pp [PP-F11] A Little Party Never Killed Anybody (Swimsuits needed!)

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal had finally made it to the 11th floor. It took much longer walking there. But it didn't take him long this time. After previously scouting with the lovely Azazel, finding it again was such a simple thing. And here it was, The beach. It was connected to a town, but the town was a few miles down the coastline. This section was far away enough to be considered part of the wilderness. Lowenthal walked down, excited that he was about to have a party here. He was already wearing his new swimsuit. A white pair, with a large sunflower on the left leg. It was early in the morning, and he had already gotten private messages wishing him a happy birthday. He smiled as he went to work. Being a tailor had it's perks. He had made a volleyball net earlier and was able to set it up with ease.

After that he had set up a small thatch building, a changing room of sorts. And one next to it, which would serve as a place where people could serve drinks or get away from the sun. The wind blew, making Lowenthal close his eyes and take in the salt air. It was nice, and nostalgic. It remained him of home. He looked at the party set up he had made, and nodded, proud of himself. He opened his menu and sent a message to his invite list, including the coordinates for the area. The Message also said that everyone was allowed to bring a +1.

Mari

Zelrius

Clarence

Calrex

Azrael

Jomei

Piera

Ssendom

Carmine

Takao

And with that, he began to set up the rest of the beach for his party. And awaited to see who was the first to arrive

 

[Clarence 0]

"I don't need to Bring a plus one. My babe will already be there. Will be there soon! Love you!!!!"

Clarence smiled and sent the message to Lowenthal. {Today will be a great day. I'm saving it for another time. }  Clarence thought and walked off from the teleportation pad, arriving on this floor for the first time. "Wow, I love this floor." Clarence muttered and twirled around slowly, seeing the architecture and the beauty of this floor. "Okay Lowenthal, I'm coming." Clarence said and went off to find this beach.

Way to Long Later

 "Where is this Beach!!" Clarence groaned loudly and flopped against a tree. {I could have sworn I would know where it is... I guess I was wrong. Where are you Lowenthal!!} Clarence thought and heard sand moving in the distance." Beach." Clarence sighed and trudged off into that direction.

5 Minutes Later

"Beach!" Clarence sighed and knelled at the sand, cupping it lightly. "Lowenthal?" Clarence said and looked around. Clarence's eyes made contact with him and Clarence smiled. He got up and walked through the sand, his boyfriend all shirtless and hot."How am I able to keep you all to myself. I mean just look at you!" Clarence smiled and drew him into a big hug, happy to be with him again. "Happy Birthday Dillion. I love you." Clarence smiled and drew away, kissing him on the lips lightly.

 

 

[Jomei 0]

"Warp Floor Eleven!" 

In a flash of bright flight, Jomei found himself in the middle of a large European styled city. His eyes widened in amazemenr as he looked around at the beautiful buildings, with many NPCs and players walking the streets. Jomei couldnt help but lightly laugh at his excitement to be here. With a large smile on his face, he opened up the message from Lowenthal describing where they were to meet. After that, Jomei made his way out of the city towards where he believed the beach would be located.

Afrer exploring the area for awhile, Jomei finally heard the sound of crashing waves and noticed some sand on the hill in front of him. He took a quick look around to make sure no one was near him before running to a large bush nearby. He quickly opened up his menu and scrolled through his inventory to the new swim trunks he got from Lowenthal's shop. As the cloaked armor dissolved from his body, the green shorts taking its place. He laughed as he looked down at his pale white body, almost forgetting how light skinned he really was. He then closed his menu and made his way over the hill to the beach.

As his feet touched the sand, he let out a sigh oh relief. It had been forever since he had been to the beach. He scanned the horizon for any sign of his friends. It was then he spotted the familiar orange haired player, embracing another brown haired man. "Awe man, looks like Im gonna be stuck as the third wheel for awhile", he said to himself with a smile as he ran forward. "Oi! Lowenthal!" He met his friend from behind, patting him on the back. "Happy Birthday, lad! And im guessing this must be Clarence." He looked to the man's boyfriend with an outstretched hand.

[Calrex 0]

"Alright...the location was...this way?"

Exiting out of the main settlement of the eleventh floor Calrex began to follow the player tracker for Lowenthal as he made his way over to the beach that he was holding his birthday party at. Currently, since he wanted to be careful of any monsters in the immediate area, he was still blade in his gear: The Grand Dragoon, Amethyst Charm, and Frozen Wolf Fang were all strapped to his character, "I guess this is a good time to celebrate, but I guess I can't help feeling a little solemn about it. I know we've unlocked a new floor, but to have someone's birthday in light of the fact we're still stuck in this game. Heh, I guess I was hoping we'd be out of this game before another birthday came along. Oh well, no time for thinking thoughts like that."

As he arrived at the beach he made a few swipes as his casual combat clothing and the Grand Dragoon armor vanished in a flash of light. Replacing them was a pair of basic blue swimtrunks that he had picked up in a hurry from Lowenthal's shop, the Albatross and Finch, specifically for the beach party. Of course, even with the fact he constantly wore the Grand Chariot armor, compared to guys like Ssendom and Tristan, his build wasn't exactly humbling to behold underneath all of the heavy metal. He was toned and in-shape, of course, but just a little above average at best.

Scratching the back of his head he continued to make his way over, seeing that some other players had already arrived, "I think I recognize everyone here so far. There's Lowenthal, Clarence, Jomei, and...Hasai? Huh, I guess it has been a while since I last saw her. Good to see she's doing well."

Making a few more swipes on his menu the Frozen Fang Blade vanished in a flash of light, the Amethyst Charm switching over so that it was wrapped around his right wrist. Giving a wave he finished closing the rest of the distance to the group, "Hey guys, long time no see! Happy Birthday Lowenthal!"

"Wait hold on a second...Lowenthal's crystal is orange? That's new. Well, I guess if he probably had his reasons...I hope. In any case not something I should be concerning myself with at the moment."

Edited August 3, 2015 by Calrex

[Takao 0]

Resisting the urge to wander around the city of Taft upon teleporting there for the first time was difficult, he found the architecture interesting and endearing. He did have a reason for venturing to the floor he'd never had much interest in prior to the visit, and that was a party! It happened to be the second beach related party he'd been invited to, which made him wonder if the theme was common for celebrations. Although he'd never been much of a beach-goer in real life, a sudden wave of excitement hit him the moment he reached the beach, despite the fact that he still had quite a walk ahead of him to reach the coordinates Lowenthal had sent.

He opened his menu and navigated through the hovering screens until he reached his inventory. His sword was unequipped and his usual armour was supplemented with a pair of recently acquired swimming trunks decorated with abstract patterns in the shapes of squares and coloured a mixture of black, grey, and green. Following the trunks, he also equipped a light, teal coloured hoodie that had been unzipped. The sensation of the warm sand on his bare feet was interesting and strangely real. A little time spent walking while he preoccupied his time with taking in the scenery had lead him to the meeting place for the party. A few people had already gathered, though only two seemed familiar right away. He raised his hand high into the air for an enthusiastic wave as he approached the group.

"Hey everybody!" A bright, cheery grin had worked its way onto his face as he waved, and his attention quickly set on Lowenthal. "Happy birthday!"

[Carmine 0]

Carmine was... excited? She hadn't been to a party since the beginning of Sword Art Online, so her reaction to the invite was a mixture of happiness and remorse. In the end, however, Carmine was sure she was going to Floor 11 despite it being a long way because on the inside she was a party animal. After putting on her bikini made by Lowenthal (funny cause it was for his party...) she headed for the highest Floor available in-game; astonishing, really, how far the front-liners were getting but how much they had yet to accomplish. Suicide, to wait out the game being finished, had definitely crossed Carmine's mind but the need to help overpowered that tug pushing against her heart.

The beach: When was the last time she'd been to one? Scratch that. When's the last time Carmine had a real vacation? She no longer counted being stuck in a game as vacation, and her mind wondered to her like pre-game. Geez. She really hadn't realized her freedom was taken away by work until now. Her worries disappeared, though, as Carmine saw the group of people that'd already gathered. Beautiful. "Hey everyone!" Carmine shouted, clapping her hands together. "Happy birthday Lowenthal. Man, you're getting old." She joked, winking at her guild leader before standing next to Jomei. Though she knew he'd be there, seeing Jomei raised her spirits. "What's up?"

[Azrael 0]

Azrael strolled along the shoreline staring out into the ocean as she did still rather amazed that such a place existed inside the game. The beach was far different than the ones she grew up near in Southern California, but it was still rather lovely nonetheless. She took a deep breath and the breeze blew in and carried the scent of salt from the water that lapped upon the shore. “The detail is amazing,” she sighed as she squished the sand between her toes as she walked along. The breeze kicked up again blowing through her long brown tresses which were cascading rather prettily over her bare shoulders. She had already come dressed for the occasion, sporting the lovely yellow polka dot bikini that Lowenthal had gifted her. It was perfect really, like he’d cut it with her in mind as it hugged every curvature of her voluptuous shape.

 

A structure came into view, and pretty soon, as small band of individuals circled together. The woman approached slowly as they came into better view. There was Lowe and his adorable little pet, Cal, and other she didn’t recognize. She walked over to the edge of the group and when she caught Lowe’s eye she gave the boy a wink. There was much going on and she was not interested in interrupting. She would talk to Lowe eventually.  

 

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal looked around, happy to see the people he called friends had showed up. It was only a small handful of the people he had invited, but the fact that one person showed up was enough. First was Clarence, whom Lowenthal grabbed and kissed as he arrived on the sands. "Hey boo." He said, welcoming the sexy hunk of man. After him came Jomei. As he approached, Lowenthal put Clarence down and looked at Jomei, blushing slightly. "Hey, didn't see ya there. How's it been?" He asked, now mingling with the two other men there. As time passed, Calrex and Takao appeared. Takao was with him when he talked to Mari, and earned some kind of friendship with her. And Calrex was the man who helped Lowenthal start his journey. Lowenthal greeted them both with a smile, and waved to Carmine as she walked down the beach. He mingled and chatted with everyone. Thanking each of them for showing up, and wishing him a happy birthday. Lowenthal noticed that Azreal had arrived silently. He smiled to her, and blushed slightly as she winked at him. He took Clarence's hand, and continued talking to everyone. "All that we're missing is Mari, Zelrius, Piera, and a few others." Lowenthal said, counting the people who had arrived.

[Piera 0]

Piera and Lee appeared on the eleventh floor via teleport, armed and ready. She was nervous to be on literally the highest floor available in the game so far. Even though technically she was just a level lower than the floor, she knew that she would need to be at least twice that level if not triple to even feel safe. "I hope this beach isn't too far." She murmured to her companion. The brunette was vaguely surprised that Lowenthal hadn't sent Lee his own invite but then rationalized that they hadn't spent much time together and he might have just assumed that she would bring him as her plus one, which she was doing anyway.

But her current worries were a bit more serious, such as making their way to the party alive. She had asked for directions and constantly referred to them as she and Lee made their way to the designated area. Piera heaved a huge sigh of relief as they stepped on sand and saw a group of people in the distance. "Oh thank god. Welp, guess we can get changed now." She winked at her boyfriend, eager to see how he would look in his swimsuit as she opened her menu to unequip her own items before equipping the lilac bikini.

Once properly attired, she ran ahead and waved, "Hey! Sorry we took so long. Oh." She blushed slightly as she realized that she didn't know...well most of these people. Her hand lowering and her posture drawing inward slightly, the brunette glanced around and was glad to see at least three familiar faces, those of Jomei, Carmine and of course the birthday boy. "H-Happy Birthday Lowenthal." Her right hand raised slightly to wiggle her fingers in a shy wave to her other two friends and guildmates. Piera glanced behind her, hoping Lee was not too far behind her.

[Lee 0]

Arriving at the floor was as easy as traveling to any other floor which which made him wonder if it was always this easy and how it would scare someone of a real lower level to suddenly appear in front of a creature of monster, it would be a horrifying sight. Lee himself, while he wasn't completely ignorant to the fact, was actually relatively calm with his armor donned and defense intact. He would turn his attention to Piera as she would begin to fret about the distance of the beach to which he would pat her on the back "Calm yourself little patawon." He would then follow suit after her her as they began their little trip to the beach front.

Once they had actually found the waterfront, Piera was relieved while Lee would sigh under his breath. He personally wasn't a beach-going individual but he wasn't above enjoying time with others because of the notion. He would turn his attentions toward Piera as she would change into a more water friendly outfit which would cause him to raise his hands up and give a slow clap. He took in a deep breath and pulled up his menu and shifted through his inventory and after just a bit of scrolling, he would come to a stop on his outfit of choice as he would unequip his own bulky armor to favor his seaworthy attire.

The swimwear was something of an understatement in terms of his original attire as it seemed more like two long straps wishing to hold his crotch at bay. Though, his face seemed pleased at the sight of the ocean and the one's that had gathered in front of it and listened as Piera spoke her wishes of happy days to Lowenthal to which he would let his right arm shoot up into the air "Yeah, Happy Birthday home skillet and what an awesome place to have it!"

Edited August 6, 2015 by Lee

[Clarence 0]

Clarence was a little overwhelmed on how so many people came so quickly after he arrived. Clarence recognized Calrex basically through this entire crowd of people and Clarence sighed, gripping Lowenthal's hand a little tighter. He noticed a hand and took it, smiling lightly. "Yes I am his boyfriend. And FINALLY someone actually knows my name. Seems I have only been meeting new people." Clarence laughed and shook the man's hand. Clarence scanned the crowd and caught movement off to Lowenthal's left and Clarence turned over to catch a woman giving Lowenthal a wink. At the time, Clarence thought nothing of it and continue on, looking in the crowd for people. "Wow Lowenthal, someone sure is a popular person." Clarence muttered to him and kissed his cheek, blushing lightly.

[Jomei 0]

"Pleasure to meet you!" he said to the man with a smile as he shook his. It was good to finally meet the man he's heard little about, but since it was his best friend's boyfriend, he knew he had to meet him. He then turned back to Lowenthal, still with a smile on his face, "So how does it feel to..." he stopped short in his sentence and took a step back, a worried look in his eyes. He had not noticed before because Clarence's body happened to be blocking it. Lowenthal's player crystal was no longer green like his own.. it was orange, the color of a player killer's. "Lowenthal..... d-did you...?" He let out a heavy sigh, there was one thing Jomei hated most in this game.. and that was player killers. He stood for a second, contemplating, "Your my best mate Lowe.. and I trust you... So.. this wasn't on purpose.. was it?"  Before they could really get into it, the sound of other people entering the beach could be heard from behind him. Turning his head, he saw Calrex and another man shortly after him.. he believed his name was Takao, whom he recognized from the boss meeting. After a small wave, he turned his head back to his friend, "We.... can talk about it later.." he said through a sigh.. "Its your birthday and all... so lets just have fun" he gave Lowenthal a smirk. 

Jomei gave the other two men a proper greeting as they joined the group. Suddenly, a third member joined their party.. one whom he recognized very well. Jomei turned to his side to notice it was Carmine, with a smile on his face he addressed the girl, "Hey you." while gently and playfully bumping his arm into the girl. He saw that she was one of the one's getting the message.. but being she had not been around as much, he did not expect her to come. She seemed happy though, which made him happy as well. Lowenthal then began to count the people who were here, and mentioned they were missing a couple of people including Piera, most likely Lee with her, Mari and Zelrius. Jomei raised his eyebrow, "Mari and Zel eh? Couldn't picture them in this type of setting to be honest." He had met Zel a few times, always sporting his signature tux. Mari on the other hand, he had only met once. He knew she was also a PKer and seemed to be mostly business.. but that may have only been because he met her at the boss meeting. 

Just after mentioning said missing people, Piera's voice could be heard from behind them. The group turned to look at her, to which she seemed taken back by. Probably because she only knew the three of her guild mates. Jomei gave the girl a friendly nave, gesturing for her to join them. Right after her, followed her boyfriend Lee. Jomei's eyes widened and his jaw fell open as the man stepped over the hill... sporting the most... he didn't even know the word for it. It was like a tight speedo that pulled over his shoulders.. making the speedo even more.... thongish. He wanted to laugh.. but the fact he was even wearing something like that kept him in shock. "....w....what...the..?" he said under his breath to Carmine. He shook his head and gave the man a smirk and a wave, "Oy, Lee! Lookin' good!"  he let out a laugh.

[Calrex 0]

Looking around as more and more people began to arrive Calrex made sure to greet the people he knew. Surprisingly enough one of the new arrivals was his former guildmate and friend, Azrael. It had been some time since the two had last stumbled across each other on the sixth floor and grabbed a drink. He gave a friendly smile as he nodded, "Long time no see Az. Good to see you're looking well!"

Taking note of Jomei's reaction to Lowenthal's crystal color change Calrex silently nodded to himself as the young man decided to discuss it with him at a later time. Following that Calrex looked to see that one young man had followed a little bit after him, bearing the symbol of the Guardians of Aincrad, "Huh, I heard that Ariel had actually rejoined that guild. I think it was her first affiliation before the Azure Brigade, at least to my knowledge. I have not seen her since we last explored the eleventh floor, but my guess is that she's doing alright."

Hearing Jomei's comment after hearing Lowenthal say that they were waiting on Zelrius and Mari Calrex gave a nod, "Zelrius I would suspect to be more likely of the two to show up to something like this. Although something so casual would seem out of character for him. Mari I have not ever spoke with outside of the business-like interactions whenever I provide her materials. It would certainly be something very new, but I can guess it would be very unlikely to happen as well."

That train of thought was broken when he looked and saw two other people walk in, their names showing Piera and Lee, "Huh ne..."

Upon noticing Lee's choice of clothing for the event he was surprised for a second. If he was drinking something it would have been likely he might have either choked or spat out whatever was in his mouth. The strange speedo-suspender piece certainly didn't leave very much to the imagination. He quickly gave a calming breath before steeling his senses before introducing himself to the three, "Hi there, nice to meet all of you. I'm Calrex."

[Takao 0]

[Sorry for the short post/long wait! Didn't realize it was my post!]

People continued to arrive one after the other, though none looked particularly familiar enough for him to personally greet. Even so he still offered them all a friendly smile and brief wave, until Lee showed up. He offered him the same greeting as the others, though his gaze had only wavered for a second upon seeing him enter his menu and change into more... well, "appropriate" attire, though those words would likely never leave Takao's mouth. He stared for a minute with furrowed eyebrows until the gears in his head finally processed what exactly it was he was looking at, and immediately set to suppressing the urge to laugh. His cheeks puffed out with air, though he refused to exhale until he felt that his desire to drop to the ground laughing had gone.

Something else grabbed his attention away from Lee, and he glanced over to Lowenthal. "Mari's coming too?" He asked, a vaguely excited tone to his voice. Having not had the chance to speak to her in private made recent events rather uncomfortable, and despite the fact that the get together wasn't exactly what he would call "private", it was better than nothing.

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal turned his head away from the ever growing crowd of friends, and saw that Piera and Lee had arrived. Lowenthal saw Lee slink off, most likely to get changed. Lowenthal broke from the herd, and met up with Piera his arms wide open. He gave Piera a polite, and friendly hug. "It's been a good while Piera. How have you been. That swimsuit, is absolutely adorable on you. Oh! Come here, there's someone I want you to meet." Lowenthal said said, almost dragging Piera against her will to Clarence. "This is Clarence, my boyfriend." He said, happily. He looked over, and saw the thing that Lee was wearing. 'Swimsuit? More like Joseph's Technicolor Jock Strap' Lowenthal said, forgetting he had made that to begin with. Lowenthal couldn't help but stare at what Lee was wearing, it was very distracting to say in the least. At least it wasn't like Tristan's suit. Lowenthal greeted Lee in a similar manner, this time without the hug.

Lowenthal turned his attention to Takao, and Calrex. Both of which brought up Mari and Zel. "Yeah, I invited the both of them. If one of them shows up I'll be happy." Lowenthal said, shrugging his shoulders. "My money's on Mari. I at least have her on my friends list, and actually had a conversation with her." Lowenthal said, being honest. "I mean, the only thing I know about Zel is that he bought a pair of trunks, wrote me a letter for Mari and hosted the tournament. Other than that, haven't really talked to him. Kind of invited him due to formalities." Lowenthal chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. He was getting more blunt, and he didn't know why. It was most likely due to his recent play killer status.

Lowenthal shifted his attention to jomei now, trying to get to everyone at once. He sighed, at his orange cursor remark. "Yeah, well I don't wanna talk about it." Lowenthal said. "At least, not now." He said, feeling somewhat glum. Lowenthal rubbed the back of his neck, and forced himself to perk up. It was his birthday, and he wasn't going to be all sad and gloomy on it. He was going to have fun, with his friends. 

[Piera 0]

Piera sighed in only the mildest of exasperation at the pride in which Lee wore his bathing suit as well as his usually crass greeting to their guildmate. Seeing Jomei wave, she smiled and greeted slyly, "Hey you two~." Before Jomei reacted appropriately to Lee's choice in fashion, along with others. Snickering at the various reactions, the brunette smiled over at her boyfriend, knowing he was loving the attention and looks. Looking at the dark haired man that had greeted them and introduced himself as Calrex, she dipped her head towards him. "Nice to meet you all too. I'm Piera, this is Lee." She pointed to the man in the daring swim wear with face full of beard.

Receiving Lowenthal's friendly hug with a returning squeeze of her own, her smile froze when he pulled away, her eyes finally catching the color of his cursor. She usually sort of tuned out everyone's cursors after seeing them for so long and hadn't even noticed when she first approached. A streak of unease hit her stomach at the implications of the dark orange color. But she quashed the feeling and forced her smile to return as she replied to her friend, "Yeah, too long! I've been good. Finally set up my alchemy shop on the third floor. And thanks." She stated, her smile more natural and not forced as she chuckled at the compliment. "Remind me to pay you for it, haha. Hm?"

Piera blinked in confusion as the sandy haired player dragged her over to a light brown haired boy with stunning purple eyes and introduced him as Clarence, the boyfriend he had mentioned before. "Clarence!" She exclaimed with an enthusiastic grin, reaching forward to shake his hand. "Good to meet you finally! I've heard good things." She praised, glad to finally meet the special someone in Lowenthal's life.

Piera glanced over her shoulder as the self proclaimed 'Master of Shadows' conversed about having invited two players called Zelrius and Mari. She quashed the joke about inviting PKs to a party as it was in poor taste given the circumstances. She obviously hadn't met either player but they were fairly famous in SAO or rather, infamous. Both player killers as well as clearers, though Mari had earned a name for herself as one of the best alchemists in the game, possibly even the best. And she honesty wasn't sure how to feel about either of them showing up. But apparently Lowenthal knew them well enough to invite them to his birthday party, or at least Mari so she trusted his instinct.

Speaking of trust.... She watched Jomei and Lowenthal speak quietly to each other before catching the sandy haired man's eye and smiling sympathetically at his glum look. She wanted to know. What had happened? Had he really...killed someone? Why? Who? Why hadn't he told them all before now? It shocked her that even Jomei hadn't known until he had shown up. But now wasn't the time for such talk, as much as it pained her to simply go on like nothing was wrong. But she tried to brighten the mood by asking the birthday boy loudly and with cheer, "Well it seems like this party is gonna be jam packed. What do you wana do first birthday boy? Get your yearly noogies? Swim? Volleyball? The beach is your oyster!"

[Lee 0]

Lee was enjoying the beach weather which was something he had not done in some time so this all was a plus for him. He turned his attentions to Jomei as he spoke out to Lee personally and waved, speaking about his appearance to which Lee would raise his hands out and then let them flow downward over himself as if to present his attire "I try my hardest to please the public to the overwhelming demands~" He would then move his hands down to hold onto his bare hips as he turned his eyes in the direction of a player whom would introduce himself as Calrex to which Lee would raise a single hand up and with a light move of his wrist, give a light wave to Calrex as Piera introduced them.

"Yo, well met!" He would then turn to see a few other people taking a gander in his direction. He would seen Lowenthal greet Piera with a hug and introduce her to his boyfriend Clarence. Lee would nod in a greeting to Lowenthal as he would smile widely as he would clap his hands together "This is already turning out to be a real party. Just need to get some games and watch everything unfold." He would then turn his attention to Clarence and extend his hand in a greeting "The birthday boy's man. Couldn't have a true party without ya!" He would then look to Piera as she brought about what Lowenthal would like to do to which he would nod his head in agreement. 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Lee

[Jomei 0]

Once the two had joined the circle of players, Jomei properly greeted both Piera and Lee by placing a hand on both of their shoulders and smiling, "Good to see you both." He struggled to keep eye contact with the two to avoid looking down at Lee's bathing suit which would cause him to laugh uncontrollably. Jomei noticed a short walk off in the distance was a small hut that seemed to have drinks and such inside of it. He walked through the group over to the cottage, wishing to fetch himself a drink. While walking, he noticed standing at the edge of the group mostly out of sight of some people was a brown haired woman he recognized as Azrael from one of his fights in the season. He looked at her and gave her a soft smile and a small wave, not wishing to look rude by not addressing her earlier whenever she first arrived. 

Entering the hut, Jomei saw the interior consisted mostly of a self-serve bar, where there sat empty glasses, large jugs of various colored drinks with spigots to make pouring easy. Upon tapping on each jug and examining each liquid, he was able to identify the drinks as mostly tropical fruit flavored juices, each with an option to make them alcoholic if one pleased. He smirked and poured himself a glass of pineapple juice, alcohol included of course. He thought if he should have asked anyone else if they wanted anything, it had honestly slipped his mind. Maybe he should have asked Carmine especially. He shook his head, he felt that may have made things look a little bit too obvious and give away any of his intents. He exited the thatch roofed hut and rejoined the group, sipping on his drink.  

[Calrex 0]

After introducing himself to the two new arrivals Calrex looked over as Jomei had gone to what appeared to be a hut, emerging shortly afterwards with a drink, "I guess there's refreshments inside. Might as well go take a look."

Entering inside he saw it was a rather easy setup to navigate, making note of all of the fruity and tropical flavors that were available. Remembering a drink he had a lot in the past he mixed together passion fruit, orange, and guava juices together, known in the real world as the abbreviation POG. This time he decided to opt out of the alcoholic options, feeling that all of the sampling he had done in the various taverns during the past few weeks was sufficient to give his virtual taste buds a break. Taking a sip he was surprised at the accuracy of the drink's flavor was to the concoction of the same name in the real world, "Wow, I'm still surprised at how accurate they made the sensation and taste to the real world. I wonder how much time, effort, testing and coding was put into simulating all of this. I can't imagine how much a tester's sense of taste became confused during the time they took to nail all of these flavors dead on."

Decided to let the thought slide he turned around, making his way back towards the entrance of the hut. After emerging back outside he looked to see Lowenthal introducing Piera and Lee to Clarence, giving a friendly smile at the scene as he integrated himself back into the small crowd.