A Garden Sneak [Open]

[Archer Caughey]

If there was one thing the genius dreaded, it was the word 'fresh'. Anyone to had been to Archer's lab and got a peak into his stock room could see that the guy had A to Z when it came to ingredients in jars, bottles, bags and any other kind of container you could think of. Dried things. Ground things. Preserved things. All an alchemist could ever want.

Unless the ingredient needed to be fresh. Sometimes fresh could be special ordered, special deliveried. Other times fresh meant chasing down Arcadia and asking her the favor of hunting the ingredient down for him. But not when it was early morning and his client's deadline was seven o' clock that night - Arcadia couldn't help him worth squat during the daytime. And he'd already tapped all his special order sources and none of them could get him what he needed fast enough.

So he had to try to get it himself. But where? He'd done the work of flipping through some books, and read all that was available about the plant. He knew what it looked like, how tall it was, what season it flowered during, what the flowers looked like, which part of the plant he needed, how to harvest it, and what climate it grew in. The good news was that it was native to these parts. The bad news was none of his books could tell him exactly where he could find the plant, and that's the kind of help he needed right now.

Archer knew a couple miles away from his lab near the Inn where he'd run into Angel that one time there were some woods. He figured that was his best chance, and wasted no time leaving the lab and heading down the road. Helping this client was particularly important to him, as evidenced by the fact that while he passed several Archer didn't stop in a single bar for a drink. That's right, not even once drink. He was smart enough to have two before he left the house while he was researching.

While he walked he was going over the game plan. He knew exactly how long each step of the experiment was going to take when he got back to his lab. Then he had to account for variables - if it didn't work the first go round, or second go round, if once tested it showed signs of having side effects, stuff like that. He had to allow for time to deal with those things too. All before seven pm. Which meant that Archer had himself no more than three hours to find this ingredient. Seems like a lot of time, but when you're looking for something and it's all chance whether or not you find it, all the sudden it's not a lot of time at all.

He had to keep his eyes open. Leave this up to chance as little as he could. So his eyes were peeled as he was thinking, looking for other opportunities. One came as he was walking past the Tel'Ranaemyn - he spied with his two genius eyes a garden. A nice big garden, which was probably filled with nice big plants native to this region in a lot more orderly fashion than the woods would be organized. Archer stopped and thought it over. He knew people here, right? So it's not like they were going to chase him out of the garden with pitchforks for poking around and doing a little borrowing...Right? After all it was in the name of science. His client's well-being depended on it.

So in no time at all there was the genius in a blue pinstripe three piece suit - no tie as usual - creeping around the Tel'Ranaemyn's garden. The fact he was hunch over like he was, it was probably because he could examine the flowers better, and not because he was trying to sneak around. Probably.

[Leo]

"Bending down low, in a suit to examine a plant. Something is telling me that you are not a new hired gardener." Came the approaching male voice laden with the Spanish accent. The voice's owner belonged to Leo and he had been sitting by the garden's fountain, reading a book in the shadow of a mulberry bush, when he heard someone walking around.

He was going to let the man go about whatever business that was his, but something struck the Spaniard as odd. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with how the man had been poking around the garden. Not at all. It was part of his line of profession to have an eye and take in the habits of people and mask any underlining intention of his own.

Leo walked right up to the guy in the pinstripe suit - he himself was in beige slacks and a darker brown shirt with a black and brown stripped blazer, the book held cupped in his left hand - to stand at his side.

"An admirer perhaps who happened to find something that takes his interest?" Feeling him out in a friendly way with a smile to see what he was about.

[Archer Caughey]

"Never a bad time to wear a suit, that's what I always say." He was bent low when he said it, peering at the leaf he held. The plant he was looking over was similar enough to the one he was after to the point where he had to examine the leaf structure to be sure. And sure enough it wasn't it. If only he could've been that lucky, he would've been back at the lab at no time.

Archer stood, sliding his hands into his pockets. He wasn't sweating the fact he'd been caught green handed. Last he checked he had a few old friends living here, and he was banking on shameless get out of trouble free card numero uno: name dropping.

So he grinned a friendly grin right back. "Interest? Nah, not yet. Hoping to though. I'm mixing something up for a client, requires a certain plant used fresh and none of my dealers can get it to me fast enough. I was headed to the woods, but then I saw this garden and Epiphany and I go way back so I didn't think anyone would mind me snooping around." Despite the fact he was an Irishman through and through, there was barely a trace of it in his voice. He dumbed down his accent when he was away from Conaill. It was just too thick for most people's ears and Archer'd grown tired of repeating himself.

He pulled a hand out of his pocket, offering it. "Archer Caughey. Didn't mean to disturb your summer reading." Of course he noticed the book. He didn't get to be a genius by overlooking details. Then, he figured it couldn't hurt to ask, "Don't suppose there's an old hired gardener on shift today?"

[Leo]

His friend would agree with this man about there never being a bad time to wear a suit. Maybe the two of them have met, and if not then maybe they should if only to trade talk of what suits to wear for when and where.

Before the hand was extended he listened to the other man talk, his smile staying in place. Leo was under the impression that the man carried about him an air of guilt as he didn't seem the type that was easy to fluster over simply being caught off guard (he was wearing a suit afterall). This thought came about because of the way the man spoke, like it was important that the reason of him being here were told - in part - as well as the dropping of the name. That was the sealant.

Mixing medication (he hardly thought that it was tea by use of the word 'dealer'), slightly apprehensive about his being here (due to the name dropping), and he was observant (the book was noticed), this was a guy Leo could appreciate.

Now with the extended hand offered Leo reached out his and took it with a firm shake and one pump of the arm before the release. "Mucho gusto Archer. I am Leo Mínquéz." Unless there was cause for being formal he always went with the shortened version of his first name because many found it hard to say. "It's not a disturbance for I would have kept reading. I do not know if the groundsmen is here today, but I have an eye for plants if you tell me what you are looking for."

[Archer Caughey]

Guilty? Archer? Guilty? Well, maybe a little. He was raised to be an upstanding by-the-rules-for-the-good-of-all kind of guy so sneaking around gardens that didn't belong to him wasn't his usual type of activity. So he was glad that Leo stayed cordial and offered help after he told the man why he was here poking around. Put his conscience right at ease.

"Nice to meet you Leo. And your eyes." Especially his eyes, if what Leo said was true and he had an eye for plants. After the handshake, Archer slid his hands back into his pockets. He had the urge to pace, a habit of his when his genius was in high gear, but he resisted. "See I've got until seven tonight to get this job done, and three hours to get back to the lab and start brewing to account for variables, so time's a fickle friend right now. This isn't the kind of assignment that comes with wiggle room." A person's well-being was at stake.

Satisfied he'd told Leo enough to make the urgency clear but kept vague enough to keep his client's situation confidential he'd cut to the chase. "The plant I'm looking for is Capsella bursa-pastoris. Common names - Shepherd's Purse or Mothers' Hearts, because of the shape of the leaves." Which were heart shaped, as the second name suggested. Archer got all that from a book. He'd never seen the plant in its living state. Just dried, on one of the many shelves in his storage room.

So he was counting on Leo, a guy he just met. Grey eyes watched the man hoping to see and/or hear the best thing in the world - a eureka. Because that would mean the plant was here.

[Leo]

Ah yes, Capsella, he knew of this plant and it's properties for more reason than one. It was because he knew of the plant and the things it could be used for that he thought more about the situation the man was in and that the man was looking to make a type of medication. It could be that this man was even a doctor of a kind.

"A common gardener may be mistaking the plant for a weed and would have it to be removed." Speaking as he moved the book from his hand and into the inside left pocket of his blazer. The book was small and thin enough to abide there and not be of terrible hindrance. "What shame that it could be mistaken as such." Maybe it was not guilt by nervousness that was causing Archer to act like he was.

Leo smiled and began to turn away from Archer while giving sweeping gesture with his hand at the same time for the other to follow him. "Sígame." He headed back to the direction he had been before his attention had gone from his reading to curiosity of the man. "There is a patch growing nearer to the small stream that the caretaker has not seen to remove. I was going to take a bit for lunch, but my stomach can have something else."

It was not far to the stream and the sun had a nice angle for reflecting off the surface. Near the stream, by a bush and looking like a weed was a plant with collection of white flowers.

[Archer Caughey]

"Funny you say that. My sister constantly reminds me that like sanity and insanity what's a weed and what's not is entirely a matter of opinion and not actually fact. Which makes sense, I gotta admit. Considering most people measure a plant's importance by the look of it, the smell of it, or the taste of it. And not by the other things it can do." Ye gads. He sounded like Arcadia just then. Frightening thought. If only she were here to see this moment, she'd stop accusing him of never listening to anything she said.

He didn't speak Spanish, but the gesture was pretty universal - follow me. Considering Leo knew exactly where he could find the plant, there was no question about whether or not to follow. Hands in his pockets, he kept a polite distance behind Leo as the man lead the way. "Stomach troubles?" He couldn't help asking. Archer wasn't a healer per se, he was more a helper. So if it happened to be an upset stomach, while he could make a stomach tonic like a pro that wasn't exactly his passion. If it was a stomach issue connected to something bigger, rarer and more fascinating? Well that would make Archer's day.

As for what Archer needed the plant for, in his brew it wasn't a featured player. More of a supporting role. A lot of times the core ingredients had some serious side-events, but there was no way to not use them. So Archer did his damnedest to negate or treat the side effects within the brew itself to improve the quality of treatment. In order for the Shepherd's Purse to work that way in the brew he was working on, it had to be fresh.

"There she is!" Archer pulled his hands out of his pockets and clapped them together, tasting victory. He could see the plant from where they were and boy was it a welcome sight. He contained himself though, and didn't go running for the plant like some kind of lunatic. Out of respect and gratitude for Leo, he'd keep pace behind his guide through the garden. "Leo my good man, you are a lifesaver. In the literal sense, even."

[Leo]

Judging by Archer's reaction it was good to say that what he wanted was found. He did not want to be standing in the way of a man and his mission and so it was when the other made the proclamation that Leo took a step off to the side.

"It is all yours my friend," spoken with a smile before he would add a bit of caution. "Be careful when you harvest the plant for in cutting it gives off a smell that is not to pleasing to many a nose." It was a smell of rotted greens to him and it made sense as that is how he usually ate them. Bit of butter, salt and onion, just like kale.

He took to lowering his self down on the ground and sitting. "I agree with your sister in what she said. We label things like that from our own perception." It may all be considered a bit of small talk, for it was, and is a simple information exchange. "Like the many things that may cause trouble to a persons stomach. For this we shall say it is unsettled and usually it is that a bit of green keeps things at bay, even if the green can have with it consequences."

Business, that's what it was. Business that sometimes caused his stomach to turn, but that was a here or there topic.

[Archer Caughey]

"The one thing none of us can separate from. Our own perceptions." The way he said it there was obviously something behind it. He was thinking about Caddy. There was a fine line between convictions and certitude. He got that intellectually. It was in practice in the moment when emotions got in the way that always caused the problems. If you asked him emotions were always the problem, never caring to operate within the bound of logic and reason. Which is why Archer worked real hard to keep himself a logic-only kind of guy.

Now wasn't the time to think about all that. He and Caddy were on speaking terms [until the next feud anyway] and he had a job to do. Archer knelt by the Shepherd's Purse. He rubbed a leaf between his index finger and thumb and then gave the two fingers a sniff. A nod. It was confirmed, this was the plant he was looking for. Archer reached into one of his pants pockets, pulling out a pocket knife. It was flipped open, and he liberated two healthy bits of the plant. So he had a sample of each part - flowers, leaves, stem. He didn't have a root sample but he'd made sure he wouldn't need it.

The deed done he turned to look at Leo sitting there on the ground. "Unsettled? Food wise, stress wise, illness wise, genetic wise...?" Leave it to Archer to not let someone get away with a vague answer. Now that he'd gotten his plant sample in under an hour and had some wiggle room before the deadline started breathing down his neck he figured it couldn't hurt to see if he could do Leo a good turn to pay back the favor. "I mean, there's always a way to treat something and minimalize the consequences, just a matter of taking a real close look at the cause and effects that's all...which is sort of what I do." Granted it was a gross estimation of what Archer did, that kind of analysis was part of it.

[Leo]

He was not minding that he was sitting on the ground in his own suit, casual and relaxed as he watched Archer pick what he wanted of the plant. Looking over he saw that the man had not taken all of the plant and so Leo reached over and plucked one of the flowers from off the plant before he popped it in his mouth and gave it a chew. It was not a lot but it would do for the time that he had.

Happy to have been able to help the man out Leo nodded when Archer asked his question. It was not really on whether 00 or not it was a bad idea to tell but of if doing so would do good. Though the man had told him of his trial he could share something of his. "Is a weak stomach. Not just in saying how I have heard the people talk of it." But it was the condition. There was another name for it but if he were to say it he would be certain that his accent would confuse the sounds and lie to Archers ears.

"Is genetic for it is in others of my family. We learn to care for it." Though not by doctors. Not for him. He didn't always have the time for doctors when he was looking out for his Master and going about work.

[Inion]

At some unconcious level Inion wanted some reason to return to the inn on a more regular basis, thus the forgetting to have her mail deliveried to the cottage. Her mail didn't come the normal way, no mail person or anything like that it just appeared on a table at a regular basis. Her and the girls had spent the last few weeks visitin her home realm so it took her a few days to realize that her mail hadn't showed up. So now she was in her room at the inn sitting at the window seat. Croga laid quietly at her side as she went through the mail, sorting it in piles. Occasionally she would look out the open window to the garden below,but really wasn't paying much attention, maybe she was hoping to see one of her friends. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice, one that had always left pleasant gossebumps along her skin,looking out the window again she saw Leo talking to a gentleman she didn't know. Her heart skipped a beat and her mail went forgotten as she watched them. Her fingers absently played with the bracelet he had given her, she still wore it, she had never forgotten him, but part of her thought that maybe he had forgotten her. It had been so long since she had seen him. She so wanted to fly down to his side and give him a hug, but he was busy helping someone, just like a perfect knight should. Besides it might freak them out if she just appeared out of nowhere, so instead she just watched from her window. Her smile was bright as she watched him, did he every notice how noble his actions where when he helped people when he could just ignore their needs. He was a good choice for knighthood.

[Archer Caughey]

If Archer had taken a whole plant and Arcadia found out she would've had his hide. She'd only made the mistake of dragging him on one of her harvests once, but Archer never forgot anything. Literally, he remembered every scrap of every day and every word he read and every thought he'd had and it sounds impossible, but it was just the way his brain operated. Total recall. So he remembered from that day with her that the most that should be harvested from a plant at one time was twenty-five percent to ensure that it would continue to flourish. If Leo had a mathematical mind, he'd be able to see Archer took exactly twenty-five percent of the plant. Right down to the leaf. His math was as good as his memory.

"Hm." Genetic condition. Point of interest for him lately, since Sam was a genetic specialist and he'd been spending a lot of time with her over the past year. The case he was working on now wasn't genetic at all. It was more like an infiltration - if the threat wasn't taken care of before it spread and took hold of the body his client would have major problems that would be all the more hard to reverse. Especially because at that point the client would be too far gone and might not want the reversal any longer. What changes the body changes the mind.

Archer stood. His free hand slid into the inside pocket of his jacket and he pulled out one of his cards. It was offered down to Leo there on the ground. "If you ever want to reevaluate your methods of treatment, it'd be my pleasure. Least I can do for your help today." Archer didn't realize they were being watched, so he couldn't help Leo out by bringing that to his attention.

Archer's Card:

[Leo]

Leo had a mind for certain things that made him valuable to his emoloyeer but one of those things was not math. Though he could manage numbers and percentages he was not so well with the numbers that he was able to accurately tell the percent of something that was gone. Everyone was special in their own way and if he wad knowing that Archer had that type of ability he would have surely questioned him to it.

When Archer stood up and extended his hand with the card Leo looked up at him and rose to his feet before he took the card. It was bad honor to stay sitting while another was standing and talking you. There was no reason for him to treat this man in that way. When he did this he also saw the spy at the window. It was not rare for those with views to the garden to look out the window and he would never have placed much of thought on it. But he saw this person out of the corner of his eye and though he did see her he gave no sign of it other than a nod, but that could be of him reaching out to take the card.

"You are the man with the lab in town," he had seen it when he had arrived back. "Gracias. My friend, I may have to bring him by and we can see what you can do. Or I come myself for him."

Leo put the card in the pocket of his blazer. "Thank you."

[Inion]

A blush hit Inion's cheeks just as she realized she was staring and got caught. She returned the nod and quickly turned back back to her task of sorting her mail. When she finished she gathered everything, closed the window and headed off to her next task.

[Archer Caughey]

"That's me, just over a mile from here. Nice walk when you're not in a rush." Like he'd been earlier, when he was on the hunt for what he was now holding in his hand. "Glad I didn't second guess myself and take a taxi, I might've missed that this place had a garden and I'd be wandering around that jungle like a blind man trying to make his way through a maze." It was nice to know that in the small chance he needed something fresh when the clock was ticking he could try here - an organized area of plant life - before having to resort to the woods. Forests, not his favorite place to be.

"Anyway, I'm game for helping your friend if you think he's in need of a helper. Though I've gotta say, it's best if your friend stops by with you. Makes it a lot easier to help someone when they're there in the flesh, at least for the initial consultation. They might have information you don't or I might be able to notice something neither of you have, you know? I'll give my all to help you either way, don't get me wrong, just some circumstances make it easier to help than others." Archer flashed a brief fool's grin.

When Archer noticed Leo glancing up at the window, he did the same. But by the time Archer looked, there was no one there. The genius took the high road and didn't ask. Everyone was allowed their mysteries, right?

[Leo]

"We will take you up on your offer," Leo announced as he held out his hand to Archer. It was like closing a business deal. He had told the man where to get the plant that he needed an in return Archer volunteered to help either him or his Boss with a matter that they may have. It was not seeming so bad to have this genius in acquaintance and ally. In the type of work that they did, it was always good to have people with a broad array of talents. Especially those who were good at what they do.

With that thought another one arise. "And maybe if the next time you are needing herbal supplies or only want to stock up you may be considering coming by the home of my Boss for he has a most large selection of plants for many places." Since the death of the Lady of the House the plants in the garden were not used, the garden was only maintained. After some words from Leo he had been able to convince him to let them be of use to those who knew how to use them. It was what she would have wanted him to do.

The way Archer had went about taking a bit of the plant showed that he knew what he was doing and was not a stranger to herbs. He would not let something like that go to waste. "I will not continue to hold you up my friend, and I believe that there is something yet that I must do."

[Archer Caughey]

"Great, great." Said with a great big grin. Archer loved getting new clients. It was more than just the prospect of a new challenge, too. The more he had to keep him busy, the better. Being busy let him keep a distance from some of the things he'd rather not think about. Common belief was that a person couldn't run from things forever, but man was Archer giving it his all ever since he returned from death. And it wasn't subconscious on his part. He was absolutely making a point to not deal with his issues until the moment he HAD to. He hoped that day would never come.

As for Leo, Archer shook the hand offered. A good jovial shake. "Really? Sounds fantastic. I've been spoiled, can get away with most of the stuff I need being preserved or dried or tinctured and so on, and when I need fresh it's not easy to import stuff on short notice. More often than not I'm working on deadlines that don't budge so I'd appreciate it." By now the handshake was finished, and he raised up what he harvested in a gesture of goodbye. "You take care, Leo. Thanks again, and I hope I'll hear you ringing my bell soon. You and your friend."

Archer gave the man a parting salute and then headed out of the garden. Today was turning out to be pretty damn smooth for him so far. Pleasant surprise since he thought it'd be anything but. He wasn't a superstitious kind of guy, but the genius knocked on a tree on his way back down the road. A knock on wood. He figured with a client's welfare on the line, best to be safe instead of sorry.

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