[PP-F1] Class is in session <<TFFLAF>>

[Mordecai 0]

Mordecai walks right into the old man Zackariah’s shop, no hesitation. Some people took their time for various reasons, like couldn’t be bothered to do it, or didn’t know how to start quests. Some people (ahem) decided not to so they could try to get a date. “Hey old man Zack. You got a middle school boy’s name, how does that make you feel?” He asks, smiling and leaning over the counter. Zackariah looks annoyed for a moment before he walks into the back of his shop. “I need help fulfilling my duties as a shopkeep, would you like to assist?” The old man asks. He hobbles out, and Mordecai just sighs. “I don’t see why not.”

The boy makes his way out of the shop and onto the street, smiling all the way. Every now and then he’d shoot finger guns at passers by.

One head just sticks out to him. He doesn’t know if it’s because it’s in a cute little bow, or if it’s because it’s purple. Maybe even because it’s so short, but he just can’t help himself. He walks up and taps her on the shoulder. He pulls his hands up and starts acting all innocent and shy, “H-hi. I’m Kai, would you like to uh... go on a quest w-with me?” He asks, avoiding eye contact with her. There were a few telltale signs that he wasn’t really a shy person, but he was hoping she wasn’t that smart, so she’d overlook them. Here’s hopin’ amirite?

He was not, and would soon come to regret this decision.(probably)

@Arabelle

[Arabelle 0]

Arabelle wasn't busy today either. 

Claude was off doing his scout things. The guild didn't have anything going on, as they always did. And while she had to admit she felt like having some of them around, she wasn't interested in contacting any of her friends. 

She could only take so much of her best friend's cold rejections! And she hadn't reinstated her 100% friend discount either!

Arabelle huffed. Well, if Mishiro didn't want her around, then she wasn't going to seek her out either. Plain and simple! Still, in her boredom, the small purple-haired girl found herself wandering about the streets of the Starting City. A rare, quiet walk. She was trying to figure out what her best friend liked so much about walking.

Half an hour later, Arabelle still didn't get it. 

If she wanted to people-watch, she could do it atop a roof. If she wanted to find some lucky player to help, she could do it at one of the player bulletin boards by the town gate. If she wanted to appreciate the scenery, she could do it outside town in some place she hadn't seen a thousand times already.

Well, let boring people like boring things.

Arabelle paused at an intersection, considering the rest of her plans for the day. It wasn't long before an easy answer quickly presented itself though, and it was in the form of a boy gingerly tapping her on the shoulder. The boy quickly averted his red eyes when she turned around to regard him curiously. Quest help. He must be rather inexperienced if he didn't already know there was a player bulletin on the other side of town which yielded much better results than approaching a random cute girl on the street. But, she would overlook it! He was cute.

What was with that cutesy shy kid act though? He was stumbling over his words, but it didn't seem to fit his voice. It was more suited to a different sort of tone, a more confident one.

But Arabelle was interested in whatever he was planning to do with his little act, so she kept quiet.

"I'm Arabelle, nice to meet you!" The small purple-haired girl gave him a friendly smile and extended her gloved hand. "You're in luck, sugar. I was juust planning to head out. I'll join you. Which one're you taking? Does it happen to be the boring one with that old NPC guy who wouldn't stop quoting dead people down the street?"
 

[Mordecai 0]

When she said sugar he withdrew, trying to act surprised and turn away. He was trying to act like he was covering a blush, but it was obvious at this point he was pretty much out of ideas on the shy guy part. His head tilts and he looks at her, revealing a smile. “Yeah, it’s the tutorial quest. Ol’ zacky boy needed me to grab him some materials.” He leans towards her. “He wants something sweet, hot and colorful, you were the first thing I saw.” He starts off towards the woods. “Couldn’t figure out how to approach you, so I just acted like I didn’t know how to approach anyone.” His grin grows a little as he cuts through town.

A small café with an outdoor section catches his eye. It’s much shorter than most of the buildings around it, the roof dropping to maybe 8 feet up off the ground. “So... considering you could guess what quest I was going for, I’m gonna assume you know where the best spot to complete it is?” His map opens up and he begins to study it, a place not to far in the woods has a circular objective and the circle is lightly filled in.

@Arabelle

[Arabelle 0]

And all of a sudden, the boy dropped his act. Smart of him if he was already kind of failing at it - with Arabelle being able to detect it almost immediately - but she thought she was a bit disappointed. Would he have kept going, in which case, it would have been a great amusement; or would he have realized he might be doing something wrong and adapted? He quickly salvaged it by showing her his truer side though.

And wasn't it the loveliest thing. 

He leaned forward and Arabelle was the only one to hear his next words. She thought she liked his eyes now that she had a closer look at them - they were red, a unique and very beautiful red. Any other girl would melt.

But she was used to this. 

The small purple-haired girl simply brought a gloved hand to her lips and treated him to a coy smile. "Aren't you charming? Though... in that regard, we need to find something else to give him."

It just kind of failed in one aspect.

They started to walk and Arabelle kept her pace beside him with her hands tucked behind her back. She hummed rather thoughtfully at his explanation. His little act - along with his failure to do it properly - did succeed in distinguishing him from the rest, though - "Mhm, I understand. You could have started with that though," she teased, referring to his little flirt earlier. The small purple-haired girl accentuated her next words with a wave of her index finger - the same way her scary professors used to do with their pointer.  "Girls like confidence! Sincerity! Show them what you can offer, and they'd be willing to give you a listen."

Once the town exit came into view, she materialized her scythe and sheathed it at her back. "I took it myself, yeah. It's the area right by the nearest <<Garden>>. Not in the <<Garden>> area itself - materials gathered with the Nature's Treasure buff don't count - but directly outside. The buff isn't present, but materials still do tend to spawn a lot more around there." 

--Arabelle did not care to inform him that she actually got that info from Claude.

"Here you go. For safety. You won't always be in my field of vision, and this way, I would be informed immediately of any changes to your HP," she quickly explained as she sent him a party request. Then she turned and beckoned him forward with a smile. "I'll lead the way. Follow me."
 

[Mordecai 0]

A party invite pops up in his face and he clicks accept, blushing a little after she had brought up the flaw with his flirt before, but he quickly recovers. If at first you don’t succeed, right? After her name pops up in the corner of his screen he steps out into the field, “Arabelle’s a pretty name, perfectly selected to match such a pretty face.” He stops for a moment, “Sorry, I can do better than that.” He chuckles. The drab scenery and empty sky gave no assistance when crafting a pickup line. “Uhh... OH!” He clears his throat and pats his chest, putting on his best seductive face he had, but turns it up a notch to convey a comedic effect rather than pervy. “Such a beautiful day to spend with such a beautiful lady.” He waves his hand, turning into the plains and avoiding the forest. It was obvious there was a reason for him to avoid it, as the area was in the forest.

His bright pink hoodie and black pants made no sense in a place like this, especially since the hood on his head had cat ears. It probably wasn’t that common to see a boy with this hoodie, let alone in a game where fear and intimidation would keep you alive. A subtle play on the boy’s part however, after two years, he noticed the stronger players wearing weaker armors on the first few floors, and the weaker players wore their combat gear all the time, so if this armor gave him the appearance of strength, a few glares and leers would be okay.

Spoiler

Action Taken: Material Search

ID: 118374

LD: 1 (fail)

0/5 total

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Mordecai

[Arabelle 0]

"How cute. Objectively, I'd give it a six out of ten. Subjectively, though..." Arabelle dismissed a material she had just picked up into her inventory and turned to him without deactivating her <<Detection>>. An equally alluring red gaze met his, and she smiled. "You're interesting. I'd say it's a bit higher."

She wasn't lying. It wasn't every day she met someone who was as assertive as him - or probably someone who just flirted like it was their natural language without meaning it (*cough* Arabelle *cough*) - and who wore a bright pink hoodie with cat ears well, on top of that. She kind of wanted to play with it.

"And thanks! I got it from my favorite song," the small purple-haired girl shared, smiling brightly. Music was one of the things she liked talking about the most, and she was enjoying this conversation even more with a cute boy expressing his interest by her side. "Arabella by the Arctic Monkeys. Ever heard of it?" She walked slightly ahead of him to stop and make eye contact with a slight curious tilt of her head. Whatever he said in response, she would continue, "But Mordecai's a nice name, too. Kind of sounds like something you'd see in a fantasy novel. Where did you get it?"

Spoiler

ID: 118379 | LD: 19

T1 Materials (Arabelle): 1

 

Edited July 4, 2019 by Arabelle

[Mordecai 0]

Her question caught him off guard, and he doesn’t like being caught off guard like this. Uhh, do I tell her the truth? I don’t see how it can hurt. He smiles at her innocently as he thinks of the story. Most people just assumed it had no meaning, so the never asked and now he had to see if he remembered properly. “Why thank you, interesting might be a stretch, but I appreciate the notion. Of course, I can guarantee I’m nowhere near as interesting as you.” His words seemed so natural and his eyes read intrigue when he looked at her. “And about my name, it’s from bedtime stories my dad used to tell me.” He explains and returns to walking.

It wasn’t long after before they reached the tree line again. [censored] guess we’re going in. He always worried about going new places, but he figured the easiest area to collect these materials was somewhere around here. His right leg pushes into the ground and he climbs into a tree, standing on a branch, grabbing the one above him and extending his hand down towards her. “Wanna race in these branches? It doesn’t hurt that bad if you fall.” He smiles like a child at her.

Spoiler

ID: 118387

LD: 9

0/5 total

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Mordecai

[Arabelle 0]

Bedtime stories?

As expected of a boy in a pink cat hoodie. It was a bit childish, but not in a bad way. There was nothing wrong with treasuring your childhood memories! She found that people lost their way less often when they knew exactly where they came from and what they wanted to keep from their origins. Arabelle dared to pry a bit more and asked, "What were those stories like?"

She looked away long enough to spot a material and pick it up. When she turned back to Mordecai, she found him climbing up a tree with a hand held out to her.

He presented an interesting prospect.

And Arabelle almost smirked. He was asking her, who took to the Starting City's roofs regularly instead of the crowded streets below and who had just cleared the city's wall in one good jump a few days ago, to race through the trees with him. "Hm, hm. I'm up for it," the small purple-haired girl consented with an innocent smile. She didn't need it, but she took his hand anyway and pulled herself up. 

She didn't let go until he did.

"But what would the winner get? A race isn't a race without a prize, you know~."

Spoiler

ID: 118408 | LD: 19

T1 Materials (Arabelle): 2

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by Arabelle

[Mordecai 0]

Kai thought back for a moment. The meat of the stories barely clung to his thought as he only heard a few. His foster father had been the only person to ever tell them to the boy, and it had been years since he heard one. “The man who saved the king. That was the one.” He reaches down towards the branch he was on and picks a leaf before it moves into his inventory. “It’s about a brave warrior named Mordecai, who saves a king from assassins.” He scoffs under his breath. His foster father liked to go into detail about that part, pad out the story to make sure Malcom fell asleep.

”The king had a trusted advisor who planned to get rid of Mordecai, but the King remembered the heroic actions of the brave warrior and asked his advisor how to honor a hero.” This part always made Malcom smile. Irony was his favorite. “The advisor thought so highly of himself he answered truthfully, thinking the king was speaking of him. Then Mordecai was made Trusted Advisor and the old one was hanged on the gallows he had built for ol’ Morty.” He chuckles a little. “A story a bit too complicated for a 10 year old but the old man had no idea what he was doing.” A fond smile places itself on his face.

Warmth like this was unusual.

Her comment about a prize made the business man think for a minute. “Loser buys dinner?” He offers, hoping she either made no counter offer or a better one.

Spoiler

ID: 129547

LD: 11 (Success)

1/5

@Arabelle

Edited November 18, 2019 by Mordecai

[Arabelle 0]

Ah. Now she remembered. How could she not? "Old Testament, the Book of Esther," Arabelle noted dutifully. Though the Mordecai he spoke of was more of a minor character, it was your typical feel-good story. Do good and you will be rewarded. Do evil and you will be punished. "No, it's actually pretty simple all things considered. A bit dark and gruesome, probably, but its message is straightforward."

But she digressed. This wasn't her Sunday Bible study class. 

"Can't go wrong with that." But what if I have you for dinner instead? As he was preoccupied with gathering a material, she ran up a tree and jumped up the rest of the way to stand on a sturdy branch. The small purple-haired girl sat down, swinging her legs playfully and tugging her short skirt down to avoid any accidental peeks from the boy still on the ground. "Let's start over here! Put that aside from now; it's too early to take this quest seriously, sugar!"

[Mordecai 0]

This lady was intriguing to say the least. She was already in the tree, and she’d agreed to the race. It was shaping up to be fun day, and he was gonna soak in every last moment. “So, where do you plan on taking me for dinner?” He asks in a playfully cocky tone as he lands on a branch adjacent to hers. He’d already started looking for a path, counting the steps he’d have to take to make it to their destination. It wasn’t far according to what she’d said, but it was gonna take time.

His eyes move to her, studying her attire, her eyes and the nearest branch to her. He was trying to gauge how hard he’d have to push himself to win. “On your marks... get set...” his words were perfectly spaced apart, giving her a chance to count to when he says go so she can prepare herself. And in the same space as the other two words, he pushes into the branch.

The world around him would turn a pale gray as the color of the branches grew ever vibrant. His eyes would narrow on the task at hand as every footstep is carefully calculated to give him the shortest distance between steps.

“GO!”

His voice filled with joy as he sprung into action, darting between branches and dashing through the air.

[Arabelle 0]

Arabelle tilted her head and smirked.

Maybe it would be cute to impress him a little. “Well, it’s been three years, so I’ve gone to almost every restaurant on this floor. The interesting ones, anyway. So… how about a little food trip around the frontline levels?” her offer came with a softer, but still equally playful smile. “We’ll only stay in the safezones, so even someone at your level can wander about without any worries. Generally, the food gets more expensive the higher you go, but– oops.”

The girl shut one eye, holding criss-crossed fingers over her lips. 

“That just gives you more motivation to win, hm?”

What a funny pastime. Though simply observing the childlike joy in his handsome face was entertaining on its own. As the brunet pulled himself up beside her, she rose to her feet and shifted her weight about, finding her balance on the branch. He might think some experience in the forest from the other side gave him an advantage, but Arabelle was lighter. Her experience in combat meant she was better acquainted with this body’s movements. As soon as the ‘Go!’ burst from her side, she leaped forward and her feet barely rested on one branch before she took off again toward the second.

Wind whipped at her face. The canopy shook, and at some point, a delighted laugh sounded from her side. The end of the forest fast approaching, she turned her head to the handsome youth and grinned. See you at the finish line! And she sped forward in one final burst.