[PP-NK-F17] On the Trail We Blaze

[Kooh 0]

'Mm?' Aereth's dramatic and sudden shift in tone gave Kooh a distraction to focus on, her curious mind wondering what he could be thinking about that wiped the smile from his face.

The blonde's chest remained tight nearly the entire way to the main island, despite the uneventful journey. She only let go of the brunette's shoulders once she was sure her feet would reach the sloped land that led to shore. Once she had done so, the girl carefully waded through the water on her own, eventually reaching the edge of a beach that was very different from the one she had wanted to lounge on just yesterday on the floor above. The air around them felt more humid, and the stretch of sand that met the trees sprouting from the ground was much shorter. Rather than another forest, the foliage that was laid out in front of them felt more like a wild jungle, causing Kooh to frown as she gazed as far as she could through the thick foliage in the distance.

She assumed Aereth would spend some time to rest. As mentally taxing as the trip had been for her, she could only imagine the man would be exhausted at this point, especially having foregone sleep the night before. The blonde resisted the urge to grimace as the uncomfortable feeling of her wet clothes and hair washed over her. She was suddenly grateful for the game's programming that would allow her appearance to return to normal after some time had passed. Though she would prefer to avoid it entirely, dealing with the discomfort caused by a mussed appearance was bearable if it would end up reverting as though nothing had happened.

"So," Kooh eventually chose to break the silence, glancing over her shoulder at Aereth. "Now you know. If you ever want to get rid of me, just shove me in the ocean." She casually joked. She had thought for a moment about asking the man if he had any fears to tell her about in return. Holding her tongue, she doubted he would be so willing to tell her something so personal even if he did. Not only that, but Kooh quickly reminded herself that she shouldn't be concerned with such topics. Once the cursor above her head switched back to green, she could finally forget about this mess and go back to how things used to be. '...Right?' She wondered, beginning to question her plans.

[Aereth 1]

Letting himself fall face first onto the floor as soon as they made it out of the water, Aereth opened his inventory. A few strange motions of his finger later, his wet clothes were gone, and he was back into his complete battle attire. After that he rolled on his back, now lying spread-eagled, and simply closed his eyes for a couple of moments in order to catch his breath again, and letting his mind get some rest as well. "F*ck, now I'm really tired..." he thought while feeling a soft breeze touching his face. They really needed to find an inn for tonight. Aereth wouldn't be able to stay up another night without going completely insane. 

Then however, Kooh's joke dragged him out of his thoughts, back to reality. Aereth turned his head into her general direction and with a deadpan look simply gave her a thumbs up, before closing his eyes once more for a couple of seconds and getting back up to his feet. "Change of plans. We will need to find an inn outside of this island for today. Because I don't think that I or you, want to carry you over to the other island AND safely guide you through the labyrinth of this floor, in my current state. I mean, I could try and I know for sure that we would be able to make it down, but that journey wouldn't be a pleasant one for either of us..."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh's fingers wrapped around her arms, looking away from Aereth and back out over the ocean with a small frown. She wasn't used to feeling guilty, and didn't much care for it after the past two days' events. The girl was about to sit herself down on the beach and wait patiently for as long as the brunette wanted to rest, but before she could do so the man was already pushing himself up to his feet and telling her they needed to find an inn sooner rather than later. Pulling up her own inventory, Kooh's own clothing replaced itself. Her knee-high boots returned, paired with black leggings that wrapped around her skin. A plain-looking white dress fell down to the middle of her thighs, and her signature hooded cardigan appeared to complete the monochrome look.

Slipping her hands into its pockets, Kooh would quietly follow Aereth's lead. They traveled across the island floor at a decent pace for a while without interruption. The girl assumed that the players from yesterday had given up on finding them by now. At least, she hoped they wouldn't have kept trying to chase them all this way. 'Are our lives really worth that much trouble?' She wondered, giving a small shake of her head to dismiss the thoughts of their possible pursuers.

It must have been mid-afternoon when the pair came across a lone building that rested in a generous clearing, otherwise surrounded by sparse trees and other foliage. A fair distance behind the structure, rocky slopes ran up to a small stretch of mountains. Kooh came to a stop when the inn came into view, identified only by a small sign posted beside the main entrance. The building itself was primarily wooden with bits of metal visible around the supports, but overall it hardly looked like it could be called an inn. Wondering just how many rooms its size could allow for, Kooh cast a sideways glance toward Aereth as if to wordless ask if this was what he was looking for.

[Aereth 1]

Kooh was quiet as ever and to be honest, Aereth couldn't care less. He pretty much enjoyed the silence while they were making their way across the island floor. It took them until mid to late afternoon until they were able to find an inn they would be able to spend the night in. Aereth quickly opened up his inventory and checked his map data. In the past Aereth had already spent many nights in inns outside of safe zones, and he knew that this most certainly wasn't the place for a young woman like Kooh. But sometimes you just can't choose right? 

Before they could enter the shabby inn, Aereth stopped and faced Kooh one more time. "As soon as we enter the inn you need to be very careful. Even though they'll most probably leave you alone, never let your guard down. You keep your battle attire on until you are in your room and after changing the privacy settings of your room so that nobody can enter, you can un-equip your armor." With that Aereth turned around and opened the door of the inn. 

Inside of the small in were some tables with roughly a dozen players. Even though the majority of the cursors were orange, there still were at least some green ones. Aereth removed his hood, revealing that the demon king himself just entered the inn. Many players then averted their gazes, other just stared in disbelief. He was quite well known in the underground of Aincrad. Right now he was one of the most dangerous players, crossing out more names at the monument of life than any other player currently. A player better not to be messed with. 

Exchanging some words with the inn keeper, Aereth organized two rooms for the night. After that he turned back to Kooh and moved closer to her so that nobody else could hear them. "You will have the room next to me. You can stay down here and grab something to eat. But I'd suggest to just take it with you to your room and eat it there. I'll go upstairs and will check on my equipment, as well as planning how we will make it down to the next floor. I won't go to sleep until you are safe in your room, and  in case anything happens I'll know it. Oh, and don't forget to adjust the privacy settings of your room so nobody can enter it. And if you need anything you know where I am." When he had payed the two rooms for the night, Aereth bribed the inn keeper to have an eye on Kooh. He gave the man a good amount of Col, and he would get even more if they were to leave the inn unharmed... With that he started to walk upstairs and vanished into his room.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh figured they were going to head straight inside, but before they did so Aereth had gotten the girl's attention with a serious expression on his face. She was a bit surprised at his tone, but simply nodded in understanding before they continued on. She knew Aincrad had its share of unfriendly players, but there didn't seem to be an end to being on edge on this journey. If this was the norm for an orange player, Kooh was amazed anyone would intentionally change their cursor color.

Another thing that surprised the blonde were the reactions of the handful of other players after they had entered. Kooh kept a blank, disinterested expression on her face as she glanced between looks of awe, fear, and those who seemed to want nothing to do with them. There was no need to advertise herself as an innocent--that would only draw the wrong kind of attention here. Her garnet eyes eventually drifted back to the back of Aereth's head as he stopped at the front counter and spoke with the inn keeper. While a small scowl rested on her face as the brunette didn't seem to expect her to pay any col of her own, she couldn't help wonder what it was that warranted so many different expressions cast their way. If Aereth was really such a kind soul, going above and beyond to "help people", why were these other players looking at him the way they did.

Snapping her back to reality, the man in question had leaned in closer and explained what she should do now that they were here. Her gaze idly drifted towards the innkeeper while Aereth spoke, the older muscular man standing behind the counter giving her a small nod when their eyes briefly met, as if to tell her he was watching out for her. "Mm. Alright." The blonde murmured an acknowledgement at Aereth's instructions. He didn't linger once he had finished speaking, disappearing upstairs shortly after. The atmosphere around her shifted slightly, perhaps returning to what it had been before the pair had entered. There was a lack of bloodlust and cruel intent in the air, perhaps something that Kooh wasn't sure if she should expect in this kind of company.

"So Missy," A gruff voice pulled her from her thoughts. The innkeeper was leaning over the wooden counter that separated them now, looking towards her while his body remained open towards the rest of the small tavern. Kooh looked at him cautiously and expectantly before he continued, "S'a rare sight ta see someone like you 'round here." He grinned, his expression neither innocent nor malicious. Kooh still wasn't sure if she could trust the man, and perhaps her impatient stare in response was what prompted him to clear his throat and shift his weight before speaking up again. "So, what'll it be? You eatin' anythin' tonight?" He asked in a more serious tone. Kooh eyes only drifted upwards for a brief moment, glancing towards the corridor that Aereth had disappeared behind. Taking a step and a half towards the edge of the counter, she took only a few moments before asking the man for two portions of soup and bread.

Kooh wasn't sure how long it had been since Aereth disappeared upstairs. The dialogue box hovering beside the door in front of her indicated that the room belonged to him. Standing still for a couple of minutes now, the girl was holding a small tray of food and drinks. She gave a glance to the next door to the left--her own room. She hadn't taken the time to enter it yet, having waited downstairs and offered the innkeeper little in the way of conversation while she paid for the food. Letting out a breath through her nose, the girl lightly swung her foot forward, giving the door a knock with the toe of her boot.

[Aereth 1]

After heading into his room, Aereth immediately dropped his sword, a small vanity dagger he kept on him all the time, and his armor on a chair that stood besides the bed, before opening his inventory. He fetched all the wet trousers, and hung it over the chair he dropped his other stuff on. After that he grabbed his armor set which consisted of his unique Goldcrest and Crow pieces and rested them neatly on the small nightstand, ready to use at any given opportunity. He only wore the trousers of his armor set with his boots. Usually Aereth didn't like to walk around without a layer that would protect him from damage, but in here he was safe. Then going through all the food he still had left, Aereth noticed that he needed to stock up on some things before they would leave again on the next day. He made some notes, and afterwards dropped his body on the average sized solo bed in his room. 

Now finally having the time to inspect his room, Aereth came to notice that it wasn't that shabby he assumed it would be when they first saw the inn. Without a doubt, it still couldn't compare to anything located inside of safe zones, but it was all in all acceptable. And the only thing that really mattered were the security settings of inns. No matter how rundown or f*cked up an inn was, the security settings were always the same, so nobody that Aereth didn't want to let into his room could actually come in. 

Hearing a single knock on the door, snapped Aereth out of his thoughts. Immediately grabbing his dagger, Aereth unsheathed the weapon and placed it in a backhand position, ready to parry and strike at anything that would be thrown at him. Slowly walking over to the door, Aereth slowly grabbed the doorknob with his free hand and opened the door a little be so he could see who it was. His stance relaxed when he saw Kooh standing outside of his room with a small tray with two portions of soup with bread and some drinks. "Oh, hey." he said while completely opening his door and letting the woman step into his room. "Come in. I hope everything was ok down there?" he asked in a questioning tone, before closing and locking the door. After that he placed his dagger back into its sheath, and looked at the tray Kooh was holding in her hands, when his stomach let out a loud growl....

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

The door cracked open to reveal a portion of Aereth's face, his eyes registering Kooh's presence before he allowed her to enter. She did so quietly, spotting the sheathed dagger from the corner of her eye after he had set it down again. Once again, she began to wonder if she was the weird one for not being so defensive and cautious all the time. Did that make her irresponsible? Reckless? Or maybe she just didn't value her own life as highly as Aereth did his--or both of theirs, really. 'Hmm, maybe all of the above.' She wordlessly answered herself.

The sound of growling brought back her attention. Once Kooh realized the noise had come from the brunette's stomach, her blank expression gave way to a small chuckle. "It's my turn." She said simply with a small smirk, referring to the meal he'd provided her the night before.  When she spoke, the girl held the tray out to him, as if urging the man to take the food and start eating. After Aereth would accept the offering, Kooh set the tray down on a small end table and picked up her own soup, simply holding the warm bowl in both hands. "Yeah," She was late answering his earlier question, her amused smirk fading back to a neutral expression. "I think I stand out a bit, but everybody's minding their own business down there."

She lifted a hand to pull down her hood, the thin fabric dropping to her shoulders. Truly, her choice of clothing was very casual given their surroundings. The weapons that she often forgot about, the black greaves with with a faint, fiery red pattern running up their lengths, were still strapped to the shins of her boots. Even so, she hardly looked armed or intimidating--an appearance she didn't plan to change. Fighting was a chore that she never cared for participating in, regardless of whatever the game systems did to make combat appealing to other players. Pushing the thought aside, Kooh looked down to the item in her hands. She had thought about just going back to her room. Why hadn't she?

"Are you okay with all this?" The question had lingered in her mind until it practically burned a hole through her. "It's none of my business," She admitted before continuing, "but I bet you could live a lot easier without that." Her gaze finally flickered up, past his face, to where his cursor would be. She stopped a moment before averting her eyes to the side with a wry smile. "I'm sure you know that." She mumbled, as if criticizing her own choice of words. She thought carefully for a few moments, sifting through her thoughts. Finally, she spoke up again with another question. "Can't you be a hero without all the self-sacrifice?"

[Aereth 1]

While Kooh chuckled and told him that it was her turn to supply them with some food today, Aereth also put on a small smile on his face. "I think this was the first time she an honest smile or grin on her face." he thought before opening his inventory and putting on the one shirt he had left. 

When she then held out the tray to him, indicating that he should take one of the two portions, he thankfully accepted the offer and took one of the two portions. Also grabbing a spoon, Aereth gestured to the small table, offering the woman a seat on the only free chair in the room. The other chair unfortunately was used by Aereth for drying his clothes, but he wasn't bothered by the fact the he had to eat while standing. "Thank you." he said before finally, starting with his well deserved meal.

He was glad to hear that the other players down there didn't cause any trouble to the woman, so he simply nodded to her and continued with his meal. God, he didn't even realize how hungry he was up until now.

When Kooh then asked him if he was really ok with all of this, he stopped and locked eyes with the woman, not really knowing what she meant, until she the question a little bit better, as well as asking him another one. He placed his spoon into his bowl and took a few moments in order to find a proper answer to the questions. 

"Do you really see me as a 'hero'? Cause..." he stated, a small smirk working over his face, before dropping the smirk again and looking at her with a more or less serious expression. "... I couldn't be more far away from being a 'hero'. The things I have done in the past, and the things I'm doing now and in the future, would only label me as a coward and a monster, or a demon... And of course my life would be much much easier with a clean green cursor, but..." Now Aereth was struggling to find the right words and thus took another moment to think. "But I simply can't life like that anymore..." Aereth said, now breaking eye contact with the woman. "But what about you? I noticed that you are messing around a lot with other people. And you are choosing the words you are saying with the same finesse as the tone you are using." Aereth asked, trying to change the subject of the conversation. 

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

The blonde stared back at Aereth while his attention was locked onto her. For a fleeting moment she was afraid her words would annoy him or he would simply dismiss the topic. His reaction was different, however: very honest, but seemingly very difficult to put into words. "Hmm... You think so?" She asked quietly, not expecting an answer in return. Her shoulders lifted up in a tiny shrug as her gaze drifted to the side, running along the dark wooden paneling that lined the humble room. "That seems like what you're going for." She stated in response to how she 'really' saw him. "At least, it doesn't seem to me like you're trying to be a monster." Her eyes flickered back to the man's face with a small, almost sympathetic smirk. The expression was quickly replaced with a frown when his thoughts seemed to trail off for a moment. "Oh~? And why can't you?" She prodded his dismissive statement in an innocent manner, but didn't press him for a response.

Instead, the girl took in a deep breath through her nose. She finally acknowledged the seat Aereth had offered, deciding to accept it and leaning back while she also finally began to eat some of her own meal. "I'll take that as a compliment." Kooh teased at his mention of her 'finesse'. The blonde crossed one leg over the other, tilting her head backwards to stare at the ceiling for a few long moments. "What about me?" She repeated his question in a small voice, as if wondering where to start. Silence hung over them for a short time, when suddenly another playful smirk took over her features. The girl's eyes drifted back over to Aereth, her chin still tilted up as she turned her attention back to him. "What, you want to know more about me~?" She teased the brunette another moment before pulling her gaze away again.

"I'm just pretty good at telling people what they want to hear, that's all." The smirk continued to rest lightly on her lips. "I don't have some special story, or goal I want to achieve." She admitted.

[Aereth 1]

"Then it you haven't seen me cutting through players like a hot knife through butter..." Aereth thought before answering. "I've been trying. After that person lost her life because of me, I tried to go on, to continue a more or less normal life. Or at least as normal as a life in a virtual reality can be. But I didn't manage to do it. I found myself more often than I like to admit at the edge of the first floor, wanting to just end it already." Aereth sighed. He really didn't like talking about his past, but now he at least needed to make his point. "But one day I said no. I said no to being a suicidal person and mental wreck. I took all the fear, the hatred and the pain, and began to use it as motivation in order to get stronger and kill every freaking player killing b*stard that crosses my way. It's the only thing I live for...." While saying the last sentence Aereth's usual calm expression got replaced by a more passionate, almost angry one. But fortunately he was able to keep his feeling at bay and after he finished the sentence his usual expression was the only thing to be seen in his face. "On that day I swore that nobody else will loos their lives when I can somehow prevent it." he then added.

Continuing to eat while Kooh was thinking about an answer to his question herself, Aereth simply looked at the woman with a curious look. When she then asked him if he really wanted to know more about her in a teasing tone, Aereth rose an eyebrow and answered in the very same teasing tone before she pulled her gaze away. "That depends on how much time you have, and on how far you are willing to go... I mean we already had our more or less 'intimate' moments on our way here..." He still looked at her with his risen eyebrow for some more moments before focusing back on his meal.

"I'm not buying it. Be it either for personal pleasure or anything else, you have to have a reason for f*cking around with other people." Aereth said again in his usual calm tone.

@Teion

[Kooh 0]

'Ah--' Again, the brunette wasn't phased by her teasing or flirtatious comments, throwing her off guard for a brief second. In fact, he returned her quip with one of his own, causing the girl to lean forward, uncrossing her legs while her arms now rested against her knees. She looked down now, staring into the half-finished bowl of soup in her hands and trying to subdue her own flustered feelings.

'Damn it...' She frowned again when Aereth poked holes through her flimsy response. She was silent for a while, unsure of how to respond to him. Finally, just when the air around them might have grown uncomfortable, the blonde girl spoke up. "Y'know, I've never had to think about it so hard before. Why I act the way I do." There was a faint bitterness that lingered in her voice. "At first, I just wanted people to like me." She thought back to her life in the real world. In school, she could easily win people over; she was the popular girl who didn't act full of herself. She knew how to read other kids and how to manipulate their delicate feelings, and she did so without hesitation. "I just got too greedy after that. When people like you, they're more willing to sacrifice for you." She was only here, playing this 'game', because she could sweet-talk the right people who had it at their disposal. 'You can just let me try it for a little bit, right? I'll be careful with it, promise!' Her own sugar-coated words rang clearly in her head.

"It's different here." She said, her tone falling flat. "A hundred-floor playground where I can do anything I want." Despite her choice of tense, Kooh spoke as if her earlier time in Aincrad was just a fond memory. "The people here are weird, though." A light scoff escaped her. "Sure, not everyone is so righteous. But some will sacrifice almost everything for only the satisfaction of knowing that they 'helped' someone." For a moment she considered making a light-hearted comment about their current situation, but the desire for playful words had faded away a while ago. The girl stayed silent for a while longer, nearly losing track of herself and her thoughts.

Kooh took in a deep breath, finally pushing herself to sit upright and leaning back in her chair. Her eyes still lingered on the bowl in her hands while she tried to come up with a point to her rambling. Some take-away or reason for her saying everything she had. "So yeah, there's usually a reason. Just a really shallow one." A forced smirk rested on her face while she looked back at Aereth, a bit curious if the man was still wearing his same calm expression.

[Aereth 1]

Seeing the reaction of the slightly flustered female was somehow satisfying for Aereth. It really seemed like all the females around him tried to gain an advantage over him from trying to make him flustered. But not with Aereth. "I mean I could take off my shirt again, if you wanna know some 'things' about me first." Aereth said pushing the teasing to a liming, and making sure to add an really really teasing tone to the 'things'. He even started to slowly lift his [censored], but after some tense moments, just to see how the woman would react, Aereth shook his head put a grin on his face let out a small "Just kidding." before dropping his shirt and finishing his meal.

When Kooh then continued to talk about her reasoning, Aereth was back to his usual calm and collected behavior and simply listened to what the blonde had to say and after the female was finished, Aereth took a couple of moments to find the right answer. His facial expression still remained calm, but his eyes were filled with curiosity. "Well, I wouldn't say that this is per se a shallow one. It's just the way you are. If you enjoy messing around with people is how you want to live, then just do it. I have no right to say that it's a shallow reason or not. The thing I'm really curious about is, if you try to manipulate all the persons around you, that tells me that you most probably have nobody in here that you really trust. Someone that really knows how you feel. Even I have a handful of people I trust, and with which I talk about my problems and feelings from time to time, and I want to know how you manage all the sh*t around you without talking to anybody about it...." he said before closing his eyes to think for some more moments. "And I don't think that people are wired just because they help other people... Maybe doing so reminds them that they are still human. Or maybe it's just me who thinks this way. I really don't know." 

After another few moments of silence Aereth decided to speak up once more. "I think it goes without saying that what I tell you today needs to stay in this room, but I feel like I owe you some more detail on my motives, since you also shared yours with me. You remember when I told you that I lost a precious person to me in this game?" Aereth said, his eyes still closed, but with a somehow pained voice. "That person was the woman I loved more than anything else for over six years and she had to die because of my own weakness..."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

In the silence that allowed Aereth to compose his own thoughts, Kooh forced herself to finish her meal, leaning forward to place her empty bowl back on the tray once she was done. As with all objects in this world, the game registered its durability as depleted and it shattered, light particles vanishing into thin air after her hand had pulled away.

He had brushed off her doubt as if her behavior was completely normal. Aereth's words had caused her to blink in surprise, staring back at the man while he spoke. When he admitted his curiosity and spoke about her trust in others, the corner of her mouth twitched into a wry half-smile. She leaned back in her seat again, crossing her legs once again as she stared at the empty tray sitting on the table."I dunno... Does this count?" She asked, not expecting an answer from the brunette. "How I manage...?" She echoed his words, for a moment wondering what the answer was herself. Without offering an explanation aloud, Kooh simply crossed her arms over her stomach, tilting her head back to stare up at the ceiling again and letting the silence wash over them.

Her eyes flickered over to meet Aereth's face when he spoke again, telling her that he expected their conversation to remain private. "Cross my heart." A small grin took over her features, and the girl wondered for a moment if she was forcing her typical carefree attitude. 'Typical', at least before she met Aereth. How many masks had she cycled through, trying to disguise her feelings and intentions? After their haphazard journey had begun, she felt as though she had put up a wall between the two of them. After only two days, however, that wall had started to wear away and holes formed. 'Does this count?' The question returned to her. Before she had the time to dwell on it, Aereth had continued speaking, the tone of his voice grabbing her attention.

Kooh sat in silence after his explanation, staring blankly as she tried to form some sort of response. What was it like to value someone else's life more than your own? To lose it, or have it taken from you? She felt herself swallow, and she finally tore her gaze away from Aereth's face to tilt her chin back towards the ceiling. "You want to avenge her, right?" Kooh's voice finally cut through the silence. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think it's stupid to blame yourself for something like that." A small frown made its way to her face. "I mean, it's not like you were okay with it. Not being able to control a situation doesn't make you weak. And it doesn't leave you at fault." Kooh closed her eyes before letting out a small, frustrated sigh. 'Of all times that I don't know the right thing to say...'

Her bottom lip stiffened its frown for a moment before Kooh opened her eyes again. She faced Aereth now, shifting her expression into as genuine of a smile as she could manage. "Besides, it seems like you care about her a lot. It's not like I knew her, but I bet she wouldn't want you to keep beating yourself up about it like this."

[Aereth 1]

"I cant answer that questions, that's something you have to answer on your own..." Aereth thought while Kooh was thinking about what helped her getting through the daily [censored]. "You know what? You don't have to answer this question now, just try and find somebody that you can really really trust. Somebody that doesn't judge you for who you are, and for what you are doing. Or else you're gonna break someday. God, I sound like one of those f*cking life coaches." Aereth said with a small chuckle at the end.

But when Kooh then started to speak about what he had just told her, Aereth closely watched the woman in front of him. How many times did he hear these exact same things. Itzal told him, Anemone told him, hell even he himself tries to tell him that he couldn't have done anything and he knew that they all were right, but it still was very hard for him to accept this truth. Sighing, Aereth replied. "Not actively. I know in which guild the two players are that killed her, and I'm sure that I'd be able to find them, but right now I'm much much too weak as to take that guild on by myself." After some moments of silence, Aereth simply looked up again, reflecting the genuine smile Kooh was giving him and answered. "Don't worry, about that. Even though it still hurts, I'm able to keep my sh*t together. And talking to the persons I trust about it sure as hell helps me with that." he added a small wink to the last part before closing his eyes once more. Now there they were. Sitting in a rundown inn, hunted by some douches and talking about their respective lives... "Good times...." he thought...

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

Kooh stared back at Aereth while she listened to his advice. The girl brought a hand up to run her fingers through her hair as a small sigh escaped her. Her head turned and tilted downward while her hand rested at the back of her neck, carefully considering his words. What did that mean? It sounded as though he was describing their current situation--he hadn't judged her after she explained herself, and he spoke honestly with her in return. His choice of words, however, left her head spinning. 'Aughhh, what does he want?!' She resisted the urge to ruffle her hair with both hands.

Despite her internal debate, Kooh still held onto plenty of doubt. While part of her thought that he might be very right--that she needed to truly open up to people in order to survive this world and remain mentally intact--what he was asking her to do was going against everything she had lived by up to this point. When something wasn't useful to her, she should discard it. If someone tried to get close to her, she should push them away. When the familiar feeling of loneliness would begin to creep up on her, she should distract herself and simply wait for her troublesome emotions to pass.

Her mind was growing weary, unable to process all of the information swirling around. For the first time in a while, she felt completely directionless. Despite Aereth's advice and request, she couldn't bring herself to accept  it. 'What time is it...?' Of all times, she found her gaze drifting idly towards the single window in the room, trying to gauge if the sun had set outside. "Mm, is that a bad thing?" Referring to his comment on his own advice sounding like that of a life coach's, another half-smirk instinctively pulled at her, though her eyes looked rather dull in contrast.

His further explanation pulled at her attention, giving her something to focus on for a moment. "It'd just be a shame to see a sweet guy like you give in to that bloodlust." Another small smile forced its way to her face. Kooh took in a sharp breath before dropping her arm, uncrossing her legs and standing herself up with a long stretch. The girl leaned forward to take the empty tray, intending to head back downstairs to return it before she would go back to her own room. She began to walk towards the door, but lingered in the event that Aereth would continue their conversation.

[Aereth 1]

A smirk crept over Aereth's face when a confused Kooh was trying to figure out what he just said, and just when she started to look out of the window and asked him if it was a bad thing, sounding like a life coach, Aereth chuckled. "I guess not." But it still sounded wired. A mentally scarred and broken killer giving some life tips to a notorious liar and manipulator. The thought turned Aereth's smirk into a full grown smile and he added. "We're pretty messed up, huh?" before starting lo laugh at the thought once more.

After Aereth completely finished his explanation, Kooh mentioned that it was a shame to see a sweet guy like him giving in to the bloodlust. " tIt might be a shame and even ge me killed one of these days but that's what I am. Saving cute girls is just for the fun. But damn, to see a blonde hottie punching a much taller guy directly into his face. If it weren't for the fact that the avatars can't loose some teeth, I could have sworn you punched a few out of his face." Aereth replied before Kooh would stand up with the tray, making her way over to the door. Aereth's eyes followed her until she hesitated for a few moments.

Smirking Aereth also got up, removed his shirt and boots and flopped onto his bed with closed eyes. "Once somebody gets through your first line of defense, I have to say that you're quite an interesting person to talk to. Thanks for the meal. I really appreciate it. I'm heading to bed now. And you should do so too." After that Aereth opened up one single eye, before saying in a teasing tone. "I changed the privacy settings of my room, so that you can always enter without a problem... So in case you need 'anything'... You know where to find me...."

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

As she began to push the busy thoughts to the corner of her mind, urging herself to save them for a later time so that she wouldn't find herself braindead, the sound of Aereth's laugh caused Kooh to let out a small chuckle of her own. She blinked in surprise at his counter to her statement, once again bringing up the man to whom she had given a very forceful request to shut up and go away. "If I didn't know any better, it almost sounds like I impressed you or something." She retorted with another small smirk. "Guess I'll have to be extra careful not to run into any more a**holes. Wouldn't want to have you falling for me." She began to felt as though they were competing, and Kooh was simply refusing to let the brunette outdo her charm.

With the quick and casual way that Aereth had removed his shirt and laid down on his bed, Kooh found herself caught off guard once more. Not only that, but his string of comments, ranging from sincere to flirtatious, had continued to take her aback. She found herself staring back at the man's face as her mind went blank. It wasn't until she felt the heat on her cheeks that the girl came to her senses, turning towards the door with a quick, "Goodnight." Closing the door behind her, Kooh held her breath for a few long moments as her back leaned against the heavy wood. Exhaling slowly, she pulled her hood back up and headed to the narrow staircase leading back down to the main floor.

A short time later, Kooh let out the air in her lungs with a heavy sigh. She was in her own room now, having locked her door and set the room to deny anyone but herself entry. She pulled off her cardigan and boots with frustrated motions, leaving the clothing items strewn on the floor. She paced back and forth across the length of the small bedroom for a few minutes while her mind repeatedly played back their conversation. After a while, the girl forced herself to lay down on her back, pulling up her left arm to rest against her forehead. The blonde stared up at the ceiling with a small, frustrated scowl, her cheeks involuntarily taking on a pink hue. "Come on Luna, why are you letting him get to you?" She scolded herself in a quiet voice. While her mind was busy thinking about anything but sleep, night would soon overtake them.

[Aereth 1]

"Hell yeah, that was impressing." Aereth said, followed by a small chuckle. "Incredibly risky and stupid but nonetheless impressing. Turned me quite on, to be honest." Aereth said and returned the smirk at the last comment. "Oh really? Now that makes me sad. Am I smelling or do I just have an ugly face." Aereth said in a pseudo dramatic tone, before he started to laugh. "Haha... But  jokes aside. Don't start a two on one battle you know you can't win in the future."

After Aereth prepared himself for going to bed, he got exactly the reaction he was hoping the blonde would give to his actions. Aereth could almost see how the heat in her face was rising, as soon as he removed the shirt from his body. After that she turned around and gave him a quick 'good night' before opening the door and laving him alone with his thoughts. Aereth's eye closed and a small chuckle escaped his lips once more. After that the exhaustion of the trip up until now was taking its toll on the brunette player, as it didn't take long before he dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

@Kooh

[Kooh 0]

How long had Kooh been staring up at the ceiling of her room before she fell asleep? She had so much too think about and too few answers for herself that eventually it was the exhaustion that caused her eyelids to feel heavy. With little choice but to give in, the girl slowly drifted off.

'Where...am I?' Kooh felt her legs moving rapidly beneath her. She was running, but her torso was leaning forward unnaturally. Her eyes followed down the length of her arm until she reached the hand that was clasped around her own. 'Huh?' The blonde registered the taller male figure in front of her with short brown hair pulling her along. Why wasn't she stopping? Pulling her hand away and demanding to know where Aereth was taking her? While her body refused to listen, she instead tried to make sense of her surroundings. They were in a forest? It was so dark she could hardly make out the path in front of them. Before Kooh could try to urge her vocal chords to work again, she felt a sudden surge of movement and the shock of her back making contact with the bark of a large tree. Her legs had stopped moving, and a strong presence now loomed in front of her. Aereth's frame was nearly pressed up against her own, and as she felt her mouth finally open as if to protest, a hand swiftly covered it to stifle her speech. Kooh's eyes flickered up towards the man's face only to see his attention was directed elsewhere. His brown eyes gave off the soft glow she vaguely remembered from before while he seemed to be looking for something. After a few long seconds, the brunette turned to face her, causing the girl to freeze up when his eyes met her own. The hand clasped over her mouth moved until he held an index finger over her lips, and all Kooh could do was feel her heart begin to pound in her chest. Her mind felt blank and her body continued to ignore whatever action she tried to mentally call out. It was the sudden mixed expression of shock and pain displayed on Aereth's face that caused Kooh's eyes to widen. The faint glow of his irises faded away as the life drained from his eyes. The man collapsed before her, a single blade protruding from his back.

With a small gasp, Kooh's eyes flew open to reveal a vaguely familiar dark oak ceiling. The girl blinked a few times, her breaths shallow while she sat up in the inn's bed and tried to make sense of not only her current surroundings, but also the scene that had played out in her mind just moments ago. Had she dreamt before, since being trapped in Aincrad? She couldn't remember. Her head swiveled as she looked towards the room's window. What time was it? Sunlight streamed through the glass panes, so the night had most certainly come and gone. Kooh swung her legs over the side of the bed, leaning over with her arms resting against her knees as she waited to slowly regain her composure. If today was the same as any other--if she was waking up in her room in Halcyon's Keep--she would have rolled over and tried her best to sleep in. But after a dream like that, the only thing she could do was pull herself to her feet. 'No... More like a nightmare.' The girl ran a hand through her hair as she moved to the other side of the room. She pulled on the pieces of clothing that she had discarded on the inn floor the night before and opened the door to her room, peering cautiously down either end of the hall before slipping outside.

Not in the mood for a scolding, Kooh decided to wait downstairs, in the small tavern-like common area the inn provided for drinking and dining. Compared to the previous night, the open space was like a ghost town, leading Kooh to really wonder just how early she had woken. Regardless, she refused to stay put in her room. The blonde would have preferred to go outside and roam around until her head felt more leveled, but she didn't dare stray outside of the inn's walls. So, with her arms crossed and resting on the table in front of her, Kooh took a seat and reserved herself to wait for their journey to continue.

[Aereth 1]

It was a dreamless, but nonetheless some good sleep from which he just woke up. The sun rays were shining through the window of his room, indicating that it was time to get up and to continue their journey. Aereth had quite a blast yesterday evening with the teasing of the blonde player, as well as some deeper conversations about what and why both of them were doing what they did. With a small yawn, Aereth got up and immediately equipped all of his battle gear again, before throwing the black coat over his shoulder and walking out of his room. 

It didn't take him long to spot Kooh down in the common area of the inn, due to her being the only other person there. "Hey there, how was your sleep. I hope you got some rest." Aereth, while taking a chair on the opposite side of the blonde. After that he waved to the inn-keeper, indicating that he would like to order some stuff.

When the bulky player arrived, Aereth spoke. "I'd like to have a cup of hot chocolate." The player gave him a deadpan look, and froze for a couple of moments before Aereth spoke up again. "What? Don't tell me you don't have something like this." Shaking his head, "Just wasn't expectin' somethin' like that from ya." the player looked over to Kooh, not knowing if she also would like something.

@Kooh