[PP-F2] Searching for Answers (Kooh) - COMPLETED

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus laid in his bed in the inn, his HUD open to his messenger. He had been trying to message Kooh for three days, the last time they've seen each other being a week ago when they completed that quest and didn't part on good terms. Cygnus didn't want it to end like that, though. He cursed his temper and closed his messenger, sitting up on his bed and giving himself a couple solid smacks on the head. "Stupid. Stupid." He sighed and got up. He had no other choice. He had to go look for her. He left the tiny inn on the first floor and decided to begin his search on the second. He made his way to the teleport plaza and onto the second floor. Cygnus looked around the city for a good long while, and after a fruitless search, he began to look around the fields outside. He was about to give up. He cursed himself for exploding at her like that. The way she just didn't seem to care at all made him angry. But he wanted them to move past that now. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were. He sighed, looking up at the sky. He hoped Kooh wasn't too mad at him. He didn't really mean what he said. 

Edited July 26, 2016 by Cygnus

[Kooh 0]

"Mmn..." A small, sleepy mumble escaped Kooh's lips as a pinging sounded in her ears. The girl had made herself comfortable on a thick tree branch somewhere in the forest outside of Urbus. Her eyes fluttered open in a small squint, searching for the source of the notification. Another message from Cygnus. With her inbox displaying in front of her, Kooh glared at the message, only barely skimming its contents before dismissing it without a response. She had no reason to answer him, no reason to see the man again after what she'd said to him. She was surprised, though more annoyed, that the man had been so persistent in trying to contact her since that day.

With her legs stretched out across the branch, crossed at the ankle, and her back resting against the heavy bark of her tree bed, the girl squinted up at the sky. Morning was just coming over Aincrad, but at least the cover of the tall trees overhead left the girl out of the sun's rays. Letting out a yawn, Kooh shifted herself just slightly to get comfortable again. Letting her eyes close again, she would push those unsavory thoughts away from her for now.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Kooh

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus sighed as he stopped his search under a tree. He sat down at the base, sulking. He looked up at the sky to let out another exasperated sigh, when he noticed a familiar red cloak hanging off a branch above. He began to investigate, and sure enough, once he got a good look, he knew for a fact it was Kooh. It was as if the fates smiled upon him. He almost climbed the tree to awaken her but decided against it. His better nature demanded he let her sleep. He simply sat at the base of the tree, getting relaxed. Next thing he knew, his lack of sleep from trying to contact Kooh had finally caught up to him and he was now napping just ten feet from where Kooh was. A look of relaxed peacefulness was on his face.

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's eyebrows twitched downward in subconscious annoyance. She'd managed to drift in and out of sleep, but only for short periods of time before the bright morning environment would stir her again. Her eyes slowly fluttered open again as she brought her hands up to rub from free of the sleepiness. Giving up, the girl decided she might as well get going with...whatever it was she planned on doing today. She never did much planning lately, but for whatever reason she wasn't too keen on hanging around in town.

Kooh swung her legs over the side of the wide branch, sitting up as she stretched her arms over her head. The girl let out a quiet yawn before placing her palms against the hard wood and scooting herself over the edge. As something caught her eye, however, her balance was shaken just slightly when her gaze fell upon the armored man propped up at the base of her napping tree. The girl had already pushed herself off, and as her boots landed against the forest floor she stumbled forward, unable to fully catch herself.

"Oww..." Kooh mumbled, her forearms tingling slightly where they'd come into contact with the hard ground. As her boots had touched down just beside the warrior, when she stumbled and fell forward she had collided with him. The girl now found herself laying awkwardly across Cygnus' legs. Quickly realizing her position, Kooh pushed herself up and back away from Cygnus in a hurry, who had no doubt awoken from his own sleep. Now on her knees, a look of multiple emotions was sprawled across her face--embarrassment, shock, and annoyance all present--before she wiped them from her features, settling on a cold stare not unfamiliar from their last encounter. "What are you doing here?" She asked harshly.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Kooh

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus was jarred out of a sound sleep by the feeling of something-- or someone as it were-- falling on his legs. He flinched as he awoke, looking down and seeing Kooh laid flat across his legs. He couldn't speak, he just stared at her, his cheeks turning bright red. It seemed he would blush at the drop of a hat nowadays. When she picked herself up, he did so as well, kneeling in front of her. The tone she used when he asked what he was doing there kind of cut him a little. Still shy and embarassed at what just happened, he began fidgeting with the blush on his cheeks still. "You wouldn't answer my messages, so... I came looking for you." He avoided her gaze as if it could burn him alive. "I wanted us to talk... you know, about last week..." He paused and simply stared at the ground, still fidgeting. Unable to take the awkward silence anymore, he finally said something else. Just barely looking at her, he spoke; "So... do you, um... like your coat...? The whole reason I took the quest was to give it to you as a gift." He mumbled. He didn't think this would be so difficult. He didn't do well in awkward situations, and this was about as awkward as it could get. 

 

 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh was unfazed at the man's embarrassment. She listened to his meek words with mild annoyance, staring at his face while he refused to meet her gaze. This guy just decided to walk around looking for her? How long had he been at it? How could he have known which floor she'd be on--not to mention the size of the floors themselves. When he'd finished speaking, Kooh allowed herself an agitated sigh. So, treating him like garbage didn't work. 'Weird, that usually works on anyone...'

She shifted her position, bringing her legs in front of her and crossing them against the forest floor. Propping her elbows up on her knees, the girl placed her chin in her hands, leaning forward as she stared at him with a bored expression. "Fine. Let's talk." She said simply, sounding disinterested. The blonde first frowned at his question. "I haven't used it yet." She answered simply, leaving her response at that.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus let out a breath he had been holding in. It seemed she was willing to talk. She was still acting cold, but she wasn't acting how she was last time they met. He would take that. He frowned though when she mentioned she didn't wear the coat yet. "Oh, alright." He didn't want to pursue that any further, so he left it at that. He still couldn't meet her gaze, and so he continued staring at the ground. After awhile longer, the brunette warrior spoke again. "I'm... i'm sorry for my outburst the other day. I was just angry. I didn't mean what I said." He fidgeted, looking at the ground. Why was this so hard? He wasn't used to speaking so openly. He always just bottled things up. But his time here changed him. It made him see what was really important and it made him cherish the bonds he formed with people because he knew that any day, they could be gone. The situation with Kooh and her nearly losing her life to that mob put that in extreme perspective now. He didn't want to avoid losing her to the mob only to lose her to his own anger.

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's eyebrows raised slightly over her still flat expression. The man got out an apology, still looking just as awkward. Kooh frowned again when he'd left it at that and stopped talking. What was she supposed to say to that? "Don't worry about it." She found the right words leaving her with a monotone.

After a long silence passed between them, Kooh pulled her head up and straightened her back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is that all?" She asked plainly. She didn't have any intention of making idle conversation, and if the man was only here for an apology she would gladly take it and go on her way.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus shook his head when Kooh asked if that was all he wanted to talk about. "No... no, not really." He finally looked up at her and she would be able to see that he was feeling kind of distraught. With a heavy sigh, he continued the outpouring of emotion. "You know, I only got mad because I care. I almost lost you the other day and... it seemed to bother me more than it bothered you. That kind of... threw me for a loop." He scratched his head and looked down at the ground again. "I just want you to understand. I want to understand too. Why aren't you afraid? Don't you value your own life at all? It's kind of strange that I seem to value your life more than you do." He stopped speaking after that, afraid he was going to mess things up even worse than they already were or that it was too late and he did already. He didn't look at Kooh again for awhile after that.

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's eyebrows twitched in slight annoyance as she took in his words. Keeping her arms crossed over her chest, she let out a small huff of air. "Yeah, it is strange." She echoed sarcastically before taking a mental step backwards. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if she was mulling something over. Finally, just as the silence was growing awkward again, the girl opened her eyes to look back at him again, not quiet as harshly.

"Look, I already told you." The girl uncrossed her right arm and held up her index finger. "You don't know me." She held up a second finger. "Don't trust people so easily." The last sentence left her almost as a warning. She brought her hand back down and folded it across her chest again, continuing with the same tone. "But if you won't listen to that, then just trust me when I say you don't want to know me."

Realizing she'd avoided his question, the girl let out another sigh. "I'm not going to try to explain myself to you, though. So think whatever you want about me."

Edited July 22, 2016 by Kooh

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus kept his eyes on the ground as Kooh spoke to him, only looking up at her when she said he wouldn't want to know her. He looked at her, confusion the only emotion on his face. That didn't answer his question at all. "That's the thing though. I do want to know you." He said, fidgeting again. "You want to know what I think?" He didn't even wait for her to answer. The question was rhetorical, and he was going to tell her what he thought regardless. He hesitated though, not wanting to scare her off again. Eventually, he decided to tell her what he thought and hope for the best. "I think you're looking for something... something to make you complete. I think we're not so different. I also think you're afraid of something and I think I would like to get to know you better." He paused, kicking a stray pebble on the ground that lay near his foot. "I'm not good at this, but... it's clear to me that after everything that has happened, I really don't know you at all. I'd like to though, that's the thing. I don't know if my assessment is off-base or not, but if it isn't, that's just more reason for me to get to know you."

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's eyebrows twitched in annoyance once again. Why was this guy so persistent? He spoke up again, and his hesitated words caused the girl to blink in surprise, her head tilting slightly. She let him finish speaking completely before closing her eyes with a look of mildly annoyed contemplation. Finally, the blonde reacted with a heavy sigh. "Looking for something?" She repeated in a half-mocking tone, though her words didn't carry the same icy bite anymore. She shook her head and leaned herself back, placing her palms on the ground behind her to prop her up. "I don't know about that. I'm not afraid of anything, though." She added with a sly, confident smirk, opening her garnet eyes to look back at him.

"Fine. So if I tell you about myself you'll be satisfied?" She still spoke as though she was just trying to appease him. "There's not much to say, but whatever." Her carefree attitude seemed to be back in full force. "Ask away."

[Cygnus 0]

"Oh" was all Cygnus could say for a moment. He half expected her to tear into him again. But instead, she gave him a free pass to ask what he wanted. It was at that point when Cygnus realized he hadn't thought of anything to ask. He never thought he would get this far. He scratched his chin, looking at the ground, then back up to Kooh. "Okay... I can tell you about me too if you want." He paused and quickly thought of a question. "Um... let's see... I guess we can start with... um..." His cheeks went pink as he asked his first question. It was the one he was the most nervous about. "Do you have anyone... I don't know... "special" back home?"

[Kooh 0]

Her shoulders shrugged upward from leaning back on her hands, Kooh waited with a bored expression. He mentioned something about tell her about himself, but she just stared back, uninterested, without replying. She gauged his expression. His nervous fidgeting. His averted gaze.

'Really.' The word fell flatly in her mind. The girl frowned as her eyes stared into him. "No." She answered plainly. As much as she didn't want to continue to humor him, the looming feeling of obligation hung over her. "So what, you just wanted to know if I was single?" Her lips curled up into a mischievous smile. "Hate to break it to you, though. I'm off the market." She teased before shifting back to a casual expression. "So, what else?" She asked with a hint of impatience.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus went red, not even noticing Kooh didn't ask him about himself. He had only been trying to make conversation before he got into the real questions. But based on what she said after, about being off the market and all, she thought he meant that he was hinting at him liking her. Cygnus's face went bright red and his head hung lower if that was even possible. "I... I-I..." No matter how hard the brunette tried, he couldn't form any words. They kept getting stuck in his throat and he had to stop and start over. "That's... that's not what I..." He stopped, giving up trying to talk his way out of it. He almost thanked whatever gods might be for Kooh moving on to the next question. "So... um... did you live with your parents or someone else before SAO? Or did you live by yourself?" His face was still bright red. Clearly, he hadn't gotten over the embarassment of Kooh thinking he liked her. He still couldn't even look at her, his eyes as far away as possible. 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh relaxed a bit, uncrossing her legs as she stretched them out in front of her. Her boots hit the grass with a small thud one after the other as she got comfortable. She amused herself with Cygnus' increasing embarrassment, his flustered reactions causing another sly smile to crawl across her lips. The blonde tilted her head back slightly to look up at the sky, only to have overhanging trees filling her vision instead.

Once the brunette had managed to compose himself, if only slightly, he came forward with more questions. This time about her living situation. He certainly was asking a lot of specific questions. She'd prepared more for the typically 'what do you do for fun?' or 'what's your favorite this or that?' She frowned a bit as her gaze lingered upwards. "Yeah." She answered simply. "I stayed with my parents while going to college. I suppose they're the ones taking care of my lifeless body right now." She smirked with a joking tone, although her words held a somber realness to them.

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus let out a breath that he had been holding in. This was getting easier. He actually looked at Kooh after she replied, his cheeks still pink from Kooh's answer to his question earlier. "Oh, you were going to college? So was I, before... everything. It didn't work out, so I lived with a friend until this." He frowned, but tried to smile as soon as he realized his expression. "Harvard School of Law. I wanted to be a prosecutor." He finally said, getting into a more relaxed position as he got back on the topic of schools. "Where did you attend?" Cygnus was almost certain she didn't go to a school like Harvard, and so regretted telling her the second the words left his mouth. He didn't want her to think of him as some snobby rich kid. 

[Kooh 0]

She frowned subconsciously, garnet eyes flickering downward to meet his, though her chin was still tilted upwards. He was vague with his reply, but the girl didn't feel like asking any questions or having him elaborate. Then he threw out the name of the college he'd attended--which happened to be one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Kooh actually held back a grimace, surprised at the man's educational background. He seemed more..."normal" on the surface. Or maybe that wasn't the right word.

Kooh didn't have much time to dwell on her thoughts before Cygnus turned the question back to her, Her gaze shifted to the side as if to avoid his. "Oh, uh... Nowhere worth naming..." She avoided the question. For some reason, she really didn't feel like divulging her hometown. Whether it was embarrassing, or just too personal a question, she couldn't discern the reason. Not wanting to avoid him completely, since she'd committed to the question and answer section, she settled for a white lie. "I'm from a small town, and the place is practically a community college."

[Cygnus 0]

Cygnus watched Kooh as she gave him a very vague answer. He just nodded along, however, deciding to take that for now. He didn't know what it was like to live in a small town or go to a community college. Her answer intrigued him. He wanted to know more. What resaurants she visited, how long she lived there, what her parents were like... everything. He finally managed to talk to her without feeling like he was going to burn up. He looked up at the sky to get an idea of what time it was, only to have his view blocked by the thick canopy. He looked back down at Kooh, deciding to ask her another question. "So..." he began, "what are your parents like? I've only ever been around my mother and father's style of parenting. I was wondering if it is any different elsewhere." He pulled one of his knees up and rested his chin on it, holding his leg in place with both of his arms, his fingers interlocked. 

[Kooh 0]

Kooh was growing more annoyed. Though her expressions wouldn't show it, she was bothered by the stream of questions about her personal life. She was Kooh now. She wasn't Luna, and she didn't know if she ever would be that girl again--or if she even wanted to. With a small sigh, she granted his third, and what would be final, question. "I don't know, they were just normal, I guess." She answered rather shortly, pulling her shoulders forward as she took the weight off of her hands. "They spent a lot of time on my brother and sister, and I wasn't too close with them."

With her answers growing more mediocre, the girl brought herself to her feet, clapping her palms together as if to dust them off. "Well, that's all this genie has for you." She said abruptly. As she stood, Kooh looked down to the man and took a few steps forward to close the distance between them. "Sorry to cut things short, but I'll give you a consolation prize." She knelt down directly in front of him, reaching her arm out to curl her fingers around the cold metal of his chestplate. Pulling it forward, the blonde drew Cygnus towards her until their lips collided in a hard kiss. She held the man there for a long couple of seconds before pulling away and lightly pushing off against his armor in unison. She released him from her grasp with a playful smile, "I didn't believe you," She alluded to his attempted denial of being interested in her. Locking her gaze with him as a serious expression now took over her, she spoke again in a commanding tone. "I gave you what you wanted. Now leave me alone."

Straightening her legs, the girl quickly turned and headed back down the path towards Urbus, shoving her hands in her pockets as she strolled at a normal pace. She was betting on the brunette being too flustered to follow after her, and besides that she didn't feel like expending more energy today. Still, her eyes were narrowed in a frustrated glare as she stared at the ground ahead of her feet. "Tch." She scoffed lightly as she created more and more distance between them. 'What a mess this has become...'