[PP-F11] Respite (Birdie)

[Ashrah 0]

"It sounds like those British boys are slippin'," Tobias replied with a laugh. "Well, no big deal. You got to meet a good ol' boy, so now you'll have Southern standards on how a guy oughtta treat a lady." He held her close as they stared up at the stars and spoke of the world they'd come from. "The Oceanfront..."

His eyes shut as he imagined the boardwalk he'd all but grown up on. The pier at fifteenth that had withstood so many hurricanes, been rebuilt and reinforced, then sectioned off so that people had to pay just to fish off it saddened him a little. When he had been very young, there was a quaint little theme park and an arcade where teens and adults spent days skipping school or hanging out. That had been destroyed in favor of a hotel now, eight stories high. The most beautiful, culturally ingrained portions of the beachfront had been whisked away in the name of modernization and tourism. They had even built a god awful statue of Poseidon for people from all over to fawn over.

"People don't even worship those gods anymore," he muttered to himself discontentedly. He knew the cultural significance of the Neptune festival in his city, though he had not been in attendance for many years. It had twisted from a local pleasure to a tourist trap, and came to symbolize everything he despised about his hometown.

"I'd love to show you around," he smiled. "I only live a few miles from the boardwalk. Used to be I walked it all the time. Back when I was younger." Back before I started turning into my grandpa, the grouchy old bastard. Hated anything to do with change. Now I understand why.

"Kayaba was the only one working on it," he told her. "It was in development for other things, and he had some grants from medical researchers and businesses with a great deal of interest in simulated reality, but I think they pulled out good and hard immediately after the incident. That's what my inner Economist wagers would have happened, at least."

He pointed toward the skyline, where milky white slowly spilled down to illuminate them. "It's safer to use it for a game, or something small time where there's no risk of massive loss. If they'd tried it for medical purposes and it went badly, people could end up..." he coughed lightly. "Well, needless to say, Akihiko confirmed some of their fears. As for businesses, they like to know something they put money into is going to be a return on their investments. They don't like the idea of a product that maims its consumers."

He chuckled. "But they don't get to see this side of it like we do."

[Birdie 0]

Ava struggled to keep her smile from spreading, and her eyes closed calmly as he held her close. 'Southern standards..' the words echoed in her mind, and she wondered just how differently she'd be treated over his side of the pond.

Those thoughts were laid to rest as Tobias' voice entered her ears, a raspy melody touching her heart with each word he spoke. Ava's head bobbed up and down gently in his arms as he talked about giving her a full Virginia Beach tour experience- the beachfront seemed the most noteworthy of areas, based on her knowledge at least.

"Kind of a failed investment, hm," she spoke lowly, pondering how quickly those investors severed their ties with Kayaba post-release of SAO. As Tobias pointed a finger to the skyline above, her eyes gazed out to the soon-to-be moonlit skies, a blink had as she listened once more. She understood that using the technology for a game could lay to rest some of the potential stigma surrounding it, though a bitter taste was still left lingering in her mouth from the way that the release of SAO panned out. "In essence, we're just lab rats for some ignorant ass.." she stopped herself short of getting too caught up in the topic, breathing a sigh instead.

"Yeah... as much as I hate this world, all of it just feels kinda... right?" She shook her head a little. "Maybe not that. These worlds- these beautifully constructed masterpieces- shine a really good light on the work Kayaba's done. It's sad to think that this'll all go to waste as soon as we get out of here... and then nobody will ever wanna pick up a NerveGear again." Ava's eyes danced around the skies for a moment. "At least... I'm not sure I could."

She leant away from his arm slightly, standing angled so that she faced both the ledge of the bridge and Tobias. "Do you ever think about what happens after? If we.. when we get out, what happens next?"

[Ashrah 0]

"I don't know how much I'd ever like to play a game where I could die again," he agreed solemnly. "I have a lot of things I would like to do before the end, and well, games are probably going to become less interesting after this experience." He gave a quiet laugh. "I think we ought to enjoy this world while we have it. Once it's gone, we're not getting it back. But it'll have taught us a lesson about life, too, maybe."

Tobias shook his head. "Too profound. Bleh."

He considered so many things in those moments, enjoying the skyline with someone else for the very first time. Her question took him by surprise, and he wondered what she meant for a moment. There were a great number of possibilities attached, some of them more relevant to their current situation than others. "I plan to go back to school, I think," he spoke thoughtfully. "And maybe then I can move to another country, or something. I dunno."

The young man closed his eyes and tilted back his head. "I figure we'll go back to life, as was interrupted. Of course, there will be a lot to catch up on, so who even knows what we'll do about that." Tobias offered her a quick glance from one eye. "I try not to think about it too much. There's so much stuff to do in the here and now, you know? It's overwhelming when you try to consider that much all at once."

For a moment, he said nothing. He kept an eye on her before he spoke again. "What about you?" he asked. "Anything you want to do?"

[Birdie 0]

Ava smiled, "No, you're right- sappy as it sounds, Aincrad's beautiful. We'll lose it and everything we've built here when we get out, and we'll have nothing to show for our efforts." A harsh reality, she found herself gazing into the stream of water below. "Not that that's any justification for.. well, staying here as prisoners." Her shoulders rolled in a light shrug; either way, a loss on their end was inevitable.

Her gaze rose towards his eyes, and then slowly to the floor afterwards. "You can say that again.." she hushed under her breath. His plan was remarkably similar to hers- remembering back a few weeks ago, she faintly recalled a similar conversation with him about the same thing. After the moments of silence passed, she glanced up to Tobias as he 180'd the question back to her. "Hm.."

"University and then living- pretty much exactly what you're doing, I guess. I wanna make a start on fixing the bad things in my life." Contemplating how many trends would have passed by the time they got out, Ava exaggerated a sigh and rested her arms atop the railing. "Then there's everything we missed out on- birthdays, celebrations, elections... the world's probably changed so much." In her current state of mind, she couldn't feign comfort from the idea.

"S-sorry, being a total downer.." she apologised, turning away from the rails to face Tobias. She felt a warm smile envelop her lips. "I've never watched the moon rise before. This view.. it's beautiful." Seconds passed. Ava eased into a hug, gently wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thanks for bringing me out here, today has been- just.. so amazing."

[Ashrah 0]

He shook his head. "Not at all," his voice was a whisper. "There's so much to contemplate, and that's part of why I don't bother. I'd rather just be here, for now." He laced an arm around her as she hugged him and closed his eyes. With a gentle tilt of his head backward, the spearman smiled placidly beneath pale moonlight. "You don't need to worry about being overwhelmed when you take things one at a time. And that makes it all infinitely more manageable."

The young man stole a quick look in her direction, and his green gaze met her soft expression. Those eyes... he really loved those eyes. "The world outside this one is simple, in some ways, yet in others it's vastly more complex. Aincrad has a finite number of rules that bind what the world can and can't do. You are safe in certain places, bar nothing. There's no rule of law that dictates consequences for your actions. Only players can impose those things on others. And you're free to be anything you want, regardless of money. In a way, there's some freedom in it."

He shook his head. "In another way, it makes you see the value in the things you want on the other side. Why things are worth working for. What you would have done if society hadn't evolved the way it has. Hell- Aincrad wouldn't be possible without the advances we've seen in technology, but inside of it, you can't help but realize that the two worlds are mismatched. What one has, the other lacks.

It is truly something." That she would hold him was a display of affection he had not expected, but it was absolutely welcome. "I can't say that I don't like it here, even if I'm not thrilled with the circumstance."

His exposition on the nature of Sword Art Online was more to distract himself from the desire to move his face closer to hers. With her as close as she was now, he could hardly think of anything else. Tobias was hopeless that way. As much as he spoke, he found himself lost in two vast oceans of blue.

For a moment, he paused and considered her words. "It's amazing," he added, "the autumn moon over the ocean. It gets massive, and orange." That was a sight he wouldn't forget. "Moonrise is as thrilling as sunset, I think." He broke away from her entrancing gaze, only long enough to quash his overly romantic thoughts.

He sighed. "You're welcome, Ava," he said. "I'm glad you came with me."

Edited October 18, 2016 by Arc
I was at DnD and this needed to be... better than I wrote. >_>

[Birdie 0]

Ava felt her body become limp, relaxing, letting the moment sail by as Tobias' voice caressed her inner ears. Occasionally, she nodded, acknowledging his words her beady eyes meeting his, the smile on her lips warm and yet subtle. She was lost in her own little world, loosely attached to Aincrad's reality as she drifted into a half-dreamy state.

When she consciously picked up what he was saying, he spoke about an autumn moon. Blinking to try and bring back a semblance of cognitive thinking, the gears in her mind started turning as her mouth opened. "It looks amazing," she chimed in at the end, staring up to the simulated giant rock floating in the night sky.

She shot a glance up to him as he thanked her, before shifting her eyes elsewhere. The faintest of smiles phased onto Ava's round lips and her cheeks quietly reddened, unnoticeable unless one studied them closely. Thinking about how small the gap between herself and Tobias was, something compelled her to inch forwards, whispering in the back of her mind to move in closer. ".. " She hovered on the tips of her toes, paused by another voice that told her stop and pull back, yet compelled to continue by a strange force. Fighting the urge, Ava lowered casually until she stood on her whole feet again. Loosening her hold on him ever-so-slightly, she took a moment to breath and calm down, letting the heat of the moment pass.

With the moon in the sky, everything seemed to return to normal. The world around them came into motion, players and NPCs alike passing over the bridge they stood on. "I'd love to see the moonrise at the High Fields of Crossing, it's a beautiful landmark on the second floor." A faint smile befell her lips, glancing over her shoulder towards the city. 'Maybe the second date.. don't get ahead of yourself, Ava."

Struggling to focus on anything in the distance, she stumbled a little and held onto the railing for support. Playing it off as an accident, she giggled a little and stood upright, keeping one hand held on. "S-should we find somewhere to sit down? This bridge is um.. it has me a little woozy." 'Lame. Excuse.'

[Ashrah 0]

Their faces held close for several seconds, but his mind was hardly aware. Everything else abolished, only the two of them remained as she inched marginally closer and he could taste her breath. If he had not been consciously fighting back the urge to press his lips to hers, he would have lost himself to it entirely. His hand absently found her cheek, and Tobias stroked it gently once before he answered her words. "The High Fields of Crossing," he echoed faintly. "Yeah," the young man offered. "I think I would enjoy that."

Their lips might have brushed in the instant he spoke, maybe twice as they shied away. There was no pressure, however. One could hardly call it a kiss.

Ava lowered herself to the ground once more and mentioned that she was feeling a bit woozy. "Sure," he nodded, but he placed a hand to her forehead symbolically. "Are you alright?"

He pointed toward a bench that overlooked the river, nestled beneath a tree. "That ought to do the trick." Tobias guided Ava toward it, his thoughts of kisses and romance abated for the moment.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Arc

[Birdie 0]

"Huh? O-oh- yeah, just a little lightheaded is all." Her eyes followed Tobias' finger as he traced a line to the bench beneath a tree, positioned parallel to the shimmering river. She smiled with calm delight, and made motions towards the location. 

Ava's head raced as she thought over where she'd been seconds ago; her arms around his neck, on the verge of planting her lips against his. 'It felt so right, I couldn't control myself... In a lot of ways it would've been fine, but it almost feels like.. Like it's all too fast?' Ava's steps synced with Tobias' as they made way for the bench, and before long she plopped down onto the wooden planks. Looking across to his green eyes, she expelled a breath from her lungs, 'He's amazing, that's for sure..'

"Thanks, the wine and I aren't mixing well," Ava snickered, knowing that was only half the reason she felt lightheaded. Everything was particularly quiet around them, a temporary retreat from the bustling city surrounding the two.

A nest of birds settled in the tree above, rustling leaves as they settled and gave out low tweets. The noise was welcomed by Ava's ears, inspiring her to gaze out to the river ahead and speak out. "Between the walk through the city, eating at that restaurant and watching the moon rise, this night's been one of the best I've had in Aincrad. Maybe even the best, honestly.." She thought for a moment and a smile came to her lips, "other than that one time we met up in Urbus." 

Edited October 23, 2016 by Birdie

[Ashrah 0]

"I gotcha," he replied as she indicated that she was fine. That was good. His brow had creased in worry for a moment, but her words dispelled that quickly enough. "Next time we'll skip the wine, he laughed. "This would have been fun either way, I wager." He led her over carefully and helped her take a seat, then promptly took the spot beside her, albeit perched on the back of the bench like a rebellious teenager. His legs hung over the side and he held himself aloft carefully with both hands.

That was close. Super close. Calm down, loverboy. Eeeeease up. "The night in Urbus?" he asked as she mentioned it. That took him by surprise. "What about that night?" He was genuinely interested now, and he leaned backward and gazed up at her with his head tilted. His body slumped and he landed on the seat so that he was staring upside down at her. "The way I remember it, that was actually a pretty close call, what with the cultists and all."

If there was something she was getting at, the youth obviously missed the social cue. Not that it was abnormal for him to pick up on things like that. Humorously, he rolled backward and off the edge of the bench, then straight to his feet. When he stood upright, he stretched out his arms.

"Not that it was bad," he quickly added. Obviously something important had happened, enough for her to mention it. He didn't want to say anything that might upset her. Not when the mood was so obviously good- one of the best nights she'd had in Aincrad, she'd called it. "I had fun, though. I remember that part." His eyes moved over to hers, and he shrugged. "But you keep getting mad at me for "playing hero," he joked. "I think that was the second time."

The wind blew through his hair, and he ran his fingers through it in turn. He had dyed it from the original brown color to black in honor of his friend, but part of him was tired of hanging on to that dark part of his life. He had found some happiness beyond it, and a reason to fight- as if his original were not compelling enough. Sure, he wanted to help free everyone who was trapped in this world...

But Tobias wanted the chance to meet his new friend in the real world. It wasn't just that hellishly quick and intense emotional closeness he felt for her, either. He wanted to make it so that Ava would never have to fear death again, and he wanted to show her the beach- the one she said she wanted to see. He wanted to show her what he'd seen as a boy, and what no one might ever be able to enjoy again.

To have someone to share that with... that was worth fighting for.

She wants to see you a second time. That's... pretty cool, Tobes. Pretty cool. Now, you be cool about it. Don't mention it... dammit.

"So, you wanna go out again? Like, for real?" he glanced away. "And here I thought you would be put off by my lack of style," he said, indicating the same clothes he always wore. One would think a Tailor could have fixed that issue fairly quickly.

Alas, Tobias was a victim to his own sense of utility.

 

Edited October 26, 2016 by Arc

[Birdie 0]

Her eyes fell on him as he hung upside down, an eyebrow raising in confusion shortly followed by a slim smile. "'What about it'?" She repeated, watching as he dismounted from the bench to land on his feet. There was a reason why she enjoyed their time in Urbus though she couldn't quite place a finger on it.

As Tobias reminded her of the events that transpired that night, a moment of clarity enlightened the bluenette. "Right- being locked in a barn full of psycho cultists wasn't the highlight of the night, but when you saved me from them... I-I think I realised how I felt about you. That's what made the night so special."

Ava's gaze fell to the grass. "Sorry, I know that's cheesy..." Passing the nerves, she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, a calmness befalling the girl as she remembered the events of the night in full. The barn, the tavern, and the promise of meeting up to continue the quest line- a sudden realisation hit her that they hadn't made good on their promise, though it probably didn't matter much now. Buried deep in their quest logs, it was something she could bring up in the future.

Standing up from the bench, she stretched her arms above her head and faced him, paying close attention to the clothes he wore as usual. "What's not to like? Colour doesn't make or break an outfit, and besides, I happen to like your style." Ava felt her grin grow wider, nodding as she brought her arms into a fold. Standing with her feet together, she gently bobbed on the spot whilst considering a second date.

"I'd.. love to see you again some time," she told him, her eyes meeting his. "I think this night qualifies as a success, and there's so many beautiful places we could visit- Starglade, the High Fields of Crossing, Frostbite Lake.." Blood rushed to Ava's cheeks causing her glow a faint red, and she stopped shortly after realising how ahead of herself she'd been getting. Smiling sheepishly, her eyes dipped towards the ground. "S-sorry, that's not important right now.."

A gust of wind blew her hair into disarray, sorting itself out as the breeze stopped. She reaffirmed the hold she had on her arms and took a quiet breath. "Should we think about returning to town?"

[Ashrah 0]

"How you felt... huh?" 

Tobias tilted his head backward and stared at the stars with a placid expression. It was strange to him, hearing those words from her. He wanted them, of course- he'd hoped somewhere in his heart that he might hear them, even when he had believed she had no interest in him at all. At this point, he had become utterly calm awash in the comfort of her voice. It might take time, but he would inevitably have no problem opening up around her entirely. 

The man felt no need to force anything, especially not words. Sometimes, it was said, there is utter serenity in the ability to simply enjoy the company of another person. This was such a time for him.  He did not speak for several minutes after she asked if they ought to head back, but he didn't simply stand there awkwardly. No, he moved to take the seat next to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I realized out on that frozen lake," he told her in an impossibly quiet voice. "Before the ice started to crack, when it was just you and that otherworldly light. I thought you were beautiful, and I started to realize that I wanted to protect you more than I wanted to protect everyone else."

His eyes closed at the admission, and she shook his head. "Maybe that doesn't excuse my habit of jumping in the way for you, but..." With a sight, he gently squeezed, then released her. "...wherever you go, I would happily follow. If you asked me."

Their eyes met for a moment in the severity of those words, and he let out a quiet cough. "My bad, that came out sappier than I intended. Just tell me where you want to go on the next date. Eventually, we'll see it all."

He gave her a quick wink. "Let's head back before it gets cold," he agreed with her sentiment. "And... uh... Ava?" he added. "Do you uh," he stammered, shifted, and stumbled over words as he considered how to ask. 

"That is, does this make us... a thing?" He failed, the same way she had the first time the topic of a date came up; only this time, it ironically made perfect sense.

[Birdie 0]

She appreciated the silence, using it as time to reflect on the things she’d enjoyed the most about their evening. The wooden bench creaked as Tobias sat beside her, and as a gentle hand lay on her shoulder, Ava's eyes turned to meet his. A few short seconds before words left the man’s mouth, something became very clear in the young woman’s mind; the one thing she enjoyed most was the simple act of spending time with Tobias, without donning the masks of their characters.

A redness flushed Ava’s cheeks, her smile poorly hidden up as her eyes shied away from his. “N-no, it was really sweet,” she told him, resting a hand on the man's elongated arm. Blue hair swished as she nodded, her grin growing warmer as her cyan eyes met gaze. "We’ll go everywhere… I’ll go anywhere, as long as you're there with me."

She nodded, Tobias’ mention of the cold prompting a breeze to rush by. Ava’s weight shifted to her feet as she stood up from the bench, the jacket that fell around her shoulders pulling together as she pulled the zipper up. "Hm?"

Ava caught the man tripping over his words, causing a faint smile to befall her lips. She tried her best to conceal it, though, the expression was wiped clean from her face as he finally found his tongue. “O-oh, um… a thing?” A familiar warmth brushed her cheeks. She didn’t want to say no. Every nerve in her body told her to say ‘yes’.

She brought her head into a nod, and stood readily with her feet pointed towards the town. “Yes, we’re… boyfriend and girlfriend now?” She couldn’t wrap the phrase around her head, the concept all too foreign for the young woman baring a single instance in the real world. “U-unless that’s not what you want..?” Ava’s smile was ready to die depending on what he’d say next, though she stayed hopeful his trail of thought aligned with hers.

 

[Ashrah 0]

"It's not that," he said in a quiet voice as he walked up to stand beside her. His gaze moved over the town as he shoved both hands in his pockets and rocked backward on his heels. "Not at all. In fact, I thought you might be opposed to it, but I hoped you wouldn't." He glanced sidelong at her and then up toward the moon again. "It's good," he sighed. "I'm glad."

His body relaxed in its entirety. Arc shook his head and smiled. He turned so that he began to walk backward, eyes locked with hers. "Let's go everywhere we can, and do lots of things. Get stronger, and see new places, and eventually, we'll see the end of this world and have something to look forward to on the other side." He gave her the high sign and brought the other arm to rest behind his head. 

After a moment, the first hand went to rendezvous with the second, and he was leaning his head against his folded arms.

"Do your Guild buddies worry about where you get to?" he asked. "I've had you out pretty late. I don't generally think about that, because I don't have a guild, but I don't want to be insensitive about that." Tobias stayed close to her as they moved, though he stayed facing Ava. "I can walk you home, at any rate."

[Birdie 0]

Birdie's hands slipped into the kangaroo pockets on either side of her zipped jacket, keeping them warm as the cold settled in. It only now dawned on her how dark it was, the sun's light failing to illuminate the city. Street lamps and torches littered the city streets, and the bluenette spotted a pulsing glow radiate from a man-made source of light.

She shook her head, "I don't think you have anything to worry about, I'll tell them you treated me kindly if they bring it up." In truth, the chances of them noticing the girl being up so late was close to nil, and even if they did, she doubted they'd think twice of it.

Birdie realised how close they were and her mind strayed else, trying not to dwell on it too much. With Tobias' offer to walk her home, the girl's cheeks radiated a subtle warmth as she bowed her head gently, dimples indenting on either side. "That's very kind Tobias, thank you." Her brain ran on autopilot as she continued. "Where um.. where will you be staying tonight?" she wondered aloud, her eyes shuffling upwards to meet his.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Birdie

[Ashrah 0]

"Yeah!" he confirmed excitedly, "I mean, that's exactly what I hoped for." He didn't really know what else to say. His mouth essentially ran on autopilot at this point, because his heartbeat was running rampant and his whole body felt hot. This was good. New, uncertain, probably a bit scary, but good. That he could feel it meant he wasn't stupid. He knew that there was more to this than a few happy times ahead. Above all, the fear that something could go wrong made you aware that you had to be the best person possible to try and tough out hard times. 

That's what he had learned, at least, about friendship. They had gotten this far together, and there were feelings- this was the logical, reasonable next step. Why was he overthinking it?

"Heh," he loosed a heavy sigh. "I guess when it comes right down to it, all the best things in life are terrifying because you never know how they're going to turn out."

He glanced her way when she asked where he was staying, and he touched his lip thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought about it," he answered truthfully. "Maybe an inn, or something. I generally deal with that question when it's time to turn in for the night."

Tobias offered his arm for her to hold as they walked. That was a traditional way of doing things, wasn't it?

[Birdie 0]

A nervous smile befell Ava as Tobias talked about uncertain outcomes, one of the many things that regularly plagued her thoughts was a constant fear of messing up and ruining things for herself and others. To know that the man appreciated a similar view removed a lot of the hidden stress she was experiencing, and she felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "You can say that again," she sighed lightly.

Redness swamped her cheeks before she managed to dispel it, giving a somewhat calm, somewhat shifty nod. "O-oh, I see..." Words wanted to escape, her brain wouldn't allow them the privilege. Instead, she kept quiet, her eyes stuck on the road ahead until an elbow came into sight. 'M-maybe I can ask later.. or maybe he's fine.. he said he'll get an in,, right?' She turned to the man, noticed his arm and smiled, slipping her hand behind and gently gripping his biceps. Her other hand slid into the kangaroo pouch of her jacket, and as she went to look back to the path, a question struck the girl.

"S-so, other than the places we've been to, and the ones we were talking about, are there any other locations in Aincrad that have really stood out to you?" After the words left her mouth, she refrained from frowning at how analytical and formal they'd sounded. 'Is that an appropriate question?' she thought. Ava turned and smiled to Tobias, knowing he'd be the judge of that.

[Ashrah 0]

"Hmmm?" When she asked the question, he glanced over with a half-surprised look and blinked a few times. "Places that've interested me? Well, let me see..." he felt her hand on his arm and smiled a bit. "I've been a few places, but none of them were especially interesting. I think I've wanted to find out what's on the higher floors up, but that'd mean the Frontliners would have to clear another boss or two. No use thinking about that just yet."

As they rounded a corner and headed for the central plaza of Taft, Tobias glanced at her. "Once you've seen everything there is to see of what's readily accessible, it starts to get a little less exciting every time. There's probably something I missed, somewhere, so I wouldn't mind looking for that."

He considered all the things he might say or ask at this point, but none of them seemed to match the depth of her question. He did find it interesting that she'd ask that particular question, though. Was Ava trying to find a new place to explore?

"It's a massive world," he added, "so there's plenty of room for finding new things and going on adventures." Did that answer her question at all? He hoped so. 

The teleport plaza loomed just ahead of them, though he wasn't quite sure where he was dropping her off. "First floor, right?" he asked. "Or do you have someplace you stay now, more permanently?"

[Birdie 0]

Birdie considered his answer. From her perspective, the world spanned only a few floors, the rest an unreachable question mark that required her to build up strength and confidence to set foot in. Each area brought with it a brand new set of challenges and unique experiences; it seemed as if he'd seen far more than her, and she had no reason to doubt all the popular locations were old news to him. Her eyes remained on him for a lingering moment, a nod slowly picking up as she wrapped her mind around what he'd said. "I-I see, I think I understand. I guess I'm... in the same boat as you, kinda. It feels like there's so much more out there to see, we just have to go looking for it ourselves.." A smile formed on Ava's face. That meant exploring the world, going out and seeing what sort of weird and wacky ventures there were to be had; if Tobias was by her side, she'd readily accept any adventure.

With Taft's teleport gate swiftly approaching, Ava turned her eyes up to him, head shaking gently. "Unfortunately I don't think moving to a higher floor will be a viable option... not for a while at least." Her eyes lowered briefly, though she was quick to correct them. "First floor," she repeated, knowing he might want to give the teleport command.

As the gate's raised platform neared their feet, she slowed her pace just a little bit and caught a glimpse of the city one last time for the night. "Hm.. this place is far different from what I imagined it being this late. Feels like it should be more.." She paused, a word teetering the edge of her lips. "... vivid?" Though it wasn't completely drained of life, not much appeared to be going on, nobody but a few stumbling NPCs and players alike passing by the pair. 

[Ashrah 0]

"For now, that's probably true," he nodded in quiet acceptance as they approached their destination. "With the system essentially changing every few minutes to accommodate new information, who knows what we might stumble on? And there's still that quest we did back on the second floor...  I haven't seen anything to follow up on that. Have you?" He smirked a bit. "There's always gonna be an adventure waiting for us, I think. We've just gotta find it, is all."

When they stopped in front of the teleport gate and Ava told him that she was headed for floor one, he nodded. "Alright then," he answered. "Teleport, Town of Beginnings." He spoke quietly, as opposed to the generic and enthusiastic yell most players gave to initiate their teleports. As they stood together bathed in the radiant light of the mechanism, he closed his eyes for half a heartbeat.

They reopened to a new, yet familiar scene. The place where every new adventurer encountered Aincrad for the first time rolled out before both of the now-seasoned players with a certain sense of welcoming. This was home to many players, and safe from powers that intended harm on them. It was the point at which all people trapped within the Death game could say they were both closest and furthest away from the real world. They came in here, but they would leave from atop the hundredth floor.

So. Far. Away.

"Ah," Arc muttered as he flipped through his HUD. "Where to?"

[Birdie 0]

'He still remembers the follow-up quest?.. or therefore lack of, I guess.' It took her by surprise that he'd brought it up, she was under the impression that even her thinking about it was dwelling too much on the past in a way. "Yeah, you're right. The only way we'll find something new is if we go out and look for it ourselves... we should revisit Urbus some time, even if we don't find anything there."

Then, moments later, Tobias spoke the golden words and they were whisked away from Taft, promptly landing themselves in the most recognisable landmark Aincrad had to offer. She took a big breath of the familiar air, sighing happily to herself as she did so. "There's no place like home.." The man's soft tone reached her ears, drawing her eyes up towards him. "It's just over here, a little ways East into the city." She set foot in the direction and brought her hand into a point, gesturing towards a turning on the road ahead. She led the walk, pulling Tobias' arm along.

The front of the shop soon came into view, and Birdie's pace gradually slowed as they neared the front doorway. "Aaand here it is!" Other than the shop's sign which had the shape of a small blue bird chiselled and painted into wood, nothing else would indicate or elude to the fact that she was an Artisan, though she'd already mentioned as much to the man earlier on. "I know it's not much to look at, this place was only meant to be a temporary solution." She turned on the spot and took a small step back, looking towards Tobias with a smile.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Birdie