[PP-Floor 2] Night Terror, with Teion

[Ryo 0]

Ryo smiled. "I don't think that anyone can understand what's going on." He said, chuckling at her comment about drawing a line. Ryo took a defensive stance. "I thought I was dying too!" Ryo said, slumping back down. "Look, I understand alright. You don't hate me, so you ignore me for weeks on end. I end up almost dying, you kiss me so I feel better about death. I mean, a kiss from the woman whom I've grown to love would be just the sending ticket home, wouldn't it?" Ryo said, getting needlessly angry. "That's why you kissed me, wasn't it? You thought I was going to die. You hoped I was going to die. With me gone you wouldn't have to worry about me interrupting that oh so perfect relationship of yours." Ryo stood up, taking the curtain from underneath him in his hands, the dust on the floor pulling up with it and hanging in the air. "All I wanted, was a chance," Ryo said, his voice cracking. "A chance to show you how I felt, how I fell. And then this all happened, and practically ruined everything I could ever want." He said turning away from the fire and going off to where the wall met with the floor. He slumped down onto the floor. He wrapped himself up in the old curtain and left himself to his own thoughts. Perhaps, it would've been better off if he did die. He would've died the hero he wanted to be, Teion would lose him and would've been able to get her life back on track. 

[Teion 0]

She flinched slightly at Ryo's defensive exclamation, her eyes snapping forward and finally looking directly at him. His next words caught her completely off-guard. Her bottom lip stiffened, eyes widened slightly, and his aggressive tone caused her brows to narrow. A rush of adrenaline shot through her. Teion's hands pulled themselves from around her legs and her palms crashed against the wooden floorboards beside her with shoulders tense. "I don't want anyone else dying!" She shouted back. Her fingers dragged against the dusty floorboards until they tightened into fists. Pushing herself up to her feet, the woman bristled with anger while her heartbeat quickened.

"Yeah, I already know that I'm a [censored] coward. If I don't know how to deal with something, how to talk to someone, how to be a normal goddamn person, I run away from it. I throw a tantrum, I lock myself in my shop and hide." Teion felt a sting in the back of her throat, but thoughts just kept spilling out of her as she glared at the man. "I'm sorry I'm so dense. Sorry I can't taking a [censored] hint until it's too late." Her chin fell to her chest when she felt the onset of tears beading, violet bangs hanging in front of her eyes. Her volume dropped while she pushed out the last few words. "I'm sorry I kissed you. Really."

Teion turned, unable to face Ryo any longer. She walked to the other side of the room, following suit by sitting herself back to the floor. She curled up just the same as she had by the fire, positioned sideways so that her shoulder was pressed up against the wall. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, trying to ignore the sting of hot tears that she continued to fight against.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo held his ground, sticking with his proverbial guns. But he thought about it and regretted what he had just said. Ryo stood up from his spot and noticed that Teion had moved over to the corner again. He sighed and walked over to Teion, and stood nearby. He took his makeshift woolen blanket and covered Teion with it. "If you're not going to use the bed at least cover up." He said, standing back up. "I didn't know that, about you I mean. And I felt the same way back then." Ryo said, thinking about his time spent with the bandits. "All of my emotions were gone, only ones I had left were just an act so I could impress people better, and get them to trust me faster." He said, sitting on the end of the bed, it springs creaking under his weight. "And hey, don't be sorry that you kissed me. It was, nice." He said, lying down on the bed.

[Teion 0]

Teion didn't realize Ryo had closed the distance between them until she felt the weight of the cloth draped over her shoulder. She blinked, surprised by his change in attitude. Her eyes dropped, and she was waiting for the threat of frustrated tears spilling over to subside before she would dare to look directly at him. She hugged her legs closer to her underneath the blanket while she listened to him. The heat from their confrontation drained, and Teion was soon left with her more typical impassive demeanor.

She drew in a deep breath through her nose, letting the air back out in a steady, quiet sigh. "Like I said. I just think I'm a mess. I'm...starting to think I really shouldn't get involved with anyone anymore." It wasn't as if this was the first time she'd had such thoughts of solitude and isolation, however. She thought to the span of time in her virtual life after she'd pushed away the Endilix twins. For a while, she was alone. And then the blonde swordsman showed up. He snuck into her life, past her walls, and now she was left with a farewell message and a still-nagging sense of resentment.

Her head tilted to the side until her temple met with the hard surface of the wall. Her eyes finally pulled up to see Ryo laying on the bed nearby. She watched him for a moment, too many thoughts running through her tired mind. The events of the day were finally starting to catch up with her, it seemed, a wave of exhaustion making it clear that her avatar had gone too long without sleep. She dropped her gaze to the floor, but it wouldn't be long before she began to drift off.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo stirred in the bed, the blanket doing little to comfort him. "You're a mess, I'm a mess, we're both messes. Someone's gotta pick up the pieces sooner or later." Ryo said, the bed still creaking under him stirring. He ignored the part about her not getting involved with anyone. Probably bring that up in the morning, in the meantime, it was time to sleep. It wasn't long before Ryo's eye grew heavy, and he drifted to sleep.

Ryo woke, unable to sleep any longer. A ray of sunlight had come in through a window and was hitting him directly in the face. Ryo sat up, letting the blanket fall from his body his arms raised above him as he stretched the stiffness of sleep off of him. "Teion, you awake?" He asked with a yawn as he peeked over to the pile of person and make-shift blanket. With no response, Ryo assumed that she still was. Ryo rolled out of bed and dusted himself off. His stomach grumbled at him, signaling it's distaste for being so empty. He looked around a bit more in the place that the pair was trapped in, grabbing a few plants and materials. He started up a fire again and began to prep a simple breakfast.

He started with mixing s few materials together to make a syrup, and some others to make a makeshift stick of butter. They weren't like something you'd find at the grocery store, but then again that was everything you made from scratch. Setting those aside, and his cooking utensils up to temp Ryo tied his hair up into a ponytail and began to cook. Making a decent looking stack of pancakes, he sorted them up on plates that he carried with him in his inventory. "Yo', Teion. Breakfast is ready." He said, setting the plate down near her.

[Aereth 1]

Up until now it was a pretty nice day on the fourth floor. Only light snowfall accompanied with a cloudy sky. In comparison to the regular snow storms it really was a stunning day. His main focus of today was on finally finishing his custom orders, as well as maintenance of his own piece of perfect armor. Thea had already told him that she also would be busy through the day, so he didn't bother messaging her through the day. But now that the late afternoon was slowly getting replaced by the start of the night, the brunette pulled up his menu to type a quick message to his girl.

Quote

To: @Teion
Subject: Dinner

Hey Purple.
I was just about to finish shop work for today and thought we could meet up for some dinner. I know an awesome Greek restaurant on floor 17. A good friend of mine runs it, and believe me, its much better than any other NPC restaurant we've been until now.

I just need to finish one piece of armor before I can go. So.... In 45 minutes at your shop?

Yours, Max

It was important for him to make her eat on a regular basis again. Back when he met her again she hadn't been eating in over a week, which worried him greatly. He read over the message once more, before quickly pressing the send button and focusing back on the last piece of work that needed some attention from the brunette tailor.

After 30 minutes passed, he was quite surprised to see that she didn't write a reply up until now. Just settling with the conclusion that she was just busy, Max finished his last piece and made his way towards the teleport gate of floor 4. Snowfall was getting heavier, but that didn't bother him in the slightest. Quite the opposite to be honest. Thanks to the darkness and snowfall he was able to sneak into the main settlement even easier than regularly and he reached the teleport gate without problems. 

After teleporting to the dessert floor the brunette found himself in front of the locked smithy. Trying to open the door was useless, since the system prevented him from even moving it once inch. Back when he was still trying to get here he had checked on her position once. Beside her name under the current location tab, he was able to see that she was on floor 2 back then and another quick check confirmed that she still was on that floor. And after waiting for another hour or so to pass his worry was rising.

Quote

To: Teion
Subject: .

Hey Thea. I'm waiting in front of your smithy. Are you alright? I'm starting to get worried. Can you tell me where you are?

Max

What if Laughing Coffin was trying to capture her again? No that's not possible. He had killed all of the squad that had been trying to capture her. But that lingering feeling of anxiety was still there and he was unable to shake it off. So with one quick swipe of his hand he opened his inventory, equipping his complete battle gear and long black coat. He needed to find her...

[Teion 0]

The girl had slept more soundly that night than she had in a while. Perhaps the variety of wild emotion she had running through her the day prior had drained her enough that all she was left capable of was sleep. As the morning broke, Teion's brows finally twitched, her sleep disrupted by the sound of her name called out beside her. Her expression soured with the discomfort of waking, and her cobalt eyes fluttered open below furrowed brows. A small grumble sounded from Teion's throat while her hand lifted from underneath the cloth to rub the sleepiness from her eyes.

Her attention was finally drawn to what had caused her to stir, and she turned her head to the side to see the man with magenta hair having just placed a plate down beside her. "Huh...?" She tried to blink away the fog that clung to her mind before her eyes turned down to the pancakes he offered her. Switching from confusion to surprise, she simply stared for a hesitant moment. "Did you...make this?" Just after she had asked the question, a pang of hunger hit her that she wasn't feeling stubborn enough to ignore. "...Thanks." She said in quiet acceptance.

She shifted herself so her back pressed up against the wall, the blanket-substitute falling from her shoulders. Teion had just moved to retrieve the plate when she finally noticed the alert of a new message in the corner of her vision. Curiously, the violette used a free hand to pull up her menus and investigate its contents. She read over the message from Max, spending a few seconds confused before it finally clicked in her mind that she must have passed out before receiving his dinner invitation. Not only that, but a flick of her wrist panned over to a message that was more worried and urgent. She squeezed her eyes shut, mentally smacking herself. What on Earth was she supposed to tell him? She wasn't going to be able to see him until she was out of this place. "Hey..." She started with a bit of hesitation once her eyes had opened and her expression normalized. "This...whoever it was that you contacted. Do you really think it'll take a week for anyone to find this place?"

[Ryo 0]

Ryo nodded and began to munch on his own pancakes. "Don't mention it. I cook, it's what I do. Just, let me know what you think." He said, a little self-conscious about his cooking. Pennyworth wouldn't let him enter the kitchen alone, let alone try to cook. Kept referring to it as 'his job to make the matters' whatever the hell that meant. Ryo was an alright cook. Nothing spectacular, but he didn't burn the building down. He walked over to a window and peered through it, looking at the endless sea of plains. He turned back to Teion. "Well, the help I've sent for is a guild that helps players in these sort of situations. Players who break the game somewhat and get stuck in places they're not supposed to. They're busy all the time, across all of the floors. A group should be sent either today or tonight. And most likely be here in another day after that. A week is the worst case scenario." He said, trying to explain. Ryo leaned up against the counter, the hidden compartment still open. He silently ate his breakfast, adding the dish to his inventory when he was done. "Look Teion, about last night. I wanted to apologize. For my, irrational behavior." Ryo let out a small cough, to clear his throat. "I'm sorry, that I said those things last night. I was just heated, and confused, and a little upset about almost dying. Forgive me?" He asked, looking at Teion.

[Teion 0]

Teion couldn't help but bring a hand up to pinch at the bridge of her nose. She set the plate of pancakes on her lap, holding off on the temptation of food for just a bit longer while she formulated a response on the semi-transparent window in front of her.

Quote

To: Aereth
Subject: RE: .

I'm so sorry! Everything is alright, I'm fine. A lot happened yesterday, I ended up falling asleep before I saw your message. Really sorry for worrying you.

Love,
Thea

She hadn't intentionally dodged his question asking about her location--she was more focused on apologizing and letting the man know she was okay, more or less. With the message sent, Teion tried to fix her attention back on the situation at hand. She covered her mouth with a hand as a yawn worked its way up from her chest, reminding her that morning fog clouding her head wasn't yet fully cleared. She began to work on the pancakes sitting in front of her. After taking a first bite, she blinked with surprise. "...It's really good." She finally admitted, feeling an unexplainable hint of embarrassment with the compliment.

She continued to eat, running her tired gaze over the baseboards along the opposite side of the room when Ryo broke the silence to address the unsavory events of the night before. He apologized, and Teion felt a twinge of guilt at the recollection of their heated exchange. She paused for a few seconds, and then let out a small sigh of defeat. "Me too. I think you've seen enough of my short temper lately. So...sorry." The corner of her mouth hooked into a tiny smirk and her eyes drifted back to meet his. "Yeah. Truce."

[Ryo 0]

Ryo watched as Teion quickly grabbed the plate of food, and smirked. He did enjoy it when people enjoyed his food, even if they hadn't tried it yet. His eyes flickered up for a second and saw that Teion was composing a message. Most likely to her mystery date. He sighed, but couldn't hide his smile when Teion admitted that his cooking was good. He let out a chuckled and blushed gently. "Thanks." He said, accepting her compliment. "If you want I could try cooking for you more often." 

Ryos eyes met the ground as Teion accepted his apology, and Ryo looked back up as she apologized herself. "It's a truce then." He said, grabbing a book from the ground.

Ryo thumbed through it's contents in an awkward silence. What was there to do whilst waiting for a rescue? He closed the book only after a few moments of thumbing through it. He wanted to talk but what about? What could he ask? He had already told her that he loved her, and she had said that she didn't love him, so that was the end of that conversation. But that was the only thing on his mind. He undid his ponytail letting his hair flowing down in a more unkempt fashion.

He sighed, unable to thinkof a decent conversation starter. Why'd you buy the game? Because it looked like fun, what a mistake that was. What can you tell me about yourself? Nothing you can't already guess. Ryo ran those and several more situations in his mind, all coming up the same.

"So," Ryo started, breaking the heavy silence between them. "Anything you want to ask me? I've been asking you questions ever since we met. So if you want to interrogate me, go ahead." He said chuckling.

[Aereth 1]

Just after the first rays of sunlight met the brunettes eyes, the small sound of an incoming message and the small popup notification on the HUD snapped him out of the trance like state he was in. He had asked around all the bigger settlements, searched at all common and even most of the hidden grinding and questing spots he knew of. But even with the help of some information brokers he wasn't able to find out the current location of the purple haired girl.  

So he immediately pressed on the according buttons on his menu to see who was writing him. With a sigh of relief, he read through the message and let himself drop to the grassy floor of the forest path he was currently walking. "A lot happened yesterday..." he brows furrowed. "She still didn't tell me where she is..." After he calmed down again, a new feeling of uneasiness washed over him. "She also just could have just went out with Piera or something..." he tried to reason with himself. "Not everything means that she might be in danger from being killed by psychopaths..."

Quote

To: @Teion
Subject: RE: RE: .

Phew. Glad to hear that. Totally didn't wander around the second floor all night in order to find you. Where Are you? Should I pick you up?

Love, Max

One quick press of the send button later, and Aereth was finally able to relax for some moments, closing his eyes and just waiting for the reply of Purple...

[Teion 0]

How long had it been since she tasted pancakes? Long enough to make her forget most of her troubles for the short time that she enjoyed the simple breakfast. It was only a couple of minutes, however, before she received the familiar alert of a new message and the woman nervously paused from her meal to pull up its contents. She blinked, reading over Max's words a second time. Had he really been out searching for her? A small knot was quick to form in her stomach, and her fingers hesitated before she typed out a reply.

Quote

To: Aereth
Subject: RE: RE: RE: .

Sorry... I got caught up in some stupid event thing. I'm safe, don't worry, but I don't have any coordinates I can give you.

I'll still be out for a while, but I'll keep in touch. And just remind me that I owe you dinner.

Love, Thea

Teion let out a long sigh as she leaned back into the wall. Writing out a response had taken her much longer than she would have thought. Between the distraction of indulgent pancakes and the stress of her concentrated reply, the woman had briefly forgotten about Ryo's presence. She jolted slightly when he broke the silence, as if she had embarrassed herself somehow. "Oh, uhh..." She turned her attention back to what remained of her breakfast, mulling over his question for a short while. What did she want to ask him? She was terrible with small talk, and even worse at getting to know someone. With the now-cleared plate sitting in her lap, she stared at her knees and forced out the only thing that came to mind. "Do you cook in the real world?"

[Ryo 0]

Again the see-through board appeared in front of Teion, and another message was made and sent. It had to have been that guy see's seeing. Ryo's brow furrowed at the thought of it. He could sense Teion's disliking of small talk when Ryo asked if she had any questions for him, or about him. She asked him if he cooked in real life. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I do. Well, did." He said walking over to Teion to grab the now empty plate. "I cooked at home, and I was gonna go to school for it. But mom got sick, and I couldn't afford school anymore. Mostly because I didn't know that mom was sick and dad stole what money I had." He said, sitting down on the bed using it as a makeshift chair. "But mom had died long before I had started to send money to dad for help. Turns out dad was out of work and needed money to keep his addictions in order. So what wonderful timing that mom died and that I had money to just give him huh?" He said, frustrated at himself for falling for his fathers lies. "But yeah. I cook somewhat decently I think." Ryo said, smiling at Teion. "So that raises the question. What do you do in the real world? Don't tell me that you're stuck as someone's secretary. You're far too pretty to be stuck behind a desk." Ryo said, half joking.

[Teion 0]

As the conversation took a quick turn, Teion simply pulled her knees up once again. She listened to his story, but she dint know what to say, or even what to think. The situation he explained was certainly awful, but she struggled with such uncomfortable topics. She never had a difficult home life. Her parents were alive and well, free from addictions and debt. She couldn't claim to understand any of his struggles, and she wondered for a moment if he would rather be wearing a different expression than the smile that he showed her.

She shifted her gaze from Ryo back to the floorboards over her knees. He turned the question back to her, and she still hesitated before finding the words to answer him. She forced half a smirk, "Well no, not quite. But I did work in an office. It was boring, but it paid the bills." She shrugged. Realizing how minimal her response was, Teion paused for a moment while she thought of where to pull the topic from there. "I practically dropped out of college. Never figured out what I wanted to do, and my grades were garbage." She admitted with a clear indifference in her voice. "So I focused on working instead. My friend got me my job, I moved out, got a cat." She trailed off, taking another couple of seconds for her to lace her fingers loosely together in front of her ankles. "But, uhm... I'm sorry. For what happened with your parents."

[Ryo 0]

Ryo laughed. "A cat person huh? I think I remember you telling me about this actually." He said, putting a finger to his chin in thought. "Yeah, when we went out to the Fields of Crossing. Saw that wonderful view." He said, remembering that moment fondly. "And about schooling, it's nothing. You can be plenty happy with that cat of yours, a good book or two, and a job that makes you feel dead inside." Ryo said, joking. She then apologized for what had happened with his parents. He didn't know if it was her condolences or sympathy. But it didn't matter. "Don't be. What's happened has happened, and there's nothing any of us can do to change it. just like my history, and just like yours." Ryo said thinking. Frankly, he half expected Teions notification window to appear again as she received a message. The only person he would've to bother talking to was in the room with him. "So, how's mystery man?" Ryo asked, meaning the person that Teion had been messaging all day.

[Teion 0]

She shifted slightly with his next question. That was a subject she hadn't expected Ryo to touch on, and she wasn't sure if she was the one making it weird by feeling uncomfortable. "Uhm. Fine, I guess. I think I worried him a bit." Though she knew it was an understatement, she left it at that. She couldn't tell if he was genuinely wanting to know more about Max, or if it was simply something to move the conversation along. Teion pulled one hand in front of her folded legs, dragging it through the air to pull up her menus. The other traveled to the back of her neck, fingers curling around it along with a section of her hair. She idly panned over to her friends list, looking over the five names that were listed. Three of them brought more familiar faces to mind, ones she had seen before this nightmare of a game.

"Do you know anyone from the real world that ended up in here?" Staring blankly at the names hovering in front of her might have prompted the question, but it had practically slipped out like a loose thought.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo shook his hand. "No, it's fine. It's better to let him know that you're fine rather than keeping him in the dark. I mean, he's not one of the crazy ones that need to know what you're doing all the time, or trying to control what you do right? I had a girlfriend like that once. She tried to bug my computer at home to see if I was messaging girls online without her knowing." Ryo said chuckling remembering her insanity. She then asked if he had known anyone from the real world who had joined SAO. Ryo leaned back, his hands on the bed. "No, and I feel if I did know someone from the real world things would've gone differently. Being alone made things so difficult." He said somberly. He shook his head, not wanting to think about his past anymore. "What about you? Anyone special, that friend who got you that job?" Ryo asked.

[Teion 0]

Teion felt a slight twinge of unease at his comment. If he had expected an answer, she wouldn't provide one, and she was grateful that he had taken the change of topic after a recollection of an unhealthy relationship of his own. She frowned slightly, still staring at a pair of names while she expected him to pass her the question in their little game of back-and-forth.

"Yeah, actually." She leaned back against the wall until the back of her head pressed against the solid surface. Her hand slid from the nape of her neck and into her lap while her heels slid against the ground. Her legs straightened in front of her, and her other hand was quick to join the first, thumbs lightly fidgeting with each other. "Him and his brother. It was total coincidence that we ran into each other, but I was glad that we did. Gods, that feels like forever ago." She mumbled in between her recollections. "And then this girl..." Her eyes fell to meet Piera's username. "She was an online friend, and we never actually met in person, but I wanted to someday. Played games with her all the time." She had smiled softly before her eyes closed and her expression dimmed. "I've hardly talked to her lately. Any of them, really." She tacked on, unable to even remember when exactly she had last seen the more elusive Endilix twin.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo let his feet hang, and swing off the end of the bed. Teion herself repositioned, what else was someone supposed to do with nothing else to do. Ryo looked around at the materials in the room. Another half of curtain hung in front of the mural, some broken planks from a dismantled bookcase littered the floor, and of course, the potions that were still on the shelf. "Well, I'm glad that you at least found someone." Ryo's eyebrows cocked at the idea of that. "Oh, a girl you wanted to meet in real life someday? She had to have been really special for you to get that kind of impression. Who was she?" Ryo asked. He was curious as to who it could be, she had to have been someone close or special to Teion for her to go out of her way to go and meet her in real life.

[Teion 0]

Teion either felt too stiff or too restless to continue sitting against the shop's wall. Her feet planted flat and she dismissed the menus from in front of her before picking herself up. She grabbed a fistful of the cloth that had served as a blanket the night prior, draping it over the the back of a chair that stood crookedly in front of a messy workspace. Her thumbs slid along the thin cloth that hugged her thighs until they slipped past symmetrical leather straps. She pressed down, pushing gently at the material with raised shoulders as she took slow and lazy steps across the room. "Hmm? Yeah, I knew her for...at least a couple of years. Although it'd be even longer now." Her eyes ran over the shelves still filled with potions and other alchemical concoctions. "She lived across the country, but we hung out and played together whenever we had free time. Which, for me, was a lot." She chuckled dryly, thinking for a moment at how little time she spent getting out of the house. Teion gave a tiny shake of her head and took on a soft smile. "Anyway, I've only met up with her here once or twice. I call her Sophie, from her username on our favorite game. But the one she chose here was Piera."