[PP - F1] A Place to Begin (Adhaerere, Verus, Sloane)

[Adhaerere 0]

     Striding into the tavern, Adhaerere looked around, spotting an empty table at the edge of the room. Sitting down in the seat, she crossed her legs, looking relaxed, and glanced around the room again. Seeing a few people, she didn’t get the feel of anything other than cold ignoring of her presence. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she rested her chin in her palm, elbow on the table.

 

     The past few weeks had been rough for her. She hadn’t been able to gather a party, so she had just hung around the Town of Beginnings while she decided what to do. It led her to here, this tavern, where she had finally decided to sit around and wait for others to come to her. Being vaguely experienced in things of this sort, sitting around a tavern was a way to gather company. It was painful, as her impatient self didn’t enjoy waiting. But she hadn’t seen any progress so far, so this was her only option. Foot bouncing, she settled for giving the door a cold stare as she waited. Her initial relaxed look had faded completely.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Adhaerere

[Sloane 0]

After spending the day getting to know her way around, Sloane had slumped down into the seat at the bar counter, fairly hungry and tired. She made no eye contact, but spoke when asked what she'd wanted to eat. Once the food was brought to her, she eagerly began eating. Failing to pay attention to her surroundings, she finished her main dish rather hastily.
Downing the rest of her drink, she sat forward, her elbows on the counter. She licked her lips, sliding her cup away from her plate, indicating she was finished with it. She pushed her hair back, and glanced around. Not seeing anyone in sight particularly threatening, and set back to eating the rest of her side meal.

[trenttrent20 0]

Verus was for the most part surprisingly calm when he heard about how he was forever trapped in this world. He decided to look at it in a positive way; seeing it as a rebirth of himself. However, the Town of Beginnings was rather large; larger than anything Verus had seen before. He was not really the best at directions either, so in his beginning days he constantly got lost within the megacity. He continued to find himself back at the same tavern after exploring the city and soon became somewhat angry at his lack of direction. Figuring this must be a sign, he went in and took a seat at bar, out of the way of the others that were in there. They were mostly NPCs but he didn’t care. He put his hand up to signal the bartender before remembering he wasn’t of age. With a sigh, he let his head fall and rest on the bar, knowing that he couldn't really order anything. He had little money leftover and didn't really want to waste it on some random tavern food. Verus was out of luck.

[Adhaerere 0]

     She perked up immediately once the man entered the bar. Her eyes followed him, looking him over. A spark of hope lit up her face as she noticed the other girl sitting near to the boy at the bar. Could these two be the ones she was looking for? Perhaps. She’d have to go up to them and ask if they were in a party first. If they were here, she didn’t suspect that to be the case. But she didn’t want to seem overeager. So she sat and waited for them to get a bit more settled before going up and talking to them.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Adhaerere

[Sloane 0]

By the time she finished her food, she’d grown tired. Her mind raced with thoughts, mainly negative. She’d experienced these many of times, but never put much effort into thinking about it, or what they could mean. She typically ignored them, letting her focus reside on whatever she’d been doing. She drowned them out with the loudness of the crowd in the restaurant, listening in on bits and pieces of conversation as she could. Her ear caught many things, from dramatic storytelling to horrific pickup lines from the younger players. She let out a huff of irritation, and shut her eyes tight. When she’d opened them again, she leaned back all the way in the chair, tapping her foot gently. Moments later, she decided she’d finished, and then pushed her plate forward with her cup, and slid off the chair, walking further into the pub towards the women’s restrooms. She was bumped into on the occasion, making her scoff and give dirty looks. Who do these imbeciles think they are?
Eventually, when she’d been bumped enough, she roughly shouldered her way through, ensuring herself a decent pathway. All the while, she’d passed individuals at booths and stools at the counter, not really paying too much attention as to what they looked like exactly.

[trenttrent20 0]

After a solid few minutes of just laying around, he reached back to grab onto the backrest of his stool to pull himself up. It had felt good to just relax for a while. Time had flown by since he joined and the sad part is he hadn’t really made the most of it. His explorations of the city had simply failed him; he had not found any people to play with, nor any decent shops. Just a waste.

The tavern wasn't too bad. It had a homey feel to it with decent looking people. The NPCs looked friendly and people had just started coming in. Someone had brought a lute and soon there was some simple music playing in the background. It was nice. He pulled himself up off of the bar, he reached backwards wanting to stretch out his arms. However, something was blocking him from reaching back. He could feel the cloth of somebodies clothing and the warmth their body emitted. Stretching in a cramped bar was definitely a bad idea.

 

[Adhaerere 0]

     A little thought of panic flashed through her head as she saw the lady get up, thinking she had waited too long and missed her chance. She began to stand, meaning to intercept her before she could go anywhere. She hadn’t walked far before realizing the girl was headed towards the bathrooms and not the door. Now, feeling a little embarrassed about having stood up for not any reason at all, she sat again and decided that keeping a close eye on the path to the bathroom would have to do while she waited.

[Sloane 0]

Feeling a hand on her, she tenses up, not having come in contact this directly since before she’d joined the game. The hand had grabbed just near her inner thigh, making her head snap to the person on the other end, finding a boy who’d been sitting comfortably. She slaps his hand away, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Her eyes were ablaze, and she kept them trained on the boy. Without letting him respond, she reached for his hair, thrusting his head back, pinning it down to the back of his chair, so he could look right back at her. “Want to try that again?” She’d gotten close enough for him to hear her voice within the noise of the others, her hand increasing the pressure put on him, not intending to let go until he speaks.

[trenttrent20 0]

Before he had time to react he was already being forced backwards in his own chair. His eyes were now met with the rage filled ones of the girl he accidentally grabbed. The first thought that came to mind was to pull his arm back towards him so he wasn’t still touching the girl. His face became a bright red and he started to try to mumble out an apology. “I-I’m so, so sorry miss.” Even with all the embarrassment he had just went through, something seemed a little bit off. His head was pinned so far back that he was almost looking at a downwards angle. “Uh miss, could you uh, let me go?”

 

[Adhaerere 0]

     Seeing this little scene, Adhaerere stood quickly, alarmed. She had not expected violence between these two. Her chair scraped back. “Hey! What in the world do you two think you’re doing?!” She began making her way towards the two of them, huffing. Setting her hand on the girl’s shoulder, she made to pull them apart, her hand firm. She then thought about what she was doing, and realized it might be a little weird for a stranger to be trying to break up a squabble between two other strangers. Though, she wasn't sure how else she was going to start a conversation with the two. This seemed a good enough way as any.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Adhaerere

[Sloane 0]

The hand on her shoulder made her snap out of what she’d been doing, her eyes moving to the woman standing before her. She had to tilt her head up slightly to look at her, making her a bit frustrated. She removed herself from the touch of the woman, not liking being in contact with anyone. She glares at the boy, then at her, and scoffed. “This pervert tried feeling me up.” She crossed her arms, putting her weight on one foot, and glaring down at him. Her gaze was deathly, in a sense, clearly not playing games.

[trenttrent20 0]

All he wanted as to rest and relax after a long day, not the situation at hand. His simple act of stretching has seemed to cause an uproar in the small pub and it angered him. A misunderstanding blown out of proportions was all it was, and now some other player had the audacity to try to join into the fiasco. “Look, lady…” he paused, seeing how she seemed much older than him and the other girl. He composed himself, regaining his thoughts from before. “This was all a misunderstanding and there’s no need to make it even bigger.” Some NPCs had stopped what they were doing to see what all the commotion was about. This girl had caused a problem out of nothing. Verus was annoyed. “Now, why do you think you have the authority to try to jump in?” His gaze was fixed on the lady, watching her, waiting.

[Adhaerere 0]

     She had been silent as he spoke initially, and then smiled as he directed his words to her. “Avoiding conflict between players would probably lead to less violence, mm? And players dying would take away possible party members for little ol’ Level One’s like me.” Taking another quick look at him would show her that he wasn’t any better equipped than she was, meaning that their levels must be similar. He couldn’t be too much of a threat if he really got upset, right? She waved away the thought. “Anyways, if it was a misunderstanding then there’s nothing to be angry about,” she said, directing this last part to the girl. “You two just shake hands and be over with it, and we’ll all be fine! Maybe make up with some mob fighting too.” The smile from before pulled at her lips again, proud of herself for at least this attempt at stopping the conflict. And maybe it even could get her that party. 

[Sloane 0]

She ponders the words said, her eyes still focused on the boy sitting in front of her. She directed her gaze up to the woman by her side, then back down, “What makes you think I should need to party up with someone like him?” Then her eyes meet the woman, “Or you?” She crosses her arms on her chest, raising her chin slightly, triumphantly, “I’m perfectly capable of killing things, and people if I’d like, on my own.” She glares at them more, but then her expression changes. “Actually…” she puts her hand to her chin, thinking for a moment. “Alright. I’ll party with you.” She turns to the woman, “But only on the condition that I am not expected of anything.” She watches the two, making sure the rule is clear.

[trenttrent20 0]

This was not one of the ways he thought the situation would play out. Verus understood where the lady was coming from that there may be the possibility of us out fighting in the same area at some point in the game, but for this other girl to suggest a party was just out of the blue. There was no reasonable evidence to trust either of them, and she had just assaulted him for simple accident. It didn't make any sense.

 

Verus stood up, popping his neck once he was standing straight. He’d been sitting down for a while and was somewhat tense. His hands rested on his hips as he tried to straighten out his back, making some grunting noises here and there while squinting. The rapier strapped to his hip slung around a bit, knocking against a few of the barstools.  There was a very valid offer that was presented to him. He hadn't made any friends in the game and definitely didn't start playing with any. This was his new start with new people.

 

A few pops could be heard and Verus let out a sigh of relief. His eyes opened back up again and he switched his stance up, looking to the both of them with a calm expression on his face. He held out his hand to the girl, focusing his eyes on her. He wasn’t sure what to say yet and figured he’d wait and see what more the other two had on their minds.

 

 

[Adhaerere 0]

     She clapped her hands together excitedly. “Yay. That’s easy.” Rubbing her hands together, she looked at the man. He’d been cracking his back? She waited patiently for him to say something, a hopeful expression on her face. Hmm... Did he need more convincing? “Well, if you party with us we’ll be able to kill mobs a lot faster. Even if the experience is split, we’ll be able to kill them quicker. Get more loot and level up faster. Then maybe we can get to the front lines.” She grinned. The thought of being at the front lines excited her. Especially if she could get to a high enough level to be part of that. 

[Sloane 0]

After staring him down a moment, she only somewhat hesitantly lifted her arm and shook his hand, though not holding on longer than she needed to. She looked to the boy, pushing her hair back, and shifting her weight to her other leg. She glanced back at the woman, and between the two, “Do either of you even know how to create parties?” she asked only somewhat unintentionally mockingly. Her position made her seem quite radiant in confidence, her chin at a bit of an upward angle, and her stance an alert, yet somewhat casual one.