[PP-F10] A Deal's a Deal (Mari)

[Ashrah 0]

Arc stared at the notification window that popped up in front of him blankly, bleary eyed. "Whu...?" He sat on his bed in the inn in Urbus, still weary after a night of sleep. "It's from Mari," he said as he toggled the message open.

"Come to my shop on Floor 10," it read, and he frowned. That sounded more dangerous than he cared for. "Alright," he said to himself, "I'll go find her there, but this'll definitely be a trip I won't enjoy."

He slipped out of bed and down the stairs, slowly waking up. He found his awareness rekindled with each step, the light burning his eyes for only a few seconds. "I hate that I can still feel sensitive to light," he muttered in annoyance.

The inn disappeared behind him as he headed for the central hub of the city, and he set his destination for the central city on the tenth floor. Since he had never been, it would be up to his friend's list to lead him to Mari.

He appeared in the darkness of the floor with a frown on his face. "Great," he muttered, "this is even better than I thought." He toggled the search feature for Mari on his friend's list and set off toward her location.

If not for the footprints in the dirt, he'd never have found her tent.

"And me without night vision," he muttered darkly. He took a step inside and looked around, though he could barely see anything. "Hello?"

[Mari 1]

Mari had sent the message off to Arc. She wasn't exactly ready to face him again, not so soon after their most recent encounter just over a day ago. With the fights, and the emotional outbursts. The knowledge that he knew Thom, and the hurt that came with the fact that she would never get the chance to know him as intimately. Still. Mari was true to her word. She gave a sigh as she was pottering around the tent which served as her Alchemic Store - removing the dust from the vials of potions, and carefully placing the crystals in a locked, glass cupboard. 

 

"mmm?" 

Mari turned to the entrance to see Arc squinting in the low light of her tent. Outside; it was cold and virtually pitch black. Those without Night Vision would struggle to journey across the floor. Inside the tent; was warmer - despite its looks it was fairly well insulated, and with the large pillows, rugs, and throws scattered across the floor it gave an almost homely appearance, almost. It's only source of light were jars of fireflies, strung across the ceiling in a zig-zag fashion.

"Ah, you came quickly." Mari said as she opened up her locked cabinet, pulling out the two recovery crystals she had just placed in there. "Out of the 8 materials we collected, I only managed to craft 2 crystals." She stated, turning to hand them to Arc.
 

[Ashrah 0]

"You had to pick the darkest floor out of all of them to settle down on," Arc mumbled softly as he settled into the makeshift shop that Mari called her own. "I don't know how I made it out even this far."

She would have some quick response, but maybe that would help soften the blow of their previous conversation a bit. Arc would never admit to being kind-hearted, but it was a bad habit he had.

He could turn it off at will, though.

"Two?" he asked only to display his pleasant surprise. "That's very good, thank you." He walked toward her to accept the items, but stopped short with his hand outstretched. "You decorated this place nicely," he stated offhand, staring sidelong at the canvas. "I like the fireflies."

His hand grasped the crystals suddenly and he placed them into his inventory. All the work they had done paid off. He just kept trying to say nice things, only to fail miserably at not seeming awkward. Mari very likely just wanted to be rid of him, so he fell silent in the next moment.

He stood awkwardly in the tent for several moments as he tried to decide what he would do next. His gaze moved over Mari with unreadable sentiment, but part of him wanted to see her step out of all this insanity and get her strength back. He knew next to nothing about the woman, though. Arc just wanted the best for everyone, even though that was a pipe dream.

Nothing he said could truly help the pink haired girl.

[Mari 1]

Mari gave Arc a wry grin at his comment, "Yes, I did it just to annoy you, a pre-emptive strike." She said sarcastically. A pitiful attempt at a joke, since the two did not end on the lightest of notes. Both seemingly trying to struggle with their own macabre despair.  "You made it out this far, I assume - the same way most others do - teleportation pads. I made my shop on the highest available floor at the time. To suit frontliners." Mari stated - telling him the real reason behind her motives. "I have night vision; and many others don't bother to invest in the skill, so placing my shop here, puts me at a slight advantage - as I doubt anyone else would be game enough to bother. It sends a message to people - that this shop. My shop means something, that I, as an Alchemist am able to overcome the limitations of the 10th floor. Thus far, business has been very good to me."

As she handed him the crystals, he seemed surprised that she had given him two, Mari tilted her head to the side. Curious with his reaction. "I'm pretty sure I said I'd give you at least two. I may be callous, and some would call me cruel - but if it hasn't been made obviois by now - I keep to my promises. You're welcome." She said, placing them in his hand. Noting that he had kept his distance this time. The corners of Mari's lip quirked up into a semi smile - such actions were painfully familiar to her. "You two really were friends." She mused, turning on her heel to follow his gaze.

"Mmm...I always wanted a little place like this, I would imagine reading to my daughter under fairy lights - rugged up in a tent out the back, I guess that is partly where this comes from..." Mari said, running a hand across the table which housed the potions.

Mari could feel his stare on her back, as a silence rose between the two. She didn't feel the need to say anything right away - it wasn't until some moments had passed till she turned to look at him. "You don't have to do that yanno....the whole nice thing, it's clear you're mmm what's the word..." Mari said as she gestured with her right hand, turning it round and round. "Apprehensive? Akward...? "

[Ashrah 0]

"Oh, I got the message," he grumbled quietly.

Her assessment of how he got to her floor was accurate enough that he saw no need to correct any details. He doubted seriously he could have made the leisurely walks through every floor dungeon to get where he was now, and he wasn't inclined to try at his current level. Even with his new sword hung gallantly at the small of his back, Arc still lacked the level of confidence to push himself past his current standing.

When she said that 'they really were friends,' his lips drew in a flat line. As if that had ever been a question. Of course, he supposed that this girl never got to Thom the way she would have outside of SAO, but realistically, she may have never had the chance in that world. Tobias would never tell her so, but the player known as Alkor was desperately awful with emotions.

But, so was Tobias. When she said he didn't have to be nice, he was half tempted to feign relief and act like the ass he always was. But he knew that something about this girl prompted Thom to open up, which meant she deserved the benefit of the doubt. "Well," he said plainly, "nice or not, you've held up your end of the bargain. That means you're trustworthy, and it earns you my respect."

Diplomatic as always, Arc steered the conversation close to the elephant in the room, but safely clear. "I may be more socially capable than my late friend, but that doesn't make me any less lacking in social grace." He gestured toward her lightly. "That doesn't mean I can't make an effort to be... what was it... nice?"

His lips tightened into a thin smile. "Better be careful," he told her, "or people might think you've grown soft on me."

He turned from her and glanced up at the jarred bugs above. His hand raised toward the ceiling, then clenched into a fist. The shadow it cast on his face was dark. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

[Mari 1]

Arc grumbled, and Mari couldn't help but feel slightly amused.

She noticed that his expression turned sour, when she mentioned their friendship. Mari gave her head a slight shake, as if to clarify her meaning. "I mean, you two have similar mannerisms." She stated, gesturing toward his frame. "Far be it for me to question your relationship with him, when push comes to shove you were there with the real him, not some digital representation." Mari idly fiddled with one of the strings that she had strung throughout the tent, holding up the jars of fireflies, unbeknowst to her - she voiced almost exactly what Arc had been thinking, of course - it was something that had plagued Mari. "who knows, outside this game - I don't doubt that I would have gotten as close to him as I did here. Still." She turned to Arc, "I don't feel that lessens my feelings, nor his. What happened, happened. "

Arc still held his thin line, face tout - limiting his expressions. It made it very hard to read him. "I suppose I should thank you then?" Mari asked, but she shrugged, turning her attention back to the rope. "Then again, if I did that people really would think I've grown soft eh?" Mari sighed. Letting go of the rope. Turning to face Arc. "But I've rarely cared what others think of me. So...Thank you." 

The words felt forced, and more than likely sounded forced; they were words Mari barely spoke these days. More so, Mari rarely held long conversations with anyone. She wasn't as socially inept as Alkor, or Arc - but she had been constantly battered and bruised - and that had taken its toll on her psyche. "I give your nice  effort a 4/10, but that'd sit me at an even 2/10."

She watched as Arc rose his hand to the ceiling, clasping his fist tightly - as though he were trying to capture the light itself within his grasp, an outward gesture to some sort of inner turmoil. It was difficult to keep talking to him. Mari turned to sit on her low set counter. Crossing one leg over the other, silently watching him. She had no words to say at this moment and felt no need to force conversation from him. If he wanted to speak - he would.
 

[Ashrah 0]

His fingers recoiled from the light slowly, rhythmically as it stirred and jumbled, a byproduct of the bioluminescent bugs. When the hand stopped on his head and jostled his hair, he turned his gaze toward the silent woman who seemed to study him the same way he did her. This was like some dangerous game of chess, only no one ever seemed to have the advantage. She spoke of her feelings for Alkor and restated the inverse, just to be sure Arc knew it. Alkor had loved Mari.

It was nothing the gold haired youth intended to sweat.

"I'm glad," he said. "Thom needed someone who cared about him. Only so much you can do in a dark room with only video games for company and a grandmother who forgets your name half of the time." It was a sad assertion, though perhaps it would offer the woman some measure of peace. "But that's enough about him. He would want to be allowed to rest, since there's nothing else he can do."

If his death spurred others toward victory, Alkor would have been fine with the martyrdom he had unwittingly received. As it stood, only a small number of them seemed devoted to his memory or shaken by his loss. Arc knew that was the nature of a society that forgot their heroes, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

That was why he didn't want to talk about it. He could see Mari was just as thrilled with the conversation topic, so he made no effort to continue it. His urge to scream out mounted as the fire in his heart burned. He wanted to take up the mantle Alkor had left behind and become a force on the front lines, but he also did not want to make it seem that he was trivializing his best friend's death. Mari would not react well to that sort of thing.

His eyes moved over her slowly and with plagued consideration, like he could not figure her out. Part of him begged for understanding, to know what Alkor saw in her, and to know his best friend had not simply fallen for a pretty face. But from the way Mari spoke, Arc gleaned there was far more to her.

It was just that he would never get the chance to see that. "I envy him, I guess," he said finally, "that he could find something real like that. Especially here, of all places."

Arc turned his gaze toward the floor. "Not me," he said softly, "no time for that."

[Mari 1]

Mari shook her head as she laughed softly. "I recall someone else saying those exact words." She cleared her throat, and did a very poor impression of Alkor; "I don't have time for relationships, fun and games. I am here to clear the floors and save everyone from Aincrad." She laughed, albeit it was a sad, remiscent laugh, she bit her tongue - holding back sentimental tears that threatened to make an appearance. He was gone now. She wouldn't hear him say such things, and in a sense - Arc was right. She shouldn't dwell on him, on the past - still, she would refuse to let his actions, nor the memories she had of him falter. As far as Mari knew, there were very few people whom had gotten close to him, and in the end - he had all but abandoned everyone. "This place, its a fabrication - a false reality, yet the people who dwell within it are all very real - we can deny feelings, and deny that anything that occurs here is real - perhaps it isn't but - in the present, when all we have are our fellow players, its only natural to find, seek and gain companionship from them. Sometimes more."

 

Mari watched as the blonde haired man's fingers traced the soft glow of the light - before he slowly let his hand fall to his side.  "He may wish for rest, and I am in no position to deny such things - but, I'd be lying if I didn't find some sort of..." Mari tilted her head, averting her gaze from his as she attempted to find the right word. "Solace...? Peace....? Warmth....? mmmm....It's nice....being able to think of him, and talk to him about someone who knew him - and someone who didn't outright hate me." Mari was reffering to Lessa; a woman she had not seen in a very long time, a woman whom Mari assumed had a strong dislike for her - since the few times they had spoken were forced, strained. Mari couldn't exactly deduce why - perhaps Lessa felt the same affections for Alkor too, still. What was in the past, remained there. 

It was nice to talk about him, but if he were the only topic to discuss between Arc and Mari, then things would soon turn sour. More so than their current predicament. 

Mari turned her gaze back to him, eyes resting on the sword that sat at his back. "I see you got a new sword." She mused. "I'd like to hope you aren't fumbling around in the dark with it this time."

[Ashrah 0]

"He was a strange one," Arc admitted. "But then, we both were."

The admission was followed with silence, almost reverent in nature. To hear it told that they both displayed the same sentiment of disinclination toward attachment amused him, but it also worried him. Alkor was less likely than Arc to fall in love, yet he had. "Not exactly tenacious of you, Alky," he muttered silently to himself, the way they would have in games they once played together. He supposed the words had always been platitudes, the desire to remain aloof and detached from the rest of the gamers. Still, they existed less for comfort and more for utility.

To hear they were so easily undone did not illict comfort.

Mari went on for some time about her feelings, and how it felt good to talk about him. Since he had learned of Thom's death, the only thing talking about it achieved for him involved driving a dagger into his own chest. It reminded him that when he woke from this nightmare, his best friend would not be there to help him recover from it. He would never again sit in silence with the youth, nor share in cold drinks on sad days. But to Mari, words of Alkor meant solace and warmth, and that meant the woman who raged inside found comfort, if only for a few fleeting seconds.

Tobias decided that she deserved that. His arms folded across his chest as she mentioned that there were others who knew Alkor and for some reason hated Mari. He did not ask, though it made sense that Thom would have somehow brushed against the lives of others. "I doubt you ever stop thinking about him," he said in response to her saying that it was nice to do so. "But talking is nice."

It was a short answer, but Mari probably came to expect that from him. Her words were followed by abject silence, which probably meant she was done with the topic. Tobias knew that further talk about him might turn toxic, and the last thing he wanted was to send her back to hate or anger. "Blacksmith I met on the fourth floor," he told her, "traded it to me in return for a favor."

He drew the weapon slowly from his waist and offered it for Mari to look at. Levantine was heavy, but dark with an inner light. "But the only fumbling around in the dark I've done lately is coming here."

"Doubt you've ever thought about moving on, then?" he said suddenly, but the instant it fell from his lips, he realized what he had said and covered his mouth. His blue eyes blinked and widened. "That was insensitive, I'm sorry."

[Mari 1]

Mari's smile faded slightly as Arc asked if she had considered moving on. "Whatever occured between Alkor and I..he falling asleep in my lap..." Her fingers found themselves to lightly press against her lips, as she recalled the actions. "Fevered kisses...quietly sitting in each others presence...it was very short lived. Some would assume it'd be easy to move on - and no doubt, one day, I will. I am not actively looking for someone to fill the hole he left." She tilted her head to the side, offering him a tiny consoling smile, the man meant no harm - and she had no energy to be angry or cruel toward him. To act so cold, it was draining and tiring. "It's fine. Don't sweat it." Her voice showed it, how tired of it all she was.

She stepped forward, carefully taking the sword from his hands, she rested on her knees, folding her legs beneath her as she sat down on a plush rug. her fingers carefully traced the outside of the blade, an action that would normally draw blood. "Most active blacksmiths are sh*t." Mari stated, with little to no care to her insult. "But this? Mmm...." Her fingers glided along the flat of the blade, "It's different, somehow. You're like a guppy in a pool o' sharks at the moment..." She mused to herself, not exactly meaning to insult Arc, although the words were less than flattering. They did hold an honest truth. Most the people Mari had spoken with were high levelled, and able to hold their own against boss raids, Arc was yet to reach that momentum. "So it makes me wonder how you were able to get such a finely crafted blade." She said, "Still, this one should serve you a long, long time.." She gently slid her two hands under it and lifted it above her head to hand it back to him. "I got crystals that can temporarily make it stronger too." She added with a proud tone.
 

[Ashrah 0]

"I... ah... didn't mean to bring that up," he said, slightly blushing at the thought of his best friend's lover confiding any amount of information about their intimacy to him. "You don't have to tell me anything," he assured her in a quick voice, both hands rapidly moving before him in a warding gesture. "It's none of my affair."

She spoke of "filling the hole" he left, and Tobias almost envied her. It sounded so easy in that way, that someone could just find a replacement to imprint their affections upon. Of course, he would never say so; it sounded so heartless, the way he was describing it in his head. "I... hope someone does, then," he muttered softly. "No one should be alone."

When she spoke about his blade, Arc nodded. He didn't intend to tell her about the blacksmith in question. "She was decent," he admitted in modesty. The truth was, he knew the blade was well above what he ought to have for his level. There was no reason to say that to Mari, though. Her assessment about his level of strength did not phase him. She probably felt that way about most people.

He quickly shoved the weapon back into place across his back when she relinquished it. Arc was less than interested in talking about how strong or weak people were. It was that kind of thinking that made survival so insular. "You're a pretty high level alchemist," he observed, changing the topic quickly, "you should branch out your business. The front lines are a small group of people to service."

Of course, Mari probably cared nothing for low level players. Arc knew that they needed any help they could get, so he always tried to throw a bone their way. "I appreciate your business," he added dutifully.

[Mari 1]

Mari shrugged absently. "it's fine." She muttered, her eyes focused on the floor. She could hear the unease in his tone of voice, when he said he didn't mean to bring up any sort of intimacy and memories of her and Alkor. "It ain't none o' yer business, but again - I digress, it is nice to speak about him. Some find it a taboo subject. Like, it's better to leave him as a memory. Yeh, I get that. But be damned if I am goin to brush what happened under a rug. Yanno?" She asked, finally rising her eyes to met his.

 

"I don't care either way, perhaps it will be easier to be alone." Mari straightened running a hand through her pink locks, she was done with the subject matter.  She cleared her throat, signalling the finality of it. "I live comfortably, I don't exactly care for that  much Col. Nor do I care if a player can afford what I offer or not."

[Ashrah 0]

"It's nice not to worry." He reached into his cloak and produced a flask of his favorite rum, something he'd picked up along the way. Thom and Tobias sometimes took sips of alcohol together back in the real world, though the other man preferred whisky to the more flavorful, molasses based drink. He had been a much more traditional southern gentleman, for all that meant. Arc took a seat on the ground and reclined back against the wall as he brought the liquor to his lips. The cool burn ran along his throat and he closed his eyes. "To grandma," he muttered.

They had been like brothers, and any time they drank they would toast her good health. If Thom were here now, he'd insist they do it again. He would have wanted the same thing even now, when he was dead. The honor of his memory was something that the man couldn't care less about. He loved the things that he loved, and they meant the world to him. Arc opened his eyes again slowly and glanced toward Mari. She really did care. That was so foreign to him, the idea of Thom with a woman. The man had been terrified of interpersonal relationships. Even their own friendship took years to cultivate to a point where he could place a hand on the man's shoulder, or talk to him openly.

How had this woman managed to get under that iron skin, and so quickly? He knew that the power of a woman held little effect on the other man. It was Tobias who always talked about falling in love, not Thom. Thom always pushed him, though. Always said he should do it while he was still young, and still so in love with every girl he saw. Every skirt that could be chased, Arc went recklessly after it. Thom always said he'd eventually meet that one, and he'd calm down.

Now the thought of falling in love was silly. He saw women as beautiful, unattainable things that would probably matter again if he survived. Arc would protect everyone, and he would do it with his own strength. Falling in love, though? Never going to happen.

He never flirted in SAO like he did back in the real world.

"Just don't sell yourself short," he told her. "It's important to make a living, right?"

[Mari 1]

(ooo! Old thread!)

There was a silence between the two, and Mari thought that Arc would perhaps bid her adieu, and walk away at that point. Instead, he pulled out a flask and held it up to the air, muttering words she didn't quite hear, as he took a drink. It may have been a toast, to Alkor. At least, that's what Mari assumed. She let him be, as he revealed in his own private moment. 

Mari wondered how long this could go for, how long this fragile peace between the two would last before she said something that would offend him so, before her actions would result in pushing yet another person away, perhaps her reputation would just get the best of her, and he would leave here at peace with their interaction - only to return much later to treat her with hostility, perhaps, he'd even go as far as to avoid her gaze, to renounce her very existence. Mari shook her head at the idea. Surely, he wouldn't do that.

Arc finally spoke, telling Mari not to sell herself short. Mari shrugged, "I suppose so, but I have no interest in the lower floors. Maybe one day I'll actually manage to befriend someone stupid enough to want to work with me, and they can be my link to the lower floors. Until then - I'm content where I am now."

[Ashrah 0]

He nodded at that response. "That's fine, then." There was no reason for him to press the issue if she were truly content. He took another sip of the rum and let it smooth over his palate. It was always nice to feel that sense of home as it rushed through his mind. "I'm not sure what else to say, if I'm being honest. My best friend fell in love with a woman and she returned his feelings. The way we always talked, he was sure I'd be the first between the two of us to do that, and he was adamant that I'd probably be the only one. It's just a little shocking, is all."

Why he told her that was beyond him. Tobias was almost mortified that he'd opened up about the relationship between the two of them at all, but he figured that he would let it pass. This woman needed a little bit more closure than she had been given, and perhaps he'd be the one to offer it. "I mean, that is to say, he never thought about girls. Never even talked about them except when I did. Thom was obsessed with his own things, his writing, his history, his grandma- he spent all his time holed up in his room when he wasn't caring for her. I had to drag him out to eat on more than one occasion. I told him life was passing him by, and that if he didn't do things, he would die an unfulfilled old man..."

Did he die an unfulfilled young man instead?

"We used to talk about Lee and Grant, and which of them was the better General. He would have said Lee any time you asked, but I wondered sometimes. Grant managed some victories that the Confederacy couldn't muster, but really, is it the man who makes the army, or the army that makes the man?" The debate had gotten fierce at times. It was his grandfather who forced the ideal onto Thom that the South was right, but Tobias cared a lot less about that. Both men agreed that the war was probably the biggest waste of American assets of all time.

"He had a crazy obsession with little details like that, see," Tobias held up both hands and the alcohol sloshed a bit. "It didn't matter which side won a war, he could see things about the losing side that had more merit than the entire collective of victors. It didn't matter if they won an overwhelming victory, he looked for the moral high ground and stood on it looking down at anyone who disagreed. But the moment someone did something that was wrong, he..." the mercenary sat back a bit.

"His sense of justice was a bit vicious, I have to say. That's probably why he never got along with most people. He had... very little of the emotional connection with others that most people do. He was an enigma at best, and a sociopath at worst. He did have feelings, he just never got around to developing them well. His grandmom was a great woman who looked out for him when he was young, and maybe that had a lot to do with it. She didn't let him experience some things that other people suffered through and struggled with. Looking back, there were things I had to explain to him that most people our age didn't need to be told."

He reached out and offered her a drink. "But he was a good guy."

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Arc

[Mari 1]

Mari accepted the offer of a drink, choosing to relax rather than be too on edge. The way Arc had began speaking about Thom again, it was relieving. She gave a small smile as she pulled out a cup of her own, along with her own drink. She appreciated the offer, however she preferred Sake over what he had offered. She poured her own glass, and offered a spare saucer to Arc in case he so desired. Mari traced the rim of her drink with a finger. Sharing her own memories of Thom with Arc.

"You know, he did just that when we first met." Mari mused, "The incredible sense of justice I mean...I was speaking with a friend of his, and albeit, a part of that was a loose threat - I meant no harm in it. Back then, I don't think I'd ever had wished harm on anyone, but then - here he comes. Bursting through the doors, and threatening me with violence - voice shaking with a sense of noble justice, just at the mere thought that I may have hurt his friend. Suffice to say, I don't think I'd ever met someone so rude in my life. I never would have thought about him romantically if it weren't for that friend of his. Life."

As Life's name fell from Mari's lips, her eyes closed. Life had left scars on her so deep that she may never recover. Still, Mari took a deep breath. "It was straight out of a sit-com, this scenario Life placed us in. Dark caves, flowers...Alkor was completely livid. He was so focused on the frontlines, he wanted to storm out of there and strangle his friend. He was..." Mari paused, opening her eyes to stare at the clear liquid in the shallow cup. "He was so gruff, but I was too - we were trapped there, and he asked me about myself. I thought it weird, not many people ask that question here in Aincrad, still...in a stupidly comical way...I suppose it's what made me realise how much I liked Alkor. I think my favourite part of that night - was his eyes. The amber golden hue, it was just like the sunset." Mari didn't say that's why she disliked sunsets now, but - if Arc knew how to put two and two together - he'd realize, that when he had first met her, the reason she hated the sunset so much, was because of Thom.

"He spoke often of his grandmom, and a friend of his...how his friend would tease him if he saw how awkward Thom was around me at times," Mari took a long sip, emptying her saucer, allowing the rush of alcohol to warm her from the pit of her stomach. She quickly refilled her cup, before glancing up at Arc. "I guess that friend was you. Right?" She asked. He didn't need to answer, she knew the answer to be true. "He always spoke so highly of you." Mari mused. "I wished we had met under...kinder circumstances. Honestly, I didn't know him as well as I would have liked. I knew Alkor, but I knew little of Thom. I knew Thom loved his friend, his grandmom. I knew he looked after her, and lived his life for others. I know he likes flower gardens..." She trailed off, taking another drink.

Thom further explained how dangerous it was to cross Alkor, and his sense of judgement. Mari nodded in agreement. "He was vicious. He had such a cold and hardened exterior. I think he struggled to see why people felt the way they did. Maybe that's why we meshed so well. I have the same problem. I don't get people, but unlike him I'm not so...so..." Her eyes furrowed as she tried to find the right word. "Calculated? His were deep, beyond this incredibly thick obstinate layer. Meanwhile, mine were on the surface, I'm quick to anger, and get annoyed easily. I wonder what the hell he saw in me sometimes. He was too good."

[Ashrah 0]

Arc stared quietly at the floor as Mari gushed about his fallen friend, and he thought about the many things that he had been through with Thom. It was sad to think he would return to a world without that man in it. It was sadder still to think about what he'd tell the man's grandmother, even if she hardly remembered him at times. There would undoubtedly be tears in her eyes, even if she wasn't quite sure why. Part of him was glad Thom was free of that. He had always let it rule his life. It was a chore he was never suited for. It was something that, if he could go back, Tobias would have helped with as much as possible.

"...here," he muttered as he opened his options screen and scrolled through things that he had uploaded from his desktop to the NerveGear. He opened a data transfer to Mari and sent a picture file to her, one that he had taken a year before on Thom's birthday. They were there with smiles on their faces- almost unheard of for the other man- a sunset in the background and beers in hand. "It was a good day, which was rare with his grandmother's health going bad. I had my dad stay with her so we could go out."

Thom was a gaunt man in every right. He was not quite the toned swordsman that she saw in the game, but he was almost the same in body type beyond that. Not overly tall, thin, and he had the same gilded eyes. Tobias was the happier looking of the two, but there was happiness in that picture for both men. "Still can't believe he's dead," Arc muttered. "Now I'll never get to take him for drinks again, huh?"