[PP-F1] Reunion

[Sey 0]

It was him at his restaurant, washing a few dishes. The orders were growing extremely fast, it was time for him to stock up on the dishes so that he could keep up while he had this extremely brief break. With this, he would look around to see if Kooh was around. As expected, she was probably in his room. Oh well, there was no reason to bother her. She could sleep in as much as he liked. He was probably going to lie down onto the couch eventually as well. As he continued to wash them, he would look at the reflection in one of the plates. His facial expression never changed it seemed. Despite the time he spent in the game, he felt absolutely normal. Nah, even better. Just... Great. He felt like he was having the time of his life. Everything had been working in his favor and he was successfully able to make a life worth living in his opinion. The business was great and he was soon able to buy himself a house, which was definitely going to be a pleasant reward for all of the hard work he placed into the shop. Everything was just fine for him.

@Shadowpixel

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel had found herself wandering through the city again. She was never really good with remembering directions, so she walked down the streets back and forth, just looking around at the usual NPCs, looking for any funny or unusual things to see the NPCs do. She ended up at the doorstep of Sey's restaurant this time and stared at the door for few seconds while thinking to herself. "I should at least say hi to him. Yeah, I'll just do that." Pixel said to herself as she opened the door to the restaurant and entered somewhat slowly. It had been a bit since she had last came into the restaurant in fact. Pixel looked back and forth through the restaurant to see if Sey was present at all, but she couldn't see him. The place seemed a little busy, so she assumed Sey was in the kitchen preparing food or something like that.

@Sey

[Sey 0]

Continuing to cut through the onions, he would hear the door opening followed by the sound of a few bells. A customer perhaps? Turning his head towards that direction while still cutting, he noticed a familiar purple-haired player located towards that direction. It was her, and it had been a while since they departed. Nice to know she came back for a visit. He would only take his eyes off of her when he felt the knife hit his finger, in which he would just look down and stop cutting. Fortunately, there was no pain in Aincrad. "Hey Pixel. Welcome back. Please make yourself comfortable. I assume you came here for something to eat?" he asked as he would slide the slices of onions to the side and into a bag, prepared to preserve them for a good amount of time. Kooh occupied the space that the young girl took, so he could not provide anything of a home anymore. She does seem to have matured though, so he had a feeling that it would not be an issue.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel was happy to see Sey again and waved a bit eagerly in his direction. She winced a little bit when she saw Sey's knife hit his finger, but then sighed, remembering there was no pain in Aincrad. Pixel forgot a lot that she was in a game and thought that Aincrad was the real world. It had just taken a little toll on her for being in the game for so long. Pixel then listened to Sey's question and answered quickly, "I'm not really hungry, I just wanted to say hi since I was passing by." Pixel explained, smiling at Sey. Pixel then sat down at an empty seat and continued talking, "I ate a little earlier before coming here, plus I need to save up my col quite a bit. How have you been? Got any plans for today?" Pixel asked as she leaned in her seat and continued looking at Sey.

[Sey 0]

Well, there was a lot of things for him to do, but most of them involved staying inside of this building. Perhaps he could go to Hidden's shop and see how she was doing. Or perhaps he could have gone out to scope for some players to assist. It was the first floor after all. "Sounds good to me. As for plans, I do have a few orders to get done with, but they aren't due for another few days. I don't have much else to do as of right now though. If only there was a fair or something like that. That would be nice." A fair or carnival, something with extreme rides, but he spoke about them as if they were supposed to be relaxing. Well, there might have been some relaxing ones, but still. As he placed the onions into the storage, he would begin to pick up the items. "And for you? How is life treating you so far?" It seems like they were going to catch up a bit.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel nodded in agreement with Sey, "A carnival would pretty cool to have in Aincrad, but I highly doubt we'll ever get something like that. Sure, this is a video game, but a carnival with rides would not really fit at all." Pixel said as she continued to lean back in her seat until she fell off and onto the ground. Pixel got up quickly and fixed the seat. "Sorry. Anyway, life has been good for me lately. I'm less scared of boars now, so that's a plus. I've been working on my dressing habits as well." Pixel said as she sat back down and rubbed her back briefly. Sey seemed to really not have changed as much since they last met, so Pixel just talked the way that she normally did with him. Pixel began to play with one of the salt shakers on the table as she waited, not leaning back in her seat this time.

[Sey 0]

"Yeeeah, that's just me complaining. There are cool things, I just need stop being lazy and do that." He would explain as he would then finish the job off with the dishes being placed away. He would untie the apron he had been wearing to reveal a white Tee and acid jeans. It had been a while since he wore something without a form of jacket or hoodie on his being. But, well, there he was. The sudden slip from the chair would allow him to raise his eyes, only for her to recover quickly, and he would let out an amused chuckle. Ah, classic Pixel. "Well as long as you are fine. And I'm glad to hear that! And clothing as well? Did you go out and get yourself some outfits?" Other than the current one that she had been wearing of course. There was a huge selection surprisingly for this time period that Aincrad was supposed to be set at. It was expected that she might have found three or four things she liked.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel should have expected that it was more of a complaint than an idea. Pixel watched as Sey undid the apron and was little surprised to see Sey without a jacket. "Yeah, I figured that, we'll never get a cool event like a carnival." Pixel stated as she continued to play with the salt shaker, twirling it back and forth with her finger. "I haven't really found any clothes that caught my eye besides my current outfit, but I did see this one dress. I am still trying to save up col, so I chose not to buy it. I am trying to get better at managing my money. I remember my mother telling me once that I need to learn how to manage money, so I think this game would be a good opportunity to do so." Pixel said as she stopped twirling the salt shaker and put it back.

[Sey 0]

"Oh? And how about earning it? Do you have a plan for earning Col?" he would ask as he looked at the salt shaker at last, noticing the twirling of it as he eyes would try to follow. He might have to clean up later on if what he thought what could happen did happen. But she eventually placed the salt back onto the table. "My father taught me how to run a business and make myself some money in case something like this happened. Business is the number one economy to strive in if you want to be rich. But at least able to live." his father drilled in one single word into his skull over and over again in order to get the result that he wanted, to give Sey no other choice. And it was successful. The word was "work". And work was the only way he was going to survive anything. Everything in life was hard. It was the kind of hard that he needed to choose. "Well, enough of that rambling. Have you met anyone new in the game?"

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel nodded her head, "I was thinking of just farming mobs whenever I needed col. I'm not really the business type." Pixel answered as she got up from her seat. Being a small merchant was something she had done in other games, but she was never quite fond of it. She then listened to the rest of what Sey had to say, then answered back. "Your father sounds pretty cool. He sounds like someone my dad would work for. Business is pretty much the biggest part of economy I would agree. It would make him proud to see you running a restaurant like this. And as far as meeting new people, I haven't really made any new friends. But it's okay. I still am well on my own." Pixel responded before winking at Sey. It was nice to catch up with him.

[Sey 0]

"Hey, that's fine. Mobs definitely provide good loot too. I should probably do that, but I guess I have been slacking in that field." He would stretch his arms up and stand on his toes, stretching for a bit from the work he had done before returning back to the loosely standing position he had previously been in, allowing his blood to circulate and his body to feel energized. "Yeah, he was always good to me, despite how mean I thought of him back when I was a kid. Never really understood what he did until way latter. And hey, as long as you are fine, that's great. You seem to be in good condition for surviving on your own anyways." His hands would be placed back in his pockets as his weight would lean towards the left leg, his right leg being lifted up just a small amount. She seemed fine, it was nice to know her safety was more assured now than it was back then. Now came the grind if she wanted to be in the frontlines.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel stretched a little bit herself after she had gotten up. She rotated her hips back and forth a few times before stopping and leaning against the table. Pixel thought for a second about what to say or ask, and eventually decided. It was hard to choose what to say when catching up with someone like this. "So... are you free today? If you are, we can go do something together. Like farm some more mobs, or go back to that lake now that we are more prepared." Pixel asked with a small smile on her face. It was fine if Sey was still busy, she could just talk with him, but doing something with him was good in her mind too. "If you aren't free, that's totally fine! I can just stay here and talk or leave. Whatever you want to do." Pixel added quickly to avoid making it sound like he had to do something.

[Sey 0]

"Yup! I'm down for that! Let me just go get my equipment real quick and I will be ready." he would explain to her as he would enter his room, regardless if Kooh might have been there sleeping or not, it was not really of any concern. He would place his equipment into his inventory before proceeding to equip all of it, making him more of a balanced tactician now than he was before. Stepping out from  his room, he would look back over to her with a confident smile. "Let's do this! I could definitely go on a hunt or the lake. Whatever is the best for you." Ever since that other day they went, he made sure to have all sorts of gear in his inventory in case random scenarios happened. Sure, he was not really that big of a fan of water, but it was not the worst thing for him either. It was just not a preferred activity. One might compare it to getting cheap chocolate rather than the good kind. It was sweet, but not the good kind.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel was glad that Sey was available today. She waited patiently as Sey went into his room and got ready. Pixel was already prepared to fight, since she always had everything with her. She began to plan out what they could do in her head as she waited for Sey. Once Sey exited the room with the confident smile, Pixel felt more ready to go herself. If either was fine, then everything would work out well. "Pixel is ready to go! We can fight some mobs, then just relax at the lake afterwards. Sound good? Or do you want to go to the lake first?" Pixel asked as she ran up to the door and opened it. She held it open and smiled at Sey as she waited for him to exit. "I'm ready to go when you are!" Pixel said as she gave a small, playful salute. She felt very energized now that she was going to fight some mobs. 

[Sey 0]

"Not a problem at all, captain! Let's get on with this." He would tell her as he would move his body towards the door and proceed to exit the shop, holding the keys in his hands as he would then lock the shop if Pixel ended up on the other side with him. "We should be able to handle them without a problem. Did you get some new equipment just in case? I wouldn't mind lending you some armor."  This time, he was prepared with a new armor on his own body. The first tier one that he had was in his inventory and would not mind letting her have. If she wanted to keep it, that would be fine. Though it was a heavy armor type of equipment, and he was not sure how keen she was on having it. But hey, it was just an offer, and she has no reason to accept it if she did not even want it in the first place. Placing his palms in his pockets, he would tilt his head to the side as he would await an answer.

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel laughed a little bit as Sey exited the shop and she went out right behind him. "I'm no captain, but I guess it's fine." Pixel said as Sey locked the door. Pixel then shook her head at what Sey said next, "I didn't get any new armor, but the armor I have is just fine! Thank you for the offer though!" Pixel answered as she opened her menu and took off her kimono. She then equipped her leopard clothes and closed her menu. She then did a small spin before laughing again. "I'm sorry! I'm just excited to hunt down some mobs again with you!" Pixel apologized with a giggle. She put her hands on her hips as she looked at the usual crowds of floor 1 that were passing through the streets. "You know, I'd probably still be with this crowd if I hadn't met you." Pixel said as she watched the people walking in the crowd.

[Sey 0]

"Not a problem then. For your safety then, we should fight the monsters one at a time then. It won't earn as much col, but what's the point of col if we are not even alive to collect it?" He would explain with a smile as he would proceed to make his way towards the edge of the safe zone, hopefully with the girl still following behind him. If so, they would eventually make it out towards the fields where the classic boar enemies were located. It certainly has been a while. "I'm glad to hear that. Together, we will definitely be able to mow them down. I am glad to see you are excited for this. To be honest, I'm a bit hyped myself." He explained, the urge to pull out the spear rising as they got close to the enemies. "Awwww, that's sweet. I don't like to think of myself like that. Besides, you put in the work to get yourself out of there as well. That is definitely an achievement you must notice for yourself too."

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel smirked at Sey's warning, "You're right about that. No matter how strong our armor is, they can still do damage." Pixel noted as she undid the small knot on her top. As she began to retie it and make it more secure, she listened to everything else Sey said and smiled. Once she finished tying the knot, she spoke up. "Yeah, I guess I put some of the effort in myself. But I still owe you credit. I still couldn't have gotten as far as I did with you. Also, I'm just as hyped as you are to fight these boars! They are just ripe for picking!" Pixel responded as she straightened out her skirt. "Just to be safe. I don't want a repeat of anything that happened when we last fought these mobs. How much do you wanna bet that they still love you just as much as before?" Pixel asked as she finished straightening her skirt and got her Anneal Blade out of her inventory.

[Sey 0]

They seem to be able to find a few boars a little bit later.  Considering how he was able to lure the boar enemies out from where they were, with each other usually, he was able to find little details in their walking patterns and managed to just get the attention of one. So of course, he decided to just rush along and pluck a small pebble out from the ground, then toss it at the head of the enemy, letting it turn it’s head towards the both of them. “And it looks like we have it’s attention now. I will handle the boar with the first strike. Unless you want to, in which I am definitely cool with as well. And hey, it’s better me than you.” It was true. If he had the hate, that would have definitely been for the better. He can’t die on this floor. Pixel, he can’t say the same about.

Sey: 740/740 l 74 Energy

Pixel: ???/???

Boar: 370/370

[Shadowpixel 0]

Pixel watched as Sey picked up a stone and tossed it at the boar. She laughed a little bit when the pebble hit the boar's head. She always found herself laughing at tiny objects hitting something big. Pixel thought about if she should hit the boar first, but came to a quick conclusion. "I'll let you take the first hit, and then I'll follow up behind you. That is, if I can even hit it. We'll see if the system is on my side today!" Pixel said as she took a few steps back. She knew how mad Sey would get if she got hit by the boar, so if she let Sey take the hate, then there was risk of him getting mad. Seeing Sey get really worked up in a bad way was something that Pixel just hated to see. She readied her blade for the chance to strike the boar after Sey hit it and gave one last wink at Sey.