[PP-F1] Starting from the Bottom << Earning a Living >> (Takao)

[Kiki 0]

“If my health goes down to zero, I'll die in the real world too...” Her voice was weak and her words sounded defeated as she thought out loud. The serenity of the park was just barely soothing enough to keep herself from breaking down into tears. The severity of the situation had hit her hard, and despite how she had never been an avid gamer herself, she knew how dangerous and monumental the task of clearing the game was. Her emerald eyes glanced around, silently wondering how many other players were like her: timid, cowardly, too afraid to combat even the lowest level monsters. She tried to get a hang of the combat system, tried to overcome her fears, but she fled at the first sight of a monster. All it took was one tiny misstep and... poof. She'd be gone, from this life and her real one. It terrified her into inaction, which is why she'd spent so much time in the city of beginnings.

"This is terrible... What am I going to do..?" She quietly questioned herself as her gaze fell earthward and settled to watch the grass move with the gentle winds. Her feet swung back and forth beneath the bench and she slouched forward, silently contemplating on what she could do next.

[Takao 0]

Takao had found himself wandering around the streets of the first floor's main settlement for a while now, occasionally checking into some shops both player and NPC run, but mostly just wandering around aimlessly. Having completed his daily rituals as he usually did meant there was an entire day left over, and he just couldn't drag himself up to the higher floors to grind away at the monsters there. So, with no quests worth doing and no monsters he could motivate himself to fight, he'd opted to just wandering around.

The brunet's bipedal and wingless draconic familiar sported a similarly bored expression, though it was much more common for the tamed monster than it was for Takao himself. After a bit of coaxing, the familiar had managed to wordlessly convince Takao to find a place to sit down and rest. He settled for the nearby park, though as he approached a bench, somebody had caught his eye. She looked a bit depressed, or at least that's how he saw it. Being the curious person that he was meant he couldn't help himself from approaching her from the empty end of the bench. He rested his glove-clad hand on the back and offered her his usual warm, friendly smile before speaking. "D'you mind if I sit here?"

Edited August 29, 2015 by Takao

[Kiki 0]

Her head slowly lifted and her eyes set upon the source of the voice that had startled her out of her mental trance. She took in his appearance for what felt longer than it was in reality, then shook her head and nodded quickly. "Oh, uhm... I don't mind." Was the response she managed to muster up, though her voice still sounded a bit weak and strained. She shuffled closer to the end opposite to him and rested her hands in her lap after averting her gaze to the side. She didn't mean to seem as unfriendly or antisocial as she did, but she just couldn't help it with where her mind was. She truly was a friendly person, and the desire to speak up and say something to him kept arising, yet her words got caught in her throat so she remained silent instead and continued to awkwardly look off in the other direction.

[Takao 0]

Takao reached for his shoulder and loosely grasped the strap that held his scabbard. He pulled the weapon and its protective housing over his head and leaned it up against the back of the bench before sitting himself down toward the edge. Very rarely did he worry about leaving his sword compromised, especially after learning how to recall all of his items. He watched as the girl averted her gaze and seemed to refuse further eye contact, and as a result felt a frown slowly work its way onto his face to replace the small smile. Takao glanced down at his familiar who shrugged at him in response before turning his attention back to the girl. "So, uh... Are you alright? I came over 'cause you seemed kinda down about something." He said as he reclined against the back of the bench. "Sorry if that's a bit forward. You don't have to answer if you don't want."

[Kiki 0]

She looked over at him when he started speaking and pushed her bangs aside, mentally thinking him for starting the conversation instead of her. She listened and took a moment to respond, her first reaction was to shrug slightly. It felt so out of character to have been sulking and moping about for so long, yet she just couldn't bring back her usual outlook. Everything seemed so bleak and she felt more easily frightened than ever, it was truly a terrible position to be in. "I just..." She began to speak, but her words quickly trailed off and morphed into a sigh. "I feel completely useless here... I'm too afraid to fight monsters, so I can't do anything." The defeat in her voice had returned, and her gaze fell back down to the grass.

[Takao 0]

A thoughtful expression set in on Takao's face as he listened, and as her gaze was directed downward at the grass, his own moved to stare forwards. Given the setting they were in, a crippling fear of fighting monsters was certainly debilitating to one's progress. Takao rubbed the length of his jaw slowly as he considered alternatives to the typical clearer archetype. Something that wouldn't be dangerous but would still prove useful. "Well, I know how you feel." He said as his arm moved to rest across the back of the bench. "Fighting monsters is supposed to be scary, you're kinda making a gamble every time you leave a safe zone, y'know? If you happen to wander into the wrong area and you're not prepared, that's it." He shrugged slightly and pursed his mouth, quickly coming to the realization that his words were very unlikely to have been encouraging. "Why not pick up a craft and open a shop? You won't have to fight monsters then, and it'll give you something to do."

[Kiki 0]

She returned her eyes to him as he spoke his suggestion and nodded her head ever so slowly in agreement. She had considered that option, and in fact it was the only thing she could think of that she would be good at, yet she still knew so little about the system. Her lips were curled slightly downward in a frown, and she responded quickly after he'd finished speaking: "I had considered doing that - I even took on the quest - but I just can't bring myself to go outside of the safe zone. It's just so terrifying out there, but I have to gather certain materials to complete the quest, so I haven't been able to finish it..." A sigh escaped from her lips, and slowly an idea formed in her head. He seemed friendly, and perhaps even helpful, so it couldn't hurt to at least ask, could it? "Um... Do you... maybe... No, I'm sorry, nevermind." She couldn't possibly burden somebody she didn't even know the name of with such a request.

[Takao 0]

Takao's arm slid off the back of the bench as he glanced down at the familiar sitting on his opposite side in the grass, just to be sure he hadn't run off to cause mischief as he was ever so prone to do. He returned his gaze to Kiki while she answered him and nodded to show he was still listening. "That's fair enough, I guess." He said, contemplating on whether or not to offer his help. When he heard her struggle and ultimately fail to ask a question, Takao felt as though he had a fairly good idea of the direction she'd been heading.

"Did you mean to ask me if I'd be willing to help you out?" He asked bluntly, though his tone still carried a healthy dosage of his typical friendliness. Beating around the bush was an art he'd never learned nor particularly cared to master. He was an innately shameless person though, so it was only natural. "I don't have anything going on right now, so if you lead the way and take care of collecting the materials, I'll handle any monsters we might come across. Sound good?" He said as he offered her a warm smile.

[Kiki 0]

She excitedly scooted just a bit closer and smiled big and wide as he offered exactly what she'd been wanting to ask. She quickly realized that she didn't want to seem too desperate to ask for his help, so her expression evened out and she resorted to nodding instead. "I'd love your help- ...I-If it wouldn't be too much to ask of you? I would hate to occupy too much of your time...." A bit of strength had returned to her voice as a result of her excitement, and her feet had returned to swinging back and forth beneath the bench.

[Sorry my post is so short! >///<]

[Takao 0]

"I said I didn't have anything goin' on, didn't I?" Takao said, trying his best to use a friendly tone to make his words sound less snarky than they did. He rose up to stand and reached back to grab his sword by the scabbard's strap, then slung it over his shoulder. "I really don't mind, it's not a big deal or anything. We can get it done real fast." Takao reached down with his hand and let his familiar scurry up his arm before finding a comfortable spot across his shoulders. While the familiar settled in, Takao opened up his menu and sorted through the options until he managed to sent a party invitation to Kiki. "What profession were you looking to take anyways? I ended up taking cooking myself, but it's kinda useless."

(no worries, it's all good.)