Edgar looked up through his round spectacles to the list of names and prices hovering before him. He felt within his bones that a sweat was going to break upon his face at any given moment. What on earth was a Caramel Mochiatto Frappuccino? And what was a low-fat Chai Tea latte? He wasn't sure. He supposed this was his cross to bear, having not come into establishments such as this in... well, ever, that he could recall. Not one of them sounded particularly appealing, but as far as he was concerned, they could be spelling out 'cow dung' in Swahili, and he wouldn't be any the wiser.

He frowned, causing his spectacles to slide down his prominent nose, as they usually did. His strikingly blue eyes were showing something akin to despair. Well, he thought, at least my hair has been tied back and won't get into my coffee. It had been known to happen, much to his embarrassment.

The astoundingly large woman before him in line moved out of the way, and Edgar realized it was his turn. He hunkered up to the counter, where the pert blonde teenager was beaming at him. He offered his own shaky smile in return.

"What can I get you?"

"I'll have... ah... coffee."

There was a pause. "What kind of coffee?"

"Black."

The girl frowned for a moment, before smiling. "Would you like whipped cream on that?"

"No, thank you."

"Caramel?"

"No, thank you."

"Ground chocolate?"

Edgar was beginning to get rather desperate at this point. "Just black, if you please."

"The total comes to $3.20. Thank you for your patronage." Smile.

Hastily handing over the changed he'd dug into his tweed jacket pocket for, he placed it on the counter, picked up his coffee, and hurried back to his papers with that amiable gait of his. Taking a sip, he almost spit it out. Even ordering black, it still tasted like liquid sugar. To him, it was the liquid equivalent to one of those horrendous "My Little Pony" type dolls.

Bloody hell.

Sakura walked into the coffee shop wearing her sweatsuit. Sweat lightly speckled her face; she had a very good workout earlier in the day. She got on the line and waited for her turn.

The young girl smiled at her, "What can I get for you ma'am?" The girl asked, her hands floating over the buttons.

"I'll just get a coffee, light and sweet, no whipped cream, and just a little bit of chocolate." Sakura said, damn she felt old, she didn't like the girl calling her ma'am.

Sakura grabbed her coffee and saw a man sitting by himself nearly spitting out his coffee. She made her way towards him, and smiled at him. "Do you mind if I have a seat?" She asked politely waiting for his answer.

Edgar's blue eyes flickered towards the rather attractive asian woman who was walking towards him. Small warning bells were going off in his head, telling him to run away so as not to be approached by her. He found this thought rather appealing, not because it was she that was unnappealing, but rather quite the opposite. Edgar was not a ladies' man. In fact, he was about as far from it as one could be and still be heterosexual.

She smiled at him, and he almost spilt his coffee. Pushing is spectacles up, again, he gave her a shaky smile in return. "Ah, well, yes, you may... sit, I mean. Just let me - here." He set down his coffee and began piling all his books and papers together. There were papers written in languages long since forgotten by most people, but not Edgar. He was a historian - an occult historian - and it was his job to know things that other people didn't on the matter.

Still, that didn't make him a good conversationalist. Far from it. You brought up anything antique, and he was your knew best friend and you almost had to get a restraining order against him. Anything else, and he was a shy, almost pathetic little man who was either oblivious to flirting, or acted like a deer caught in the headlights. Nope, not the most amazing of men.

Too bad. He really was quite cute... When he cut his hair.

Sakura smiled and sat down. She laughed lightly as the man nearly spilt his coffee. "Well I'm Sakura." She extended her hand to the nervous man. She noticed all the papers, most of which she didn't understand at all, but she saw one in japanese, but didn't have time to read what it said as he piled it all up.

"Well, ummm, what are you studying there?" Sakura pointed at the papers showing a lot of interest. She found the man cute with his nervousness. She took a sip of her coffee feeling the mostly sugar substance slide down her throat. "The coffee here is more like sugar even if you get it black." She crossed her legs and leaned into the chair.

Edgar had to forcibly stop himself from wincing when she laughed. It was a quite lovely sound, but he was simply extremely awkward around the fairer sex. He gave her a tight smile. "Edgar Lowsley at your s-service, madam," he replied, his London accent shining through in all its glory. He extended his own rather sweaty palm to her, and shook her hand. It was a nice hand, but callused. His own hand was similar, due to the things he'd done on his travels.

With a small start, he looked at his papers as if he was seeing them for the first time. A small from marred his features, before a dreamy sort of smile emerged on his face. "I'm actually working on tracing the earliest forms of religion in the world. It's somewhat of a hobby, you could say." Now the smile was self-conscious as he huddled over his coffee cup. "F-fairly tedious most of the time, but I enjoy it."

He made a face, but it lasted for only a few moments. "I should have known better than to stray from home to work. I could be home with a nice spot of Earl Grey to stew." He eyed his coffee distastefully, before edging it away from him.

Sakura smiled Edgar seemed really nice, he was just really nervous. She heard the man's London accent. "So you're from England?" She shook his hand, and felt the callousness of it. She listened as he spoke, "That's actually very interesting!! I've always wondered how religions originated." She smiled and looked at Edgar.

"Well if you didn't venture out you wouldn't have met me here!" She placed her elbows on the table, and grinned at him. She took another sip of the sugar. "So what else do you study?" She let one of her hands rest on Edgar's steadying it.

He nodded. The whole... talking thing didn't seem so bad. "My family originates from St. Albans. It's about an hour outside of London. We're quite well off, but not in the aristocratic sense. We amassed our fortune at the turn of the 19th century by being merchants." He blushed. "But of course, that's terrible uninteresting. Suffice to say, I come from a rather well off family who I've grown apart from, and have now chosen to dwell here." He decided to leave out the whole fiasco about him spending far too much of his inheritance. There were something that strangers did not need to know.

Giving her a small smile in return, he felt that this wasn't so bad. "Yes, well. Religions seem to be a specialty of mine. I study all manner of religious and occult artefacts, practices, and beliefs." He scowled. "But I am not one of those bleeding newfangled New Age persons. It is from a purely intellectual point of view, I assure you."

Mostly.

"Ah, well... Yes. I suppose that was r-rather f-fortunate," Edgar replied, cursing himself internally for stuttering. His spectacles slipped down his nose once more.

She smiled as Edgar spoke about his family. It was always good hearing about the good fortunes of others. She wouldn't push the subject of his growing apart.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as Edgar mentioned the occult. She listened intently wanting to know more. "You study the occult? I've gained an interest in it recently." She left it at that and smiled at him. There were too many questions that needed answering. Too many mysteries that needed to be solved. The mysterious man, Michael, and the monster, Sergei. It was all overwhelming for her.

Edgar felt his eyebrows raise so high that they disappeared into his hairline. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. He should've learned that people who are usually interested in the occult can be the last people you expect. He himself was a living testament to that fact. Had someone told him while he was in secondary school that the'd be owning a little occult bookshop in a Canadian city, Edgar would've laughed... Then probably would've scurried away.

"I study teachings of the occult," confirmed Edgar with a nod. "That's not to say that I'm a Shaman - though I did spend time with a rather remarkable tribe in Africa called the Masai - or a Druid - though I did get to be a part of a reinactment of one of their ceremonies while in Yorkshire. But no, I simply study the various belief systems of peoples... And the Occult seems to be a great part of it, to modern perceptions." He smiled, and it was a nice smile that made him look far more confident and in turn, far more handsome than before. That wasn't to say he was an ideal man - far from it - but he wasn't half bad.

"Is that so?" asked Edgar, forgetting his curiosity for a more intellectual curiosity. "May I ask what sparked your interest?"

Sakura smiled as Edgar went on about the occult. He seemed to gain much more confidence. She listened to his question and thought about it, what monsters broke into her dojo and nearly killed her? Oh and can't forget about how she saw someone who was dead coming back to life and helping her fight one of those monsters.

Sakura thought about it and decided to tell him a story her family had handed down for generations, the story was that of a demon sword. "Well actually it was a while back. You see my family passed down a story, a very interesting story. It's about how the first sword smiths in Japan practiced a very strange ritual. One of these sword smiths sold his soul to an, ummm, oni to create the sharpest sword in the world. The oni granted the sword smith his wish, and sealed the smith's soul within the sword. Before the sword was completed he slit his wrist and poured it into the center of the sword. Also whoever wielded this blade met a terrible demise or claimed to be possessed by a malevolent soul." She looked into Edgar's eyes and smiled. "I didn't believe in the sword until some of my research uncovered a ritual very similar to that of the one that created the sword."

"Ever since I found this ritual I made it my mission to seek out the demon sword." She looked around and lightly sipped on her coffee, which was a little cool.

Edgar nodded empathically. It was not the first time he'd heard things like this. Quite the opposite in fact. He stroked his chin in thought, thinking about it. "I can see why something like that would gain interest. I've never heard that story before, though I'm not surprised. I'm more interested in the mythology and such of the west I'm afraid. Perhaps I should look more into this eastern mythology. I know enough to know that it's quite interesting in all aspects."

He cleared his throat. "As for me... Well, my own experience is a little, ah, more unusual. I was walking in Scotland one year in standing stones near Iverness. I came across a man dressed in full Druid regalia, and well... He gave me one of the oldest Druid journals ever found. Then he simply... disappeared." His laugh was self-conscious. "It must sound quite mad. It certainly did to my family, and the Master of Anthropology at Cambridge, but I still have the journal, so it couldn't have been all my imagination."

He smiled slightly. "Did you come across any potential leads?"

Sakura listened to Edgar, so he wanted to look into the story. "That'll be a problem, the story's, ummm, a family secret. The story has been lost by other famlies, but my family has made it their mission to find it. Most if not all of my of my family is dead. My mother died giving birth to me. And my father died in a car accident." She leaned close to Edgar, "My grandfather was part of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He died bombing the Americans." She whispered almost inaudible to everyone that sat around them.

She smiled at Edgar's story, she didn't quite believe it was that weird. You didn't see someone reset their arm right after it was broken. Well at least like Sergei. "I've had a few leads, but none of them really led anywhere. I just found another lead that I think is the one I've been looking for." She leaned in again, "The blood that is trapped within that sword is the blood that runs through my veins. The sword smith was my ancestor." She didn't want to say this, but it made sense to tell him.

If he was shocked by anything that she said, it didn't show on his face. He kept it a clean slate, showing only polite interest. At the appropriate time, he made a bold move for one so cowardly, and put his hand on hers. Although he didn't have many friends, he wasn't so much of an outcast that he didn't know how to comfort others.

"You need not worry about telling such things to me," he said, matching her quiet tones. "There must always be two sides to every war. Why, if we were to go by history, the English killed many people in both America and Canada. We were a rather barbarious lot I fear, though we claimed to be above everyone else." He offered an encouraging smile. "Have no fear. The actions of others are not held accountable by those they left behind."

Taking a sharp intake of breath, Edgar nodded. That made more than a little sense to him. "If you'd like... Well, this might seem rather f-forward of me, as we are but mere acquaintances, but if you'd like, I have several contacts of whom you could contact regarding such a blade. I'm afraid it might not be anyone too well-known - I fear I've lost my good reputation in some circles - but they may help you to uncover what you're looking for."

Sakura lightly squeezed Edgar's hand, it made her feel much better, though she kept most of it at bay. She wondered how humans managed to survive with all these wars. She listened as Edgar said that he'd get her in touch with some contacts.

"Okay, was your, ummm, descent caused by the Druid?" She smiled, "I'd be quite grateful for that." Sakura pulled out a pen and wrote on the back of her receipt. "What are the numbers?" Her pen hovered over the receipt.

... Annnd, the awkwardness was back.

Shifting in his seat, and struggling to maintain his cool composure, Edgar's smile wobbled. This had been the first time in... Lord knows how long that he'd had so much contact with a woman, even if it was just comforting each other. Now, don't get the wrong impression. He was not thinking intimate thoughts about Sakura - if he were, he'd be under the table, melting into a pile of goo out of sheer embarrassment.

"Er, it was caused by - by a few things," said Edgar. "Not in small part due to the fact that I spent my inheritance traveling around the world learning about subjects that my family saw as heresy. There's only so much dignity one can retain while dancing half-naked on the African veldt in front of one's peers." He chewed on his lip.

"Oh, yes!" He wrote down the numbers. "They'll mostly all be long distance mind you, but simply tell them that you're an acquaintance of Edgar Lowsley's, and you should be treated with due courtesy."

Sakura smiled and wrote down Edgar Lowsley above the phone numbers. She could take care of the long distance charges. If they had any knowledge on the demon sword then she'd use it. Sakura thought Edgar was quite cute. She'd have to find some way to thank him.

Sakura took another sip of her coffee and realized it was empty, damn. "Thank you so much Edgar. I work and live in the Unmei dojo, if you ever want to get in touch again just stop by. I'll be more than happy to give you a few free lessons." She smiled and gently squeezed Edgar's hand. "So, ummm, what legends have you heard? I mean of mystical swords." She was getting a little nervous because of the amount of sugar that flowed through her veins, plus the caffeine.

Egdar pictured himself in sweatpants in a dojo, attempting to spar with this woman, and shuddered. There was no man alive that was more uncoordinated that Edgar Lowsley, and he'd be dust and ash before he'd attempt his hand at fighting. No, he'd long ago resigned himself to the fact that he was what he would always be - a gangly, not-very-attractive, clumsy man. He'd accepted it, and he was fine with it.

Thinking her question over, he said, "The one that immediately pops to mind is the same one that usually pops to people's mind... Excalibur." He smiled. "Given to King Arthur by Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. Despite all the hype, Excalibur - the sword - was not the most precious gift he was handed that day. No, it was the sheath that went with it that was far more valuable than the sword itself. There was a charm upon it that as long as he wore it, he would never be slain in battle. It was only when it fell from his person that he was slain."

A look of fondness washed over his features. King Arthur was indeed one of his favourite legends.

Sakura smiled she liked King Arthur and the legend of Excalibur, but she never knew about the sheath. That was really interesting. To think there was such an item in the world. Though her number one priority was the demon sword. She didn't believe in the sheath and wouldn't really pursue it.

"I really liked the legends of King Arthur, though I never knew about the sheath being Arthur's true strength. If I remember correctly Arthur was betrayed by Lancelot and Gwenaver right?" She tried to see if there was anything else she remembered of Arthur. She liked talking to Edgar. He had a lot of knowledge and she liked that in a man.

Edgar frowned. "Well, yes and no." He folded his hands on the table.

"Arthur was quite busy, what with all his quests and the likes. Guenevere got lonely, and Lancelot had been enamoured of her for quite some time. They had an affair, and when Arthur found out, he was heartbroken. Lancelot was his best friend, and Guenevere was the woman he loved the most. Indeed, he was convinced he had to kill Guenevere - for that was the price of the adultery of a queen - but Lancelot saved her, I believe." Edgar sighed. "Quite a tragic story, really."

Then he coughed, and suddenly realized that he'd been blathering on about nothing in particular. "But, you k-know my interests. What of yours?"

Sakura smiled and listened contently to Edgar. Edgar knew a lot, but then again he was a historian. She kept on holding onto his hand, it made her feel good to have someone like him around.

"Well let's see you can tell that one of them is martial arts." She smiled and looked at her empty cup. "I've been training since I was a little girl." She sighed remembering training under her father in Japan. "I brought my grandfather's art to the Demaitre maybe ten years ago." She blinked, how could it be that long? It certainly didn't feel like it.

Edgar gave a bashful smile in return, but did not seek to pry his hand away from hers, despite the fact that it was beginning to get sweaty. Being extremely nervous of the opposite sex could do that to a man. Indeed, it seemed like all his intestines were tied in knots. The only women he ever saw were the ones that came into his shop, and it was very hard to pay attention to them while all the books he so loved were scattered about.

"I find that rather incredible," admitted Edgar. "The only sport I ever participated in was Polo, and I found I was rather quite dreadful at it." His laugh matched his smile. "And I must say, I am rather quite horrible at defending myself. I'm clumsy, and it's somewhat of an incurable disease, I'm afraid. Mind you, I don't really have anything worth being mugged for in any case."

He looked at his cup as well. He wished it had tea in it. And maybe some vodka.

"In any case, it's wonderful that you brought your grandfather's teachings here."

Sakura laughed lightly, her ribs were still a little sore, and it hurt her to laugh, of course she hid it as best she could. She tried playing other sports but none were as good as martial arts. "Yes it is, even if you're not good at defending yourself it's always good to calm yourself or help discipline yourself."

Sakura felt bad for Edgar, he deserved better than what he was getting. Her own budget was stretched as much as it could, so investing in his store was out of the question. She then remembered that she had a book of the demons sword and its ventures. "Oh I just remembered I've got a family book that has the story of the sword and events connected to it." She blinked and looked at Edgar.

"Ah," said Edgar, "but when I need to calm myself, I sit in front of the fireplace - the one I have now is dreadfully small, but it suffices - with a glass of brandy and read a good book. Books are my life you know." He chuckled softly. "As for self-discipline... I'd like to think I have some, although I know it will turn out that I'm absolutely lacking in it." A louder chuckle this time.

Leaning forward like a kid peering into a candy shop, the Englishman's face lit up. Even though the spectacles were once again on the end of his nose, his blue eyes twinkled. "Do you really? That - that is really quite amazing. May I have a look at it, do you suppose? I wouldn't want to barge in - as it were - if this whole afair is a tad too personal for you, but I should desperately love to see it."

Yup. He was a nerd, and he didn't even realize it.

Sakura smiled Edgar looked as happy as a dog who just found a stockpile of bones. She wouldn't mind, but she had to go back to the dojo. It was locked up tighter than a bank vault. "I don't mind at all, but we'll have to go to my dojo. That's where my life is, it's also my apartment." Sakura laughed thinking maybe she should try to get a real apartment rather than live in the dojo.

"I found training in the martial arts also helped me become less clumsy...Yeah I was pretty clumsy when I was a child. My father hated how clumsy I was so he taught me." She was laughing remembering her childhood. She wasn't that clumsy it was just that she had a few accidents such as spilling hot tea on her father's lap.

Back to her...? Oh Lord.

If he'd been perfectly at ease a second before - albeit a tad enthusiastic - that was all gone now. Nope, here was the embarrassed, shy man who had no idea what to do in a woman's apartment. He couldn't even remember being IN a woman's apartment, besides perhaps one of his colleague's once upon a time... and even then he'd just waited in the entrance area.

Edgar's voice was a tad strained. "Oh, uh, yes. That would be lovely." He gave a weak smile. "I'd think of trying martial arts, but... I'm rather more the bookworm type. I could tell you the physics behind it, and the metaphysics behind meditation, but martial arts just aren't anything I'm ever going to try." He ran a hand lazily over his hair.

Sakura nodded, damn he was really nervous now! "Are you alright?" She asked letting her other hand and pat Edgar's. "I've got a few things that'll be of some interest to you I think." She smiled rummaging through all the items that she had in the dojo that'd be of interest to Edgar. "There's a katana my grandfather had for almost his whole life. It's from World War II." She kept eye contact with Edgar wanting to see his reaction. She was sure she had other items, but they didn't register right away.

Blue eyes flickered down to where she was patting his hand. He knew he most likely looked like a wild animal trapped in a corner. Good, as that's exactly how he felt. There was a motto among the animal kingdrom: fight or flight. As he didn't particularly want to fight Sakura, what was left was flight... Only he didn't want to do that either. That would be considered extremely rude, and if he'd gotten anything out of a childhood in a family such as his, it was that you had to be polite far more often than not.

"I-I'm fine," he assured her, trying to make a reassuring smile out of his wobbly one. He pushed his spectacles up his nose again. "Yes, I'm sure that would be lovely. I've never held a genuine katana before."

Rusted broadswords from Anglo-Saxon invasions, yes. Katanas, no.

Sakura smiled, he seemed to be a little less nervous. She'd definitely let him take a look at it. She'd drop the subject of practicing martial arts for now. "So, ummm, how long have you been living here in Demaitre?" She asked.

Sakura wanted to get another coffee, but the line was too long and she didn't want to be rude to Edgar. Her left foot was shaking a little bit from the caffeine. She forced her leg to stop shaking, and waited for Edgar's response.

An interesting question.

"About seven years," he replied, scratching his arm. "I was forced to move here after I found that I didn't have enough money to continue my travels. According to several of the people I met, this was supposed to be some sort of metaphysical hotspot. I'm not sure if that's entirely correct - I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary thus far (though I don't get out often). Still, I thought it would be an interesting place to live, if the Shaman of an Amazon tribe said it was a place of great magic." He shrugged.

Edgar wasn't sure if this was adequate conversation material for a mere acquaintance, but he'd let it pass. If she found it disconcerting, she'd tell him so... Or leave. He wasn't sure which one would be the better option out of the two. He suddenly wished he hadn't said anything at all.

Sighing he said, "I paid a great deal for this coffee, and it tastes like syrup." He pushed it farther away with one long finger.

Sakura nodded she didn't know if it was metaphysical, but it was definitely a very strange place. Her mind drifted to the night attack on her dojo, the strange man Kevinsanya and of Colton. There were way too many strange happenings in this city. "I've heard there are a lot of strange happenings on the news. Too many gang related murders for my liking." She fiddled with her cup, this would be better in a more private location, but it didn't really matter to her.

She looked at the coffee Edgar pushed towards her. It looked good, but she shook her head. "No thank you I'll be fine." She wanted more coffee, but the last thing she needed was more caffeine in her system. "This cafe is known for their sweet blends." She smiled not knowing what to say.

"I've taken to explicitly ignoring the news," said Edgar, fiddling with his spectacles. "I find them much too depressing these days. Mind you, ages past weren't really that much better, what with the piracy, and the wars, and the pillaging, but they never had video clips of it." He sighed. What he would give to go back in time! He rarely used any of the modern luxuries anyways, except for things like electric lighting.

Edgar pulled another face. "I'd noticed. Bloody disgusting if you asked me." He said the latter too loudly, gaining the attention of several people around them. They didn't look particularly pleased with his assessment of the establishment.

Whoops?

Sakura looked around at the people who stared at them disgustingly. "Ummm, I'm guessing it's time for us to go." She stood up from her chair, and waited for Edgar so they could get out of there. "We'll continue talking at the dojo." She smiled at the people even though she felt like flipping the finger at them and walking out.

((Want me to make a different topic?))