Azrael

As soon as she asked if he was coming or not, she heard heavy footsteps behind her that soon caught up to her. She kept her face looking forward but glanced at the man out of the corner of her eye and just smirked. Things were quiet for a moment but then he started asking her about what she had intended on doing.

“I said you could come along… I didn’t say anything about having a conversation,†she snipped, “And I didn’t have anything in mind. I was just going to start killing things and see where it took me. I just need to get out of here and start moving up to higher floors.â€

Dervish must have taken the hint because things were quiet once more. Anna walked along the path searching the fields for any sign of movement, but there was nothing there for her to see. The man began to speak once more and Zaz was about to growl at him again until his words caught her off guard. He wanted to know why she was so intolerant of him.

“I…â€she started. The sounds of him walking beside her had fallen away, so she turned around. He was bowing to her apologetically as if he’d done something wrong. “Don’t do that,†Anna said looking rather flustered. She moved toward him and put her hands on his shoulders trying to push him back upright. It was weird; she had never met anyone who cared about her opinion of them. Anna looked up at the man’s face looking him right in his piercing silvery blue eyes.

“I don’t really know why you make me soooo mad,†she started to explain, “But something about everything you say just pisses me off!†She balled her fists up, “You’re not doing anything wrong. I just…†she paused trying to think of how to explain something she didn’t even understand, “Just don’t be so…you-like and we’ll get along better.â€

Anna realized that she was standing far too close to him, so she dropped her hands and took a step back. She stood there uncomfortably not really knowing what to do next, until she decided to do nothing. Zaz turned around and started to walk off again slowly waiting for Dervish to join her. 

As Anna tried to work out what was going wrong, she continued to click on a few more plants. Once more their gathering cycles ran and she could gather nothing. She knew gathering materials this way was going to be long, but she had not realized the painful tediousness of the task she was set upon. “This is ridiculous!†She complained and clicked her tongue.

 

15136  2015-05-01 06:29:09

LD:2

Still, Anna was a stubborn woman and she was not going to let this stop her. She clicked on the next one and waited. Once again, she got a big fat nothing.

 â€œStupid random generators… give me some cotton! She complained.

2/20 Cotton

Anna worked down the row, clicking on plants, trying to gather what she could, but it seemed that she was at so low a level for gathering that most of her attempts proved unfruitful. “Maybe I need to change rows,†she said aloud. She came around and went several rows down from where she was and tried the skill again. 

 

15129    2015-05-01 06:23:10

LD:5

The “gathering†prompt came up again and she waited a moment. Once again she failed to gather cotton. “Maybe I’m doing this wrong…†she mumbled to herself. After so many failed attempts she was starting to think her method of picking the cotton was incorrect. 

2/20 Cotton

"It's not that you could do it yourself…†Dervish called out to her.

Anna stopped but didn’t turn around. She stood there quietly listening to what he had to say. He told her that she was doing this because she thought it was better this way. This wasn’t entirely true. Anna just learned that she could never depend on anyone else, so she went things alone. He continued by telling her not to die alone, that it was better to have someone else there with her at the end. She didn’t care about that either. Zaz supposed his words were meant to scare her a bit, but she wasn’t afraid, of dying in the game, yes, but not of dying alone. Anna believed that in the end, everyone died alone. Dervish even tried to appeal to her “caring†self, but Anna did not think she was very caring. She just found herself in situations where she couldn’t just leave things alone. She thought she was more meddlesome than actually feeling.

“Let others care about you,†he told her.

But she couldn’t.

That would require letting someone in, and she had never done that, not really.

"Besides, I'm not trying to be chivalrous, but I am trying to make friends. Since you are someone I have seen more than once I would like it if we could be considered that at some point, that's all"

The woman lowered her head and closed her eyes, signing deeply at his words. This was really all too much for her to deal with right now.

“I don’t have friends…†Anna said and began to walk off again.

She meant to keep moving but she stopped yet again and turned around slowly. Dervish stood there looking slightly embarrassed about what he had said to her. She didn’t know what he had to feel awkward about; he was a kind person, and he was just trying to be kind to her too. Turning around once more she took another few steps and stopped again. “Move…†she tried to will herself, but she didn’t budge.

Zaz was frustrated. With what, she hardly knew, but the woman found that she just couldn’t walk away. Sighing again she looked back at the man with slight annoyance written across her face.

“Fine…†was all she said and started taking a couple more steps. She did not hear footsteps behind her so she looked over her shoulder and called out to him again.

“You comin’ or what?†

The woman stared up at the bright blue sky above as she clicked on the next cotton plant. Anna wondered if the sky here was always this blue? For some reason in town, it didn’t seem that way. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there were so many building taking up the sky that it was hard to notice. Out here in the flat land where the tallest things were the occasional tree and the very edges of the sky met the ground below it; it made it difficult not to notice the little things such as this.

She stood there a few moments lost in thought until she remembered that she was on a mission and couldn’t waste time just standing around. Looking down she saw that the last plant had yielded nothing so she shrugged and moved on.

 

ID: 15095  2015-04-30 18:24:06

LD: 10

2/20 Cotton

 "What can you do then? Since you seem to be trying to convince yourself.†A voice said from behind her.

 Zaz turned around only to be greeted by a semi-familiar face. She had met the man briefly before, she no real opinion of him other than the things he said rubbed her the wrong way. She supposed the things he said was because he was trying t be chivalrous, however she never liked being coddled, or made to feel weak.

“I’m about to go… out there. I don’t exactly know if I’d call this the wild,†She said cracking a smirk. “And thank you for your offer, but I don’t need any help. I am perfectly capable of handling some first level monsters on my own. I prefer it this way actually,†She shifted her hands to her hips as she kept talking,†Your chivalry might be charming to some girls… but you’re barking up the wrong tree here. I can take care of myself. Always have and always will.â€

Anna gave him a slightly stern look first for trying to be nice to her, and second for insulting her. “I’m going…†she said and began to take a step away.

Today was determined to slay as many boar and other wild things as she could. The woman had spent weeks slowly leveling up on in town quests, and she finally felt that she was ready to take on more challenging things. She remembered from her talk with Vashtor that things in the field weren’t going to really be bad, not on the first few floors anyway. That brought her likelihood of dying down to a very minimum level. This was the sort of small risk Zaz could take because there wasn’t any real risk to her at all.

The woman walked along very quickly with a look of determination written all over her face. “I can do this…†she told herself over and over with every step she took. If this had been any other RP, she’d have been out in the fields weeks ago happily hacking things up to itty bitty pieces, but of course, SOA was a different animal, and Zaz was going to need to draw as much strength from her will as she possibly could.

Anna had walked clear across town and was about to make her way through the archway that separated the Town of Beginnings from the rest of the floor. She stood there for a moment contemplating the choice she was making.

“I can do this…†she reminded herself and then set out to have her first real adventure.  

 â€œNow, now boys, play nice….†Zaz said and clicked her tongue.

She didn’t find the way either male was sizing each other up to be very amusing, so she stepped between them as a barrier so that neither would do anything rash. She wasn’t sure about the seated gentleman, but X was always prone to doing something reckless.

 â€œHe really doesn’t mean anything by what he does,†she tried to explain again to Dervish.

“And X, you shouldn’t push, and you can be very annoying. AND …†Zaz stepped toward the younger boy, “ I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk about what happened the other day. What happens at the Starlight Café, stays at the Starlight Café.†She said in a hushed tone and put her finger to her lips to shush X.

Azazel looked up as she felt a drop of water hit her cheek. The gray clouds overhead shed a few sprinkles, enough to cool off the area. It was very pleasant. Another man dressed in a beautiful blue kimono approached and sought after how they were all getting along. She said nothing , but instead gave a soft half smile. 

Zaz was rather impressed with the quality of gameplay the SAO offered. Sure, in other games gathering resources was a part of the experience, but it was never on a level like this. As she picked up the cotton and loaded it in her inventory she could feel the soft fluffy bits in her hands. Real cotton was probably scratchier and far less soft, but the woman was pleased that they skipped that small bit of realism.

Clicking on the next plant she waited for the results. Another cotton fluff appeared and she picked it up and added it to the pile. 

2/20 Cotton

 

ID:15093  2015-04-30 18:16:32

LD:17

“Piece of cake!†Azazel said as she closed her inventory.

Gathering materials in this way was far less sexy than battle, but it was infinitely safer, and that’s all Zaz really cared about. There would be time for danger later on in her advancement of profession. Eventually she would need to kill animals for their hides to use as leather, but for now simple cloth clothes would do. Moving on the the next plant in the row Zaz clicked the “gather†option once more and she waited to see the generated results.

 

ID: 15084     2015-04-30 08:04:04

LD: 11

 

Nothing.

“Hmph,†Zaz said. It was fine really. She already found a piece so it wasn’t like she was losing more than finding. It just made the stats equally now.

“Moving on then,†she said going to the next plant.

1/20 Cotton

Anna walked along following the road toward to where the cotton field was. It was located not too far outside the border of town, and was surrounded by several small huts that housed about ten different NPC’s. It was a rather cute little place really, resembling a miniature village. The woman walked along keeping her rapier close at hand, ready just in case she was attacked by any animals. She remembered Nana’s warning about there being boars in the area. Everything was quiet for the moment however and this put Zaz at ease.

She came around a small bend and found that the field was in sight. Everything looked on the up and up and the NPC’s were busy doing their little programmed duties happily. If she was lucky the NPC’s would be programmed to kill anything within a safe zone, but not all games had this. Still she kept her fingers crossed that this might be so. At the very least she hoped the NPc’s might serve as a warning system that danger was lurking.

Zaz approached the cotton field ready to get to work, but she was stopped by a portly NPC.

“Woah there little lady,†He said to her. “What do you think you’re doing?â€

“I need to pick some cotton so I can learn to make a cotton shirt from Nana.†She said.

“Well…I can let you have some cotton in exchange for some work from you. If you pick me eight cotton then I will let you have whatever else you need. Does this sound like a fair deal to you?â€

A small “quest accept†screen popped up and Azazel quickly clicked yes. Now her quota had jumped to twenty cotton instead of just twelve, but that was fine. It was better than the alternative, which was to find another source of cotton. She was not sure there even was another source in the area.

The woman wasted no time getting to work. She went over to the cotton plants and clicked “gather†on the popup beside each plant. A small time measure bar and a percentage count popped up and ran to 100% .

 

ID: 15083   2015-04-30 07:23:03

LD: 18

 

Success!

A piece of cotton appeared and Azazel picked them up and added it into her inventory. She was off to a good start. Hopefully this would work out nineteen more times so she could get her task over with quickly.

1/20 Cotton

“Oh great,†Anna sighed, “So I do look like a noob. That’s just flippin’ fantastic!â€

She knocked back the last of her drink and shook her head in embarrassment. Had she not been such a chicken during her first weeks in, then maybe she’d have made a decent level by now. Instead here she was being teased by a kid half her age about being a low level player.

Zaz’s mood soured and she pouted a bit as she grabbed X’s bottle and took a hard swig of it.

"Anyways I'm about to go I dunno maybe get into a fight somewhere... Wanna tag along?" The boy said.

Anna turned and looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Sure… why the hell not?â€

 She began to laugh. It was already turning out to be an evening of bad decisions so what was one more to add to the pile?

Azazel had been wandering around the city for awhile now, and she had come to find several of the profession NPC’s during her excursions. So finding one when she needed to decide her profession would be easy, what wasn’t however, what wasn’t however, was deciding which profession to choose. She sat in her favorite hangout at a corner table reading over the player written guide she had received. Zaz was grateful to the beta testers and the higher up players who wrote it as it made things easier or her to figure out. According to the guide, there were eight professions, and there were perks to being each, so she would have to make her selection carefully. “But what to choose…†she asked herself aloud as she read over the details for each yet again.

The woman knew a few things already. First, she knew she would not be a fisherman. That skill was not appealing to her at all. The thought of touching slimy fish, even game ones did not sit well with her.  Cooking sounded okay, but she didn’t have a home so that meant she didn’t have a kitchen readily available to use. So that was out too. Performer was also out as the thought of entertaining other was less than appealing. That meant having to be around people and being nice to them for money. “Yeah… not so much,†she said and skipped around the page.

What were left were the standard maker categories. She could be a blacksmith, but the thought of mining for resources sounded more laborious than she wanted to do. The same with Alchemy, though the performance of the work was sure to be less back breaking, Zaz was positive that it would take way too much work to craft anything useful with Alchemy. With everything so narrowed down, that really only left Tailoring and Artisan, both of which sounded good to Azazel. In the real world she did both. Since stuffed toy making was one of her specialties, she decided to go with Tailoring. Closing her book, the woman hopped out of her seat and strolled to the tailor NPC to start her crafting quest.

Anna was glad that she went with tailoring as the NPC she found to teach her this skill was one who lived not too far from where she was now. She followed the road around the bend and into an area of small houses until she came to the one she was looking for. She opened the door and found the cheerful looking older NPC she was looking for. “Hello,†Azazel greeted her.

“Hello dearie!†The NPC called “Nana†greeted her back.

According to the backstory Anna heard from the NPC, Nana used to be a Grand Master Tailor in her younger day and now that she is old, she can comfortably live out her days with the money she saved. However, Nana was sad that she could not pass on her skills to anyone as she has no children and wonders if maybe a player would be so kind as to carry on her legacy as a Tailor. If Zaz could bring Nana back twelve cotton, then Nana would show Azazel how to make a cotton bolt and tread to complete her first project : <<Cotton Shirt>>.

“Alright Nana, I’ll take on your quest,†Azazel said as she clicked on the accept prompt.

“Thank you dearie,†Nana replied.

The NPC went on to tell her where she could find the cotton field, and warned her to be careful as there were boars that would on occasion, trample through the area. Zaz knew exactly where that was, as she had been there before.

“I’ll be back soon!†she told the NPC.

“Have a safe journey!†Nana replied. 

Azazel got an answer to her question, unfortunately it was not the one she was looking for. She felt someone push past her, knocking her off balance. Anna tried to catch herself from falling but instead ended up right on the lap of the man she’d be questioning prior to being pushed.

"Move it gordita."

She recognized that voice. It was none other than that little monster, X.

“STOP CALLING ME FAT!†Anna said as she pounded her fist against the lap she sat on.

It was then that she realized where she was and what had happened and she turned to look at the man she was now on sitting on top of. He was much taller than she so she needed to look up at him even from her position.

 "Are you ok?! Some people have no manners or respect for us noobs", he said to her.

 â€œSpeak for yourself,†she said slightly offended. In gaming, even if you were new, it was never good to refer to one’s self as a â€noobâ€, that came with all the wrong connotation.

The man said something to X, but she just shook her head. “That’s just X, it’s just how he is. You don’t mean anything by it do you?†She asked X and laughed. Despite the boy being loud and rambunctious, he seemed like a decent kid. His attention turned back to her and the man introduced himself and offered her a hand up. Anna sheepishly slid off his lap averting her eyes trying to hide her obvious embarrassment.

“I’m fine,†she said, “Sorry I crash landed into you, but you know… I had help,†she said nodding her head toward X.

Strands of Azazel's dark brown hair escaped her twist as the wind kicked up again. She brushed the bits she could behind her ears not worrying too much about the ones that still remained free. The wind wasn’t only a problem for her as the man before her finally removed his hood so it would stop being pulled about by the wind.

Anna watched him as he spoke and produced a package of something. He walked over toward her holding a box of what appeared to be chocolates. The woman had no time to accept one however as she noticed that something had caught his attention. Zaz felt a chill run down her spine as the man handed her the box of chocolates telling her to hold on to it. His hand reached around behind him and every so slowly he drew his weapon. Anna was frozen with fear. She looked down at the box of chocolates in her hands, her finger had wrapped so tightly around the box’s edge that she was beginning to crush it up a bit. But this was not the time for her to be afraid, not if she wanted to live, and Anna Maria Vilasquez wanted to live.

Slowly Anna turned to face the snarling noises behind her and ever so carefully she loaded the chocolates into her inventory for safekeeping else she’d lose their breakfast. She lifted her left foot ever so gently and placed it behind her inching back as much as she could before the animals would strike. They looked hungry, so indeed they would strike. He told her to keep her hand on her weapon and Anna just nervously nodded. Her fingers crept to her belt and felt along the edge until her fingertips hit the hilt of her blade. She wrapped her fingers around her rapier tightly waiting for what she knew would come next. 

Anna was back to her usual grind or running in town repeatable quests. She was starting to gain levels, however slowly, and would soon be able to leave the comfort of town and start her journey for real. Today she had stumbled upon another new quest she had not previously found and was busily hunting for the NPC she was supposed to be delivering the basket of goodies to. The woman was unfamiliar with this area as her other quests did not lead her anywhere near here so she was at a loss for finding who she needed to find.

She stood in the middle of the walkway scanning the names of the NPC’s and frowning. “Not here either…†she sighed. Where was this elusive NPC called “Grandmotherâ€. Zaz decided that maybe it was time to employ some help; she didn’t have time to waste and this quest was only slowing her down. Spotting a young man chilling out on a bench she strolled over to him.

“Hi…†she said, “Ummm… do you know where I can find the NPC called ‘grandmother’? I haven’t done this quest before so I have no idea where to look for her.â€

"Well I get to act like this at a lot of places because I perform all over…â€

Anna snorted into her drink. She felt the corners of her eyes crinkle up as she sputtered and laughed.

“It's actually surprising to me when I meet people who haven't atleast heard of me." He told her as he took a drink.

“My apologies,†She said smiling widely at his slightly disappointed tone. She supposed as a performer it would be pretty disappointing to not be so well known. He switched the conversation casually and asked why she still hadn’t leveled.

“How do you know I haven’t leveled?†She asked him curiously. He poured her another drink and began to chug fro mthe bottle. She accepted the drink still trying to puzzle out his inquiry. As far as Zaz was aware, there weren’t any indicators as to level, even when friending or partying with someone. “For all you know… I could be a level fourty,†she said eyeing the strange boy.

The boy finished his drink and went to set down the bottle, and once again he shattered it. “Having some trouble there?†Anna eyed him carefully wondering exactly how that kept happening. He seemed to be used to it and again yelled for more. Once more he was given another bottle.

“If we were drinking for real, I think you’d be passed out on the floor by now,†she said shaking her head. Even if the alcohol had little effect on a person here, he should have at least felt a little fuzzy by now. 

The man’s arm stayed in his hands for a moment, and then carefully he slung it across his back. “It is much easier to keep them at the ready isn’t it?†she said. He crossed his arms and smiled at her as he noticed her backing away.

“It’s not the coat that’s concerning,†she said smirkingly.

 He removed the coat and showed her that the design of the thing was intended to provide camouflage, and then equipped it once more. He mentioned grinding early on, which meant he was probably many levels higher than she. Even if she could somehow manage to defend herself, it wouldn’t be long before she was killed. But the way he talked, he didn’t seem like he was there to harm her, but there to enjoy the lovely weather and view. He pointed at the sunrise behind her, but she kept her eyes on him. Only a fool would turn around in this situation.

 "Let me tell you something funny..." he began.

“What’s that?†She answered.

"I strap my weapon at the back so I'll have a hard time reaching for it to attack, think of it as a safety button for guns"

Anna’s hand fell from the hilt of her sword, and she took a deep breath. She realized that he didn’t seem intent on harming her, not yet anyway. She smiled softly,

“I like to keep mine in reach, so think of it like I’m always packing heat.†Maybe if she kept talking a big game, he’d be less inclined to mess with her, if that was his aim. 

Zaz watched the man as he seemed to be trying to figure out exactly how to get back up into the tree from his position, talking to her all the while. He did not seem to be threatening her, but she was not sure she could let her guard down yet, all things considered.

“… getting scared early in the morning is a bit bad for the brain" he said to her.

“I agree,†she responded, still not making a move.

"don't worry, the city is still near"

“I know, I was just there. I came out here for some fresh air.â€

The man struggled to get back up, but his legs gave out before he could, and he came crashing down from the tree, landing face down on the ground. Zaz face curled up feeling his pain, “Are you alright?†she asked him keeping herself at a distance. He sat up and began to dust himself off, still speaking to her as if nothing happened. He apologized for startling her; she just nodded and forced a smile. She noticed that he was trying to get something from the tree. It was his weapon in its sheath. Someone he’d managed to get it stuck up in the tree when he’d fallen out. He climbed up a bit grabbing onto the sword as he continued to talk to her, but feel once more. This time his weapon was in his hand.

“I uhhh…†she said as she took another slow step back, “Just a day. I came to get some rest, after so much leveling up,†she lied. “And what brings you here?â€

 Her eyes darted between the man’s face and his sword. If and when he drew his weapon, she would be ready for him… she hoped.

“Yes, something like that,†she replied thoughtlessly when she heard someone speak.

WAIT.

She heard someone speak?

Azazel became uneasy. She had thought she’d come out here alone, but someone got the drop on her. She stood and whipped about to look behind her but no one was there. The leaves rustled above her from the breeze causing her to look up. She had forgotten to check above her when she sat down. How stupid could she be?

 Sure enough there was someone dangling not to far above her. Anna jumped back and placed her hand on the hilt of her rapier. Fear got the better of her and she could feel a lump forming in her throat and her heart racing in her chest. Slowly she wrapped her fingers around her rapier and held onto it tightly ready to draw if need be. She had not yet used her weapon, and her level was so low she doubted she could properly defend herself, but she had to try. Zaz was not going to die here, not like this, and not today.

“I’m terribly sorry…†she said cautiously, “I had no idea anyone was sleeping up there.†She squeezed the hilt of her sword tightly. 

Last night while sitting in her usual place enjoying her usual meal of liquor, Azazel decided to do something she found very brave or very dumb. She had not determined which it was as she had not yet done it; however, her mind was made up. When the sun rose, Zaz was going to go outside of the walls of the town of beginnings and see exactly what was waiting for her.

An hour before sunrise, Anna had begun to walk all the way to the edge of town. She found herself standing at a stone arch entrance that separated the starting city from the rest of the floor and waited patiently as the sun began to creep up into the sky. She leaned her body against the dark gray stones and stared out before her watching the sky go from blue to a swirling vision of oranges and reds and then she saw it. This side of town was upon a hillside and following below was a road and a tall grassy field that rustled with the cool breeze that blew through it. There were trees sparsely dotting the land and pretty blooms of wildflowers here and there. All in all it was very pretty.

Zaz stood there for a moment taking it all in, scanning around for signs of anything living or moving. She didn’t think monsters would venture so close to town, but it was better to check to be sure. The only thing that was moving was the grass, and Anna felt safe to venture out a little further. About twenty paces from the safety of the gate was a tree. The woman moved toward it and found herself sitting down under it in the soft grass just looking at everything around her in amazement.

“Sooo this is what it’s like…†she said to herself softly. 

Anna’s suspicions were confirmed by the girl’s words; another young player had died, this time it was at the hands of others and this particular girl saw it all. Instead of coming to the rescue, the girl said she hid, and now she felt terrible about her choice.

“What could you have done though?†Anna raised an eyebrow. She leaned in toward the girl and rested her chin on her hands. “I mean you’re just a kid. I have my doubts that you could take on an entire group of player killers on your own. You’re mad at yourself now because you didn’t do a brave thing, but if you had done the brave thing, you’d have only ended up dead yourself. What good would being dead do you? Don’t you have people at home waiting for you? Don’t you think they’d be unhappy if you ended up dying in here? Despite what you think… you did the right thing.  This game isn’t a game anymore and while we should all help each other, at the end of the day, we all need to protect our own selves too.â€

She looked around the room again and flashed a sign at the barkeep that she was going to need two more drinks. “Self preservation isn’t a flaw, it is only natural…†Despite her words being a tad harsh, she knew deep down she was right. 

“You could say that again,†Anna replied taking another sip. “Do you always cause a scene or is this a special occasion,†she asked curiously.

The boy picked up the bottle and started to chug from it. Anna had thought to say something about it; however, being as it’d have no real effect on him, it was just better to let it go. As he took another large swig something happened somehow and he crushed the glass bottle with his bare hands. “What the…†Anna’s jaw hung open. But there was no time to enquire as he’d picked up the empty glass on the table and threw it toward the bar. He screamed for another bottle and the barkeep barked back at him. It did seem as the young man would get another bottle.

“Are you always this well behaved?†she snarked. He didn’t answer, but instead inquired as to why she was there.

“I usually stay on the other side of town, but I got lost during one of the missions, so… here I am. I take it this must be a usual hangout for you? I mean seeing as you seem to be on such good terms with the barkeep.†She put emphasis on the words “good termsâ€.

The girl stared at her pint for awhile, and then sucked her drink down all at once.  “That’s a good girl…†Zaz said as she took another big swig of her own drink.  When she was finished the young girl set her head back down on the table and muttered her gratitude. “None necessary,†the woman replied with a shrug. It was the least she could do, really. The kid looked like she was in a pretty dark place. She sighed and looked about the mostly empty room feeling rather helpless at the moment. She was half tempted to walk away, but with the way the girl looked, she just couldn’t leave it alone.

“You know… it might help to talk about it. Umm… whatever is bothering you I mean,†she said trying to get the girl to open up a little. SAO had taken its toll from everyone, but the young were particularly hit hard. This was probably due to the fact that they’d never been on their own before. 

The youngster that had flown through the door and carried on with his theatrics turned to look at Zaz.

"Tranquilo gordita." He said and turned away from her.

“WHY YOU LITTLE…. Iâ€LL CALM DOWN WHEN YOU SHUT UP!†Zaz stood and slammed her fist on the table, “I AM NOT FAT!â€

“I ought to wring your little neck for that!†She said, but then sat back down. Getting up to actually do as she said would actually be more effort than Azazel wanted to put into anything. Instead she grumbled and put her head back down on the table.A shadow came into her view and Azazel lifted her head thinking it was that darn little server coming to finally take her order. Instead, she got Mr. Big Mouth standing there before her with two glasses and a bottle of something in his hands.

"You ever drink with a 16 year old?" he asked as he began to pour out drinks.

“It seems to be a common occurrence in my life lately,†Zaz replied and took a glass. She took a sip of the clear liquid and immediately her throat began to burn. The woman swallowed hard and then gave a little cough.

“Smooth…†she laughed.