[PP-F1] Astonishment (Astrid)

[Yami 0]

A wonderful day for taking a walk and relax, no clouds up there. The sky was clear as a baby's forehead. A player was running around the Starting City, he was wearing a simple Default Gear and had a sword holstered on his back. His hair features multiple layers including long blond crocked, pointy locks for his fringe and five large spikes colored black with red. He stopped near a few buildings, taking a deep breath. "This place didn't change at all.. I suppose that's good!" he said as a smirk formed on his face. Yami kept himself away from this "obsession" of completing the game, he had the chance to get some rest.
He felt like he was too stressed and in a hurry to get out of SAO and it wasn't good at all! At least that's what he thought. He met a lot of people since he joined this game, but were they still alive? He was clueless. Unfortunately, a lot of players keep dying and the others can just deal with it. But now, he felt thrilled in a positive manner, not frustrated as he was back then.
Right now, he feels like he can't rest anymore, it is time to focus on his "objective" once again. The weather was great, Aincrad's perfect season. He tilted his head to the sides briefly, before he realized about his real body's conditions. "..D-did my hair grow longer?", he grimaces lightly as he wonders about that thought, tapping his head. At last, he just exhaled lightly and walked around the city, taking note of any player around him.

[Astrid. 0]

For once Astrid was feeling calm and relaxed. She sat on a bench in the Starting City, legs crossed below her, writing utensil in hand and it drifted left and right on the page before her, filling it with little notes of how her days had been so far in the game. She wasn't familiar with writing yet, so everything was written as dots; she had used braille for as long as she could remember that anything else was like an alien language. A small chuckle erupted from her throat as she imagined someone taking a peak over her shoulder, and looking at her with a strange look for a page filled with nothing but dots. Thankfully, no one was bothering her as she hummed quietly to herself, a song that her mother used to sing to her when she was younger. It pained her chest, to think of her parents, especially at times like this when all was quiet and peaceful. It reminded her of how truly lonely she was. She worried for them, they must be heartbroken, knowing that their only daughter was now trapped in the game and would only be able to exit in one of two ways: death or the winning of the game. As if when she started losing her vision wasn't enough for them, life decided to throw another hurdle at her family and herself, probably smirking as it watched them stumble trying to get over it.

[Yami 0]

There weren't many players around, people usually go to higher floors, most of them on the first floor were NPCs, but he thought they were useful to set up a real environment. If there weren't NPCs around, it would have been a ghost town! 
As Yami was walking around, he noticed a young girl seating on a bench. He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her carefully, taking note of her appearance. She was truly a new sight to his eyes, he met a lot of people but he couldn't remember if she was one of them. At last, he realized that he never met her around. He never met anyone with red hair, so he decided to approach her, walking towards the bench. He was standing behind the bench and he was able to see her notes, though he didn't read them at all, as he thought it would have been intrusive. Though, he was somewhat curious about those notes, he supposed they might have been about a list of items she had to collect, but he didn't dare to read them. Also, he could hear that tune she was humming, he thought it was lovely.  "Uhm.. -Hi, am I disturbing?" he said, offering a warm smile.  

[Astrid. 0]

The petite female had finished writing her sentence before she heard someone move close to where she was seated. She kept her gaze to her page, quieting her humming, waiting until they initiated conversation, not wanting to look strange by looking up and greeting them; it would probably either surprise or creep them out. She turned her chocolate brown gaze upwards, where the voice came from, looking towards the person. She was surprised to see a male with rather abnormally spiked hair. "Ah, no, not at all." She replied with a gentle smile, placing her writing utensil in the middle of her page, turning her body towards the male. "I don't think we've met before, I'm Astrid." She greeted politely, standing up from her seat, giving the male a polite bow.

[Yami 0]

He closed his eyes briefly, a warm smile on his face as he returned the bow to the girl.
"I think so. I'm Yami, nice to meet you." he said in a resolute manner. He was surprised to see a player writing instead of fighting various monsters out there or other players as well.
"You know, players here seem to be NPCs instead of real people! Always fighting and stuff.. -I mean, fighting is important here.. but taking a break is great."  offering a firm nod. He was the first one to fight all the time but he truly changed after his beak. He felt relieved, he doesn't hate that world anymore but might actually prefer it more than the real one.

[Astrid. 0]

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yami." She chirped. Seeing the male bow back to her brought a smile upon her face. Not many people who played the game continued to do such sorts of greetings that they would have back in Japan, throwing away all formalities and manners which they had been taught from childhood. So to see someone do such a thing warmed her completely. A shy smile spread on her face as he mentioned the lack of players on the current floor they were currently on. "Yeah, that's true. Taking a break is great, especially with the situation we're currently in. As much as we need to get out of this game, it's better if we do it with level heads and in moderation. Or else we'll end up losing more players." She said quietly, almost to herself. Seeing the amount of muscles on the male before her, she could guess that he was a player that fought regularly, unlike herself who was still as petite as she was when she started the game, still wearing her beginners clothing.

[Yami 0]

He smiled warmly as he listened to the girl carefully. She was absolutely right, Yami thought the players had to treat this game like a real life. As if completing this game was a job, but you can't work all the time! You have to rest a bit some times, after all they were still humans obviously. Maybe if they were NPCs that would have been understandable, though that was not the case. "That's the spirit!" he said firmly, closing his eyes briefly. Yami realized that Astrid might have been shy by her tone of voice, didn't seem to be so confident in herself..-or she thought he was weird. As soon as he thought about that, he raised a brow and peering up he became aware of what might have been a reason. His hair, not really like you happen to meet people with such hairstyle! 
But after all, that wasn't a good topic of discussion at all, a person's death never is a good one and there were plenty of people dying in that game. "So, Astrid.. am I right?- Is there anything you would like to do?" he asked.

[Astrid. 0]

Astrid quietly lifted her hand or face tapping her chin with her index finger while deep in thought. What did she want to do? Honestly she had no idea and the more she thought of it the more she came up blank. Or, not blank, but she had many ideas and she couldn't use just one. The question was also quite vague. Did he mean in the future? Because if so, she would like to fight on the front lines, help win the game with other players and get out of this world before she became attached to it, to a point that she won't want to leave. Or did he mean at that moment? Though she would love to get back to her writing, she would also like to continue to improve her current skills and make some friends. As she opened her mouth to say something, either tell him she wanted to relax or improve, her stomach grumbled lightly. She hadn't eaten since dinner time the night before, and her her body was finally complaining about it. "Ah, sorry about that." She mumbled her apology as she turned her face to her feet to hide the heat that was quickly travelling up her neck. How embarrassing, to have this happen, in front of a stranger no less. She almost wished that the floor would open up underneath her and swallow her up.

[Yami 0]

Closed his eyes briefly, offering a warm smile while shaking his head lightly. "An apology isn't necessary." he said, not really like being hungry was something to be blamed for. After all, being human meant that as well! Either way, he realized that she didn't reply at all at last as she was interrupted by her stomach. So since stomach is calling out for help, why shouldn't they reply to its request? "I can offer you something into an inn if you wish." he said. After all, such a day would be better with something to eat. And eating together is definitely more enjoyable than being alone, it was the first floor so Inns wouldn't be so hard to find. Probably there was one near the town's plaza, he didn't remember where exactly but it was somewhere.

"It shouldn't be too far away." said while glancing around.