Law & Orchid [Surge]

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Surge laughed at Emerald's analogy. Not laughing at him, really, but it amused him how that sounded pretty much like something his sister Goldenrod would say. "Heh, sorry. I thought that was a good way to compare it, but...you really do sound like my older sister. You know what they say; 'great gardeners think alike'. Or at least, I think that's how it goes," Surge said with just a small smirk on his face. "I do appreciate your counsel though, for what it's worth. I aim to please." Surge was already somewhat familiar with the cafe menu, having been there before. "Ah, I think a danish and some chai tea would be great. I'm a sucker for sweet tea." Perhaps his fondness for sweet tea was to offset his preference for dark, bitter coffee. Who knows? After waiting for Emerald to order he sat at a table nearby, close to the window. Surge often liked to lazily gaze out of the window at the ponies walking on the street as he waited for an order, but with company it would of course be impolite to be distracted like that. Still, his usual preference caused him to take a seat with a good vantage point to look out the window out of habit. "So how about you? What's being a gardener in the Crystal Empire like? Is that tough?" He was also somewhat curious why his cutie mark was of a letter and not some sort of plant, but he'd save that question for later.

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Emerald had to admit, he'd never heard that saying before, but it seemed to amuse him pretty well. He chuckled under his breath, more pleased that he'd gotten such a reaction out of him than anything else. Even if it did mean he was getting compared to a sister. Oh well... there were worse comparisons to make. "I haven't met enough other gardeners to know, really. But I stay by my word." Standing back up to his full height, he nodded as Surge went to find them a seat, then proceeded toward the counter to make their order. "Yes, thank you, we'll have... a danish, a chai tea, an ursa claw lightly toasted, and a lady grey tea with half of a pack of sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon, if it's no trouble?" Ignoring the puzzled look, he took out his bit bag and counted out the price. He wasn't sure if the guard got a discount, but out of politeness he didn't ask, since he was making them go to such trouble with his tea. And he stuck an extra couple in the tip jar, even though it left him feeling a bit too light to be cozy. Once he had the little tray with their choices, he headed over to where Surge sat. He noticed with a pleasant twinkle in his eye that Surge had chosen to sit by the window, wondering if he'd picked that out of habit, happenstance, or because he knew there was a flowerbox right beside the window. He rather hoped for the latter, and perked his ears up at the questions, settling down into his seat. "...Well. As you imagine, it was rather tougher with the King in power," he admitted, opening the lid to his tea and stirring it with a little wooden stick. This was a heavy thought, so he took a sip while the tea was still a bit too hot to wince for a second and burn it off his tongue. "Ah... sorry. It's not that difficult anymore, with Her Majesty Princess Cadence and His Majesty Prince Armor. But I'd rather seek a new line of work here in Canterlot, though I'm unsure what." He tasted the tea again, now that it'd had a moment to cool. They put in the whole packet of sugar, sadly; the sweetness now buried the delicate bergamot, rather than supporting it against the tang of citrus. But it was still good tea; just now the imbalance reminded him more of lemonade than his perfect cup.

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Surge wasn't really picky eater, as would've been hinted at if Emerald had saw the simple sandwich Surge was going to eat earlier (and would probably be eaten by another guard after being left unattended), but he didn't blame anypony who was. If they wanted to eat their ursa claw exactly how they wanted it, more power to them. The guard just smiled at Emerald as he placed the order, not batting an eye at his specific requests. Surge waited for his tea to cool, watching Emerald as he recalled being a gardener in the Crystal Empire. "Yeah, I can imagine that was tough..." For the the crystal stallion's sake, Surge decided not to linger on the topic of the 'King'. "I can definitely get wanting to have a change of pace though, with all that's happened. If you want my opinion, you came to the right place. Canterlot's a very uh...'happening' place, as you can imagine. Lots of important things going on here. Manehatten is like that too, but I'd imagine it'd be a little overwhelming to somepony whose been gone for a thousand years. It's a real big place; never been there myself though." Surge then took a big sip of his tea, as if trying to shut himself up as to give Emerald a chance to speak. Now seemed like a good opportunity to inquire about his talent. "Ah...good stuff. So anyway, what kind of things are you good at? What's your special talent? Maybe I could help you find something you'd enjoy." Surge gave him a helpful smile, then took a bite of his danish and floated a napkin over with his magic to dab his face with it.

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He nibbled thoughtfully at the ursa claw while Surge talked about the city around them. It made sense; he hadn't come here so much for the fact that it was 'happening', but that it was 'happening' without leaving everything that 'happened' behind. Just the photographs he had seen of Manehattan, with those strange square buildings and the immense bridges, seemed... rather intimidating and alien. "Indeed," he said, taking a little sip to wet his throat. "Canterlot is a very modern place, but it hasn't forgotten its history, either. It seemed like a good place to catch up—it has a hoof in this time, and one in the time I come from, seeing as it was around then as well. It's helped immensely, though that isn't quite the reason I came here." Odd, he thought, how this stallion was asking so much about him. He ate a little bit more of the ursa claw and thought it over. It would be a good segue into asking about the fellow in return, perhaps? "I know gardening. And I suppose I'm not a bad sneak... er, most of the time, anyway. But my special talent is in connections. In the Empire, I helped pass along messages under the King's nose, and... I suppose that's where my heart is. Helping ponies keep in touch across the divide." He leaned back, chuckling a little. "But, ah... Not much use for that these days, eh? If I may ask, what's your talent?"