[PP-F2] Down and Dirty

[Kooh 0]

The second floor. The city of Urbus. New territory with new faces and new trouble to get into.

Kooh strolled around the main city for quite some time before she found herself staring outside of the main gates for at least the third time. Hands resting comfortably in her pockets, the girl stopped and stood up straight, staring at the world outside of the protection of the city. The view was similar, but still very different from the land outside of the Town of Beginnings. More trees, less grass. More danger, she could only assume. She heaved a sigh, now arguing with herself. Should she circle the city again? Maybe there was something she missed the first few times. But if she went outside she couldn't be sure the monsters would leave her alone like boars on the first floor typically did. She bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet a couple of times before shrugging it off. Her legs pulled her forward, and without another thought she was stepping into the wilderness of the second floor.

She walked for only a couple of minutes before she spotted movement not far off ahead of her. With a small tilt of her head, Kooh adjusted her pace so as so get a better look at the figure without giving herself away. After a few moment of repositioning and squinting, Kooh spotted the back of another player trudging through the wilderness. 'Hmm...' She mused in her thoughts, following after the person. From what she could see, the stranger either had the worst day of his life or was possibly the most disgusting player in Aincrad. It looked like a person rolled around in a mud pond and then stood in direct sunlight for an hour. Safely out of view, she wasn't sure whether to snicker or grimace.

With a small shake of her head, the girl kept herself as hidden as she could, now intrigued as to where this person was heading. She would chase after him, for now at least.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Kooh

[trenttrent20 0]

"Where's the goddamn river." Verus exclaimed his thoughts loudly, slightly upset with his muddy self. He had been wandering around for a while now looking for any source of water but to no avail. The rain hadn't lasted long enough, then again rain never lasts long enough. Maybe he would find a floor in the future that would just rain and rain and rain. That's where he would call his home. That's where he would set up camp and live; it would bring him the ultimate inner peace. But as of right now, the mud on all of his body had completely dried and his hair was rather dirty and messy. He did not look pleasant. With a slightly anger empowered groan, he gripped his hands. "That damn NPC lied to me...." There had been nothing but mountainous terrain, bushes and trees the whole way he'd been but he'd followed the direction the guard pointed him towards. He decided to continue on despite his thoughts of turning around, hoping that there would indeed be something ahead.

It must've been just a few more minutes of walking, but Verus spotted the sun glimmering off what seemed to be a running water source. His face immediately lit up and his pace quickened, turning more into a jog if anything. He would finally be clean! It had been far too long since he could see parts of his skin, and it bothered him immensely. The source of water was a decent sized river that seemed to have been running down from one of the many mountains. It looked quite appealing through Verus's muddy eyes, and without hesitation he started to strip down. His boots quickly got thrown off, the mud within them being flung left and right. His mud-soaked pants were next and thrown on one of the nearby bushes. His now muddy-handprintted white cloth shirt was tossed on a nearby bush as well. Verus had no intention of washing those first, as he wanted himself to be all good. The water was slightly cold as he waded in, but Verus got over it quickly. He plopped himself under to get his hair all wet and stayed beneath the surface for a few seconds, running his fingers through his hair to get all the mud clumps out. He breached for air and shook his head back and forth as a dog would. He was immensely happy.

[Kooh 0]

'Does he even know where he's going?' Kooh thought with a disinterested frown. The man she had been sneaking around after either didn't have a destination in mind, or just really liked long walks in the forest. Just as she was about to give up and head back to town, the girl blinked in renewed interest when his pace quickened. Her curiosity still flickering within her, the girl increased the length of her strides for a few steps before she suddenly stopped short. "Wha--?" The sound reflexively escaped her as the man in the distance was removing his clothes at a rather quick pace. She titled her head, a puzzled look on her face. You could do that? Kooh unconsciously tugged outwards on the tan shirt underneath her open coat. It stretched a bit before slipping out of her fingers, and it was like a new fact of life was just introduced to her.

Shaking her head as she realized her thoughts were derailed, Kooh continued forward to find the man again as he seemed to have disappeared down a slight slope. Her ruby eyes blinked as a glistening river shone back in them. 'Huh.' Her questions were mostly answered--at least the man didn't seem to have looked like a hobo by choice. She spotted him break through the water's surface, frowning in thought with an expression that read 'now what?' The girl brought a curled hand to her chin, giving the situation some thought, her lips began to pull up into an impish smile as an idea crossed her mind.

[trenttrent20 0]

A loud sigh escaped him and he stood up, soon realizing that the river was only a few feet deep. The water rose just above his thighs, but felt much deeper. It was slightly cold but he'd always been a cold bather anyway. The only thing that would make the situation better would be for it to rain again, but odds were that that wouldn't happen. The sounds of the running water calmed him and he closed his eyes, letting his head fall to the back of his neck. Oh how it felt to be clean again! The muddy armor he wore had melted away in the somewhat murky water, running down slope to wherever the river flowed. He promised himself not to get dirty again for a while. 

His eyes were closed but he still stared up at the clouds through his eyelids, watching as the sun cast red through his skin eye walls (that must've been the weirdest thing i've ever typed. I'm leaving it in though xD). His mind was instantly uncluttered, maybe due to all the sand coming out of his ears, or maybe due to the effects the sounds of water brought him. Rain left him elated and calm, and this stream almost had the same effect, but to a lesser extent. He was in a state of pure bliss, and in that state he raised up he began to roll his neck slightly, letting his bones pop and creak. Then he felt something.

"[censored]!" Verus immediately fell backwards into the water, landing face first as he had turned mid air to escape whatever was within the depths of the stream. Once above water he repeatedly wiped his eyes before reaching down to asses what had messed with him. He was sitting up in the water now messing with his toes, spotting a slight bite mark on one of his pinkies. "Damn fish..."

[Kooh 0]

Kooh couldn't help a snicker at the man's obliviousness. He obviously wasn't concerned about other players being around, or perhaps he didn't care. She amused herself by continuing to creep on him a bit, lightly tapping her finger against her cheek as she kept idly thinking. His sudden movements surprised her a bit, but a devilish grin quickly broke out on her face as the man fell over in the river. Not wasting a second, the girl moved quickly and as quietly as she could, dashing over to the general area he had thrown his clothes. She spotted the filthy garments, grabbing his shirt and pants with a suppressed chuckle. Her eyes spotted the pair of boots that lay scattered and gave a thoughtful frown before picking them up an setting them nicely upright next to each other. He could keep the boots.

With the deed done, Kooh stifled another snicker as she quickly darted out of sight from the man's position. She parked herself behind the trunk of a thick tree, letting the clothes fall to the ground beside her feet as she peered out. Now she would wait.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Kooh

[trenttrent20 0]

Verus stood and laughed at himself, hands placed firmly on his hips. He had felt little without his sword, which has laying down right at the waters edge. He waded over to it and washed the sheathe from the mud, make sure it was nice and clean. Once at an approval rate, he got up and out, planing to let himself drip dry. He held his sword and its straps in his hands, looking around to find where he left his clothes. However, a minute or so passed and his search concluded with him still almost naked and getting visibly colder. It wasn't pleasant. 

He began to check some of the nearby bushes, bending over and around to check the innards of the nearby foliage. Maybe he shouldn't have been so careless about his garments, as he was now starting to regret the actions he committed under his previously clouded mind. "Oh [censored] me." He whimpered, continuing on with his search. It wasn't windy so the wind was not the culprit, and his ears had not detected anything nearby. Did he accidentally drop them in the river and they floated downstream? All possible reasons flew by in his head. He ran his right hand through his hair and sighed in disbelief of the situation.

[Kooh 0]

Kooh held her hand over her mouth, stifling a chuckle as her juvenile plan unfolded. She watched the man suffer a while, but her entertainment quickly faded and the girl let out a small sigh as she realized there was no easy way to return the evidence of her tomfoolery. She wasn't so heartless as to just leave, either. So, going for the innocent option, Kooh grabbed the filthy garments in one hand, stepping out from her concealment to approach the man as if she hadn't just been spying on him.

The blonde kept her distance, but extended her arm and held the clothing out to him. Her head was turned to the side, as if she was keeping herself from looking in his general direction. "Hey, uhm. I found these," She started with a voice containing slight embarrassment. "It looked like someone might have stolen them, so..." She trailed off, waiting with an awkward air for the man to take his clothes.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Kooh

[trenttrent20 0]

Verus watched as a girl appeared from the brush with his filthy clothes. She looked somewhat shy and scared of the situation and he could see why she might be. Here was an almost fully naked boy out in the middle of the forest yelling obscenities to himself after losing his clothes. He definetely looked stupid just standing there too, having no real plan as to what he would've done without clothing. He probably would have just up and walked back into town, using some of his leftover clothing to buy petty clothing to cover himself until he got something else. He really needed some armor or something.

With an extend arm Verus took the offering of his own clothes, slightly nodding towards the girl. "Found?" He questioned her motives, not wanting to jump to direct conclusions. There would be no point for anyone to take his clothing, so he figured that he was just overly careless and left them in places he forgot. "Did you see the person that wanted to take them? They must still be around him somewhere..." Verus picked up his rapier from the ground and slightly moved past the girl, dripping a few droplets of water onto her as he passed. He held his free hand up above his eyes and shielded the sun as he looked around, hoping to spot the perpetrator. "Damn. Must've just left." Nothing had been taken from his clothing, but then again he had nothing really to give. The most important thing was his rapier and nobody had touched it fortunately. 

He walked back towards the water, passing the still-standing girl and stopped just before the river. He dropped his mud-stained clothes in and extended his arm downwards to them in place with his sword. "Thanks for the help miss, sorry you had to uh...see me like this..."

[Kooh 0]

As Verus questioned her, the girl just shook her head. "No, these were just in a pile in the woods..." Kooh mumbled, still averting her gaze. She withdrew her hand back to her side as the clothes were returned to their owner. She wasn't able to properly watch him, but the man moved and bit and the feeling of water sprinkling onto her skin as walked much closer to her than she expected caused the girl to reflexively step away. Rubbing her arm where the lingering feeling of droplets had been, Kooh looked back to the man as he moved back to the riverside. He went about what looked like washing his clothes before addressing her again, and it was only now that the girl got a clear look at his face. 'You're kidding.'

She froze up for only a moment before quickly turning her head away again, avoiding his gaze completely. "Oh, uh, n-no problem!" She spoke in another shy tone that she hoped he wouldn't recognize. "Anyway, I probably shouldn't hang around here..." The girl started with a small step back, mentally crossing her fingers that she could make a clean escape.

[trenttrent20 0]

"Oh really?" Verus knew he hadn't had left his clothes in a pile. He had thrown them around in very messy manor, just like he did with his clothes outside of the game. She was lying about them, leading him to believe that it was indeed her who messed with clothing. The clothes bathing in the river seemed to be nice and wet, most of the mud now washed away. He lifted up on his rapier, bringing his clothes out of the water. He held his arm out for second letting them drip before hoisting them onto a nearby bush to dry. A slight wind passed and he shivered slightly, remembering he was bare skin in the wind. The cold was real.

He finally turned around after sometime of not looking at the girl, quickly putting his hands on his hips. "You messed with my clothes eh?" His tone was that of him trying to act tough, but knowing he didn't look it at the moment. A near naked man trying to act tough would have to have the looks to pull it off; Verus didn't have them. He squinted his eyes slightly, now getting a good look at the girl. She wore a hood similar to the girl he had met the other day and almost sounded like her. "Wait...come here...." Was that who he thought it was?
 

[Kooh 0]

"What? N-no, I mean. It looked like someone tried stealing them, but then left them behind." Kooh maintained the shy, innocent voice as she tried to further explain. She was painfully aware of the precarious situation she was now in, but she wasn't jumping ship just yet. "Did your money get stolen?" She tacked on. She didn't remember spotting a col pouch in his clothing, so she took a gamble with her words. Her mind worked, trying to formulate a back-up plan in case she wasn't able to get off scot-free. There was just one massive road-block: the man that was currently staring holes into the side of her face.

Kooh still didn't know how he worked. Out of their little rag-tag bunch, Verus was the one she was most unsure about. If he recognized her, she had a couple different options. She could come clean, do her best to play it off as a joke, and pray that he didn't tell Adhae. She could keep on acting innocent, swear that it wasn't her that took his clothes, and try to convince him that she just wanted to help. If she was able to get away without being recognized, she would have to distance herself, at least from him, for a bit so he wouldn't make the connection later on. If he did recognize her, then the longer she didn't acknowledge him, the more suspicious she would be.

She continued looking away; at least that was a good enough excuse for not addressing the man first. After what felt like a thorough inspection, Verus spoke up again with a tone that made her stomach drop. "W-what is it...?" She asked with an intentional nervous and embarrassed tone. She still refused to look at him. Maybe if she handled it just right she could make a snap decision that would work out in her favor.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Kooh

[trenttrent20 0]

"I keep my money in my inventory at all times....." Verus began to slowly walk towards the girl, having gotten a good look at her face when she was trying to hide it earlier. His suspicions were correct; it was their brand new party member. His brows furrowed and he stopped a couple feet away from her, looking down at her still trying to hide. He put his hands on his still-wet sides, glaring at the girl. She still hid underneath her cloak which is what tipped him off initially. However, he wasn't mad at her following him per say, more struck by the fact that she brought up his money first. It brought up questions on if she was trying to steal money from him, which he leaned towards automatically. A brand new player in the party sneaking around and ending up with his clothes looked rathe suspicions. It also didn't help that he barely knew the chick, having not talked to her as much on the previous floor. 

He decided to change his mood to try and get a look at the reactions that she made. There he was, half naked and interrogating a girl who had followed him about his own money. He tried to appear as if he relaxed himself, putting on a fake grin and easing on his eyebrows. His eyes still had a stingy look to them, as if he was trying to read the girl. And indeed he was; her reactions would potentially help get a better grasp on the situation. 

"You just wanted to see me strip didn't you!" 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh felt the man's presence grow closer, and as her mind continued working she knew she only had seconds before she had to run with a plan. The girl mentally sighed, more or less decided on her approach. She wanted to keep herself on all of these people's good sides as long as possible, and with how suspicious she'd already made herself she had to make herself look completely honest, and fast.

She allowed her eyes to dart back to Verus, catching his gaze as his expression shifted. She had meant for a quick glance, but felt herself linger. His stance seemed to ease up, but his eyes still looked like they were inspecting her. Once their gaze had met for an appropriate amount of time, Kooh let her eyes go wide in recognition. Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, but no words left her. Instead, it quickly closed in a nervous frown and the girl looked away again, embarrassment plastered all over her features. "Wh--no!" She got out, looking unsure of where to focus her attention as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Look," She started, refusing to look directly at him again. "I wasn't trying to steal your money, okay?" She held a mixed inflection of annoyance and shame. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and although she hadn't moved from her position she looked to be shrinking back a bit. "I thought it would be funny, and it was. I just didn't know it was you..." The last words came out in a mumble. An uncomfortable silence lingered before she added a small, almost begrudging, "Sorry."

[trenttrent20 0]

Verus let out a preemptive 'humph' amidst her babbling, taking in all that was being spit out. Though the situation was slightly spiraling, Verus remembered that it would be damn near impossible for anyone to truly steal money from him. Its not as if he was lugging around coin purses or anything; his money was kept electronically. Through the haze of the situation he was unable to truly understand that idea. However when he did, his shoulders relaxed slightly and (what little of) his muscles lost their tenseness. 

His eyes softened a little, segwaying his face to emit a small, warm smile. His mood quickly changed, realizing that he possibly made the situation far worse than it had to be. Though it still was not acceptable for his items to be moved around without his consent. The act made him cold, and a small shiver reminded him that he was still rather nude. "Just...just hold on one second." Verus nodded slightly before turning on his heels and beelining it for his now damp clothes. He somehow managed to slide on his work pants rather quick, throwing his shirt over his shoulder and storing his armor away in his items menu. At least he was now somewhat decent in front of the new member. 

As he was walking back to Kooh, his hands fumbled around with his wet shirt, trying to ring out what water still resided. "So you're not a thief, but a prankster eh?" He focused his gaze onto her, looking downwards into her eyes. The situation was still awkward and Verus did not quite know how to fix it. His toes dug into the ground beneath him, making a squishing sound with the mud-puddle that he had produced. He would have to take another bath in a while, hopefully in private next time.