[F21-PP] A Date at the Hot Springs

[Paglikha 0]

Kalu was on a trip to Floor 21’s Tomoika. He had heard a couple of stories about how it seemed like it was an alien planet because of its vibrant, flourescent flora and the medieval, ornate architecture embedded within the cavern’s naturally forming columns. However, after hearing about the flourescent flora, he had decided to go and explore Tomoika because the stories he had heard also made an impression on him that the floor seemed to be in a constant state of twilight.

 

When he arrived, he wasn’t substantively impressed. He wasn’t sure why his expectations were so high, he even told himself that it probably wasn’t anything close to what he has already seen, but he felt a tinge of disappointment. Kalu continued to talk until he found the Aincrad famous hot springs of Floor 21. However, the only person he could readily see entering - and exiting- the hot springs was the ordinary miner NPC, that was considered the lifeblood of Tomoika. Looking around, he wasn’t able to see any indication of any players at all.

 

A relaxing dip within the hot springs sounds nice. I wonder if Tsu would like to join in. Kalu smiled as he opened his menu and searched for her tag. Upon finding it, he began to write out a message.

 

<<Message:

Hey Tsu, I wanted to know if you wanted to join me at Floor 21’s hot springs. I’ve heard good stories about them and it is considered to be one of the most relaxing things in Aincrad that we have cleared so far. I’ll be waiting at the front entrance of the hot springs waiting for your response.

>>

 

Kalu hit the ‘send’ button on the menu as he finalized the message. He looked around and noticed the cavern flora’s colors slowly shifting from cold blue-green color schemes to a warm orange-yellow color scheme. Hopefully, she’ll enjoy this.

 

@Froppy

[Froppy 0]

Tsu was in McFroppy's tidying up her place as usual when she heard the small ping go off, meaning she got a message. Tsu checked her message and read through the invite that Kalu sent her. He would be waiting at the entrance of the hot springs, and Tsu got a small smile reading the message. So this would be their first date. Tsu wasn't going to call it a date, just for the sake of keeping things from getting awkward, but it would just be another hang out between her and Kalu.

Tsu left McFroppy's and made her way to the floor teleporter, and then warped to Floor 21. The floor felt similar to floor 10, being in a more cave area with a cool vibe. Tsu hopped to the hot springs, and waved to Kalu once she arrived at the entrance. "Hey Kalu, ribbit. Thanks for inviting me, I could use a nice dip in the springs myself. Good to see you again, rrrrrribbit." Tsu thanked, sticking out her tongue and winking briefly. It was just nice seeing Kalu, he alone made her a bit relaxed.

[Paglikha 0]

Kalu waved back at Tsu and smiled. She seems to be cheerful. “It’s nice to see you too,” Kalu told Tsu. A feeling of inexplicable relief washed over him. I would know she’s alive since she hasn’t disappeared from my friends list, so I don’t know why I’m having these thoughts. Kalu smiled at Tsu and hugged her.

 

“How have you been?”, Kalu asked Tsu. He realized it was a mundane qustion but it was still an essential one. He started going towards the door to the entrance of the hot springs facility and opened the door for Tsu. Even though Kalu hasn’t really had too much social experience, he still knew common courtesy and manners. That took such a long amount of time, but it was worth it. I was able to get in Japan that way. However, in the back of his mind he also knew the dreadful fact that if he hadn’t learned those same manners he was using now, he wouldn’t be stuck in this game nor would he have known Axios nor would he have known Tsu. “Ladies first.”

[Froppy 0]

Tsu smiled when Kalu hugged her, and she returned the hug. Kalu had asked how she had been, and Tsu thought about the usual question of what had been going on recently. "I don't really know, ribbit. It's been a mixed pond for me lately, ribbit I've had a lot of ups and downs. But you've been one of the ups for sure, rrrrrribbit." Tsu answered, giving Kalu a quick thumbs up as she followed him to the door of one of the springs. Tsu walked through the door after Kalu opened it, saying ladies first. "Frogs first, ribbit." Tsu joked as she walked into the facility. Once inside, Tsu opened her menu and took off all her clothes and put on a towel before sitting down in the water. "The water is so relaxing, you should sit down too, ribbit." Tsu said, looking back towards Kalu and sticking her tongue out.

[Paglikha 0]

“Thanks, you’ve been one of the more positive things in my life more recently as well,” Kalu responded to Tsu. He wanted Tsu to know that she was also important in his life as well. I could never thank her enough. Not in in this lifetime at least.

After walking into the facility, the two of them went into their separate changing rooms. He quickly unequipped his dagger and clothes and put a towel around his waist before exiting the changing room.

Kalu watched as Tsu stepped into the water and settled down. When Tsu had called out to him to join her in the water, he was happy to oblige. Kalu decided to settle down at a location near Tsu, but still respecting the space of a certain personal bubble. The hot springs seemed to melt away all of the day’s stress away. ”You’re right, no wonder it’s an Aincrad famous hot spot.”

[Froppy 0]

Tsu patted Kalu's shoulder when he agreed with her that the water was really relaxing. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to feel so good, ribbit. But now all my problems just seem to fade away, ribbit." Tsu said as she rested her back on the edge of the spring, while stretching her legs out a bit. Tsu had hardly ever felt this relaxed before, and Kalu being there just made it even better. Looking at Kalu, he seemed so relaxed, Tsu couldn't help but smile. It was nice seeing him enjoy himself. Tsu scooted up next to Kalu and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for inviting me here, ribbit. I love spending time with you, it calms me down more than these springs, ribbit." Tsu thanked before taking her head off his shoulder and just leaned against him from the side. "So, anything you want to talk about, rrrrrribbit?"

[Paglikha 0]

”Not really anything important. I just wanted to see you again is all,” Kalu responded to Tsu’s question. He felt like he should tell her the current status of creating a special song within his shop that would be an homage to her, but he decided to push it off until later on.

When they were together, Kalu felt as if the time slowed to a crawl, especially now as Tsu had rested her head on Kalu’s shoulder. But when we part, it seems as if that time had faded away so quickly. As if the thief of this life stole it away from us. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, releasing his stress along with his breath. ”I love spending time with you too. A bunch of new experiences, all of them have been amazing thanks to you.” Kalu turned towards her and her kissed her on the forehead. I am one lucky person.

[Froppy 0]

Tsu sighed and closed her eyes for a little bit when Kalu said that he had nothing really important he wanted to talk about, he just wanted to see her again. "That's fine, ribbit. Just seeing you again is enough to make my day. I feel like we are the only ones who understand each other, rrrrrribbit." Tsu as she wrapped her arms around Kalu and hugged him tightly after he kissed her on the forehead. Tsu kissed him on the forehead back and gave him a big smile. He agreed with Tsu that he loved spending time with her, and it had been amazing. Tsu nodded and spoke with a bit of a soothing tone. "Yes indeed, ribbit. I bet meeting a frog girl was a new experience. But you have given me a few new experiences too, rrrrrribbit. To me, you've been such a great-" Tsu stopped when she felt her towel drop below her chest leaving herself exposed. Her face turned a bright red as she felt her chest bounce against Kalu. She pulled her towel back up quickly and then went back to sitting beside Kalu. "A-Anyways, I was about to say that you have been a great boyfriend, ribbit." Tsu finished, her face still red as she crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. Please don't tell me he saw anything. "So, do you want to hear any of my froggy school stories, rrrrrrrribbit?" Tsu asked, trying to change the subject.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Froppy

[Paglikha 0]

Kalu thanked Tsu for her affirmation that he had been a good significant other for a while now. However, his focus was slightly preoccupied onto the columns, the stalactites, and the stalagmites with the vibrant flora which is the cavern’s only source of light. Although NPCs can’t really exit their respective locations nor go against their predefined protocls, I would like to see these NPCs meet people from other floors. I wonder if it would create an Allegory of the Cave scenario, or if they would accept the nature of Aincrad being extremely diverse from one floor to the next.

Kalu looked back towards Tsu when she asked him if he wanted to hear some stories of when she was in school. Kalu didn’t know nor understand the reason why she her face was red. “Of course, I would love to listen to your school stories. But are you feeling okay? You’re a bit red, are you uncomfortable?”

[Froppy 0]

Tsu's face was still a bit red as she kept one hand holding her towel. Kalu agreed to listened to her school stories, but when he asked if she was okay, her face turned redder before answering. "I'm fine, ribbit. But I'm glad you didn't notice my towel drop when I hugged you. If you didn't know, girls are a bit sensitive on who gets to see our chests, ribbit." Tsu answered, her face's normal color returned as she explained and her smile returned as well. Moving on, Tsu figured it would be better to go on with a few of her stories. "So I'll start with my first story, ribbit. I remember in 8th grade, I was the lead role of the frog in our school's take of the Princess and the Frog. Thing is, our school called it the Prince on the Frog. We all had a good laugh about that, rrrrrrrrribbit. That was the only time I was ever in a play. I only auditioned for the frog role, ribbit."

[Paglikha 0]

Kalu listened to Tsu’s story about her involvement within a play. To Kalu, it was interesting how the school made the decision to change the screenplay so that it would fit in better with Tsu’s nature. “I’ve never been to a school play, but it sounds fun. I don’t think I could act though, but I would probably enjoy watching it.”

If you really overthink it, the Princess and the Frog - or in her case the Prince and the Frog - is a sort of passing-glance story. The two main characters met each other in a passing glance in an extraordinary type of circumstances, but that passing glance soon became a good look until the end of their times. Kalu was, of course, over-analyzing the entire premise of the Princess and the Frog. He realized that this sort of analytical mind wasn’t supposed to be applied to a kid’s fairytale, but he inadvertently done so anyways. “Yeah.”

[Froppy 0]

Tsu sank down into the water a little bit and the water went up to her neck before she turned to Kalu when he said that he had never been to a school play, but he would enjoy watching. "I didn't really like acting much either, nor was I that great either, ribbit. I just acted like a frog and people loved it. Pretending to be a frog makes things easier for me a lot, ribbit. On Halloween, I would just be a frog every year. People would just think the tongue as part of the costume and I would fit in, rrrrribbit." Tsu explained, going through her memories of the times she fit in. Tsu never really thought of the Princess and the Frog much story wise, but analyzing stories wasn't really her thing. Tsu then closed her eyes for a while and let herself relax in th water.

[Paglikha 0]

“Halloween?”, Kalu thought aloud, trying to remember the occasion Froppy was talking about before having the proverbial lightbulb within his mind turned on. “Ah, the one where people dress up in costumes and sometimes would get candy from door-to-door. I think I went to an event in this game for one dressed up as Bungisngis. Weird, because I don’t really remember much except showing up dressed up and then the party ending.”

Now that I think of it, there wasn’t much I did in the Valentine’s Day Masquerade Ball, except show up beat my mask, and then leaving to have a drink. “If you don't mind my asking, what happened with Pinball? He seemed agitated that night, and it seemed as if everyone had something flipped with them, except Embers. I think her personality was the only thing that stayed constant that night.” Kalu nervously chuckled at the end, unsure where this would lead to. What did happen when I was passed out?

 

[Froppy 0]

Tsu giggled a little bit when Pag said that he didn't remember much from the halloween party, only just showing up and leaving. "Well, you don't really do that much at parties, ribbit. You're not really a party type of person. But that's okay, you're a great guy already, rrrrrribbit." Tsu said as she leaned up against Pag again as she closed her eyes, starting to feel just a little bit drowsy. She went quiet for a bit when Pag asked what happened with Pinball, not really wanting to talk about it. "Well, he said some stuff about me, calling me a freak and saying I was worse than anyone else there, ribbit. He was just tired of me being so nosy, so I don't really worry about it. I kinda deserved it, rrrrrrrribbit." Tsu answered, before starting to doze off a little bit. Tsu's towel fell off and her body as a whole started to sink into the water as she relaxed.