[PP-F01] Just another day in paradise (Inanna)

[Baldur 0]

The fountain outside of what used to be Catfish Sundries and Forge was one of Baldur's most common resting places. It was an oasis in a desert of people. Though his shop had not been open in what felt like years now, there was something familiar and calming about the fountain. The wide stone basin was large enough that he could sit on the edge comfortably, and couldn't hear the conversations being had on the other side of the fountain. It was large enough that the volume of water it spat out created enough white noise to wash out the thrum of conversations surrounding such a busy intersection of streets.

It was also a busy intersection of streets.

It allowed Baldur to feel the heartbeat of the city, as people flowed up and down the arteries and veins with adventure stories, wares, new and lost loves. It made him feel connected to the life of Aincrad. He could get lost sometimes in his ivory tower. Well, figuratively speaking. Baldur didn't have an ivory tower, he had an island that was impossibly suspended in the air by a teardrop shaped stretch of land. And on that floating island was a Japanese style paradise. Before that, however, he had the seclusion that came with always being on the upper floors. Down here, the majority of the survivors lived safely within the protection of the <settlement>> status. When a new floor was unlocked, people rushed to the upper floors to check out the new settlement, but once the novelty ran out, they returned here. No one wanted to be near the level of danger that came with the highest floor.

And floor 25 was a doozy of a floor. The Fort of the Iron Fist was not a vacation settlement like you might find on floor 22 or 24. And now, with the boss freed from it's prison, the floor was cast into perpetual darkness.

And so Baldur came here. Away from the frontlines. Away from the stress. Away from the burdens he carried, so that he could relax and be reminded of the life flowing around him and the people he fought for. There were more people in the Town of Beginnings than on all the other floors combined.

He needed to be reminded of that sometimes.

@Inanna

[Inanna 0]

Life could be rough for most people. Fear anxiety awkwardness even more specific things like depression enemies monsters murderers and a bunch of other stuff. But Inanna wasn’t weighed down by any of that. No the reason why she was walking through town was boredom. Yup just boredom. Striding through the town with no knowledge of where she was going she took another chug of the beer she bought. “Maaan, what a disappointment. Why would the game give you beer if it doesn’t make you drunk?” She took one last chug and tossed it behind her letting it burst into sparkles. “Damnit this is so f**king boring!” She stopped when she saw some guy wearing an old fashioned Japanese robe with a katana on his belt. She walked up to him. After all she had nothing better to do. 
 

“Heeeey, that’s a sweet katana there. What, you one of those wannabe samurai guys wandering around here?” She wore short blue jean shorts, black stockings red short sleeved shirt with her midriff showing and slumped on one side revealing her shoulder and just a hint of her black bra (but not by much) had bracelets short red hair and purple eyes. She cracked a grin at him. “Cause if you are before you say it, I’m not interested.”

@Baldur

[Baldur 0]

“Heeeey, that’s a sweet katana there. What, you one of those wannabe samurai guys wandering around here?”

Baldur was pulled out of his thousand mile stare by a young girl asking him a question. She was a cute red head, but seemed to be what he imagined a party girl would look like. It had been a long time since he had been in college, and even then that hadn't been his crowd to run in. Even before he was a gaijin samurai, clubbing was not something the introverted samurai took time out of his day to do. He preferred his social interactions in controlled conditions where they could end when he was done with them. This typically meant having small groups of friends over for dinner and games, but most nights were just he and Tyger gaming from their house in Osaka.

"Wanna be samurai guys? I suppose so but --"

"Cause if you are before you say it, I’m not interested."

"Not... interested? In what? Being a samurai?"

He turned slightly from his half sitting position on the fountain to more fully face the girl. Long brown hair tumbled down the wanna-be samurai's back over hie blue haori. The coat was very reminiscent of the meji era shinsengumi, but instead white flamed rose from the hems and sleeves. There were two katana at Baldur's side, one was a pure white streaked with gold, and the other a pure black streaked with an almost blood red crimson. Something about the two swords seemed to mark them as polar opposites.

"I like the aesthetic, and the fantasy around samurai as much as I did the knights of romanticized Europe, but the real bushido and the fantasy bushido don't really line up. I fancy myself more of a Paladin in Samurai clothing." He gave her a rueful smile. He fully expected his words would bore her, or challenge her. He wasn't sure which. She may just move on, as Baldur was used to people taking jabs at him for his clothing, but she might also take the bait and drop an act. There was still a different culture here on the first floor than you'd fine in the frontline circles, and that was part of why he came down here. To remind himself of that.

[Inanna 0]

After hearing him talk for a bit Inanna put a hand on her hip and smiled at him. “Well you aren’t hitting on me so I’d say you aren’t like those guys.” She heard him talk about how he liked the look and feel of samurais especially fantasy samurais and even gave her a grin. She giggled and sat right beside him leaning back letting her arms support her while her legs kicked back and forth. “Definitely looks fun. If I ever found something to do I’d probably go for a samurai look too. I think I could pull off a sexy and cute samurai, don’t you think?” She asked with an honest, but also somewhat hinting smile and tone. She pulled out another two beers and offered him one as she took a swig. “You’d think they’d put more effort in making much better alcohol. Maybe that’s what I’ll do become a bartender! Haha that sounds like it’d be fun!”

@Baldur

[Baldur 0]

Baldur smirked as she sat besides him and mentioned that he hadn't hit on her, but then wanted to dress up like a sexy samurai.

"You mean, you'd wear one of those anime outfits that's like a samurai ran out of fabric about mid thigh?" he gave a soft chuckle, and a bemused smile, "That seems little... college frat party, don't you think?" Baldur adjusted the swords as he turned to face her more, the blades now resting on the edge of the stone fountain instead of letting the dip into the water.

"I never really considered it fun.." he plucked at the sleeves of his haori, "but I suppose it is. Haven't you ever felt out of place in your own skin before? Or like you had to be different in order to fit in? I would never have had the courage or the audacity to dress like this in the real world... it has a lot more connotations, but here it is a statement about who and what I am. In an instant, someone can tell what I am about. Heritage is less important when every day is the day that we could die. If I were in America there would be ideas of cultural appropriation, and they would be right. But here in Japan, they welcome people to adopt their style and heritage. The Japanese believe that culture survives by being adopted, and if people adopt it, that means their culture is superior."

He looked up from the sleeve of his haori and back to the girl.

"I've always felt a kinship with the eastern philosophy. So when I found out this was going to be a game to death, I took up the katana. Originally... I had planned to go with a tank. But I'm used to using a katana in the real world, so I figured I should give myself the best chance I had."

He tilted his head to the girl, "I think considering that we aren't getting alcohol, that I'd be just as happy without Kayaba tinkering artificially with my head to induce the effect of being drunk. Though I can definitely see the attraction for many given our state of affairs. I bet a pretty bartender could make quite the living doing that as well. Were you a bartender outside the game as well?"

[Inanna 0]

She gave a light laugh and then shrugged. “Dunno haven’t thought about what it would look like exactly. Though I see no reason to show off a little. Though I think I could pull off a sexy look even without showing a little extra off~ I’d do it cause I’d want it though. I don’t do it for a*sholes who see girls as trophies or their screw toys.” Her face twisted at the thought of them. No relationships just selfish raw desire. 

“I never connected with most of my school just two or three close friends. I’m fine with that though as long as we care for each other and have fun. That’s all that matters to me I guess. Though I guess staying alive would be a recent addition to that list.”

she watched him talk about philosophy a bit and put her finger to her lips in thought. “If I had a philosophy it would be simple like ‘be nice be happy don’t hurt others and do what you love’. I don’t sweat the complicated stuff.” She sighed as she poured the bottle out until it was gone “Yeah but at least they could make it taste better.” She turned to him “no but I did serve drinks in one. Only recently got the job before this happened. Maybe I’ll put his pub to shame in here eh?”

[Baldur 0]

"I don't know if the sexy samurai pub has enough of a single theme to work as a draw, but it would certainly have character." He laughed at the thought.

"That's not a bad personal philosophy. I was always a follower of Wil Wheaton's law of the internet, 'Don't be a dick.' That one seems to be about as hard as you can expect form most people. Unfortunately, the life we face in Aincrad outside these walls requires a bit more nuance. There are orange players out there, and while all of them deserve their orange status, there are green players who have a higher kill count than orange ones. Technicalities and all that. There are some people worthy of redemption, and some that aren't. And I get the burden of deciding that sometimes."

He waved away the grave though for a moment and tried to refashion a smile on his face.

"Sorry, I get teased about trying to teaching philosophy too much. Unintentionally." He laughed again. He never would have thought it would become such a big part of his life, for something he never even took a class in.

"You could definitely open a pub. I know a lot of players are trying to find places they can go to to relax. Somewhere with good food and drink and an atmosphere to relax. That sounds nice."

She had mentioned typically only having a few close friends, and that resonated with Baldur.

"I never had a big social circle  until much later in life. Well after college. I had a lot of aquaintences, but not many real friends. And then when I left college, I lost touch with almost all of them anyways. Thankfully, here in Aincrad, I have quite a few friends. Something about being in life and death situations with one another means you build a bond of trust quickly. There are several people I would expect would risk their life for me, and I them. It certainly puts things in perspective, but it can still make for dull dinner conversation."

He gave her a playful smirk, "Have you visited the other floors? Maybe picked out a settlement for your pub?"

[Inanna 0]

She laughed hard with the samurai man. “Never planned to play samurai in the bar but hell would that be hilarious. ‘The Drunken Samurai’ now that would be fun! Hahaha!” She laughed again when he gave her the summary of his own philosophy “Hell yes! Simple and to the point!” But then he added a bunch of stuff about cursor colours and redemption. She just shrugged. “If you wanna know what someone’s like just watch them. Bullies, leaders, followers, nerds and know it alls, flirts, introverts they all have something about them that’s easy to pick out. Stupid Crystal color won’t tell you sh*t.” 

she just smiled when he apologised. “No worries I just don’t get overthinking these things. Don’t be mean don’t hurt others don’t do stuff without consent and just have fun. Id say that covers all bases, so I leave it at that. Someone wants another chance, let them have it. We all make stupid mistakes when angry or scared right?”

“Dam* I’m jealous you found friends here. I haven’t found any permanent friends personally.” When asked about the floors she shook her head “not yet just visited one or two and only the settlements. I heard floor four is the only winter floor though, I wonder why that is”

@Baldur

[Baldur 0]

"Well, it's hard to improve upon perfection." He joked when she mused why there hadn't been another snowy floor.

He stood up from the fountain and faced her, "You wanna go? I happen to quite enjoy the fourth floor. Though outside the establishments it can be pretty cold."

He turned as if he expected her to join him on the way to the teleportation plaza.

"I wish it were that easy, but I have to get people to cooperate. I may want to give someone a chance, but if the person they murdered was their best friend, it doesn't work out so well. And then there are the people who want to look out for others, but their best intentions don't have boundaries. And then there are those that just seem to want to disagree with whatever everyone agrees with. If Nine out of 10 people said that the sky was blue, that 10th person would have to say that they other nine were idiots and completely wrong. I don't know why that is, but it's like chaos has to slip in there somehow and make everything more difficult. And then there's resource disparity, even among the highest level there are haves and have nots. People who are used to being on top becoming usurped. People who are used to commanding respect, suddenly finding none. Ego after ego after ego, not the least of which is mine."

He gave her a playful, knowing smile. He did not exclude himself from his judgement. He was also one whose ego made things harder than they needed to be. He was working on that though.

"I will say, one of my favorite European style pubs in on floor uh..." Baldur tapped in chin in thought. It had been a while since he had been there. And there were so many floors now. Was it 19? "Floor 19."

[Inanna 0]

She stood up with a smile, resting her hand on her hip. “Sure not like I got anything else to do at the moment.” She began to follow him while humming to herself when he talked about how he couldn’t make it easy cause of stuff people did. “If you have to question it the answers probably simple and straightforward enough. Maybe your just thinking too hard or aren’t confident enough in your decisions idk. But if they cause problems you shouldn’t work with them, it’s a basic principle really.” 

he told her about a pub on the nineteenth floor but “what’s floor nineteen like?” She asked since she was not aware of any floor beyond what she saw.

”Things are only as complicated as you make them be is what I think. If you can’t work with someone don’t work with em. If someone makes everyone’s life he’ll throw them out. Life’s way too short and if I gotta die it’s gonna be with people I love not as*holes who don’t give a sh*t”