[PP-F1] The Couple's Meal (ft Steel and Reinka)

[Steel 0]

Eh, eh!?! When did I raise this flag!?! Steel couldn't help but think to himself as his blush came back. Is she aware of what she just said? Was it a mistake because of the language barrier? She couldn't have possibly meant that me holding her hand felt nice! Steel didn't feel like girls would find him attractive at all due to both modesty and some self depreciation so he was thinking of reasons she said that. Though he couldn't hide his flustered expression.

"Yeah, this really is good. I can see why you wanted to try this. Steel agreed with Reinka's sentiment. To make her more comfortable, he was eating at relatively the same pace as her. This was so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable from making him wait for her if he ate faster or from waiting on him to finish if he was slower. "It seems like you're getting the hang of using chopsticks at least."

[Reinka 0]

She blushed a bit more watching Steel fidget. She ate some of the soup happily and ate her half easily. She sighed relaxing in her chair. It was pretty nice to eat in the game. "It tasted pretty good." She explained to him. "This has been a pretty eventful day don't you think?" she almost couldn't wait to relax in a comfortable place. "So that minitor quest. I'm going to fix up my skills to make sure I have a healing sword art just in case. I'll handle that before bed and I'll check to make sure in the morning I did it correctly. Oh, I mean taking battle healing." she explained willing to help Steel as much as possible.

"You've taught me a ton of things in a short amount of time. Thank you Steel." She felt happy to count on him because he allowed her to be counted on as well.

[Steel 0]

"I guess you could say that though honestly the quest itself was rather boring as the boars were too weak. The fun parts though were fighting the mimic and getting to know you better." He said with a grin. "You seem pretty tired. Bet you can't wait to sleep in a real bed for once. I still feel kinda bad about making it cramped with both of us on it." Though it was at her insistence, he still would have rather had her be completely comfortable.

"Oh? You're going the healing route despite being a pirate? Looks like you're embracing your princess side after all." He said with a teasing smirk as it was common for the princess type characters in rpgs to have more support or healing oriented skills. "Seriously though, what brought this on?"

"I don't think I did anything much. You were just able to pick things up rather fast." Steel modestly.

[Reinka 0]

"Um, if you want to sleep someplace else that'd be fine but, I figured we might as well get use to it until you get your guild up and running. Unless sleeping with me would bother you. If it's too much trouble you don't have to Steel." She explained.

"Yeah, fighting the mimic was a lot of fun actually." She smiled happily. "Yes, I was always planning to go the healing route that way I could be helpful. To be honest I'm surprised I"m doing as well as I am with martial arts, but I'm glad. "Before the whole issue with it being a death game I figured there would be some sort of healing route. Too be fair though I'm surprised theere's no ranged weapons like bows or throwing knives, or even magic...So back then it was speculation on healing arts. Every game had them. Being as social as I am I hoped that I'd always have a party with me as a healer. Then everything happened and I locked myself away. Thinking back on it I got off my rump and got back to doing the only kind of fighting that might feel natural to me. Martial arts, and to my surprise I did it." She thought for a bit trying to figure out to word the rest of her sentence. "I care a lot about you Steel, and I want to help you get stronger, and I want to get stronger with you. So, I guess then I'd want to have healing arts to protect you if you're going to protect me." She said feeling her heart race a bit.

"You did a lot. Without you around I wouldn't be able to muster up that kind of courage." She admitted. "I was frozen to the starting area it's just how it was. Not only are you making me better, and capable of defending myself, but it's easier to enjoy this with someone you know. I can't wait till we get a guild. Then there will be more people to enjoy this game with."

[Steel 0]

"Ah, that's not the issue. I thought I would be the one bothering you. I know you said it was fine earlier but in the back of mind, I couldn't help but feel that I'd hinder your quality of rest by sleeping with you." Steel explained his own worries. Also, isn't it rather inappropriate for a man and woman who are not married, not even dating to share the same bed? Steel's somewhat old fashioned way of thinking had also had him think this but decided not to voice it due to knowing that they have different cultures.

Steel couldn't help but feel flustered once again from what she said. She was just explaining her own reasons for choosing to go for being a healer and then she dropped that out of nowhere. Reinka seemed rather flustered herself. "I....also care about you and I want to keep protecting you. I don't want to make you cry again. Let's get stronger together." His own heart was racing somewhat as he spoke his mind. In his mind, he still thought she was being platonic with it due to self depreciation but he was still embarrassed.

"Yeah, forming a guild would be like having our own little family. That'll be fun. I wonder what sort of family we'll become?" Steel said with a small smile. "I'll be counting on you when that happens Vice Leader. I guess you'd be like the mommy in that situation." He said that last part in a teasing manner.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Steel

[Reinka 0]

"Huh? Don't worry about that. You can't really bother me, you're already a gentleman. Besides I'll tell you." She smiled happily at him, and it was true she'd likely tell him if she didn't like something. It was just the type of relationship she had with him already. "So you should do that with me too okay." She didn't want him to shy away away from calling her out on something that bothered him as well.

She smiled happy. He just told her that she meant a lot to him too in his own words. It was pretty romantic in her eyes as well as comforting. It would make her strive to keep up the hard work to keep him alive.

She placed her hand in front of her mouth and gasped, then pointed at herself.
"Me?! I'm not strong enough but I'll do my best to advertise for you! I have told a few people about you forming a guild. Maybe I'll post a treasure hunt to invite guildless players to see if they'd be interested in joining our family." She smiled happily.

[Steel 0]

"Fair enough, just be sure to tell me." Steel said in response. Now that I think about it, she could send me to that prison if she wanted to anyway with that anti sexual harassment thing anyway. Steel thought to himself as he recalled there being such a system. Only because Setsuko, another female player he had met in the past had threatened him with it during their first meeting just from being a couple feet away from her. It made him wonder why only the females got it. "And of course, I wouldn't do a thing without permission because I'm trying to be a gentleman."

It seemed Reinka was happy with what he said. There was even a look of romanticism in her eyes? Steel was confused about this. He also noticed the resolve behind the eyes filled with romance. Taking into account her personality, he figured it was about keeping him alive. "Just don't go sacrificing yourself for me. Just as you'd feel sad about losing me, I'd feel sad about losing you. Let's survive this together." He said with a small smile.

"You have a decent amount of strength, be confident." Steel said, reassuring her. "Besides, I said so in the beginning right? You're member #2, the first person I wanted to be part of my family. That's why you're my Vice Leader." He said this with a grin. "Oh? That'd be fun, though I hope it doesn't go too out of hand. I'm sure we've both met other players not in guilds right? We can try inviting them."

They had finished eating the main course and the waitress had come out again. "I hope you two love birds enjoyed the meal. It's time for desert!" She placed between them a somewhat large, yet still finishable, ice cream sundae with two spoons. Steel had figured Reinka didn't have too much of an issue sharing in this manner so he took a spoon and got a spoonful of ice cream to put in his mouth, only to be blocked. "I forgot to mention, you can only eat it by feeding each other." Steel went slightly wide eyed at this.

[Reinka 0]

"Huh? Permission for what?" she chuckled. "Are you falling for me?" she teased him a bit. "I never thought about sacrificing myself to be honest, so don't you go doing it either. Once I become an alchemist you will always have a teleport crystal on you, and so will I and that's just how it is." she explained. "There will be no reason for needless danger, we can try to get into trouble but we will not stay in it if we can't handle it."
She nodded.
"Sure thing. I'll be sure to ask around and to have fun with a lot of people." She smiled happily.

She stared at the ice cream and her head turned quickly to look at the waitress. She was a little annoyed with that idea but shrugged it off.

"Okay Steel, move closer. Did you want the cherry to right away or later?" she asked snickering finding the whole thing hilarious in the end.
 

[Steel 0]

"Who knows? Perhaps I am." Steel teased back. "How about you? Have you fallen for me yet?" 

I'm confused, are they dating or not? Some of the onlookers couldn't help but question based on what was being said.

"I never planned on sacrificing myself. As I said, it'd make you sad right?" Steel said in response. "I'll counting on you then for the alchemy related stuff. And you can count on me for tanking and whatever job I end up choosing." He said with a grin. Though in the back of his head, he still wasn't sure of what to do for the profession skill.

Steel scooted in closer so that their faces were now just a little over a foot apart, making it easier for them to feed each other. Though initially shocked, Reinka seemed to find the situation hilarious and Steel couldn't hold his own laughter as well. "We've gotten ourselves in a rather peculiar situation. Can't say I hate it though." He said with a small grin as he held out the first spoonful he had gotten earlier out for Reinka to eat. "Now say ahh." 

[Reinka 0]

She just smiled at him letting him intemperate that how he would. Though she wasn't ready to just date him after so many days. She wanted to get to know him better even if she felt she had known him forever.

"Sure thing I'll look forward to serving you at the shop in the future. I doubt I can give too many discounts right away, but eventually I will. Though if you honestly need something let me know, sometimes it's good to have something in mind for someone." She smiled happily. "Trust me I'll visit your shop as much as I can!"

"I don't mind, it's kind of fun this way." she opened up to eat some ice cream and also gave Steel a big spoonful. She was pretty happy to make such a memory.

 

[Steel 0]

Though I was joking, it looks like I've been turned down. Steel thought to himself with an inner nervous chuckle. He hadn't had much popularity with girls to his knowledge so he had kinda expected such a response. At least it seemed that she didn't hate him or feel disgusted with him so that was good. This was an example of him thinking of it both positively and negatively at the same time. Though he had expected it, it still made him a tad bit disappointed.

"I'll let you know if I need anything. And you can visit my shop whenever you want." Steel said with a grin. "If I become a blacksmith, I'll strive to make your best weapon or if open a restaurant, I'll save a seat for you. Well, you get the idea."

Steel opened his mouth to take in the bite Reinka offered him before getting another spoonful for her. "Hahaha, fun huh? That's one way to think about it. I guess it'll be a nice memory to look back on."

Edited March 8, 2018 by Steel

[Reinka 0]

"Hey Steel. Because I'll be around you so much. We'll be together for years probably. We'll only be separated when we wake up." She had high hopes and looked to him. She thought of her words for a bit. She opened her mouth then closed it unsure how to explain what she wanted to say and felt her face flush red. She then looked down for a minute. Maybe she'll ask him later. "Um....You're too nervous. It's making me nervous." She sighed trying to get over it. "I'll tell you want I want to tell you later okay." She winked at him trying to step over the weird awkwardness only making it worse.

"Okay, I look forward to buying out your shop haha, well maybe. I'll defiantly visit though!"

She kept feeding him happily. Feeling more comfortable.

[Steel 0]

"Yeah, we'll be together for a long while. And even after we wake up, I'd end up finding you again." Steel said with a grin, having remembered the promise of introducing his sister to her and to explore another VRMMO with her. He then noticed her becoming flustered over trying to say something. He himself was already feeling nervous from the atmosphere she was giving off and she seemed to notice it too, telling him he was too nervous. Well, I'm nervous because you're nervous! Steel couldn't help but retort in his mind. Reinka gave up on saying what she wanted to say until later. "Don't worry, take your time. No need to rush." He assured her, not wanting to pressure her into saying what it was.

After a bit longer, the two of them had finished the rather large sundae. "Hahaha, I'm stuffed. That was a good meal." Steel said with a grin. Even if the dessert made things awkward, they had become comfortable with it. Steel had already paid before the food had arrived so they could just go. "Do you want to walk around the town a bit beforehand or go straight to the inn?" He asked.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Steel

[Reinka 0]

She smiled and walked close beside him. She was pretty tired, but another walk around town might be nice. She silently reached and held his hand and just walked with him calmly. She looked up at the night sky and felt the breeze. Her free hand went in front of her mouth as she yawned. She turned to Steel with her ruby red eyes.

"I'm pretty tired but one." She held up a finger with her free hand. "One more walk around the place. Kind of like a final patrol for the night." She smiled at him and then looked away to watch where she was going. Only now was she realizing how siren the place seemed to be.

[Steel 0]

Now I'm confused. Steel couldn't help but think in his mind. First she rejects me, though that was a joke, and now we're holding hands and walking together like a couple. What does this mean!?! I will never understand girls... Although his mind was in a panic, he kept on a poker face albeit a slight blush was on his face. Holding Reinka's hand just felt natural though and it felt warm. "This place really can be peaceful sometimes. Haven't really noticed it till now since I usually ignored my surroundings." Steel said with a small smile.

"Kayaba really did do good work on this night scenery. It sets a nice mood. Though the stars are kinda all over the place and the constellations aren't there." Steel said, using his free hand to point at the stars as he chuckled a little at the game maker's obvious lack of knowledge in astrology and probably just put them in at random. Though perhaps it wasn't so obvious. Steel just happened to learn a few of the constellations in the real world and couldn't seem to find any of them in Aincrad's night sky. Well, he supposed people would at least know of the Dipper constellations. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by Steel

[Reinka 0]

She nodded agreeing.

"I wonder how much of the game he created himself, and how much his team created though. One man can't do everything." She said as she walked along side of him. "Today was really nice. I think I'd like to get use to days like these." She looked over at Steel. "How about you?" she asked a little shyly, but for the most part she was bold with her question.

She felt safe with him, and she could enjoy this cage with him. She also didn't want him to die, and wanted to stick by his side. So all of this was connected. She could easily see herself staying with him. She just didn't want to go too fast about it.

"We'll take it slow if....That's okay....I didn't want to say that in front of all the people gawking.....I wanted it to be more. Personal." She tried to explain. "But I mean, if you turn me down try to be gentle about it okay." she was a little worried over rejection but in all honesty she knew she'd still be able to stay close to him.

[Steel 0]

"I'm sure most of the design at least was done by him. It almost seems like a child's fantasy world that's been fully realized when that child became an adult." Steel gave his thoughts on the matter. "I could definitely get used to days like this, going on adventures or having fun just hanging around. I've already gotten quite comfortable being around you." Steel said with a small smile. In the back of his mind, he thought that they shouldn't grow too comfortable since they were still in a death game they had to beat but he let that thought pass for the moment as that would have ruined the mood at the time.

Taking it slow? What's she talking about... Steel thought to himself before he heard her say 'turn me down' which made his confusion turn into mental panic. EH!?! That's what she meant!?! I thought she had rejected that notion. Did I screw up in reading other people's emotions again!?! If he were a computer program, there would have definitely been a 'Steel.exe has stopped working.' showing up. Thankfully, this panic didn't show too much on his face but he was visibly surprised. Come on Takeshi, snap out of it! You have to face this head on and say what's on your mind! With that, he took a deep breath before answering.

"Sorry about freezing up there, I was just surprised since I wasn't expecting that honestly." He said with a sheepish smile before recomposing himself. "If you're really fine with somebody like me, then sure." Steel said with a smile as his hold on Reinka's hand became slightly firmer, as if never wanting to let go. "And yeah, let's just move at our own pace."

[Reinka 0]

She nodded understanding, and yet she was told the floors looked so different at times, she honestly wondered. Then again some people honestly did have that much creativity. Still, what if they just all assumed, what if there was more than one person pulling some strings. Maybe even the person in charge of keeping people alive. What if there was a deal there too. It was too easy to get into conspiracy theories at this rate. She also didn't want to think of it as a wasted effort so kept it all to herself in the end, maybe she'd bring it up one day.

She waited for him to react, or to say something. At one point she looked at him a little nervous, and then felt her body go into panic mode wondering what he'd say, but when he said it she relaxed.

"Of course. You know....I hate to admit it. This game has done a lot of good for me...I always thought I'd date another celebrity, or make a fan's dreams come true, but at the same time I never had time for another person, and that's why I never got involved with anyone really.  It wouldn't have been fair to them you know....But here....I can balance working and living, and I want to do it." She explained. "I want to play this single life game the way I do in the real world. Only....With a player two." She smiled at him happily and she lightly squeezed his hand. "I've wanted and needed another person who can help me...." she used her free hand and moved it in a jagged line. "You know?" then moved it calmer and straighter. "You can do that....And....You give me hope." She said warmly. "So, of course I'm more than fine with someone like you. You're handsome, reliable, you got me out of a bad mess, and I can be me." she smiled happily at him

[Steel 0]

"Player two huh? Though I wouldn't have it any other way." Steel said with a grin. "And when we get out of here, even if you go back to that hectic schedule without time for anyone else, I'd still go and find a way for us to spend some time together." He said with confidence in his voice. "Even if we end up in different countries at times, we can still use VR to spend time together."

"I'm not too confident in my looks or how reliable I can be but if I'm able to give you comfort and hope, that's good enough for me. You've also become someone dear to me that I can find comfort in." Steel said modestly with a warm smile. "I just hope I can continue to be that source of comfort from now onward."

After a bit more walking, Steel had led Reinka to the inn he had been staying at. This feels as though I'm bringing her to a love hotel.... Steel thought to himself with some inner hesitation. No, you must not let your mind wander! You must treat Reinka like a gentleman should! While he was having this inner argument with himself, he had brought Reinka up to the second story and led her to the room he was staying. "Welcome home I guess." He said with a light chuckle as they entered. Inside was a simple room with a single bed, a table with two chairs, and even what seemed to be a bathroom to the side even though these virtual avatars had no need to use one. "Want to take a bath or something?" He asked, revealing why there was such a thing in the first place. "Kayaba really is Japanese. He decided to at least put in some hot baths to let us refresh ourselves even though we don't get dirty." 

Edited March 12, 2018 by Steel

[Reinka 0]

"Hm? Baths work?" she wondered how that could be, it wasn't like she was actually gross feeling in the real world. Though her mind did feel a bit tricked into feeling a bit sweaty and gross from fighting here.

"Thanks, I'll be quick then. Don't turn the water on if that's how this works." she had no idea if it would take long or if she'd just be instantly clean to be honest. She paused. "All the bath stuff is yours though, or is there extra?" she asked realizing she might be using up all his supplies. "Or does it just, refill itself?" she wasn't sure. She felt like a noob all of the sudden. "I'll figure it out. Why don't you just go to sleep and I'll just join you whenever I've figured it all out."

She was use to sharing rooms and doing all of this from moving around for shows, and movies, but she felt a bit nervous at the same time. There was a new element to all of this. Still she had to admit it felt very nice.