Calypso

"Floor seven, yeah." She replied with the level of the floating castle where she had found the creature. "Each one has its own distinct environment, more or less. At least, each one I've been to so far. An Elf city, a snowy floor, mountain ranges, and caves filled with crystals." She recounted, a soft smile subconsciously making its way across her lips as she recalled some of the more wondrous sights she'd come across during her time in Aincrad.

Her eyes landed on the single flower that Myth had plucked from the ground, looking to her for confirmation. She nodded accordingly, "Right. The material itself should say it's a quest objective. And the quest will update, so you can always pull up the details if you get lost or stuck on an objective. For a death game, they still hold your hand a lot with stuff like this." Atop her shoulders, Danesh planted his small paws and pushed himself up. His long body arched in the middle, and his eyes squeezed shut while short legs stretched after the time he spent curled up and hiding away from the bustle of the city.

She should have expected for him to turn the question back on her, but Callie still found herself frowning at it. "Well no, I didn't know anyone from the real world that ended up here." She answered first, then smirking slightly at his mention of her abandoning him to see other people. To that, the woman shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't have any plans with anyone today either way." She responded in the most neutral way she could manage. She preferred not to explain that she hardly knew anyone in Aincrad beyond a passing acquaintance, and that her friends list was populated with an impressive two usernames. One of which she wasn't all that eager to see, for some inexplicable reason. Memories and images of the dance on Valentine's Day, and the wedding--or was it a renewal of vows--that occurred thereafter between Shield and his 'partner' Beat filled her head and caused a pang of annoyance in her chest.

Callie shook her head, and was immediately thankful to catch the tiny motion of Danesh's head to distract her. The hybrid familiar had finally pulled his face away from the crook of her neck, blinking beady onyx eyes against the bright sunlight. "Finally done pouting, huh?" She teased the creature, bringing a hand up to scratch the white fur atop his head with the nail of her index finger. His eyes closed as he enjoyed the attention, and when she withdrew Danesh's attention seemed fixed on the stranger in their presence. He stared at the redhead even while Callie poked gently at the side of his small face. "Are you going to say hi, or just sit there being a shy baby?" She criticized him. Her golden eyes picked back up to Myth, "This is Danesh, my familiar. He's, not very expressive. Or lively, most of the time."

For a fraction of a second, Callie didn't understand his answer. It took her a moment to realize he had misunderstood her question, going for more of an immediate 'after' than she had intended. She kept herself looking out at the lake over the top of her floating menus, pausing for a second before she opened her mouth in order to tell him that wasn't quite what she meant, and perhaps try to rephrase the question, but she stopped herself. Just then, Shield tacked on an unexpected thanks and Callie closed her mouth again. She looked over to the man who kept his sights firmly forward, her gaze lingering a moment until she took on a smile. She turned her head back to facing the muddy stretch of water, giving it a tiny shake. "No problem. It's not like I have a busy schedule these day." She half-joked in return.

As the boring mood that was fishing seeped back into the air, Callie ran her hand sideways through the air to finally dismiss the half-hearted distraction that was her open menus. Rocking back and forth once, and then twice from her heels to the balls of her feet, she extended the conversation from her last thought. "It's still kind of weird for me, not going to work every day and things like that. It's like I've done the same old things for so long, I didn't know what to do with myself with the thought of living here. Makes me think I was some kind of workaholic." She chuckled softly at her own rambling, weaving her fingers loosely together in front of her abdomen. She hesitated a second, but continued with her train of thought to air the next question on her mind. "Do you mind if I asked what you did, before all this?"

Callie nodded. While the natural growth in numbers that she would see as her level increased--and especially this power spike that Shield mentioned where tiers were concerned--would be satisfying, she was less concerned with being able to kill things better as the freedoms that came with having bigger, more appropriate stats for the floors that were being unlocked. If the size of her health pool wasn't threatened by the standard monsters roaming around on this or that floor, then she could explore it more freely. Using the increases in damage and such to clear quests, farm better materials, or whatever else it was that people like the frontliners occupied their time with was just an added bonus in her mind.

With her menus still open in front of her, and the data of her avatar still staring back at her as her thoughts wandered, her attention finally came back to the floating screen. She was becoming aware of how their time at the docks aside the murky lake was dragging, and wondered for a moment if Shield would have been stubborn enough to endure the lengthy quest by himself if she hadn't shown up for the company. 'Probably.' She answered herself as her index finger dragged through the air to scroll over to her list of skills. Golden eyes pulled from the transparent window to Shield's profile, as if stealing a glance while a question to ask came to mind. She felt the urge to go somewhere, a desire to see something new, and the few excursions they'd had together were easily recalled. She'd always enjoyed the freedom that the virtual world allowed her, but it wasn't until her and Shield's little arrangement and subsequent meet-ups that she had the opportunity to do more in good company.

The beach sounded nice right about now, but her earlier mention of it hadn't garnered any response. Maybe he just didn't like the ocean? "So. Any plans after we finally get the one we need?"

'Yeah, I'm in such a hurry to get back to my real body.' The sarcastic thought stopped itself from reaching her lips as Myth slipped through the heavy oaken door. Biting her tongue, she waited for her new questing partner to pick up the quest before they would be on their way. She nodded when he called out to her, and dropped her arms back to her sides in order to lead the way to the nearest gate leading outside of the city. "Yeah, I've done these ones. A lot of the monsters right outside are passive, so they won't even bother you unless you pick a fight first. We just have to look for the materials laying around--herbs, flowers, and such--and bring them back here. They're all really easy MMO tasks to get you warmed up to the VR part of the game." She explained. From the way Myth spoke and acted, she assumed he was familiar with games and didn't bother over-explaining every term.

The pair of players walked through the loose crowds that stood between them and the wilderness, reaching the eastern gate in just a couple minutes' time. Callie had thought about striking up more conversation, first deciding against it and then realizing that she had committed to multiple quests together with the kid. Keeping to herself was only going to last so long. She pursed her lips before finding a topic to break the silence with. "So, you've spent all this time just wandering around some caves by yourself?" She confirmed. Myth hadn't seem all that bothered or traumatized by the topic, so she saw no problem with bringing it up again. "Is...there anyone else that you know joined the game?" She hesitated a moment, unsure of her personal prodding as she tried to fill the silence.

She listened to his story with as passive an expression as she could manage. Given the disparity between his understanding of the world at this moment and reality, his acceptance and reasoning came as a surprise to her. 'Maybe he's just not as naive as I thought he was.' She inwardly mused, continuing to listen patiently to his plan of action. 'Level thirty by floor twenty-five?' Her head repeated, thoughts beginning to wander as she tried to gauge whether or not the numbers were far-fetched. She was only level ten herself, but then again she had met at least one or two frontliners that were well past level fifty, and they'd both been in the game all this time. She certainly couldn't hold her own lack of enthusiasm to level up against Myth. Here this kid was, filled with determination and ambition and hope, while she was content with living as peaceful a life as she could manage, taking in sights and relishing in the freedom of the virtual world.

As much as she would have liked to bid the boy good luck and farewell, Callie dropped her chin for another moment of consideration. Her eyes flickered to her shoulder, where Danesh had lay still across the back of her neck all this time, simply waiting until they would leave the dreaded safe zone. She pursed her lips, and let out a sigh of defeat. "Alright, fine. I'll help you through these quests, and then we can head up to the higher floors. I remember doing a couple more that gave really good EXP, so we can basically try to boost you through whatever we can handle." After her agreement, her mind naturally shifted to her arrangement with Shield, and how he had been carrying her through some higher-leveled quests himself over the past couple of months. Quickly deciding she was already getting herself plenty involved, she stopped herself before extending his help so quickly. Unfolding a hand, the woman waved Myth along towards the door of the alchemy shop they stood outside. "Go on, let's get these first easy ones started."

Forever away? This early in the game? She wasn't sure if this kid was just trying to pull some pointless prank, or if the stress of the death game had just left him delusional. Her brows narrowed again before her response, unsure of what kind of tone to take with the shift in the conversation's mood. "Myself?" She answered, a touch of sarcasm pulling through with her upward inflection. They had just reached their destination on the outskirts of the shopping district when Callie stopped and turned to face Myth, her arms folding themselves over her chest. She was casting the player a more stern gaze, and she shifted her weight to one side before she addressed him. "Look, I'm really not sure what you're going on about. The frontliners took down the twenty-second floor boss a few weeks ago." She explained.

She watched his expression, trying to gauge his reaction. Did he sincerely think they hadn't made any progress in all this time? Or rather, just how long did he think they'd been stuck in here thus far? And, if he wasn't just trying to throw her for a loop, how did he manage to be so terribly mistaken? "If you don't believe me, the teleport gate is that way." Without taking her eyes off of the redhead, she jerked her head to the side in the direction of the settlement's main plaza. "You can get to the main city of every floor up to twenty-three yourself. And, as far as bosses are concerned, I don't think they respawn after they're killed. So, if you managed to find one of the labyrinths, it'll probably still be cleared out."

A brow cocked with his request for assistance that was promptly followed by a reasoning as to why she should accept. Callie was just about to make a face, and briefly thought about coming up with some excuse as to why she couldn't bother to help him, perhaps even pointing him in a direction that would make him look somewhere else for assistance. But, before she had aired any unhelpful words, she paused. One of several meetings with Shield came to mind without her permission, and she was forced to recall some of his words.

"If you want to call it even between us, just do the same for another player someday."

She had to fight against her internal sigh slipping out past her lips. Still, something Myth was going on about caused her to hesitate with mild confusion. She opened her mouth, just about to ask what he meant by taking on the floor's boss. "...Sure," The single word was all that came out at first, and she turned to lead the way to Zachariah's alchemy shop. Her curiosity burned as strongly as ever, but she held her tongue. 'Maybe he intends to be a frontliner, and wants to join the upcoming fight.' She tried reasoning, wishing to shrug the matter off. 'Wait, no, then what could he possibly benefit from quests down here?'

She shook her head to banish the internal debate for now, and cast Myth a sidelong glance as he spoke about his weapon and the topic of materials. "Oh, well, like I said, you're probably not going to find much worthwhile down here. If it's by combat, you should probably gauge the highest you can comfortably handle if you plan on going solo, but otherwise you might be able to get away with avoiding combat, which will let you go for better or rarer materials on the higher floors." She explained. "And, there's a field boss on the fourth that drops an item used for upgrading equipment, if you'd prefer not to just replace that sword outright."

It seemed as though her attempt at soothing words was only causing the familiar to pout harder, if it were possible. His normally expressionless face was buried firmly against the woman's neck, and so she dropped her hand back to her side with an annoyed scowl. "Fine, you big baby." Callie muttered.

The declaration of her hair color hadn't caught her attention, but the motion of a person's arm waving as he drew closer to her front certainly did. She blinked, as if she wasn't used to either the stranger's straightforward, cheerful attitude, being approached in public, or both. Either way, she plastered a polite smile on her face and heard the boy out. As he spoke, it was quite difficult to keep her expression consistent. Eventually, she gave up, and cerulean brows came together with a hint of concern. "Oh, right. Calypso." She gave her username in return, glancing down at his outstretched hand before she returned the gesture with a light shake. Withdrawing and shifting her weight, she quickly turned her attention back to his initial questions.

"Well, I can hardly say my equipment is impressive..." She started out, cynicism slowly growing inside of her head. She had been tricked and threatened out of her belongings by other players once before, and she would be damned if she'd let it happen again. Even so, the safe zone of the massive city gave her enough peace of mind to continue the conversation. "Actually, I did get most of it from quests here on the first floor. There's a chain that can set you up with the basics." She frowned thoughtfully, trying to come up with some more useful advice for the stranger. "But, I wouldn't say there's much that's still useful down here. I think most people still hang around this city because it's got the most of everything in one place."

"Right, yes, I know you don't like the crowds. Please, I can only take so much of your pouting." A woman with seafoam hair frowned as she tilted her head to one side with her words. They were directed to the unmoving creature nestled into the crook of her neck, the ermine hybrid's long body draped across Callie's shoulders as he normally settled himself. He was 'hiding', as per usual whenever the familiar's player decided to enter a heavily-populated area. The Town of Beginnings, naturally, was still one of the busiest floors when it came to population density. Familiar, huge, and plentiful in the amount of shops and accomodations, the only thing keeping players from spending more time on arguably the safest floor was the lack of higher-leveled equipment and materials that could be found in the more recently unlocked areas.

'I'll bet Shield is off digging around in another cave or something.' She mused while holding a thoughtful frown. Her right hand subconsciously moved up to her shoulder to gently scratch at the center of Danesh's head, her first two fingertips brushing against the white fur between the short horns that protruded from his skull. "You know I can't make any money if we don't stop back in town now and again," She tried reasoning with the creature while she strolled, her legs carrying her leisurely through the streets while she only half paid attention to her surroundings. Golden eyes ran over the familiar names of different stores run by NPCs and players alike, and her expression soured as her next words left her in a mutter. "It's about time I work on recoup my losses, don't you think? I can't have Shield babysitting me forever. It's embarrassing enough that I keep asking for his help."

'Ah, so she knows him.' Callie inwardly mused as she listened to Hestia vouch for the man they'd left behind. The corners of her lips pulled down into a thoughtful expression as they continued walking at a leisurely pace. Golden eyes lifted up to meet the virtual blue sky that hung above them, and lingered on the trailing clouds that touched the mountain peaks far off in the distance. "Well... All things considered, I suppose I'm doing just fine." She answered truthfully with a small smile. "I've been working on getting my level up, here and there." She shrugged, omitting the details of just how slow that progress had been, or how much her interest in it had waned as of late. Another sideways glance to the familiar on her shoulder, and she continued. "Danesh here has been just as lax as always. I swear he acts more like a sloth than a dragon." Callie joked with a small chuckle.

The two women continued to walk and talk with little to interrupt them from enjoying the serene mountain landscape of the seventh floor. They would chat with light conversation, sharing an experience or two of their very different lives in Aincrad, until the setting sun would eventually coax them back to the safety of the city.

Thread Complete

• Calypso: +1 SP, +133 col
• Crozeph: +1 SP, +133 col
• Hestia: +1 SP, +133 col

Letting out a wry chuckle, Callie matched Hestia's bright blue eyes for a moment with a sidelong glance of her own. She let out a quick sigh through her nose while Danesh made himself comfortable atop her shoulders, and she spoke up once she was sure they were out of earshot, though she still kept her voice a bit lower than normal. "That person was...odd, to say the least." She started, trying to come up with a way to summarize the encounter. After a few moments in thought, she instead gave a shake of her head and worked to change the topic. "Anyway. What brings you here? I don't think we've actually met up since that first time, when you helped me find Danesh." She flashed the woman a polite smile before golden eyes flickered back to the familiar perched on her shoulder, who stared back at them with beady onyx orbs on an expressionless face. "I hope you've been well. You look a bit more relaxed than when I first saw you in that armor." She commented with a small chuckle, taking note of Hestia's casual attire.

Callie's hand found the back of her neck, and it grazed the skin for a moment while her eyes shifted back over her shoulder to the small dragon who continued wearing a curious expression. Just what was she getting herself into? Her general safety wasn't much of a concern, as much as it might have should have been when it came to interacting with strangers in this virtual world. Just as her head was continuing to doubt her already-hesitant response to the odd player across from her, a new but familiar voice called out her username. Callie perked, turning her head to quickly spot a head of long raven hair that fell around a smiling face she happened to recognize. Suddenly, a thought clicked into place in her mind, and gears turned while they worked to tell her how exactly she could take this 'out' being presented to her.

"Oh! Hestia!" She called, creating a friendly smile on her face back at the woman while she straightened her spine. The hand that had been rubbing at the back of her neck reached out to the side, finding Danesh without the help of her sight, and scooped the creature up from his perch on the low-hanging tree branch. She pulled her companion to her chest, ignoring his small squirms of silent protest at being handled. The cerulean-haired woman would release her grasp and let him hurriedly climb up her shirt and onto his more usual perch of her shoulders only after she'd taken a couple of quick steps towards Hestia. "Oh, god, sorry! I totally forgot about our thing, thanks for coming to get me!" She met the younger woman's path, reaching out a now-free hand to her shoulder where she applied enough pressure to turn Hestia away from Crozeph in an attempt to hide the sure expression of confusion that she would be wearing. Taking half a step forward to start them on their way, Callie turned her head over her shoulder to flash the man an apologetic smile. "So sorry, but I'm already late for something. It was nice meeting you." She paired her rushed and polite farewell with a small nod, turning back forward and continuing to walk without allowing Crozeph the time to interject in their parting.

Callie took a seat on the side of the pier, allowing a bit of distance between herself and the area that was best suited for their battlegrounds once a monster was fished up. Her legs hung over the edge, swaying back and forth slightly in the empty space and she leaned back on her arms, palms pressed against the knotted wood behind her. She looked over towards Shield as he spoke, watching as he deemed whatever that had nibbled at his line not worth the trouble to reel in. "Hmm," She frowned with a thoughtful hum. "You have a point... Guess I'm better off checking the shops for something normal like that." She noted, chin tilting upward to look up at the overcast sky. Her gear was most certainly something she had been neglecting--getting by with rather basic items, and nothing better than the 'rare' quality of her broadsword. She hadn't even put any more skill points into boosting Danesh's damage, for fear of needing to adjust her build to compensate. Now was she just being lazy, or had she always been this unmotivated?

"Mmm, I don't think I'm even close to the next tier, either." She mumbled, more to herself as she shifted her weight to one side in order to idly scroll through her menus with a free hand. She panned over to her character data, her username on display beside a simple layout of numbers and labels.

Callie simply nodded in agreement. With how long and drawn-out the fights with the smaller fish had been, or at least had the potential to be, she wasn't ecstatic about having to go through many more of them in order to get the quest finished and done with. If she could actually use them as target practice, or if they dropped anything worthwhile then perhaps she wouldn't be as eager to pass up the fights. But all they'd done thus far is worn her out and had her feeling ill-suited for the task. "Yeah, I won't complain." She added a verbal agreement to the small gesture. "Those ones are too annoying to keep fighting all day."

At the mention of quests, Callie's mouth twisted slightly to the side, and she thought over the past few weeks. The majority of quests or other outings she'd participated in were indeed with Shield himself, though she could pick out at least one instance where she'd taken an initiative on her own. "Mm, a bit. I did find that one you had mentioned to me before, on the fourth floor. The one that gives the equipment-upgrading item." She explained, thinking back to the very brief fight against the Snow Beast that the Emerald Duelist had assisted her with. "This quest alone has gotten me thinking on using it for an accuracy boost." She admitted, eyeing the plain-looking garnet ring on her finger that awarded just a bit of the stat from one of the beginner quests she'd completed ages ago.

Watching with a satisfied smirk as the fourth fossil fish shattered and disappeared between them, Callie shifted her weight back. She kept her sword drawn; if the last catch was anything to go off of, it wouldn't be long before she'd be needing to reach for it again anyway. Looking over her shoulder at Shield as he spoke, Callie just barely caught sight of a figure shambling up behind the man. Just as she was about to interject, the fisherman took the initiative for her and seemed to leave Shield practically jumping out of his own skin.

She blinked in stunned surprise at the exchange, but forced her nerves away through a small chuckle. "And here I thought we'd be safe until the quest was all finished." She gave a shake of her head in reply, "Hardly. He must move pretty fast and quiet for a crazy old fish-guy." She said, keeping an eye on the NPC as he disappeared around the corner of his shack, almost worried she might draw his attention again by uttering the 'f' word.

Callie could feel a knot twisting itself around in her stomach. Why was she even here? Why did she care if an acquaintance--friend?--of hers was getting married in the game. Well, when you put it that way, then she most certainly should care, and it was right for her to arrive. But if she hadn't been so nosy as to ask Hestia for the details of the location and time of the event, it seemed as though Callie wouldn't have attended after all. Mainly because she hadn't been directly invited.

With quite the terrible mixture of curiosity, guilt, and a most confusing sense of unease about the whole ordeal, Callie was grateful to spot a familiar face to distract her from feeling so out-of-place before the 'festivities' had begun. "Hestia! Hey, nice to see you again," She greeted the casually-dressed woman with a bit more enthusiasm than she had intended. She cleared her throat, hooking a hand around her opposite arm and forcing small talk. "So, uhm, I never asked how you knew Shield and Beat?" She added an upward inflection, hoping to spark conversation that might detract from her own busy thoughts.

Quote

ID# 98430 | BD: 4(+1)(-2)=3 - Miss!

[H:6] Shield - HP: 1329/1330 | EP: 104/124 | Dmg: 2 | Acc: 0 | Eva: -1 | Mit: 169 | BH: 66 | THN: 87 | REC: 6 | LD: 7
[H:2] Calypso - HP: 200/200 | EP: 18/20 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 1

<Fossil Fish> HP: 75/250 | MIT: 50 | ACC: 1 | Eva: 2 | DMG: 100 

"Hey, not bad." She commented, either at Shield's ability to draw the monsters into the lethal pin cushion that was his armor, or the fish itself for so eagerly throwing its frail body to its steady demise. With talk of the game's monsters fresh in her mind, and the braindead actions of the flailing fish playing out in front of her, Callie wondered aloud. "Makes me curious how many monsters out there are smart enough to avoid stuff like that, if any." She took her blade in both hands again, golden eyes following the fish's haphazard movements before she gave another slice through the air in its direction.

Once again, the creatures she could think of off-hand were unimpressive to say the least, and so she doubted anything she had encountered yet had any kind of special mechanic or behavior. "Out of anything, I would think humanoids like those bandits would be fairly smart, but," She let the sentence hang, recalling the bandits' actions and conduct as hardly any more intelligent than the fish before them.

What an odd choice for a username. Or at least, different from the many others she had seen or heard thus far. Quickly deciding that 'odd' certainly didn't equate to 'bad', she took on another half smile. Callie picked up a hand and scratched lightly at the top of Danesh's head, tousling the short, unruly fur between the tiny horns that protruded from his skull in order to stir the creature. His beady eyes blinked open, and his head lifted from the woman's shoulder in order to survey his surroundings. "I don't know if the game had a gender in mind," She admitted with a small chuckle, "but I just refer to him as a boy." She tilted her head to the side and gave a roll of her shoulder, nudging the familiar off of his perch. He gave a quick shake, the longer strands of dark grey hair that made up a mane of sorts whipping side to side, before he jumped from Callie's shoulder and into her lap, casting an inquisitive gaze towards Pinball. "I found him on the seventh floor. I probably shouldn't have been up there," She gave a small shrug, alluding to her own low level, "but a sweet girl, Hestia, helped me out while we were outside of the safe zone." She explained.

"Hmm, probably a couple days ago now? I'm not actually big on questing, so I've been doing one every day or so. I just ran into Kira here at the end of the last one." She cast a sidelong glance at the quieter girl beside her, who blinked as she was drawn into the conversation, giving a nod. "Oh, yeah. I've just been doing them all today."

(ooc: I don't mind starting to roll whenever, so I'll go on my next post at least, if that's cool with you)

Quote

ID# 98377 | BD: 9 - Critical Hit!
(9 base) + (1 critical) = (10 DMG) x (5 sword art) = (50 DMG) - (50 MIT) = 1 DMG

[H:0] Shield - HP: 1329/1330 | EP: 106/124 | Dmg: 2 | Acc: 0 | Eva: -1 | Mit: 169 | BH: 66 | THN: 87 | REC: 6 | LD: 7
[H:2] Calypso - HP: 200/200 | EP: 20/20 | DMG: 10 | MIT: 9 | ACC: 1

<Fossil Fish> HP: 162/250 | MIT: 50 | ACC: 1 | Eva: 2 | DMG: 100

"Dire...pigeons." She repeated, her tone carrying both disbelief and amusement. She then chuckled, giving in to the amusement as she shook her head. "I gotta hand it to Argus, at least some of their developers have a sense of humor." Callie tried to think back on the different monsters she'd encountered thus far, only to come up quite short in terms of interest. There were a lot of basic models--things most everyone has seen if they'd taken five minutes to travel outside of the lower floors' main settlements. In fact, the only notable creatures she could recall encountering were Danesh, and a couple of the quest objectives she'd gone after with Shield in the past.

Frowning as she realized just how much she'd seemed to avoid combat and danger up to this point, her attention was drawn to the fossilized fish that broke the lake's surface in order to catch the man's lure mid-air. She suppressed a laugh, pushing off of the pier's wooden support while Shield worked to reel the monster in. "That one must really like you." She remarked. Drawing her sword yet again, Callie gave another inconsequential swing once the monster was pulled back up to the dock.

Callie's brow turned up in slight concern. The more the boy spoke, the more nervous and anxious she could tell he was feeling. She felt an inward sigh threaten to spill out of her lungs, but gave a half-smile in return when he compromised to have all of them go as the NPC fisherman had first suggested. The man in question had been standing on the other side of his boat all the while, watching the players with programmed patience until at least one of them had settled inside of the boat. "Alright, if you're okay with it." The woman replied, turning her head to glance at the noirette beside her. "You coming? You said you needed to do it too, right?"

"Mmhm, yeah." Kirana confirmed simply. After the two had climbed into the boat and taken a seat, Callie kept one hand on the edge, as if for stability, and turned her attention back to the teen when he had joined them. The fisherman was last to push them away from the shore and clamber back into his boat, and all the while she was weighing whether or not she should try to push conversation with the stranger.

"I'm Calypso, by the way." She made her decision, glancing over once again to the girl beside her. "This is Kira. We ran into each other on the last quest in this chain." She explained, her chin the turning down towards her shoulder. Nearly blending in with the lighter hues of her basic equipment, the woman's familiar lay across her shoulders as always, either sleeping or terribly uninterested in what was going on around him. "And this is Danesh. Err, do you like animals?" She tacked on the question, keeping in mind to avoid introductions with the dragon-hybrid if the boy seemed any more put-off.

Kirana's violet eyes were trained on the boy, watching his movements and catching the stammer in his voice. It didn't take her long to come to the conclusion that the player wouldn't pose any threat to her plan, and so she averted her attention back to the body of water in front of them. Callie, on the other hand, mentally shrugged off what sounded like a somewhat forced reply, and she dropped the parcel she held down to her side.

"Ahoy there!" The old fisherman's voice called out to them. Several seconds later and his tall boots splashed into the water at the side of the rowboat while he waded the rest of the way to the shore where the three players stood. He gave a nod to each of them, going on to thank them for bringing Hannah's delivery with a scripted reply. "Now then, as 'ya might've expected, I need some help from you kind young folks." Ol' Pete explained his own task of reeling in and defeating the elusive Swordfish that lived in the impressive lake, and he turned to give the solid wooden planks of his boat a couple of pats. "She don't look like much to some, but there's plenty 'a room for everyone. C'mon, all aboard!" He urged, and a rectangular quest prompt appeared in front of Calypso and Pinball.

Callie froze for a moment, her left hand soon finding the nape of her neck. She was afraid of this. The woman turned her head back to Pinball, trying to gauge the teen's level of discomfort compared to her own, and threw out an offer. "Oh, err, you were here first. If you'd rather go solo," She left the sentence half-finished, motioning towards the boat with her free hand.

With each fish they defeated--or rather, after a fish had managed to ram itself against Shield's armor enough times to end its own life--Callie was overwhelmed with the same tired accomplishment. "Finally." She muttered, feeling as though that wasn't the first time the word had left her with the same tone during this afternoon. Although she knew she was going to be drawing the blade again before long, she still shoved her claymore back into its holster on her back. She pulled a hand to her shoulder, slipping her fingers under Danesh's long body as if to lift the familiar from his perch atop her. The dragon hybrid was quick to express his displeasure with being handled as such, and pushed himself up on short legs before hopping off of the woman. Callie frowned, but allowed her companion to hover lazily as she made mental note that the creature didn't actually take kindly to being handled.

"Hmm, wonder how long that'll take." She thought aloud, taking a step towards the end of the pier to go back to leaning against the corner support that pushed past the slatted planks of wood beneath her feet. "Hm? Ah," Callie chuckled softly when Shield steered back to their earlier topics of conversation. If only she could remember what exactly they had been talking about in between their fishy encounters. "Small talk? I'm not really sure." She admitted while casting her gaze out over the lake. "I don't suppose you have any good stories to pass the time? You've certainly seen a lot more of this place than I have. What's the most...fun you've had in this game so far?" Her lips curled into a smile after she'd found the right word.

ID#: 97337 | LD: 1 - Nothing

Shield was most definitely acting strangely. Was he just uncomfortable with the romantic-themed atmosphere that surrounded them, or the suffocating presence of so many others in a formal setting. If it wasn't for the goal of tracking down the man now standing across from her, she would have been extremely hard-pressed to remove herself from the outer edges of the large ballroom. Callie couldn't catch the return of a blank stare in time when Shield called out his partner's name and gave a few playful gestures. Why did it make her feel so...uncomfortable? She forced a chuckle that she promptly hid behind a raised hand, only hoping it sounded more natural than it was. It served its purpose, however, which was to acknowledge the small display, and to allow her expression to soften a bit as she very adamantly decided that the odd feeling was due to not having seen that side of Shield.

Callie wasn't sure if she was grateful for Beat's continued conversation. Now, after approaching the couple and exchanging pleasantries, she was all but ready to excuse herself and retreat back to the least-populated area she could manage. But, she was presented with a question, and the cerulean-haired woman just had to mind her manners. "Oh, no, I'm here on my own." The smile that returned to her face was an automatic one, but one she was fine with wearing. "And really, I'm not sure what I was planning to get out of showing up to this event." She answered honestly, her golden eyes drifting with a sidelong glance to the tables lined with food and refreshments, recalling an NPC at the door that offered an event-themed item to each participant. "Although dressing up to get free cake is good enough incentive for me, I suppose."

@Shield @Beat

Callie hadn't been so perceptive to notice anything amiss with the brunette tank until his jumbled greeting reached her ears. She blinked once, and her mind nearly registered some kind of subtle insult. Or at the very least, an observation given in very poor taste that would have her questioning her own appearance with more embarrassment than she had expected.

It wasn't until Shield had hastily excused himself that the word--or rather, the name--'Beat' sounded familiar from Shield's company. She'd heard mention of the man as Shield's companion, partner, or whatever it was on one or two occasions, and now it seemed she had a face to put to the name. Still, she had to stop herself from raising a curious eyebrow as she couldn't help but notice the two were linked at the arm up until a moment ago.

Callie took on another small smile, mentally shrugging off Shield's initial odd greeting as he offered a bit of an explanation and began anew. She gave a nod of her head, "Ah, right. Calypso, nice to meet you." She repeated her username right before the pair of players' attentions were drawn to a wandering NPC.

'Couple competition?' She translated the gentleman's thick accent while Shield and Beat signed their names in turn. The latter would then turn his attention back on her, a wide smile on the noirette's face as he drew closer to his partner. She was almost glad Shield answered before her, as she was focused on keeping her expression neutral throughout the exchange. Perhaps she was just surprised as the gears in her mind clicked and settled into place. She had to admit that as focused as Shield seemed to be about the mechanical aspects of the 'game', and with the more impersonal or business-like persona she'd seen from him, she didn't anticipate him to have any romantic connections, at least within Aincrad. But the man at his arm spoke a very different story, and for some inexplicible reason it formed a small knot in the core of her stomach.

"Mm, yes." The reply was one on auto-pilot before her brain caught up with itself to force the conversation along, though she hardly made any progress. "Shield's been kind enough to help me out with some quests here and there."

@Shield @Beat