PP-F2 and F10: (KE) 'This can't end well'

[Mari 1]

Esther didn’t react well to Arc’s words, they had a more adverse affect on her than they did Mari. Mari was used to such ire, it didn’t bother her as much - but she guessed that such situations weren’t the norm for the younger woman. “People don’t like being touched without permission.” Mari mused, watching as Esther forced Arcs head down. “Granted, its due to the Truth Serum you idiotically drank, but your actions are highly inappropriate. You’re the one that should apologize to Arc. He has no reason to apologize to me.”  In a sense, both their words were right, Mari shouldn’t be here, Arc in his twisted way - seemed to be trying to rile Mari up, enough for her to want to prove him wrong. He only knew half of it, if Mari were to leave here, if she were to try and converse with people again - they’d jump her, and assume the worst.

Mari didn’t have the time to react to Esther, as she practically stampeded over table. Knocking over all the equipment she had only so carefully placed back on moments before. Mari grimaced, she wanted to throw Esther off of her, right there and then. She wanted to kick the both of them out of her store and be done with it all. She was getting a headache, and her chest hurt- it was far more tiring dealing with emotions, dealing with these tugs at her heart strings. It didn’t help that she had Alkors dearest friend who seemed to detest her, or a sprightly young girl who inadvertently spurted out things that sounded far too much like they should be coming from Thom’s mouth rather than her own.
 

Mari couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she reached up, grasping Esther’s arm with her hand, giving it a sharp squeeze, her knuckles trembled - turning white. Pain limiters were a wonderous thing. Mari glanced at Arc - he started back with Narrow eyes, Mari gave him a look as if to say she wouldn’t hurt Esther, she loosened her trembling grip. Esther wouldn’t even realize. “Why?” Mari asked, her voice cracking. Mari pressed her face into the soft skin of the other woman for just a moment and took a breath to steady herself. Esther smelled like Lilacs, much like her hair colour.

"After all that I've told you, you still insist on clinging onto the notion of being around me? Of being some sort of apprentice? Of following me around like some-" Mari paused, as the gears and cogs began turning in her head. Ideas began to formulate. There was a way she could get rid of the girl. Mari glanced up toward Arc. It was risky, she wondered if he would catch on, if he would realize that Mari would only suggest such a ridiculous thing, in hopes that Esther would turn her down.

“I don’t want an apprentice.” Mari said, her voice low and calculating. “The word doesn’t sit right with me, it hasn’t worked well in my favour, nor anyone’s in the past - if you insist on following me around, do so as my pet. Collar and all.” Mari added, she thought she was triumphant. She thought she had cornered Esther, that the purple haired girl would never agree to such a intimate and ridiculous request.

[Esther 0]

Esther held tightly onto Mari - she'd claim it was for the pink haired PKer, but it was more for herself. Arcs words hit her harder than she wanted them too. Was she really acting that childish? Esther furrowed her brows. It was difficult to focus on the reasoning of her actions, she didn't think, she just acted- she just spoke. Mari's serum was far more powerful than she could have comprehended. She could feel Mari grasp her arm tightly, but didn't know it was with anger, or annoyance. The group loosened and Mari asked Esther why.

Esther wasn't so sure any more. "Why..." She repeated the question. "I may be childish, I may be stupid and immature and I know I'm annoying, but - it feels like you need just one person who isn't going to immediately judge you negatively. To throw ire and cold looks your way." She glanced up at Arc as she said this. Esther wasn't sure of the relationship Arc had with her, but she still was under the belief that the way he was treating Mari was unfair and unrealistic.

Esther loosened her grip when Mari said she didn't want an apprentice. The purple haired girl allowed herself to slide off of Mari, and shifted so she was next to her, it seemed that no matter how much Esther pushed, Mari wouldn't accept her as an apprentice. Then, it happened - so unexpectedly so. Mari suggested Esther follow her around as a pet. "A....what?" Esther asked, trying to process the information. "With a collar and stuff....." She repeated.  "You know, I like that sort of thing." Esther began, her cheeks flushed at the ease of how she just blurted out something so personal.

It didn't sound bad Esther guessed Mari didn't mean it in any sort of relationship sense, or one of a more adult nature. Esther wondered if Mari thought that she would say no. That offering such an intimate and controlling thing would have Esther run for the hills. "Ha!" Esther cried out in triumph. "You can't trick me, you think I'd say no right! Well too bad! I say yes!"

[Ashrah 0]

For a moment, Tobias processed what the woman had said. A pet? No wonder you liked her, you sick f-

Hey, don't look at me, I never talked to her about that kind of thing. His gaze moved to Esther in expectation of her immediate rejection of the idea. Of course she would, right? Mari had intended for that to happen. That's why she said something so ridiculous, isn't it? "What."

You think you know someone. The moment he anticipated her response to be one of absolute vehemence, she admitted that she liked the submissive sort of relationship that the term "pet" entailed. This is just degrading.

"I'd better go," he muttered. Before things start getting really frickin' weird. I need about ten more drinks before I can deal with this sort of f*ckery.

You really should stay and watch. This might turn out completely different than you're expecting.

I'm not going to sit here and play party to your sick voyeurism, jackass.

He opened his inventory and summoned his flask of rum, which he quickly partook of as he spun and headed for the flap of the tent. "Yep, definitely not drunk enough for this."

[Mari 1]

"WHat? You're not meant to say Yes what is WRONG with you?" Mari exclaimed in pure shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. How Esther just admitted she was into some kink, not only that did it was a smiliing, innocent face. Mari would never have picked it, Mari stood up and shifted way from Esther. "I don't give a f**k what my serum does to your brain, I DON'T need to know your fetishes. SAO isn't that kind of game and Aincrad isn't that kind of place - at least not in my tent." Mari muttered, a red flush evident on her cheeks. For all her show, such a subject matter rattled Mari, she didn't like someone sharing such intimate details. It felt wrong.

Mari turned to Arc, "Don't you dare leave me with her like this." Mari hissed. For what it was worth, Esthers actions did have some sort of affect on Mari. Mari was too shocked to put on a cold front, to tune out people and to push others away. This sort of thing was one of the things that Mari wasn't sure how to deal with. "The hell am I supposed to do with that kind of answer..." Mari muttered, turning to her table of potions, "Damn....I don't have anything to reverse the effects of the truth serum on her right now..." Mari checked the time, it wouldn't last that much longer - but Mari preferred sooner rather than later. 

She turned her attention back to Esther, "You can't expect to do that. To just follow me around, do you have any idea what kind of ire that would spark?" Mari sighed, running a hand through her pink hair. "You'd just...if I go out and about people don't exactly react well, if I went out with you, like that. It'd just attract the wrong attention - I'd drag you down into hell with me. You don't want that." Mari muttered the last part, "Then again, maybe I should do just that - if she's so eager. I doubt even she would stay after that." If Arc had heard her words, instead of being so quick to exit, maybe he'd warn Mari that wouldn't work.

[Esther 0]

Esther that there, alone behind the Alchemy table. Confused. "Uhmm...." She tilted her head to the side, furrowing her brow. The two before her acted as though she had just told them she had a terminal, highly infectious disease. "You do realize it's normal..right? To be into different things?" Esther said, "Are you two really that socially awkward you can't handle such information?"  Her questions were pointed, but her tone still held a quizzical innocence. She was confused, more so than anything else. If Mari really had such an aversion to the idea, she shouldn't have suggested it in the first place. Now that the idea had been thrown out into the open, and Esther was given that in - she was going to take it, shoe-horn her way in.

"If you were so sure I'd say no - then why ask at all? Why not just kick me out?" Esther asked, watching as Mari  pottered around the tent, looking for something. Mari turned her attention toward Esther, asking her a series of questions. "Why not? You're the one that offered. I don't mind it if people get the wrong impression - I'll correct them." Esther gave a small grin, "besides, don't you think it kind of fun? Exciting to see how people would react? If people don't like it. Tell them to bite themselves. I'll still do it." Esther remarked, she paused. "You said the serum would wear off soon right? If you wait till after it wears off, I can garantee you I'd say the same thing.  If I have any doubt - you'll never see me again, ok?"

 

[Ashrah 0]

"Serves you right for even saying something like that to begin with," he called to her as he sipped his rum gingerly. Arc had taken a seat near the edge of the tent, intent on staying only long enough to ensure that the weaker girl was getting out alive. He didn't know what he would have done with that kind of confession either, but it wasn't intended for him. Tobias was genuinely glad for that, too. "Maybe you should have said something like "just kidding!" or "I don't know what I was thinking!" instead of actually considering it. She's not going to go away because you tell her to sod off. Trust me, I tried that."

He leaned forward, just slightly inebriated. Alcohol worked faster in this world. Part of him wanted to warn her to just tell the girl to leave before the two of them conspired to cause more trouble than they could handle, but the rational part told him that it was not his problem. "See? She would have left if you'd told her to." His gaze shifted. "Not that it'd last. She'd do something crazy and turn around and pretend like it never happened, or something."

Get out of here, Tobias. You're drinking, and we both know how you are when you're drunk. "Yeah, f*ck you, Thom," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm drinking, so what?" And now you're talking to me out loud. They're going to stare at you like you're nuts, next. "You heard the girl though," he remarked. "Talking about going out in public doing all sorts of debauched and depraved things, and 'why would she have said it if she didn't mean it"?

Arc took another swig, then shook his head with a gasp for air. He'd taken in too much at once. "Next thing you know they're going to start making out. I'd better get out of here before that happens." You'd better get out of here before you make a fool of yourself,  dumbass. "Just tell me, because I still don't get it," Tobias muttered. "What did you even see in that pink haired girl?"

Too late. Too frickin' late.

"Damn straight it is," Arc let out a hiccup as he stood upright and took another long drink. He moved forward toward the two girls, then pointed at Mari. "Why?"

Hey, wait, stop-

Arc stared at the floor. He had wanted to know from the beginning, ever since he heard she'd witnessed it. He wanted to know why he'd died, and if it could have been stopped. He wanted to know what it was about this girl that made his best friend open up, and why he'd allowed himself to die for her the way he had. Why he'd died for anyone at all. You can't ask her that. It's not fair.

Forget fair. I want what's right, Thom. Like you'd expect from me.

"Nevermind," he shook his head. "Never you mind."

Arc let out a gasp of frustration. "Why don't you just take responsibility," he said. There. He'd averted a crisis. That could have gone badly. "You said it, and she wants it. Better give the girl what for."

[Mari 1]

Arc appeared to be drinking now, Mari wasn't big on alcohol - but at times like this she envied his ability to escape. Arc shot a comment at her, saying it served her right - and for once, Mari agreed with Arc. "Yeh... yeh..." Mari muttered. "It was stupid. What can I do now?" She asked herself, watching Esther who seemed to be slowly sobering up from the truth serum. "I've never seen anyone act this way after drinking it before - if I didn't know better I'd assume she hadn't drunk it at all." Mari commented. She wasn't sure if Arc was listening, but she spoke her thoughts aloud.

Arc seemed to go from sober to drunk at the drop of a hat. Mari turned her attention toward him, "What the hell are you talking about?" He started going on about how Esther would have left Mari alone, only to pretend something didn't happen and stay anyway. The words didn't make much sense. "You can't handle your alcohol as well as I first thought." Mari said, shifting her weight to one side and crossing her arms.

The next words caught Mari off guard, as Arc muttered to Thom to 'f**k off' Mari loosened her arms, "excuse me?" She asked, but he seemed to be having a conversation with himself. Or maybe with his memories. Mari couldn't call him insane, she had done the same. She'd sometimes sit there and have conversations with her fallen lover - and to see Arc do it too....Mari wasn't sure what it made her feel. She showed a brief sign of concern - as she contemplated approaching him, to steady him maybe to sober him up but she knew he wasn't fond of physical interaction. She almost did, taking a step toward him till his next comment caught her in her tracks.

"EXCUSE ME?" Mari was not amused. "Here I was worried about you, and you're the one with the depraved thoughts -tch- imagining we'd make out. What the hell is wrong with you Arc?" The man didn't pay her no mind, instead he asked Thom what he saw in Mari. That stung. "Do you remember anything from that night we chatted?" Mari asked, her brow furrowed, stomach knotted with tugs of heartache, hurt, and anger. "You ask a memory what they saw in me? Why not ask me?" Mari snapped. "Better yet, instead of getting drunk off of alcohol - how about I throw you one o' my potions, share my memories, maybe then you'd accept me huh?" 

Mari shook her head, "I don't think you would though would you? You never will. Whatever."

Arc suggested that Mari give the girl what for, a part of her wanted to slap him to retort with 'I'll give you what for you ass but she didn't.  Arc was lucky he was so close to Thom, otherwise Mari may not have tolerated him. It wasn't just that, the two shared a lot of similarities, and it made Mari painfully nostalgic. 

 

[Esther 0]

The lilac haired girl blushed, clasping her hands over her cheeks as Arc mentioned that the two may start furiously making out. She glanced over at Mari, if Esther were to have a guess of the womans age, she'd place her at either the same age as Esther - or one higher. No more than 25, surely. Mari was harsh, but at times her face would soften. Mari and Arc began exchanging words, but Esther wasn't paying attention. There it was. Mari's face softened, she looked concerned. Her eyes were beautiful, they were tired, but they were beautiful, like a bright clear day, or the still of the great blue ocean. Then there was her lips, it looked as though there was the slightest of gloss on them.

"Actually..." Esther said, "I think kissing Mari would be nice," She said - completely oblivious to the change in conversation.  "I think Kissing Tobias would be nice too." She added airily with a laugh. 

Her head began to swim, and the room tilted from side to side. Esther wasn't sure why, Mari did say the potion would wear off soon, maybe this was what happened when it began to loose its effects. Esther had considered standing up to approach the two, but it wasn't a good idea. Instead, she burried her face in her hands, swaying slightly side to side.

"It's a little dizzying."
 

[Ashrah 0]

"What do you care, anyway?" he snapped. "It's never been about what I think of you, or what you think of me." He drank another sip and shook his head. A short gurgle preceded the obnoxious belch he had been carefully subduing. He covered his mouth and blew out a noxious breath. "Pardon," he said quietly. "I don't think it matters if we ever get along, is the thing. I don't have no reason to get on with nobody, leastways somebody I know nothing about. Thom would tell me I'm being pointlessly contentious, but I'm not. I don't want to go through life in this world thinking back on how he died, or why he died. I'm tired of feeling sad about it, and I don't need the nagging feeling hanging over me that I could have done more."

"Sure, he loved you, I'm at peace with that. It don't mean I have to love you, or even like you. I don't want nothing to do with any of it. I've made up my mind." He tossed the flask of rum toward Mari. "Have a drink to Grandma, then decide for yourself what kind of life you want to live from here on out." He turned toward the exit again. "As for me, I'm going to fight my way to the Frontlines and make this game end, then go see my family and visit his grave."

He glanced back over his shoulder with a smile. "And that's all. I don't give a damn about anything in my way. I'll tear the whole world down if I have to."

The airheaded girl spoke again, this time about kissing one person or the other, and Tobias glared at her. "Honesty is a good thing, but so is discretion. You don't have to air your thoughts out for everyone to hear." The next words were for Mari. "Take care of her, and if you even think about killing someone ever again, I'll kill you myself."

With that, he left.

[Arc leaves]

Edited September 7, 2016 by Arc

[Mari 1]

What do you care anyway?

The words had stung. That was the issue, she did care. Mari didn't want to. God she wished she didn't. She wished she could treat Arc the same as everyone else, that he didn't get under her skin with his quips, with his mannerisms and rare bouts of kindness. It would have been easier that way. It'd have been easier if she didn't want to be his friend, if she didn't want to know him at all.

He made a point to drive home that he wanted nothing to do with any of it, that her relationship with Thom didn't mean he had to be nice to her, or like her - Mari knew that, still the words hurt - and she could feel tears stinging her eyes, threatening to spill out and deny her her usual cold demeanour, her safety net. He threw the flask toward Mari, but it uselessly hit the floor in front of her. Mari stared at it, furious she had bothered to try and open up to him. She didn't see his smile, only his words.

"Like I give a damn what you think."

Mari muttered.

But that was the problem.. she did give a damn, a great big damn that had crashed down around her - and as he left - Mari felt drained, and more empty than she had to begin with.

 

There were a few long, silent moments before she finally turned - addressing Esther. "You should have  sobered up by now right?" Mari asked, "You said you were dizzy. Generally, that's what happens as the potion wears off." Mari approached Esther, Arc insisting that Mari take care of her, don't pawn your needy ass friend onto me you asshole. Even so - Mari wasn't about to let someone who seemed as innocent as Esther wander off without knowing she'd make it safely back to the town.

"Are you serious?" Mari asked, "About the...." She cleared her throat "The collar thing; if you are - I'll be leading you around, but I'll also make sure that no dumb sh*t tries to off you."

[Esther 0]

The dizziness soon wore off, Esther hadn't been entirely present for the conversation that Mari and Arc had, she hadn't even realised he left till she glanced around the room, offering Mari a questioning gaze. She wasn't able to actually ask when Arc had left, Mari turned to her, bringing up the subject again. Esther's cheeks burned, and she glanced away. She did so readily agree to it with the truth serum, and even now - she was ok with doing it. If it meant that Mari would slowly open up to not only her, but to other people...then surely a little bit of discomfort on her part was a small price to pay. 

Even Mari didn't seem too keen on the idea. It was a sort of odd agreement to go into, where both girls were embarrassed by the whole idea, but both too stubborn to back down. Esther thought it was incredibly sweet and caring of Mari to ask again, after the effects of her potion had worn off. 

"Yeh." Esther said, standing and heading over to Mari, to stand by her side. "I think it'll be fun."

 

[Mari 1]

Mari gave Esther a dubious look. She was still not entirely sure of the whole idea, Mari sighed. Arc was right, she never should have proposed such a stupid thing. Who would have thought that the young girl would actually agree to something so ridiculous? That's right...Esther. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." Mari muttered, opening up her HUD. "I must have snapped, lost it long ago." She pulled out a sum of Col, and a few materials. "IF you're serious about this - take this to a tailor - anyone but Ariel I'll message you the exact requirements of what I want - when I figure that out."

Mari gestured for Esther to sit down in front of her. "I'll be going over some things with you too - who to avoid. What I expect of you, and what you are to expect of me."

Esther did as she was told, and Mari told her a variety of things - who to avoid, people such as Opal, any other PKer, she gave brief details on Lowenthal, and to be wary of him. Mari would prefer Esther not to hang out with any of the people she warned against - but she also figured Esther would do her own thing. The young girl gave a few feverish nods, before taking the Col and Materials, and disappearing off through the Flap.

This was a very strange turn of events indeed.

[Mari 1]

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