~Soup for Le Empress?~

[Guest]

"Soup, soup, good for the soul, soup, soup, uhh... Goes good with a dragon roll? Yeah!" Stirring his soup, a lovely ramen, heavy on noodles and flavor, with chunks of chicken and vegetables floating around, Tas sang a lovely, but very on-the-fly song. But it DID give him an idea! Perhaps the empress would enjoy some dragon rolls with her soup! So after he finished stirring his soup, he went over to the kitchen counter opposite his stove, and went about the process of making dragon rolls, lovely things they were. And as one couldn't have sushi without soy sauce, he made sure to place a vial of the stuff with the sushi, which he placed in a basket, along with a bowl of ramen, carefully sealed and wrapped in foil, so nothing spilled. Adding some chopsticks, he deemed it to be a lovely gift basket, perfectly fit for the leader of Aerugo! And as an Imperial Guard, it was his DUTY to both protect the empress and her empire, as well as to ensure that she got the nutrition she needed to carry out her empress-type duties! So off he went, having called ahead of time to arrange a meeting with the empress, towards her palace-type thingy.

Once he'd arrived, he was escorted, food in tow, to a room where, behind a set of curtains, the empress of Aerugo sat. Twas lunchtime, according to his watch, and Tas smiled his big, somewhat goofy smile, at her silhouette, through the cloths. "Hello Empress-sama~" Taking a rather large bow, he rose, and spoke once more. "I prepared for you a bowl of my best ramen, and a plate of dragon rolls. I hope you like them." Handing the food basket to a manservant-guy-thing, he smiled and bowed again as the food was taken behind the curtain, for Yuuko to sample and decide if it was suitable for her lunch. PLEEEEEEEASE LOOOOOOOOVE THEEEEEEE SOOOOOOOUP.

[Guest]

This was one of those days. As much responsibility and especially power came with being the sole ruler to a while country, as much downsides it had.Besides having to make decisions of world-scale there were other things to do. One of these things, actually one of the things Yuuko herself disliked the most, was audiences. Be present in the main room troughout the entire afternoon or morning or day, depending on how the schedule was set and hear out all kinds of people and their requests. And possibly be expected to make a wise and generous decision if they requested it to be. All the while being concealed behind non-seetrough curtains and guarded by a bunch of pawns with pointy sticks. As if they would do any good if there was an actual incident. If it weren't incredibly un-empress-y Yuuko would have delved right into a massive yawning fit to express her weariness with this.

Unexpectedly, the next person inline seemed different. People acting super formal, she already knew. People being all reserved, nothing new. People bringing gifts, it happened every now and then. Through the silken cloth she could see the silhouette of a man in a well known garb. Someone of the nations military services he must have been. Just when he started talking, one of the sentries entered the pavilion-esque housing made of curtains from the side, carrying a neatly arranged basket of traditional fare. Either someone was trying to win himself some points or was just totally devoted to being the picturebook citizen. With a waving motion, she acknowledged the gift, and the pawnguards would know to get a table, and more importantly, a food taster. Standard procedure - not that this job actually involved test eating in this day and age, but a quick check with a few rasps of everything - because it would be too easy to poison and assassinate the Empress or any royal clerks otherwise. All this went by in total silence, but the deliverer couldn't yet relax. Trough the shrouds of cloth, the Empress looked down from her platform-elevated throne on him, like a light trying to break away a shadow into nothingness. An intense stare with intent so thick one could almost cut it with a knife, if it was possible to bring these into this hall. What it turned into would be depending on what the specialists said, while two servants brought in a table for everything to be arranged on, if the Empreess was to take any of it. All of this was mostly hidden in shades and hushed movement for the bowed man.

[Guest]

Oooooh, he hoped that the empress liked his lunch for her! He'd worked extra hard on it, and he made sure to do everything PERFECTLY. Maybe if she did like it, he could bring her a meal every day! Of course, it wasn't quite his job to prepare her royal lunch or anything, but MAYBE IT COULD BE. Actually, his job was a tad different from that of a chef, but hey, he could do both, aye? And of course, he'd make food for Raistlin as well... Of course, for RAISTLIN, his soup and sushi would have to be WAY better than this! Remaining in his lowered bow, the distinguised gesture of respect in Aerugo, and one he intended to use well, he awaited the results of the taste-testers, fully understanding their purpose, or eh... Not. Maybe they were there to make sure it tasted good for the empress? Well, he certainly didn't want them to deem it a bad dish, for that would be HORRIBLE. Generally, when one brought lunch for the empress, it had better taste to her liking, or eh... Well, he wasn't so sure what would happen in the instance of her NOT approving of people's lunches. But she had to be picky enough, for people probably brought her food every day, and if she liked it all, then there would be no way she could look as thin as she did through the curtains. Indeed, he hoped his lunch would fare well to the choicy tongue of his ruler...

[Guest]

Silence like a grave was kept up all the time, while the expert was hushing and doing with his bottles, glasses, tinctures and stuff. The occasional clink of some fluid being stirred was the only thing audible for the present people. It took but a few moments for him to finish, and even with results, they not needed any communication on verbal basis. The food-specialist bowed quickly and then slipped out of the room under the eyes of a guard. For the benefactor the fact that neither had the empress nodded anything to any guards, that he was not yet arrested and that everything remained silent should been hint enough about what the royal auxiliaries thought of his food gifts.

The empress' facial expression bightened up a bit, just ever so slightly - not that anyone would have seen it trough the cloth meant to seperate the highness from any and all commoners and their views as well as perserve her identity. The meal gift was arranged with the brought in table and positioned beside the royal seating. It smelled very intense, not unlike what the palace kitchen used to send her way multiple times per day. It was indeed very well made, one used to only the things made with utmost care and skill could tell. "Let it be known, the highness appreciates this gracious gift and deems it quite suited. But, we are wondering, with what plea and intent may this come? WHat does it entail, that we are gifted with such?" Yes, this was almostas high-formal as she could, but whatever could she do, commoners exoected this and she was the head of gouvernment to this country after all. Her interest was stirred now, regardless. Usually, any presents came with demands of one kind or the other, for which people wanted to soothe the temper of their leader. But this man had not yet said a word ever since, either he was playing his cards really good to be interesting, or it was just chance that he did not line up with usual business completely.

[Guest]

Keeping his bow and silence in check, he glanced up to see the tester had tested stuff, and he could only hope that he deemed the food as tasty enough for the empress. When he left, however, without a word, Tas could sort of guess, after a moment or two of deep thought, that he must have approved the gift, and Yuuko would eat it. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSss!!

Glancing at the empress, never ceasing his deep bow, he heard her speak. Bowing even deeper, to the point he could "I'm glad you like it, Empress-sama! Thank you very much for all your compliments." Smiling cheerfully, he was inwardly DANCING in happiness. Not that his still-bowing figure showed it in the least. So the empress deemed his food QUITE SUITING? Scooooooooore! But before he could say more, she asked of him his intents in coming. With a smile, he went about explaining. "Oh, I didn't really want anything from you, empress-sama. I only wanted to bring you a gift." Quite simple, his explanation. He was totally honest with her; there was no catch, just a gift. if anytrhing, he had wanted only to deliver the gift to her, so in a way, he'd already recieved his favor from his empress...

[Guest]

Crazy. That's what the Empress first impression was. He must have been crazy. There was simply no other explanation. Since after all, it was quite an ordeal to prepare meals as fine as to suit them to the empress. And he surely did not want a reward? Seemingly, he was as joyous as someone who was just promoted from peasant to landlord, increasing their pay tenfold while fractioning the work. And all Yuuko did was say, that the offering was close enough to her taste to not leave a bad impression.
This was certainly new. If only everyone would be as crazy -or in reality: nice and loyal- as this person, the whole country would be a far better place and so muich easier to keep in good shape all around. Seeing there were underlings of this caliber in the ranks of the Imperial Army sparked a little of that same joy in the Empress. So not everything was bureaucracy and cold, hard facts.
"Hear this, loyal soldier. You are certainly special in who you are and what you do. We are quite in joy about knowing that there are your kind of people amongst our Empire. Your ways and ideals are duly noted, they may grant you compensation for selfless effort someday." Yes, as strict and calculating of a ruler she was, she did know of the importance citizens with the right mindset could bear. Even if it was only to be used as loyal pawns that would give their all to the command of the empress in times of extreme measures.
Kind of toying with Tas, she did not dismiss him openly, like it was commonplace. Instead, she wanted to rest her eyes and mind on this very special individual for at least another moment, seeing his reaction to the thanks she had given. "Say, loyal man, which is the name your parents bestowed upon you?" Yes, she really was going to try and remember this being as an individual person and not just "that one militant who was selfless line hardly anyone else".

[Guest]

Whuuuuut? All these compliments from his empress!? It certainly took a LOT of effort to stay his bow as he felt the burning need to jump up and down and run around the room like an ADHD ten year old. But with ultimate self-reserve, he actually managed to bow a little LOWER, if by only half a milimeter or something, and with a happy smile, said, "Thank you for your kind words, empress-sama." Doing his best to keep up an attitude worthy of being in her presence, he noted that speaking this formally was really hard! Oh well, if empress-sama did it, then he supposed he had to as well.

As his mind contemplated stuff, he was asked a question by the Aerugese ruler. His name, eh? That was easy, he knew the answer to this one! "I am Sergeant Akiyama Tasselhoff, empress-sama." Hmm... Now Tas was curious after speaking; why on Earth were Aerugese names backwards? Huh... Well, that didn't matter. The important thing was, the empress had requested his name, and now he was kinda curious as to why, considering she was all eh... Empressy, and he was just erm... Soupy...

[Guest]

Much longer, this unexpected meting could not go on. As it was the classic noblesse, the Empress did't show her face to commoners. Neither did she eat in anyone's presence. So eating in presence of a low soldier was way out of the question, but it would be quite the waste to let this well-made meal go cold. Because she had to admit it did encourage her hunger just by the smell and as is a common saying, the taste is important. Resourceful as always, Yuuko didn't like the bare thought of waste in any regard, be it wasted time, wasted chances or wasted food. There were places in this countrry where a whole lot of people worked hard every day to produce the food every aerugese man and woman ate. It would be a very disrespectful act towards their invested work and time to not eat and enjoy.
"Tasselhoff. What an odd sounding name, if we might note. We take it, your family roots split towards other cultures somewhere?" It really was unusual. In most cases, people with ties to other places somehow happened to always be drawn towards these and desert their homecountry aerugo without a second thought. So people with his background were slightly uncommon in the ranks of aerugese military services. On that topic, she would enjoy the day when finally updates on the current top-tier deserters were delivered, because it was a matter very vital to their secret service and security, that she would finaly be able to take care of. But, now the empress really got carried away, even daydreamingly gazing off into the far distance beyond the curtains, castle walls and clouds for the fraction of a moment. "In any case, we would beg your pardon now, loyal Akiyama. There are important matters we have to tame soon, much appreciated a short break would be bnefore that." As unmoved as she generally was troughout this episode, a sort of gracious gesture with her hand that swept over into a waving motion signaled Tas, that he was not only excused, but actually being kicked out politely now. So the mistres could spend her break between duties with this menu, which she was getting more curious about, the longer it stood near her on the table.

[Guest]

Smiling everpresently as the empress took note of his odd name, as he had expected; not common was the name, Tasselhoff. Not in Aerugo, anyways. But he had noticed that people reacted to it before, so he decided to explain. "Actually, not at all, empress-sama. My great-great-grandfather was half-Cretan, also called Tasselhoff, but besides him and his mother's side of the family, I am almost pure Aerugese." Indeed, it was a nice pedigree to hold; he was exactly 96.75% Aerugese, with the remaining 3.25% being Cretan. Indeed, that made his obsession with his idol that much crazier to the normal man; Raistlin was not pure Aerugese, he held Ishvallan and Amestrian traits. Therefore, by most logic, he was beneath Tas, a mutt compared to a pure-bred. So it was odd for Tas to place Raistlin on such a pedestal.

But enough of his heritage, and pedestals and logic. Plus, Tas didn't even know the percents of his heritage anyways, as he couldn't even count to 40, let alone 94.75! Anyways, Yuuko spoke again, this time noting that he had to go, which was reasonable; important people tended to have important concerns at hand. So, with a smile and "Of course, empress-sama." And withthat, he finally rose from his bow, and exited the room, hopinghis food tasted like it smelled...

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