[SP][F1] Highway to Hell

[Aaphi 0]

"Delicious!" Aaphi rang out after taking a bite of his lunch.

 

Mid-day, in a town on the first floor, Two lively souls were helping themselves to the first real meal they've had since Aincrad became their new home. It was a refreshing change of pace from day old bread and butter. Although it burned a small whole in a persons pocket to eat well, they had recently come into a sum of money.

 

"RIght? Who said gambling never pays off." Kuromado agreed, "Losers, that's who."

 

The day before, while looking for fair game to grind on and level with, Aaphi and Kuro stumbled on what could only be described as an Aincrad cock-fighting event. Only instead of roosters, the players were betting on the outcome of fights between wild monsters. The opportunity to take what little col they had and have a good time with it was too much temptation for either of them to handle, so naturally, they put in for a round. What they didn't expect was to win the pot and walk away with several times what they put in.

 

"I think its because of my lucky socks. they must still have them on me at the hospital." Aaphi said making sense of it. "I always won big at the pool hall when i wore them."

 

"I'd hate to see what they smell like now. Its been a week." Kuromado groaned through a grimace, "It must be like a dumpster full of dead cats by now, but if this is the result, your nurse better learn to wear a gas-mask when she checks on you, cause we're keepin' em'."

 

Aaphi laughed at the image in his mind of a nurse in a gas mask. "Smelly feet and all, that sounds like some weird fetish."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aaphi 0]

Kuro laughed as well, "You know what MY fetish is?" He said, darkening his expression, keeping a sly grin curled up.

 

"D- Do i wanna know?" Aaphi asked, really heavily considering plugging his ears with his fingers, then thought about how that would work in this game. If you muffled your mouth, would people still hear what you were saying? Is there a physics engine for sound waves in this virtual world or was sound something fed into your brain with code? His thoughts drifted for a second before being interrupted.

 

"Dungeons."

 

Aaphi blinked. "You like S&M?... i wouldn't have pegged you for the type... I mean, Kaoru does sound like a pervy name, i guess. I can't put my finger on why, but-"

 

"No!" Kuromado cut him off, "No, you pinhead, i mean going into dungeons and fighting monsters. I'm trying to say lets go do that."

 

"Oh."

 

"Yeah."

[Aaphi 0]

As they made their way out of the establishment, Aaphi favored a fleeting wink to a short haired performer that he'd noticed eyeing him during her song. Some other time, perhaps, if they made it back.

 

After securing some provisions, they left town for the dungeon that lead to the second floor. Walking quite a ways north, they encountered little to no monsters and passed by some very ambient scenery. All in all the trip seemed like a picnic, what with the leisurely scenic stroll. They told jokes, short anecdotes of the life they had before, stories of friends they new. There was much that was pleasant to talk about, but then they reached the gate of the dungeon.

 

"Oh wow..." Aaphi commented in awe. The heavy door lead to a long, pitch black staircase that traveled upwards to a longer corridor lit by torches.

 

"Yep, thats it." Indicated Kuro, as he started walking in. " Oh, man, i can't wait!" he looked back at Aaphi who stood stationary at the entrance. "Aren't you coming?"

 

"I..." Aaphi hesitated. He balked like a spooked horse, at the site of the confining stone walls within. Trapped. he thought. "Don't dungeons go underground?" he asked buying himself a few sweet seconds of fresh air.

 

"Well, yeah. And techically, this DOES go underground. If you start at the top floor." Kuro said, now thinking about it more closely himself, "If you consider that, then we're all underground and trying to get to the top so we can get out."

 

Aaphi hadn't considered that at all. The thought struck a nerve in him and he was suddenly much more willing to enter. He practically ran up the stairs.

 

"Thatta' boy! Save some for me, will ya?!" Kuro grunted, mistaking Aaphi's desperate urge to escape for sudden enthusiasm.

 

Though, it might have been a little of both.