[PP - F3] The Machinations of Fate

[Rayleigh 0]

Closed to Vincent Cain

"Haven't seen you around here before. Do you come here often?"

The mousy brunette would not even dignify that with a turn of her head. Instead, her emerald eyes cut to him, daggers still managing to reach her peripheral vision. "Are you serious?"

Perhaps he did not pick up on the venom in her tone. Perhaps he figured any response at all was promising. But the heavily armored man with the shaggy brown hair broke into a grin. "Yeah," he answered eagerly.

Ray's eyebrows winged up, and she blinked, finally turning her head to face him. "You're not using the phrase ironically?"

This time, the other player blinked. Confusion muddled his dark eyes, but the goofy smile remained. "Yeah." Then his bushy brows furrowed, concentration bursting, sending deep lines across his weathered face. "I mean, no?"

The woman nodded slowly, sucking her teeth as she pushed back from the bar. It didn't matter what floor, or what tavern - even in a death game, there were weird men with bad pickup lines. And the alcohol didn't even help. "Hey, I need to go to the bathroom," she told him, shifting her weight and slipping off the stool. The small heels of her tall brown boots clapped on the dirty wood floor as she straightened, then clipped away. She had to put as much distance as possible between herself and her would-be suitor before he realized bathroom trips were entirely unnecessary in Aincrad. Unless, of course, he never actually noticed. He was not a horse that she would bet on.

Her long brown coat flapped as she strode toward the door. The Jolly Otter was hopping this time of night, primarily with the burlier type. It was a popular hangout for guilds after a day of raiding, and bar brawls were almost commonplace. As such, the the small woman was careful not to elbow anyone as she navigated her way across the minefield, weaving through tables packed with rowdy players. Booming laughter rolled like thunder, accented with occasional shouts for more ale and voices raised in triumph or anger. The decor here was different, like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean, but at the core? At the core, it was like every other tavern. I'll just stop into the next one.

Edited March 7, 2020 by Rayleigh

[Vincent Cain 0]

"Come here often?"

SMACK

Vince winced as the mild buzzing of pain feedback rang through his systems.  He'd made a habit of trying to practice "his art" of wooing women, not because he was particularly interested in getting any virtual action, but because the idea of clever wordplay was an art.  He was not a good artist, nor was he particularly bad, he was just some schmuck who liked to dabble, perhaps paint alongside a Bob Ross video every now and again.  Still, as the woman trotted off, her skirt swishing with each step, Vince couldn't even bother to look at her, his eyes were scanning for the next person to talk to.  Perhaps he would lay on his laurels, maybe get some fresh air and chill a bit.  Maybe he would pop over to another floor and get some good ass grub instead, he wouldn't know until the cards had been dealt to him, that was how life rolled.  

 

So, imagine his shock when a very familiar looking face stomped off through the crowd like a bull heading back to a fine china shop with a mile long receipt and one of those exaggerated soccer-mom haircuts.  He hadn't seen Ray in a hot minute, not since middle school...but he could tell it was her, like how Mrs. Frankleberry recognized him ten years after kindergarten even when he had that god awful mustache he swore would come in and look dashing.  This was fate, everything coming up Aces for him.  If it was Ray, he'd found an old friend, if it wasn't?  Well she was cute enough to pass for his old middle school crush and maybe he'd put some effort into hitting on her.  With hardly a care to his cheek, he danced through the crowd with practiced ease and found himself gliding up to her like a graceful...graceful thing.  Resting a hand on her shoulder he threw out his golden goose of an opener.

 

"Hey, come here often?"

[Rayleigh 0]

"Hey, come here often?"

She could make it look like an accident. Hell, in the safe zone, it wouldn't even take a chunk of his health. More importantly, it wouldn't change the color of her cursor. So what was the harm? The guy was being an ass, following her after she'd so politely made her get-away. This guy had a real set on him if he was willing to follow her to the bathroom. And using the same terrible pick-up line again? Was he mentally defective?

So she pivoted, a balled fist lashing about a foot above her head. It was where his face likely was, if she'd correctly judged his height (you never really knew when they were sitting on a barstool). It appeared she was right on target, as her knuckles made contact with skin and bone. The muscles in her arm rippled with the force of it, and even though he wouldn't feel the pain, she felt the satisfaction. 'Oh, I'm sorry,' she could bluster, batting her lashes and fanning her flushed face. 'Fighter's instinct, I'm sure you understand.' It would be total bulls*it, but she was cute, and she could get away with it.

The words died on her lips as recognition swamped her. That mop of golden blonde hair, those crystal-blue eyes. His face was contorted in surprise, but if it weren't, she figured it would be wearing that same old goofy grin. It was the grin she remembered most. "Vincent?" Her own emerald eyes widened. "Oh my god, Vince!" Then those eyes narrowed, and the startled joy fled her voice. It was replaced with mortification. "Oh my god, Vince." Horrified, she reached for his face. "I am so sorry. I didn't know it was you."

[Vincent Cain 0]

Ah yes, this is definitely how I saw this going...

Vince staggered back one, two...two and a half steps, maybe three if you were feeling super generous about that lil half step.  His eyes watered, not necessarily from pain since the game didn't really let you feel that much pain aside from the mild rumble and recoil, but more the sensation around those really sensitive nerves.  He blinked, trying to register what had happened just in time for Ray to [censored] at his face as she realized exactly who's incredibly charming and handsome face she'd just falcon punched.

" 'S fine, really, I am aware of the effect I have on women."  Like magic, his trademark goofy grin was plastered across his face as if it had never been rudely socked off in the first place, his eyes twinkling in the light.  "Pretty sure that was meant for some poor schmuck, in which case I am glad it was my stupid face and not his, he would be a lot less understanding..." Without warning he regained those three steps back, the same three steps that she probably took to reach out to him, and in one fell swoop snaked his arms around her in a brutal bear hug.

"That all being said...i'm not losing my mind and it is you...right?"

[Rayleigh 0]

"Well, I'm still really sorry and- oof." His arms came around her, squeezing tight enough that he lifted Ray off her feet. Embarrassment burst like a firework, sending red streaking across her pale cheeks. "Vince," she drawled, voice pumped with enough annoyance to cover the delight. Her booted feet kicked, though not with much gusto, as she wasn't entirely unhappy to be back in a famous Vincent Cain bear hug. 

How long had it been? Nine years? Ten? Jesus, an entire decade had passed since she'd seen her oldest friend. They'd been inseparable, once upon a time. Then Vince had moved, and they'd lost touch. Ray wasn't one for social media, and hadn't been then, either. She'd dropped the ball dozens of times when it came to emailing him, and after a while, the correspondence had simply stopped. It wasn't that they'd had a falling out. They'd just... fallen apart.

But now he gave her one final squeeze before planting her in front of him. "Yeah, it's me," she confirmed, reaching to shove her brown hair back from her flushed face. "And you! You're... so different."

[Vincent Cain 0]

"I am approximately thirty percent more handsome," 

Vince would be lying if he said he hadn't missed her.  Ten years had passed with nary a word from her, which is like...four or five whole generations of pokemon.  That was at least three fire fighting starters he had to endure all while she had been ignoring his emails and skype messages.  A myriad of emotions welled up inside him as all of these things processed in his head.  She had been one of his best friends, and honestly the only woman who would deal with his constant prattling as he went off on odd tangents about the nerdiest topics or weird esoteric hypothetical.  

He shot her another goofy grin that spanned from ear to ear as he looked her over.  "You also look very different..." his words were accompanied with a sagelike nod as he rubbed his chin.  His hug had quickly made him aware of a pair of boobs that she hadn't gotten around to growing the last time they'd met.  "But how about instead of us standing here awkwardly catching up in front of a door, we relocate to awkwardly catching up at a table?  Perhaps I can buy you a drink?  Not sure if you're aware but we can't get drunk, so its all the shitty taste without any of the fun loss on inhibition.  Don't let people full you, they're super into the roleplay."  His eyes quickly shot across the bar, scanning the bar and back walls for a nice private spot for him to gush about how much he'd missed her.  Spotting one, he quickly grabbed her hand without waiting for a reply and gave it a tug along as he pointed it out.  "I've got so much to tell you."  

[Rayleigh 0]

“Thirty percent, huh?” That might have been short-changing him a bit. In middle school, Vince had rocked the awkward-but-still-boyishly-charming look. Of course, at that age, Ray hadn’t exactly focused on his good looks. She’d just found him interesting, when few could keep her attention for more than a minute or two. He kept her guessing, and his explosive personality so perfectly filled spaces her reserved one couldn’t reach. ‘Completing her’ was such a cliched concept, but where their friendship was concerned, he had. That was why she had called him her best friend, not his good looks. 

Now though? Unabashed, she studied him as he dragged her to an empty table. He certainly stood taller, and the long hair looked really good on him. He’d filled about a bit, in all the right places. And those pants fit really well...

”Oh yeah?” she asked, after he deposited her in the chair across from him. “Tell me everything, and just grab me whatever you’re having to drink.”

[Vincent Cain 0]

"Grape juice it is then."

Vince [censored] her a grin and placed his order with the barmaid with practiced ease, potentially betraying the notion that this wasn't the first time he'd been here.  In fact, one might be able to infer that this was a frequent haunt of his.  That would perhaps be the best description of his relationship with this place, given he'd spent the majority of this whole Aincrad debacle simply existing in a existential nightmare, but that was neither here nor there.  He settled into his seat, casually placing one arm on the table as he propped his chin into his upturned palm.  "Where to start...god it's been ages."  His sapphire eyes darted to look over the crowd that had gathered this evening, absentmindedly people watching while the gears turned in his head.  "For starters...I learned how to play Trombone..."  his eyes shot back to hers as he began to speak.  "Did marching band in highschool, wish I had the pictures to show you how dorky I looked in the uniform...."  the memories flooded over him absently as he spoke, busy Friday nights rushing out to get food and then sprinting back to the band hall to eat and get changed before call time.  The friends he'd made those four years, how it had changed him...

How he'd wished she was there with him.  

A frown flickered across his lips, but was banished the moment his glass was set before him and he took an idle sip.  "Dad still has the bookstore, insists that E-readers won't drive him out of business.  Mom still practices law and spends way too much time fussing over my extracurriculars..." She also fussed about how he'd never dated in highschool, but he was not about to go giving Ray any fuel to bust his balls over.  "Graduated in the top twenty of my class if you could believe it, and Im not talking like...small town graduating class either, Im talking class of 600 people..."  he trailed off, his eyes occasionally meeting hers, getting lost for a couple seconds, and then breaking away to find something else to look at so he could actually focus.  "What have you been up to?"