[OP-F2] Love is kind of in the air?

[Helios 0]

Helios had just arrived at the second floor a few hours ago and he wasn't sure what to do. After overhearing two people talking about a place called "The High Fields of Crossing", he decided to have a look at it. The first things he saw when he arrived were the flowers. They were beautiful! He walked around the field looking at all the flowers and other plants and smiled. "The first floor had nothing like this." he said quietly to himself. Quickly, he looked up, realizing all of the people around him were couples. He sat down on a bench that was beside him and blushed. I probably look pretty stupid, since i'm by myself up here... he thought. This was the first time Helios had even thought about relationships in SAO. He looked around end didn't see anyone alone. "There must be someone in my position." he muttered, getting up from the bench. He decided to look around and find someone that was by themselves. That way, he wouldn't look completely stupid if he was alone! At least, that's what he hoped. "I really need to make some friends." he sighed.

[Rusty 0]

Rusty had been sitting in the shade of the trees, watching all the people walk bye, but far enough from all the flowers so that he didn't start sneezing again. "ACHOO!" Rusty sneezed again as the wind started to pick up. "So much for realism, they didn't have to go into this much detail." He sighed. He could always just up and leave, but he felt too lazy to get up and go to another floor, he also didn't any teleport crystals. It was still a bit pleasant for Rusty because he had found compendium made by a group of players. The book contained valuable information on the monsters of Aincrad and he especially liked reading the bits of information and backstory on some of the creatures.

[Helios 0]

After wandering around the field for a while, Helios had discovered a boy sitting under some trees. He chuckled as the boy sneezed. He walked over to the boy and smiled. "Guess I'm not the only one who's alone after all." he said. The boy looked like he was fairly comfortable under the tree's shade and it made him want to sit down. "Mind if I sit down here?" he said, smiling. "My name's Helios. What's yours?" he asked curiously. The boy was holding a book and the page he was flipped to looked rather interesting. Helios leaned up against a tree and looked at all of the flowers. "I heard you sneeze earlier. Is that why you're sitting away from the flowers?" he asked, chuckling. The boy seemed nice, so he wouldn't mind sitting with him for a little while.

[Rusty 0]

Rusty, hearing a voice, reacted quickly by looking up to see a blond-haired boy slightly bigger than him. Noticing that the boy looked to be same age, he looked back down at his book. Nothing struck him unusual, so he had began reading again. Rusty answered "Unless there's something that stopping you, I don't see you why you haven't sat down." in a slightly less sarcastic tone than usual. He didn't feel like pushing everyone away today and decided to actually talk for once. "My name is Rusty. And yes. I'm sitting here because I'm allergic to pollen." Answered Rusty, without looking from his book.

[Helios 0]

Helios looked at the book that Rusty was holding curiously. "What're you reading? It must be good since you haven't looked away from it." he chuckled. Rusty seemed somewhat anti-social to him, but he didn't mind. He couldn't really get annoyed because of the fact that he hadn't spoken to many people in Aincrad. Of course, they had only just met. It's not like he knew if he was anti-social or anything. A few minutes afterwards, he decided that it was his duty to start a conversation! "So, uh, nice weather we're having." he said awkwardly. I'm a complete idiot... well, whatever! he thought. Helios was never great at starting conversations, but he tried. Well, sometimes anyway. This was not one of those times though. He looked at Rusty, hoping the conversation wouldn't get awkward.

[Rusty 0]

"Its a book." Rusty scoffed. This guy is trying to start a conversation with me, but for his sake, I'll entertain it. Sighing, Rusty fully answered with "Its a book about the monsters of SAO and I don't tend to look away from books once I have one in my possession." After flipping the page, Helios asked him another question about the weather. The nature of the question made Rusty snicker, because he knew that Helios was just trying to make a conversation. "I didn't know that we had weather in SAO. Did it rain last night because I don't recall the weather here ever changing?"

[Helios 0]

Helios grinned at his answer. "It might not of rained here, but it could have rained in the real world." he replied. He is going to be hard to talk to... he thought, sighing. He didn't mind trying to talk to Rusty though. He didn't have anything else to do anyway. It also took his mind off of all the couples and he stopped worrying about looking stupid. "You know, you're really hard to start a conversation with." he laughed. He couldn't think of anything to say to Rusty. Maybe i'll get lucky and he'll start the conversation... No, that probably won't happen. He sighed again at the thought of it. "So, have you been on the second floor for a while?" he asked curiously. Helios had just gotten to the second floor, so he was quite curious about it.

[Rusty 0]

He's being defensive now, I'm not so sure he said that because its a conversation starter. Rusty flipped another page in his book and began reading until Helios interrupted with a comment. "Well, I'm pretty sure we are having a conversation right now, but that's just me." Rusty protested. To Rusty, Helios seemed to be able to put up with his sarcasm, so it felt nice to have someone who wasn't driven away or disliked him immensely. "I've been on floor two for a few days now, I've been making it my goal to get used to every floor so far."

[Helios 0]

"That's a interesting goal. Maybe i'll do that too." he replied. Rusty actually seemed nice, behind his sarcasm. He was actually starting to enjoy talking to him, since it sounded to him like he had a sense of humor. "So, do you miss the real world? If you don't mind me asking." he asked. Helios knew that you weren't supposed to talk about real life stuff in game but still, he needed something to say. He wasn't sure how Rusty would respond to it however, he decided to ask anyway. Helios' messy blonde hair blew slightly in the wind as he looked out at the other mountains. "Hey, how much of the floor have you seen?" he asked, quite interested. He was looking for enjoyable places to explore, of course. Maybe he knows about places that I could go hunting. I do need some more XP... he thought.

[Rusty 0]

"Not that big of a goal though, anyone can do and some people have probably done it without even trying too.." Rusty admitted, knowing that there were better goals out there to pursue. Helios then decided to ask"So, do you miss the real world? If you don't mind me asking." Rusty grew quiet, with a empty expression in his face. He looked at Helios, indifferent about whether or not it was rude or cold to say something this harsh. "No, I don't and I never will. And if you ever ask that question again, my sword will make it so that you'll never do so again."

[Helios 0]

Assuming something had happened to him in real life, Helios decided to stay quiet and let Rusty read his book. "Sorry for asking that. I should get going." he said to Rusty, nervously. He scratched the back of his head as he stood up and slowly walked away. Of course, he didn't really have anywhere else to go. He ended up taking a seat on a bench near the exit of the Fields of Crossing. "Well that was rough..." he mumbled to himself quietly. On the inside, he kind of felt bad for asking him about his life outside of SAO. Helios sighed as he leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes. He had gotten somewhat tired after everything. I guess it wouldn't hurt if I slept for a little while.

[Rusty 0]

Rusty sulked against the tree once Helios announced he was leaving. Another person was driven away, and he was proven wrong. Rusty didn't want this to be another one of these days, so he put down his book. It disappeared to return to his inventory, and Rusty ran towards the hills where Helios had walked towards. Once Rusty reached the exit, he looked around to see the boy napping on a nearby bench. Sighing, he shook him a few times, saying to Helios he wasn't going to get away with leaving that easily.

[Helios 0]

Helios awoke immediately after Rusty shook him. "Oh it's you." he said, yawning. He felt kind of bad for leaving him, especially since he seemed like a nice guy. "Sorry for bailing on you earlier." he chuckled. He looked at the boy and decided apologizing was the best way to make himself feel better. "You can sit here if you want to." he smiled. He noticed the Rusty wasn't holding his book anymore. Guess he looks away from it after all. He grinned at the thought. "I hope I didn't upset you by leaving." he sighed. Helios didn't actually have any friends in SAO. He was surprised that the boy went looking for him, and he was happy. Maybe we could be friends... Yeah, that would be nice... he thought.

[Rusty 0]

Rusty sneezed as soon as he stood still, the pollen in the air giving him a typical allergic reaction. Rusty didn't object to Helios' apology since he didn't want to explain why he acted as he did. Rusty sat down like Helios offered him, but immediately stood back up as Helios grinned. Something was up and he didn't understand, but he couldn't let his thoughts be read. "I have a cramp, so I'll stand up for now and no you didn't upset me.." Rusty responded

[Helios 0]

Helios chuckled. "Alright, it's your choice to sit or stand." he said, as he leaned back against the bench. "So, do you have a girlfriend? Is that why you were alone up here? You were waiting for her, weren't you." he snickered. He was sure he'd get a reaction out of this. The High Fields of Crossing was in fact a spot that couples used for dates, so asking seemed to fit. He was a little bit scared that he'd get stabbed after asking that but whatever, it's worth it. Rusty had his goal of getting settled in on every floor, and Helios had his goal of starting a conversation that lasted. He was sure this would start it. I am a genious. There's no way this won't work! He grinned.

[Rusty 0]

"Wow, I never thought I had choice about whether or not I could sit." Rusty mumbled. Even though he was still sarcastic, Rusty was warming up to Helios and surprisingly fast at that, something he hadn't done in many years. This was one of the first time in many years that he had participated in a conversation because he wanted to, excluding his sister.

 

"So, do you have a girlfriend? Is that why you were alone up here? You were waiting for her, weren't you." Helios added.

 

"You answered your own question, which is highly idiotic and no I don't have a girlfriend, now bug off." Rusty spouted back with a monotone voice. Rusty didn't care about questions meant to annoy him. He was just happy to have company.

[Helios 0]

He saw through me! He sighed "Alright, alright! Was there any specific reason you were up here?" he asked. He wasn't sure why he asked that, but it just popped into his head and he felt like asking. Rusty was an interesting guy. Helios had talked to a lot of people in his life, but he had never met anyone like him. From Helios' point of view, Rusty was sarcastic and serious. Helios chuckled. He hadn't heard him laugh or even seen him smile this whole time.

 

"So, about that book you were reading earlier. Where did you get it?" he asked, curiously. A book like that be useful when he went out to grind monsters. He'd be able to predict the mob's attack patterns a lot easier if he could get his hands on it. Of course, if it was a book that you couldn't obtain, he didn't need it that badly. Hunting wasn't too hard anyway.

[Rusty 0]

"No. There was no reason for me being on this floor. I just teleported to a random floor, that's all." Rusty answered while sitting down on the bench across from Helios. Even though he was tempted to resume reading his book, Rusty resisted the urge and decided to keep talking to the boy. 

 

"So, about that book you were reading earlier. Where did you get it?" The blonde-haired boy asked.

 

"I found the book in a tavern and just took it because it interested me." Rusty responded. Looking around, he sighed because he didn't know how much longer he could take this. The conversation was boring and although Rusty was happy to have an acquaintance, he'd rather be doing something else interesting.

[Helios 0]

"So, is there anything you want to do. You look a little bit bored." he chuckled lightly. Helios was disinterested in their conversation as well. He could tell that it wasn't going anywhere, and he could probably find something better to do. But, if Rusty wasn't bored, he'd be okay with staying and talking. He couldn't think of a single thing to say to the boy, so he decided to just sit back and wait for a response. Looking around, he tried to think of something they could do. They could go hunting, but a lot of players did find it boring. They could explore the floor's mountains and forests if Rusty wanted to. Helios hadn't seen much of the floor, so it was a good start. He decided to let Rusty decide, as he couldn't think of much.

[Rusty 0]

"Of course not, I just want to sit right here and talk to my bestest friend ever!" Rusty answered in the cheeriest voice he could. Hearing the answer he gave, Rusty almost threw up. "Remind me to never be sarcastic again, I sounded disgusting.." Rusty stammered, revolted at the surprisingly accurate representation he gave of a cheery person. "What we could do is go fight something if that's what you're in too."