[F1-OP] New Faces.

[Morgan 0]

Morgan sat alone at the tavern, sinking his emptiness into a pool of beer as he usually did. The worst part about this game wasn't the fact that he was trapped in it and he could possibly be killed and sent to heaven, but the mere fact that one couldn't get drunk off a good pint. Such a tragedy, he thought to himself. Though he couldn't get drunk, he still smelt like one. The stench of beer stained his black cloak which draped his body. He sighed heavily, slamming his drink back on the table after having sculled down the rest of the content. His eyes phasing between focus while staring deeply into the oaken wood of the table he sat at.

How long had it been now? A few months, a few years? He couldn't tell. "Well Morgan.. this is what you wanted wasn't it? A new life?" He muttered to himself. He sunk his stature back against the chair, allowing his arms to hang loose at his side as he looked up at the ceiling. As that one saying went, be careful what you wish for. What was he even doing still sitting at the tavern when there was plenty for him to do outside. It seemed that ever since Kayaba locked everyone in a death sentence he kind of just accepted his fate and rolled over. At least it'd give the other players more resources for themselves, he'd just be a burden in a game like this. 

The other players had already made it to floor 24 without him, he wasn't exactly needed either way. So he'd sit and drink, same as he always did. "Another beer barkeep." Morgan belched out as he waggled his empty cup at the man. He didn't have a lot to his name, the money he made off buying and selling useless junk for profit wasn't much, but it was enough for some beer. 

[Zajcica 0]

Spending some time relaxing was just what Yuki needed after a few weeks of grinding. She sat in the tavern, eating a sandwich and drinking some juice. With her menu pulled up, she was planning what her next move was going to be. There were rumors of a quest that would help her harsh weather conditions away. That sounded like an essential skill to have for anyone really, not just a tank. She closed her eyes and sighed.

A man sat across the room from her. He was a player, indicated by the cursor, everyone else she could see was an NPC. He was drinking alcohol from the looks of it. From what she remembered, however, it was impossible to get intoxicated from the drink. What was he doing here? Maybe it would be a good idea to go talk with him. Though he was older that most of the people she had met in SAO, but she wasn't scared to meet new people.

She picked up her plate and walked over to him. "Sumimasen, may I take a seat with you? My friends are all busy right now and I have no one to speak to." Her voice came out a little hushed and nervous.

@Morgan

[Morgan 0]

Morgan looked up from the confinement of his beer mug, his eyes falling on a young girl, no.. boy? Where he was from it wasn't common to see someone with such a small stature, but the persons build and frame didn't exactly seem usual for a woman either. Though that was the extent of his speculation, honestly it didn't matter to him either way. Morgan sighed as the barkeep took his empty mug and gave him a fresh pint. He took a deep quaff before responding. "Suit yourself. Can't promise an upgrade from silence." Morgans voice was deep with a thick Portuguese accent, anyone in earshot would immediately know he wasn't a native Japanese. 

Morgans eyes trailed from the persons pink hair and purple eyes, meeting their dainty hands holding a sandwich and drinking juice. "Isn't a tavern supposed to be for adults who drink alcohol?" His speech was laced with mild confusion. If they wanted to eat sandwiches and drink juice they could have went on a picnic.

@Zajcica

Edited March 19, 2020 by Morgan

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki was a bit quiet to that remark. Mari had been pretty harsh to her just as this man was when they first met, but she was good at making friends for the most part, or at least she thought she was. She took a seat across the way from him, taking in the unfamiliar accent. She knew it was European, but other than that she couldn't finger it exactly.

He made fun of her for not drinking alcohol in a tavern, also using the word 'adult' as if she wasn't one herself. That annoyed her a bit, but she would have to over look it.

"I might not be old, but I am an adult myself. I am 24 of age and legally allowed to drink. I've met some abusive drinkers in the real world and I promised my family that would stay away from things like that. It's no different here, even if the intoxication effect can't be attained. Plus the way I see it, a tavern is just as well suited to find something to eat." She argued to the best of her ability and took a bite of her sandwich.

@Morgan

[Morgan 0]

Morgan chuckled. "A whole twenty four years old huh? Sure I'll entertain it. If your aims to stay away from abusive drinkers then I think you've stumbled onto the wrong table here. I've been drinking forrr, what is it now?" Morgan looked to the bottom left of his HUD, waggling his fingers in front of the numbers to check the time. "A good seven hours, I think. Who's counting." He took another sip of his beer. "Usually I pass out before that long but of course, no intoxication. So I get to enjoy as much beer as I want without any consequences." Morgan huffed as he slammed his mug back down onto the table. "Beer fills you up just fine anyway, no need to be eating some tasteless looking piece of bread, what is that, bologna and cheese? If you're gonna make the effort to eat something it might as well be something good." Morgan trailed off, thinking about the last time he actually had a decent meal. Far as he could tell he had been living off beer for the past few months.

"Now that I think about it I could probably kill for some feijoada." Morgan gestured over to the barkeep again, the NPC rolling its eyes. "Please tell me you have some feijoada." The barkeep looked at him inquisitively "I don't believe we do. Feel free to look at our menu any ti-" Morgan waved his fingers in front of the NPCs face. "No feijoada, no deal!" His fingers pointed downwards before flicking up and down, telling the barkeep to shoo away back to his counter.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki sat quietly as Morgan announced his want for some European food she had not heard of before. When the bartender looked at him just as perplexed as she did, he shrugged it off and gulped down his drink some more.

"Alright, so what is a guy like you doing with a copy of Sword Art Online? To you, I would think this game is nothing but useless junk to keep kids entertained. And now you're stuck inside it until its finished or we all die." She tried to put it as lightly as possible. "Ore wa Yuki-. I mean, My name is Yuki. Nice to meet you sir." She said with her signature smile and slight welcoming bow. When her introduction was finished, she continued to eat her sandwich. It reminded her that she needed to finish the Cooking quest so she could start making her own food that actually tasted good.

@Morgan

[Morgan 0]

Morgan turned his head back towards the player sitting across from him as he brought his mug up to his face. "Oh, you're still here?" He mumbled inquisitively as he took a sip. He raised both eyebrows above his mug and rested it back on the table. Then came her question. "Well, if you must know. The life of a missionary gets boring when you're alone with nothing to do, so I decided to escape to a new one. Didn't expect to get trapped though, swell touch." The bitterness rolled effortlessly off his tongue as he waved his mug with his speech. Yuki was a girls name, Japanese speaker too. He knew the language, though he wasn't very fluent at all he had assumed 'ore wa' was a method of introduction used by young boys. "Name's Morgan." 

He wondered what reason Yuki had for striking up random conversation with him, surely eating in silence would have been better than his company.

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki's grimace was difficult to hide when Morgan explained his situation to her. It sounded the same as hers to a degree, though, maybe that was a little harsh. It was an exciting concept to explore a virtual reality world as if it was a real one, but no one could have expected that they would all be living the next few years in premise that was comparable to a prison in some people's eyes.

"I came over because you seemed like you could use someone to talk to. In all honesty, I think everyone could use someone to lend their ear to. Another reason I came to talk was because I like meeting new people. Was wanting to add as many people as possible to my friends list and just have as many friends as possible to help get stronger together. The stronger I get, the more I can do to help everyone get out of here, and help myself get out of here as soon as possible!" The bright smile of hers was almost unwavering. No matter what harsh comment Morgan had for her, she always seemed to find a way to smile through it.

@Morgan

[Rosary 0]

OH, to be a fly on the wall...or at least drunk in a bar.

At this very moment, it was exactly how Rosary felt. She sat at the bar in some random pub on a rather ordinary night, longing for entertainment. Sure, there were singers and performers here and there, but tonight she craved something seedier. 

She craved drama. 

Unadulterated drama.

And this place was severely lacking. 

That was until something had caught her attention. Catty-corner was an ever amusing trope, big guy, tiny girl. A gorgeous beefcake was approached by your average loli. She was pink, a whole lot of pink. “Geesh...” Rosary muttered into her drink as she took a swig of the pale ale and continued to watch out of the corner of her eye. The view wasn’t great; it was extremely unlikely she would be caught watching as the pair were barely in line with her peripheral. However, she was in earshot enough to catch the gist of what was going on, especially with the burly man’s deep voice and rich accent. She couldn’t quite place it until he brought up food. Food was a thing she did know. After watching more travel channel shows than the average human being, and binge watching more Anthony Bourdain than should be acceptable, she knew a thing or three about foreign cuisine. Feijoada was something she’d watched Toni stuff into his slender face on one of his many journeys to Portugal. It was likely that he was Porteugese. 

The man said something to the little one that she couldn’t make out and several minutes went by before she could catch more. As it went, he continued to be dismissive of the loli, but for whatever reason she kept trying, like, really trying.Val supposed she could understand a little bit, this game could be exceedingly isolating. But the bar was full of merriment elsewhere, and it didn’t much look like mister tall, dark and brooding actually wanted to be bothered, though he didn’t not seem to want the company either. The whole thing was perplexing and it caused Rose to chuckle a bit into her tankard. She cleared her throat and pounded her chest playing it all off as a hiccup or at least as some drunken antics. Although it was near impossible to actually get drunk, it didn’t stop many from playing the part. She slumped over the bar and rested her head in her hands hoping to play it off and overhear more delicious tidbits to enjoy. 

This was almost as fun as those Telenovelas her grandmother entreated Valerie to put on the TV when Val was just a girl.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Rosary
Because I'm a jerk. I fixed my poor choice of wording.