[PP-10] <<Wail of the Banshee>>

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia almost choked on her own spit, leaving her coughing for dear life as she pounded her chest harshly.

Honey? 

She could just hear her conscious screaming like a boiling kettle. Or was she doing that out loud?

“W-Wait, serious?” She asked meekly, her face flushing again. She had been purely joking but apparently he had taken it seriously. . . well, she supposed that this was a situation she had to take up on. Who knows when she’s going to be able to have this opportunity again?

“You’re the one who asked for this, darling,” she teased, deciding to poke fun at him before she scrambled on him like a cat trying to escape water— which if you don’t know what that looks like, was not too graceful. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled, shifting her body around uncomfortably. “Sorry if the sheath of my katana is poking you too.”

Well, this wasn’t [no-no word]-ing awkward at all.

Yep. . .

[Oscar 0]

Her katana was digging straight into his kidney. At least, where his kidney would be if he actually had one in Aincrad. He bit back the urge to curse as she settled on his back. He held onto her legs from behind the knee as she clung to his shoulders. This was exceptionally awkward. But they was in it now. They had passed the point of no return. Oscar only had one thing to say as he made ready to move. A single sound, profound as it was fitting.

"Nyoom-"

Before Cordelia could question his word of wisdom, Oscar had broken into a sprint. He kicked up a gust of wind as he took off towards the town. Oscar, even laden with Cordelia's form, was able to sprint at top speed towards the town. He imagined Cordelia would be hanging on for dear life at this point.  But he didn't stop until they were through the gates of the town and standing in front of the teleporter. Then, and only then, did he place her feet back on the ground.

"I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I give amazing piggyback rides."

[Cordelia 0]

“Nyoo-?” Cordelia started, only for her to feel a large blast of wind hit her in the face and cut her off. 

Cordelia blinked. They were here already?

That went faster than she thought. Maybe it was because she saw her whole life flash before her eyes. Maybe it was because she had been gripping on to him like her life depended on it. . . and maybe it really did.

“Y-you did great,” she said, her left eye twitching just  briefly before she pulled out a twig out of her hair that somehow made its way there. “Well, I guess that was a memorable first piggy back ride. . .” Cordelia said with a light laugh.

”S-so!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Which floor are we headed to? I’m assuming we’re still down to hunt, right?” She asked, smoothing down her hair with a small sweat drop. 

 

[Oscar 0]

"Hunt?" Oscar tilted his head to the side. Oh yeah, they were gonna go farm for a bit. Oscar had been under the impression that they were going to go eat lunch. Not that he was complaining, really. Oscar certainly could use some more Col. But he would probably pass it all to Cordelia anyway. He had plenty and if his own experience with Katana AoE damage was any indication, she probably didn't have a ton of Col in the bank.

"Let's go up to Floor 22. I hear the scenery is beautiful up there and the enemies are plenty strong. Plus, I'm hurting for T3 materials." He wasn't exactly hurting. He had several days of crafts' worth of materials. But compared to his stores of the other materials, he was definitely in need. "Or we could go down to Floor Seven and go get lunch. It's totally your call. I'm down for whatever."

[Cordelia 0]

“Well, lunch does sound good,” she remarked out loud, tilting her head at Oscar. “We could go have lunch if that’s okay with you. . . it sounds more like an official date,” Cordelia said softly, smiling to herself. 

Date. A real date.

Man, she thought she would actually die before she dated anyone.

Like,  literally. She thought she was going to be single forever. Forever. That’s not an overstatement. She legitimately thought she was going to die in SAO before she even got close to a relationship. 

Well, life said no to her once again and threw Oscar at her.

Maybe she was dead. Maybe this was too good to be true after all! She honestly wouldn’t doubt it.

”Yeah, let’s go get lunch,” she declared, holding out her hand to him. “. . . I don’t know any places to eat at on floor seven,” she murmured sheepishly, “So lead the way!”

[Oscar 0]

Don't know of a place to eat on Floor Seven? Seriously? What am I, chopped liver?

Did she actually forget that Oscar was a cook? He blinked a few times. Slowly. He couldn't much blame her. If he were being completely honest, that had been an extremely jarring piggyback ride. Oscar took her hand as they strode through the town. Her hand was warm. Soft. It was nice. Much different than his hands, of course. If his hands in Aincrad were anything like his real hands, then they were probably covered in callouses. Not to mention that his own hand engulfed her own. He was keenly aware how dainty she was compared to him in this moment. He stopped short for a moment, squeezing her hand gently.

"Hey Cordelia?"

When she turned to look at him in response to his question, she would find his lips pressed gently against hers. After a brief moment, he broke away. He returned to his full height, his cheeks glowing the slightest of shades of red. He bit his lip and looked down at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry to spring that on you. I'd just been waiting to do that for a long time."

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia flushed as she held on to his hand, and she mentally cussed at herself.

Women up. . . woman! When did she get so weak in the knees around Oscar? It was like her whole body just turns into jell-o whenever he was in the vicinity. Cordelia silently sweatdropped as they walked through town. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. It was a good feeling, but it just seemed so foreign that it didn't sit well with her. . . for now, anyway.

She peered at Oscar from the corner of her eye. Sometimes she questioned if he was right in the head. . . well, that came out more harshly than she would've liked, but still, why would he have feelings for her, enough to want to spark a romantic relationship with her?

That was something she frequently thought about, but what was the use of worrying over something like that now? 

She had snapped back just into time to hum at his question and turn to him, only to be met with the physical touch [clap] of [clap] one's [clap] lips [clap] on [clap] hers. Her cheeks reddened to the same shade as Bahr's jacket as he pulled away. 

Her brain. Was. Melting. Down.

"I- well, I mean- That- it's. . ." she blubbered, placing a hand on her heated cheeks as she mentally had a seizure.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar chuckled and shook his head. He turned to face her fully as she stammered incoherently. He tilted his head to the side, looking at her quizzically as she had her meltdown. A small grin spread over his face as he bopped her on the forehead with the tip of his finger. Hopefully that would be sufficient in snapping her out of her trance. "Come on now Cordelia. Was the kiss really that bad." He feigned being hurt. Perhaps that would shock her out of it. If he knew Cordelia, and he did, she would be absolutely beside herself with the thought of hurting someone, especially him. So she would probably snap back to reality to awkwardly try and soothe whatever offense she thought she gave. It was either that or stand there for the next fourteen hours while she completely lost her marbles. Over a kiss of all things. Eventually, she'd get over it. He was just giving her a gentle nudge in the right direction.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia inhaled sharply as she snapped her head in Oscar's direction, her face falling as she watched his morph into hurt.

"No, no, no, no," she mumbled frantically, her expression dropping lower than the Mariana Trench. "It was perfect!" She exclaimed, feeling a random wave of emotion run over her damn body as she felt hot tears bubbling in her eyes. 

"[No-no word]!" She shouted, sniffing as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. 

I think I'm having a mood swing.

With her eyes puffy and red, she grabbed him on the shoulders and stared at him straight in the eyes. "It was perfect," she repeated, sniffing a few times before released one of her hands to wipe her eyes again. Making sure that her eyes were dry, she face planted herself into his coat and sighed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, her voice muffled. She looked up and felt her lower lip tremble. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

[Oscar 0]

Oh wow. Now she was crying. Just what had Oscar gotten himself into? He stood in shock for a moment as she tried her best to soothe any hurt she might have caused. He averted his gaze, looking for a way out of the situation he had created. He'd never remembered her to be this emotional. It was certainly... different.

Heart wants what it wants though.

She had buried her face into his chest. Did she really think that Oscar wasn't pulling her leg? She looked up at him, tears still welling in his eyes. And he just melted. Now he felt like the asshole. He sighed and shook his head. The next thing he did was lift her up and bring her lips crashing into his again. She was surprisingly light. Indeed, even as a social worker, he'd dealt with heavier weights than her. It was actually quite surprising. After a beat, he broke away and placed her feet down on the ground once again.

"I'm not hurt. I was just trying to keep you from falling to pieces. You can't do that every time I kiss you. Because that's gonna be happening a lot."

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia grunted as she felt herself get lifted up into the air, and for the unfamiliar yet familiar feeling of Oscar's lips pressing on to hers. 

Well, this was different. 

She blinked.

"A lot?" She echoed, her cheeks tinting pink again the more she thought about it. ". . . Sorry," she mumbled, tucking a strand behind her air in embarrassment as she gave him a nervous but genuine smile.

"I'm just. . . really happy," she whispered, her hand reaching out to grab his before she squeezed it. "I didn't think I would ever be in a relationship," she said, laughing softly under her breath as she tapped her heels against the ground. "I'm sorry if I'm making it weird," she muttered almost inaudibly as she squeezed his hand tighter.

She didn't want to lose what she had just gotten. She didn't know what exactly would happen if she had lost Oscar, especially after all of the [doo doo] she went through to find out that she had liked liked him all along.

[Oscar 0]

Making it weird? Certainly not. But it brought about another question. Was he really her first real relationship? That really piled the pressure on. He had enough to worry about doing right by her. But doing right by someone who had never been involved with someone else? That was a challenge. Not only would he need to make sure that he was doing the best he could, but he would also need to do it with respect to any romanticized notions of relationships she might have developed up till now. Suffice to say, he really had his work cut out for him.

"Oh, you're making it so weird," Oscar began. "Almost as weird as I did when I gave you that necklace the first time. So I'd say we're about even. Let's go get lunch before this gets unbearable."

He made sure to cover that last word with multiple layers of sarcasm. He continued to hold her hand as they stepped onto the platform. A few deft motions and some precise interfacing later, they were off, leaving Floor 10 far behind them. Following a flash of light, the town of Deepedge sprawled out in front of them. His familiar bounded off of the platform, bouncing up and down and wagging his tail excitedly. After all, Floor Seven meant home and home meant food.

"Come on, I know a place to eat that isn't too far."

@Cordelia

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia let out a slight huff of laughter as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes with a sheepish smile. "Almost?" She teased, laughing to herself again as she stepped on to the platform with him. 

A blinding beam of light later. . .

"Leeroy and Jenkins sure like this floor, huh?" She noted, looking at his familiar before it dawned on her. "Oh, oh," she exclaimed under her breath, using her free hand to face palm herself. She was a total idiot, wasn't she? How had she only remembered this now? 

He. Freaking. Lived. On. This. Floor.

Before she could apologize for being a complete buffoon, he had already declared where they were heading. . . which was pretty vague if you asked her.

"Please don't make my ankles break by walking too much," she joked, stepping off of the platform. Actually, she was half joking. She really hoped that wherever they were going wasn't going to make her damn ankles break on the way.

[Oscar 0]

"Ah, it's not that far," Oscar responded. A lie. At least in respect to all of the walking they had already done. Though Oscar had done a good portion of it for Cordelia. Even so, the way to his home wasn't easy. The route through the mountains lent itself well to Oscar's long legs and strides. For someone significantly shorter than him, they might have a rougher time. In light of this, Oscar elected to take the scenic route. A bit longer, certainly. But one didn't need to stray away from the path too much. While a straight shot up the hills and through the crags would have them arriving sooner, the path would be much easier on Cordelia. Especially given the fact she hadn't grown accustomed to the trip as Oscar had. He had to remember that this wasn't a daily affair for her.

At least not yet.

Together they walked, hand-in-hand, until they finally arrived at Oscar's home. The elegant manor grounds spread out before them. The dirt path shifted abruptly to a brick walkway that led up to Oscar's front door. In comparison to the surroundings and indeed the structure of Deepedge, this was a veritable palace. A far cry from Oscar's two-bedroom apartment in the real world. Though he imagined it wasn't altogether new to Cordelia. She came from wealth after all. Such estates were likely commonplace for her. It made him wonder just what would happen to them when they finally got out of the game. Would she be satisfied with the Oscar of the real world?

Future problems require future solutions.

Oscar smiled and looked down at her. He couldn't afford to let such things ruin what he had right now. They were together here, now. Truly, he didn't know where they would end up. He squeezed her hand a bit tighter as he awaited her remarks on his home.

"Well, this is it. I hope you're hungry."

[Cordelia 0]

Large plots of land with a giant house were never really her favorite places to be for obvious reasons. Course, she couldn’t let Oscar know that.

It really rivals her small room that she was living in at the moment. Just a bit.

“It’s very beautiful,” Cordelia stated almost robotically, squeezing his hand back as she turned to look up at him and smile. “How did you even get enough money to get this place?” She asked, chuckling to herself as she turned her gaze back to the big ass house. How much money did he even have to save up to get a plot this big? She was pretty sure that some people in the front lines didn’t even have houses as big as this.

“Oh yeah, I’m definitely starving,” she nodded, eager to change the subject on literally anything other than the house.

”L-lets head inside,” Cordelia suggested, gesturing to, y’know, the door.

[Oscar 0]

"Of course, the food isn't exactly going to come here to us."

Oscar made for the door. He turned the knob and opened it, stepping into an expansive, opulent foyer. Ordinarily, when he entertained guests, he would bank a right at the entryway to enter the dining room. But, instead, Oscar made a left towards an otherwise unused wing. He then opened the first door on his right and disappeared inside. I should mention here that Oscar had an abundance of rooms that he simply never used. And, frankly, there was quite a lot of leeway given to customization when it came to those rooms. Upon stepping inside, the interior of the room would be extremely different from the rest of the home. In fact, it resembled a somewhat spacious apartment. There was a small kitchen and dining area, a living room, and a master bed and bath at the end of a very short hall.

"So I know you don't like big houses. There ain't much I could do about the fact I live in a literal castle. So I made this. Around the time I got the Hoya of Minos, really. Never could bring myself to demolish it. If you ever decided to move in with me, I don't want you feeling lonely wandering this huge place."

[Cordelia 0]

“Yeah,” she murmured, following after him into the house. Just something about how spacious it was sent shivers down her spine. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the way it looked, in fact, it was beautiful, but just being in an area like this wasn’t exactly. . . her.

Cordelia raised a brow. Shouldn’t they be heading. . ? She sighed and smiled to herself as she followed after him. 

“What is—“ Cordelia paused, blinking at her surroundings. Well, she didn’t expect this.

It seemed a lot. . . More normal? Than the rest of the house at least. 

“You’ve has this for that long?” She asked, bewildered. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Well, of course she was happy that he would go to this kinda of length to literally put a mini-house inside his house. . . but then again, it was built inside his house. Was he really okay with dedicating a section of his house to this?

”I— well, I don’t really know what to say,” she said with a nervous laugh as she rubbed her back of her neck. “It’s really beautiful, it really is, but are you really sure about me moving in with you?” She asked, turning to him. 

[Oscar 0]

What Oscar failed to mention was that it was an almost piece-for-piece recreation of his own home. He'd probably bring that bit of information up later. For now, the two of them needed to have lunch. Leeroy and Jenkins, of course, had been waiting patiently. But a dog could only be so patient, especially after being so close to their source of food. So Oscar merely patted Cordelia on the head, nodded in response to her question, and stepped into the kitchen. There was barely enough room for him to move about freely. Or, rather, there would have been barely enough room had his familiar not made it a point to try and weave in and out of his legs at every available opportunity. But, despite that setback, Oscar was able to throw together lunch for everyone. Sunflower seeds for Pacco, hamburger for Leeroy & Jenkins, and chicken sandwiches with fries for himself and Cordelia. Nothing fancy - just some good old-fashioned comfort food. He placed it on the table and waited for her to sit. It would be rude otherwise.

[Cordelia 0]

Cordelia’s figure peeked into the kitchen, chuckling to herself when she watched Leeroy and Jenkins go back and forth between Oscar’s two legs. 

She sighed softly to herself and sat down on the chair, as Pacco flapped his way over to the sunflower seeds. How he whipped up something like this was really beyond her but she always went back to video game logic. So video game logic it was.

”Thanks.” She gave him a smile and pressed her elbows against the table. “Well, I—“ she paused, making a face before scratching her chin with a deadpan. Frick, she actually didn’t know what to say. 

What could she really say? Life changing decisions were made today, and she was about to make more! Yes, wise decision young Cordelia. Very wise.

“I. . . I think I want to move in with you,” she mumbled, a red hue tinting her cheeks.

[Oscar 0]

Oscar was about halfway through his sandwich when Cordelia finally mentioned that she was, in fact, going to brighten up his home with her presence. He nearly spat out his food. He hadn't been expecting her to agree to it today. Perhaps later, sure. They'd gone from estranged to friends to dating to moving in together in the span of a couple weeks. The pace was enough to make his head spin. He froze up, slowly chewing on his food. Once he swallowed the mouthful of chicken, bread, and other various vegetables, Oscar leaned back in his chair. What could he say in this situation other than the obvious? He merely grinned and shook his head. Shocked as he was, he was pleased in equal measure that things had developed thusly. As such, Oscar could only say one thing in response to this development: "Good. I'll be glad to have you here." Perhaps not the most profound statement. But oftentimes a simple statement that communicates exactly how you feel is the best way to go.