[PP-F6] <<Feeding the Enemy>> Coming to Terms (Teion)

[Ryo 0]

Ryo thought about it for a moment. He hadn't given it much thought into whether or not he needed a familiar let alone want one. He wondered though, what kind of familiar would someone cook up, cook up being the more weird part of that sentence. He stared into the bubbling pot, the ichor swirling around a nasty mix of silver, red, and black never quite mixing. Ryo looked at his love and gave a smirk and a shrug. "I can't see a reason not to. Alright, Glinda. What's the catch?" Ryo asked, turning his attention to the witch again.

"HEEEE HE HE HE HEEE! It's simple, my boy. All you have to do, is catch it!" And as Glinda screeched and cackled the cauldron shook and ichor spilled. Ryo took a step back ready to draw his katana if need be. The cauldron released a flash of light and Ryo had to shield his eyes from the brightness of it. Looking back Glinda was gone, and the cauldron toppled over. Ryo looked around for whatever could've escaped.

ID: 109871
LD: 15+2+3=20!

Ryo saw a bit of grass shift over to his left and without a second thought he rushed it. Diving into the grass beside the hut he looked around for, something. How was he supposed to know what it was. Behind him her heard a sound. Something akin to a wet hiss. Slowly turning his face was suddenly covered by a white spider and he feel backwards onto the ground. "WAH!" Letting out a cry of surprise as he did.

@Teion

Edited December 3, 2018 by Ryo

[Teion 0]

She was back and forth between laughing at the whole thing, casually going along with the eccentric NPC and the quest she would likely provide for them, and standing her ground against the unknown. She cocked an eyebrow more than once, exchanging a look with Ryo, and wincing just slightly at the loud cackle that escaped Glinda before she offered a cryptic answer.

When the cauldron flashed and toppled over, Teion brought up an arm to shield her face while she squeezed her eyes shut. A couple of quick steps backwards, and she blinked them back. "Wait, what--" She started when Ryo hurried towards the grass beside them. She froze up, eyes wide as she spotted the creature that skittered behind him. "R-Ryo," She urgently whispered, but before she could force out any kind of warning, the man turned only to topple backwards where the creature leapt at him. Teion let out a small scream at the sight until her instincts kicked in and she hurriedly looked for anything within arm's reach. Without her battleaxe equipped behind her, her hand shot out and retrieved a slim section of fallen tree branch. She stepped forward and swung, effectively swatting the icy-white spider off of him.

"God--augh, are you alright?" She asked, unable to keep her eyes off of the creature as it recovered to stand on all eight of its legs in the grass beside them.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo rolled to his feet, crouching down. He quickly answered Teion. "Yeah no I'm fine. Sorry." He said, apologizing for sprinting off. Looking over at the large spider across the way he stared at it, and it back. It stood there, it's mandibles twitching slightly as Ryo got to his feet. "Uhm,  you think that's it?" Ryo asked, motiong to the spider. A dumb thought crossed his mind, as he removed a small twig from his hair and tossed it aside. Ryo knelt down, and inched his way towards it.

"Hey there little guy." Ryo said, holding out an extended hand. The spider flinched, and waved it's head at Ryo. "Alright, girl then. I guess. I dunno." He said, still surprised from the initial leap onto the side of his face. Inching closer still he spoke calmly, and soothingly. "Relax. We're not going to hurt you. Okay. We're friendly." He said, getting just out of reach of the spider. The monster looked at it, Ryo's face reflecting in the many pools that were its eyes. 

The spider shifted, before thrusting itself into Ryo's open palm. The spider let out, a chirp or something close to it. An audible noise of sorts that was high pitched, yet low at the same time. Ryo instinvely began to pet the spider. "Hey, I think this is it." Ryo said over his shoulder to Teion. The spider crawled up his sleeve, and rested onto his shoulder. Bright white, with blue eyes, spindle legs. "I think I'm gonna name her 'Yuki'." Ryo said, running a finger over the fur of his new spider.

@Teion

[Teion 0]

Watching the small exchange, Teion was just as tense as when the spider had latched itself to his face. She never let go of the stick, practically brandishing it as a makeshift weapon in lieu of retrieving her axe from her inventory. She made a face when the reality of the large spider itself becoming Ryo's familiar became more and more apparent, but she held her tongue before the most unenthused of responses slipped out. Instead, with brows tilted upward in an expression of mixed uncertainty and defeat, she finally lowered the bit of branch to her side. She kept a generous distance, continuing to watch the chittering Yuki perched on his shoulder all the while. "I take it you like spiders." She said obviously, grasping at responses. "Well, it's no winged lion, or baby penguin." The corner of her mouth finally picked up into half a smile, thinking of the alternatives that she'd seen of their friends and his guildmates. Still, she shook her head and shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I'm just not into the whole 'monster pet' thing."

After a short while to realize that the oversized snowy spider was there to stay, she tossed the twig aside. It landed back to the ground of the clearing, and she shifted her weight. "Well that was, something." She scanned over what little the witch Glinda had left behind, wondering if there might be anything worth their while. "But, now what?"

[Ryo 0]

The spider traveled along Ryo, small strings of webbing covering his body. Nothing to restrain him, most likely from the spider being excited. Ryo let the spider crawl over him, letting it rest on top of shoulder after it had explored his body. Brushing away the few strands of webbing, Ryo answered. "Can't say. Never had a spider before. But my science class had a tarantula, back in like middle school." Ryo said, trying to follow the spider's movements on his body. "Cute little girl though. She seems so curious." Ryo said, giggling slightly as the spider tucked itself away into the inside of his jacket. Ryo thought for a moment. "I think, home would suffice for now at least. Gotta give her a name." RYo said, thinking for a moment. "How about, Yuki? It means snow I think. Best I can explain with the language filter on." Ryo said, chuckling at his new pet.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Ryo

[Teion 0]

She took a moment while he considered the name for his new pet again, having wandered aside to explore and poke around at what used to be Glinda's belongings. Spoken as a name, she was still able to recognize the word, and his explanation still made sense despite their partially-bridged language barrier. She nodded, retrieving a small handful of coins from the ground and frowning at the empty vials that she was able to find besides. "Mmkay." She agreed with the thought of heading back to the city. She assumed 'home' meant his home, at least. She would've chosen his mansion over her dusty smithy anyway. "She'll have plenty of room to explore." She noted, once again smiling at the thought of Pennyworth adapting to a new, eight-legged resident. Her eyes trailed back up to spot Yuki scurrying away into Ryo's jacket, and her smile went crooked before she picked herself back up to her feet. "Well, I don't think that witch is coming back. Shall we?"

The new couple gradually made their way back to the main settlement of the sixth floor and up another five through the teleport gate to land them in the Europe-themed Taft. With one hand intertwined with Ryo's, the other lightly grasped and occasionally fidgeted with the long cuff of her knit beige sleeve. Before they'd reached the top of the hill on which Ryo's mansion awaited, she presented a hesitant offer. "Hey, uhh. If Yuki's like, a combat familiar or something, and you're looking to train with her... Well, there's a quest chain I stumbled on ages ago. It sounds pretty extensive, so if you want to actually like, do some fighting together or something," She let the sentence hang now that her point was obvious enough.

[Ryo 0]

Ryo chuckled. "Yeah, and now Pennyworth will have to clean up her webbings. Gives him something to do around the house beside endless dusting." Ryo said, hiding the spider into his jacket as he stood. He opened his menu to check Yuki's stats and sure enough, she was an physical damage dealing type. But she was level one it seemed. Of course SAO didn't properly scale familiars to the owners level. "Yeah, she's a combat familiar. But damn, she needs some experience." Ryo confirming that she needed levels. Then Teion mentioned a quest chain of sorts. Ryo thought about it for a moment. There was only a few quest chains that existed, some of the better ones in his opinion. "Which one did you have in mind darling?" Ryo said, smiling at her. It was kind of obvious that Teion wanted to step up the questing some, and actually murder some things together. He couldn't blame her at least. He wanted to as well.

 

[Teion 0]

Her smile picked up into half of a smirk, gaining herself a bit of confidence as she continued. With her free hand, she navigated her menus until she selected two items from her inventory. Turning her hand upward, a pair of sparkling gemstones appeared to share the space in her palm--a pale emerald and a speckled quartz. "I did the first two with someone ages ago, but never got around to finishing it. There's a baby dragon hidden on each of the first nine floors, and they all drop a gemstone like these when they die. I was told there's something--a building, or whatever--on the tenth that unlocks when you have all of the stones. It might take a little while, but the experience alone might be worth it." She gave a sidelong glance his way before pocketing the trinkets again. She wouldn't admit just how hopeful she was that he would agree, but she would give his hand a light squeeze as they approached the front entrance of his mansion.

The door swinging open, Pennyworth of course stood not three paces away to greet them, as if he had been stationed there all along. For a second, Teion felt her stomach turn. The butler wasn't 'family' of Ryo's in a strict sense, but she had only once seen eye-to-eye with the 'mama bear' personality that Pennyworth seemed to have come equipped, and even then the situation had called for rather drastic measures. She could feel his eyes on her while she averted hers, temporarily retreating into her shell very much like a new girlfriend being brought home for the first time.

[Ryo 0]

Pennyworth dusted off the mantle inside of the main foyer of the mansion, waiting for Master Ryo to return. And soon enough, he did. "Ah Master Ryo. Welcome home sir. And Madam Teion as well." His brows perked as he looked down his nose. "A pleasure as always. Shall I prepare a meal sir?" He asked.

Ryo spoke. "Oh yes please Pennyworth if you could be so kind." Ryo said, taking Teion by the hand and giving it a light squeeze. Yuki had already darted off of Ryo's shoulder and scurried off into the kitchen with Pennyworth. "A quest line that goes on forever and you get a buncha rocks?" Ryo asked again, trying to understand the complexity of the quest chain. It didn't sound too complicated, but whoever made it that long must of been some sort of sadist. "I mean, sounds like a pain, but EXP is always a good motivator. I'll be more than happy to tag along with ya' for it." Ryo said, his head turning as clattering began to be followed by shouting. "Seems, Yuki found Pennyworth. I'll go rile them down some." Ryo said, giving Teion a wink before disappearing into the kitchen.

[Teion 0]

Teion smiled at his agreement, nodding and leaving it at that. When they entered his mansion and they were greeted by the same doting butler as always, Teion gave another tiny, awkward smile as though she was presenting herself to her new boyfriend's family. In a sense, she was. Pennyworth excused himself to prepare them a meal, and it wasn't long until Ryo followed after with concern that his new pet was terrorizing the poor man.

Meanwhile, Teion found herself a seat in the den and, left alone to her thoughts, she let out a huge sigh and sank into a plush loveseat. For a minute, everything felt surreal. She was wearing a small smile, almost reminiscing on the events of a few hours prior. She pulled her feet up and wrapped her arms around her legs, losing herself in thought for several long minutes. There was so much she still wanted to say. About herself, about her insecurities, about each other and their dreams and goals. God, that was the most overbearing thing she could think of. 'It's not like we haven't known each other for a while anyway... Ugh, nonono, that's still the worst. Why can't I just be normal?' She rammed her forehead against her arm, briefly curling herself into a ball. She started over, reciting a few lines in her head. 'Hey, I just want you to know that I'm pretty bad at talking about stuff... Hey Ryo, let me know if I'm acting weird... Look, I overthink things all the time...'

"Unnnnnggghhhh." The groan she let out was audible but muffled, and she picked her head up once it was over. "Maybe... Just enjoy it." She mumbled under her breath, the corner of her lips curling slightly at the thought. How simple that sounded.

The sound of a distant clatter brought her back to her feet before she'd even thought about it. "Ryo?" She called, crossing the foyer to the side of the house where the men had retreated to the large kitchen. Teion pushed the door open, peeking inside.

[Ryo 0]

"Hey Pennyworth. I've brought a pet home and wha-haaa!" Ryo began to screech in a panic as he was pulled into kitchen by his shirt scruff. A furious butler stared him down, a kitchen utensil stuck to his leg. "Young master, what is that?" He said, pointing a whisk at Yuki. The spider apparently did not like the threatening manner, and then leapt at the pair.

Ryo heard Teion enter, and call out his nam. "Oh, h-hey darlin'." He said sheepishly. "Give us a hand?" He asked with a nervous smile. He had several utensils stuck to his body as spider silk webbing had contained himself and Pennyworth together to the fridge. Yuki stood triumphantly, ladle in mandible chirping happily as it stuck it to Pennyworth's leg. "Young master, perhaps some training to make it more housebroken would be advisable?" Pennyworth said, enunciating the 'it' of the sentence to show his disdain for the creature. "How about getting free first?" Ryo said trying to wriggle himself free only getting more stuck in the progress. "So, turns out Yuki's a bit." Ryo stared as Yuki placed another utensil onto his webbed body. "Not housebroken." He said, sputtering between the whisk on his face. 

[Teion 0]

Teion was truly walking in on some kind of scene from a day-time sitcom. She stared for a moment, the door between the entryway and the kitchen swinging back and forth behind her as it closed to a close, and didn't know whether she should laugh or shake her head in sympathy. She did both, but her chuckles subsided as she nervously watched Yuki crawling across Ryo's and Pennyworth's bodies, stopping once or twice to flex her legs and spin some more webbing around some kitchen tool or another and affix it to the trapped pair.

She'd never seen a spider with 'personality' before. Yuki was rebellious, almost sassy as she settled herself on top of a large island counter to observe her work. Teion hesitated. "I dont, uhh... I dunno about housebreaking a spider." Yuki chirped and her beady eyes moved between the three, causing Teion to tense up as if she might become the familiar's next victim. She cleared her throat. "Right, uhm," She turned to Yuki, "is it okay if I get them off the fridge?" She asked, pausing for her to chirp again, a hint of annoyance detectable in the sounds. Yuki skittered off, retreating through the swinging door past Teion and likely wandering off to a different part of the house entirely.

She sighed with relief when the massive spider was gone. She was about to reach for a large kitchen knife when she caught a disapproving scowl from Pennyworth as she would dare misuse such a vital tool to cut them free like some sort of barbarian. Teion rolled her eyes, instead opening her inventory to pick out some cheap dagger she hadn't gotten around to selling off, and began to work on slicing through the webbing surrounding Ryo first. It came off in large chunks, eventually falling to the ground and bursting into tiny pixels when its durability had dropped to zero.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Teion