Arabelle

Arabelle tilted her head to the side innocently. "What I'm thinking of? I'm not thinking of anything," she claimed, propping an elbow on the boat's side. The little smirk she wore on her face suggested otherwise. But she wasn't telling. Hazado was probably just guessing. Because just a moment ago, she was smiling her same old playful smile and not doing anything differently at all. If she were doing something differently, Arabelle would have at least took note of it in her head. Unless Hazado was some sort of crazy esper, she didn't believe he actually saw through her. 

As they reached the middle of the lake, Arabelle leaned over the boat and saw her reflection in the lake's clear water. She grinned at her own reflection and fixed her ponytail. Ripples from Hazado dipping the paddle into the water ruined the image and she looked back up at him. "Well, I know how to swim." Which she had so clearly demonstrated back at the beach when she played with everyone else in the water. "So no need to worry your pretty little head over me." Arabelle looked back down to stare at her reflection once again. Which was once again interrupted by a loud thump - Hazado unexpectedly losing his balance and falling onto his knees in front of her - and the boat rocking in the water.  Pain was nonexistent in SAO, but ouch. To both his tingling knees and his wounded pride at losing his balance in a place where he said he was experienced in. Arabelle had to hold back her laughter.

She stared down at him, waiting for him to ask her to help him up. The sun shone from behind her, illuminating his dumbfounded face. He stared back, his face a bit red. She kept staring. He kept staring. She stared. He stared. Seconds passed. A full damn minute passed. And she started to feel a little bit uneasy. "Knock knock?" Arabelle asked, gently knocking a clenched fist against the top of his head. It was a weird situation, but she was acting as normally as always. "Has Hazado.exe stopped responding? Helloooo?"

Then, he jumped up, making the boat rock once again. But Arabelle was a bit used to the sensation now, so she didn't mind it. Hazado sat in front of her, his face red, apologizing. "Ahahaha. My pretty face too much for you, Hazado? I knew I shouldn't have put my makeup on today. If I did, you would've stared for an hour. And the game would've fined you for another hour with the boat." Arabelle leaned back, crossing her arms and looking a bit smug. He looked down at her crossed arms. No, he wasn't looking at her arms - he was staring at her (flat) chest. Arabelle's eyes narrowed. Feeling a little uneasy but handling the situation with the same amount of seriousness (which was at the whopping number of...zero) as she always did. Arabelle stood and leaned forward, planting her hands on either side of his seat. She looked up at him, her face inches from his own, with an intense expression in her eyes. Then - she lurched forward and...headbutted his chin. "Hazado, you big old pedobear! I'm underage you know! The FBI's gonna come banging down on your door later!" She paused and returned to her seat. "Oh wait. I'm 18."

[ooc: Hazado has nothing to stare at lmao]

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tsu giving one of the other guys a wink. Though unlike Arabelle, she went a bit further and bounced her steps a little, causing her large chest to shake. Dayum. The frog girl had much more game - and guts - than her. Arabelle looked over her shoulder and spotted Tsu's 'target' blushing and giving them a thumbs-up. Then he caught her gaze and looked away, embarrassed. "Gets flustered too easily. Cute, but not my type~," she commented nonchalantly, her voice low enough that only Tsu could hear her. "Say, Tsu," Arabelle began, hiding her hands behind her back. They'd already arrived at the beach and Tsu had asked her what she wanted to do, but she made no indication of going into the water. For now, this type of information was important. It always was, among girls. "We can go swimming after this, but for now I want to know. What's your type of guy?"

"Even more with Rowan being an asshole today!" yelled someone from inside the safe zone. From a nearby tree, a flock of spooked birds took flight. Arabelle looked around and surmised that maybe the speaker was behind one of the nearby houses. Maybe the one with the NPC quest giver. But whatever it was, she was not going to check it out. She turned around and, finding the same path she and Tsu had followed yesterday, she started walking while keeping an eye on her surroundings.

Being alone was...weird. Usually, she would have someone by her side at every moment of the day and wouldn't be left with even a single moment of silence. Walking down the path now, Arabelle decided that the latter was way better.

She stopped to pick up a material and felt someone's gaze on her. No, it wasn't a someone. She looked up, hearing the leaves above her rustle. A white-tailed hawk perched on a nearby branch, gazing at her curiously. It didn't have the red cursor floating above it, like with most mobs in the game. Instead, the cursor was green. Someone's familiar?

Quote

ID: 101690 | LD: 16 [success]

T1 Mats: 1

 

Arabelle stood back as Stryder moved in, allowing him a few moments to fight the mobs without having to worry about her, before tightening her grip on her scythe and following after him. She kept her distance in order to avoid crashing into him mid-combat. Players in SAO often had very different fighting styles and some (like her) tended to move around a lot. And she wasn't the best at fighting alongside someone she'd just met so she didn't want to get in his way. And - as she watched him launch himself into the air and bring his fist down on the quest mob - she concluded that it really was a good idea to stay back. Had she positioned herself beside him, his attack would've been different. Maybe even less successful.

The three other wolves barked and threw themselves at Stryder, who easily caught them and threw them off. She caught a sideways glance at his expression as she chased after one of the wolves. Was he...smiling? It wasn't a normal smile. Arabelle dismissed it as a matter for another time and focused on the mob she had designated as her target. The wolf landed on the ground and quickly attempted to get back up, its unsteady legs scrabbling at the grass. Her scythe glowed a bright green as she raised it above her head and slammed it down on the mob's head. 

...Or where it should have been. The lucky wolf had managed to move out of the way and was now approaching Stryder at full sprint. Arabelle huffed and dislodged her scythe from the ground, pursuing the mob once again.

Quote

ID: 101559 | BD: 1

Arabelle - 100/100 HP | 10/10 EN | 4 DMG | 1 ACC | 2 Para.
@Stryder - 699/700 HP | 53/70 EN | 62 MIT | 4 ACC | 3 EVA (Poisoned - 10 DMG 3/3)

Wolf 1 - 40/40 HP | 25 DMG
Wolf 2 - 40/40 HP | 25 DMG
Wolf 3 - 40/40 HP | 25 DMG

 

Arabelle followed after Tsu and stepped into the teleporter after her. They were both warped to floor 16, where the beach party was held just a week earlier. It was also the place where she and Spangie totally got their asses kicked in volleyball by Tsu and some scary redheaded girl. Good times. Tsu's form shimmered as she changed into her swimsuit - a different swimsuit this time, this one was much more conservative and had lots of stripes - and Arabelle did the same. She equipped the same swimsuit she had worn back at the beach party: a (slightly oversized) green shirt, black swimming shorts, a pair of flip-flops, and a white glove on her right arm. And a black bikini top underneath her shirt, just in case. 

"Ah, it's fine," Arabelle said with a small laugh. "Your normal swimsuit looks nice, too. Come on, let's go. We don't want a crowd to form now, do we?" She smiled mischievously and took Tsu's hand in hers, skipping towards the beach. Arabelle wasn't looking, but as soon as she and Tsu changed into their swimsuits, she started feeling eyes on her and on Tsu. They were still in the middle of the main settlement, where most players were still wearing their normal clothes. Arabelle was sure some lucky guys were enjoying the show and she turned around long enough to spot a particularly cute one and give him a wink. Then she tugged on Tsu's hand and continued walking to the beach.

Arabelle leaned over the side of the boat as Hazado rowed them over to the ducks, being careful not to put too much weight on only one side of the boat. She knew how to swim, but she did not want the boat to tip and submerge them in a frozen hell. "Awww. They're so cute. If only I had a camera..." She turned to face the ducks as they swam away from their boat, content with simply watching them. Really, it's a pity they were only a part of a game environment, something that once broken down would only be a chain of 0s and 1s. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hazado bringing out some bread from his inventory and breaking it into pieces. Then he dropped some into the water and the family of ducks approached their boat, attracted to the food. Arabelle wanted to point out that they didn't need to eat but decided to keep silent. Sometimes, it was better to pretend. He handed her a few pieces and she leaned over the side of the boat, dropping one into the water. Two ducklings broke off from the group that had formed in front of Hazado and snatched up the morsel of bread. They swam closer to her side of the boat, waiting for more. She dropped a few more bread pieces and watched the ducklings gobbled them up hungrily. She grinned and turned to Hazado, ready to say something, then saw him wearing a peaceful smile with a small duckling snuggling into his hand. Well. Arabelle liked to call herself a total moment killer but for some reason, she decided not to interrupt this one. I can do that, too!

She dropped another few pieces of bread and dipped her finger into the water once the ducklings were done eating them up. They circled around her hand curiously and one was brave enough to snuggle up against her hand. Arabelle propped an elbow on the side of the boat and lifted her hand from the water, petting the duckling on its head gently. It stayed for a few moments then swam away quickly. She dropped the last of her bread pieces and the ducklings snatched them up before swimming back to their parents. Arabelle straightened and watched the ducks swimming away from the boat as Hazado also ran out of bread. "That was fun~," Arabelle commented, turning to face him once again. I think this is a lovely first date, in my opinion, she wanted to say in her usual teasing tone but she'd probably shock the guy so much that he'd accidentally tip their boat. Which she still did not want to happen. "Let's go to the middle of the lake next?"

Arabelle huffed, placing a crystal down in front of her. This was no good. She can't have a Performer shop and only have literally one song in stock. And if she had this much difficulty crafting songs she herself chose, how the hell would she fare with custom orders? She played a warm-up scale, pressed record, then started to play a song.

Her two attempts today both resulted in failures, though as luck would have it, she was able to salvage one of her crystals again. She placed the lid back down and left the shop, ready to do literally anything else except crafting.

"Hm, wonder what its like, being one of them?" Arabelle thought out loud. She followed Tsu back to the settlement, hiding her hands behind her back. Of course, she still had her scythe at ready in case something suddenly jumped out at them. "Must be pretty cool, since you're one of the strongest players in the game. But I suppose it must be stressful and all. I can't imagine the amount of planning and strategy that goes into those boss fights. And all the responsibility that comes with the role... Say, Tsu. Do you want to be a frontliner, too?"

They reached the quest NPC's shop and Arabelle went in to hand the item over. The armorsmith frowned down at the leather she gave him before nodding silently and moving to the back part of the shop. "How long until it's done?" she asked the armorsmith's wife. 

"Oh, just a few moments."

"How long is--"  Her ears picked up the sound of armor being successfully made. Not too soon after, the armorsmith walked out from the back part of the shop and handed Arabelle her new armor. (Which she wasn't going to use, because she'd already ordered a much nicer and higher-quality set from a player-owned shop). "Th-that was fast," she commented, taking the coat. But she wasn't complaining. At the same time, a notification popped up in front of her. 'Mission Complete!'

Arabelle dismissed the notification and met back up with Tsu outside the shop. "I'm done. So, let's hit the beach now?"

"Teleport: Delilah." A few moments of nothingness passed, then the world was bright again. Arabelle attempted to shake the dizziness and disorientation out of her head as she stepped away from Floor 3's teleporter and regarded her surroundings with an uncharacteristic indifference. She had just received her new armor from a tailor named Hei and wanted to test it out before trying some of the harder quests. Floor 1 and Floor 2 were currently a bit too populated and the mobs on her level range have probably already been wiped out. Maybe even by players who were on the same level as hers. No matter how strong they became, for some reason, some players never gathered enough courage to leave the beginner-friendly fields of Floor 1.

Which brings her here, to the magical fantasy-themed main settlement(?) of Floor 3. Arabelle spent a few minutes walking aimlessly around the village, people-watching and looking at the pretty flowers growing along the sides of the path with the same distant expression on her face. Eventually, she found herself at the settlement's exit and paused to equip her scythe. Her new armor, she had already been wearing even before she teleported to Delilah.

Upon receiving the PM, Arabelle wasted no time in getting to the shop. Now that she'd gone up a few levels, she was eager to start some of the harder quests and needed the proper equipment to do so. And also, teammates. But that was an entirely different matter. She entered the shop and wasted no time looking around. Instead, she proceeded directly to Hei and received her new armor. She held her new clothes in front of her and grinned. "Oooooh, it's exactly like how I wanted it. You're a really good tailor, mister Hei! Thanks!" With that, she placed her armor in her inventory and left the shop.

+1 Imperial Demon Army Uniform

"Sunova...?" Arabelle repeated the unfamiliar name Hazado had just dropped. A girl who sounded and looked similar to her, but with white hair... nope. Arabelle had met a lot of people in SAO but couldn't recall anyone with that same description. But. Hazado being in a different social circle other than the one with her and Spangie was a completely foreign thought to her since he always seemed to find a way to remind them both that he didn't have many friends. "Yeah, I'll say hello to her for you! I guess she's also stuck in this game, then?" She tilted her head to the side curiously. Really, that was the only conclusion she could come up with. Otherwise, Hazado wouldn't have mentioned Arabelle possibly meeting her.

Her gaze lifted up to follow him as he stood up. Then, he stood with his feet apart and she started getting suspicious. He was clearly confident in the water, much more than she was. "Hey, are you--" And as she expected, he started rocking the boat from side to side, looking as smug as he could be. "Whoaaaa! Hey, stop!" Arabelle held onto the boat for her dear life. Eventually, it settled in that he wasn't going to stop unless he wanted to, so Arabelle just started laughing. You know, when you're so nervous you can't do anything but just sink into a coping mechanism? Hazado sat back down. "Pfff. You call that payback? Expect something worse when we get back to the shore, kid!" Arabelle responded with a grin. Now that the boat wasn't rocking, she was back to her usual self.

He continued rowing and gave her two options. The middle of the lake or the small (cute!) family of ducks. Really, Hazado didn't need to ask. "Ooooh, let's go see the ducks first!" Arabelle said, practically starry-eyed. 

Moondust flew into the second floor and saw Arabelle sitting in front of the piano, warming up with a few scales. The crow perched on her shoulder, but she simply reached up and gently set the familiar down on a perch she had placed beside the piano. "Not now," Arabelle sighed, patting the familiar's head lightly. With that out of the way, she placed a crystal on top of the piano and started recording as she played.

Her two crafting attempts both resulted in failures, though she was able to successfully salvage the crystal on her second attempt. No point in moping about it. She had seriously fallen out of practice. Arabelle lowered the lid over the piano's keys and left the room with Moondust on her shoulder.

"Maybe it's from all the candy I've been eating?" Arabelle responded. She had grown so used to her way of speaking that she didn't need to think hard for a witty response to everything anymore. At this point, it sort of just came subconsciously. Once Tsu had retreated back into hiding, the Dark Elf swiped at her again with its dagger. "Whoop." She lurched back (a bit clumsily), effectively dodging the hit, and placed a few more steps of distance between her and the quest mob. With both of her hands keeping a steady grip on her glowing scythe, she swung the weapon upwards, blade dragging across the quest mob's flesh. Then she twirled her scythe in her hands and delivered a second uppercut, bringing it back down to slam the blunt side of the scythe to the Elf's head.

The typical death voice clip - was that wailing? - played as the quest mob shattered. But it didn't unnerve her like it normally would with other players. It was simply an AI, made to look like an actual living creature. A window appeared in front of Arabelle, showing the EXP and loot rewards. "Oooh, I got the item!" she announced to Tsu with a victorious grin. "That was too easy. Is this what frontliners feel like when dealing with mobs?"

Quote

ID: 101456 | BD: 7 + 1 = 8 [hit] | MD: 4 [miss]

Ultimate Breaker: 5 * 3 = 15 DMG

[H:1] Arabelle | 140/140 HP | 9/14 EN | 5 DMG | 1 ACC | 2 Para. | [-3 EN]
[H:0] @Froppy | 220/220 HP | 20/22 EN | 1 DMG | 1 MIT |

Dark Elf | 0/12 HP | 9 DMG | [-15 HP]

Arabelle propped an elbow on her lap and rested her cheek against her palm. Hazado sure was taking his sweet time getting onto the boat. She turned her head in his direction and found him still standing on the docks, looking back at the village. Arabelle wasn't the best at reading people, but from the way he was standing with one foot forward and that conflicted look on his eyes, he looked like he was getting ready to up and leave. What? "Saw someone?" she asked curiously. She didn't bother turning to look at whatever he was looking at. For now, she was captivated by how pretty the lake looked from their small rented boat. The virtual sun's reflection on the water, the leaves and little pink flowers falling from the trees planted along lake's shore, and a family of ducks swimming across the water just a short distance from them. If only she had a camera...

Hazado eventually stepped onto the boat and she pointed at the ducks immediately. "They're so cute...even though they're not real," Arabelle sighed. Hazado rowed them away from the wooden docks and she tore her gaze from the duck family to grin at him. It was only there that she noticed he wasn't meeting her eyes. She tilted her head to the side slightly. Was it from what happened just a while ago? Sure, she winked at him (like she always did with other guys, haha) but that was it. She decided to go a bit farther and poke fun at it, which really was not  the best idea if you would think of her situation from a rational perspective. "Say, are you the type of guy who gets really nervous around girls? Are you?" 

Then, his question about her previous ramblings. It was Arabelle's turn to feel awkward. Sure, she made jokes about those kinds of stuff but people usually didn't need an additional explanation. And she most often didn't like explaining the things she said. Gosh, going by her standard, Hazado was a pretty sheltered kid. But, since he was nice to her..."Uh, three words. Girls in swimsuits. L-Like I said before, I'm not into girls. But I still liked looking at them in swimsuits. So, I figured, since you were a guy...you would enjoy it much more." She crossed her legs, a sheepish expression on her face. Gosh, speaking in a straightforward manner was definitely not for her. "Ahahahahaha. I totally sound like a pervy old man. Do you get it?" 

And then his second question: about Spangie, of course. Quick as lightning, Arabelle snapped back into her usual mood. "Well, Hazado. Let me give you a little lesson. Some girls are pretty good at knowing if someone's interested in someone. And it only helps that some guys are pretty obvious about it. Don't worry though, I know her well enough. And I saw how she reacted to you. Like I said before, unless you told her already, she'll keep being oblivious to the fact that you like her. Sooo, whether or not you'll tell her is up to you," she finished with a grin. "And well, I'm not planning anything. Do I look like the type? Maybe I just like seeing people in love. Maybe I just want my in-game best friend to have a boyfriend and have someone to gossip about relationships with. Or maybe I just like getting into other people's business. Ahahahahaha, take your pick, Hazado~."

"A death game, obviously," Arabelle responded without missing a beat. Dealing little damage against something that could actually kill her and witnessing her friend miss all but one of her attacks did not affect the purple-haired girl's unusual sense of humor, apparently. Keeping her steps light and silent as possible, she circled around the Nepent Variant until she was standing outside of the mob's supposed 'field of vision.' No energy for a Sword Art - the only thing that could damage the mob in front of her - and no other skills (blame her two years worth of procrastination from leveling) meant she was left with no other option than to wait for her energy to regenerate. And dodging the attacks the quest mob would throw at her. She scored a critical and a normal attack last time and the Variant's attention was currently on her.

"I can't right now," she heard her friend groan. Arabelle peeked out from behind the Nepent Variant to look at @Spangie, accidentally letting her guard down. Which was where the mob decided to whip around and send its vines flying towards her. Luckily, she was able to bring up her scythe and bat away most of the vines. She wasn't able to block any of the damage, but she didn't get knocked back like last time. One quick look at her HP - she only had enough left to survive one critical hit - told her that maybe she should start acting more carefully. Arabelle held her scythe defensively with both hands and briefly looked down at the pouch tied to her belt, containing her three HP potions. 

Quote

[H: 1] Spangie | HP: 159/160 | EN:  9/16 | 18 MIT | 5 DMG |
[H: 3] Arabelle | HP: 14/40 | EN: 1/4 | 1 ACC | 4 DMG | 2 Para. | 

Nepent Variant | HP : 4/15 | 5 MIT | 10 DMG | 

[ooc notes: the MD roll from Spangie's previous post (she was the one who spawned the mob) was a 10.]

"Oh, that's fun!" Arabelle commented. "I've always wanted to live beside the sea and stuff, you know? I mean, if I did, I could basically go out and swim whenever I wanted. Ooooh, or maybe I could even have a romantic beachside walk with a boy! Gotta collect those CGs, amirite?" (She was referring to visual novels). Then Hazado said he only went to the beach party for the water. "Hmm? You know you could've gone there any other time, right? Like, the beach is always open and stuff. Buuut, I don't blame you~," she hummed, her eyes glinting mischievously. "I'm not into girls and even I got a feast for my eyes back at the party, if you get what I mean." 

Arabelle pretended to scrutinize his rowing motions with narrowed eyes. Which was really, a bit of an excuse for staring at his arms. Dang. She wasn't kidding when she said girls loved the muscly type. "Yep, yep. Good enough for me," she commented, using a tone talent show judges normally spoke in, once he finished. Then, he paid for the rent before she could pay first. "Yeah! Best boat trip ever!" Arabelle cheered energetically. She was glad because one, she wouldn't be spending her precious Col on this and would, therefore, have more money to buy sweets later and two, boat trips were very rare for a 'sheltered' girl like her.

The purple-haired girl accepted Hazado's hand - all while visibly preening at the fact that he had called her a lady - and stepped into the boat. The boat dipped under her weight. "Guh!" she exclaimed wordlessly, latching onto the boy's arm for balance with one foot still on the dock. She stayed like that for a few moments before stepping fully onto the boat and lowering herself down to a proper sitting position (despite that, she was still - as Hazado called her earlier - a lady). Coupled with a wink aimed at Hazado, just because she could. CG Number One, collected!

Arabelle giggled as Spangie jumped onto Hazado's back with no hesitation at all and let the two lead the way. It was there that she realized that whatever she did, it would still be blindingly obvious that she was a lot smaller than the other two. "I'm ready!" Arabelle cheered, skipping behind the two of them with her hands behind her back. From behind them, she noticed Hazado holding Spangie's legs so she wouldn't fall off and the energetic blonde pointing forward to their destination. They're so cute! Ship! Ship! Ship!

Then, Hazado started running after only a short warning to the girl riding on his back. "Hey, wait for me!" Arabelle picked up speed too and ran as fast as her short legs could carry her with her scythe in her right hand. She was thankful the nice blacksmith who had crafted it for her made it as light as possible without losing too much of the size and reach. Eventually, Hazado slowed down - probably grew tired from carrying Spangie whilst running - and patted her on the head. "Ready when you are, Hazado," the small purple-haired girl said. She pointed towards the group of <<Wind Wasps>> that were scattered across the fields. They were positioned far enough from each other that aggroing one wouldn't draw in the others around it. And in the middle was the large Wasp Queen, the mob they were going for. "Better kill this thing before any other players get to it. I heard they have long respawn timers."

"Stryder...?" she echoed curiously. Tsu mentioning a name Arabelle was unfamiliar with wasn't really unexpected. She didn't know the frog girl very well yet, much more who her friends were.  A boyfriend, perhaps? Or just a close friend? Whatever Tsu's relationship with this 'Stryder' guy was, that didn't stop Arabelle from teasing. "Mm, guess I'll have to give him a good lick when I meet him, then," she hummed with a mischievous grin. Gawd, now they were starting to sound like pervy old men. Or maybe it was just Arabelle.

She didn't hear Tsu's response. Rather, she tuned it out. Not because she wanted to, but because she spotted the quest mob they were looking for. The <<Dark Elf>> stood a few inches taller than her and looked like a normal elf. Save for the visible dark aura surrounding it and its dagger. Arabelle whistled. "Time to get some leather. You ready, Tsu?" Confidently, she stepped out of hiding as soon as she heard the frog girl's response, with her scythe gripped in both hands. It started to glow green as she activated a Sword Art and bounded close enough for a swipe. Then, maybe out of overconfidence or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, she missed her attack. The quest mob easily stepped to the side and left a long red cut on her left arm. 

Quote

ID: 101437 | BD: 4 + 1 = 5 [fail] | MD: 8 [success]

[H:0] Arabelle | 131/140 HP | 12/14 EN | 5 DMG | 1 ACC | 2 Para. |  [-9 HP] [-2 EN]
[H:0] @Froppy | ??/?? HP | ??/?? EN |

Dark Elf | 12/12 HP | 9 DMG | 

[ooc notes: since my guild recruitment thread with Stryder is not done yet, i'll just set this thread's timeline to before she meets him. hence, her not knowing his name.]

Arabelle grinned and took a few steps back from her shopfront. She had just finished hanging the wooden sign above the doorway, marking the last of her preparations as done. Halfway done, anyway. While the outside looked gorgeous (not counting the obviously uncreative sign she made), the inside still had a lot of things lacking. Furniture, decorations, and most importantly...products to sell. As of now, she only had one, and it was the healing song she had crafted for her profession quest. It had a nice memory attached to it, and if she didn't need the money, she wouldn't be willing to let go of it.

The small purple-haired girl would have loved to take a nap on her new bed up in the building's third floor, but she put that off for now. She needed to craft stuff and level. So she entered her shop, closing the door behind her, and ran up the stairs leading to the second floor of the building. She lifted the cover, placed a few music sheets on the music rack, and sat in front of the piano. And, before she forgot, Arabelle placed a crystal on top of the piano's lid. She took a deep breath, straightened her posture, and played.

Two failed attempts, which both resulted in her Performer Crystals shattering due to the wrong notes being played at the wrong time, left Arabelle thinking that maybe she should have taken a nap first. 

They passed the west exit of the settlement and entered the Forest of Wavering Mist. Arabelle paused and squinted up at the trees. They had to be about thirty meters in height and their leaves were thick, covering almost every inch of the ground in shadow. Along with the mist covering some parts of the forest (it was still thin since they were still in the low-leveled area), the forest gave off an ominous vibe. Like something was going to jump down from the trees above them at any second. Arabelle was slightly comforted by her quest partner's presence and the joke she made. "Ahahahahaha. Gosh, Tsu. If you're suggesting that, then I might as well," Arabelle responded in a joking tone. Then, Tsu switched to her swimsuit. Arabelle blinked and looked around, her cheeks reddening from embarrassment. "Aah, wait! Not here! Uuuu, what if there are..." She found no other players in the vicinity. "No guys here." She giggled, bringing a gloved hand to her mouth. "It's fine. Holy crap, Tsu. That's one way to surprise someone, though. A guy would've gotten an anime nosebleed."

Then, Tsu warned her about how she usually healed people.  "Like...you lick them?" Arabelle clarified. She was fine with Tsu doing that if that was the best way to heal, though she appreciated the warning. Arabelle would've jumped out of her skin if Tsu healed her with her tongue in the middle of combat. "So you know what everyone tastes like? Tell me...who tasted the best?" she asked with a wink. If Tsu was going to surprise her with that swimsuit stunt, Arabelle was going to mess around with her usual style of joking.

Get yourself a guy who loves cake! Arabelle thought long and hard, trying to come up with someone in her Friends List who loved cake. She really did, guys. However, whether or not they loved cake was never one of her first conversation topics with a guy. So, she came up with no one. "I-I-I don't even want to think of that!" Arabelle exclaimed as Spangie talked about wasps. She wasn't fond of bugs either and imagining a wasp stinging her, even though there wasn't any pain...shiver! The small girl slowed her pace so she was walking beside Spangie as Hazado went first. Hey, he did volunteer himself for the role.

Then, Hazado suddenly turned around and asked a question. Why do you girls hang around a weird guy like me? It was out of place and unexpected. Totally out of place. In fact, Arabelle was slightly caught off-guard by it. "Heh? If you meant being weird in a bad way, you're not weird. I don't think you're weird. Is he weird, Angie?" Arabelle turned her head to the blonde, then looked back at Hazado as he turned around and said the next parts of his self-depreciating statements. "Besides," she continued. Her smile seemed to be a bit gentler than usual, even though he couldn't see it (unless he turned back around). "Everyone's special in their own ways! Others may see you as weird, but that doesn't mean that's all you are. They're just dumb enough to not look past what's on the surface. I mean, I've only known you for a while, but I'm one hundred percent sure you're a nice guy who cares about his friends. And I don't pity you in any way. So no more sad thoughts, okay?" Arabelle walked up beside him and poked him on the arm with a grin. Arabelle, you hypocrite.

They reached the settlement's gates and Hazado stopped to make an overly-formal and funny speech. Was he just pretending to be happy or was he really cheered up by what she and Spangie had said? Arabelle wasn't sure. But she grinned and played along with it. "Alright then," she said. She noticed him squatting down, but didn't jump on his back. If anything, it will only further emphasize how small she was. "Onwards, my loyal servant!" Arabelle declared, nudging him forward playfully. As she did, she looked around at the fields. No Wasp Queen. Had another team of players already gotten to it? Arabelle didn't know. For now, they would just have to walk farther out into the fields.

"Mhm. Light armor. Um, I don't really have any design specifications," Arabelle replied quickly. She bounced on her heels impatiently as the quest NPC explained what type of material she needed to get and from what mob. A special type of leather only <<Dark Elf>> mobs carried. Arabelle didn't really listen to the NPC's explanation on why they specifically wanted that material, but she surmised that the leather was easier to work with. Or, whatever. She didn't care too much about the game's lore. Or how NPCs did things. She cared more about the frog girl who was waiting for her outside. 

A hundred years of boring dialogue later (it was really just two and a half minutes), Arabelle closed the shop door behind her and walked up to Tsu. "The beach? Sounds good to me! I don't think I've gone swimming with you yet," Arabelle agreed. Even though, back in the beach event, Tsu was the one who suggested they go swimming in the first place. Arabelle didn't know what Tsu was doing at that time and was too caught up playing with her friends to actually drag the other girl in. Ahahahaha. Whoops. 

She brought up the map and checked the spot she had marked earlier. Where the Dark Elf mobs supposedly spawned. Being a beginner-friendly quest, the quest mob's spawn point wasn't too far from town and would only take a few minutes to reach. Arabelle squinted at the map. Leave town by the west exit, keep walking straight until...oh, whatever. She turned to Tsu. "I'm ready. Let's go?" And with that, she started them off in what was hopefully the right direction.

Arabelle giggled and matched her pace with Hazado's so he wouldn't be running after her and shouting as they both jogged to the lake. "Yeah, I like water. Swimming and other water-related activities, too. Oh, and most especially when I'm squirting people with a water gun!" She finished with a mischievous smile. Or dumping buckets of water on people at the beach. That was real fun, too. Now if only they had water guns back at the beach event... "Do you like water too, Hazado?" Arabelle asked curiously, even though that much was obvious from the boy's excitement upon saying that they were going boating. And he seemed pretty happy back at the beach too, though she would probably give half the credit to Spangie being there.

The lake came into view, and with it, a small wooden dock with a rowboat made of the same material moored beside it. "Ooooooh, boat!" Arabelle exclaimed, pointing at the small boat excitedly. No other words needed to be said. It was big enough to fit the two of them, maybe even one other player, but Arabelle wasn't planning to invite anyone else into their little bonding sesh. The small purple-haired girl jogged down the dock and looked down at the boat. A window popped up in front of her, showing that the wooden boat could be rented for some Col. Wasn't too expensive. However, they still had one problem. Arabelle turned to Hazado, the pop-up window moving to stay in front of her. "Do you know how to row a boat?"

"Yeah," Arabelle agreed in response to Tsu's explanation of why she chose to become a healer. "Out of all the people I've met, I think you're the first who has a healer build. Heck, I think I even forgot about SAO's support players 'til you came along. It's a nice break from all the DPS and tank players, even though that means I'll be taking all the hits." A grin formed on her face as the frog girl explained that green was her favorite color. "Oh, it's mine, too! Purple's kind of my second favorite and I only dyed my hair purple cause when I had it green, it looked terrible." Arabelle held up her scythe with both hands so that Tsu could see the scythe's green blade. "I particularly like this shade of green. And maybe the lighter shades of green, too. That aside, I guess you really go with the frog theme, huh?" 

Arabelle assumed a thoughtful expression when Tsu asked her what she had in mind after they were done with the quest. "Uh. Ahahahahaha, I guess I really didn't plan that part. Got any ideas?" Before she could react to Tsu's suggestions (if she had any), Arabelle spotted the quest-givers' armor shop. "Hold on. I'll just pop in and accept the quest real quick and then come back out." With that, the small purple-haired girl opened the shop door and stepped in. 

"Did what hurt?" "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" was supposed to be the script. However, Arabelle had been sure he would answer the question instead of asking another question, so it was fine. The outcome would've been either funny or awkward and Arabelle didn't want to risk it since she wanted someone to gather materials with. Maybe she even specifically wanted to hang out with him since there was something she wanted to ask. She had to admit though, she wasn't sure what was running through her head when she asked him the first question. Well, whatever. 

Arabelle followed him back to the bench and let Pinball sit down first. Then, he looked up at her curiously. "Oh, hello there." Like he erased all memories of him launching himself off the roof, and she had come across him by coincidence. A totally normal meeting. Like that would actually happen with the both of them. Arabelle slightly tilted her head to the side and decided to play along, curious as to where he was leading to. "Hello there," she replied passively, not offering anything else to respond to. She wanted to see the awkward teenager take the lead in the conversation for once. Who knows. Maybe a social Pinball was cute. But at the same time, Pinball and social didn't really seem to go well together.

Pinball asked her if anything interesting happened. She already told him about the shop, he had been to both of the parties she was at, he saw her new familiar and new weapon... Oh boy. "Pin..." Arabelle faked a distressed expression. "I went through everything that happened ever since we went on that quest with Reinholt and Etherial and I realized that literally nothing interesting happened. What am I supposed to do with my life now?" A short pause. Then she grinned and said. "Well, I did go on a date. And the guy was boring. That's all. How about you, Pin?"