[PP-F1] Strange World, New Friends

[Birdie 0]

Birdie roamed the bustling streets of Starting City, adopting a calm pace compared to her usual walking speed. She was adjusting to the quiet lifestyle of an Artisan quite nicely. Given that her shop was located on the first floor, materials were never hard to come by and the boars surrounding the city's borders were easy to run away from, if one couldn't combat them directly.

One thing that'd unsettled Birdie since the mass entrapment of Aincrad was the amount of friends she'd made, or therefore lack of. Everyone around her was putting emphasis on partying up and slaying monsters as a group, and the last time she had made any new companions was back in in the real world when she first started her waitress job - even then, those relationships took months to form. Granted, the conditions of her workplace didn't do wonders for her mental health. Still, she couldn't shake the thought that she'd be stuck in this digital world with nobody to turn to, sitting idly as society left her to wither away.

That fear led her to take a hike around the town, scouting out any potential restaurants on her way to gather more materials. She was running low on metals, and with her Apprentice Artisan promotion right around the corner, she definitely wanted to head out of town and try her luck with gold panning by the riverside.

Turning a corner, she was met with a delicious display of deserts and snacks, protected from the sun by a pink and white striped canopy. She could see from the corner of her eyes the shop's sign hanging just to the right. "For Goodness Cakes?" she whispered to herself, gazing into the store through the window. Her eyes mindlessly jumped between the items on display, widening when she set her sights on a beautifully glazed doughnut in a small brown box. Distracted, Birdie failed to notice the little boy and the woman tending the store inside.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Adhaerere 0]

 "Hey Mason, have you finished that lollipop yet?"

Adhae stood behind the counter in her shop, For Goodness Cakes, and watched the little boy gaze open mouthed at the displays along the walls. She had brought him to her shop after she'd found him in the Town of Beginnings, sitting in a dark place and sobbing. He had been scared out of his wits. To try to bring some happiness back to him, Adhae had gifted the boy with a lollipop that she'd made in her shop a few days before. It immediately cheered him up and let him trust Adhae some more. That sounds really bad; an almost 30 year old woman giving a child candy to convince him to come back to her shop with her. She panicked a little, feeling like others might assume bad things about her if it got out that she'd done this. She had no devious intentions with the boy. All she wanted was some company.

 Even in just the few hours since she'd found Mason she'd been happier. Adhae hadn't had any children of her own but had spent her life wanting them and searching for ways she could help kids. She absolutely loved helping children, watching them grow and become better people. Her ideal job would have been a teaching job if not for the lack of a paycheck. She smiled at Mason's back, thinking about this as the boy wandered the shop. "And no touching. Keep your dirty mitts to yourself," she said, poking fun at him.

[Mason 0]

  Mason gawked, wide eyed, at all of the snacks and desserts that lined the display cases. So many sweets. So many... He was practically drooling, staring at all the delicious treats. He had first run around to each display case, ogling everything that looked like it had sugar in it. The cakes were his favourite. He looked at the Rose Cake and put his face on the glass along with both of his hands, his nose all squished up against it. He would be visible from the front of the shop. He peeled his face away from the glass, turning back to look at Adhae and deciding he wanted that one. "Can I have this one? Pretty please pretty pleeeeease!" he begged, falling comically onto his knees, putting his hands up in the air. "I need ittttt," he wailed, looking to Adhae afterwards to see if anything he'd done had an affect on her. 

 His time here had been good so far. The woman had given him a lollipop, which happened to be his favourite flavour. Cherry. He'd started licking the thing as they walked back to her shop, but still hadn't nearly finished the item yet. He planned to savour it for as long as he could. He'd put it away in his inventory as soon as he got a view of the new and exciting sweets in Adhae's shop, and only remembered it once she asked about it. He quickly pulled it out of his inventory and started licking it again, and then raised it triumphantly with on hand. "Nope!" 

[Birdie 0]

Gluttonous thoughts soon filled Birdie's mind, how much Col did she have again? She attempted to brush her fingers through the air to open her inventory, instead tapping her fingers on the glass window by accident. "Oops.." she whispered with caution, waiting to see if anyone inside would notice the bump. As her cyan-eyes peered into the store, she was met with the sight of a little boy's face pressing against the other glass window, his eyes staring in wonderment at the delicious desserts that he surely didn't have access to. 'That's so adorable!' she thought, though something quickly occurred to her - where was the boy's parents? Her inspection of the store's interior brought her to the woman stood by the counter, watching over the little boy with a protective eye. Birdie sighed under her breath, a sense of relief washing over her as it appeared that the boy wasn't without his family. Deciding that everything was set for her to head on inside, she took a deep breath and walked to the doorway, pushing through it a second later.

She'd caught the tail end of the boy's wailing on her way in, having entered quietly and gently pushed the door to. Seeing him act that way put a smile on her face, she was happy to see a kid actually acting like a kid rather than treating this whole 'Aincrad' thing as just another game. Her eyes glossed over the shelves before reaching the woman behind the counter, whom she approached swiftly. "Hi Miss, pardon me if I was interrupting something. How much is that doughnut in the window?"

Edited September 6, 2016 by Birdie

[Adhaerere 0]

 Adhae laughed as Mason put on his little show, and nodded to him. "Maybe if you're good enough, you can have it. It gives you abilities, which you'll need to use when you're actually hunting for items. You can't have it for now." Then, before she could reply further, she heard the jingle of the doorbell. Her mouth formed a little "o" and she looked towards the door. Holy cow. Her first customer. "Welcome to For Goodness Cakes!" she said, smiling wide at the newcomer. She laughed as she asked if she was interrupting. "Oh, don't worry about it. Mason here was just being a pest." She winked at the boy and walked out from behind the counter, going to ruffle his hair. "That doughnut would be 100 Col. Would you like to buy it?" She smiled and went to grab the box, holding it ready for the girl to take if she wanted it. She took this moment to look at the new person, finding her outfit to be quite cute. She was a young one, like most people she now met in the game, and was a whole foot shorter than Adhae herself. Though Adhae was used to this. She gave her a winning smile, hoping to have her buy one of the items. She hadn't sold any yet. This was exciting. 

[Mason 0]

 Mason laughed as she explained why he couldn't have the cake. "Okaaayayyyy," he said, not really upset. He stood up and stared wistfully at the cake before the new girl entered, and his eyes turned to her. His mouth still hung open from the cakes, and he stared at her like that until Adhae had finished talking. He left his hair mussed up and went to the new girl, reaching up and tugging on the bottom of her shirt. "What's your name?" he asked, giving her a toothy smile. She had weird hair. "Why is your hair blue?" He tilted his head back all the way to look at her, and kept tilting his head back until he almost fell backwards. He regained his balance and went back to the new girl, feeling the fabric of her sweater and pulling it a little. He then lost interest and pulled out his lollipop again, giving it a long lick. The next lick was a loud slurp, and a satisfied "mmmmmmmmm" after. He thought about offering some to the new girl, but decided she probably wouldn't want any. It had his spit all over it. 

[Birdie 0]

"Kids will be kids," she spoke with a soft smile, looking at the boy to see his mouth hung wide open. Birdie tried to suppress a giggle at the sight, failing miserably as her emotions got the better of her. When the woman informed her of the item's price and asked if she'd like to make the purchase, she nodded and walked closer to the shop window, getting in range for a trade request. "I'd love to, I can't wait to sink my teeth into something that isn't the bread they give us in the starter packs." She brushed her fingers through the air and brought up the trade menu, sending the woman a request shortly after.

In the meantime, the little boy seemed to take an interest in Birdie, as evidenced by the tugging she felt on her shirt. She looked to the boy, offering him a smile as he went about his little antics. "My name's Birdie, and I dyed it- oh!" she said in alarm, fearing that the boy might fall over. She pulled the jumper back over her shoulder once he'd used it to right himself, and by the time she went to answer his second question properly, his interests seemed to shift elsewhere. Birdie shrugged it off, her smile unwavering as she faced the woman again. "Your little boy is adorable, Miss. How is he adjusting to the, ehm.. game?" She didn't exactly know what to call it - Aincrad, the game, their forced reality - each name sounded wrong.

-100 Col

[Adhaerere 0]

 Adhae watched the two of them and watched Mason, getting a little worried as he teetered backwards but breathing easier once he'd righted himself. She looked up to the girl. "Nice to meet you Birdie." She quickly accepted the request, smiling wide as the 100 Col deposited itself in her bank. She handed Birdie the box with the doughnut in it. "Thank you for your business." Tilting her head, she smiled wider and clapped her hands together. The girl's comment about Mason being her "little boy" made her laugh a little bit. "Oh, he's not mine. I just picked him up from the trash can," she said, directing the joke at Mason. She winked at him and tugged on his ear to show she was joking. "I met him not long ago, actually. He was alone and so I figured I would keep him safe until we get out of here. Kids shouldn't be stuck in here. It's cruel and unfair." The smile had faded from her face at this point. "I don't understand why the GM would allow them to buy the game. It's just ridiculous." Adhae was silent for a moment before perking up and responding to the second half of the girl's question. "I'm not sure how well he's adjusting. He seems to like my treats at least. I don't know what other aspects of the game he likes, because I  haven't asked him and he hasn't told me. What about you? What's your story?" She began walking over towards one of the tables, gesturing for Birdie to follow. "If you can stay I'd love to talk."

+100 Col  -Glazed Doughnut

Edited September 7, 2016 by Adhaerere

[Mason 0]

 Mason listened to both of them as they talked, not feeling like he needed to interject anything. They were grown-ups, they could talk about anything. He only interrupted when Adhae spoke about being his mom. He nodded vigorously. "She's not my mommy. My mommy is back at home." Then he was quiet, thinking about his mom. As he saw them start to head over to the table, he ran over to the chair and sat down, kicking his legs underneath the seat as he sucked on the lollipop. He really liked it; it reminded him of home. "Mal, I like it when I can pick up things from the ground and use them. That's what you do to make your cakes right?" He giggled. "Those cakes are probably made out of grass and poop water." He giggled harder and sucked on his lollipop to occupy his time while he waited for the grown-ups to finish talking so they could do something. Actually, maybe Birdie could come with them. "Birdie, come with us to go find things on the ground!" He smiled wide at her, looking genuinely happy about the thought.

[Birdie 0]

+1 Glazed Doughnut, stored in On-hand Inventory.

Birdie's smile faded immediately after learning of Adhae not being related to Mason, 'that means he did come here all alone..' As the woman continued to rant about the game, the girl's cyan-hair bobbed up and down as she nodded in agreement with the lamenting. "It's unsettling that the age rating for the Sword Art Online is so low.. I pray that all the other kids have at least found somebody safe to look after them." Thinking about the facilities of housing and such in Aincrad, it was almost certain that someone would open a school for the lost kids and those that wanted to help out. The only question that remained of course was how many kids had entered the game..

As the conversation took a brighter turn, she found her expression shifting from one of sorrow to intrigue. "I see," she said with a sympathetic smile, glancing down to the boy briefly. When Adhae had asked about her past and offered to sit down, Birdie happily nodded and followed the woman, taking a seat next to the energetic little guy. "It would be my pleasure, any excuse to sit next to this little munchkin." She poked her tongue out at Mason before diverting her eyes to Adhae. "As for my story, it isn't particularly interesting; I'm from England, and I worked as a waitress before all of this." She huffed, it was a bittersweet truth. Most of her wanted to be back in the real world, yet a small part was beginning to adjust to this calm life. "I'm not a very high level yet, I've been getting by as an Artisan since arriving here. It's been a.. rough journey, I guess." There was a hint of sadness in her eyes, not over anything in particular but rather the situation as a whole. Her smile had since dulled down, though she found it hard not to brighten up at the boy's silly words. A giggle escaped her lips at the grass comment, and she let out a quiet 'hm' sound as the boy asked her to come along. "Oh, you two gather materials too? I would love to join you! It's up to Ms Adhae if I'm allowed to come along, of course."

[Adhaerere 0]

  Adhae laughed at Mason. "Yes, that is exactly what I use to make my cakes. And that's what I used to make that lollipop of yours." She pointed at the one currently in his mouth and smirked. That's what you get, squirt. 

 She responded to Birdie's comments then. Her own face softened as the girl spoke, relating her story. "Oh, that's not good. What's happened?" She put her hand on her jaw, resting her elbow on the table. She liked to do this because it brought her face down to more of a level that others would be able to look straight at. Her height gave her a definitive motherly appearance, though intimidated some. This usually helped people be more open with her. Small things like this could make the biggest difference in conversation. 

 Her face brightened as Mason brought up material gathering. That was also a good chance for her to get to know Birdie a little more. "Sure, you're welcome to come with us! We can talk as we walk, sound good?" Adhae stood and began making her way out of the shop, flashing Birdie with a wide smile and beckoning to Mason. "You too, little man. Bring your grass-pop and find some more grass with me." She winked at him and walked to the left down the street outside of her shop. As she did, she looked around to find anything that may have been dropped or grown in the cracks of the street, or maybe a garden she could harvest from. She took a different road today and found a garden. Her mouth forming a little "o", she looked around to try to find something to pick.

ID: #67907  LD: 15

 Oh, awesome. She spotted a strawberry bush and leaned down to grab a handful of bright red berries. She put them in her inventory.

+1 Material

Edited September 16, 2016 by Adhaerere

[Mason 0]

 Fully engrossed in his treat, Mason sat while the two adults talked. He slobbered all over the lollipop, getting a little bit of drool on his hands on accident. Gross. He wiped it off on his pants, and looked up as Birdie addressed him. He giggled as she said it would be a pleasure to sit next to him. "You can sit next to me whenever you want!" He smiled and stuck his tongue out back at her. Then, Adhae said his lollipop was made out of grass and poop water. He laughed. "Ewwwwww." After a second, he said, "I will still eat it," and stuck it happily in his mouth again. He started humming softly and kicking his legs underneath the table. When they began talking about going and doing something, he jumped up and put his lollipop in the air. "Yayyyy." Then he ran out of the shop.

 Once he got outside, he turned left and ran down the road, taking a zig-zagged path down the pavement. He kept his candy in the air, turning it sideways and making airplane noises. "Brrrooooommmm, here goes the Lollipop Plane." He made it do a loop-de-loop and ran backwards, running directly into Adhae. "Oof." He almost fell backwards, but caught himself and was off running again, getting in the middle of the busy street. Pedestrians moved around him as he played with his 'Lollipop Plane'. "Zoom zoom. This is the pilot speaking, looks like we are going to crash! Ahhhhhh, brrrrrrrr BOOM!" He moved the lollipop down, as if the plane were diving to hit the ground. As it was about to touch the pavement, he stopped it, not wanting to get his treat dirty. He stuck it back in his mouth and ran over to Adhae, humming softly and walking with her and Birdie.

 When they reached the garden, his mouth dropped open. "Whoooaaa. This is pretty." He ran over to one of the bushes and stuck his hand inside it, grabbing a fistful of something and pulling it back out to see.

ID: #67908  LD: 1

 All he saw were leaves, and his arm was a little scratched now. He pouted and sucked on his lollipop some more.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Mason