[PP-F1] [[COMPLETED]] A New Encounter (Glory)

[Koumori 0]

"Hmm, never would've pegged you as a kuzuko kinda girl but good choice." The waitress registered our orders and promptly left to retrieve our food. Glory seemed a little unnerved at the process. I didn't think that her nervousness would extend to AI service staff. Guess I should never underestimate her I thought. After the waitress was a fair distance away Glory seemed to sigh and spoke to me again. "We never ate out either, my dad *cough* had really bad allergies." Oh man, I didn't think saying would cause me visible distress. The way Glory had been reacting to my actions all night I assumed she would more likely than not notice. "...so I know what you mean. But hey, I'm here. Don't I count?" I said teasing her since she mentioned the subject of friends. I hoped she didn't dislike my sense of humor. 

[Glory 0]

She smiled happily. _{"It's good stuff."} Her mother used kuzuko in many of her dishes so it became an all time favorite ingredient of her's soon enough. She didn't know that Koumori knew what that was so she was glad to hear that he did. _{"Hmm? So he couldn't go out a lot then?"} Glory wondered and did actually noticed Koumori's slight change in expression but ignored it because she didn't want to keep bothering him with asking what was wrong all the time, she didn't want to be annoying either. His next words made her giggle and nodded but blush of course. _{"I-If you want to count then y-yes."} 

[Koumori 0]

"And if we did he and I just wouldn't get anything. If he couldn't eat I didn't want to, you know how kids are haha" I said this with a fake smile. Best to move on as quickly as I could. It was good that Glory giggled and blushed at my teasing comment. Before I could respond the waitress appeared again like lightning (why did it take so long the first time) and delivered to us the main courses. She said her part and then left us to eat. I picked up my fork and pointed it at Glory as I winked, "Of course I do" I was happy that I felt comfortable making more natural and light hearted statements like that to her. A little while ago I didn't know if she could handle it. "After all you're the first addition to my friend list" What I was mostly trying to do was better her mood. When we bumped into each other earlier she seemed lost, like I've already said so many times. Now she appeared to be really enjoying herself. It was good

Edited August 6, 2015 by Koumori

[Glory 0]

_{"That's strange to hear because my father always ate so much."} Glory thought of her dad always eating even more than her and her mother did put together. _{"I always wondered how he and my mother were so skinny and how I got... s-so big."} She didn't realize where her conversation was going and suddenly became extremely interested in the onigiri before her which she had asked for chopsticks before the waitress left and now ate with. Right now she didn't really want Koumori to know where her insecurity stemmed from or be reminded of them either. She happened to just look up as Koumori winked and blushed even more than last time now only focusing on her food which she ate quickly. _"R-Really?" Glory asked before eating another rice ball to avoid having to speak anymore.

[Koumori 0]

I was beginning to eat my meal as Glory spoke about her own family's eating habits. It seemed that they were big fans of food. She looked down as she spoke and commented on being "big". Did she think that? She's been the only one to have my attention for awhile and in all the times I looked at her I never would have considered her big. Sure I mean she wasn't a stick but how many girls really were? She certainly didn't have anything to worry about. Wait..could that be what she meant when she talked about people laughing at her? I didn't want to pry in her business but I kept that open as a possibility. In any case, what I should do now was reassure her. I didn't know how much my words would mean, but it would be rude not to say anything. "Big? You're not big" I said simply. If I took the time to explain it any further she'd probably think I was just saying it to say it. Oh right, I also mentioned her place on my friend list. "You're the first one." I'm kind of sad to say I focused a little too much on my food for that exchange. 

[Glory 0]

Being a fast eater Glory only had two more rice balls to finish off from her plate. _{"Don't be silly."} She shook her head and played with her chopsticks while continuing to stare at her food. _{"W-Where I lived... I-I always was and still am. Japan communities aren't fond of chubby girls.... Sorry for that..."} Glory felt bad for dragging Koumori down with her on self conscience ways. _{"I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything really."} But Koumori telling her that made her sort of feel a little bit better in a way yet she still felt the same about herself overall. _{"Oh! You know what I just realized what curry is."} She laughed quietly at herself for being so forgetful. _{"You see... my mother put curry inside of bread so I didn't recognize it not being inside of something. I'm so dumb."} Quickly Glory changed the mood at the table as she made fun of herself.

[Koumori 0]

As I had thought my comment about Glory's weight didn't really change anything for her. She had already convinced herself that she wasn't thin enough so it would be hard to change her mind. She was right about one thing though. Japan has pretty strict beauty standards. In a lot of ways you had to be almost under weight to be considered normal. I didn't think that was particularly fair though. After all what's the point of being thin just for the sake of being thin. I'd try one more time to encourage her. "I'd never think of someone like you as being chubby. Besides, even if you were I think that would make you more cute than anything else." I said this smiling of course but inside my heads bells were ringing like crazy. Crap crap crap why did I say that? I mean I'd say that to any girl in this situation, really, but that would make her super uncomfortable. Oh man, the best I could do was brush it off and hope she didn't run away. Trying to take my mind off of it I looked down at my food and saw I was almost finished, so was Glory. She then said something about her moms cooking, good a chance to keep the mood light. "A curry sandwich? I don't know if I should be impressed by your moms cooking or sacred" I said lightly laughing both genuinely and to try and mask the anguish. The mood was lightened at least. 

Edited August 10, 2015 by Koumori

[Glory 0]

Glory's eyes widened and she instantly buried her face in her hands not sure how to react to what Koumori said. Her family and friends had called her cute before so that was no surprise but the difference was those were either very close relatives or girls. All she could do was sit there and blush not knowing what to do. Of course her eyes moved towards the exit and she scooted to the edge of her seat but decided not to run away like she always planned to do because Koumori was her friend now and she couldn't just leave a new friend of her's like that. _"Y-Yeah..." Her voice was so quiet that her words were barely audible since Glory was so embarrassed her throat felt raw and her body trembled. _{"...S-She's a g-g-good chef..."} Glory kept her head turned even when she finally lifted it exposing a red tinted face and eyes off of Koumori wanting to avoid his gaze. She couldn't get over that one comment no matter how small it seemed.

[Koumori 0]

Remember when I said the mood had lightened? Holy crap was I wrong. As soon as the word cute exited my mouth Glory got more flustered than anyone I had ever seen. She turned bright red and covered her face in her hands either so that I couldn't see her or she didn't have to look at me. Not only that, I saw her eye up the exit and inch to the edge of the seat. Oh man was she going to leave? I didn't think I'd make her that uncomfortable and I really didn't want her to hate me for saying something like that. Looking at her in her severe discomfort I started feeling uncomfortable myself and I noticed my cheeks becoming ever so slightly hotter. I didnt know what was coming over us. There had to be something that could help this. As if on que the waitress reappeared and delivered us our desserts, neither Glory not myself said a word. However, it gave me a little time to cool down. Glory, on the other hand, kept her red face covered and only looked up every so often, but never at my face. I'd have to do something to break the silence. I picked my fork up in my somewhat trembling hand and began picking at the cake as I spoke "I'm sorry Glory. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It just came out. Sorry" She could probably tell by my voice that I was both sincere and embarrassed. I sat and looked down at my cake as I waited for her to respond. 

Edited August 10, 2015 by Koumori

[Glory 0]

When the waitress came back Glory scooted back over to where she was before and accepted her dessert politely but kept her eye on the food only. She played with her food since somehow her appetite was... gone which was definitely not normal for her since she loved eating so much. _{"I-It's alright honest."} Glory was still blushing but she had cooled down a lot since her reaction a few moments ago fortunately. _{"D-Did y-you mean it? I-I mean... yeah..."} She took a bite of her kuzumochi but chewed really slowly while waiting for Koumori's answer. _{"I-It was... um... s-sweet t-to say."} Really she didn't know how to feel right now, even though she was flustered she didn't feel as embarrassed as she did awkward.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Glory

[Koumori 0]

After Glory received her food from the waitress she readjusted herself to sit back in her old position. That was a good sign, at least she had decided to stay. I looked at her every now and then and noticed she was doing the same thing as me: playing with her food and hardly looking up. But unlike me she didn't eat a bite. Perhaps I ruined her appetite at the very least. Eventually her face regained some of its usual color and she responded. She asked me if I had mean what I said. Well now that I thought about it, the girl in front of me was cute, I couldn't claim that she wasn't. When I made the comment to her it was just a comment, but it seems like it's what I truly thought. This was an odd occurance to me. Well before I think anymore about this I had better say something before she thinks I'm searching for a lie I thought to myself. I summoned my voice up from the back of my throat and spoke, "Of course I meant it. I wouldn't lie about something like that." For the first time in what seems like an eternity I gave her a warm smile, "Yeah.." Our faces were reaching almost equal levels of flushness. I also just so happened to notice that I had tensed up considerably and quickly adjusted myself. We both looked like we felt pretty awkward to onlookers too I was sure. 

[Glory 0]

Koumori seemed to be taking a long time to respond and Glory continued to take bites of her food while trembling only slightly now wondering when he would say something. _"O-Oh." Glory was taken back by his response and nodded slowly while tugging on a piece of her short brown hair as her eyes focused on the table instead of searching around the resturant. _{"Thanks then... I-I guess."} Both seemed to not be able to find the words to say or something to talk about to occupy the time just sitting in far from comfortable silence. It was obvious that Glory was naturally shy but she wondered why Koumori wasn't talking and why he was blushing since it was more her thing to do that. _{"S-So uh... W-Where'd y-you live before t-the game?"}

[Koumori 0]

I couldn't tell by Glorys response how she felt about what I said. She seemed like she was happy about it but she added that "I guess" at the end so i didn't know how to read that. "Y-yeah" But the way she fiddled with her hair could be a clue. No matter, the silence had to end. We'd get no where if we didn't say anything to each other. At that moment Glory read my mind and asked me where I used to live. The way she spoke was filled with way more studders than usual for her, it was quite apparent that she was shaken. Nontheless, I practically jumped at the opportunity to talk about something and answered her very quickly. "I lived just outside of Tokyo, in a small house with just my mom." This time as I spoke I attempted to make eye contact with her. Maybe that would help a little bit. So I kept my gaze fixed and didn't waver. 

Edited August 10, 2015 by Koumori

[Glory 0]

_"Tokyo?" Glory did look up at Koumori and noticed he was already trying to make eye contact with her so she held the gaze between the two for now. She was kind of excited to hear about such a popular location in Japan and was disappointed she'd never gotten the chance to travel there herself. _{"That's really cool I always wanted to see what it was like there."} Even if the city was much like where she lived it'd still be cool to explore Tokyo given she had to opportunity. _{"I lived in Osaka. My Danchi wasn't the best but I lived with almost all of my relatives and lots of family friends. Basically I was never alone and probably never will be."} She shook her head but smiled softly. _{"S-Sorry for ranting b-but it makes me happy to think about home. D-Do you feel the same way?"}

[Koumori 0]

Glory seemed to be over-joyed to hear my response. It seemed that she had never gotten the chance to visit Tokyo herself. Being in Osaka it was quite the ride so that was probably the reason. She also told of all the family and friends she had back home. She almost seemed to glow talking about the real world. In fact she was so happy that she must've forgotten her embarrassment as she didn't hesitate to hold my gaze. I'd probably ruin that for her. "It's something else. If you ever get the chance to visit you should, I'll show you around" I said with a slight laugh. "Really? I was usually alone. It was just my mom and I didn't have many friends, mostly by choice, but I usually kept by myself." I didn't really say this sadly, because I wasn't sad about it, but she'd probably interpret it that way as someone who was always busy. "It's good that you can be happy thinking about it. Sometimes a break from SAO is nice" I added so it didn't seem like I had dismissed her. We really were getting into some pretty personal stuff in this conversation. Deeper than I had expected. It was nice

[Glory 0]

_{"I-I'd like that a lot."} Glory clapped her hands together before taking another bite of her kuzumochi which was already almost gone. Seeing Tokyo would be great anytime of course but seeing it with Koumori would be much much more entertaining. _{"It's crazy how different our lives are at home... I don't know how I would handle being alone. I-I mean I'm shy but not around people I trust and who are close to me if you get what I mean."} She wanted to ask about his father but decided not to because that might be a sensitive personal topic for Koumori. _{"I think so too. It's probably not best to think about reality but sometimes I just miss home really badly... like a lot."} Glory frowned a little bit and tapped her fingers together but managed to keep eye contact with her friend from across the table.

[Koumori 0]

Glory's spirits seemed to take a jump to the stars when I mentioned giving her a tour of Tokyo. I wasn't expecting that kid if reaction so it caught me off guard, my eyes widening a little bit to show it on my face. Glory didn't seem to noticed though because she was making use of her renewed appetite to wage war against her dessert. I decided to take that time to finish off my own, but in no time at all Glory spoke up once more. She said that she was surprised at out different lives and that should didn't know if she could handle being alone. Based on the look on her face this seemed like the time to do a little comforting again. "You won't have to find out. You won't be alone here either." Someone should've told me I had chocolate on my teeth. "I get it. It's easier to be comfortable with people you're close to. No need to explain yourself" I said as I raised my arms to form an "X" in the air. Seriously why would I do that? Stupid, stupid, stupid I thought as I lowered my head to the table. If it was possible to turn into a chibi character in real life that's exactly what would've happened at that moment. Luckily for me though I regained my composed quickly and snapped back to my previous position. I looked back at Glory as she continued to speak and noticed a frown appear on her face when she mentioned the topic of home and how she missed it. I returned my gaze to meet hers "Then you'll just have to make a home here"

[Glory 0]

_{"Y-You think so? I mean... i-if you'd keep me company I-I be really happy."} Glory finally finished her dessert and set her chopsticks down to take a look up at Koumori for a quick second and she immediately noticed his teeth which made her giggle. _{"Y-You got something there."} To show what she meant she smiled and pointed towards her own not trying to be mean just letting a friend know. Koumori sure was acting funny even a little different from before and when the two first met or so Glory thought. _"Ehh..." She averted her gaze once more which proved to be a habit of her's especially today, or at least around Koumori. _{"I-I will try my best. Oh! I can't wait until we can buy homes in the game! I-I'm thinking I want something really high up in the sky... or maybe near a lot of water. Wouldn't that be great? W-Which would you want?"} Glory was feeling much better around Koumori and found herself randomly getting excited at times which was a little strange for her.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Glory

[Koumori 0]

Hmm? Did she just say she'd be happy if I kept her company? She really wanted to spend more time with me beyond this? "Really? That'd...That'd make me happy too." What was going on with me. Acting all flustered and making all these promises to a girl I had just met. What was it about being with her that made me act like this? While I was thinking about this Glory smiled and pointed to her mouth. Ahh I had something in my teeth. I fumbled to try and grab my napkin but only succeeded in dropping it under the table. I reached down to pick it up, making a point to not look at Glory or her legs or...anything else, and picked it up. But as I raised my head it connected with the table making a loud thump. The silverware was still shaking as I raised myself back to a sitting position and was finally able to wipe off my mouth. "What was that? Yeah a house by the water sounds nice" I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my throbbing head. It was strange. I felt both awkward and comfortable around Glory. I wondered what she was thinking about the way I was acting. I was surely making a massive fool of myself. 

[Glory 0]

Glory blushed and grinned hiding her teeth again behind a friendly and extremely excited smile even if that simple expression didn't show this. Even her light brown eyes were glimmering with joy as she leaned forward on the table. She couldn't help but giggle as Komori made a mess of himself which Glory found very humorous though she felt bad for him at the same time. Pushing her plate and chopsticks forward since they had moved towards her when Koumori bumped his head and shook the table Glory stopped laughing and a silly grin returned to her face. _{"That never happened."} Glory whispered when she saw that around a few people had saw the scene but most turned away now so she put a finger to her lips as a promise to pretend that everything was normal despite how hard that was to do since she'd been giggling loudly only a few moments ago. _{"Wouldn't it be amazing? I-I just hope that the frontliners don't get too hurt. Must be scary out there around bosses and scarier monsters than the ones on these lower floors."}