Arabelle

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

 

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?

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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.

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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?"

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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~."