[PP-F?] Camping Done Right

[Aereth 1]

After taking @Anemone's hand, the two of them headed out of the abandoned house, and found themselves back in the burning heat of the fifth floor. Aereth cracked a small smile at the woman and said. "The thing is.... Where do we wanna stay? Unfortunately this stupid cursor prevents me from getting inside of the safe zones... And believe me, you don't even wanna try the inns that are located outside of the safe zones. You'd be better off if you just slept outside than going inside of them." Aereth said, his smile turning into a small frown. To say he completely understood what Anemone was a vague assumption, but he doubted that the woman had anything raunchy in mind.... Shaking his head, in order to sort out his thoughts once more, Aereth opened up his inventory and fetched a couple of teleport crystals out of it. "Well, I've got some teleport crystals with me, so if you knew a place somewhere I have a teleport crystal for, we could go there..." He said, trying not to drop any of them.

[Anemone 0]

The harsh sun had found its way over their head's once again. Anemone shielding her eyes from the oppressive rays as she looked at Aereth. She gave a curt nod of her head, while sweeping her dark brows of any collected perspiration. She gave a cool sigh and pinched her brows together, "I know a good camping spot. One floor above this one, we can stay close by the Waterfall of the Sage. Umm..." the woman shifted uneasily in the arid heat and sand but smiled up at Aereth.

"We can meet there. I need to run into town and pick up a few personal things. I didn't think we would be spending the night together, it was something of a spontaneous idea. But I didn't want the day to end with just...all that." she said pushing the quest with a gesture of her hand. She beamed with a bright smile, "I'll be there as soon as I can though. It won't take too long, I promise."

Anemone had several things to take care of, such as picking up a bottle of red wine from her shop, perhaps some extra food items as well. There was the necessity of getting a tent as well but would she need two or just one? She wasn't sure what tonight was going to be like, and she didn't want to give him the wrong idea that this was going to be a sleep together sort of deal, that would probably make her freak out a bit too much. But in the end, she needed to get a few personal items to make the night more enchanting. If he was going on a dangerous mission, she wanted him to have something he could cherish for as long as he could have it and more importantly, figure out what they were as friends. @Aereth

[Aereth 1]

When Anemone mentioned the Waterfall of the Sage, Aereth unfortunately had to admitt that he had never been to that place ever before. "S-sure. I'll be waiting there for you, until you got everything you need. But could you just give me the map coordinated to that spot? I've never been there." Aereth said, while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Take your time. I'll be clearing the area around the waterfall from mobs in the meantime." he added before they parted ways, and Aereth activated one of the teleport crystals that would bring him to the sixth floor.

After he appeared on this exact floor, Aereth immediately checked his map, in order to see where the crystal dropped him off. Thankfully it wasn't that far away from the place Anemone told him, and so he quickly started to head over to the waterfall. Once he reached his destination, he unsheathed his blade and started to look for any nearby monsters, that could annoy them on their spontaneous camping night....

@Anemone

[Anemone 0]

She formed a small fist and conked her own head, "Yes of course. How silly of me," the woman had passed over the map data she had of floor six. There were several safe routes to take to the Waterfall of the Sage listed and each one seemed to show casual gathering points for materials. She normally didn't share her personal map data, because of the least amount of mobs she would have to face during her trip and there was a lot of trial and error when it came to that. But it seemed the data would find it's way to Aereth. She smiled awkwardly while brushing hair away from her face and eyes as they departed. She hurried as fast as she could though to the portal, because it was so freaking hot on floor five and because she was excited as heck to be with Aereth tonight. Her first stop was her own shop on floor seventeen.

She had hurried through the Greek Themed layout of the city and ran down the steps of her under-city restaurant. As she sped down the steps, her satchel at her side bounced and bobbed off her hip, when she got close to the foyer the lights lit up with a dim light as the majestic water creatures drifted on by through the viewing glasses. Anemone had turned towards the Staff Only door and shot into the kitchen collecting some items she had stored there for special evening such as this, particularly a red wine that had been sitting there for a while. Hopefully it aged well, along with several finger foods and spreads that might whet that appetite of his. When she had cleared her stock she then moved across her own store and quickly moved towards one of the general merchants. She had bought several long pillowy mats that would be more comfortable than the ground would offer and a two person tent that she had thought had a separater, but did not. She now had all the she needed except for a few items of more personal interest.

She had finished the remainder of her shopping and sped towards floor six's waterfall. The many jumps and portals she had gone through were too numerous to count and her small body was bouncing to and fro with her hair becoming a slight mess in the process. When she arrived close by, she stopped her jogging and peered through the tree at the clearing where the waterfall was. She saw Aereth standing there with his weapon out and smiled smoothing out her shirt and letting her body catch up with her mind. Ladylike, the woman moved out of the bushes and smiled with a calm and serene look on her face, "You won't find mobs around here. I specifically chose this spot because the rumor mill is this is where you umm, take people for dates. So there won't be any mobs around." Anemone had stepped in front of Aereth, her hands out in front of her and she looked towards the rolling waterfall that splashed down into the crystal clear pool. 

"Isn't it beautiful? I discovered this place only by chance not too long ago. Although there is a quest marker here. But I found the waterfall to be extremely enchanting. Wait till you see how the water glows at night when the moon hits. It should be a full moon..." she said tucking hair from her red eyes over her ear. @Aereth

[Aereth 1]

When Anemone also finally came to the waterfall, and told him that he wouldn't find any mobs around here, Aereth slowly sheathed his blade and put a small smile on his face. "It seems like old habits die hard..." he said in a warm voice, and opened up his inventory. He was always checking out the near area when he decided to stay out for a the night. Usually he would spend the evening with his battle gear on, in order to be ready for sudden attacks. Thankfully however, in the last couple of weeks the nightly attacks on him have almost completely died down. Maybe was slowly getting infamous for crossing out name after name on the Monument of Life, but who knows... 

Shaking his head in order to clear his thoughts once more, Aereth opened up his menu and removed all of his battle gear. "This is where my material arts skill comes in handy..." he thought, as he got engulfed in light, and the armor, sword and coat were vanishing. With grandmastering said skill, he would be able to protect Anemone as well as himself even without his weapons. Now slowly following Anemone to the waterfall, he finally found some time to enjoy the beauty of this particular place. "It indeed is very beautiful. I can very well understand why people would go here for dates." he simply said, closing his eyes, to enjoy an inner peace he hadn't found in months...

@Anemone

[Anemone 0]

She chuckled lightly at his comment and nodded her head, "I am surprised we are the only ones here." She said admiring the sparkling water from a small distance. Her ruby eyes sat on the waters and she bit down on her bottom lip slightly wondering what to say or do next. "Oh!" she had a light bulb and a plan! "I bet you are famished after that battle. It got so hot in that desert, I am sure you have built up an impressive appetite." The woman took several steps back and clicked on her inventory. Reading the outside area, she wondered where best to put it. Right at the edge of the lake front so they could admire the waterfall would be great and probably romantic. So with a few more clicks, a red and white checkered sheet fluttered and appeared as it sat nicely on the ground, upon it was a hand crafted weaved basket with all sorts of food and goodies in it.

"I didn't have much time to prepare, so I brought whatever I had in the kitchen with me. There is lean pork, vegetables, fish and chicken over there. Then I have some mixed casseroles in those containers..." She went on and on and half the blanket was used to show off all the kinds of food she had brought. There was even cute little dolphin cut out shaped cookies to enjoy. "I wasn't sure what other foods you like to be honest, but I am sure there is something here for you to enjoy. Are you hungry? I probably should have asked first." The woman smoothed her pants and sat on the picnic blanket with her legs tucked under her. She started to clear a small path for Aereth to sit, how clumsy of her. "Don't worry. None of this stuff will bite. " she said with amused chuckle and she confidently asked him to sit and enjoy himself.

"Perhaps I had over done it a bit. You are more than welcome to take any of this with you when you leave tomorrow morning, or..." the woman wasn't sure how long Aereth wanted to stay with her through the night. Was it the entire night or just part of the night? "I know you have an important thing you need to do...But you shouldn't leave empty handed, ya know? Food from the heart can warm any person's soul." Anemone had tasted her own mixed casserole with a small helping of the turkey she had prepared. It was very  good. @Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"Yeah, that would be completely awesome." he replied in a calm voice. Aereth at first didn't even notice when Anemone took a couple of steps back, due to his eyes still being closed, but when he then heard some noises from behind him, he turned around and re-opened his eyes, only to see a beautiful red and white checkered sheet on the ground with a big basket in the middle of it. 

When Anemone then told him what she brought with her, Aereth's stomach gave out a loud rouble and Aereth's face lit up. "Are you freaking kidding me? That's enough to feed a whole army, and everything looks sooooooo delicious..." Aereth said, and slowly started to walk over to the woman. "I love everything you cook. The last thing you made for me was sooooooooooooooo good. And I assume everything else you make is awesome too." Finally reaching his spot on the oposite site of the woman, Aereth took a seat and grinned. "The food might not bite, but I will." he said with a chuckle, before reaching over to the dishes and then grabbing some of the vegetables and lean pork. "Just smelling these things is an awesome thing itself..." Aereth mumbled, and took a bite from the pork. 

To say it was delicious was an understatement. "Player crafted food is by far the best.... Especially from you." Aereth said with a serene smile on his face, before he continued. Swallowing another bite, Aereth replied. "Really? I can take some of that awesome food with me?" He asked in an excited tone. "The moment I took your hand, I promised to stay with you for that night. And only the rise of the sun marks the end of a night..."

@Anemone

[Anemone 0]

Anemone was happy that Aereth had enjoyed the food she had made, it looked like he was taking a bit of everything for everywhere while she was being modest. The food had tasted really good, but she didn't want him to see her little 'fat girl' habits coming in full swing. So she had taken small bites and cleared her plate soon after. There was red wine, but she had wanted to save that for later tonight for something a little more special. And it had started to get a little cooler out as well, marking the sun would soon set over the horizon. "We could watch the sunset over there. We might end up getting a little wet, but I--" the woman looked down at her hands and her fingers and thumb began to fidget as looked back up at him, "I brought a bathing suit. If you wanted to take a swim and go over to watch the sunset. I haven't seen it first hand on this floor. And from the notes I have gathered it's one of the things couples do when they are usually here for a-a date." Her pale skin was usually just that, milky white but when she showed she was hot or flushed, there was a scatter of red that formed on her cheeks. That was happening right now, of course they could skip the entire thing if that wasn't what Aereth wanted to do.

She wanted to ask him some important questions as well that needed some answers because well, she was a woman and she needed to know a few things. The woman had stood up, with her belly full of food she felt a bit more relaxed if only just a bit. Being around Aereth made the butterflies in her belly swarm whenever he would look into her eyes. He was so attentive like that, and dreamy. She shook her head holding her face with both hands and smiled into them. She would walk behind the picnic area and she swiped open her menu once more and her inventory showed the medium sized tent. The seller had told her it would fit two people comfortably but there was no space in between meaning they might end up sleeping right next to each other.

The tent had appeared in a flat mess and Anemone had titled her head, "Do they actually expect us to pitch this thing ourselves?" She said walking around to one corner and sitting on her knees, there was a small pop indicator and she made an "oooh" sound. Poking the button allowed the tent to inflate on itself, reaching its height and looking very lovely. She had wondered if everything was set up on the inside. She unzipped the main flap and looked around, able to stand within it. Which was good. She bit down on her lower lip and she had quite the idea to make things super romantic...that is if things went well tonight for the two of them.

Anemone had turned around and started to prepare herself to get into her bathing suit, a few clicks here and there and she was bathed in the light to engulf her body in a cute two piece. Of course, this was the first time anyone would ever see her dressed like this. She never went swimming in the SAO, nor did she go to those hot springs on the new floor. But she would try to open up more like a flower, letting herself bloom into something beautiful. She had only hoped that her figure was something attractive for Aereth. Wearing a pink bikini, the woman stepped out of the tent and looked down with her hands over her milky thighs. She was very pale, and the intense color of her red eyes were the shocking part of contrasting body. She smiled though up at Aereth, "I can't be a timid little mouse right now. He probably doesn't like women who are so prude." Then she lifted her arms up and used both hands to twist and turn her hair into a bouncy long pony tail that reached her mid back.

"Umm, what do you think?" She asked for his opinion, of course if he said anything she didn't want to she might as well just jump off Aincrad right now. She would let her hands fall to her hips and she gave a model's pose and bent her knee to show off a little more of her more curvy looking hips. Anemone wasn't a busty woman, but she was sizeable although it would not appear to be so from the thicker clothing she wore that hid away those curves giving way she was much more flat chested while in her normal clothing. Although she had seen herself in the mirror on the side angle and she knew she was happy with her more perky looking shape.

"I brought a pair of swimming trunks for you!" she blurted out stepping forward, "I saw them at the shop with this bathing suit and I thought it was cute." She had showed him that it was a black pair of trunks with little yellow duckies on it. "You can wear something else if you want, I just thought the design was adorable..." she giggled lightly. @Aereth

[Aereth 1]

Finishing the last pieces of Anemone's delicious food variations, Aereth closed his eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. It had been ages since he had been able to eat such delicious food. Only the soft words of Anemone managed to pull him back to reality, when she asked him if he wanted to watch the sunset from the water. Seeing the blush on the usually pale face of the female as well as judging from some other occasions in the past, Aereth pretty much knew that the woman didn't see him just as a friend. Currently, finding himself kinda at a loss of words, Aereth only mumbled. "S-Sure... Why not. It would for sure be a beautiful sight..." Right now Aereth felt like he couldn't even find one clear thought. On the one side, he kinda liked the thought of Anemone having a crush on him, and it wasn't like Aereth had no feelings for the woman either, but... Shaking his head, while Anemone started to work on getting the tent up, Aereth closed his eyes once more and focused on getting the sh*t inside his head back together.

Surprised by the sudden sound of the tent inflating itself, Aereth opened his eyes once again, and looked at the awesome tent they would be sleeping in tonight. "That tent looks awesome." Aereth said, again a small smile creeping over his face, and saw how Anemone stepped in it, most probably changing into her swimsuit. Giving the woman some privacy while changing Aereth finally started to realize a big problem he was having. "Sh*t, I don't have any bathing clothes...." he thought and cursed mentally. "Seems like I'll have to..." he couldn't even finish his thought because of Anemone re emerging out of the big tent, in an awesome looking pink two piece bathing suit. 

If they were in an Anime or something like that, Aereth's jaw would have dropped to the floor and he would most probably have littered the whole place with his nose bleeding, but thankfully this was reality, so his mouth only opened a couple of centimeters and he found himself at a loss of words. Once again... 

After a few seconds, Aereth finally managed to more or less pull himself together again and stuttered with a slight blush of his own creeping onto his face. "Y-You l-look really really hot, if I may say so." "Awesome compliment Aereth. Really the gentleman like always..." he then added mentally.

When she then showed him some black swimming trunks with yellow duckies on it, his blush vanished and Aereth also couldn't help but to join her while she chuckled. "I'd love to wear these, since I haven't brought anything swimming related with me. Hehe..." he said and thankfully took the trunks. "Just gimme a sec." he said and immediately equipped them. His clothes vanished, and a couple of moments later he was standing only in his new black swimming trunks with the yellow ducks on it. He himself wasn't the most muscular man neither in Aincrad, nor in the real world, but due to his almost daily workout he was quite in shape. He had some decent looking chest and biceps muscles, and a simple four pack. Only his legs were top notch because of his everyday dance training.

Cutting a stupid body-building pose Aereth said. "Now it's your turn. How do I look? You like the ducks?" he asked and fought really hard not to start laughing. There he was. One of the most dangerous players in whole Aincrad posing in black swimming trunks with ducks on it...

@Anemone

[Anemone 0]

Her smiled continued to represent her feelings as she looked over at Aereth and turned her face slightly when he said she looked 'hot.' She was never called such a thing in her life, but she was usually buried under bulky clothing to hide anything of what her body was showing off now. She had been such a fool for so many years that she had believed men were just not interested in her, and therefore she would have remained quiet little Anemone for the rest of her career here had it not been for the thoughts and actions of what would help her to blossom like she would. The encouragment of others found their way to her and she herself in the end had to make the decision to show herself. Though it was very embarrassing for her to be wearing such a skimpy looking bathing suit, she felt it was only right to help herself here and now. But there was a sudden spilling of thoughts, the way he acted towards her...was he into  her or was he just being friendly, perhaps she was trying too hard? Maybe she just really wanted him to like her.

Anemone had been chewing on her bottom lip, these quick and rapid thoughts scattered through her mind as she turned around to give him time to change into his duckie shorts. When the moments have passed she had turned and clapped her hands, "They look swimming on you, Aereth! Looks really cute!" Of course his body was magnified by the lean muscles he wore. There was something about it that was quite the turn on, she had been delving into her more impure thoughts as the day had passed between the two. She had recollected memories of her romance novels and how discreet the scenes were, and yet there were others that had been very detailed and embodied something Anemone had always dreamed about in her sleep. When Aereth had posed for her, she clapped her hands once again, her bright smile twinkling on her face.

"The duckies serve you the best justice, Aereth. I am so glad you decided to wear them." She had stood by his side, her rosy cheeks now highlighted by the slow dipping sun. "We should swim over to the water's edge if we wanna catch that sunset." The woman had began to move towards the water, her pink nailed toes slowly dipped into the water to get a feel for the temperature. It was nice and cold for a warm day like this, and being in the desert it was just the thing she needed, but it had made her shiver and grow goosebumps all over.

"The water is quite cold," she had mentioned, but no sooner did those words leave her mouth, she had dived right on in. The best way to get over cold water was just to shock your entire body to get used to it. When she rose to the surface, she brushed the long hairs from her pony-tail and smiled looking up at Aereth. She gave him a gesture to come in, "T-t-t-the wa-ter is fine," she said with cold stutters as her body was slowly getting used to the cool pool. She leaned back lightly and pushed off against the water as her body would raise and reflect sunlight over her water kissed chest causing her body to shimmer in the sparkling light. Her red eyes were still as sharp and bright as ever, even in the sunlight, but she wanted to get to that spot to see the sunset, she wanted that moment for herself and Aereth, because she still had so many questions on her mind to ask him. @Aereth

[Aereth 1]

"Well thank you." Aereth said with a chuckle, and followed Anemone to the water, but waited for Anemone to hop into it before him for two basic reasons. You don't get caught checking them out, cause well, they don't have eyes on the back. And it was always hilarious to watch woman enter some cold water. "She's got a damn fine body..." Aereth thought before she dived right into the water.

And immediately guilt started to flood his mind once again. His thoughts traveled back to the only woman he had loved and lost. "It still doesn't feel right having such thoughts about other women..." he thought, not noticing the frown that was slowly creeping over his face. Thankfully, Anemone's voice snapped him back to reality and Aereth immediately replaced the from with a small smile. "Haha. It sure is." he answered, and fetched a small hairband out of his inventory before tying his hair to a small man bun. After that he closed the last few feet of distance between him and the water Aereth simply continued walking into it, before also diving head first into the water. He then reappeared besides Anemone and said with a foxy grin. "The water is i-indeed awesome." Even though he tried to hard to act tough, a small stutter and some goosebumps were visible on his body.

@Anemone