Steel

"I stopped thinking of this as a game after day 1 honestly." Steel said as he remembered the day the game became reality. He couldn't really call something he was forced to play, at the risk of his own life no less, as a mere game. "Hahaha, from game to home eh? That's a drastic change of thinking." He couldn't help but laugh at the sudden change in attitude. At the same time, he kinda agreed with her. While he still didn't think of this place as home since he was a solo player usually before Reinka, he had gotten somewhat comfortable with his situation and wasn't feeling as much despair as the first day.

Reinka then went into her inventory and took out some chocolate before splitting it and giving half to him. It was almost kinda fitting since Valentine's Day wasn't that far from from the present. Though it reminded him that he never had any luck back in school on Valentine's other than Obligation Chocolate or chocolate from his little sister. At most, he got Friendship Chocolate from some of his female friends in high school. He put those thoughts in the back of his mind as he nibbled on the chocolate. "Thanks. Though it's already past Valentine's I'll be sure to get you something on White Day." He said with a small smile as he ate the chocolate. Since Reinka was from America, he doubted she knew much about Japanese culture. Then again, they taught culture in language classes nowadays so who knows?

Steel was somewhat surprised at Reinka's question during their break. He hadn't actually thought about it before since they kinda had to deal with the whole death game thing. There just wasn't enough time for him to spare on the philosophical stuff. He began to think about it briefly before answering. As he did, the many things he experienced since coming here started flashing through his head.

"I believe it's fine to think of this as reality." Steel said in response. "While this world is made up of ones and zeros, even though we're not moving our own flesh and blood bodies, we're still experiencing things and making memories. Fun memories, painful memories, feelings of accomplishment, feelings of regret, all sorts of things. At the very least, it'd leave a bad taste in my mouth if all of those memories and feelings were just regarded as fake." He said with a somewhat bitter smile. "So does that answer your question?"

Steel could only give a wry smile when Reinka appeared embarrassed over missing her target. "Don't worry about it, it happens to everybody." Steel said reassuring her. He then saw the boar snap out of it's stun and just look pissed. "I got it." Steel said as he got in between Reinka and the boar and got into a stance. It was one he used back in the real world for kendo. Might as well let loose a little. He said with a small smirk as bloodlust seemed to come from him. "Kofuna Shizen Ryu: Samidare." He said in a calm tone before striking the boar and killing it with the sword technique. Afterwards, he went back to normal. "Aw man, I didn't get a horn this time. Looks like you're still winning by one." He said with some disappointment as he hasn't had much luck with getting these things. He then noticed Reinka looked tired. "How about we take a small break?" He suggested.

ID# 96223

BD: 7 | LD: 4

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 2/12

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 14/22

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 Dead

Boar Pup 
HP 0/5 Dead

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 Dead

Good, looks like she's got that one busy. Steel thought to himself as glanced over and saw Reinka hit and stun a boar with a martial arts skill. He decided to go after the other boar since he believed that Reinka would be able to handle the stunned one on her own. It would have only taken one more hit anyway. He looked over at his own opponent with a relaxed expression as he was confident this time in killing the boar . "Sorry Mr. Piggy, but we have to kill you for materials." Steel said in his playful tone before zooming in and unleashing one more Snake Bite, getting another kill in. A message box then popped up showing that he had gotten a boar pup tusk finally. "Alright, I got one! Now we're 1 to 2. How are you doing on your end? Though you're probably gonna beat me anyway." He said with a small laugh.

ID#: 96221

BD: 6 | LD: 12

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 4/12

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 14/22

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 Dead

Boar Pup 
HP 0/5 Dead

Boar Pup
HP: 2/5 

Steel gained one boar tusk material

Steel began to observe how Reinka fought against the boars. Since you were using your mind to move your body, you would need to have some degree of physical ability in order to move well. And Reinka was moving like an acrobat, jumping around and throwing punches at them. Too bad said punches were missing all of them. And here I thought I was unlucky... He thought to himself before he noticed something. One of the boars was about to strike Reinka from behind. Though he knows that it wouldn't deal her much damage if at all, he couldn't let himself just stand there. "Look out!" He said as got right behind Reinka in a flash and cut down the attacking boar with another Snake Bite. "As I said, I got your back." Steel said as they were now back to back. "Let's try focusing on one each." In his mind, he sorta cursed not getting a material.

ID# 96212

BD: 8 | LD: 8

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 8/12

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 17/22

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 Dead

Boar Pup
HP: 5/5 

Boar Pup
HP: 5/5 

Looks like their first treasure chest search was a success. Reinka had left the dividing of the contents of said chest to him later. The amount inside wasn't much but it was better than getting attacked by a mimic chest. After they had settled that, she already lead him to another boar which was pretty close to a group of them. "Well, might as well get this over with." He said as he got into position near the boar away from the group, planning to deal with the group later. He charged up a sword skill and he let loose «Snake Bite», landing three solid blows on the boar and pretty much killing it in one go. "See? These boars are weak." He said with a grin to Reinka. Unfortunately, he didn't get any drops from the monster. "Darn it! My luck is still really crappy..." He said with a sigh. "Ah well, I'll make up for it through quantity. Hey Reinka, looks like we're taking on those three boars. I think I got them pissed off from killing their friend. Should be fine though, they can't get through my armor." He said confidently. 

ID# 96125

BD 7 | MD 5 | LD 4

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 19/22

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 12/12

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 Dead

"Well, we'll have to test my luck. You've already seen how bad my luck was in terms of hitting the enemy. But I'm sure I'll be able to prove that I'm capable in some way." Steel said with a wry smile as she teased him for being behind her in terms of material gathering for the quest. He presumed this was karma for his earlier teasing but there was probably more to come.

Reinka looked more determined now that they had done the pinky promise and even suggested a race to obtain the next material. "I'll probably lose with my luck but you're on." He said with a grin. He figured that she was doing this to hide her fear or something but decided to say nothing of it at the moment. 

For a short while, the two of them searched the fields again and Steel found something surprising. "This isn't the quest materials but I found a chest." He called out to Reinka. "Hahaha, aren't you a pirate? Finding chests are supposed to be your specialty." He said in a teasing tone when she got to him. "Want to open it?"

ID# 96069

LD: 19

Chest found

"Yeah, let's finish this quest up quickly and then get something to eat and then head home." Steel said with a grin. "With our strength combined, we're overkill so this should be over in a snap." Though he couldn't do anything effect wise like Reinka's bleeding gauntlets, his multi hit sword skills should get him to the same level of damage dealing. She then listed out some promises that she wanted him to keep. Like coming home every night, that he wouldn't go out alone, and that he'd get better gear. She ended it by holding up a pinky for him to interlock with his own for a pinky swear. The way Reinka was acting kind of reminded him of a clingy and overworried wife but he didn't voice this thought as it wasn't the best time for it. Steel took his pinky and interlocked it with Reinka's. "I promise you that I won't go out on my own, that I'll get better gear, and that I'll return to you each night." He said with a small smile.

It seemed that didn't help at all since Reinka still was panicking and crying and Steel felt bad about being the cause(?) of her tears. She then all of a sudden grabbed his hand and ran back to town with him in tow.Once the had arrived back to town, she continued to cry and berate him at the same time despite him being a higher level and much harder to kill. Despite all of the insults being thrown his way, he could sense how worried for him she really was. Steel decided to just sit right next to her. wrapping an arm around her in a somewhat awkward hug and let her use his shoulder/chest to cry on. He really didn't know how to properly respond to all of this. He was glad that she treasured him that much but seeing her in tears because of that reason also tore at him. Well, better get her out of public eye first at least. He thought to himself before he picked up the girl princess style and took her away to a nearby bench which was a bit away from the main road and let her finish crying there. "I'm sorry for worrying you. But I assure you that the armor I have on can protect me from a ton of things. I'm not going to die." He didn't know what else to say. "And I promise to buy some better gear after this quest to make sure I'll be able to come back home to you in one piece." He hoped this would work.

Reinka seemed to be breaking down after hearing him compare his gear to starter equipment. Well, I wasn't expecting that... Steel thought to himself as Reinka practically demolished two boars at once, already almost finishing her side of the quest. But at this rate, they couldn't continue. Well, Steel felt it wouldn't be right to do anything else before he calms her down and assure her that everything would be okay. He slowly walked up to her shaking body and brought her close for a hug until she calmed down a little. At least until she had stopped shaking. "Settled down a little?" He asked in a warm calming tone. "Don't worry, I won't be taken down that easily. I said my gear's only a little better than the starting gear but my defenses are still way higher than yours. If my guess is correct, it's at least triple yours. I wasn't lying you know that I could handle the monsters on this floor with no problem. And I definitely don't plan on dying. That'd make you sad right?" He then eased Reinka's arms which were still sorta in battle position to relax. "So I want you to trust me on that." He said this with a warm smile.

Steel made a half hearted attempt at trying to kill it as the bleeding effect would kill it anyway. He obviously missed and somehow the boar did as well but that didn't matter as it's HP went to 0 anyway. "Well, that's one piggy dead. Didn't get the drop though. Well, it shouldn't be too hard to deal with considering our stats. I think we're actually overkill." He said as it took Reinka practically a single hit to kill it. "Now then, let's move on to the next one." He said, almost disappointed that it ended so quickly. "So how was your first taste of battle, regardless of how short it was?" He asked Reinka since this was her first real battle. He then noticed her gear. "I should probably get some better gear too. This is still practically the starter equipment." In truth, he had acquired his Anneal Blade and Black Defender Armor through quests but their stats weren't that much better than the stuff given to beginners. 

ID# 96062

BD: 4 | MD 1

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 18/22

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 11/12

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 0/5 (Dead)

Steel couldn't help but snicker a little at being able to make Reinka get even more red in the face. But he figured it was time to stop as going too far wouldn't be a good idea. Reinka then shifted from being mad to laughing and Steel joined in. Reinka then asked Steel to start off the battle. To which he began to question whether that would work out considering his luck recently with the gathering quest and the fight with that Queen Bee, both of which he had terrible luck in.

"I'll probably be missing a lot so don't hold your breath." Steel said with a sigh as he stepped forward without a care in the world and got the boar's attention. He swung at it and missed. The boar in turn attacked back and landed a decent hit but it did nothing to Steel. "See?" He said, showing he wasn't kidding about missing and looked completely unfazed by the boar that rammed into him as it didn't drop his health a single bit.

BD 4 | MD 8

Steel:
HP: 220
Energy: 20/22

Reinka
HP: 120
Energy: 12/12

Enemy:

Boar Pup
HP: 5/5
 

As a (self proclaimed) samurai of virtue, Steel's initial reaction would have been to insist that Reinka take the bed for herself. However, the women in his life, including his sister and his mother when she was alive, tended to be rather stubborn so he decided to just give in. "Hopefully, I don't end up snoring or anything and disturb your rest." Right as he said that, he wondered if people did snore in this VR world as they didn't actually need to take in and let out breaths. "The inn's not too far away from the restaurant I'm taking your to, just a block or two away."

If he had to be honest, he actually found some fun in getting Reina all flustered like that even though it wasn't intentional. "I don't actually mind too much. I'm pretty confident in my body since it's been toned from training all these years. So it's okay if you look." Steel said this with a teasing tone for the last bit. He really didn't care if anybody saw him. It was only for a few seconds and as he said, he had some confidence in his body from martial arts training. "But if you so wish to keep the sight to yourself, then I shall refrain from changing in public." He managed to get one last bit of teasing in while at the same time saying that he'd be more careful for next time. 

The two began to walk through the fields and pretty soon, they found a target. "It would probably be best if we started with one for now to get your feet wet. Do you want to start or should I?" He began to ponder how to best get her used to fighting.

"You slept in the alleyways!?!" And another bomb was dropped on him that made him worry for the woman in front of him even further. "I'm honestly surprised and relieved that you haven't been killed or kidnapped yet." He said with a sigh and a genuinely worried expression on his face. "You know, sleep PKing is still a thing in this world even in a safe zone. Even if you're asleep, somebody could walk up to you, challenge you to a duel, move your finger so you accept the duel, and then kill you in your sleep! Or they could have made you turn off your ethic code and do...those sort of things while you were asleep. Getting kidnapped isn't out of the question either..." He really didn't want to think about what could have happened to her. "Did you not want to go into an inn because you didn't trust it like with the food? If that's the case, you can stay in my room. Thankfully, since this is a virtual world, sleeping on the floor isn't as bad so you can take the bed." His eyes showed an odd determination to make sure she sleeps in a proper bed for once.

"Looks like you've got your qualities in a partner all thought out. That's good. I haven't really thought this stuff out at all since I've been focusing more on training and that 'hero of justice' thing a good deal of my life." Steel said with a bit of a laugh.

"If you can't move with your hands then play with your feet. If you don't have enough fingers, then use your nose as well. Whether you're sad, you're a mess, or you've hit rock bottom, you still have to play. That's how people like us survive. That's something I remember hearing in the past." Steel said in response. "As a musician I can kinda get what you're saying with this 'the show must go on' business. I'm sure we'll survive and grit our teeth and get out on stage when we get out of here." He said with a grin.

"Alright then, let's go." Steel said calmly leading Reinka outside of the safe zone. As he did so, he equipped on his gear, not really caring if he was in his boxers for a few seconds. "Let's go kill some pigs.

"Okay then, let's head that way. Wolves won't be too big a deal as long as I can get their attention if we have to deal with them. I did say that not much other than the field bosses on this floor can even deal me damage so you can count on me." He said, reassuring her that they would be fine if they stuck together.

"Eh!?! You haven't eaten anything since you got here!?!" Steel said with a somewhat incredulous look on his face. Sure people didn't need to eat in this world to survive but still, you felt hunger and dealing with that feeling all day would have greatly hindered one's day. "So that's why you only got water when we first met." It made sense to him now. "If that's the case, all the more reason to go all out with the feast. I'll take you to a restaurant I've been frequenting. The food's cheap but tasty. Look forward to it." He said with a grin, now wanting her to enjoy the food in this world even if it was virtual. 

"Ah, I know that feeling. My Dad and my Grandpa told me to hurry up and find somebody. Gramps especially since he wanted to see a great grandchild while he was still alive. Hahaha." He said with a bit of a laugh as he remembered it. "I agree with that way of doing things. Love should be found naturally after getting to know them for a while."

"Well, first off, I'll say that I'm not batting for the other team." Steel made it clear that he wasn't gay. He was having flashbacks to when the fujioshis in the class tried to ship him with one of the other guys because he had average to decent looks and the 'prince-like' silver hair. And he had gotten sick of it. Might as well quash it at the source. "As for what kinda girl I'd like, I haven't put too much thought into it.  I guess one that's kind and maybe a little energetic. Beyond that, I guess somebody who I can confide with fully. I don't really mind too much on appearance but I guess I'm leaning towards either cute or graceful girls. Sometimes some spunk might be cool." Steel's expression showed that he really didn't think too much on the topic as he had focused more on his training growing up. "So what about you? What are your tastes?"

Steel noticed Reinka get more and more worried as they approached the gate. He gave her a smile of reassurance. "As I said, I've got your back. You won't be alone in this. So let's do this partner."

"It almost made me jealous honestly seeing all the couples at that ball because of that reason. In this death game, there's not many people you can trust your whole being to, even among the players sharing the same goal. So it's nice for them that they have that sort of thing." He said as he observed the surrounding couples for a bit longer. Reinka then mentioned how it helped with mental health as well and then some have already succumbed to madness. She then said she now wouldn't fear falling to the same fate. "That's good to hear." He said with a warm smile. "Is it because you've met some more friends?"

The two entered the smithy whose owner was hammering away at something before Reinka called out to him. After a light chat, Reinka had gotten the quest while Steel was asked whether he was merely the accompaniment. You'd think such an advanced system would remember I was here just a few days ago... Steel knew that it was probably just part of the scripted NPC dialogue but he might as well remind the old man. 

"I'm also taking the quest. I was here a few days ago saying that I'd be back remember?" Steel said in response.

"Oh, that's right, now I remember, you're that young lad Steel. Sorry, this old man's memory is getting foggy nowadays." Lyle said in an apologetic tone. It made Steel wonder how the AI system worked and how everything was voiced without it being too robotic like a vocaloid. The old man then sent Steel the Quest message box which he pressed the accept button for.

"Well then, we'll be off. We'll be seeing you later. Please excuse us." Steel said with a light bow before leading Reinka out of the smithy. "So which gate do you think we should go for to find our targets?" He asked Reinka, referring to the four entrances to the city which all happened to be pointing in the direction of one of the cardinal directions. 

"I'll be counting on you then, player 2." Steel said as accepted the party request and Reinka's HP bar and name appeared at the upper left hand corner of his vision. The two of them then set off for Lyle's smithy, ready to start the quest. It was then he noticed all the couples walking around. While not as many were around as there were during Valentines but he kinda found it irritating how there were so many 'normies' in this VR world. Of course, he tried not to show it on his face though. "Man, there's still a lot of couples around even after Valentine's Day. Or rather, perhaps this is the power of the holiday on a bunch of gamers." He supposed that all the happiness and fluffiness were still in the air especially since some Valentine related stuff was still ongoing.

"Who knows? We'll have to test our luck and hope it's not a Mimic I suppose." He himself hadn't found one yet but chests were a staple in rpgs. "Well, that's just part of the fun searching for treasure and all that. It goes well with the pirate theme. Though I suppose we're more of an odd pair of a knight and a pirate."

"Hahaha. Well, you'll always be a cute pirate princess to me." He got in one more jab with a short laugh before stopping. "Yeah, I haven't done this quest yet. I finished the one beforehand a few days ago but then it took me so long so I decided to call it a day. Then the festivities for Valentine's Day happened and there was that ball we attended. Things got busy so I didn't manage to get this started until now." 

Reinka began babbling on a little about how she didn't have battle experience which then led on to her talking about their lack of healing items. Then all of a sudden, she accused him for being the reason she couldn't keep her cool. Steel gave a small smile to that. "In a way then, I feel honored that you're able to open up to me enough to show your inner self. And sometimes, people need somebody they can talk with openly. I wouldn't mind being that person." He said with a small smile. 

"Yeah, we'll be fine. I'll be sure to protect you. Just leave it to me. Those boars won't be able to deal a single point of damage to me and I won't be letting them get you either." He said with great confidence. "So you ready to go?"

Reinka had just arrived wearing her new outfit, which honestly seemed to fit her. Though it didn't seem like she noticed that he was there at first. Well, not like that's the first time it's happened to me... He thought to himself with a shrug before getting up from his sitting position and got her attention. She tried putting on the cute klutz act as she apologized and Steel couldn't help but snort at that in his mind. "Don't worry about it, I wasn't waiting long." Steel said with a small smile.

"You're looking good there, like a real princess pirate." Steel complimented her with a grin as it seemed that she followed through on her wish to go with the pirate set up. In turn, Steel decided to tease her one more time with the added princess thing. "I assume it's another one of Hei's work?"

She asked him whether his apple tasted like an apple and he then gave a tiny bit of thought to it. "It honestly tastes the same as any other apple. Want to try a bite?" He offered his own as there wasn't a real need to worry about bacteria or stuff like that in the real world. Well, that's how it worked in his mind.

"Alright, time to get this quest started!" Steel said as he traversed the town and was heading back to the blacksmith Lyle's smithy. He had finished an earlier quest which had required him to spend almost the whole day finding some annoying materials before coming back and spending time failing at making a potion. Afterwards, he was sent to deliver something to the earlier mentioned blacksmith, thus triggering the next quest. But it was rather late so he thought to do it at a later time. Later on, it seemed his new found friend Reinka had finished the same quest and was asking for help for the second one. Steel replied saying that he could do it and the two had agreed to meet at the water fountain in the middle of town. Steel was currently just sitting around and eating an apple as he waited for the girl in question to arrive. At the moment, his gear wasn't on as he normally didn't wear his armor in the middle of town as it was a safe zone.

@Reinka

"You could have just asked me to go with you prior to this if you were that nervous. I wouldn't have minded." Steel said in response. She then said how Hei had made her dress. "He does great work it seems. You look great in that." Steel said with a grin. "And sure, no problem. I think I know which quest you're talking about. I need to do that one too. Just leave the tanking to me!" Steel said confidently.

@Minako

"Looks like we're in the same boat huh? I'm not exactly used to being in a crowd like this either." Steel said with a small smile to ease her out of her nervousness. "Ah, pardon my manners I haven't introduced myself. My name is Steel." He said with a light bow to fit the gentleman role. "And your name?"

@Eatos

"Of course I was afraid to get up on stage. I could have messed up and maybe people would have rejected me. Even so, something was just compelling me to just grit my teeth and sing. Maybe it's a musician's pride or whatnot but it gave me the strength to stand up there. I guess I'm just a music idiot." Steel said with a grin. He then noticed Eatos was looking at his hair. "Ah, my hair must look weird right? That's a normal reaction. Not many people have silver hair naturally after all. But I don't mind it."

Rather than reply back, Reinka had come in herself to find Steel personally. "You didn't have to go through the trouble of finding me you know? I did say I'd pick you up if you wanted me to." Steel said, seeing how she still seemed somewhat unnerved from coming here. "And don't worry, nothing's going to hurt you here. We're in a safe zone, our HP won't go down a single point. And if something does happen like what happened at the bar, I'm right here with you." He said this with a smile of reassurance.

"Sadly enough, I don't really know anybody here except for you and that little girl over there since we were in the same party at one point." Steel said in response as he pointed to Fae who was with Hei. "And I don't have a date. I just came in on my own, wonder if I could find a date here. Then I got forced into singing on stage and almost got literally thrown onto said stage..." He said with a nervous chuckle. "Since you messaged me, I assume you don't have one either?"

As Steel was conversing with the people around him, he got a message from Reinka a girl he had met and had a conversation with a while back in a bar. They even had plans to do some quests together. Apparently she had just arrived at the castle though she didn't seem to be willing to go inside without him being there. Wonder why she's so worried about it? It's not like a monster's gonna appear in a safe zone. Steel questioned as he saw the message. Or is it something like she'd be embarrassed coming here by herself? I don't think I'll ever understand girls. With an inner sigh, making sure his emotions and thoughts wouldn't show on his face, he messaged back.

To Reinka

Yeah, I'm inside the castle. You okay? Do you want me to go over there to pick you up or something?

He sent the message and waited for her reply.

It seemed that there was some effect and a few people seemed to have walked up to him. He recognized one of them even. Well, not by her face but from her short stature due to being a child. The other three though were strangers. The male had asked whether he was the earlier singer. "Yes, that would be me though that was an accident. I just happened to get thrown up there, almost literally." He replied humbly. The male then asked if he could sing a song for the little girl later on. "You mean Fae-chan? Sure, no problem." He said, showing that he already knew her. He then noticed how these three were in the same guild as Fae. "I see, you guys are the ones who took her in. As an older brother myself in the real world, I was worried about her when I first met her in this death game with how old she is. I'm glad she's found her place to belong." He said with a soft smile.

The girl next to the male who was in a similar suit was stuttering a little as she complimented him about his singing. "What are you getting all nervous for? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Now I'm getting embarrassed." He said with a light joking tone complete with a sheepish grin and a light chuckle. "Thanks for the compliment though. I'm glad my voice could reach somebody at least." He said with a more confident smile. "Ah right, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. My name's Steel, it's nice to meet all of you." He said courteously. 

Not too far afterwards, he heard a loud scream from a girl nearby. She seemed to be stressed out by something related to the dance. "You okay over there?"

@Hei (What do you mean Steel's short? He's taller than Hei! XD)

@Eatos

@Saphira

@Fae (We're going with that thread where you me Letu and Hiiru are starting is before this event so we know each other)

@Minako

"I feel both relieved and pissed off that I got ignored... " Steel said with a groan as he continued to walk through the crowd.  He has just finished performing on that stage but it seems that everyone completely ignored him,  just carrying on as if nothing happened.  "I feel so stupid for getting so worked up about it... " Steel said with a sigh. He was hoping that at least one person heard his performance. That would have made it at least somewhat worth it. Maybe later on, he could find somebody to sing a duet with. If that person had more presence than him, something that would be most probable,  he'd at least have the chance to be noticed. And on a side note,  how did they manage to get that music? Must be those recording crystals I've been hearing about. Steel couldn't help but think to himself. 

At the moment, Steel was now just walking among the crowd, trying to see if he could find a date for the party... which was already in progress. "Man,  this is pitiful.. I'm trying to find a date after the event's started. Well,  I'm sure there's a girl or two that don't have dates either." He kept confident and continued. 

(OOC: somebody please notice Steel lol)