PP - F4 Cafe Relaxation and Hot Cocoa (Blacksweettart)

[Calrex 0]

As the snow continued to fall on the fourth floor in the settlement of Snowfrost Town it seemed that most of the shops, both player and NPC alike, were beginning to close up for the night. The only places that seemed to remain open during this time of night were the small cafes, NPC-run, that seemed to have their doors open late into the night, most likely for those straggling players returning from a day in the field zones and were in need of a warming cup of hot cocoa.

One of the people sitting in these various cafes was not one that had completed training, but merely a person sitting in the cafe out of some part nostalgia and distraction. As the bluenette took another sip of his mug of warming brown liquid he gave a calming breath, his breath condensing as it left his mouth, "This is the same cafe that I ended up talking to Ariel in when I informed her of Teayre and I departing from Absolute Pin. Heh, of all places I decided to come here to gather my thoughts."

Looking over at a nearby empty table he saw his familiar, the blue peregrine falcon, Roc, was simply perched and occasionally rotating around to scan the environment within the establishment, "Well, I guess I might as well order a couple more before heading out. But, I'd better finish this one off first."

Edited January 12, 2016 by Calrex

[Blacksweettart 0]

Raven trecked through the snow regretting her decision to try ice skating. 'If possible I've made more of a fool of myself' When one of the few shops left open came into view, her pace quickened. Once inside, Raven was inside she could start to feel her cheeks and fingers again. She sat down at the first table she spotted then looked around the cozy cafe, taking in it's warm aura and earthy decor. Besides herself and the NPCs there were a couple of players here and there all sipping on hot beverages fighting the bitter cold outside. 'Reminds me of home' Her heart sank a little at the thought. 'I wonder if Mom and Dad even register that we're gone.' She shook her head as to physically will the depressing thoughts away. 

 To distract herself Raven pulled a worn book off a near by shelf and shifted into a more comfortable position. 

[Calrex 0]

Calrex looked over as he heard the door of the cafe nearly burst open as a young girl made her way into the establishment. From what the bluenette could tell, she was certainly out in the cold longer than intended, at least from the way she entered inside. As the young girl made her way over to a nearby table, tucking into a book from one of the shelves. He gave a small sigh before downing his own drink, "Just a couple more to warm myself up before heading out."

However, while the Ultramarine Knight was busy in his own thoughts, Roc's curiosity and animal AI instincts had gotten the better of the blue peregrine falcon. With a quick flap of its wings the familiar flew over to the gap in the series of books that was recently created from where the young girl had retrieved the book. Quickly turning around the bird poked its beak out, looking outwards from the small interior.

Calrex looked over, checking on where his partner was, but as he saw that the bird of prey had moved from his previous spot his eyes widened in surprise for a second before he began to scan the room. Unfortunately, due to the way Roc was situated in the shelves, the falcon had somehow fallen out of the bluenette's line of sight, "Oh great...where did Roc get to now?"

[Blacksweettart 0]

Just as Raven was getting into the first page a sound of flapping came from where the book case stood. When she looked up nothing she could tell had made the noise. By chance she made eye contact with one of the players and quickly looked elsewhere. 'Did he hear the noise too?' Braving possible stares from others Raven went to investigate the bookcase. 'Could it have been a book falling over?' What she saw caused her to make a startled noise that resembled a loud squeak. Tucked in the gap made from the missing book sat a very blue falcon. To her it opened and closed its beak as if to nip at her for disturbing it in it's new hiding spot. "Oh, Sorry Mr. Falcon." Raven took a few steps back but kept staring at the bird in the bookcase. 'The Falco peregrinus. Commonly not as blue as this one.' She smiled to herself. 'He's cuter this way'

[Calrex 0]

Hearing someone be startled coming from behind him Calrex turned his head out of curiosity, wondering what could have happened. Normally it probably would have been something a little more easy to dismiss, such as someone burning their tongue on their drink. However, this time around it appeared to be something a little more out of the ordinary.

The young woman he had seen enter the cafe had gotten up and was inspecting something on the bookshelf. As the bluenette got to his feet the height difference allowed him to see over and discern exactly what she was looking at. It turned out that his companion had found a new place to observe the cafe from as he felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head, "So that's where he got to? I swear traveling with me must be having some kind of weird effect on Roc. He's not as refined and noble as he was when I first bonded with him. Of course, maybe this is his true personality for all I know."

Giving a calming breath he walked over, overhearing the black haired girl address the blue peregrine falcon in a more formal manner. At the same time Roc rocked his head from side to side a few times, trying to observe the new person that was starting at him. The familiar moved a few inches out of the shelf so that his front talons clamped onto the edge of the bookshelf as he looked around. Leaning forward he had just enough room to spread his wings, feeling that they were getting a bit cramped from entering into the tight space.

Putting on a friendly face Calrex talked in a friendly tone as he closed the rest of the distance to the bookshelf, "Looks like he's gotten himself into an interesting spot. His name's Roc actually, sorry if he disturbed you at all. He seems to enjoy exploring new nooks and crannies where he can perch himself."

Keeping his hands in his jacket pockets Calrex kept a relaxed posture as he gave a slight bow to the young woman, "Also it's nice to meet you. I'm Calrex. Roc over here has been traveling with me for quite some time now, but he's one interesting peregrine falcon, heh."

[Blacksweettart 0]

A male's voice registered to Raven and she turned to see it belonged to the guy she made eye contact with earlier. "Nice to meet you, My name is Raven." When she held her hand out to shake his She couldn't help but notice the man who called himself Calrex had hair that matched Roc's feathers 'I wonder if his favorite color is blue' Raven then bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to keep from laughing. "He's not a bother. Quite the opposite really. He's a cutie." Warmth came to her cheeks at the realization she could just as easily be saying that about him. 'Everything is cute to me tho' Raven honestly liked the interruption, it had been a while since she had a conversation with anyone. Being awkwardly shy and naturally quite made it difficult to socialize.

[Calrex 0]

"Raven? Nice to meet you."

Calrex gave a friendly smile as he reached out shake the young woman's hand, giving a laugh as he heard her comment about his familiar, "Heh, well I'm not exactly sure whether he would take that as a compliment or not. But he is a trustworthy friend. He's kept me alive on all of the adventures we've been out on, since his eyes improve my own focus, heh."

Looking over at his companion it seemed that the blue peregrine falcon was completely ignoring their conversation, simply occupied with enjoying the new makeshift perch he had found, "Just as long as he doesn't go and try to make a nest out of it or something."

Returning his attention to Raven he gave a nod, "in any case, is this your first time on the fourth floor? I don't see many level ones traveling around on anything above the third floor because of the large difference in monster difficulty."

[Blacksweettart 0]

Calrex's words made Raven pause. " . . .To be honest I haven't had any trouble with monsters. I haven't given my own safety much thought."     'It's not the typical monsters I fear.'    Raven put a smile on in an attempt to keep herself in a good mood. "I'll be sure to be more cautious from now on." She turned her smile towards Calrex. 'Are you a monster?' Seconds passed till the chime of the cafe door opened startling Raven. "Sorry. . " She could feel her cheeks turn an unsightly red. 'Do I really care so long as he keeps me company for just a bit longer?'    " So Roc gives you his eyes. Like dragons and their riders can share sight? That sounds amazing!" The idea of seeing through the eyes of any creature of flight fascinated her."Would you like to continue this sitting down?" She gestured to the small corner table she'd occupied before Roc made the bookcase his new perch. 

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a quick look as he made note of Rayven's reaction as if a question mark had appeared on his head before returning back to his calm personality as he gave a nod, "Yeah, sure thing. Heh, I'm still nursing a mug of hot cocoa, so let me go grab it."

"Not given much thought to her safety? I guess that could be taken in multiple ways. From a more cynical view someone would think she's simply trying to kill herself by welcoming high risk encounters. Of course, it could be also that she simply avoids putting herself at risk, which would give her no reason to fear wandering around on the upper floors, as long as she doesn't go outside the safe zones."

It was only a few seconds for the bluenette to go and grab the mug of warming brown elixir before returning back to the table, letting the young woman sit first before he sat down, "But yes, you're right actually. Going by the mechanics of the game Roc is considered an Accurate familiar, so having him by my side boosts of accuracy overall. I wish I could literally share sight with him though. There's got to be some awesome views of the environments from above."