(OP-F2) The Velvet Room wants you!n

[Jomei 0]

With the slowly increasing amount of players taking interest in joining guilds, Jomei felt The Velvet Room was falling behind in member amount. Especially The Crimson Blades, which was started after the formation of Velvet, had skyrocketed in number of members.. He had even heard word of another new guild, The Dapper Rouges, crawling out from the wood work and taking in some members. After spending countless days with Piera searching the various floors.. only coming out with one.. maybe two new members at the most, Jomei decided something else needed to be done. Standing outside of his music hall, which was now donned with The Velvet Room's symbol and small flags of the colors, he decided the best way to go about bringing in interest was to gather as many interested players as possible. 

Before starting on preparation, Jomei sent out a message to Lowenthal, Piera, and all other active members of the guild.

TO: The Velvet Room (Lowenthal, Piera, Zandra, Brice, Carmine) 
FROM: Jomei

I have decided to hold somewhat of a recruitment party outside of my shop on Floor Two. (Yes , Lowenthal, it is located just outside of the safe zone). It would be a lot easier to bring in some interested members if any of you guys would be able to come by and help out.

After sending out the message to the guild, letting them know what he was doing, he began to set up the surrounding area. Jomei managed to get his hands on two long tables, which he rented from a nearby restaurant. Upon the table, he placed a couple of different types of food, as well as some drinks as well. He looked around and rubbed the back of his head.. he was not much for event coordinating, but he figured this would do for now until the others arrived and put in their input. 

[Piera 0]

Piera was in the middle of attempting some sort of organization to the mass of potions and crystals she had crafted for Zelrius and the upcoming boss fight, but she was terrible at it. She couldn't stick with a system that was orderly and conserved space. There was a tone that signaled a welcome distraction of a message. Flicking open her menu to read it, the brunette immediately noted that it seemed to be a message sent to all Velvet Room members. Perusing the contents, her eyebrows raised in interest before chuckling at the comment to their leader specifically. Hopefully low leveled players wouldn't immediately flee at the sight of their 'terrifying leader'. She couldn't even keep a straight face thinking of him trying to be terrifying. Their dear Fool.

Closing the window, Piera then sighed as she looked at her mess and groaned, deciding to just ask for Lee's help with it later. Cleaning up and donning her shiny new armor, the brunette closed up shop and headed to the teleport plaza of Delilah Village that then took her to one floor down. Walking through the city of Urbus, Piera wondered if Brice and Zandra would be coming. She still had yet to meet the other girl but hoped that Brice would show up. It would definitely build a bit of camaraderie and get him to know his guildmates. And Carmine.....she honestly wasn't sure if she even wanted her to show up. Of course she'd like to see her and know that she was alright. But it would definitely make things tense with Jomei...

Sighing, the brunette walked around the corner to where the performer's shop was and blinked in surprise at the layout the ginger had set up. "Ooo, nice." She exclaimed as she walked up to the table of refreshments. "Are these for recruits only?" Piera asked her friend with a hopeful smile. "This is a great idea by the way. Thanks for setting it all up. And by yourself too. Have the others said if they're coming or not?"

[Jomei 0]

As the Irishman waited for some sort of reply from his guildmates, or even someone showing up, he decided to sit on the stoop of his shop. He slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and interlocking his hands. He truly hoped other members of Velvet would show up to help draw the attention of interested players. Realizing the raid party was on Floor Eleven preparing for their fight against the Forsaken Crusader, he realized Lowenthal would most likely not be joining them.. Piera, on the other hand, being her orders were completed for said fight, may show up. Brice and Zandra he felt may be on the fence about it.. being they were both entirely new members. Carmine.. he let out a sigh. Why did he even send her the message? He really wanted to see the girl and hoped she would show up...but she had not been around for a couple of months now. He shook his head and looked into the ground in front of him.

Jomei's green eyes moved from the dirt up to the familiar brunette as she turned the corner and commented on his set up. "Hey Piera. Glad you made it. Oh, and please, help youself" he pushed up to a standing position as he walked over to meet the girl. "Thanks. I met a guy who owns a place on Floor One.. he owed me a favor, thats where I got all of the tables from." he rubbed the back of his head. Crossing his arms he looked out over the tables with a half frown. "I just hope people actually show interest in The Velvet Room.." 

A couple of moments later, almost as if on cue, a slightly younger looking brunette girl slowly approached the duo as they spoke. Jomei turned to the girl from Piera, who bowed greatly before the two. Jomei could tell the girl was shy, for she was stuttering her words and seemed to be acting very formally in front of the two. He could not help but smirk at her. She admitted that she was interested in joining The Velvet Room, to which Jomei's eyebrows rose and his smirk turned into a smile. "Interested in joining, are you lass?" Jomei said placing his hands on his hips. He turned to Piera with a grin before turning back to the newcomer. "I don't see why not. But first, tell us about yourself." he smiled softly at her. He was most likely going to put in a good word with Lowenthal and accept her into the guild, since she seemed kind and humble.. not to mention they needed members... but why not find out the girl's name at least first. He reached out a hand to the girl, "I'm Jomei, and this here is Piera." he motioned his hand to the girl next to him, "We are the seconds in command of Velvet."

[Lowenthal 0]

"And I'm their leader." A voice called out from behind the small gathering. "Lowenthal, Fool of the Velvet Room. Hey, guys. How's it going?" The sandy haired man said, as he approached the group, first speaking to the person who was interested in joining then his friends. Lowenthal turned his attention back to the girl present. "So, you say you're interested in joining Velvet Room? Then, welcome aboard." Lowenthal said, holding out a hand to the young girl. "Now, I really only have one requirement. And that's to be yourself. I treasure personality, and likeness very greatly." Lowenthal said giving out a small chuckle. "I mean, I remember back when I first started this whole adventuring thing. I was kind of an ass. And a bit of a schmoozer." He said, placing a hand under his chin. "But I digress, miss....?" Lowenthal blanked, only now realizing that he didn't get her name.

[Roxanne 0]

Roxanne had been watching the people as they gathered in the area in her view for quite some time now. She had been silently watching and listening to them as they spoke out their names. As the girl who had been previously stuttering spoke, Roxanne looked at her with interest. Her stuttering caused Roxanne to be unable to understand what she was saying, but she listened as the Irishman talk. He most defiantly looked Irish. She adored all things Irish, being a French girl herself. She had picked up the main goal for the 'party' that was set up nearby. These people, whoever they may be... Are looking for people to join their guild. She felt her eyes drawn to the small cookies on one of the many tables. First, she would have to speak with them however. She looked down at her brown beginner clothing, and wished for something more presentable. She didn't want to interrupt the small lady that was currently speaking with them, however... She wanted to get more information. She suddenly watched as a man with an orange cursor walk forward... He seemed nice enough? 

He introduced himself as Lowenthal, and asked the girl of her name. The Irish-man, as she had heard earlier was named Jomei, and the other cute girl was named Piera. She had a quick liking to Jomei and Piera. She liked Jomei because he seemed Irish, and Piera was just cute. With a quick mind, she decided to present herself. With her staff nicely placed in her inventory, she crossed over to the players gathered. Making sure her clothing was neatly placed upon her body, she gave a small wave, speaking in her flowing French accent, "Bonjour! Hello!" Once again she had accidentally spoken in French first, in which she had quickly spoken in English right after. Roxanne had often been complimented on her French accent, being foreign to many others, however she thought the others all had accents, for she thought hers was native. All of her friends spoke with the same accent as hers, so she hadn't found any problem with it.

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal turned his head at the sound of a new comer. "Oh?" He had recognized that she had spoken french, after only taking a few classes of it in high school. He smiled at the young, red headed girl and spoke. "Bonjour. Je m'appelle Lowenthal. Ca va?" Lowenthal spoke, remembering his lessons. Actually, it came to thought. When he had first opened his shop, another french woman had stopped by. He did a quick look back to his friends, who both had a confused look on their face. "Look, I took a few electives in High School. I speak a little, just don't expect me to recite shakespeare or anything." Lowenthal said, explaining himself. "Anyway, it seems that we have a two people here looking to join." Lowenthal said, looking at the two women before him. 

[Piera 0]

Piera smiled as Jomei allowed her to help herself to the refreshments he had laid out, speaking of where he had got the tables. Picking up a crumbly almond cookie, she said, "The flags and our emblem are a nice touch. Definitely eye catching more than just two people and some tables, heh. Someone will be sure to drop by." Popping the cookie into her mouth, she chewed just as someone did just that. The girl seemed young, shy and humble all of which immediately made Piera take a liking to her. She attempted to respond with a warm welcome, but realized her mouth was full and so tried to swallow. The very dry cookie. Coughing, the brunette turned and tried to clear her throat without choking, grabbing a quick cup of punch to wash down the sweet crumbs before sighing. Well that was a great first impression.

Turning back to Jomei and the new comer with slightly flushed cheeks, the alchemist nodded with a wave of greeting as her friend spoke before it was added to when a familiar voice introduced himself as their leader. Smiling in amusement at their leader she replied, "Nice timing." Looking back at the girl with the short straight hair, Piera chuckled at the orange player's use of past tense when describing his faults. "What do you mean 'was'?" Before a further bad impression could be made, she held up her hands in a sign of peace. "I kid, I kid. We treat the Velvet Room like family, not assets. We want to see our friends flourish more than we just want to be a successful guild. Though it doesn't hurt that usually the two go hand in hand." 

Then another girl, just as young as the first, if not younger, approached with a cheery French greeting. It was hard for her to tell if she was actually french with the few words she had spoken or if she was just attempting to be quirky. But Lowenthal replied to the redhead in fluent french, causing the bespectacled young woman's eyebrows to raise and quirk in surprise. Grinning at his defense of his language skill, Piera held up her hands. "Hey, we all took one or several language classes. French is not my forte, pero yo no estudié español durante cuatro años para nada." She didn't necessarily need to speak her second language...but it certainly felt good after so long and she was a bit jealous of Lowenthal for getting the opportunity.

Focusing on the possibly French girl, Piera smiled encouragingly as she prompted. "Could you tell us about yourself as well? I'm Piera by the way. The dashing Irishman is Jomei." The brunette gently elbowed her friend and teased, "Go on, say something in Gaelic." She honestly wasn't sure if he knew or remembered anything of the language, but remembered that the Republic taught a few basic classes in school.

[Brice 0]

"Hey. I'm not late, am I?" A blonde boy walks in on the groups conversation without  realizing they were in the middle of introductions. "Sorry about not getting here on time," he chuckles, "I got a bit lost on the way here." He sees that Piera is in the group and goes to greet her. "Hey Piera. How's everything?" Upon realizing that he had only greeted one of the members, Brice goes to say hi to the other members that are there. "Hi Lowe. Oh, you must be Jomei then." He holds out his hand to greet him. "It's nice to finally meet you." Aparrently Brice either didn't  notiice the new players in the group, or he just didn't acknowledge them.

[Roxanne 0]

As the one known as Lowenthal spoke to her. She felt very relieved as his words were in French. She listened as he made a comment in English afterwards, about his studies during high school. She replied very quickly, letting them know that she was indeed French. "Je suis bon, et tu? Pardon, Anglais est difficile... Je m'appelle Roxanne." Her eyes looked at the girl who had spoken in some weird language shortly after she had spoken. She was very confused with what the girl had said, but shrugged it off, and instead focused on the words she had said in English. "I am sorry for my French... I am not good with English... I am called Roxanne, and I plan on going after the build 'pure tank'. I will try speak more English so you can understands me." Her accent was thick on many of the words she had said, indeed it gave away that she was from France, "Oh... And I am from France." In her eyes, she had no accent, it was everyone else that had an accent. 

Silently she looked at Jomei, the Irishman in adoration, willing him to speak in Gaelic. He did have small Irish accent, it only showed on certain words. Roxanne still loved it though.

[Piera 0]

Piera glanced at the shy brunette girl as she hesitantly gave her name, causing her to smile softly.  But then her attention was taken by the red headed girl relaxing noticeably when Lowenthal spoke her language, which was soon revealed to be her native language. Raising a hand, the brunette replied, "You're fine. The joy of MMORP- er...games, bringing players of all cultures together. We will try to speak more plainly for you to understand better if you are having trouble. Or just rely on Lowe here." She grinned at her fellow bilingual friend. A familiar voice then called out and the alchemist tilted her head to see another young recruit. "Brice, glad you could come. Everything's fine." Piera watched as he greeted Jomei who he apparently hadn't met until now and when he didn't say anything to the other two girls, she spoke up. "Brice, these are the two girls we're telling about our guild. Roxanne here is French and apparently aspiring to be a tank." Her hand gestured to the red headed girl before gently resting it on the other brunette's shoulder. "And this is Asami. Asami, this is Brice, our most recent guild member. Do you think you could tell us a bit more about yourself Asami? You've got me curious~" The bespectacled young woman's smile was soft and encouraging. "And Brice, why don't you tell them what you think of the Velvet Room. Your experience when you first joined and such."

[Zandra 0]

When Zandra spots Jomeis shop she see there already is bunch of people gathered. She quickly recognise the ginger man she have spent some great adventures with. There is also two more guys and three girls. Thats when she remembered, she havent met any of her guildmates except Jomei. How would she be able to tell who is a member and who is not. Or maybe all of them are new. She realised she have been standing still on the same spot staring at the group ahead for almost a minute. She quickly started to walk again. Her brain working frenetically to figure out what to do and what to say.

Zandra arrives to the group, wearing her brown-red shirt and a skirt with suspenders and brown leather boots. Her long dark hair fluttering from a small gust. She putted on a cheerful smile"Hello."she struggle to find the right words to say."Ehm. Sorry If I interrupt, and sorry Im late. Im Zandra. Nice to meet you all."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei turned his head to the familiar voice that came from behind him, raising a sharp eyebrow at The Fool, Lowenthal. "I thought you were...Isn't the boss fight..." he shook his head. He must has lost track of the days. He smiled at the man, "Glad you could make it though." He could not help but keep the smile as he welcomed the shy girl to The Velvet Room, requesting she be herself around them and not try to put up a front. They really were quite a casual guild after all.. focusing less on growing their physical strength, but the strength of their friendships. As his two guild mates continued to inform the brunette girl about what the guild was about, another newcomer joined them, almost appearing out of nowhere of sorts. A cheery, 'bonjour!' interrupted part of Piera's statement, as the focus was drawn a a red haired French girl. Before Jomei or Piera had a chance to greet the girl, Lowenthal broke out a secret talent of his and spoke to the girl in French. Jomei laughed, "Hah! I didn't know you could do that! Good on ya!" The girl then apologized for her use of French rather than English, "No no please! It would definitely be fun on my part to learn some French every once in awhile." he grinned, reaching out his hand to greet the girl. He had planned to introduce himself, but Piera had already taken care of it. He then felt an elbow nudge his arm, and Piera then in sited Jomei say something in the old Irish language. "W-What? I-I uh..." he had not spoken the language of his people in a long time, being he had moved to Japan and all. But he did remember learning the basics. The man cleared his throat, "Uhm.. Dia duit . Conas atá tú?" his cheeks blushed slightly at the use of the foreign language. 

Yet another player began to approach the group, this time being a man. Jomei was about to welcome him as a newcomer, before he greeted Piera and Lowenthal. Jomei had not met this man before, but he was lead to assume that this was Brice, the newest member of their merry guild. "Brice I presume? Pleasure to finally meet you." he reached out his hand and gave Brice a firm handshake. Jomei turned his head slightly to see a familiar face approaching the group. It was his friend, the noirette, Zandra. Jomei smiled at the girl and gave her a friendly wave, "Zandra! Happy you could make it. Oh yeah, this would be your first time meeting everyone." The irishman turned his body so he was facing the rest of the group, pointing at each person as he introduced them, "This is Lowenthal, the guild's leader.. That's Piera.. and this guy here is Brice. As for these two, this is Asami and Roxanne, they aren't members yet, but they are interested." Jomei looked to the group with a smile, this was the first time the whole group was able to meet up, "Pretty much the whole guild is here, only one missing.. is Carmine." he said the last two words with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders slightly. 

[Zelrius 0]

The boy sighed as he wandered the open lands of the Second Floor. Boring as always. I always thought having an adventure like those of Video Games would be constant fun. Damn was I wrong. And such was his mindset on life. As of late, The boy drew further and further from social events. Ironic, given that his whole reason for going green again was to be more involved with the community he cared so much about. Indiviually, Zelrius hated every single one of them. However, a whole, they were all just humans and the boy's mind and behavior were never ones of cruelty or hatred.  Nevertheless, here he was bored, and drawn away waiting for the Eleventh Floor boss fight. The Forsaken Crusader, how Generic. His thoughts moved on and rambled to themselves how all bosses thus far had been rather generic in that aspect. All were either that of Mythology or of the like that you saw in almost every video game ever. He was snapped out of it upon nearing a town. And in doing so, decided he'd drop by Jomei and possibly make an order.

When he reached the Music hall, Zelrius recognized the gathering of people and some of the people in it. For a moment, he thought about backing away as not to interrupt them, but decided against it once seeing some new faces amongst them. So, Zelrius approached the group, Twinfire sword ablaze and in hand, with faint wisps of black coming off of some of the flames, meaning Darkness Blade was active. His dark dress shoes clicked along as he drew closer and his dark blue eyes gazed out from under the Hydra Skull.  With his pendant bouncing with every step making a small jingling noise, and his Azure colored golden-trimmed cloak staying roughly still as it covered his right side of the body, he made his way over to the group. Without a word to speak, he simply sat there, and for one of the few times in his life, said nothing.

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal grinned as he saw his guild form, member by member. "And that makes up, about all of us." Lowenthal said, noting the members. Carmine must still be out looking for herself, otherwise she would've shown up as well. Lowenthal gave a polite applause to Jomei, after speaking his Galic. "Quite nice. No idea what you said, but it definitely sounded sexy. Well, more awkward than sexy." Lowenthal said, giving Jomei a smile and a thumbs up. Lowenthal turned his head, at the sound of heels clicking. Well, the sound of dress shoes more like it. "Ah, Zelrius. Pleasure seeing you here. You planning on joining Velvet Room? Ha ha." Lowenthal joked, as he knew the man was not only a member of Azure Brigade, but the leader of it. Lowenthal eyes the blade that was drawn, and then back to Zel. "So, why the drawn blade?" Lowenthal asked, quite curious as to why Zel had it drawn. It was actually sort of nerve wrecking. That a high level player, would walk up on his guild with his weapon drawn. And the, just stare at them.

[Jomei 0]

"Oy, watch yer gob!" Jomei turned to Lowenthal, blush on his cheeks and green eyes glaring at his sandy haired friend. He then cleared his throat when turning back to the ground, "I just simply said hi and how are you. I don't really know anything fancy, since my family has spoken English from the beginning." After speaking his piece in the Irish language, Zandra arrived, to whom Jomei gave a bright smile and introduced her to the group, noting pretty much the entire guild there except for Carmine. At this point, he did not even care anymore. He had no idea why he cared so deeply for a girl who didn't even the decency to let him know she was alive. Crossing his arms across his chest, he noticed Lowenthal look off behind the group.

Jomei turned his head to see a man wearing a tuxedo, the skull of a dragon like creature on his head with blue eyes looking out from the sockets.. more specifically, azure colored eyes. He had to admit, the who get up made him feel a bit uneasy, being he merely stood there without speaking and not to mention it was a damn skull covering his blonde head. It was not until Lowenthal mentioned it that Jomei even noticed Zelrius had this blade drawn as well. Jomei took a step forward towards Zelrius, making sure to place the rest of the group behind him. Jomei smirked at the man, "Zel lad, good to see you. And unless Azure brigade suddenly disbanded, I would assume you're not here to join Velvet Room. In that case, anything I can help you with? Or, rather, just paying a visit, which is never a problem of course. Theres some snacks and drinks on the table if you'd like." Jomei pointed his thumb towards the tables behind him. He figured the man meant no harm having his weapon drawn as he approached them, for Bardic Inspiration was in fact located just outside of the safe zone. It still was worth keeping an eye on. 

[Zandra 0]

Zandra turned from Jomei and towards Lowenthal. She made a quick bow. Then she turned to Piera, repeating the move and the to Brice, bowed a third time."Nice to meet you all. This is my first time beeing in a guild in this game. Back in the rea..." she stopped when she almost started to talk about the life before SAO."Nevermind, well its gonna be fun to get to know all of you." She put on a smile to show them it was true. It quickly disapeared when a man with drawn weapon appeared. By reflex she took a few steps back. She havent met him before, so she had no idea who he was. Another member. When Lowenthal talked she found out that belonged to another guild, and name seemed to be Zelrius. She glanced at the others to see how they reacted, then she saw Jomei step forth and placed himself between the group and the newcomer. Zandra quikly regreted she had stepped back, would the other rhink she was a voward now? She tried to not think about it, instead she consentrated what was happening, ready to repair her reputation if an opportunity appeared.

[Piera 0]

Piera stared eagerly at Jomei as he hesitantly said something in the old Irish language that caused her to squeal in delight, clapping to show her happiness. As Lowenthal also complimented the ginger, she nodded in firm agreement. "It wasn't that awkward, it was cute!" Then a girl dressed in red approached, hesitantly introducing herself before Jomei enthusiastically greeted her before introducing her to the various guild members. When her name was said, the brunette smiled and raised a hand in greeting. "It's good to meet the other alchemist in the guild finally. With Brice, it makes three!"

Her smile dimmed slightly as the ginger man lamented that their entire guild was present but for one and her expression morphed into one of annoyance, though it wasn't towards anyone present. Something for another time however. Right now was no time to dwell on anything but happy thoughts. Happy thoughts and wondering what in Aincrad Zelrius was doing just standing there and staring at them all. Blinking in surprise at the guild leader, Piera glanced between Lowenthal and Jomei as they greeted the blonde. "Yeah, come join the fun. Unless you're here to order something from Jomei." The brunette belatedly realized that they were situated at the ginger's shop and there was a good chance they could be interrupting possible purchases and business.

Looking back to the lower leveled players, she explained with a light gesture towards the intimidating looking male. "This is Zelrius of the Azure Brigade. Zelrius, these are our guild members, Brice and Zandra you should already know." Though the dark haired girl's reaction to him left her wondering. "And this is Roxanne and Asami. We're telling them about the Velvet Room and getting to know them."

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal opened his menu. "Ah, jeez really?" Lowenthal said, scratching his head. "Alright guys, it's been fun. But I've got to go." Lowenthal said, scratching his head. "I do wish you all the best though. Piera, Jomei." Lowenthal gave a small nod to the two as he left. He opened his menu again and read the message from the Info Broker. Seemed that there was a person matching that description on the 'jungle floor'. "Alright then, show time." Lowenthal said, whispering as he walked away.

[Jomei 0]

"Oh?" Jomei turned to Lowenthal as he checked a message he received, followed by a quick exit. Seemed like someone needed him for something important. With a shrug of his shoulders, Jomei turned to Piera and let out a sigh. It would be tough to recruit people for the guild at a recruiting party without the guild leader present. He crossed his arms in thought, hoping that this guild would be able to last.. with people like Carmine missing, their numbers were dwindling. Yeah they had brought Zandra and Brice into the guild, but that still was not enough. Zelrius' appearance seemed strange enough.. he merely showed up without words and stayed there for the rest of the party.. he wondered if that possibly threw of Asami and Roxanne, who made their exit soon after, without any words of joining the guild. "Well, guess thats it then.. Thanks for coming guys." Jomei said somewhat sadly, knowing the party he threw was more or less a failure. 

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