[PP - F5] Boiling Point (Complete)

[Zeke 0]

(Armadillo, Armadillo, why does that name sound so familiar?) A player thought to himself, before he would squeeze through an opening along the destroyed wooden fence in front of him. The fencing appeared to be stretching around the entire town of Armadillo, but it was obviously not keeping anything away with the of the state of repair it was in. Instead, one could either assume it was no longer a necessary measure of defense and had been worn down by time, or that it was simply an atmospheric detail to give players a deeper sense of immersion inside the game. Either way, the partings in the fence posts left many entrances to the safe zone for players who liked cutting corners, which was something many would probably do here because of the intense heat that existed only on this floor, and maybe some of those that were still unexplored up above. 

This player wandering into town was probably the most noticeable right now out of anyone because of the long and thick coat that he wore contently. His face was bathed in sweat, while the expression on it only gave a look of indifference. Both of his hands were dug deep into the coat pockets, they were being clenched tight as if holding onto gold coins that were far too precious for him to let spill out, and his feet carried him like someone who had no knowledge of what an acceptable walking speed was; added the distinction that the way he walked was not well thought out, and his face was aimed up towards the sun to keep the long and soaking wet hair of his from getting in the way. All of these factors considered, the man would look like some sort of psychopath if observed by the right kind of person. "So bright out..." The suspicious looking visitor spoke to himself in the usual volume someone would apply during conversations, chuckling louder after he registered how out of it he was, a slight smile forming from his lips.

Thanks to the sincerest form of luck, the wet mess of a person began stumbling towards a tavern without bumping into any unkind people along the way, sparing him a chance to meet anyone who would likely be displeased with the heat as much as he was. "Shade..." The male found himself a nice, dark corner of the room after letting everyone in the place know exactly what he was seeking, easing the word out of his mouth within a somewhat gargled and lazy groan. Unfortunately for him, the chair and table he chose to sat at was pretty much only there for one person to sit at on the opposite side from the one occupied, as the chair he used was placed right in front of a bounty board with a singular person standing in front of it. He gladly would have escorted himself over to the other side, but it was a tad too late for that, as the person standing there previously had already been accidentally shoved by the left side of the player's sweat-covered body during his butt's search for the wooden surface. 

Edited September 12, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh had only recently arrived in Armadillo, enjoying a break from water for a little bit after spending all of the previous day dealing with it. Plus he had a skill to help him withstand the heat, which he was eternally grateful for. Everything felt juuuust right. Very hot, but not lethally so is how he would have described it if pressed. He had been staring at the tavern's bounty board for at least five minutes now to try and decide what he would like to do today. His peaceful thought however was interrupted by the force of something against his side.

"What the-?!" A soft clanging was heard as his skull made contact with the pommel of his sword which was propped up on the tip, giving him a good shock if not any pain thanks to the systems in place to prevent such things. He immediately glanced to the source of the shove that caused him to hit his head, slightly annoyed but not hostile yet as he appraised the other player. The first thing he noted was the thick clothing. He himself didn't have any desert specific attire but at least he wasn't wearing a jacket. The look of the guy was almost painful to watch, making him sigh softly and tap through his menus. Deciding to cause some mischief without being a total douche, he takes a waterskin from his inventory and pours part of its contents over the player's head before tossing it on the table in front of him. He then circled around to the opposite chair, sword dragged behind him by the hilt until he plopped into the opposite seat. "You don't like the heat I take it?" He asked the other player. He seemed pretty out of it, probably spent too long in it he figured.

[Zeke 0]

With his face rested straight down within the gap of his connected arms, Zeke saw only the dark wood of the table now that his head was keeping everything out like an imaginary barrier. Dark colors always calmed him down, but if he were to spend too much time doing this, he would have fallen asleep or had gotten depressed; it was always the little things with him. Thankfully, someone decided to pour something on him. It didn't matter if it was coffee or the collected liquids from within a spittoon, as long as it was cold. He would accept any intent to be bullied by someone with the most gracious of attitudes, doing the unexpected to keep the person bothering him from doing even more embarrassing things to him.

"Thank you so muuuuuch..." His head rose to see someone with magnificently red hair walking to the other side of the table, taking a seat where he would directly face the shy and sweaty maniac, no qualms given about how awkward it would be for them to stare into each other's eyes. "That green too... you have it." Zeke's mind wandered carefully while his body sit up straight in the chair as quickly as it could. (Those colors are so nice. I remember them easily. To think you would share the trait of one of my personal demons.) He thought. Within half of a minute, the soaked male snapped into focus at the one who had apparently just wanted to help him.

"Yeah, I can't stand it. I love the cold, though. It's an obvious and outright pain that comes with the love for a nice breeze or traumatic event of almost being drowned." If anything could set someone's weirdo alerts off, it would be Zeke's out of place laughing. He would normally be too shy to talk so much to someone he didn't know, and instead of laughing he would always chuckle instead like he was plotting a murder... but now? Now he was sounding giggles like some comical super-villain from a comic book. 

Wiping his forehead with the now wet scarf he started to wear again after such a long time, the soaked-in moisture of the clothing article could be squeezed out for a tinier bit of heat-relief whenever he wanted it. " Sorry for bumping into you. I lose my head when I get like this. It's not easy being cheesy-Sorry! I'm getting distracted!" His worry was showing for a brief moment while he tried to brush off his own manners in the situation. "But, yeah, I'm not feeling so good right now, but I'm not much better when I'm cooled down. What made you not want to knock me flat?" Zeke asked casually while he held one end of his scarf up to his forehead; nothing about his question showed any sign of uneasiness with bringing up the accident, but his glare from behind the fabric was menacing.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

He raised a brow when the unusual player thanked him, figuring he was far worse off than he had expected, but that only made him grin and accept the fact his mischief was met with open arms. He made sure to push the waterskin a bit closer to the player so he realized it was his and not Kalesh's anymore. The container would disappear but the water wasn't worth enough for him to care about the price. When the player started staring into his eyes and then talked about the color green he tilted his head, almost forgetting they were green now before saying "Oh? Do green eyes mean something to you? Green eyes and red hair was a tradition of a guild from one of my early MMOs. The guild has long since died but I still wear their colors." He chuckled softly and slightly nervously as the player moved oddly and seemed to lose focus and then regain it back in a hurry.

When he spoke about temperatures he had to agree for the most part "Yeah, I prefer cold for sure. I mean, what I like are extremes. If it's not slightly hot or slightly cold, I am not in ideal temperatures." He shrugged his shoulders softly and then watched as the man laughed. He himself laughed when he talked about stuff that scared him, often trying to turn any disaster into a punchline, so he didn't really judge much. Only a little bit. "I almost drowned once. I was seven if I remember right. I lost a shoe as a result." He chuckled softly "Weird thing. It must have triggered a survival instinct. A few days later i was asking my mom to take me to the pool and I started to teach myself how to swim!"

When questioned about the bumping he shrugged and said fairly clearly "Two things. The first being that I am not dumb enough to attempt a PK with so many people around." He grins teasingly and adds "And besides, it is way more fun when you are creative about your revenge. Pouring water over someone's head for example." He chuckled softly to himself and scratches his head, honestly finding the weirdest thing about Zeke so far to be him wringing a scarf onto his head. "But yeah, forgiveness all around. Not gonna hold a nudge against you."

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Zeke 0]

Zeke let the scarf fall along with his hand, the hand falling into his lap with his other one, where they would both grasp onto each other with entangled fingers. Both arms were mostly hidden underneath the table-top, and his posture after fixing his positioning in the seat would be that of someone who was about to eat a food challenge with only their mouth; his chest pressed tightly against the table, and his chin now hovered over the wooden surface. This was clearly not a recommended way to sit unless you wanted a problematic spine in the future.

Much more clear in his now closer face, the heavily clothed male quickly looked down towards the waterskin as if the person he was talking to had some weird habit of keeping his belongings at a certain point on top of the table. (I know how annoying those obsessions can get, too. Not a good thing to have if you're nervous about your belongings getting stolen, though.) 

"Having the same color scheme as a bunch of your guildies was surely a problem in some regards, right? Wouldn't be better to discard a fun idea in order to have some variety in the guild? You must have some cuties you would like to approach, so it can't be too great when you accidentally walk up and talk to the wrong person." Zeke then began to act out how such a scenario would go. "Oh, hey Tenen! I wanted to see if you would like to go out together some time? I'm actually her twin brother... You know she's already going out with Ryven, don't you?" The voice for the twin brother was much deeper than any man could hope to naturally achieve without smoking every second and gargling shards of glass. 

"And yeah, look at it this way. I would much rather die from being frozen to death than being set on fire. Fire can magnify itself much higher than the cold can. This doesn't really add anything relevant to the point, but I like to look at everything from a very scrupulous point of view... I remember things so trivial sometimes, and I can stress myself out over anything. My brain is against me most of the time." He lowered head at a fast rate, slamming his head face down on the surface of the table; he quickly rose back up after hurting himself, pretending like it had no effect on him at all. "That's more like player-killing than shoving me onto the floor." He was referencing the slam of his head, with the hint of a chuckle being restrained behind his slightly higher tone of voice.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh noted him not taking the water despite being apparently dying from the heat, deciding it would be best to clarify "Sorry if I'm not clear, but I am offering that water to you. To keep." He chuckled softly, trying to remember than there was no such thing as a universal gesture or method of understanding. "I always keep plenty. Never know when you might get caught in a trap." He shrugged his shoulders, ever on the side of preparation when possible. It kept him alive thus far, even if he was not particularly strong.

He grinned at the other player's impressions of how he thought things would have gone down "And it wasn't thaaaat confusing. It was a tradition but it wasn't mandatory for entrance or something." He chuckled softly "The second-in-command had purple eyes and dark grey hair for example. The guild wasn't that big either, but myself, the leader, and my mentor had the red and green style going on. We all wore different armor though... except I mimicked my mentor and got the male version of her armor and made sure the cloth and leather was blue. Hers was red. Kept the breastplate black like hers though." He realized he was rambling about unimportant stuff and shut his mouth while the other player spoke about other things.

Having a little trivia he decided to say "It is actually true that death by cold is more pleasant than death by overheating. At some point during the cold version you go numb and your body actually starts to feel warm to you. It's more comforting I guess." He shrugged his shoulders, having spouted his bit of trivia. "Ah, and that doesn't really hold, does it?" He hits opposite arm softly with the palm of his head "That's a lot less like a PK than throwing someone to the floor! Seriously though, no grudges here." realizing he didn't even know the other player's name he says "You can call me Kalesh. What's can I call you?"

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kalesh

[Zeke 0]

During the periods of talking that the Kalesh guy would do, Zeke tapped the bottom of the chair with his fingers, doing so rhythmically to entertain himself with one of his favorite songs in mind. He was still taking in all of the information, but he didn't appear to be too focused on the red-haired male that took the time to even talk to him. Favorably, the song kept his mind busy while he looked around the room at all of the other players. This would be a time when he would worry about all of the ways they could be judging him, but the constant bring up of song lyrics helped push out any structure of a worrisome thought. Suddenly, his view came right back to Kalesh out of nowhere, his response showing that he actually did remember the guy's words during his own humming and look around the room. 

"I thought so. I never really knew that, but I could presume just from the fact that I've been burnt and freezing before, and you could guess which one was the more pleasant experience. They go all so well together, though. That's like a life lesson. Together, we're all much better than we are separate, especially when we come right after one another when you least expect it." He meant the part of his statement that seemed to trail off wildly at the end. In his own, now vacant, thoughts, this was considered to be a joke, but was not explained to be one, or sounded like one at all in the way he spoke it. "And not to me! I'd much rather get shoved down than get my head slammed against the table by somebody else. Not too many people would do that to my head as gently as I did. Falling on the floor would at least be somewhat cushioned." He spared the details of what he had meant before the two were interrupted by someone else who had been waiting to use the bounty board.

"Do ya mind moving the hell out of the way? I've been waiting for the past ten minutes." Immediately, Zeke scooted his chair over and away from the person talking almost right into his ear. The problem was, he now sat even more so in front of the bounty board than he did before, the chair's back-rest was now touching the board itself. "Sorry, I didn't know you wanted to sit with us. You didn't have to wait." With only a slight look of anger now forming on the stranger's face, he angled his eyebrows and walked off after a couple of seconds of exchanging looks with the smiling player that resided at the table. Zeke seemed to not be bothered by any of it, but did yell out something to him as he made it halfway across the room. "By the way! My name is Zeke Yvell!" The introduction was sadly ignored, but the turn of events had fortunately led to an interesting way that Kalesh could learn of Zeke's name... along with everyone else in the tavern.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

He didn't mind the tapping, or even Zeke's look of not paying attention. None of his habits seemed to bother him to any extreme amount, except for one. He still hadn't take the water skin that was offered to him, so Kalesh took it back and put it into his inventory while trying not to sigh in frustration from his kindness being refused to him. Kalesh had himself half zoned out of Zeke's words when he realized he was rambling, or something close to it. He did however say "Sure, fine, let's just agree that neither of us are about to try and kill the other." He shrugged, having no idea what to make of his words anymore.

When confronted by the other man and Zeke angered him further into leaving and revealed his name, he took note of it and stroked his temples in realization of how oblivious Zeke actually was. "Y'know, Zeke, I think he was talking about the board I was reading earlier right next to you. Just a hunch." He gestured over to the bounty board covered with small paper requests for various things from fighting scorpions to advertising someone's shop.

[Zeke 0]

It wasn't hard to notice that Kalesh was getting irritated by something, something that Zeke didn't really know what it was, but could only assume it was about his rude behavior to the player who had just came to the table. Zeke didn't look, he only sighed in silence, trying to relieve a bit of his own frustration without letting anyone hear it. He knew these types of situations were his weakness, and he didn't want anyone to know it until decided to change his attitude for the worse. 

"It really takes a lot of my patience when everyone I meet gets so upset at me just being myself." Scooting back the chair and slowly getting up and out of it, Zeke tried to keep his act together, but he always knew deep down that he wasn't a very good actor when he tried to pretend he wasn't bothered. Now, with both of his hands grasped onto the back-rest of the chair, he picked it up away from the side of the table he was sitting on, and then carried it over to sit it next to Kalesh's seat. "There, it's no longer in the way, your buddy can come sit next to you when he's done at the board, and maybe he can explain to you what sarcasm is." He explained his resentment right there and then, finally letting the newly-met man know that his decision to even talk to him was revenge enough for the accidental shove that Zeke had given him.

With a brush of his hand through the hair in front of his eyes, Zeke left to walk out of the tavern and stand against the wall next to the entrance, his body being held up by the angle at which is leg dug into the porch of the building. (Let's see here, I have to accept his water just because he wants me to? And if I talk so weird, I guess I won't talk at all anymore. How do people not see the little things they do that are so annoying?) He thought to himself while trying to hold back the surge of emotion coming through to his chest. His depression was kicking in, so he couldn't really notice that someone was watching him from across the sand-covered town. 

 

Edited September 6, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh raised a brow as Zeke started to talk about someone getting upset at him. Sure, the man earlier had been fairly upset, and yes Kalesh was a little frustrated that Zeke outright didn't acknowledge the gift instead of refusing it, but he hadn't exactly said anything to come off as hostile, willing to simply take his water back and let it drop. He even tried to convey that he had no ill-will to him in suggesting they agree to not kill the other so there was an agreement. What came next however had Kalesh considerably more annoyed than he had been in a fairly long while, striking several of the player's nerves.

For a moment he thought Zeke was simply going to sit closer to him rather than remain in the way of other people as a courtesy. The next part however was straight up insulting to Kalesh. First he suggested that the more hostile player was his buddy simply because Kalesh wanted Zeke not to inconvenience strangers who just wanted to view the board. Then there was the comment about learning what sarcasm meant. This intensified his anger since it not only meant that Zeke got in the way of the other man on purpose, but he had indirectly insulted Kalesh's intelligence.

Until now he simply thought Zeke was a little out of it and never noticed the bounty board, and acted a little different from the norm, both things would have been acceptable to him. The idea that Zeke was just being rude to people at random had him clenching his fist around the greatsword that now rested between the two chairs. He bit his tongue, sadly feeling no pain, but the movement enough was able to calm him a bit. He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. He started to press through menus and unequipped his sword so it returned to his inventory. He wasn't the type to allow himself to get into an outburst, the simply pushed the chair away from him so it wasn't directly beside him. He brought his hands together so the fingers linked together and he rested his head against his hands with his elbows resting on the table. He was forcing himself to calm down and relax himself rather than try and make a big deal over nothing.

[Zeke 0]

(It's okay, dude. He's just one person in a million that are probably still trapped in here. He's not special enough to kill yourself over, so stop trying to make yourself cry!) Zeke's mind talked to him like a friend, a trick that he had to learn in order to feel like someone was always watching out for him, when in truth, it was just his better judgement trying to control his body. (I make so many mistakes. I can't even handle annoying someone. How am I supposed to remember how to feel? It was so long ago when I could actually behave like a normal person. I was too young to remember when I was happy. Everything keeps screwing up since then, and I don't know how long I can keep this up. It's starting to wear on me every time I break down like this.) The anxious player placed his forearm against his forehead, blocking any light and any signs that he indeed was coexisting with other creatures. He just wanted to slip into a nice rest right now; a temporary death that would have him ease the tension he felt inside by making these thoughts a somewhat distant memory. 

During his little moment of blinding himself, he made his way along the wall until he was where the corner started. Not hard to tell, Kalesh was right on the other side of the wall, dealing with his own anger in his own way. With their backs to each other, both calmed themselves in silence, mirroring each other as opposing images. Unexpectedly, though, the third player who had came to the table before was now walking towards Zeke. It wasn't noticed anytime soon by the emotionaly distraught player, but he would soon feel a slight smack against his left shoulder. "You're that player who was blocking the bounty board..." Zeke looked up towards the shaven, light gray-blue haired man who towered over him by at least nine inches. The present company was intent on how he used his two-handed battleaxe, materializing it from his inventory while he grinned at the smaller player. With a mighty heave, he slammed the axe down right above Zeke's head, causing the nervous male to shake a little at the intensity of his attacker. He had thought that the axe wielder was going to stop, but only beacause it was pretty much pointless to try anything in a safe zone. However, the axe had also went splintering through the wood of the wall and over above where Kalesh was sitting. 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh scowled a moment at the sound of axe-on-wood and pushed himself up out of his chair and turned "Hey! Who's swinging their weapon around in a safe zone? You drunk?" He stepped forward and over to the guy, clearly a bit miffed at his moment alone being interrupted and saying "Ahh I see, tall and with a big axe. Let me guess, you think you're tough and intimidating. Fun fact, your size makes you a bigger target to hit, but everyone is just as strong and fast." he materializes his greatsword, which was as tall as Kalesh. He didn't seem intimidated by the larger man, more frustrated. Blind in his anger he didn't even realize who the man was upset with. "If you are going to cause trouble like this, at least do it in a duel so you have some purpose." 

Kalesh clenched his fists around the heavy greatsword he held, lifted surprisingly easily thanks to the athletics skill but with still a fair bit of effort as he swings the blade hard, the weight and momentum of the blade, and the fact that it couldn't cut, caused the man to get knocked back rather hard when it made contact with the disgruntled bigger guy. "See?! Not very fun, hm?" He keeps an eye on the other guy while working off his frustration with the exercise needed to hold his sword.

[Zeke 0]

"Go ahead, try and do some damage. We're still in the safe-zone, just as you said." The brute started to get back up and onto his feet after being knocked over. Kalesh had definitely knocked him flat on his back, but knowing the damage wasn't dealt, the man stood tall with a stern expression aimed at the one who had just swung his great-sword. After a couple of seconds of assessing the situation, the player put his Axe back into his inventory. Things had changed now that his aggressor was here to back up the victim, or so he at first thought. "You and your pal are the only ones bothered by this whole mess. The only thing you've accomplished is becoming the second bird for my stone. Your body movements fail you, kid. We'll see each other again, but make sure you've taken care of your anger issues by then." The giant chuckled and turned his back to Kalesh, walking off casually towards the outskirts of Armadillo while a bunch of other players came out from behind their hiding spots to follow him. It would be too obvious to anyone that they were all working together to obtain something. 

Seeing as how the altercation didn't turn out very well in their favor, Zeke decided to stay quiet as he slid down against the wall until his butt hit the wooden floor; both of his arms were hanging over his knees at the elbows. The changing of pace was apparently enough to calm down the person who was still unsure of Kalesh's thoughts of him, and the whole situation. His face appearing to give away his want to sleep.

Edited September 10, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh chuckled softly as the other guy tried to sound so smart pointing that damage wasn't going to be done. "You're right, no harm done, but it's annoying having weapons swinging around, hm?" He felt he made his point and so he let the tip of his sword rest against the ground, propping the blade up so he could lean against the blunt side. Regardless of what the axe wielder claimed he had done what he wanted to accomplish and the other player left. When he was out of earshot Kalesh commented "Tch, only ones upset? Says the guy swinging his axe around and being all tough." He shook his head and stretched out, letting his virtual body relax from the brief exercise and he put his sword away.

When he noticed Zeke on the floor he raised a brow but shrugged and started back to his seat. "Careful, someone might accidentally trip!" He smiled a little and plopped down onto the seat he had been using before, sighing as he started ordering a drink. A little while later a glass of apple cider was provided to him which he started to drink up eagerly with a smile.

[Zeke 0]

Scrambling to get up, Zeke turned his vision back towards the gap that had been made in the wall behind him. The Axe's print slowly started to repair itself, pixel by pixel. The colors were a wide array from those that would not fit into the similar shade of wooden-brown that the wall was made up of, but yet, once each peace, or shard, had been placed into the wound, the rainbow-like glow faded to reveal a non-mistakable piece of wood that was exactly the same as any other part of the structure. Not only that, but the gash at where the wood had been split began to mold together through the illusion of the video game's magic. "I've always wondered what happened to any damages given to the environment." (Glad I got to see at least once before dying.) Zeke thought to himself after the initial statement. 

Seeing Kalesh sit down by looking through the hole in the wall, Zeke could see the scooted chair that he placed next to the player before storming out of the building. A bad case of butterflies started to flutter around in his stomach as he placed his hands to where the uncomfortable feeling was most prominent. "Ohhhhhhhh... I don't want to do this." He groaned to himself aloud, but not loud enough for the fiery-haired hunk to notice. (Just try not to look him in the face, it'll make his words much easier to take." This thought helped motivated the sweaty man back into the tavern, walking slowly with the posture of someone who had an upset stomach.

"Can I sit here?" The returning bounty-board bandit said to Kalesh. He kept his eyes on him right until Kalesh had at least a couple of seconds to notice that Zeke was looking at him right in the peepers. When their eyes connected for those few seconds, he looked the other way quickly, turning his neck as fast and casually as he could. "Yeah, I wanted to come say I'm sorry about how I treated you a few minutes ago. It's not a good idea for me to be alone right now, anyway." He didn't speak of what he meant by that, but Kalesh definitely seemed like the intelligent type, intelligent enough to know that neither on of them were walking out of Armadillo safely. 

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh had returned to his breathing exercises and happy thoughts while the building repaired itself through the magic of programming. He momentarily looked at his own arm and wondered if it would grow back as easily if he hacked it off. He had a strange sense that he'd try that out at some point so it doesn't surprise him later. He'd keep a potion just in case. He hadn't seen any players with missing limbs so his natural assumption was that it would be alright. He figured that the bigger guy might hold a grudge for being knocked around but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

He was planning how to defend himself, he could either leave and keep a teleport crystal on hand for easy escape, or he could simply use the teleport plaza to leave the floor altogether. He opened up some menus and came to the conclusion he had no quests in this area so he had no particular reason to head out, but at the same time he had no reason to really leave just yet. He takes another long sip of his cider before turning his head to notice Zeke had returned.

After listening to the player's question he nodded softly and said "Sure, go ahead... And I can forgive you I suppose. It's nothing worth making an enemy over." He gave a slow smile and then returned to his cup before adding "Ah, and that guy had a lot of plans. If I were you, I'd suggest going to a higher floor... Maybe the first if you wanna lay low." He shrugged his shoulders a little.

[Zeke 0]

"Just let me know if you change your mind, I don't really have to sit here, but I wanted to try this and see what would happen." Due to the chair he left behind being so close to Kalesh, Zeke had no other choice but to wedge it between the next table over and the one he planned to sit at. The other side was just in everyone's way, and anywhere else would be too close to whom he still had some trust building to do with. With a mild groan, the fairly toned guy slipped himself into the tight spot. (I think the water and sweat might have helped me with that.) He thought as he situated himself into the most comfortable position he could find. The pain of the table's edge digging into his stomach was too much, so every time the weirdo would gather his breath, he would hold it in as casually as he could to keep his stomach pushed in, while keeping Kalesh from looking at him funny.

Speaking of Kalesh's drink, Zeke was wondering exactly how fast the service was around the place they were in. It hadn't been too long before he decided to follow the other back indoors, so it was catching him off-guard to see a beverage sitting upon the table. (Maybe he ordered it before coming out to save me, and I just didn't see it through the hole in the wall.) He shrugged before inhaling once more, doing so silently every time. Now the choice was what to talk about, and his stomach couldn't endure long lengths of time to start a regular, old-fashioned debate. It likely wasn't a good decision anyway, as the other seemed as fiery as they come, and not just because of his hair. 

"You get the girls easy, don't you?" Zeke just blurted out with no cause for the question other than the man's good looks. He may have actually not been that good looking, but to Zeke, he was. "You seem like you do with this whole mysterious loner look you've got going on. Your looks match your behavior too. How many have you come across? The hot ones, of course." Zeke honestly didn't care, but it was something interesting to bring up for conversation with someone who didn't seem to talk about it much. The topic of girls was usually the last thing he ever wanted to talk about, but other guys seemed to be all over talking about how many they've scored. 

 

Edited September 12, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh blinked and almost choked on his drink when Zeke asked his question, blinking to the other man while raising a brow. Thankfully he had managed to swallow his mouthful before any chaos could ensue. He takes a breath and looks up and to the side in thought. "Let's see... I wouldn't call myself a loner I think, thanks though. I mean, I am kinda suspicious so I don't exactly walk up to people out of safe zones." He chuckles softly and shrugs his shoulders "As for the hot ladies I've come across... Unfortunately just one so far. All the other parties have been sausage fests." He sighs dramatically, clearly meant to be sarcastic. "Just bad luck. It's good to get the bad luck out of your system early. At least I think so."

He shrugs his shoulders and looks back into Zeke's eyes "Well, how about you? How's your luck been? If you ask me you seem like the type that a girl would have fun hanging around. You'd surprise her, which is always a plus." He snickered "Pretty much the worst thing you can do is be totally normal, really, in my experience." He tilts his head back and downs the last of his cider, setting the cup down and grinning as on cue it shattered into the air as pixels, much like a monster or player made meal would when finished or dropped.

He noticed the trouble Zeke was having and so he shrugged and shuffled his seat over, gesturing to the space he had made "That looks like it would be painful on earth." He smiled slightly and adds "You can sit there if you like. If not then alright, fair enough." He shrugs his shoulders and leans back in his seat a bit. "Hm... What's your playstyle? Damage? Support?" It was something all players had in common at least, a role in combat. It separated them and brought them together in an odd way.

[Zeke 0]

Startled by the sudden choking, Zeke shot back into his chair before realizing the trouble that Kalesh was in. He was about to tell him to lift his arms straight up above himself while letting Zeke pat his back for him, but it was settled before he even had the chance to try out the old trick that his parents would tell him to do. (Not even sure if it would've worked anyway.) He told himself, still skeptical if it was just the placebo effect that helped all of those times in the past.

"I'm kind of the same way in the fact that I don't hang out with many people. I'd think it's justified for everyone to be cautious of others, it's not exactly easy to be alive, here or back on earth. Sure, we may have to worry very little about our real bodies, but murder is pretty much legal in this game. We've traded our bodies for free healthcare, and in return we're raising our chances of dying to even higher percentages." Zeke held off on talking about the topic of females, but only while he felt the need to reassure himself that he didn't have long to live. He could die normally just by living a plain life back in the Town of Beginnings, so he connected the dots in his mind that this talk with Kalesh was likely to be the only time they'd ever see each other.

It made Zeke nervous, for he was wanting to do something special to remember his acquaintance by, but it was almost always about just being in the moment to receive the most enjoyable of memories. Expecting more out of something would make the memory feel tarnished, and from experience, their meeting had already been plenty memorable for him to look back at down the line and think only of: ("What if we had the time to become friends? I wonder how different things could have ended up for us.") These thoughts were the best for him, helping him recall the most important thing about life. Living was much more than just focusing on all of the problems humans could cause each other, and how hopeless things could get. A dying person just wants to redo all of their mistakes, using their new understanding to be there for those that needed it. 

After one of his many epiphanies had come and passed once more, Zeke responded to Kalesh's compliment about his ability to attract those of the opposite sex. Before even thinking of a word to respond to the male with, Zeke began to chuckle very loudly, yet contained most of it by pressing his hand against his chest, and tightening his lips together to keep the noise within him. "No, no, I'm far from what you'd assume. I may seem like I have it all together, but I know nothing about picking up the ladies." His placement of 'the' before ladies was merely added for comical effect, and was a result of the player now being in a better mood. "Who knows, maybe if I changed certain things about myself, that might be true... but I'm as equally as bothersome, and no girl or woman would care for someone who is causing them trouble. I mean, you've had the unpleasant experience of dealing with my raging emotions, so you can put yourself in their shoes to imagine why I'm not just unpopular with them, but with everyone." He sighed before looking over to Kalesh, who was now scooting himself and the chair over. 

"I did have one person I was very close to being with, but I always hold myself back, and I think she couldn't put up with trying to catch me anymore. She's the sweetest thing ever, but sometimes you have to just let someone go so you can take care of yourself. I understand what friendship means, but you can only do the same thing so many times before you start to take in the harsh truth of reality. Some will just never change. I'm blessed and cursed to say that I am one of those people." Placing his right hand's fingers over his left hand's finger in  a balled up fist-like shape, Zeke thought for a second with his chin rested against both of his collected thumbs. "Thank you, but you don't have to worry about that. I think I'm going to go find another floor, and a way to clean my current equipment. This heat is making me sleepy, anyway." After scooting himself out from the table and raising from his seat, the strange player held out his hand for a handshake with the other.

"Maybe we'll see each other around in the future, but if we don't, just know that someone cares about you." He stated oddly, leaving after the handshake was either accepted or denied. Heading the opposite direction of where the group of thugs had left Armadillo, the weird man disappeared into the sand, leaving his fate of life and death to be decided by Kalesh's imagination.

Edited September 12, 2015 by Zeke

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh nodded in utter understanding the need to be cautious. "True, especially if you exploit the system in juuuuust the right way. Like getting hit first, for example." He sighed, feeling like there were a lot of things Kayaba needed to improve on for a proper crime system, but he wasn't in game design so he claimed no secret knowledge to resolve this. "I'm cautious out in the field. In town the only thing I have to worry about is getting swindled or a bad reputation." He chuckles softly to himself as he had likely been tricked out of some Col without ever realizing it. He stretches himself out in his seat and looks over to Zeke as he spoke the rest of his words.

When it came back to popularity with ladies he sighed softly and nodded in understanding "True. They say if you truly love something, you have to let it free." He shrugs his shoulders "But hey, if there is one thing to keep in mind it's that there are lots of people, and all of them are different. As far as I know there is a girl out there who acts just like you or finds the idea wonderful." He scratches at his head nervously, not really much of an expert in this regard. "I guess the important thing is to just try your best and if you trip, do so confidently?" He was more or less spouting things that sounded smart but really weren't. He wasn't the best at giving advice.

When left without a true answer to his question on how Zeke fought he nodded in understanding and eagerly shook Zeke's hand, nodding to him and saying "Alright, well, regardless of what you might be thinking it was nice to meet you." He smiles to the heated man and decides to add "If I see you out in the field of a higher floor, feel free to say high. We could probably kill things up there faster as a group." He implied they could be partners in combat, he had that much of Kalesh's trust, but then he stood and said "I should head out too. I just came here to see if any new shops had opened up." With that they both stood and left, Kalesh heading to the teleport plaza in the center of the town and Zeke heading his own way, waving to the other man as they passed. He hoped that Zeke knew what he was doing and he'd be alright!