pp [PP-F11]Manor and Chill with Teion

[Ryo 0]

Ryo gave Teion a small smile back to her, before returning his focus back to the road ahead. The rest of the walk was fairly silent between the two as they made their way to the teleportation plaza. Reaching it, the pair teleported to the second floor. Ryo shoved his hands into his pockets, interested in what Teion was saying. "Well, it'll be new to me. I haven't really explored all that much outside of what quests I've done." Ryo addmited. Was it embarrassing to admit that? That he hadn't gone out of his way to find little secrets or treasures. It would explain his current level, and lack of exquisite gear. "And if there's a view, I'm all for it." Ryo said happily. He always did enjoy a nice view. He would frequent the beach for it's sunsets and time alone with his thoughts. "This place have a name, or have you not named it yet?" Ryo asked, referring to the view spot they were heading to.

@Teion

[Teion 0]

"The first place is called the High Fields of Crossing." The name came to her more easily than she would have thought. Teion recalled the first, and only, time she had visited the scenic location. Of course it was the blonde swordsman that had asked her out to a picnic there some time ago. 'It was...just after the Valentine's dance, right? And after the mess on the bridge...' She found herself reminiscing about a myriad of events, though she wasn't sure which of several emotions that the memories evoked were the most prominent.

"Besides that..." She tried to get herself back on track. "No, the other place doesn't have a name...that I know of." Another location that Beatbox had shown her, though this was much earlier, back when they had completed the second level of the Dragon Hunter Anthology quest chain. He didn't have a name for the area at that time, and so she assumed it just never had one. Still, the area was more secluded than the flowery safe zone, and just as serene. Reaching the gates of Urbus that would have the players leaving the safety of the settlement, the walk to the fields in question would take them at least twenty, if not thirty minutes. 'I guess more conversation along the way?' She wondered, unsure if Ryo would somehow actually prefer to travel in silence.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo chuckled at the name, going Teion didn't name or that herself. "Man, Kayaba and his goons had to think hard on that one huh? Sounds like they got our from a cheesy anime." He said, now laughing audibly. Then trim mentioned that the second place didn't have a name. Perhaps the pair would come up with one whilst they were there.

They had only just arrived one the second floor, so Ryo hypothesized that it was going to be a healthy walk before thier destination. He didn't necessarily want to small talk, nor was he any real good at the activity. But he wanted to keep talking with Teion, getting to know her better. But he couldn't think of a question that wasn't about her dead lover. He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "So you just stumble on these kind of places, or is there like a secret sense you posses that leads you to these kind of places?" Ryo asked. 

[Teion 0]

Teion let out half a chuckle at Ryo's banter, silently agreeing that the name the safe zone was given sounded rather cheesy. The pair began their trek through the forests outside of Urbus, and the blacksmith took care to watch their path for any roaming, aggressive monsters that might give them any trouble. She thought for a moment that she really ought to have equipped her combat attire, so she might at least be prepared if unsavory monsters or players happened to cross their path. But as they hiked through the thick trees and the foliage crunched under the weight of her boots, Teion was hard-pressed to sacrifice the comfort that she felt in her casual clothing. For once, the world around her and Ryo felt a bit normal. So for now, she only hoped her choice of clothing wouldn't be one that she would regret.

Despite the man's possible intent to not linger on the topic of those passed, Teion couldn't help but drag the subject out with her answer to his question. Even so, she spoke with half a smirk on her face while she stepped over the wild, gnarled roots that protruded from the ground. "Well I have a few points in the Search skill, but that hasn't found me much in terms of scenery." She gave a tiny chuckle. "Really, it was Beatbox that first showed me these places." Though she hadn't spoken his name until now, it was clear that she was referring to the man who had tried to care for her. There were no hints of regret or guilt lingering in her voice as there normally was when she visited her memories of the swordman, however. The environment around her--the quiet forest that she hadn't experienced in so long did well to ease her mind. "A long time ago, I spent every bit of my time in my shop, just working. When I met him," She paused to lift a thin, low-hanging branch from in front of her path, stopping a moment so the fuchsia-haired player could easily pass through as well before she dropped it back to its original position. "I still spent all my time in my shop, but...well, I wasn't working anymore." A wry smile rested on her features, but she continued. "So, he dragged me out. Showed me his own hobbies here, and one of them was sight-seeing. Does wonders to get your mind off of things, sometimes." Her last sentence left her in a quieter tone, as it seemed fitting for both of them after their earlier conversations.

[Ryo 0]

Ryos trailed behind as Teion mentioned a name. Beatbox. He was a leader of the clan he was currently in, the celestial ascendents. And he was one of the players killed by the player going as 'DeathAdder'. DeathAdder also had ties to the bandit group Ryo had worked with in the past, but other than that his name meant little. Only those directly affected by him knew of him, and that was only 'of' him. No one knew what he looked like, or how to get in touch with him. Ryo would kill to have a chance to talk to such a man, sanely. Figure out what made him tick, the motivations of a player killer of his kind of caliber. Perhaps the Celectials would know more of the matter. he made a mental note as his short frame simply walked underneath the branch that Teion had moved.

"I agree." He said, looking up at Teion, thankful to be broken from his thoughtful stupor. "Looking at something beautiful can give one hope. Let them dream that this world isn't all dark as it's lead to believe so." He said, contently looking at the violet haired woman. He trailed ahead, forging a path for himself and for Teion to follow as he used his body to flatten some tall grass. "Sometimes, all we have left is hope. And in the end, it's all that we cling to. Hope that something will happen or someone will come along. And each day goes bye our hope grows stronger and stronger still." Ryo said, now turning back around to meet Teion. "I had always hoped that I could surround myself with what I would call friends. I'm glad I can start with you." He said, smiling.

[Teion 0]

While the two players reached a break in the forested area and emerged into a clearing populated with tall grass, Teion suspected that the fields they were looking for weren't much farther off. Ryo spoke about hope as they continued to walk, something Teion hadn't dwelled much on in some time now. It seemed that with every passing month the things that had once brought her hope drifted farther away, or were torn away completely.

Ryo's body turned, drawing Teion's attention as he faced her with a smile decorating his features. Her own expression didn't hide the surprise she felt when his words reached her. Is that what they were? Friends? When was the last time she had thought of someone she had met in this game as a friend? Considering her strange relationship with Beatbox as an anomaly, the only souls in Aincrad she had acknowledged as friends were those she had already known from the real world.

A small smile of her own pulled up at the corners of her mouth. She soon dropped her chin, focusing on the placement of her next steps for a second as she continued forward. "Yeah, same here." She said in a soft voice while her smile lingered.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo chuckled as Teion said that she felt the same way. "Aha, good. I'm glad." He said, mostly to himself as he turned back around, stepping into a clearing. This had to have been the Fields of Crossing she had been talking about. The fields stretched on for what seemed forever. Green vibrant grass covered the large area, that rolled in the wind. Standing where he was, Ryo took in a deep breath enjoying the view. "Have to admit. It's a nice view." Ryo said, complimenting the place. Words were hard to come by, he couldn't think of the words to describe the place at all. He'd hope that that was all he needed to express the wonder that this place gave him.

Ryo stood, propping himself up against a tree as the wind blew. The grass rolled giving the field a look akin to a green ocean. The trees scattered around the field dropped leaves, which cascaded into the breeze and they gracefully danced across his vision. He looked over to his left, eyeing Teion. He found himself again with a warm smile. Her hair, like his tossing slightly in the breeze. He didn't know how long he was staring until he caught himself. His eyes darted back to the field, his face flushing slightly.

 

@Teion

[Teion 0]

The duo reached their initial destination, a colorful field of flowers sprawling out before them. Teion's lungs filled with a deep breath of fresh air through her lungs, the sense of serenity that the natural safe zone provided managing to infect her. She took a few steps forward, the few memories she had made in this place months ago filling her mind. After a few paces, the girl turned on her heel, spinning around and letting her momentum to continue carrying her. Teion's arms pulled out to the sides, and she fell backwards. Her back hit the ground with a light 'thud', loose petals and blades of grass flying a few inches into the air around her avatar before falling back to the floor.

As she lay, her chest and shoulders depressed with the heavy sigh that escaped her. "Yeah. This is a lot better than trudging through some dark, dreary dungeon." Her eyes were turned up to the bright blue sky above them, watching the soft clouds drift lazily along.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo watched Teion flop onto the ground. He pondered first as to if that it hurt, but seeing that she was fine with it, he decided better to not sweat it. Instead, he stepped next to her and sat beside her. Enjoying the view, the grass blowing in the wind that carried the white clouds across the blue sky. The moment was nice, and for a moment Ryo forgot about everything. He forgot about all the pain and suffering he had caused to people, that he was as much a monster as those. Forgot about his mansion, and butler. He forgot about the pain of loss. Instead, he enjoyed the moment entirely. He took in a deep breath and sat there beside the relaxing violet-haired woman. "I want to do something like this again with you." Ryo said, finally breaking his near trance as well as the silence. " I mean, I'm enjoying your company and if there are more spots like this." He said looking over the fields. "I'd like to spend the time looking at them with you. Or at least discovering them with you." He said, looking down at the player.

[Teion 0]

Her gaze shifted to the man that had taken a seat beside her, meeting Ryo's golden eyes for only a second before she reactively returned it to the pale blue sky. She had never been good at maintaining eye contact, in any scenario. She mulled over his words for a bit, wondering what reason Ryo had for enjoying her company. Perhaps he was the type of person who preferred these types of outings filled with light conversation and a focus on the scenery. "Hmm. Yeah, it'd probably do me some good to get out of my shop every once in a while." She said, eyes closing while she felt the breeze brushing against her skin. It was the same as when she had first gotten to know Beatbox. The player had taken an interest in her, and she defaulted to questioning the reason why. She drew a hand in front of her mouth as it stretched into a wide yawn, her eyes squeezing shut. "Well, I could end up staying here all day. Just let me know if you wanna get going."

[Ryo 0]

Ryo nodded his head at Teions statement of letting her know when he was ready to go. And after her statement of saying that she was good to stay all day, he suddenly was too. "Alright, will do." He replied, his thoughts going wild with excitement. She had said yes to meeting him again. It was a new feeling, a new sense of accomplishment. He had tried talking to women in the real world, and none really worked out. Some used him, others ignored or berated him. But Teion was cool. She was one of the good ones. One of the good people that were chill with him.

He sat there enjoying the clear day in silence with Teion. Letting the sound of the wind wash over him. It was almost too relaxing as Ryo had [censored] his eyes, and when he opened them the sun was much lower than what it had been. He had taken a quick nap it seemed, but for how long he didn't know. He stood up, brushing the grass from his legs before he stretched his arms above his head. "Teion? You still here?" He asked aloud.

[Teion 0]

Despite how comfortable her spot in the flower-filled meadow was, sleep had eluded Teion. More than once, she opened an eye to cast a sidelong glance to Ryo, who had eventually grown more silent than she had expected. When she had determine that the man's own eyes had closed, Teion let out another hushed yawn and sat herself upright. She leaned her head forward and turned enough to inspect Ryo's face for a few long moments before she determined that he had, in fact, fallen asleep. With a breathy half-chuckle, Teion raised to the balls of her feet, stretching her legs while her arms also pulled over her head.

"Hmm?" Teion hummed when she heard her name called through the peaceful silence. The woman's voice sounded from the same tree that Ryo had leaned up against when they had arrived. She sat atop a thick branch, legs hanging down on either side as her back pressed up against the rough bark. Cobalt eyes, which had been looking out to the low-hanging sun that neared the mountain peaks in the distance, turned onto Ryo while he stood up and got his bearings. "Have a good nap?" She teased with a tiny smirk.

[Ryo 0]

Still stretching Ryo chuckled. "And what if I did?" He said, unable to hold back his smile. "Sorry about falling asleep, was just super relaxed." He had admitted. "You climb trees often?" Ryo asked looking up at Teion, who had changed from her lying down position to a branch. Ryo looked out over the field, gazing into the sunset. Well, it wasn't exactly a sunset but it was just now dipping behind the mountains in the distance. He'd fallen asleep for a good while. And he was surprised that he did so easily, what with him barely knowing the area. But he trusted Teion, and perhaps why that's why he fell asleep. Knowing that she was beside him, able to wake him if things went bad. "We should probably be getting back to civilization before the sun sets. Don't want to get jumped by some mobs or something." Ryo said, expressing his concerns for what hid in the shadows.

[Teion 0]

"Mmm, yeah." Her legs kicked lazily through the empty air beneath her while she looked out to the mountains in the distance. After a few seconds to let her gaze linger, Teion swung one foot over the thick branch and pushed herself off. Straightening up after she landed in the grassy meadow, she reached her hands up over her head and laced her fingers, standing on the balls of her feet while she stretched.

After letting out a small breath as the tension released, Teion suddenly felt a systematic pang of hunger. She thought about ignoring the feeling. After Shield had stopped making regular visits to her shop to help her through the initial aftermath of her mourning, she rarely felt the motivation to feed her avatar. But today had been more relaxing than usual, and she disliked the thought of the regular discomfort interrupting that. "Hey, you hungry?" She asked simply, turning her attention back to Ryo. "There's a place I know on the fifth floor we can go to, if you want." She offered with a small shrug.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo about choked when he was asked the question. "Like, go out to eat?" Ryo asked, repeating the question. How did it get to this point already? Weren't they just hanging out, or something? He stared at her in confusion but held the face of someone who was unsure. His mind raced with answers. C'mon you idiot, say something. His mind shouted at him. "Sure. If it means I get to hang out with you longer." Gah you idiot, that sounded way to forward. He looked back down at the ground, watching his feet kick the earth beneath him. Instead of kicking himself, and his ill-placed advancements he thought about what kind of place that Teion had in mind. He thought it over for a few moments and decided that it was either a noodle shop or a steakhouse. Either one seemed more like her style. But the fifth floor, he thought about the heat and the sand and what kind of food made sense there. Which only doubled up his theory of noodle or steak. Ryo followed, his arms jabbed into his pockets. "What kind of place is it, if I'm allowed to ask. No, wait. Keep it a surprise." He said smiling.

[Teion 0]

Teion looked to Ryo with a touch of her own confusion in her expression. His reaction was more shocked than she had imagined, like she had caught him off-guard with the suggestion. There was a bit of silence and an awkward air between them both before and after his acceptance, which Teion then tried to determine the cause of. She thought for a moment, finally speaking up when something came to mind. "Oh, sorry. You originally invited me over, right? We can still do that, if you want." She brought a hand up to the nape of her neck and her violet hair was ruffled lightly as her fingertips grazed over the skin. Her eyes shifted back to the fields that were bathed in the pink and orange hues of the sunset, feeling a bit embarrassed under the assumption that Ryo was simply being polite to accept her thoughtless suggestion.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo let the silence hang in the air as the pair walked. Teion spoke up again, to which Ryo would reply. "What? Oh, no. It's fine." He said, waving his hands. "I mean, I want to go out with you. To eat, I mean." He said, tacking on that last part quickly. He locked his hand back behind his head and continued following. "So, Teion. What do you like?" Ryo asked, unsure as to why. "I mean, other than nice views which everyone seems to enjoy. But you've got to enjoy something yeah?" Ryo said, racking his head for an answer. He figured that's she'd like something. What with Valentine's day in a few months, and after everything she's been through she at least deserved something. Ryo just wanted to make her happy. Ryo looked at Teion as they walked. The way her hair bounced as she walked, the way her lips pursed up into a smile as he spoke. Ryo shook his head again, realising he had been staring again.

[Teion 0]

Did Ryo seem a bit jumpy? Or was this the way he always was? Teion frowned in thought as she tried to determine the answer. She hadn't known Ryo for very long or very well, and after several seconds of walking along back towards Urbus she was left with only uncertainty. "Hmm?" She hummed lightly when he called her username. He presented her with a question that was deceptively complex, at least in her mind. "What do I like...?" She echoed, brows knitting as she gave the question serious thought. "Uhh, well... I guess, it's something I haven't had the chance to do in a long time, but I really like designing characters." Her hands found a loose leather strap on either side of her thighs, tugging lightly at the material between her thumbs and forefingers. "Like, in RPGs and stuff. 'Teion' was my favorite. So in SAO I was excited to like, 'be' her, y'know."

"Well, uhh, if you were looking for something more general... I like cats." She kept her eyes focused on the path in front of her. Conversation wasn't typically her strong suit, and she seemed to struggle with interacting with others even moreso as of late.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo nodded. "Cats are cute." He said, affirming her response. So cats, and designing characters. Ryo could work with that, how he didn't know just yet. But he'd come up with something, not like he would forget anything like that. He told himself, shoving the information into the back of his mind. "I'm a cat person too, but I've never owned one. Mom's allergic." Ryo said, telling Teion of his home life. Or was that getting too personal? He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of what else he could say. He didn't want the entire walk to be in silence, he wanted to keep talking. But he was running out of things to talk about, and Teion was no help in the latter. She wasn't asking questions in the slightest. Who meets a stranger, and then decides that they're cool enough to take to dinner with the day off? Ryo's head spun, unable to think anymore. "If it's not too much for me to ask, but what was Beatbox like?" Ryo asked, unable to think of anything else to talk about. Having never met the man he wanted to know more about him. Despite him being dead, he shared something special with Teion, and Beatbox was a key member in the frontlines until his death.

[Teion 0]

Teion nodded shortly after as the two shared their simple appreciation for cats. Still, she found herself frowning when Ryo mentioned that he'd never had one of his own. "I have one back home." She felt it only fair to share a bit of herself in return. "I hope she's been okay this whole time." The words were added on with a sad smile. Seconds later, she regretted the comment. She probably shouldn't bring up things like that, right? Surely he would start to feel worn out from her negativity.

But then he resurfaced a previous topic, and Teion felt a small tightness in her chest along with a hint of surprise. She hadn't expected Ryo to express interest in Beatbox past their initial conversation, but she didn't spend long questioning the reason behind his curiosity. "That's..." She started speaking before she had fully formed her thoughts, causing her to stop and frown before she would start again. "As crazy as it sounds... I don't think I knew him all that well." She admitted, keeping her eyes forward as she walked. "He was helpful, and kind. Kind of a shy idiot at times." She chuckled as she recalled how bashful the blonde had been when they had met at the Valentine's dance. "He seemed pretty stubborn and headstrong. But... I get the feeling there was a side to him I didn't know about. He chased after demons that he didn't need to, and I don't know how many times he got in over his head. Way over his head." Her volume dropped, and she gave a shake of her head.

"I've never been good at making friends, learning about people, or empathizing with them. I had a few people that I knew before we all wound up here, and... Well, we all changed. I'm one of the ones who started hiding from people." The corner of her mouth curled into a wry smile.