Arabelle

The old man advanced into the garden with a purpose and eventually disappeared from her view. That was fine with her. Arabelle was glad he wasn't the type of person who would just randomly go up to a stranger and start up a conversation. She did not feel like talking today. She probably won't talk for the rest of her stay in this game. Arabelle continued minding her own business until her ears picked up the sound of stomping. Angry stomping. She straightened and looked up. It was coming from where the man had disappeared off to earlier. A mob?

Arabelle didn't want to get involved. But she wasn't heartless. Not completely anyway. If that old guy was in danger, despite how scary he looked, she didn't really want to turn a blind eye. Besides, she was too young to have some old dude's death hanging on her shoulders. And maybe the mob would drop some nice stuff that she could sell for Col. So she stood up and retrieved her weapon from where it leaned against the garden's wall and carefully made her way towards the sound. 

The noise had developed from just stomping to the sound of metal hitting metal. Then, scuffling. She peeked around a corner and almost shrunk back. The hell was that? It had the form of a human, but it was like that human had jumped into a pile of leaves or bush covered in superglue and also randomly grabbed a large wooden axe. And it was scary. Like something that would chase people around in a horror movie. (She was not very familiar with the term, 'Ghillie Suit,' thus her surprise at the mob's appearance).

Now, they were circling each other: the player and the mob. It was a deadly dance. One where you kept an eye on every one of your partner's actions and struck once you found an opening. Arabelle waited from behind the corner and gathered her resolve -- you wanted to help, dammit --  before hefting her beginner axe up and charging the enemy. But Arabelle wasn't familiar with openings. Or any of the technical combat stuff. So her measly attempt at landing a hit on the bushman was met by a block. She leaped backward, watching both the man and the mob.

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ID: 103773 | BD: 4 + 1 = 5 [fail]

[H:0] @Kioshi: HP 79/80 -- DMG 7 -- MIT 35 -- Energy 6/8
[H:0] Arabelle: HP 140/140 -- DMG 5 -- ACC 1 -- MIT 9 -- EVA 2 -- PARA 2 -- Energy 12/14

Bushman: HP 36/36 -- DMG 27 -- MIT 0 -- +1 Blight

 

Arabelle was usually a busy person. Between managing a shop and friendships/relationship(s), and also going out to the fields to level up and train her subpar scythe-wielding skills, she did not normally have the time (and the nice, helpful personality) to stop by a player request board and find someone who needs help. But lately, her usual day-to-day activities and habits have been growing inconsistent. Her shop was left neglected and she would mostly just play the piano for fun rather than make a profit now, she still went out to level but only when her friends would come with her, and she had spent the past few days inside her nice, cozy lodge. Which was not good. This was how many players stopped leveling entirely, and Arabelle did not want that. She wasn't diligent enough to maintain a schedule, but she needed to do something. Something that would get her started on doing productive things again.

Which led her...here. In front of the player request board, where literally everything was overleveled for her. Seriously. The lower-leveled quests, players could solo (if they weren't cowards, anyway). But the higher-leveled quests...players couldn't do by themselves. So here went all the requests. And Arabelle wasn't at a very high-level herself. She hadn't even reached the double digits! She skimmed through the posted requests again. If she couldn't find any, then she would just have to ask one of her friends to do a quest with her. Then, by a stroke of luck, found one she could probably take on. It was for a quest she'd already done...with someone tanking for her. However, she'd gotten a good amount of experience from that quest, so she figured her level should be high enough. Arabelle took note of the player's name, checked her equipment, and headed for the gate.

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To: Pick

Willing to assist. I'm already by the town's exit. Which one are you?

 

Whoever it was hadn't given away a physical description of themselves. And the town's exit just happened to have a good amount of players waiting for their teammates or stopping to check their gear. Well, that was fine. Arabelle looked around as she sent off the PM. She approached the first person she had seen opening their menu, figuring that she might as well guess. "Hey," Arabelle called out. She looked at them and offered them a friendly smile. "Are you the person who posted the request for the Wasp Queen boss?"

With his hand placed on top of hers and the warm smile on his face, Arabelle almost found herself scrambling for words. Almost. (Hah!) Not to say that her reply was particularly verbose. Arabelle was definitely the type to ramble, especially when she was nervous (*cough* her most awkward meeting with a boy who named himself after an arcade game *cough*), but she was trying to get rid of that annoying, embarrassing habit lately. "Hmm~," she simply hummed. Arabelle's right hand dropped to her side and her left hand she turned upwards, loosely holding the hand he had offered to her. Arabelle cleared her throat and held herself back from talking more and ruining the moment, then half-turned towards their destination, lightly tugging Stryder forward. "Well, let's go." 

One surprisingly uneventful walk later, the two stood in front of the NPC quest giver. Arabelle nudged Stryder. "The item? It dropped for you, right?"

Leaning back on her large weapon, which was propped up against one of the garden's tall walls, Arabelle breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. For a few moments, it was as if she was transported back to St. Mary's sweet-smelling gardens, surrounded by nothing but rose bushes and cherubim statues pouring water onto a small manmade canal. This was...a very pretty place. It reminded her of home. She opened her eyes, almost expecting to see herself sitting on her usual bench with one of her textbooks in hand and her school bag placed carelessly on the ground in front of her. 

But there was nothing of the sort. She was still in the game. It had been two weeks since 10,000 players had been trapped within the virtual world of Aincrad. Her weapon was behind her, the garden was filled with various colorful flora instead of the white roses she would often see, and she was staring straight up at the virtual world's artificial sun without it causing as much pain to her eyes. Arabelle instinctively dropped her gaze, blinking in an attempt to get rid of the game's UI which was ever present in her vision. This was her new reality.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flutter of white that didn't seem to belong in the garden. Arabelle turned her head to the left, her senses now sharpened. It was an old man in heavy armor, standing at the garden's entrance and staring off in the distance. The white she had sighted was his long hair, and while he was dressed up in an intimidating manner and wore a scowl on his face, Arabelle didn't particularly care about him being around. She turned her head to face forward once again, quietly gazing at the garden that reminded her of home. Perhaps if she ignored him, he would ignore her too.

[ooc:
   arabelle actually levels up to seven two years after the game starts, but her timeline is a mess anyway, so whatever.
   the difference in personality is also because of the thread's timeline, and her plot. why did i have to make such a complicated one? :c
   st. mary's is the school she attended before coming to sao.]

Arabelle pouted. "No girl?" she asked, attempting to translate the flustered boy's words which were ever accompanied by stammers whenever she teased him about his (nonexistent) love life and all that. She sat down on the fountain's side and tilted her head upwards, lifting her gaze to the pretty, blue sky. She had only one word in reaction: "Aw." Then he told her what he was wishing for earlier, that he wanted the both of them to survive the game and meet in the real world. It was a pure-hearted wish. Selfless. Maybe even a bit naive, considering how dangerous things were out there. And it was a bit presumptuous. When had she ever said that they were close enough to meet in real life once this was all over? Sure, they played together a few times and he was about to tank her sorry low-leveled ass out there and there was that genuine feeling of friendship back at their boat trip, but still. 

Genuine feelings didn't matter to someone who pushed them away and kept people at arm's length. Right now, she was maybe only spending time with him because he was fun and he seemed to like her a lot. But Arabelle didn't tell him what she was feeling. With her playful smile ever present on her face, she looked up at him innocently. "Yeah. I'd wish for that, too. Double the wishes means double the chance of having them granted!" she sang, tossing her Col over her shoulder and into the water. She stood and reached up to tap his shoulder. He. Was. So. Tall. And so was everyone else. If she ever woke up with the same height as she had now, she would never forgive herself. "I wish I would grow taller in real life, too. Hm. Do you think that would happen even if I'm stuck in a game?"

Heart-touching conversation (lol no), check. Now it was time to get to business. "A Wasp thing? God, I hate bugs," Arabelle commented as she brought out her scythe from her inventory. She didn't look as scared as she should and that was because all her attention was on her lovely weapon. It was a beautiful craft, all black with a green blade, and it was much larger than the person wielding it. Surprisingly, it wasn't as heavy as it looks. "Hm, hm, hmm." She absentmindedly swung it around as Hazado explained his strategy. "So, you tank. And I damage. Simple enough. I'm ready!" 

The lad rose to his feet, claiming that he was fine. He stood maybe a foot taller than her and wore dark apparel that suspiciously looked like the armor stealth-DPS players often wore (ninjas, they liked to call themselves). He was a man, that Arabelle was sure of after hearing his voice, but his slender build and long, flowy hair gave her the impression of a graceful person. But that was just her guessing. 

"I'm Arabelle." She accepted the hand he had offered to her and shook it. Her hand dropped to her side and she managed a friendly smile at his question. She couldn't tell whether he was being suspicious or teasing. So she answered as she normally would. "Ah, not really. I was just passing by and thought you had passed out," she explained. Then, with a sheepish expression, she asked: "Can people even pass out in this game?" 

Why was he here anyway? This wasn't a safe zone. And he hadn't been unresponsive, so he wasn't taking the quest. It was only after recalling the man's momentary hesitation(?) before introducing himself and the general awkwardness of the situation that Arabelle began to think, maybe she had disturbed him. The Waterfall of the Sage was not a very safe place but some players came here to meditate. Just because of the general nature of the place. "Uh, sorry. Were you doing something before this?"

The blonde girl (@Vigilon) who had splashed the two boys earlier came to her and suggested a little stunt. One that Arabelle had already done before and was more than willing to do again. A mischievous smile adorned her lips as she gave the cute, blonde girl another once-over. "You. I like how you think." Looking at @Grimm, who was flailing around like he was half-blind (water had gotten into his eyes?), she decided to mark him as the easier target and sunk underneath the water.

A flash of yellow and green. And she saw Hazado get dragged underneath. Arabelle's laughter came out in bubbles as she took hold of Grimm's legs and dragged him deeper into the water. At some point, their gazes seemed to meet, so she threw up a peace sign and rejoined the blonde. The mischievous girl introduced herself as Kanari. Then, she provided her real name. Oh. Right. Some people did that. "Arabelle," she introduced. "The guy I dragged, over there, is Grimm."

Just a few moments after Arabelle introduced herself, @Hazado said something about payback before going underwater. Arabelle couldn't help but laugh as Kanari was pulled underneath, but her laughter was quickly turned into muffled cursing as she found herself underwater as well. She resurfaced quickly, coughing, and noticed the rampaging Hazado pull Grimm under...for the second time this day. "Hey! I didn't do anything to you!"

@Sunova answered her question calmly, not seeming to realize Arabelle's intent behind asking it. How cute. She was just as innocent as her best friend was. "Hmm, I see." Arabelle nodded her head in reaction to conceal her dismay, Learning a few things about how the unlikely pair became friends was nice, but that wasn't really it. She needed the juicy details! Were they 'just friends'? Or were there mutual feelings brewing underneath? But, whatever. The momentum was gone now, and the white-haired girl had turned her attention to Aspect.

A quick glance at the players now populating the beach party and maybe a long searching gaze for a blonde who always showed up to big parties. No one interesting enough to speak with at the moment. Arabelle turned her gaze to the ocean. Perhaps it was time to join the two guys in the water. She pulled off her hood and unzipped her jacket, carelessly letting it fall onto the sand where it shimmered and disappeared as it was automatically recalled into her inventory. Before anyone could stare, she plunged into the water and paddled over to where @Hazadoand @Grimm were chilling. The water was up to her neck, but she still couldn't contain the embarrassed blush from wearing her swimsuit without the hoodie. "Heyyy!" she called with a grin. Arabelle had seen a blonde girl wearing a green swimsuit dive into the water earlier, splashing water onto the two boys' faces, and wouldn't miss the chance to tease them. "Already getting bullied by a girl, I see. Weaksauce."

Arabelle laughed when @Grimm mentioned a water bucket standoff. "Depends," she replied mysteriously. "We're missing one though." Saying that brought the hyperactive and bright blonde to her mind once again, but she banished that thought as quickly as it came. There was no need to think too much. She and Spangie had simply fallen out of friendship. Like what normal people did when they stopped communicating. Then he brought up her odd outfit. Yes, it felt like it was ninety degrees outside. But if you were a bit embarrassed to show off your unimpressive "assets," temperature hardly mattered. "Oh, I'm used to the heat. And I'm gonna take a dip later, anyway. Better watch your legs when I do," Arabelle said, recalling that one time she pulled him under the water.

One of the unfamiliar girls introduced herself as @Sunova. She was a cute, white-haired girl wearing a blue bikini top and black swimming shorts. She looked a bit young. Fourteen, maybe? That meant that the other girl, the tall one wearing a pink bikini and an eyepatch, was Zandra. For a host of a big beach party, she seemed a bit quiet. Sunova asked how Arabelle knew @Hazado, further strengthening Arabelle's assumption that she was the female friend Hazado was talking about. They seemed close, and she matched his description of a small, white-haired girl. "I met him at another beach party. Then I went on a quest with him. He's very fun to be around," Arabelle replied with an innocent smile. She purposefully refrained from telling the girl about their little boat trip. Then, Sunova asked, "Who of the two is your GF?" Hazado had also described his friend as a shipper. Arabelle let out a laugh at his flustered reaction. That was definitely her. As the guy being teased ran away from the situation, she stayed behind, smiling at Sunova with her hands clasped in front of her. "What about you, Sunova? You two seem very close."

Arabelle was about to join the two guys in the water and maybe ask Sunova to come along with her, when another guy approached them. Wait, why them? Weren't Zandra and Tsu alone over there? Oh, she probably stood out with her hoodie. Arabelle looked the new guy up and down, then did the same with the companion he pointed out earlier. Good thing she stood out. "Is he silent, as his name says?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.  "I'm Arabelle. Nice to meet you, @Aspect. The host is over...there," she gestured in Zandra's direction. "The eyepatch girl wearing pink. Have fun~."

[ooc: Too many things happening, omg.]

Arabelle hummed a happy little tune to herself as she opened a message from a good friend named Hazado. She skimmed through the message once. Help. Field boss. EXP and item reward. Chill out after. Frankly, she didn't need any more convincing. She quickly typed out a message saying she would come and pressed 'Send'. Only to revisit Hazado's PM and read through it carefully before dismissing it once again. He didn't mention anyone else coming along. And what he said after they hung out just the other day. "Not broke...just making sure I have money for (stammer, stammer)...our next date."

She leaned back on her seat, reopened the PM. Surely he wasn't that gutsy, was he? Arabelle dismissed the PM tab. Well, what use was overthinking? If that happened, she would just roll with it like she did with every other date. Nothing special. She stood up and took her scythe from where it was leaning on the wall and equipped her new armor. With the soldier-like way she was dressing, she looked stronger and deadlier than she actually was. Spotted herself in a mirror and sending her reflection a cute wink, she walked out of her shop door and went on her way.

Arabelle spotted Hazado standing in front of a fountain, throwing a coin. It was a pretty fountain. Players sometimes passed by and made wishes, like they normally did with fountains in real life. Arabelle thought it was simply a nice, pointless gesture. Wishes didn't always come true. She skipped up next to Hazado and leaned into the fountain with a grin. "Whoa. If a player comes by and picks them all up, they're gonna be rich. Or maybe just enough to buy a cake from one of those NPC bakeries," Arabelle spoke with her hands tucked behind her back. She smiled at Hazado and manifested one of her Col as a small penny. She held it over the fountain's water, still looking at him. "So what are you wishing for, Hazado? Is it a girl? Come on now, tell me, and I'll wish you luck with that girl too. Twice the wishes means better luck at having them granted, right?"

Somewhere near the sixteenth floor's beach, Arabelle examined her appearance in front of a mirror, cheeks already red with embarrassment. The bikini was pretty. It was white (sadly, they didn't have the color green) and had frills and a cute ribbon. But with the two-piece swimsuit equipped, she only became even more conscious of her lack in...certain areas. Geez. This would always be her problem. Arabelle brought up her inventory and equipped an oversized white hoodie and her usual white gloves. Pulling the hood up and flashing a charming smile at her reflection, she turned and made for the beach. 

She arrived early again. Or maybe no one was just coming. Arabelle quickly spotted Tsu, in another revealing swimsuit. At this point, she wasn't even surprised she ran into the frog-like girl here. Lately, they've met each other so many times coincidentally that she even invited the other girl to hang out and do a quest so they could become proper friends. Then there was Grimm. Hot as ever. Vigilon. Had his Messenger open and was probably sending a message to his pretty blonde girlfriend. Arabelle hoped she would come. She didn't have the chance to hold a proper conversation with Krysta back in Novafire's party. Then there was Hazado, speaking with an unfamiliar white-haired girl. There was only one word she could use to describe his outfit and it was: Abs. 

All attendees were somehow all conveniently standing in a small group so Arabelle didn't have to decide which one to approach first. She tugged on her hood and approached the small group. "Hey," she spoke, staring in the general direction of the two unfamiliar girls. Good thing they were also conveniently standing next to each other. One of them had to be 'Zandra,' cause when had someone ever posted an invite and not showed at the actual party itself? "My name's Arabelle. Nice beach party you have here." Speaking of, she had to try that grill over there. And the cool drinks. Definitely not the beach volleyball Zandra probably had planned, though. Tsu and Embers had humiliated her enough last time.

With that said, she turned to the first person of interest. Grimm. Reason: he was pretty. "Seb. Nice to see you here," Arabelle greeted with a friendly smile. "Do you only ever show up in parties? I don't think I've ever run into you at any other place."

[Arabelle's Swimsuit (right now, she's wearing a jacket and gloves on top of it)]

"Oh," Arabelle said in response. She looked at Tsu from out of the corner of her eye. She knew she said she would behave, but what did behaving entail? What did she have to avoid? Arabelle had spoken to a fair amount of people in SAO and some of them seemed to be set off by the weirdest things. This was getting boring. Tsu had been pretty quiet, so should she also avoid making comments? Arabelle decided to try. "Oh, I remember that quest. The mob's pretty weak and I was able to solo it, so you should be able to solo it, too." Arabelle said with an innocent smile. Hopefully, this was good enough. Then, in response to what Embers said about Rowan, "Yeah, I get that. Mine acts up from time to time too and worse still, he's afraid of other people's familiars. I don't know why," she sighed. "Familiars are weird."

Arabelle found herself laughing as well. "Okay, okay. I'll ask permission next time," she said, raising her hands up into the air in surrender. She disappeared under the water only to resurface a few meters away from Tsu. Maybe now it was time to drop the boob joke, it was getting a bit old. "I can't remember being in the water this long ever since I was seven," Arabelle sighed, letting herself float on her back. "Even though the ocean was, like, right outside my house. What a boring life I was leading." The purple-haired girl turned her head to look at her friend, or where she assumed Tsu was floating at right now. "Have you ever lived next to the ocean, Tsu? I used to, and it was pretty relaxing. I could open my window every night and fall asleep to the sound of the waves. If any floors have beachside houses here, I'd definitely buy one just to experience that again."

~~~

Thread Summary

Arabelle
- 2 SP [1 page + 1 quest reward]
- 400 Col
- T1 Uncommon Light Armor

@Froppy
- 2 SP [1 page + 1 quest reward]

After all that Hazado said, all that Arabelle could muster up was a simple, "Yeah." She still felt annoyed over having to explain herself, but the guy seemed genuinely sorry and poking and prodding a little bit more would just make her feel bad. Like kicking a puppy. He called her one of his best friends. Charming. Arabelle even felt her heart do a little jump. She had been many things to other (now, faceless) people in this game before: a summer fling, a battle partner, a friend to gossip with, but this one seemed a little more genuine than the rest. Was it because he still wanted to be her friend even after that little outburst they had earlier? The friends she had before definitely wouldn't have stayed. She turned her head to the side, hoping her long hair was enough to cover the slight blush on her cheeks. He was too nice and earnest, even though he lost his temper sometimes. Probably would fare horribly against the meaner people in the game. But if that happens, she would protect him. Just because. Innocent cinnamon roll. She snorted at his last statement. "Sure. You going broke, too?"

Arabelle stopped in front of the mob she had missed earlier with her scythe at ready...only to have Stryder execute an AoE attack that decimated all mobs within his range. Which included the wolf she was targeting. And just like that, the fight was over. She lowered her scythe in slight dismay. A notification box popped up in front of her and Stryder with an update of the quest objective, which she promptly dismissed. She turned to him and clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. "That was amazing!" she exclaimed. "We should team up again after this. My day would be made just by watching you fight. Oh, and if you're willing..." Arabelle clasped her hands together shyly, trying to look as cute as possible. Clearly, their little game wasn't over yet. "Perhaps you could teach me a little bit...?"

"By the way..." Arabelle swiped her inventory open. Just as expected, the quest item wasn't there. Probably dropped for Stryder. "Let's turn the material in first and grab that Italian meal afterward. You good with that?"

"Nice to meet you," the small purple-haired girl replied passively to Embers's brief introduction. Arabelle may see lots of entertainment in setting people off without a good reason to, but she wasn't stupid enough to piss off someone as intimidating as the tall woman she'd just been acquainted with. Granted, she hadn't really seen Embers getting mad or anything like that, but it was just a general impression. Or a stereotype towards redheads. Heh. But, if Tsu was warning her against it, maybe she should follow along obediently and see where this goes. Arabelle hummed and hid her hands behind her back with a cheeky smile. I guess I don't want to set Tsu off, too. She's been nice to me so far. Maybe I can even call her a good friend. "I suppose I will," she whispered back to Tsu. Then, a bit louder so Embers could hear her, "So, where are you guys headed?"

"Heh? I didn't squeeze them that hard," Arabelle claimed, her playfulness seeping back as she slowly regained her composure. She followed Tsu into the deeper parts of the water and swam in front of the frog girl. "I mean, I just squeezed them like--" She reached out and gave Tsu's chest another squeeze, making sure it was a bit harder this time. "This." Clearly, they had already gone past that line, so she had no qualms about doing it a second time. Still, she found her cheeks reddening slightly as she did and even more so as Tsu grabbed her chest as well. She pulled back quickly and paddled away to a safe distance with a small laugh, unintentionally splashing Tsu. "It's fiiine," she said in reply to Tsu's apologies with a lazy smile. "Normally, when you mess around with someone, you shouldn't go straight to the apology. It ruins the joke. But at least I found myself something I can squeeze whenever I get stressed now!" Arabelle teased, remembering how squeezing the girl's chest felt exactly like squeezing a stress ball.

"You're more interested in...what?" Arabelle asked, looking genuinely confused. I've literally done nothing. I'm more interested in...something. There was probably a connection, but he neglected to explain it. Her gaze fixed onto something to his side, a bit impatient with having to ask him to repeat himself. This had to be one of the harder parts of conversing with less sociable people. Or, in more honest terms, talking with people who sucked at talking. They'd stammer and make everything difficult to understand. "Oh, and like I said. A boring guy." She hid her hands behind her back and puffed, hinting that she really wasn't interested in that topic. Why did she even bring it up? It wasn't fun at all. It was boring, boring, boring. She had to take control of this conversation once again. "Took me to a nice restaurant at night. The atmosphere was really romantic, but..." It's overused. Been there. Done that. "It's not my type. Say, what's your ideal date?"

"Y-Yeah, I love you...lots," Arabelle repeated, still wanting to get out of this extremely awkward hug as fast as possible. Her face was still burning with embarrassment and a knot settled itself at the lower portion of her stomach. "Can we go swimming now?" she asked timidly. Her question went unanswered as Tsu grabbed her hands and brought them to her large chest, telling her she could feel them if she wanted to. "Uh." Arabelle squirmed. Then she looked down at Tsu's chest, barely contained by the skimpy bikini she was wearing. They bounced a lot whenever the frog girl skipped, too...

She gave it a squeeze. Just to get Tsu off her case. They were...soft. And squishy. Like those stress balls she had back at her dorm. Hey, don't ask. They said it relieved stress and stress was what she felt all the time during her stay in the boarding school. Arabelle quickly withdrew her hands and went back to hugging Tsu without commenting on it. Maybe Tsu would stop talking about it if she kept quiet. But if the busty girl was just as playful as Arabelle was...

"Hm?" Arabelle wrapped her arms around Tsu as the girl tightened their hug. "Oh. Oh, that. Ahahahaha. I knew about that option, it's just..." her voice faded into a mumble. "Everyone already knows I'm flat. It's pretty obvious. And if I use it people will know."

"And here we are, Moondust~," Arabelle said to the small bird perched on her shoulder, her voice cheery as always. Moondust, a crow she had found back at Floor 2 with a nice frontliner named Macradon, looked around the area disinterestedly and looked back at her with an expectant look in its beady black eyes. It was not her idea to keep the familiar despite having none of the enhancements she wanted and the name wasn't her idea either, it was more of something she did so she wouldn't be wasting the nice frontliner's time. Arabelle regretted that decision a bit. The familiar turned out to be useless. He consumed too much food, too. And it cost money. So now-- "Wanna try finding another material for me, Moondust? I'll give you a treat. Come on."

And with that, the crow took flight and hovered in the air, looking for a place to go. She checked her surroundings. No players running around. The sixth floor's jungle wasn't a very popular place. Arabelle quietly reached behind her and her hand wrapped around the handle of her scythe. 

Then--it rained. "F*ck," hissed the small purple-haired girl. She quickly swiped open her inventory and her form shimmered as she equipped an oversized black coat over her armor and pulled the hood over her head. "Come on, Moondust," Arabelle called. The crow landed on top of her head and stayed there as she ran through the jungle, making her way towards that one area she knew didn't have rain. The area she'd hoped to avoid for the entirety of her stay in the game because of what she knew took place there. That quest where you faced your inner demons, or whatever. She hated the very concept of it and didn't know if it would trigger as soon as she reached the area. But she hated the rain and the feeling of being drenched from head to toe even more. 

She reached the area. There was no rain, as she expected. Just a light drizzle. And the quest didn't trigger. Hopefully. Arabelle looked around the area. There was the waterfall. It was lovely, but she couldn't appreciate it because of what it entails. And there was a man, lying on the grass and staring up at the sky. This wasn't a safe zone. How reckless of him. Still, being the social person she was, she found herself gravitating towards the only person in the area even though a part of her wanted him to go away. Arabelle padded closer and stopped a respectful distance from him. "Hey, are you alright?"

Arabelle inched back on her seat, taken aback by his extreme negative reaction. Sure, some people didn't like being teased and that much was obvious with an awkward guy like Hazado. But she didn't expect him to yell at her. A trigger, perhaps? With the way he was speaking, it was almost like he thought she was honestly saying he was a pedo. But that can't be right. Whenever she talked, some part of her always thought she never sounded sincere. Arabelle broke eye contact and looked down at her lap, where her clasped hands rested. From Hazado's point-of-view, it would look like she was extremely uncomfortable with being yelled at. And he was still talking. Babbling excuses. He sounded too defensive when she really was just teasing him like she did with all her friends. This was definitely some sort of trigger.

Arabelle's Very Bad Idea Number One: Poke and prod at it a bit more and see if her assumptions were correct. She looked back up, only to get splashed with water. Followed by an unapologetic apology from the grumpy guy sitting across her. God [censored] dammit, really? Was he that mad? How annoying. But even as those thoughts remained on her mind, she still maintained her playful, charming smile. "No need to explain. I wasn't serious. I was just joking," was all she said at first. Arabelle could count on her fingers the number of times she had to say that. Because people would normally catch on and realize she wasn't being serious about anything. Even the cute guys she flirted with and then dropped as they started getting a little too close for comfort. This guy was troublesome. People she always had to explain herself to were troublesome. Then, after a few moments of internal deliberation, she continued, "Besides, it's payback. Didn't you call me a Hentai, earlier? Means we're even now. And, even though the FBI don't exist here, there are still lots of players who like to call themselves the in-game police. So you can't really do whatever you want around here." 

She quickly went through the things he said earlier, while he was defending herself. "Ah, and did you realize that you just admitted I was cute?" Arabelle asked, moving to sit on the edge of her seat. "Ahahahaha! I already knew that from way before, but hearing it coming from you...well, thanks! I think you're good-looking, too!"

Arabelle allowed the hawk to land on her shoulder once again and reached up to stroke its feathers with a gloved hand. "Do you want me to bring you back to your owner?" she asked, gently petting the familiar's(?) head. It was rare for familiars to be wandering the woods alone like this without being commanded by their owner to do so. Arabelle turned, ready to go back to the safe zone and ask around. But as it turned out, she didn't need to.

She spotted the tall redheaded woman first. And she recognized her instantly. It's that scary volleyball lady from back at the beach! Now Arabelle was well prepared to step to the side and let the danger pass until she realized that the woman was glaring right at her and the hawk perched on her shoulder. Arabelle dropped her hand. Her luck couldn't be that bad, right...? Then the hawk flew and landed on the redhead's arm. Arabelle turned to face her, wearing a sheepish grin with her hand raised to give a friendly little wave. She also noticed Tsu come up from behind the girl - damn this was their second time meeting each other by chance, were they actually destined for each other? - but turned her attention to the hawk tamer first. "I'm Arabelle!" she introduced brightly with her hands tucked behind her back. "And who are you, miss? I think I remember playing volleyball against you back at the beach party."

Arabelle submerged her head under the cold, cold water and emerged, shaking her head from side to side, droplets of water from her hair flying everywhere. She turned around, planning to splash Tsu again and start a water fight (since Tsu didn't join the previous one), only to have the girl tackle her in a surprise hug. "Uh!" Arabelle turned bright red, feeling Tsu's...chest press against hers. She knew they were big, but actually squishing up against them...damn. It didn't take long for her to notice that Tsu was now wearing her contest swimsuit which could barely even contain her 'assets'. Had they gotten bigger? Her face turned a deeper shade of red as Tsu's words from earlier registered. Yep, she was definitely teasing her. "Waaah! I was jealous and I love you lots but not that way, uwu!" Arabelle's hands moved to grip Tsu's forearms, half-returning the totally-normal hug. I'm totally losing at my own game. Damn, I'm getting weak.

Since Arabelle had asked, now it was her turn to answer her own question. "Hm. Easy peasy question for me. I like them bad. You know, dark past, foul attitude but actually misunderstood, and just reeking of that smell of danger? I like it when they're top, too." She waited for Tsu to react, then she waved a hand in front of her face to tell the frog girl she was joking. "Ahahaha! Got you there, didn't I? Don't worry. I doubt any sane girl would have a penchant for the bad boy stereotype. They're too edgy and overrated. And not as good in real life as they are in the books I'm fine dating anyone but I like it best when they're funny. Um, and thoughtful. And kind. And maybe a bit passive."

Arabelle took a step back and clapped her hands, giving Tsu no time to react. "Alright. I feel like going for a swim now! Come on!" She turned around and beckoning to Tsu with her hand, she took off towards the beach and waded into the water, splashing it everywhere. She waded in until she and Tsu were both standing waist-deep in the water (thank the gods for granting her a friend who was just as smol as her) and splashed the other girl playfully. "You know, you were the one who invited me, Hazado, and Angie to go swimming in the first place but you never actually went in."

Arabelle was fond of birds. She liked crows the most - hence, her useless familiar Moondust - but she liked all types of birds too. So when the hawk familiar(?) descended from the branches to perch on her shoulder, she didn't duck down and scream like some people would do when they're approached by a really big bird. "Hello there," Arabelle said, reaching up to stroke its beautiful feathers. It didn't seem like it wanted to attack her, and most friendly animals in the game were treated as NPCs and lacked the green cursor, so she was now pretty sure the hawk was a familiar. But why was it alone? "Are you lost, buddy?"

In response, the hawk took flight. It didn't go very far and stayed just above her, flying in circles above her head. Arabelle liked birds. But she had no idea what that meant, so while keeping an eye on the hawk, she looked around once more for both materials and players. Since he was on this floor, his owner should just be walking around nearby. 

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ID: 101705 | LD: 14 [fail]

T1 Mats: 1