[PP-F5] Moonlit Confessions

[Teion 0]

Her fingers curled inward, the tips of her nails driving into the skin of her palms. Max's answer was anything but the one she wanted to hear. Her gaze dropped to the tabletop, not even registering the drinks that had been placed in front of them. Beatbox had mentioned his sister to her in passing; it felt like information he would have otherwise kept private, but finding her was something he seemed passionate about, and understandably so. When Thea had learned of Estelle's existence, it felt like little more than a piece of his life that he had wanted to share with her at the time.

But as much as she didn't want to linger on the circumstances of his death, every new piece of the puzzle fell too neatly into place. He left behind the gemstones from their first two quests together. The weapon that had become one of his signature items on the frontlines. And a recorded message where he bid her farewell. Every time she tried to push away her resentment for what she called a suicide, she failed. And now, to hear that he divulged that information to another just before his death, Thea's blood began to boil. Whether he had specifically asked Max to take over his search for the girl, or the kind-hearted man simply took it upon himself to go to such lengths, it didn't matter. It was all Thea could do not to slam her clenched fist against the table in frustration.

And then she met his eyes again. It took her a second to register the concern in his brown orbs, but once she had the violette blinked in surprise, snapping out of her condensed rage for a moment. "S-sorry." She said in a low voice, averting her gaze as she pulled her hands from her lap. She leaned against the table, one arm resting against the hard wood while her other hand slid against her forehead, fingers weaving through her colored bangs until the heel of her palm met her forehead. The fingers that rested against the wooden surface curled and fidgeted amongst themselves. She couldn't bring herself to look back at him again, a touch of guilt and embarrassment already beginning to swirl and combine with the other complicated emotions in her head.

"Yeah. He told me about her a while ago, but..." She struggled to keep her tone calm, let alone explain all of her messy thoughts. Her fingertips pressed lightly against the top of her head while she switched her focus, "Sorry. I'm not mad at you." She couldn't concentrate on a normal conversation with wounds beginning to split back open. "I still can't believe he left it all behind. Threw it all away." She no longer tried to hide the bitterness in her voice, and her volume dropped while she aired the last of her anger. "If I ever got the chance to see him again, I'd kill him myself. Nobody can convince me he didn't know exactly what he was doing. And I can't forgive him for doing it."

[Aereth 1]

Thea was shaking, and Max could clearly see the red color that spread more and more over her face with each passing moment. However, it wasn't the just a the cute blush that sometimes formed on her cheeks which he came to adore so much. It was anger, rage, dissapointment. 

It was only understandable. The more he found out about Beat's passing, the more he started to think that he wasn't really intending to end the man called Death_Adder that day. It more and more seemed that going to fight Death_Adder was just a cheap way out of this hell. Maybe Aincrad broke the blonde frontliner. Maybe it broke him so hard that he couldn't live anymore. Who knows...

All he knew was how it felt to be left behind alone. Nobody to fight for. Nobody to care for. And yes it was hell, so he decided to also end his misery. But then he met her... His brown eyes never left her and his hand slowly moved across the table and took hold of the fingers that rested on the wooden surface. He gave them a soft squeeze and just listened to what the purple haired woman was telling him, only caressing the hand he was holding with his thumb. 

"I really don't know what was going on inside of him. The more I find out about him, the less sense makes all of this. I mean, why would he do this?" he asked more himself than Thea, when suddenly a thought hit him. "Maybe he was forced to give up his life... Maybe someone powerful threatened to end the lives of the ones he cared for..." And with that a new determination formed inside of the brunette. "I need to talk to HIM..." he mumbled in an barely audible voice as he dropped his gaze for the first time since sitting down in the restaurant.

[Teion 0]

Her lids slid shut over her eyes. Even just the gentle hold of his hand was something Thea could focus on to defuse her short temper and distract her from the grief that resurfaced with the topic of Beatbox's death. Max tried to provide some insight and give some sort of reasoning of his own to the blonde's actions, but her brows only shifted downwards in a silent, internal response. His theories weren't outrageous, but she had her doubts. Then again, she often times felt like she knew so little about the situation as a whole. Despite the puzzle pieces she held onto that could paint a finished scene in her eyes, she wondered how many empty spaces would appear if she zoomed out a bit more.

Cobalt eyes opened and focused themselves on the man across from her again. He said something to which she didn't catch the entirety, but she heard enough. She searched his face in hopes of finding what exactly it was the brunette was thinking behind his hard-set expression, but as she fell short her hand twisted to the side. Palm turned upwards, her fingers quickly wrapped around the hand that had been caressing her own to catch its owner's attention. Thea would meet Max's gaze with a long, firm stare, not needing any words to impart the concern she felt for him.

This wasn't the topic they had intended to discuss, and Thea realized that. Her other hand pulled away from supporting her head, lowering carefully and meeting Max's so that she held his hand between both of hers with a careful squeeze. She stayed like that for a few long moments, just holding on to the man she cared for with a rare, soft expression on her features until she felt the silence had stretched on long enough.

"Is she okay?" She asked simply, eventually releasing her grip on his gloved hand and leaning back in her chair. She had no idea what kind of person this 'mystery sister' was, but she couldn't imagine the circumstances she'd found herself in and how she was coping with them. Thea had only barely managed to hold herself together as of late, and she regarded the causes of her depression to be pitiful in comparison. 'Ahh, now's not the time for self-pity, idiot.' She scolded herself. Reaching an arm forward, Thea's fingers slid around the sides of the ceramic mug that had been sitting untouched. She brought the amber-tinted liquid closer to her chest, forgetting that the cafe they sat rested at the edge of a desert city while the warmth seeped through the cup's walls and into her palsm, and the smell of honey and herbs did well to ease her nerves.

[Aereth 1]

After finally seeing how she seemed to calm down, Max also finally managed push aside the lingering feelings of guilt and unease. To be honest, he quite enjoyed the silence between them where they just looked at each other. Once again, it gave him peace. But when Thea finally pulled away her arms to grasp her cup, he also retreated them in order to remove his arm guards and gloves. The menu opened with a swipe of his hand and a couple of moments later the items were gone. He just left his Goldcrest armor on his body. Without it he felt almost naked when he wasn't at home.

"Yeah, more or less..." he said with a sigh, as he instinctively moved his hand inside of the hidden inside pocket of his armor to retrieve his good old silver bottle. "She came to me in her quest on finding some more information about the man her brother was inside of this hell." he said opening the bottle and slowly moved it to his own cup of tea. It hovered over the steaming cup as Max looked up again to meet Thea's stern look.

He gulped. 'Right... I promised her to do that less...' he thought mentally hitting his head on the table.

"She also came with a request to me. She wanted to join the frontlines... Alone. " he said in a reqeust to distract her from his pitiful attempt to get the bottle back into his pocket. "You see her guildmates wouldn't want her to join them and would only be worried for her... So I offered to help her getting stronger and if I see she would be able to survive, promised her to take her with me when the time is right..."

@Teion

[Teion 0]

Thea's brows knit together in concern when he explained that the girl was aiming for the frontlines. "Sounds like her guildmates are right to want to look out for her." She mumbled without taking her eyes away from the drink in her hands. Max's last words hung in the air, several notes in them striking at different emotions that festered behind the violette's impassive gaze.

Her thumbs fidgeted among themselves behind her mug. She was holding her tongue, but his words were troubling. He was planning to train this girl to get her to the frontlines? Not only that, but he made casual mention of something she hadn't realized he had been intending to do himself. Finally, she couldn't keep herself from confronting him about it.

"You're planning on going to the frontlines?" Thea asked, working to keep the hesitation out of her voice. It wasn't as if she didn't think the man was capable. He surpassed her in both level and skill, and it was very likely that he could hold his own at the current floors the frontliners were pushing. Still, she didn't lift her gaze. She had been once again acting like they didn't have a responsibility to get out of this place, and once again she was being childish in her means of acknowledging it.

[Aereth 1]

Max immediately noticed her reaction to telling her about his plans for Telrenya and himself. "It indeed is, but holding her back won't do anyone of them good. She has potential and determination, so if trained correctly she could easily hold her ground on the frontlines." the brunette replied gently, his brown eyes never leaving Thea's face. After that he took some moments to think over what he was going to say next.

"Yeah, I indeed am." he then said in an even more gentle voice. "Once I reach tier three I'm going to join the fights. I finally have a reason to fight there. Up until now I only fought for myself. Just to sedate the pain I'm feeling. I didn't care if I ever got out of here again. But now." he once again moved his hand forward and offered it to Thea. "I want to see you outside of this hell. You already saved me. Now I want to save you."

@Teion

[Teion 0]

Thea's grip tightened the slightest bit around her mug. Despite the gentle tone of his voice, she didn't care for the description he offered of his past. Though, it wasn't as if she couldn't relate to the same vein of hopelessness he had felt. The movement of his hand caught her attention when it worked to close the gap between them, resting outstretched on the table. Her eyes pulled up to meet his, and once they had she felt her heart flutter in her chest. She stared back at him for a long moment, coming to a decision before she leaned forward into the edge of the table. She pulled a hand away from her cup, the other placing it down in front of her. She twisted her wrist to one side so as to slip her fingers through the spaces between his and take a firm grip on Max's hand. She didn't break her gaze, looking at the man with a serious determination in her eyes. "Then I'm going with you."

[Aereth 1]

He felt Thea's hands fall into his and he gave them a soft squeeze. But as she told him that she was going to go with him, the first thing that came to his mind was: "Oh hell no! I won't be risking the life of the only person I truly care for in this hell in something like a boss fight." And he was just mere inches away from actually saying this and if she could read him just a bit, she would be able to tell that he wouldn't be ok with her coming along.

He was honest with himself. He could take Telrenya with him no problem, since he didn't care enough about her. If she got hurt? So what? Virtual bodies heal. If she died? Sure he would never let that happen, having ordered a whole sh*tton of teleport crystals for her, but in the end it wouldn't be as bad as loosing Purple... His purple. 

Mentally smacking his face for those thoughts, Max features softened and he spoke up again. "Don't do this to me. I'm your knight. And you're my princess. I need to save you. I need to fight for you. I promised to get you out of here, not pulling you into dangerous fights. You already died once because of me...." he said tightening his grip on her hand a little bit. "I cannot afford to loose you."

@Teion

[Teion 0]

She had expected her words to hit a nerve. It seemed that after the loss of each of their loved ones, a protective nature was something they had in common. After a short silence, the words he chose were soft and gentle, but also pleading. He intended to take everything on his shoulders, while she was meant to stay out of harm's way. She had to resist the urge to argue with him right away. Instead, Thea took a moment to let his words sink in, feeling his hold on her hand tighten slightly.

"Max..." She started in just as soft of a tone, giving the man across from her a small but warm smile as she tried to reason with him. "You really think I'll be a good little girl and hide away in my shop while everyone else is fighting on the frontlines?" Her smile took on a hint of sadness that she didn't feel the need to hide. "I've already done that for too long."

She leaned back in her seat slightly, taking her drink in her free hand and bringing the edge of the mug to her lips. The warm sweetness of her tea spread throughout her avatar, and Thea kept her grip on both Max's hand and the cup when she placed it down a bit more roughly than she normally would in front of her. Cobalt eyes locked with brown, another seriousness in her gaze as her tone shifted. "I know I'm a lower level than you. I'm not stupid enough to try storming into the frontlines unprepared." Her chin tilted upward ever-so-slightly as a hint of her pride began to show. "And I'm not as frail as you might think I am. If I recall correctly, you've never even seen me fight. It's not like I got to the level I am by sitting around or taking handouts."

She was taking a gamble, continuing to prod at either the man's curiosity or his own pride in hopes that one of them might outweigh his desire to shelter her. Her lips curled, and Thea took on a small smirk as she continued staring at the brunette with an almost amused expression. "So, try me."

[Aereth 1]

"That was the plan." the brunette answered with a sad smile, knowing that it wasn't fair to request something like that from her. He himself had encouraged Beat's sister to train with him and that nobody should hold her back. "And here I thought that maybe you could  do some of the cooking for me while I hide and protect you." he added in a weak attempt to somehow work a joke into the conversation. 

Max smiled at her seriousness and determination. She seemed to be so strong, yet he feared that she would break if he couldn't protect her at all costs. He was troubled, but as she tilted her chin upwards in an attempt to look prideful a chuckle escaped the brunette quickly followed by a sigh. "Women... Eyes... Smile... Purple..." he whined. "Alright. We're gonna do the Essence of Steel quest just like I did with blondie. Show me what you got, and I might consider training you and taking me with you... But you better pay me with at least about... I don't know... How about a freaking sh*tton of kisses."

@Teion

[Teion 0]

The corner of Thea's mouth pulled into a wider, almost playful smirk. "Maybe I can be persuaded to pick up the Cooking skill one of these days." She was only half-joking when she let out a small chuckle to pair with the words.

She watched his internal struggle patiently, hoping that her gamble was going to pay off while she couldn't help thinking that his conflicted whining was kind of cute. When he finally agreed to let her test her worth, Thea's smirk stretched into a grin. "It's been a while since I've torn through some monsters." She commented, taking another drink of her tea. She cocked a brow while lowering her mug at his talk of payment in return for training her if he deemed her to pass whatever he was testing her for.

Her lids half-lowered, lips curling into another playful smirk. "Oh, I think I can do that." She answered matter-of-factly. She drained her cup of the last of its contents, enjoying the warmth that she knew she would not find on the eternal winter of the fourth floor where the quest he specified was located. "Guess I should get changed if we're going out in the snow. Want to leave soon?"

[Aereth 1]

"Seriously? You do know that you then have to marry me, right?" he asked in a dead serious tone at her remark of picking up the cooking skill. "You would be the dream of any man. Beautiful, bada** and you can cook." Max told her trying to keep the joke going. Maybe he could really pin her on it one day.

He still wasn't happy whatsoever with the thought of her joining him at the frontlines, but how on earth could he justify going himself while prohibiting it for Thea. He really wanted to believe that she was strong and that she could stand next to him in every fight he had to face before they would make it out of here.

"Then let's go." he said in a defeated tone, quickly paying the stuff they consumed and fetching two crystals out of his pocket. "They lead directly to my shop. I've got more than enough clothes there for you." the brunette added as before they both activated the crystals.

@Teion

[Teion 0]

The serious tone in Max's voice had her tense of with a light pink hue touching her cheeks. Her subsequent laugh was only half-forced, shaking her head to dismiss his praises. A victorious smirk stretched wide when he gave in to her request, handing over a teleport crystal.

It wasn't until they appeared in Aereth's shop on the fourth floor that she realized it was her first time there. It seemed as if they had spent most of their time together since establishing their relationship in her smithy. The time they had spent apart over the past few days was largely spent returning some sense of normalcy to their lives after all that had happened in the past month. Cobalt eyes traveled around the interior of the shop with interest. "Hmmm? I didn't know you had a pet." She mused when they fell upon Fenrir. Should the wolf choose to approach her, she would casually extend her hand towards it as one would any other dog for him to inspect her scent.

Seemingly eager to put her plan into action, Thea pulled up her menus, scrolling through the listed options while she panned over to her inventory and equipment.

[Aereth 1]

Of course would Fenrir approach the new purple haired woman. Maybe she had something to eat for him. Who knows? So the wolf quickly got up and made its way over to Thea, sniffing at her legs before lightly nudging his head against her.

"Oh. You're right. Yeah, I have a wolf. Fenrir, Thea. Thea, Fenrir." Max answered with an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm gonna be right back. I'm going to see if I can find you something warm to wear. You can get to know each other in the meantime." he said with a chuckle and vanished the stairs up behind his counter into the room his crafting table was located.

Some minutes later he came back with a simple green coat with a white fur finish on the top. "This should keep you warm for the quest. If you want you can keep it, or I could make you something else if it isn't quite your taste." The brunette said while handing the piece of clothing over to her.

@Teion

[Teion 0]

While she didn't have any food on hand to offer the wolf, Thea knelt down once Fenrir had taken a moment to inspect her. She ran her fingers through his thick grey fur, gently raking both her hands across the top of his head and around the back of his ears. The woman greeted and pet the wolf with a small smile as she would a large, friendly dog in the real world while Max moved to fetch some article of clothing.

When the brunette returned and handed over a fur-lined cloak, Thea straightened and looked it over with mild interest. She slipped the fabric over her shoulders and fixed the latch at the base of her neck, twisting her torso to the side to look over her shoulder and survey the item. "Why, thank you." She turned her attention back to Max, placing a thinly-gloved hand on his cheek and bringing their faces together. She held her lips against his for several long moments, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest as she did so before pulling away and facing him with a small smirk. "Might as well get a head-start on that payment for helping me level." She shot him a playfully smug remark.

[Aereth 1]

Silently enjoying the patting he received from the purple haired girl, the battle hardened wolf slowly turned more and more into a pat-addicted little puppy. His tail was moving from left to right like crazy which caused Max to let out a chuckle. For a moment he just stood there watching the two with a serene smile on his face. Could this be it? Could he finally have some peace... he shook his head before giving the cloak to her and receiving a kiss in return. 

His arms instinctively moved around her waist and pulled her in a hug. "Careful. Otherwise I might just spontaneously decide to ditch training for today and we'd have to stay here all day. I would have to give you an IOU notice for some leveling then thou...." he joked pressing small kiss on his own at her cheek. 

Reluctantly he let go of her, grabbing her hand and pushing the door open. "But we will be quick. Let's go. The faster we're done, the faster we can have a nice evening." he said gently pulling her with him. 

@Teion

[Teion 0]

She chuckled lightly at his affectionnate display, turning to ruffle the fur on Fenrir's head one last time once the two players parted from their embrace. She felt his hand holding onto hers and a gentle pull forward had her following him out the door of his shop. The corners of Teion's mouth pulled up into a soft smile, realizing their roles were reversed as they set out for the quest.

The couple were quick to arrive at the location of the field boss--an arctic beast that dwelled in a cave a generous distance away from any safe zones. Not having done so before, the woman used her free hand to open her menus and equip her black, gold, and violet battle axe--a fairly new addition to what she considered her standard equipment. She gave Max's hand a small squeeze before slipping away from his grasp, taking the weapon in both hands while she approached the clearing of the monster's den.

ID#: 94806 | BD: 9 - Critical Hit! Screw Dimension (x13) +Charge Active | MD: 10 - Critical Hit!
(14 Base) + (1 Crit) + (2 Charge) + (1 Ferocity) = (18 DMG) x (13 SA) = 234 DMG

Teion: 518/680 HP | 55/68 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA
@Aereth: 920/920 HP | 92/92 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 48 MIT

<<Snow Beast>>: 16/250 HP | 160 DMG (24 Minimum)

[Teion 0]

"Alright, let's kill a boss." She rolled her shoulders when the snowy beast appeared before them. She wasted no time with initiating combat, pushing herself forward with her blade held out to the side. She gave a feint to the right before sinking her curved blade into the monster's flank and dragging it along the side in a deep gash. Teion let out an audible growl when her eyes found the health bar that hovered beside its form, left in the red with only a slim length of red remaining. The beast was quick to react to her strike, whipping its head around with its jaw wide. Teion's eyes widened, the counter-attack unexpected. She hurriedly threw her arm up above her head as a barrier, wincing when the monster's sharp fangs sunk into her virtual flesh. The woman took the full damage of the monster's attack, her health dropping by a quarter.

ID#: 94806 | BD: 6(+3)=9 - Hit! Screw Dimension (x13) Active | MD: 5 - Dead
(14 Base) + (1 Ferocity) = (15 DMG) x (13 SA) = 195 DMG

Teion: 518/680 HP | 43/68 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA
Aereth: 920/920 HP | 92/92 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA | 48 MIT

<<Snow Beast>>: 0/250 HP | 160 DMG (24 Minimum)

[Teion 0]

As she wrenched her arm away from the beast's maw, Teion quickly grasped back at the polearm of her axe and pulled the weapon back in front of her. She only needed the smallest bit of damage to finish the monster off, but the woman wasn't concerned about conserving her energy. The snow beast reared back, raising its massive paws in the air with claws bared against her. Teion hopped backward to disengage just before it came crashing back down on the snowy floor. Having evaded the heavy swipe, she pressed the balls of her feet into the ground to launch back at her opponent and brought the handle of her axe to her shoulder. Lifting the blade overhead, a single swing downward would cleave the center of the monster's head, eliciting a sharp yelp while what little remained of its health depleted. The beast faltered, its form stuttering and wavering for a second before it burst into fragments of pixels.

[Teion 0]

A long, steady breath left Teion, and she only relaxed when the dialogue window appeared in front of her to inform her that the quest had been completed. The upper handle of her axe crashed into her shoulder while she turned back to Max with a confident smirk. "Well? Do I pass?" She asked expectantly. The woman brought her weapon behind her back, hooking it into place behind her in order to free her hands. Her fingers found the button to dismiss the quest rewards, and panned over to her inventory to check out the item that was dropped. While she had been on this quest before, it was never her that had received the Essence to her inventory. She began trudging through the tall piles of snow that stood between herself and the brunette, frowning in thought before she closed her menus. "Gods, yeah, I can see why someone would want this for crafting. It's a miracle I wasn't out here farming this thing myself back when I was, more active with it." She hesitated a moment, recalling how long it had been since she had opened her smithy to the public.

Thread Complete!

• Teion: +4 SP, +800 col, +Essence of Steel
• Aereth: +4 SP, +800 col