEN, TONY!

[imafuturist]

"They're useful!" Also, fun.

[battlewithstyle]

Mistutada came in and tilted his head at the specials a little.

"It sounds very... severe," he mused out loud.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"I dunno, man," Hardison said, giving Mitsutada a little wave from where he was painting snowfall at the top of one of the windows. "The fureuerzangenbowle--" he did not pronounce that right "--is basically a bunch of sugar soaked in rum, set on fire, an' allowed to drip into wine. Sounds pretty chill to me. 'Sup, man?"

[battlewithstyle]

"It's a little early in the day for that, I think," Mitsutada said, as he chuckled to himself. "I am well. Appreciative of your warning for how things can get here. It was nice to be somewhat prepared for all that happened over the weekend."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You ain't never gonna be fully prepared, no matter how long you been here," Hardison said with a rueful chuckle. "But I'm glad I helped. I hear you were on the front lines for this one?"

[battlewithstyle]

"It is where I belong," Mitsutada said with a nod. "It is normally my duty to preserve history. This time it was just in a time and place entirely new to me."

He gave Hardison a smile. "And I took no lasting damage, which is always good."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Glad to hear you're okay," Hardison said. "Sometimes the consequences of these things linger." He'd gotten his spleen ruptured once. That had sucked. "You preserve history? Like some kind of...battle historian?"

He didn't know what that meant, but it sounded awesome.

[battlewithstyle]

"I am one of many soldiers who are sent to battle an evil demon army who is bent on revising Japan's history," Mitsutada explained. "I was actually sent here on a mission to see if this island would be of use to us in that war."

He gave an apologetic smile. "I am sorry for being coy about my origins, before."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"...Yo, if I promise that I ain't mad about not tellin' me earlier, will you promise to sit down an' explain that entire openin' sentence to me again?" Hardison asked, somewhere between glee and utter confusion.

[battlewithstyle]

"Right now?" Mitsutada asked, smirking. He even sat down, as requested. "I'll take some tea, if you have it."

He folded his hands into his lap. "Which requires more elaboration, that I am a soldier, the demon army, or preserving Japan's history?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Yo, we got tea," Hardison said, nodding at the busboy. Sorry, it wasn't going to be the super-good Japanese tea Eliot kept locked in his office, but Kathy had given him that and there were Rules about who got to drink it (Eliot) and when (Special Occasions). "So, the warrior thing, I get. But why are an army of demons goin' after Japanese history? This some kind of 'stop the great general from bein' born' thing?"

Okay, maybe he didn't need much of an explanation.

[battlewithstyle]

"They don't seem to have specific goals," Mitsutada admitted. "Other than changing history in any way they can. Disruption and chaos seem to be their only desires."

"That's why we, the Touken Danshi, were formed." He smirked again. "Quite literally, in fact."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"...Sword men?" Hardison asked, going through his handful of Japanese words, all painstakingly memorized from anime episodes in the late nineties.

Go on, ask him what Zankoku na Tenshi meant.