[F15-PP] Your Regularly Scheduled Program

[Koga 0]

The markets of Lhasri hummed with activity, its indoor bazaar full of life as people milled about. Some were going about their daily chores, buying ingredient for meals, tools, or other necessities, while others were simply there to enjoy themselves. The stalls lined the walls, and in row, filling up the massive stone encased space with bright colors, the clamor of hawkers and buyers, and the scents of street food.

Koga was here mostly for the food. And NIGHT's company, of course, but besides that the food. He'd never really been to Lhasri before, but after having heard about the bazaar, the man had thought it might be a good place to catch up with his old friend. It'd been too long since they'd spoken. His fault, of course. Koga wasn't exactly known for keeping in touch with people. Nonetheless, he did make the effort every once in a while. It broke up the day to day of his now quiet life.

"So, what's new in the life of NIGHT?" he asked as they walked between the endless rows of stalls, pausing every once in a while to peer at some interesting trinket or another. "DAY still giving you trouble?"

@NIGHT

Edited August 18, 2023 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

In all fairness, NIGHT hadn't exactly been to the fifteenth, either. It had been on her list of 'must-visit places!' but she simply hadn't had the time. Part of her was also saving the visit to the destination for a better opportunity – surely, there had to be a rumor from Bistro that would send her towards Lhasri by now, right? – but on a friend's invitation, she could set all of that aside.

After all, there would be good food involved, and sights to see.

She hadn't anticipated the average, 'how's it going?' kind of question from Koga. Well, perhaps it should've been expected, given how the man and herself regularly fell out of contact once in a while, but just as likely, NIGHT didn't come prepared with answers. "The floor boss?"

A pause, in further consideration. Part of her was also struggling with observing the different items on display as they window-shopped. "Well, sort of," she lied. "Admittedly, I kind of hid away for a while. Sorry I went absent, if you were seeking me out. DAY's been alright – um, helping me through some stuff, actually. We sort of went on vacation to a place called the Zero, and that's about it."

If she glanced to Koga, it was in making sure he didn't seem too interested in her reasons for vanishing all of a sudden. She'd been honest because Koga was one of her closest friends, rather than actually wanting to talk about why she'd went AWOL. In a case of calculated misdirection, she looked to a nearby fruits stall as they walked, nodding towards it. "Hey, that looks good. Was there anything you were looking out for in coming here?"

| NIGHT  | Lv. 147 >> P. 115, Lv. 32  | Status: tight-lipped.  Notes:  //

Spoiler NIGHT | HP: 1100/1100 | EN: 148/148 | DMG: 21 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 44 | LD: 9 | BH+HB: 108 | FLN/HLY: 16 | Stealth Rating: 6 equipped oathkeeper. FLN II, HLY II regards. EVA II, HB II signet. ACC III, EVA battle-ready inventory Teleport Crystal (3) | TELEPORT imugi's inspiration. (5) | MASS HP RECOVERY skills Spoiler mod count: 5/7 STRAIGHT SWORD | RANK 5/5 focus, stamina, precision shift: aoe CLOTH ARMOR | RANK 5/5 athletics, nimble COMBAT MASTERY: DMG | RANK 3/3 SEARCHING | RANK 3+1/5 BATTLE HEALING | RANK 5/5 emergency recovery ENERGIST QUICK CHANGE CHARGE FIGHTING SPIRIT HOWL focused howl SCOUTING FAMILIAR EXTENDED MOD LIMIT extra SURVIVAL CONCENTRATION HIDING untraceable, vanish, surprise attack-t buffs Spoiler statue BIALAS | +TAUNT MOTHRA | +1 EN Recovery TANOS | +25 MIT MORETSUNA | +50 HP OROCHI | +1 LD KUMATETSU | +1 DMG consumables - - - - - - paragon Lv. 5 | Gain additional col equivalent to 15% of EXP earned in that thread. Lv. 10 | +1 LD to looting. sword arts Spoiler en cost matches multiplier unless stated otherwise. shift underlined. ST | x12 -> x15 | x20 AOE | x15 -> x18 TECH-A | x12 | STUN | 13EN TECH-B | x12 | DELAY TECH-D | x12 | SHATTER TECH-F | x8 | AOE STUN  TECH-G | x12 | BURN misc. Spoiler housing Dimensional Backpack, Item Stash | +2 Battle-Ready Inventory Slots. Well Rested | -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat.  Relaxed | +(5 * Tier) HP per out-of-combat post. Full energy restoration occurs after two turns out of combat. Squeaky Clean | -25% DoT damage taken from the first DoT applied to this player in a thread. Skylight: Searching | +1 Expertise to declared utility skill. Cooldown of 30 days to reassign. Multipurpose | +1 LD/Prosperity/Stealth/Detection to one post per thread. Can be applied after a roll. Filling | +1 T1 slot to a food consumed by this player in a thread. Can exceed Cook enhancement caps. Col Deposit | +5% col from loot-minimum mobs, +10% col from treasure chests. gathering | lv. x | exp: xxx Greenhouse | +2 G.EXP, +1 CD&LD to gathering attempts. Familiar: Profession | +2 G.EXP Demeter's Cornucopia | +1 CD to gathering attempts.

 

[Koga 0]

Koga couldn't suppress the small chuckle that bubbled up from his throat at NIGHT's almost obvious answer. "Oh yeah?" the man said with a faint smile. "Labyrinth got cleared already?" He'd stopped keeping track of that stuff a long time ago. Once upon at time he'd at least paid attention when he'd heard the errant talk of their shared progression through the floors, but as of late, it'd all been in one ear and out the other.

For once though, it was NIGHT who was disappearing off the face of the planet (when had that happened anyways?) Usually it was the other way around, but the addendum that DAY was 'helping her through some stuff' only made Koga more curious.

The man turned in the direction which NIGHT indicated, fruit brimming in the baskets of the stall. Koga, of course, began to walk over to the stall to curiously examine the fruit. "Mm, no, nothing in particular," he answered the woman as picked up a particularly shiny, apple-adjacent looking fruit. "Just never been before. Thought it might be fun for us to explore without the imminent threat of death for once."

Deciding against biting into a mystery fruit today, Koga set the fruit back in its place before going over to the next stall and returning to the subject at hand. "Ya know, if you ever need to talk..." the man began to say, only to remember his penchant for mysterious absences himself. "I'm here for you," he finished anyways.

Not willing to pry to deeply into NIGHT's private life however, the man instead decided to move on to the subject of vacationing. "You though? You took a break? Really? Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?" the man joked. "Where is Zero anyways? I've never heard of it before," he asked curiously. Might be a nice place to take a certain someone.

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

"Oh yeah? Labyrinth got cleared already?"

"yeah," night returned almost immediately. fruit inspection was big with veteran players these days, it seemed, as they were both in the midst of it as the woman pretended she wasn't playing blabbermouth. "i just went through it the other day with her. didn't seem like anyone else was up to gunning through the labyrinth, and figured we were in the best position to take a shot – albeit under orders."

though koga set his pick down, night decided to give hers a purchase before moving on: a number of berries and a few plucked pods that resembled legumes. she'd recognized the names of the items, and how their qualities fit into unconventional recipes accumulating around bistro's shop. if they weren't to serve as ingredients, they'd be good for gifts instead. "you're right," she decided, voice low. her hands glided over the misshaped outlines of the fruits on sale as she left the stall. "we barely ever had the opportunities for such to ourselves, huh?"

and she'd brushed over his reach for comfort extended her way; the song and dance of lone survivalists sticking together.

"i know, i know…"

(but the weight of it, night couldn't exactly wrap her head around it completely. not just yet.)

they were coming up to a stall that seemed to be selling steamed delicacies of some kind. maybe it was something koga did (a hand wave?) or a gesture from a passerby that directed her to turn towards the menu. dumplings? perhaps — that was the only visible word that caught her eye at a glance. and the food carried a nostalgic, savory scent, so she ushered her friend to stop, too.

"You though? You took a break? Really?"

"–of course i took a break…!"

she'd flinched at his objection. she hadn't expected herself to.

"Who are you and what have you done with NIGHT?"

"that's so rude," night breathed. "i'm right here…"

was it really so difficult to believe herself opening up to someone else? to be honest, ren was hesitant about it too, in the brief moment she'd spoken to the street chef for an order of a sampling box. the sight of the stand had been enough to move the player to order some to try — almost like the cafeteria kitchens back home. if she'd said it out loud, would koga understand where she was coming from?

there were a lot of things keeping her from staying still, grounded. so of course, she…

"… it's a place somewhere underground," night started, shoulders lowering. a part of her chose to focus on the explanation as a method for calming down — she could spill her guts over fried noodles or something later. they had time. her hands were tapping over the transaction window for payment, adding koga's bill to her own if he had decided to get something too. "on the twenty first floor. like a network of sprawling tunnels without a beginning nor end. 'a nature's treasure secret'. nobody really knows where it came from, but it's sort of like… dungeon runs on a roguelike treadmill."

"do you remember hades? … darkest dungeon?"

she was surprised she could even remember the names of the games she'd played. those experiences seemed so long ago–

"kind of like those. it has it's own ecosystem within the player base, it seems." night shrugged, taking her eyes off the cook and placing her sights onto koga. "everything in there's on separate little islands. people go around by boats, though i've heard some regions are on ground rather than land. they get lost in there, too — since everything's randomized in there, especially the way forward, there's no telling when someone gets out after they've gotten in."

"people… usually go in there on purpose."

and then night went quiet. she wasn't sure if she was talking about herself, or of her original search target. her gaze went back to the food as it was packaged by its vendor, who was now humming a song unfamiliar, yet soothing.

"…'how else are the veterans going to keep themselves entertained if they're not interested in fighting on the front lines'? –or something like that, when it was first explained to me."

"…odd, right? but it did answer the question of where other stronger players might be after their whole grinding montage. we've been here for long, and others like us are getting better at the game as much as we have, but we rarely get the chance to see them about, and other players at the front keep dipping out once in a while…"

well it wasn't as though there were actual surveys conducted about the population down in the basements of one of their realms, anyway. so night shook the thought of exposition out of her head, taking the paper box of food in her hands and offering one pair of the chopsticks given to her to koga. "if you want to try," she clarified, popping open the lid and examining the goods. each only differed in shape, and likely marked the difference in filling contained in them. "it's probably meat in there. i'll have to take some back to day if they taste good. she'll probably get huffy hearing about it otherwise."

[Koga 0]

"Congrats on being the ballsiest, scariest, and stupidest player all in one," Koga said, with truth-laced sarcasm. While there was no question that taking on an entire Labyrinth on one's own was reckless and fool-hardy, Koga supposed if there was anyone who could handle it, it would've been NIGHT. And of course, she'd done it. Only so much complaining to be done there, the man supposed as he watched the woman's gaze brush over some berries and beans before moving on.

"No, we don't," Koga said in agreement with NIGHT. Aside from a few hastily assembled holiday parties throughout the year, most of Aincrad's finest hardly ever got a moment to relax. A moment to live. And those parties were more like last-ditch attempts to remind themselves they were still human at times. Smaller moments like these usually got swept under a rug.

Maybe so many years trapped in the game just meant Koga was used to it now. Less keen on staying, certainly, but perhaps a bit more content with the idea than he'd been before. Less looking to escape reality and just accepting of what it currently was. Maybe.

A soft shake of Koga's head set his unkempt hair into motion, swaying back and forth after his head had stopped moving and his eyes stopped rolling. He knew NIGHT well enough to know when she was just saying whatever to appease him or someone else. Not that she was that good at the appeasing part, but it got the message across. "Mmhm," was all he responded with, all he could afford without branding himself a hypocrite.

Steam wafted from one of the stalls, accompanied by an array of fragrances. Sweet, savory, all delicious smelling. Maybe it was the keen eye he'd fixed on the stall NIGHT had noticed, but she too began to gravitate towards the stand. An absent chuckle as NIGHT expressed some hurt feelings over Koga's joke, however well deserved. "Just saying, be careful. Don't want you to run yourself ragged." He peered at the various dumplings while NIGHT ordered hers. He swatted away her hand from the payment window, his own passing through it as he did so. "I still need to pay you back for helping with the house. It's on me," he insisted with a voice that left no room for argument. He added a couple of meat filled dumplings to the tab and paid before NIGHT could object.

"Mm, yeah, I remember those games," Koga nodded. He felt NIGHT's eyes shift towards him, and he turned and tilted his head to look at her in turn. The way she added peoples intention on why they entered seemed suspect at best, but Koga made no comment, his eyes instead flickering over NIGHT as if he were examining her. Her eyes most of all, especially as they broke eye contact and slid back to the chef as they began to hum. Koga didn't hear the melody.

"…'how else are the veterans going to keep themselves entertained if they're not interested in fighting on the front lines'?" NIGHT said, tried explained away whatever palpable emotion hung in the air between them. Koga's gaze shifted back to the food being packaged. "Could take up farming, like me," he said half-joking. He still went hunting, fighting when it suited him. When he needed the thrill or had some steam to let off.

He took the chopsticks from NIGHT and his own much smaller paper box, and shook his head. "All yours. Thanks though," he said with a faint, almost distracted smile. "Yeah, this place is nice," Koga nodded, his chop sticks poking at the dumpling as if he were able to test whether or not it'd burn his tongue or not. "Could make for a cute date destination. Maybe I'll try asking Kasumi here one day." Koga picked up the dumpling and tried biting into it, immediately regretting the action. Hot juice seared his mouth, but already committed, the man forced himself to chew, swallow. "Fuck, that's hot."

A small bench sat on the side of the walkway, positioned in such away that those seated could look out from the market building and at Lhasri's myriad bridges, mountains and waterways. "Wanna stop while we eat?" Koga suggested, pointing with his chopsticks. "So how was Zero then?" he'd go on to ask, regardless of NIGHT's choice. "How long were you there?"

 

@NIGHT

[NIGHT 0]

her attempts at a protest for payment would've been poor. 'i could get that col much easier than you,' or something akin to that, but night remembered how day had used that argument against her, and she let herself shut up. her eye roll, auxiliary, hadn't been meant for her friend, even if it seemed as though it might've been.

after receiving her food and taking a glance, she watched as koga bit into one. "of course they'd be hot," she snickered, picking up a piece with her own utensils. "they were freshly made. the dumplings aren't exactly going anywhere, are they?"

"… but that's the thing, though — 'taking up farming' — that's about all they do." night hummed after she bit a hole into the side of her own food, allowing the heat within to dissipate into the cold outdoor air. "it's all a grind for better gear and 'greater heights' by that point… whatever that means. i mean, if you'd leave it to me to guess though, i'd say it's all about the adventure, given the pace by which we've been clearing the floors. er… from their angle, it's new content, without the fear of being decimated in boss fights; new mechanics, but the game tells you about it before you get into it. it's not like an unknown contract or a guessing game with the floor bosses, probably."

they'd practically sat down at this point. night had placed the dumpling at an odd angle in her box to keep it steady and its interior exposed as they moved to the bench. she picked it up again as she considered koga's questions. "beats me," the player replied to his duration query. "like i would've remember when we'd left, either. but it was alright. i mean, i had to work through some things in there. things like…"

her pause came with heavy contention. she'd wanted to follow through, but wasn't exactly certain how best to do it – not quite yet, at least. so she hid it behind a huff to her dumpling, before she continued.

"i wouldn't exactly call it a 'cute date destination.'" night had nearly winced saying those words aloud, giving koga a remorseful smile. "it's not like it was a getaway for lovers or anything. it's a damp, dark cave. that's got to be about anything else but romantic."

with a sigh, the player scarfed down her food. it was a curious mix to her, given the unusualness of mutton as a choice for filling, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. the soup within helped hydrate the slightly dried meat, allowing it to go down easy. "you have to tell me about this kasumi though. don't think i remember the name — is it the first time you'd mentioned her around me?" night grinned, trying to push — "and how'd you two meet~? c'mon, dish!"

[Koga 0]

Koga shot a playful glare at NIGHT as she laughed at his pain. "I'm glad you're enjoying my suffering," he said with all of his typical sarcasm. Still, he grinned, and took a more cautious bite as NIGHT broke into her own box of food. "No, I guess they aren't," he admitted. Even if it was a smaller bite, the food was still hot, but at least it didn't feel like he had third degree burns on the roof of his mouth this time, and Koga was able to actually enjoy the flavor of the food.

Koga continued to quietly eat his dumplings as NIGHT tried to reason why players seemed to be so enthralled with Zero. "Is it not perma-death in there?" Koga asked, a confused look on his face, despite the hand covering his food-full mouth. If that was the case, NIGHT's musings were probably right. Adventure without the threat of imminent departure from this mortal realm was why most people started to play video games in the first place.

Mindless whiling away of the hours was another reason. Which seemed to have been what NIGHT had done, even if that hadn't been her express purpose in visiting Zero. If she had been in there even a portion of the time that Koga had effectively 'retired', it could have been months. But that wasn't the most important part of what the woman had said. Moreso, what was important was what hadn't been said, as NIGHT left the last of her words unsaid. Koga looked over at the woman with a raised brow, inviting her to go on.

But NIGHT forged on, completely abandoning the topic. Koga made no comment, instead taking another bite of his dumpling. There was no point in pressing, or iterating that she could talk to him. The latter, both knew, and Koga was certain the woman would open up when she was ready.

"I meant to Lhasri," Koga said with a laugh as soon as NIGHT had commented on a 'damp, dark cave' not being romantic. "I'm no Casanova, but even I know that that doesn't count as romantic," the man said with an amused smile. The smile quickly morphed into a groan though as NIGHT began to interrogate him with all the vigor of gossip-drunk schoolgirl that Koga never knew she possessed. "Oh god, I shouldn't have said anything," the man said with a pained chuckle. "You did meet her, once, actually I think," Koga finally said as he set aside his now empty box. "At the trainwreck of a Christmas party I hosted a couple years back. Red head, showed up late, after the whole flooding thing. Don't think you guys interacted much though."

Koga's gaze drifted upwards as he tried to remember just how he'd met Kasumi. Foggy memories of skeletons and pink flower petals finally cleared enough for the man to recall. "Oh yeah, we met killing the field boss on Fourteen," the raven-haired man said. "Alkor and I had gone to fight the Lich King, but she beat us to it. Other than you, she's the only person I've ever met who legitimately scares me," Koga chuckled. "I mean man, she's a one-man army. Shoulda seen her."

@NIGHT

Edited March 8 by Koga

[NIGHT 0]

"Is it not perma-death in there?"

night blinked, pausing partway through in consuming one of her dumplings. "i don't think so," she returned, briefly puzzled. "when we was there, i'm pretty sure we were still aware of the threat of death looming over us. whatever gave you that impression?" she took a bite anyway thereafter, giving herself space to think. "if there was a place with that sort of safety lock, we should've all heard about it by now, shouldn't we?"

she kept quiet during koga's dish, only chuckling as he revealed his regret, finishing the bite she kept on hand. given his track record for having people close to him, what else could she do but feel as though one of her closest friends deserved some form of happiness, especially related to his love life? but hearing that she did interact with the woman in question surprised night to no end. "no way."

"At the trainwreck of a Christmas party I hosted a couple years back. Red head, showed up late, after the whole flooding thing. Don't think you guys interacted much though."

"a couple of years?" now it was night's turn to groan. her memory wasn't exactly the best to check facts against. no way she would've remembered some random redhead, especially if she hadn't been anything to night's own tastes. despite her guilt, she shook her head. "what even happened at that party? with the whole, er, flooding thing...? i think i headed outside with someone else just to pet a cat or something. then... i don't know, maybe i left? it's been too long ever since..."

she hummed to fill the gap in their conversation between, a hand on her chin, the other arm wrapped across herself. then the true meet-cute nugget was dropped; night nodded first with confusion, because she didn't exactly remember what the fourteenth entailed quick enough.

"oh. ... no way, again." the player dropped her guard in surprise. "out of all the floors, it had to be the gloomiest, reddest one? you know what they say about scarlet letters, right?" it took her a beat before she retracted what she'd said with a, "-- just kidding."

"still though, with the undead around..."

"Other than you, she's the only person I've ever met who legitimately scares me,"

"huh?" was night supposed to stiffen? koga had laughed, goddammit. "what was that supposed to mean?"

it turned out to be his comment on her strength, but the player in question still didn't jog her memory. how odd. night strained to conjure a familiar face or image still. "if this is someone just as strong, shouldn't i be able to identify her by now...? what, no name?" night huffed, folding her arms. "at least drop me what she used as a weapon."

if the player had sobered from her poor attempt at detective work thereafter, it was to consider koga's past history with women... even though she knew little of it. noctua was a scary-looking individual, she once thought. too refined for night's own tastes, and someone she wasn't entirely sure she could've gotten along with, even up until their last interaction.

"ah... don't tell me you like women who seem to scare you..." night winced momentarily, looking away as she rambled. "is that usual for a guy's tastes? well, if you're not telling me anything, maybe i should consider all the scary people i know, too..."

[Koga 0]

As NIGHT paused and blinked mid bite, Koga's look of confusion increased by an equal magnitude of that which NIGHT now displayed. At first, the man thought he'd asked a stupid question, but her answer relieved him of that concern. Only for a moment though, until she indeed asked why he'd thought that. "I dunno," the man admitted. "You said something about no fear of getting your ass-kicked by a boss, just figured that meant you don't end up as nothin' more than stardust. I take it then that there's just no bosses?" Which would really be the only remaining option, unless there was some other secret to Zero that NIGHT had forgotten to mention.

"if there was a place with that sort of safety lock, we should've all heard about it by now, shouldn't we?"
Koga shrugged in response. "Sure, if the guys who found it didn't wanna keep it for themselves. I mean think about it, absolutely risk-free, infinite exp. Not everyone is as philanthropic as you or I. Or even half the other Frontliners." Koga shrugged again. "Or maybe I'm just jaded. Who knows."

The surprise NIGHT showed when Koga mentioned she'd met his kinda-sorta-not-exactly-dating-but-seemingly-not-seeing-anyone-else partner resulted in an amused huff. "what even happened at that party?" NIGHT asked, her memory seemingly as poor as Koga's. "Uhhh, arguments about Blue's desserts she brought, card games, food...I don't really remember either." Everything about that night had been such a blur. Minus the tail end. "Everyone just kinda started to wrap up after the place got flooded." Koga put another dumpling into his mouth. "You're hosting next time," he said through a full mouth.

"out of all the floors, it had to be the gloomiest, reddest one?" It was Koga's turn to look confused again. Was Fourteen red? He He could hardly remember. It couldn't have been as bad as Nine if he couldn't remember. "you know what they say about scarlet letters, right?" NIGHT said, following it up with a pregnant pause as Koga waited for her to explain. "-- just kidding."
"Uh, never read that one," Koga admitted with a sheepish smile. "Don't even know what it's about, if I'm bein' honest."

NIGHT seemed to be getting more and more forgetful by the second, especially as she asked what the person of interest's name was. "I literally said it like a minute ago," the man laughed. "Kasumi, remember? Did you get your last brain cell knocked out of your head while you were in Zero?" the man joked. "And to answer your other question, she's a Martial Artist."

Koga audibly choked as he heard NIGHT's question. Caught somewhere between sputtering and a laugh, the man shook his head. "What the fuck, no," he choked out. "It's not like being scared of someone is a turn on you dumb ass." Koga set aside the now empty box of dumplings as he thought about how to explain. "It's more like...Agh, I dunno...It's a few things right? Like there's the kind of scared where you're just fearing for your well-being, right? That's not really what I'm talking about. Maybe that helps, and I'm sure both you and Kasumi could beat me to a bloody pulp if you wanted to, but so can the floor bosses, and I'm not about to jump any of their bones." Literally in some cases.

"Then there's the kind of scared where you don't wanna let them down I guess? And that plays a bigger part. But, like, these can be friends, mentors, or just some random person who you respect. And then there's an aspect of trust where if you do, they'll help set you straight so you don't do it again.

"The last one, which is where I think it becomes something else. You're afraid because they could hurt you, not physically, but emotionally." Koga's brows furrowed as if he was just making the realization himself. "You're vulnerable, and that's fucking terrifying. But, moths to flames, I suppose."

Koga paused, looking away, face riddled with consternation. But whatever seemed to be on his mind quickly faded as he spoke once more. "So I'm-dead scared, anyone. I-care-about-this-person-and-what-they-think scared, you, Kasumi. Oh-fuck scared. Kasumi."

@NIGHT