PP | F01 - The First Few Lessons Are Free [ Dustin ]

[Asakku 0]

Opening up her inventory as she walked, she let out a heavy sigh. I have to talk to that old geezer again.. something about.. potions and whatnot. She rolled her eyes, realizing that she waster the shop, she broke off into a sprint, her familiar following close behind her. Lets just get this over with. She frowned, her brows furrowing. All I know is that his shop shoulder be right around this for- She turned a little too swiftly, not knowing someone was behind it. Running into a sturdy figure with a loud 'oof', she fell back with a steely gaze. "What the fu-," she turned her head upward with a steely gaze. "Hey, whats your problem?!" she raised her arms as she ranted. 

Raising a brow, she crossed her arms with an unreadable face. Stupid.. ugh.. I can't believe this is happening. But.. I am having this deja vu feeling again, she sighed, looking up at the much, taller figure than her. "The frick is wrong with you?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

"Hey, sorry. I guess I need to watch where I'm going." He replies. He rubs his head with an innocent smile and extends a hand for a handshake. "My name is Dustin. You, my friend, look unsettled. Anything I could help you with?" He asks, secretly hoping she'd say yes. He looks at her in the eyes and pats her on the head. "Even if you don't NEED the help, I'd be glad to. If not for anything else, then at least to make it up to you." He smiles. He stands up as tall as he can and smiles, almost as if he were proud. He points to himself and smiles. "I could really use a friend." He says, almost as if he's bragging about it. "Heck, I'd buy you a drink, if I knew where the drink places were." He says. WAIT, THAT SOUNDS LIKE I'M INTO HER! He covers his mouth and his eyes widen, staring into the distance, completely motionless. His cheeks also red.

[Asakku 0]

She huffed, "yeah, obviously." Rolling her eyes, she sighed and reached out her hands to shake his. "Asakku," she pulled it away soon after, "I am not your friend, and no, I'm fine on my own," she crossed her arms, her eyes flickering to her familiar, who was watching the conversation with a blank face. I know you are amused, don't lie to my face! Swiping his hand off her head, "don't touch me," she seethed, running a hand through her messy hair. "Yeah, well go find one then," she blew a sigh, pressing her hands against her hips. Raising an eyebrow, she scratched the back of her ear awkwardly. "I don't plan to drink things from strangers," she mumbled, watching him get flustered. 

She looked up at him with cold eyes. Up? Why do I feel short all of a sudden?! Oh no wonder, it's not like I can grow in here. Stupid, shortness.. I feel so weak. Muttering a few curses, she kicked her boots in the cobble path. "Well, it's been fun. I gotta go to a shop now, cya," never, she muttered in her head soon after, getting ready to leave the unsettling atmosphere. 

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

"Well, nice to meet you Asakku. Sorry again for slowing you down." He says, dropping his head. "I knew it was a long shot anyways, no need to help anyone in this death game, right? Cool familiar by the way." He leans against the wall. "I need to go to a shop too, I just don't know which one to go to." He sighs. "Well again, nice to meet you." He smiles and walks face first into the store's sign. "Ow, Fu... Shi... Crap!" He shouts, taken by surprise. "Isn't the first time I lost a fight to a sign." He says, smacking the sign, smiling at the strange, short, girl. Nice to see I'm just as bad at talking to girls in this game as I am in the real world. Was, in the real world. He looks at her face, observing her obvious discomfort. "Sorry I was such a bother." He says, with his head lowered.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. Make sure you don't run into any tables, mean short girl." He says, turning to walk into the store, pushing a pull door. Great job idiot, way to look smooth in front of everyone.

[Asakku 0]

"Likewise," she said sarcastically, "yeah.." she quirked up an eyebrow at his behavior. Boys. She rolled her eyes and nodded, "Mhm.." she paused, glancing over at Orias, "he's definitely something." Turning back to him, she shrugged, "what shop are you looking for? I'm not expert mapper but I know my way around here I guess." She stifled a snort as she watched him face plant into a sign. "Good job Goliath," she smirked, shaking her head. "I would be surprised if it was your first," she sighed, peeking at the sign. This is Zackiriah's shop.. well isn't this great. She blew a heavy puff of air and gave him a shrug. "Everyones a bother, it would be surprising if you weren't," she admitted, putting a hand on the door knob.

Her gaze turning steely, she looked back at him in disbelief, short.. She gave him a glare, "whatever, go bother someone else," she spat, pushing her way into the shop before he did. So annoying, she rolled he eyes, scanning for the Aincrad's version of Santa Claus.

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

She is so lucky I have patience. "I'll try," He retorts, "I may be a giant, but at least I can reach the top shelf." He smirks. Why am I insulting her now? What did I miss? He enters the store to find the old Hermit, and opens his inventory. "Hey Asakku, sorry to be such a pain," He says, with almost no joy in his eyes, "But would you help me with this quest? I am only level one, so I'm not very good. I know I'm a dork and no fun to be around, but, I really need the help." What am I doing? She hates me, why did I ask her? "I don't want to die, not yet at least." He says clenching his fists at his sides. I have a plan, not a good one, but once I'm strong enough, I'll make sure no one else dies. He stares at the ground, preparing for the worst.

[Asakku 0]

She snorted, "Well, I'm glad you're tall, it gives me more to dislike," she huffed, giving an identical smirk. Turning back to him, she gave a raised brow and gave a bitter laugh, "yeah, uh-huh. Sure you are," she rolled her eyes, "why can't you do it yourself? I bet you're here for the beginning quest. Theres nothing hard about it." Once she heard him, she broke into fits of laughter, "d-die?!" she clutched her stomach. "You really are a dork," she rubbed her eyes with a small chuckle, "this quest doesn't make you battle anything you bimbo. You only have to gather a bunch of stuff," she shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips. 

"Chill, jeez. You look like you're going to explode," she rolled her eyes with annoyance and crossed her arms with a small smirk. "But, sure. I'll help you. Maybe something will benefit me today."

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

He looks up in excitement. "Thank you," He says, "I know it's only a gathering quest but those can be boring." He says, with a big smile and chuckles a little bit. I can't believe this. He nods, "Okay, so, where do we go?" He asks, "and don't worry, if we follow the right walking pattern, there'll never be sun in your eyes." He smiles, and pulls his hood over his eyes. "I truly am sorry to be such a nuisance." He says in a far more serious tone. He thinks for a second then jumps in excitement. "AHA! I'VE GOT IT!" He shouts, "No wait, that wont work..." He starts to mumble to himself. Maybe if this works out, I'll have a friend. "No, she's to short for that..." He mumbles loudly so she would hear. "No, I'm putting way to much thought into this." He laughs cheerfully.

"Be honest, how dumb do I sound right now?" He asks. "To be honest, it's my past that scares me, not this quest, but that's not important. You lead the way boss." He remarks.

[Asakku 0]

"Yes, I thank myself," she joked, shaking her head. "Oh it is. When I first did this quest. I almost died of boredom," she shrugged, yeah.. it actually was boring the hell out of me. How did I survive? She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "To the forest probably, thats what I did," she answered him, snapping her fingers. "C'mon Orias, either walk or get out," she puffed. Her familiar gave a reluctant smirk and trotted into her shadow with amusement. "I hate that thing sometimes, why do i have to do all the work?" she mumbled, picking up the skull on the ground. "I need something to hold this too, I hate holding this stupid thing," she muttered with annoyance.

Overhearing his mumbling, she gripped the skull and whacked him in the back of the head with it, "what did you say about me?!" she hissed, her cheeks puffing out. She gave a tilt of her head. "To be honest, less dumb than most people I've met," she shrugged, "thats also not a compliment." She licked her bottom lip, "past.. spooky," she muttered sarcastically, pointing towards the exit of town. "There."

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

"Well then we're off." He says, moving towards the exit of town. As he walks he jumps and clicks his heels together, but as he lands he shouts. "AH THOOT! I bit my tongue." he turns towards her, walking backwards. "You're an angry elf, aren't you?" He says smirking. He turns quickly and stops just shy of a table. He exhales in relief. "That would've hurt." He claims. "You're lucky, you woulda gone right under the table unscathed." He stops laughing so hard he bends over and smacks his knee. He laughs until he snorts, at which point he stops, and just stares at the ground. "Not. A. Word." He demands. He stands up and walks towards her, and takes his hood completely off. He drops to his knees and begs her not to say anything. "You can say anything about me begging. But not a word about my snorting." He begs.

[Asakku 0]

“Yay,” she said sarcastically, following him. Grimacing at his behavior, she gave a long sigh. “Oh dear lord, what have I done to you to deserve this?” She muttered, shaking her head at him as he continued to walk in front of her. “That’s what you get for being dumb, you dumbo.” Rolling her eyes, she sidestepped away from the table and gave a deadpan, “you’re making me sound like I’m a foot tall. I’m not that flippin’ short,” she huffed, crossing her arms in agitation. 

She watched him with a blank face as he started laughing his face off. Finding the perfect opportunity, she let out an innocent grin, “Mm.. blackmail,” she chuckled, watching him get on his knees and start begging with an amused expression, “nah, sorry buddy. You’re never gonna live that down.”

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

"Oh fiddlesticks." He said as he stood up. He pulled his hood over his face again, and as they exited the town, he watched the birds in the sky and studied their flight patterns. "Must be nice to be able to just escape like that right?" He asked. Great, now I sound weird. He equipped his sword and payed attention to the enemies in the distance. How come when they die, they get to come back? He clutches a broken sword on his belt and stares blankly forward as they progress toward the destination. "What are you gonna do if we get out of here?" He asked, still as brooding as before. He then draws his sword and fiddles around with it to shine the glare in her eyes. He giggles the whole time he tries. If I blind her and something appears, I'll have to fight. Whatever, it's funny. He continues to try to blind her.

"If my brother were here, he'd love this. He loved nature." He said looking at the ground again. "Sorry, I get distracted sometimes." He apologized. He sheathed his blade and shut up.

[Asakku 0]

Tugging her scarf closer to her face, she sighed, “I like your choice in cuss replacements..” she mused, stepping out of the town. Following his gaze, she gave in a sharp breath, “Yeah.. yeah, I bet it is,” she huffed, bringing her gaze back down. She quirked a brow as he drew his sword, “you know you’re not going to need that right?” She gave a lopsided smirk and shrugged. 

“Run, that would be the first thing I would do,” she breathed, tugging her scarf even closer to her face. When he ruined the moment with his insentive behavior, she reached up and grabbed his ear, “Dustin, stop it before you would be begging for me to get my foot off your face, capiche?” 

“Must be nice having a sibling,” she mumbled, walking past him and towards the forest.  

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

He clenches his hands by his waists, as tears start to form, "Was," He corrected her, "It was nice." Greeeeeeeeeeat, now I'm crying. What am I, a dweeb? He draws the broken sword and just stares at in for a bit, then stabs it in the ground and walks forward, his hood completely covering his eyes. "Listen, thanks again for help on this," He states, "Even though you're so short that my jokes just go right over your head." He chuckles. "And sorry for being so gloomy, but I should tell you what I'm gonna do when I get out." He exclaims, "It'll kill the time at least." He breathes. "To be entirely honest, I planned on travelling the world with my little brother, but that's no longer an option. So now I plan to just go, only looking back to see my mom." He explained. Way to overdo it, halfwit. "By the by, your foot would never even get close to my face, I'm too fast." He says, trying to lighten the mood. He pulls his hood down off of his head and smiles, throwing out a thumbs up. Who put me in charge? 'Cause they're fired.

He drops his hand, "Yeah, you're right, that was pretty dumb." He says quietly. He suddenly jumps back, grabbing the handle of his sword. "I... thought something... tried grabbing me..." He said, breathing heavily, He looks back at where he was. "It was a flower. A flower brushed my ankle. Why does the world hate me?" he complains.

@Asakku

Edited July 12, 2018 by Dustin

[Asakku 0]

“Oh, better than no siblings I guess” she said simply, taking note of the weird atmosphere. Well this got weird fast. She rolled her eyes st the thought and shrugged, “it’s not pr-“ she paused, frowning, “stop calling me short!” She fined, her face equivalent to a tomato. “I hate being called that..” she mumbled, I hate it. Hate it. No one knows why I’m like this. Hate it, hate it, hate it. 

She shrugged, “sure, whatever you want.” She paid attention to him talking, “ah, I traveler I see. I’ve never been out of Japan... much less my home town,” she sighed. Snorting, she gave an emotionless laugh, “sure you are.”

Shaking her head at him she scoffed, “you are something else I suppose.” Turning her heads towards him, she gave a quick smirk, “You’re the first guy I know thats scared of flowers, must have some trauma there,” she muttered saracastically.

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

He looks at her red face and thinks, "Sorry, I got carried away." He states, looking away. "If it bothers you that much, you could always just hit me." He says, pointing to his cheek, "Right here." Why am I giving her permission to hit me. She'd probably kill me in one hit. He squints at her, maybe, or, she could do a little damage. "I've been to America to visit family once or twice, but nowhere else." He continues, "You're probably right, I am pretty weak."

"HEY! The flower took me by surprise." He explained, "But, roses are no laughing matter. Those little fart knockers will destroy your shins." He says. "You're so much stronger than me though, all I can do is swing a sword, you've gone out and fought monsters." He points out, "All I've done is watched foo hit the fan and my friends die." He pulls his hood off. "And you're also pretty cool." He claims, looking her in the eyes.

@Asakku

Edited July 12, 2018 by Dustin

[Asakku 0]

She crossed her arms and looked in another direction, “you idiot..” she mumbled, “you can’t feel pain as much as you can in the real world,” she explained, “so when we get out of here, yes. I will slap you. And it will hurt. A lot.” Bimbo. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. He’ll get a lot more than one slap if he continues this too..

”America, huh..” she breathed, pondering. “Sounds cool.. I don’t have much family around.. that I know of anyways,” she muttered the last part to herself, heaving s long sigh. It’s not like father would let me anywhere anyways.

An amused twinkle showned in her eyes, “I can’t believe you’re talking about flowers as if they’re monsters..” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Yeah, you’re right about that,” she grinned mischievously at his comment, tangling her fingers around her scarf. “That’s why I am a solo player. Not parties. No guild. No nuisance.” She replied, “I know I am too.”

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

"If I'm not mistaken, here'll be just fine." He sighed and prepared to search for the materials. He crouched down and started focusing on the task at hand, and just kept digging. "So, how has your day been? Ya know, before I ruined it." He asked, trying to initiate another conversation. "I'm not very good at the whole talking to people thing, that was always my brother's job." He explained. She knows that you bumbling idiot. He continues to dig for a few minutes, when he suddenly shouts, "Frick yeah!" and jumps into the air in excitement. He looks at her and says, "By the way, I've been a solo player since I saw my brother die."

He pulls his hood to cover his eyes and lets out a deep breath. "Sorry, didn't mean to be so depressing. My bad." Looking at her again, "You're almost as tall as he was." He points out, looking back towards the ground. "He was nicer though. Never knew the pains of the world."

ID- 103042

LD- 15 (Success)

@Asakku

 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Dustin

[Asakku 0]

“Okay..” she mumbled, planting herself on a medium sized rock in the middle of the clearing. Watching him dig, she gave a small frown, “honestly, you only made it worse,” she chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Just a lot of thinking, that’s all.” Scoffing, she scratched her chin, “your brother sounds talkative, not someone I would like to be with,” she commented, crossing her arms of her knees. Watching him finally find something, she gave a thumbs up, “great.” Scrolling through her bare inventory, she looked up. “That’s one way to become I solo player I suppose.”

She shrugged, not caring, “don’t worry about it. And he must have been pretty short,” She mumbled. “But I guess I can vouch for that.”

@Dustin

[Dustin 0]

Dustin digs around again, looking for something. "Even with no monsters, this has been pretty fun," He mentions, "but all I've done for a while was read the news." He continues to dig. "It was my fault. I'm the reason he died." He says, standing up. "Nothing." He says, looking at the area he spent so long searching through. She doesn't need to know the story. Besides, it's pretty boring anyways. He looks back in the direction of the knife he left in the ground, tears stream down his face. He turns to her and asks, "Please, don't die. I still owe you for what happened in the city. And also for this." He pulls his hood up to cover his eyes and leans against a tree and drops down, sitting against the tree. He shuts his eyes and just sits there. He puts his hands on his face. "I'm not usually such a cry baby," He says, his voice muffled by his hands. "It was one year ago today that he died."

ID- 103121

LD- 9 (fail)

@Asakku

Edited July 13, 2018 by Dustin