<PP-F8> Lunch in the Forest

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was at the plaza of Floor 8, next to the teleport plaza in the city of Florenthia. He had come here after dropping his familiar off at his shop- the little guy could usually watch over things while he was gone. And after switching out of his usual dirt stained armor into something nicer looking. He hadn't had many times he needed to dress nicely, but today was an exception. So he had grabbed himself a long sleeved blue shirt he picked up a while back and some nice looking slacks, and added them to the blue scarf he was wore.

Just a few minute ago he had sent over a message to Dazia, asking her to meet him in the plaza. They... hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her since the Gala. Since the night that they confessed their love. It wasn't how he ever imagined falling in love, but he didn't care. It was the first really good thing ever to happen in the entire death game. And she was going to be here soon to have lunch, maybe spend the day together.  It almost felt normal for once.

He stood by the teleport gate and just waited, taking in the sunshine as he did, and wondering if he should have brought flowers or something...

Spoiler

Stats (just in case)

Level - 24           HP - 480             ENG - 48
DMG (Dagger) - 1
MIT - 9                      ACC - 0                    EVA - 3

Equipment -
[EQ] [T1 Uncommon Heavy Armor] Benjamin's Carapace - Mit 1 (9)
[EQ] [T1 Perfect Charm] Green Leaf - Evasion (3)
[EQ] [T1 Perfect Charm] Finder's Feather - Loot Die (3)

Items -
(8) Lesser Basic Healing salve (Heals 20 HP) [T1]
(15) Lesser Burning Edge Potion (+1 damage)
(1) Burning Edge Potion (+2 damage)
(1) Lesser Nature's Vitality Potion (+1 Mitigation) [T1]
(2) Teleport Crystal
(6) Antivenom Balm (Antidote (2))
(5) Magic Armor Potions (Safeguard)
(3) Greater Edge Shard (+3 damage crystal)

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

The Unusual Nightmare, the Grinding Journey, an event on the twenty-second floor, interrupted by a large scale battle yet again... It was nice to have non-combat plans for the day, in all honesty. Dazia began making her way to the teleport gate to head for the eighth floor, and she noticed someone was looking towards her with a surprised expression. They shuffled away nervously, leaving Dazia be. That's right, she'd let loose during the fight against the creatures that disrupted the otherwise peaceful event. All it would take would be a simple rumor and description, even a name...and people would begin to tolerate the presence of one even less. Dazia couldn't wrap her head around why they don't just use their brains and be willing to accept or understand anything outside of their norm, even when she was but a child. It seemed that Dazia would need to have at least a temporary change in attire until the rumors blew over, and ceased to exist. Those who had heard the negative rumors didn't know exactly what Dazia looked like...but they knew what her light armor looked like.

Perhaps changing attire and laying low for a few days would suit her well in the long run.

Dazia would quickly move to a place where she would use the equip system to change her apparel. She now wore a simple black long sleeve shirt, a blue knife pleated skirt, and a pair of black leggings. Nothing much, but it would definitely do for the time being, as long as she remained in a safe zone.

Now that her outfit had been changed to simple clothing, she would head over to the teleport gate again, and when she stepped in, she would say the teleport command. "Teleport: Florenthia!"

She would arrive at Florentia's Teleport Gate, and Benjamin wouldn't be far. She saw him near the gate, waiting for her. "Hello, Benjamin. It's nice to see you again."

(OOC Note: To avoid confusion, I'll just clarify that there are no knives in a knife pleated skirt. Knife Pleat is a type of skirt design.)

@Benjamin Bookworm

 

Stats and Equipment:

Spoiler

Level:  27
HP:  560(Base[540], Athletics[20])
EN:  54
DMG:  11(One Handed Rapier Rank 5[+5], Shadowdance[+4], Athletics[+1])

MIT: 48(Raven Shade, Light Armor rank 3)

ACC: 2(Shadowdance, Corvid's Eye)

EVA: 2(Raven Shade, Corvid's Eye)

 

Equipment:

[T2]Shadowdance(2 DMG, 1 ACC)

[T2]Raven Shade(2 MIT, 1 EVA)

[Tierless]Corvid's Eye(1 ACC, 1 EVA)

 

 

Skills:

One handed Rapier Rank 5

Light Armor Rank 3(+12 Mitigation)

 

Mods:

Athletics(+20 HP, +1 DMG)

 

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben perked up as he saw Dazia teleport in, a bright smile crossing his face. "It's nice to see you're well too Dazia. I hope I'm not interrupting any of your grinding and such." he said as he moved to meet her halfway. "I'm glad you could take a break though."

He hesitated before they met, unsure for a second before moving in to give Dazia a hug. No matter the circumstances, it was good to be with her again. "So, um, like I said in my message, I'm not to sure about what kinds of restaurants are around here. So I figured we could take a walk around the outside of town, near the edge of the safe zone, and see what's open. Look for a place with a good view of the forest."  He could feel the nervousness in his voice as he spoke, still not fully confident of himself yet. Plus she'd probably have a lot of her own things to talk about first- there was a lot going on he missed in his lab, and he would love to hear about it all. 

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Benjamin chose to apologize in case he was interrupting any of Dazia's grinding, but he didn't need to worry about that. "No, don't worry about it, it's actually kind of refreshing to take a break for once..." She replied. From what she knew, she definitely needed one. 

Benjamin would hesitate at first, but then he hugged Dazia. Was his hesitation due to the fact that the relationship was still fairly new, or did he hear the rumors? Whatever the case, it was nice to be around Benjamin again. Benjamin would then explain that he didn't know of any restaurants in this floor, and thus he was hoping that he and Dazia would take a look around outside of town, near the edge of the safe zone, to see what was around. He would then add a recommendation, to keep an eye out for a place with a good view of the forest. "Well, the floor is almost entirely covered in forests outside this safe zone, so that shouldn't be too hard..." Dazia noted. "Although I haven't seen very many places, due to paying most of my attention to other such things for planning out routes to grind with, or shops that sold potions or gear..." She admitted.

@Benjamin Bookworm

Edited September 21, 2020 by Dazia

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben gave Dazia a warm smile- she was still analyzing everything as before. It was cute, and as much fun as it would be to watch her try and take the lead, he thought he should get them going somewhere. "Well if you don't have any preferences, how about we start on the southern road? Most of the western part of town is where the player housing is, so we can just circle town until we find something we like. Myself, I'm hoping the chefs here use the veggie the market sells." he said with a bit of a laugh as he tried to break the ice again. He was still glancing back at her and the surroundings every so often, showing how much nervous energy he had bundled up for today- even if he hoped she wasn't able to notice it.

The road to the outside of town was nice- flowers and plants covering all of the lamp lights, and most of the windows in the local shops. Ben offered out his hand as he started moving, coaxing Dazia to follow him- it wasn't as if he had no idea what the floor looked like, just that he didn't go out to eat much. "We can enjoy some of the scenery as we walk, and catch up once we sit down. As much as I'm dying to hear all about what you've been up to, I know the sights around here are something to see!"

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Benjamin's warm smile was reassuring to Dazia. Benjamin suggested a route to take, and admitted he was hoping someone around would use a certain ingredient in their cooking. He seemed to have a slight nervous air about him, which, once again, could mean two things. He either could be nervous over the early moments of spending time with someone he was in a relationship with, or he could have heard the rumors. Dazia hoped for the best, trying not to dwell on the latter possibility that would undoubtedly unnerve her.

Benjamin held out his hand for Dazia to hold, and she would accept. Benjamin would note that they could catch up once they sat down, that they could enjoy the scenery until then. "And my, is there a lot to tell." Dazia remarked with a half-smile, trying to not only lighten the mood, but to reassure herself, in hopes that there will be nothing to worry about.

[Benjamin Bookworm 0]

Ben was a little unsure of why Dazia was being so quiet, but she probably just wanted to watch the scenery. It really was a nice floor. "I'll be glad to hear it any time- spending days at a time harvesting materials doesn't make the most interesting stories." he said as they walked along the road, crossing under several overhangs of colorful flowers and blooming vines, eventually reaching the outskirts of the city and the view of the huge trees covered in vibrant, blooming greenery. He gave a soft squeeze to Dazia as he took in the sight, happy to be spending the evening together as he glanced down the end of the road to see what's ahead, his fingers intertwining with hers as he kept himself close.

"Looks like we have two... no three places that serve salads. A generic burger stand... and a Waffle Hut. Huh, those things really are everywhere." he noted as they walked, kinda hoping for something more than that. Though Dazia seemed nervous enough that maybe it would be better for someplace ordinary... "Um, so... anything catch your eye hun?" he asked, suddenly a bit more nervous and fidgety.

@Dazia

[Dazia 0]

Quite the question she'd need to consider. She was more than ready to begin speaking of the things that had happened, but the proper setting had to be found first. Benjamin listed a few possibilities that the two passed by, and also what he saw up ahead. Three salad joints, a generic burger stand...? A Waffle Hut? How did that one get there? Was it really becoming that popular of a place that it would begin appearing all over the floors of Aincrad? Had to be a player's doing, that's for sure. Dazia couldn't confirm if players could franchise their shops, but it was definitely possible in real life, so it could have been possible here...but that would lead to plenty of other players and NPCs being hired for that...

Dazia got her mind off of that and back on track. She needed to see what both she and Benjamin were fine with, and if the place had a low enough crowd so that there would be fewer chances that someone who had heard of the rumors would spot Dazia, regardless of descriptions...no doubt that Princess had probably explained what else she knew, allowing for some to identify her anyway...but enough of that, she didn't come here specifically to hide, she came along to relax...and possibly hide.

She thought of the various possibilities, but for the moment she had no definitive answer. "As of the moment, not yet. I'm still considering some of those, but is there anything else up ahead? I only want to make sure there's nothing else around before making my decision..." She admitted. Would being taller allow one to see farther? That would definitely be Benjamin's advantage in this moment if it were true.

@Benjamin Bookworm