pt-pp-f08 I Really Like You <<SotW: Ferocious Foe>>

[Abellio 0]

Simply confounding.

Abellio wasn’t the type to get bogged down by details. The hows and whys were better left to people with a proven pedigree of measured, well-thought plans. Like Warren. Or Oscar. He more or less knew his limits. Abellio was at his best when you simply pointed him in a direction and told him that thing. He didn’t stay inside of his own head. He was out in the world, inflicting everyone with his boundless energy.

So lying awake that night, staring up at the ceiling with a disquieted mind was uncomfortable in many ways.

He took stock of the facts. Over and over. Lydia had clearly kissed him. He had enjoyed it. Abellio enjoyed so many things about her. She was brilliant and pretty and insanely talented. But he was just a random guy. So why was she slumming it with him? Because she was beautiful and talented and brilliant. Lydia had enough sense to shoot her shot with someone in her own league. And it was so far above him he couldn’t even see the bottom.

So knowing all of that, could he really say she kissed him? She’d vanished, he saw nothing. Maybe it was something else. Maybe he just wanted her to.

But she had clearly kissed him, he was just some random guy.

On and on, throughout the night. Abellio swept into the current of the circular logic. Diving deep into the abyss, only to correct himself with reminders. He was exhausted. And in that exhaustion, he really started to believe it. As those dark waters invaded his lungs, drowning him that which he knew in his heart of hearts not to be true, that core of his being ceased to beat.

He misinterpreted.

Misremembered.

There was just no fucking way she saw anything real in him.

 

Spoiler

"Name: Abellio
True Tier: 3
Level: 29
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 625/625
EN: 91/91

Stats:
Damage: 24
Mitigation: 109
Accuracy: 3
Battle Healing: 31
Stealth Rating: -5
BLD: 36 
PARA

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<Vanguard's Bastard Sword>> T3 Perfect OHSS | BLD II, PARA I
Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<Comfy Socks>> T3 Perfect HA | MIT III
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<glasses>> T1 Perfect Trinket | ACC III

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Energist
  - Heavy Armor R5
  - Straight Sword R5
  - Biting II

Extra Skills:
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Lady Luck
  - Assault Mode

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Focus
  - Iron Skin

Mods:
  - Impetus

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Oscar

[Lysette 0]

She couldn’t believe she’d done that.

Why had she done that?

Lydia stared into the mirror - into the eyes of her reflection. Some part of her hoped that the image would speak up and give her the answer. Her face still burned, even so many hours afterwards. Her lips too, as if she’d stolen a chunk of Abellio’s burning brilliance. She reached up and touched her lips, fingertips lightly brushing over the soft pink skin. She was terrified that the feeling would be gone when she woke in the morning. That she would forget. 

And why didn’t she lean into it?
Clearly she’d had the courage to kiss him. Why did she not have the courage to own it? She played it off so casually. Stupid Lydia, never able to do as she pleased. Never able to feel as she pleased. She’d brought herself right to the cliff’s edge, fully intending to throw herself off of it. But she’d only taken a half-step before scrambling back to safety.

Lydia knew then what she knew now. Right down to her bones. If she’d gone through with it, threw both feet in, she had all the faith in the world that he’d have given her the wings to soar.

But then there was her baggage. Her family. So many exes. They weren’t here, but they would need to deal with that eventually. She couldn’t bring him into that mess. Couldn’t expect him to be there for the fallout. In the here and now, sure. They could just be. But there would always be that cloud hanging over them. They’d be living on borrowed time.

She climbed into bed, not even at all tired. Her thoughts were busy. Hypotheticals. What ifs. And did he even like her back? Her sleep was restless, at that point just before sleep. All night, until the sun began filtering through the trees once more. The whole night, she thought of what it would be like if he were there. Just gracing her with his presence. Simply existing together.

Spoiler

"Name: Lysette
True Tier: 3
Level: 24
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 495/495
EN: 66/66

Stats:
Damage: 25
Accuracy: 5
Evasion: 4
Loot Die: 1
Stealth Rating: 5
PARA

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<King's Betrayal>> T3 Perfect Polearm | PARA II, DMG I
Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<glasses>> T1 Perfect Trinket | 3 ACC
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - <<seafoam>> T1 Perfect Trinket | 3 EVA

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Damage R3

Combat Shift:
  - AOE Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:
  - Polearm R5
  - Unhindered
  - Biting III

Extra Skills:
  - Hiding R5

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Precision

Mods:
  - Surprise Attack: Trickster
  - Untraceable
  - Vanish

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Oscar

[Abellio 0]

The crazy thing was that despite it all, Abellio still wanted to see her. They had a whole quest chain to do right? That was a good enough reason to remain in her orbit, much as he wanted to fling himself from it. The thoughts were too deep. The feelings too. He couldn’t understand why she always came when he asked. What could she possibly see in him?

Quote

To Lysette:
We still have those quests to finish.

The message was typed and sent before he even realized what he was doing. Panic settled in. He wanted to call it back, frantically scrambling through his messages looking for a recall option. Her reply came before he’d even really started the hunt.

Quote

From Lysette:
That we do. Floor 8, then?

His heart leapt into his chest. The night’s questions echoed in his mind. A broken record of why. But he had pulled that trigger. Now he needed to follow through. Reeling as he was, there was no denying his entire self. If he started something, he’d finish it.

If only he could have that same confidence when it came to Lydia.

Edited 22 hours ago by Oscar

[Lysette 0]

Lydia almost screamed when she saw that the incoming message was from Abellio. And everything else screamed at her to play it cool. But she was alright typing and sending out a message before those thoughts managed to attain a glimmer of actuality. She was already getting ready before the regret tried to set in.

Tried to set in.

It didn’t really make it very far. Lydia would absolutely never regret any amount of time she spent with Abellio. Only not spending more. She raced down to Floor 8 with a bright smile on her face. Because even if they weren’t a thing she still enjoyed every moment that she spent in his orbit. She understood, at least to some degree, what it was like to be him. Her hands trembled, her heart quaked.

She had never - not one time in her entire life - ever been so excited to see someone. And, recently, it was every single time she was faced with the possibility.

Lydia all but leaped off of the teleport platform without even waiting for her eyes to adjust. She collided with something. Hard. Pitched off balance, she fell backward. And then she stopped, feeling an arm around her waist. She blinked quickly, vision slowly coming into focus. Eyes went wide when she saw Abellio looking down at her. Lydia was suddenly keenly aware of how close they were. Her breath hitched. She started to panic.

And then she stopped. Willed herself to calm down. To relax. To smile.

“Hey,” she said softly.

 

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kuma Search
ID: 248649 | LD: 10, fail

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Oscar

[Abellio 0]

“Hey,” Abellio replied.

The night had been long. And it had been full of thoughts that he would have much preferred not to have. They still drummed heavy in his mind, repetitions of inadequacy disguised as cold logic. As immutable fact. But it was hard to give it all any credibility when she was so painfully close. When she looked up at him like that, smiled so softly at him. All at once, those storm clouds parted. Light shone through. He felt more energized, like he hadn’t just gone without sleep for the entire night.

He helped Lydia to her feet. His hand lingered at the small of her back for just a moment. But then it dropped. Those dispelled thunderheads roared back with a vengeance. The same question cracked through his mind. Why him? What did he do to deserve it? Because he’d not really done anything out of the ordinary. He’d just been there. Tried to brighten her day like he did for everyone. Nothing extravagant.

Yet, she didn’t pull back. Didn’t seek distance or relief from his presence. Shafts of light pierced those overcast skies. He came to the realization that she was fighting a battle that she didn’t even know she was a part of. She did it so effortlessly.

And she was winning.

 

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kuma Search
ID: 248651 | LD: 14, fail

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Oscar

[Lysette 0]

Life so very rarely gave you the opportunity to correct past mistakes. Lydia knew that better than most. Keenly so. Standing here, with Abellio, in repetition of that tiny, significant moment in that cavern was one such time. She could make it right. Actually be the type of confident self-assured woman that she was on stage. Invoke the persona that everyone around her had crafted for her so carefully.

But she was terrified. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

If he wouldn’t she would.

Lydia stepped in closer, bridging what small gulf existed between them. She pressed herself almost entirely against him, looking up at him with those gilded eyes. Her lips pursed up into a pout and she took a silent steady breath. She just needed to be Lysette for two seconds. It all reminded her of a song anyway. So it was fitting. Lydia could manage that much, at least.

“So are you gonna kiss me or not?”

 

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kumatetsu Search
ID: 248652 | LD: 1+1, fail

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Oscar

[Abellio 0]

She didn’t give him time to pull back. And that was probably the point. She placed herself right up in his space, her presence forcing him to give her all of his attention. Not an easy task. When she posed her question - spoke her challenge - anything Abellio would have said died in his throat. He would have picked his jaw up from the floor, were he not terrified of getting to close to her as he bent over.

“Lydia, I -”

“I thought I was pretty clear,” Lydia said quickly. “Really gonna keep me waiting?”

Abellio’s mouth closed, his jaw clenched. She had to be fucking with him. There was no other possibility. Because what would possess her to go for him of all people. The idea that he was being punk’d was the only think that made sense at that moment. But despite that, he so badly wanted to.

“Why?”

He blurted the question out, unable to stop himself.

“Fucking why?” He repeated for emphasis. “Why me? What did I do? How the fuck does it make sense?”

All of his internal thoughts were released into the air in a voice more angry than he really intended. “You’re a fucking real life celebrity. Crazy talented and pretty. I mean, shit. You speak two languages!”

“Five,” Lydia chimed in.

“Five languages!” Abellio confirmed. “And I’m just a normal guy. I don’t fucking get it. I really like you, but I don’t…”

Abellio heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m not even playing the same game as you.”

 

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kuma Search
ID: 248675 | LD: 5, fail

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Oscar

[Lysette 0]

His outburst surprised her. Abellio didn’t really strike her as the type to get bogged down in stuff like that. But it made sense, kinda. She couldn’t really hold it against him. Being starstruck was a real thing and she knew that from experience. But her temper flared when he questioned how fucking important he was. She didn’t let it show. Instead she reached up and clapped her hands down on both sides of his face.

“You’re such an idiot,” she said in the sweetest tone she could muster. “Are the details really that important?”

Of course they were. He was hurting and it upset her. She released him and took a half step back. This wasn’t the type of conversation to have while she was all over him.

“You were kind,” she began. “And fucking warm. My whole life, everyone around me was cold. They batted me around like some trophy to show off. They marked my fucking skin because it was marketable. They were so worried about my image and the money that they never stopped for one fucking second to think about how I felt.”

Lydia never thought she would be dropping all of her baggage in tandem with a confession. But there she was, tears streaking down her face as she explained her history. But she kept her eyes locked on his. It was the only way she could stay sane. Stave off that breakdown.

“I don’t want any of it. Not the money or the fame. I just wanted a quiet life where I could just dance and be happy. And they fucking stole that from me. So you know what? I decide what I want now. I’m done being a quiet passenger in my own fucking life. And you know what I want?”

She took a step forward. Lydia, not Lysette. The persona could die a long death for all she cared. “I want my apartment. I want my shop. And I want to go on stupid fucking quests and look at your stupid fucking smile and be happy for once.” Lydia grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face close to hers. She must have looked a mess, she thought. A terrifying banshee. But she didn’t care. 

“And most of all, I want you to stop being so stupid and fucking kiss me. I really like you too, Abellio.”

 

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kuma Search
ID: 248676 | LD: 5+1, Fail

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Oscar

[Abellio 0]

#

Spoiler

Post Action -> Kuma Search
ID: 248677 | LD: 18, Kumatetsu found

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Oscar