{PP-F1} Five Feet Apart

[Pinball 1]

Fishing had been something Pinball had used to do often. He had fished with his father on occasion in real life, and when he had started to pick up levels in-game, he acquired the skill out of necessity. He had been a new crafter, and he needed the skill for the materials it yielded. After that, when the need to gather materials subsided with his sudden rise in levels, he only fished on occasion - and then, it was mostly ever for pleasure. Mostly. At one point, during his self-inflicted exile, he used it so he would have food to eat. 
But, as Pinball had begrudgingly come to realize, it was hard to enjoy fishing when your luck was abysmal - fishing had its charm and its uses, but if often proved to be more trouble than it was worth; especially when you fish up one of the depraved terrors of the deep on your vacation. 

And it just so happened that Pinball found himself in that very situation. Juxtaposed against the serene lake backdrop two figures clashed by the shore. Pinball wheeled backwards, his spear wirling overhead. He stood facing a hulking, humanoid shark creature weilding a shield and a snapped sword, wearing tattered leather armor and dripping wet with lake water. Why a shark was in a lake, he didn't know - but it was obvious Pinball had taken a heavy hit. A healthy chunk of his green healthbar was missing, and he hung just barely onto the fragile line between green and yellow. The monster, however, was in worse condition. "You don't belong here, you stupid bastard!" He had made it a habit to fish on lower floors, because for his profession T1 Materials were generally more useful than the higher tiers anyway. But that meant when he fished up a monster on the first floor that scaled to his level... 

He heard it before he saw it. Letting his instinct take over, he leaned back - and the wicked looking, jagged sword flew harmlessly overhead. Pinball was going to take advantage of that opening. Pinball threw himself forward, flipping his spear around. He closed the distance in an instant, and his spear struck the monster with a flurry of blows. He forced the creature back and even further back, each stab wound causing a blossom of frost to circle the hole, then rapidly spread out to cover the entirety of the creature until it was completely immobilized by the thin layer of crystalline ice. The sounds of the skirmish echoed around the lake, and as Pinball's opponent froze completely solid and its health bar dropped to a sliver, he took a step back and inhaled deeply. He had won. Pinball exhaled.  

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

Dustin was walking through the field on the first floor. The monsters on this floor made it difficult for Dustin to have any fun, so he preferred to hunt on higher floors recently. But finding he had heard about a spot in the field that had a beauty on a different level. This floor is one of my favorites, but it’s definitely not my favorite. He rushes in and slashes a boar, watching it explode into a blue cloud of pixels in pure satisfaction. The combat in this game was the biggest reason Dustin came to play SAO, second only to the need to protect his brother. He walks through the field and notices a boy fishing by the pond. The player pulls out a monster and looks ready as ever. The player’s quickly dispatches of his foe, leaving Dustin in awe. The weapon appeared to freeze his enemy and Dustin found that irresistible, so he ran up to the other player. “Hey, that was incredibly awesome, so you got a name?” He starts the conversation. The brown haired player in the blue sweatshirt held his sword in a relaxed manner, completely forgetting how on edge the players of this death game seemed to always be. It made making new friends incredibly difficult.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball took a deep breath. The frozen monster was on death's doorstep; he just had to make sure it took the final plunge. Pinball walked up to it, and without missing a beat, shoved the spear through its chest with a single hand. It slid through its chest with a crunch as it passed through the ice coating its smooth skin. Its health bar dropped into nothingness, and it burst into a cloud of shards and snowflakes upon its death. 
It was then that he heard somebody rushing towards him. Out of instinct, his spear snapped back into both hands, and Pinball threw himself backwards, distancing himself by an impressive amount for a single leap. "Wh- oh," he said, embarrassed as he realized it was just a random guy. "Ahh, hello," he said meekly, looking off to the side. "Uhh, are- are you alright?" 
Do... do I have a name? The words echoed in his head. He was, for some reason, really put off by the sudden introduction. People usually didn't just run up and start talking! That's weird, isn't it? "I'm, uhh-," he started slowly, pushing out the words hesitantly, "Pinball." 

[Dustin 0]

“Hello Pinball, I couldn’t help but notice your skill with a weapon, so I’d like to challenge you to a little fighting game.” He chuckles. This boy is obviously out of my league, so I’ll have to make sure he remembers who I am. His hand wraps around his blade tighter. “No sword arts, pure skill. I have to see how you handle a spear.” He says. His mind skipped over how that could be seen as less than formal. It was a sentence in Dustin’s mind, not a flirt on a boy that he may or may not think to be a little cute. It wasn’t like he wanted to date the boy, Dustin wasn’t like that. And compared to Ennakai, Pinball appeared to be 7 at most, but the player in blue had no issue with that. He only cared to see how the player fought without the system’s assistance.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

For a moment, unbeknownst to Pinball, his face went red. Then, he started laughing. Reeally hard. Like, snorting laughter - but after a few seconds he managed to compose himself again, covering his mouth and grinning widely. "How I... handle a spear," he repeated, still giggling. "Nah, man." 
Usually, he wouldn't hang around very long is someone tried to talk to him. He'd find an excuse to leave, more often than not - for some reason, though, this time was different? 
Maybe it was just because he was lonely, maybe not, but there was something about the guy's approach that put him at ease, and made him feel relaxed despite his straight straightforwardness... and his unusual request. 
Plus, he hadn't had the oppurtunity to show off in a long time. Why not take advantage of this one and make him seem cooler than he actually was? As long as they stayed on the First Floor, it should be pretty safe, too. After another pause, he nodded, stilll smiling to himself, though he lowered his hand from his face. "Y'know what, though... yeah, sure. Why not." He leaned into his spear, planting the butt of the weapon firmly into the ground. "Lead the way." 
He snorted again. "Just keep your sword in your sheath." 

[Dustin 0]

Dustin smiles as he had finally gotten his wish. No one had ever agreed to his little game before, so he couldn’t wait to show off his swordfighting skills. “If I keep my sword in my sheath, you’ll easily win. However, I can promise this, I won’t try to hurt you. Besides, you could destroy me with a spear like that.” He looks at the boy with a smirk on his face. His statement had originally been a serious note, but the boy decided it’d be funnier to throw in some humor so he didn’t try to fix it. That’s when the two came across the first boar. Dustin smiles as he leaps forward, slashing the boar into a blue cloud of pixels and shapes. “So Pinball, got any hobbies?” He asks, trying to become friends with the boy he was challenging to a sort of blade dance off. This player’s spear has a freeze enhancement, so even if we were to fight, I’d lose. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look cooler than him. Maybe I could just hold back until he really shows off. The boy’s smile grows as he slips his sword back into his sheathe. The whole fight taking place in the blink of an eye. Dustin’s combat always relied more heavily on speed and movement than blocking or even tanking the blows. Movement was his specialty, so he was obviously fast. He was nowhere near as fast as the other player, but he was faster than most players.

@Pinball

[Pinball 1]

Pinball laughed again as Dustin (unknowingly?) made another sexual inuendo. He hadn't laughed in a long time, and, as he had noticed earlier, he was strangely at ease around this guy. Maybe a part of him just wanted a friend? Either way, he was all smiles for the first time in a while, and his laughter rolled off his chest following a rather quickly stifled snort. "Yeah, alright," he finally managed, his voice almost a soft croak. 
He followed Dustin along until eventually the lake was out of sight, and they came upon the plains where boars and wolves roamed. Dustin wasted no time with beginning the competition. Pinball stood back and watched as, in one single, clean stroke, Dustin unsheathed his sword and decimated the Frenzy Boar. It was a clean, practiced cut, and the system probably only sped up the speed of the attack. And yet... 
"Hey," Pinball said softly, "that's pretty good." 
The difference in their skill was substantial. 
But! It was a competition, and Pinball had only come in the first place to show off anyway. Let's see how far I can push him. 
"My turn?" Pinball shifted his spear to his offhand, holding the weapon loosely in his grip. Shoving his dominant hand into his pocket, Pinball sauntered over to the nearest boar he could see. The momeny he was within range, there was a noticeable change in the boar's behavior, and it charged. To Pinball, though, its "charge" might as well have been a slow waddle. In a smooth transition from his pocket to the shaft of his spear, Pinball took one swift step forward and brought the butt of his spear down on the top of the Frenzy Boar's head in a blunt, concussive jab. Its jaw hit the dirt hard, sending up a small puff of dust, and it shattered without so much as a sound. 
Pinball turned to Dustin then, leaning into his spear. His face twisted in a mix of disappointment and anxiety. "So I don't think... I don't know if we should demonstrate on, like, on boars." 

[Dustin 0]

Dustin smiled, and to be quite honest, happy to see someone with such talent in the game. It was a skill you rarely ever saw anymore, unless you knew where to look. “I guess we could fight some sturdier monsters, what floor do you want to go to?” He asks, quickly sheathing his sword and smiling. It’s not the first time Dustin had tried to show off his speed, but certainly the fastest he had ever gone. “Maybe after we could grab some ice cream. Or maybe even some dinner and drinks.” He tilts his head, pulling out a cookie and offering it to Pinball. “As long as it isn’t stupid floor 4. That’s the worst stupid floor in this stupid game.” The boy obviously hated the floor for a reason, but the reason wasn’t obvious. Stupid cold floor. Why did Kayaba make that floor so dumb? It’s the worst floor. I’m gonna kill Kayaba for making that stupid floor. He holds his own cookie up and takes a bite.

@Pinball

Edited November 23, 2018 by Dustin

[Pinball 1]

Pinball accepted the cookie with a smile and a nod. "Oh, dude, thank you!" He was visibily excited by the dessert, and took it eagerly. "What floor do I wanna go to," he echoed absentmindedly, obviously a little too preoccupied with the cookie to care too much. "Uhh, I don't really know. I usually head to -" he stopped himself. Those floors would probably be too dangerous for him, and he didn't want to show off that much. Now that they were really getting into it, he wasn't too sure he wanted to show off at all. "I kinda like the Fourth Floor," he said quietly, before raising his voice. "Actually, we could go to one of those floors that have human mobs if you wanna. Maybe throw some parries or whatever in there, show off a bit of finesse..." He shrugged, before tearing into his cookie as they walked, heading back to the Town of Beginnings. At the moment, he didn't mind either way - and the danger of the Fish Boss was fading from memory. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Pinball