(F1- OP) The Lake

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a nod as he listened to Oikawa speak about his absence, understanding as he put his hands on his pockets, "I see, well as long as you were able to get past it. If you ever need a hand you're always free to let me know."

He gave a smile before responding to the blonde's question, "As for me I'm just on this floor for the same reason as usual, wandering around, heh. Teayre has been busy as of late, and with the new patch slewing down my material gathering ability, there hasn't been much for me to do other than the occasional training venture."

[Mack 0]

OOC: Thread crashing for one post only (talked to Opal and Jomei about it), setting up a mini-plot for later. Please, nobody tell Opal what the Hoya of Minos is and don't ask her if she and Mack are a thing... we have big embarrassing plans for that reveal, and you're all invited. First, though, I need to complete the quest again to get a second amulet. Also, I don't care about getting any col or other goodies from the thread, that wouldn't be fair. This is purely storyline set-up stuff.

Sitting is his shop up on the fourth floor of Aincrad as a real and true blizzard was rolling into Snowfrost Town, Mack ran through the list of Crimson Blades. He was checking on names and locations and looking for one person in particular. Opal. Lately, the brunette woman had been getting just a wee bit too big for her britches in the flirting with men department and Mack had decided to put his foot down on the issue. The issue, of course, wasn't that he had any romantic interest in the woman, rather that such behavior reflected poorly on the Blades. However, he also didn't simply want to kick her out of the Guild since she was, in many ways, Lindow's legacy to the guild. It was in pondering on the question of what to do, that Mack had remembered he had a Hoya of Minos amulet. All he had to do was give it to Opal and it would turn into something she would adore automatically, so she would wear it without question. Other players would also see it and assume she was, at the least, in a couple with someone else and that would slow her flirting down in an underhanded, but non-confrontational way. Everybody would win or, at least, Mack would get what he wanted without having to have a big chat with Opal about her behavior. According to the locator, Opal was down on the first floor.

Exiting his shop through the leather tent flap, Mack made his way to the portal plaza in the center of Snowfrost town and a few seconds later he was emerging into the City of Beginnings. From there, he had to hike for a good ways until he tracked down Opal. Sure enough, the woman was in an extremely revealing swimsuit and there were a gaggle of men clustered around her. Most notably Jomei. No doubt Lowenthal would thank Mack for saving one of the Velvet Room's co-leaders from getting into trouble with Opal.

Moving across the bright sunlit space that separated him from Jomei and Opal, Mack pulled up his inventory and activated the Hoya of Minos which appeared in his hand. "Afternoon, Opal, holding court I see," Mack rumbled in an easy tone holding the Hoya of Minos so that the nebulous form of the amulet sparkled and shimmered in the bright sunshine. He wanted to make sure that there was no possible way either Opal or Jomei or anyone else gathered around the woman would be able to miss what it was he was giving to her. After all, then word would spread much faster and Opal's flirting would get nipped in the bud much more quickly as well. Mack nodded a polite greeting to Jomei and waved all around to everyone, even Koumori, though his storm grey eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the brown-haired kid.

"I've got something for you," he continued, moving behind Opal and kneeling so that he could clip the amulet around her neck. No doubt it would disappear most provocatively into her swimsuit, not that such things mattered all that much. "Picked it up on a quest to Minos' tomb and though you might like it. According to the player handbook it will become whatever kind of amulet you'd like for it to be." As Mack moved to clip the slender silver chain that the amulet was strung on around Opal's neck he allowed his fingers to brush her throat, neck, and shoulders. If this plan to curtail her flirting was going to work, then he needed to put on a decent show. Once the amulet was secured, the hulking axe-man rested his hands on the woman's shoulders for a few moments and worked his strong fingers into the muscles there for a few seconds before standing back up.

"I'd love to stick around, but I've got some other business that needs to be taken care of today," the blonde man said, beginning to take his leave from Opal and allowing his hands to linger just a second longer than was necessary on her shoulders. "You be good, don't go bilking Jomei out of all his col, after all the Velvet Room are our allies. See you later." With those words and a final good bye wave to everyone else, Mack turned and took his leave from the assembled group.

 

[Opal 0]

Opal scrunched up her nose as the ginger haired warrior seemed to stutter of his words. She found that encouraging that she was able to appeal to him in that sort of way, she only hoped that she wasn't being too intimidating with her scandalous looks. She watched as the two of them, both Jomei and Kourmori, got into their swimming gear. Her teeth flashed pearly whites as she felt giddy after seeing them both revealed in their trunks. She flicked open her menu and discarded the cigarette she was holding from her hand back to the inventory and then moved her hand to the side to clear the menu. She placed both hands down on the grass about to slip herself off the shore and into the cool waters. Overhead she saw a shadow lunging into the lake, that Koumori had taken a nose dive right into the sparkling clear waters. Beat to the punch, she was about to do the same thing. As she was twisting around, out of the corner of her honey colored eyes, Opal spotted Mack, the GrandMaster of the Crimson Blades. 

As he approached the small group, he greeted Opal and in turn she replied with "Judge, jury, executioner?" Is that what he meant by holding court...she looked at Jomei and the other, and then shook her head smiling. She was flirting of course, that's what she did. Besides, she was 'off duty' she was allowed to have her free time and she had already explained to Mack she would be leaving soon for her training sessions.  

But it was curious, her curious eyes followed a sparkling and adorable jeweled necklace in his hands. She wanted it! Was it for her? Then he proclaimed it was indeed for her. She would have got up and reached over his oversized hands but he was coming around behind her. Mack had explained where he got it, but she wasn't exactly sure what he meant by Tomb. Was he grave digging for loot? She should have been invited for something like that. Alas, she got the necklace...but he was...touching her? Her cheeks bloomed pink as she gave him room to work with, flipping her hair to one side to allow him adequate room to clip the chain of the dazzling necklace. It was an orange like diamond held in a metal clasp. It fell further down  her bosom, but she plucked it out and just stared at it for awhile. It was so precious, and for her? She had no idea Mack was such a romantic. But his lingering touch stayed with her as he seemed to work his fingers into her shoulders and neck, she almost fell over from the pure bliss of the situation, letting out a small noise escape her lips.  

The blonde behemoth then gave her a warning about conning Jomei out of his Col, she laughed and smiled up at Mack as he ascended above her once more. She waved to him with one hand and looked to the others, "So...that was interesting. Mack has never shown any interest in me like that before...." she adjusted the chain on her neck so it acted more like a choker as the orange like diamond was placed against indention of her throat. She placed her hands down on her thighs and rubbed them once more. 

"So...Doesn't it look pretty on me? I wonder if there are others like it in this Tomb. I'm no grave robber, but scoring some loot like this would sure go a long way...What do you guys think?" 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei noticed Opal turn around, and he noticed the reflection of another player approaching them in the water in front of him. He turned around in the water to see it was the Guildmaster of the Crimson Blades, Mack. "Oi Mack, good to see you" he smiled and returned the friendly nod to the man. He stood just behind Opal, holding a familiar looking orange amulet in his hand. Jomei blinked when he realized it was a Hoya of Minos, and then looked up to Mack as he began to place it on Opal's neck with a smirk. Well now.. this is interesting.. Jomei thought to himself, raising one of his eyebrows. Mack's actions seemed to interest Opal as well, as he could see by the pink in her cheeks. Just as soon as Mack arrived, he left, stating he needed business to attend to. He also made it a fact to tease Opal, telling her not to try and get Jomei to spend all of his col on her, to which Jomei laughed. He then gave Mack a friendly wave as he left the scene. 

"Well, that was unexpected and nice of him.And it looks great!" Jomei said looking to Opal and Koumori with a smile. "Actually, like Mack said.. Its a item from a quest.. its called the Hoya of Minos. I actually have one too that I was planning on giving to...." his voice suddenly dropped, as if he had come to a sudden, saddening realization.. "..someone...special.." He lowered his head so his mouth was covered by his arms, which were folded on the land in front of him. The fact that Carmine had removed herself from his, and everyone else's, lives killed him... She was not dead, so he hoped, but she just secluded herself without giving any warning or reason. It really broke Jomei's heart that the woman he truly cared about would do something like that to him.. especially after thinking they had a connection. He closed his eyes, sighing into his arms.

[Oikawa 1]

"Aye, will do. Well I suppose until my new gear is complete, there is no rush to head back to town. I don't know if you are aware, but there are a few Lowlies and Jomei wandering about back towards the lake. Shall we introduce ourselves?", inquired the blonde as he swiped his menu into existence. Tapping a few selections, his cape and shield disappeared and were seeming replaced with a black coat, detailed in green, and white gloves to cover his hands. The attire was certainly different from what he usually wore which made it all the more exciting. New attitude, new me, new attire...

[Koumori 0]

When I turned back around in the water to look at Jomei and Opal I noticed something strange. Mack was approaching us from up the hill. Seriously was I like a Mack magnet? Everywhere I went it seemed like Macj would show up eventually. Even more so when I was with groups. When he reached the bank and started speaking I was too far away so I waded closer in order to hear. I missed the beginning, but I got there in time to hear Mack say he had something for Opal. "Ehh?" Was the only thing l could get out of my mouth as I watched him get down on his knees and, for lack of a better word, lovingly clasped a necklace around Opals neck. I could see the blush on the woman's face and the lingering of his hands. I just stood there in the water slack jawed as he said his goodbyes and left as quickly as he came. When he was about halfway up the hill I finally snapped out of it and raised my hand to point in Opals direction as I yelled at no one in particular. "What the hell was that?!" I quickly got back to shore and crouched down next to Opal. Looking at her in surprise, and ignoring her question, I spoke to her directly this time. "Do you have some sort of dirt on him? That was not the brute I know" She knew I had issues with him so she'd know where I was coming from. But something was bugging me. She was surprised too. Opal wasn't expecting that from Mack that much was obvious. And the way Mack acted, as realistic as it may have seemed, wasn't like him. I couldn't see him doing something like that so subtly in front of a group of people. If he had strong feelings for her I was sure he would scream it out loud. But what could his angle be? Did he want us to see that and raise suspicions? If so then the question of why remained. The only person I could as was him, but there was no way I could do that. All I could do was to see what happened. But I was certain something was amiss. I remained crouched as I waited for someone to speak. 

Edited September 9, 2015 by Koumori

[Calrex 0]

Calrex gave a nod as Oikawa proposed that the two of them go introduce themselves to the people that had gathered where Jomei was, taking note of the blonde's new attire, "Huh, that's certainly new. I guess Oikawa's opted away from the cape and shield for now, since we're not in combat."

"Sure, that sounds good. I had noticed that you and Jomei were in the area, but I didn't recognize the others. I'm guessing they only recently decided to start adventuring outside of the safe zones. Let's go ahead and make our presence known then, heh."

With that he began making his way back over towards Jomei's location marker, heading back through the forest. As they arrived back on the other side, facing the lake, he looked to see the group that had gathered, giving a casual wave as he led the two of them over, "Well, looks like you've certainly drawn a crowd Jomei."

[Opal 0]

Opal released a small sigh, the blush still apparent on her face when Mack had left. Apparently the item she received was not an item of speciality, as Jomei had declared he planned on giving an item to a special someone, but the aforementioned comment seemed to fizzle as his head sank into his arms. Opal's long black hair draped over one shoulder now as she pinched her brows and gave a saddened look. A hand came and swept over his ginger hair, "If you ever wanna talk about it, let me know...When Lindow passed away it was hard for me...to move forward..." Opal heard a splash and then Koumori had appeared looking straight at her, she leaned back lightly with a smile as he commented on having some sort of dirt on Mack, she scratched her cheek and shrugged, "No...I don't think so. I have to say though it was highly uncharacteristic of him to make a move on me like that, I figured he was like Xion in the fact that my flirtatiousness was an unneeded skill for the Blades. It was kinda frowned upon...and I didn't think Mack was...interested."

She examined the necklace once more and looked up as two shadowy figures were making their way to them. Another smile tugged on her lips as the two gentlemen who had an air of superiority stopped to greet them. Her smile widened when the guy with the blue hair mingled with Jomei, the other shortly behind, he seemed quite...handsome. What was she kidding? All of the men here were handsome in their own respect and all she could do was giggle like a school girl. Her eyes shifted and her feet found the grass as she stood up, placing a hand on one hip and resting her weight on one foot, showing the wet and sleek frame of hers. She made sure her hair was swept over to one side of her shoulder, showing the curvy features of her body to the new males in the area. 

"I don't think we ever had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Opal..." she gave a sultry smile as her delicate right hand reached forward, her fingers together and pointing down for a handshake. You don't shake a guy's hand like other men, no, you do it with a feminine touch and one marked as a woman. Although she was speaking to the one in front of her, she smiled at the other as well expecting to shake his hand as well after the other. 

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's eyes widened for a minute as Opal's hand on his head took him by surprise, but soon after, his entire body seemed to release tension. If there was one thing that calmed Jomei down ever, it was someone gently brushing their hands through his hair. He lifted his head from his arms and turned to Opal with a soft smile. He then pushed himself up out of the water with his arms to sit on the land next to her, the water pouring off of his fit body. "Thank you, really. Its just.. things have been really.. stressful for me lately. And I had someone there who.. made it all easier." he looked down towards the water, "But.. she cut herself off from everyone, took us all off of her friends list even. I don't know why.. she never even told me. I don't even know if she's dead or not.." his fingers twitched as his hand turned into a loose fist. His green eyes looked back into hers and he smiled again, "But maybe we can talk about it, both of our situations.. Maybe over a drink sometime." he scratched the back of his neck.

Koumori began to ask Opal about Mack, and what exactly just happened. Jomei could not help but laugh at his surprise. Suddenly, behind him, he heard a familiar voice greet him..claiming he had drawn quite a crowd. Jomei looked over his shoulder to see a familiar, blue haired man standing with the blonde haired man from before; it was Calrex and Oikawa. Jomei lifted himself up to his feet and turned around to meet the two players, "Calrex, Oikawa. Good to see you both. What brings you both to Floor One?"

Edited September 10, 2015 by Jomei

[Oikawa 1]

His blonde locks slightly drifted forward as nodded at Calrex. Following the bluenette back through the forest, they easily re-located Jomei and the lake. As Calrex spoke to Jomei, Oikawa glanced ta those in attendance. Aside from Jomei, he wasn't familiar with the other two. The lady among them seemed to notice them approaching and as such, subtly made her self..more provocative. Offering her name and her hand, the blonde responded with a slight bow and whilst grasping her hand in his. Giving it a firm squeeze, he released her hand and introduced himself.

"As Jomei stated, my name is Oikawa. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Offering another slight bow, he turned towards Jomei to address his earlier inquiry. "I was just out thinking, clearing my head, when this guy decided to have his falcon hunt me down haha," he replied as he gestured to Cal. Turning to the fellow in the water, he blatantly inquired, "And you would be?"

[Koumori 0]

Off to the side I heard the rustling of grass and looked up to see two new players approaching. They looked to be the ones that were fooling around in the woods when I walked down to the lake. Their arrival seemed to take the focus off of Mack and redirect it to a reunion of sorts. It seemed all these people knew each other. I sat pretty much straight faced as greetings were exchanged until Oikawa asked who I was. I didn't like the way he said it, almost like I was annoying him by just being there. I ignored the urge to stare him down and simply answered him, not moving from my crouch. "Koumori." People seemed to have to reactions to me: "you're cool I trust you" and "you annoying crap I hate you". Never really seemed to be any in between. Maybe I just had that kind of personality. Luckily though the ratio of friends to enemies was greatly in my favor (the enemy camp being occupied by just one) I wasn't looking to make another one here. I might not have wanted more friends but it's always good to have people on retainer if you need something. Listen to me I sound like a sociopath. Maybe all these changes from GMs that shouldn't even exist based on SAOs impenetrable status were getting to me. I thought maybe it would do me good to say more. "So how do all of you know each other?" 

[Calrex 0]

Following Oikawa's introduction to the female player in the group, Opal, Calrex gave a friendly smile and a nod as he accepted the handshake as well, giving a generally "normal" one with a firm grasp and shake while speaking, "It's nice to meet you Opal. I'm Calrex, as Jomei stated, heh."

With that he followed suit with responding to Jomei's inquiry, "To be honest, I was kind of wandering around this floor. With all of the new things happening, I haven't been able to really gather any materials effectively recently. That was when I ran into Oikawa here, who's been pretty much missing in action for a while, at least to my knowledge. I figured I should catch him before he lived up to his title and disappeared."

With that he acknowledged the final player in the group, giving a nod, "Koumori? Nice to meet you as well. As for how the three of us are acquainted, Oikawa and I have been friends since the beginning of this game. He kind of helped me get started with all of the adventuring. Jomei I met randomly on this floor when I helped him fight off some monsters. Of course this was all some time back, heh."

He put his hands into his jacket pockets as he quickly scanned across the group, making note of Opal and Koumori's current attire, "Huh, I guess it's certainly been a while since I was around any body of water in this game. The first time was with Oikawa and Teayre when we went on the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest. The second was for Lowenthal's birthday party on the eleventh floor's beack."

"In any case, going from your dress, I'm guessing that you three as taking a little R&R over by the lakeside?"

[Opal 0]

Jomei had appeared from out of the water and landed right next to Opal, his hot body glistening in the sun as the droplets of water streamed down the muscled chest and abdomen of the ginger haired male. Opal blushed again, this time for Jomei. She just wanted to reach out and rub her hands all up and down his body. A small smile forming, but there was a dissonance in his voice as he spoke about a special woman. Opal's sharp brows pinched together in sadness as he moved his gaze to the lake waters. Opal nodded her head, "Yes, of course. I would absolutely love that!" he was so cute scratching the back of his head out of shyness? Embarrassment? Whatever it was she had found in endearing and she wondered if he was attempting to ask her on a date or just for casual meet up. In any case, she would love to have a drink with him. 

As the time had passed, Jomei had got up on his feet right next to Opal and engaged conversation with the two men that he knew. One of them hinting towards, Calrex. A name familiar to Opal because of her past relations with Lindow, a man who had said that Calrex was something of a mentor and a good friend. Introductions had been made and Opal was surrounded by some pretty noble and powerful people. She felt ridiculous standing here in this skimpy bikini amongst some veteran players. 

"It's nice to meet you Oikawa, and it is very good to meet the man I heard so much about, Calrex..." she said looking at the bluenette. She smiled, so this was the guy Lindow had talked about so much down to the detail. Both hand shakes were firm ones, but she didn't mind so much. She was surrounded by some hot guys, but if she remembered correctly Calrex was off the market. 

"It was a painful few weeks for me when he passed away, I cried just about every night for a few weeks. I think you would have been proud of him, he spoke so highly of you and he was doing all he could to walk in your footsteps. He will be missed, the Blades put on an honorable display for the fallen at the Monument of Life..." Opal looked away briefly, feeling a tear accumulate in the corner of her eye. She gave a small cough and turned back whipping her hair over her shoulders, "Actually, yes. Some R&R from Guild Activities. Well, for me this will probably be my last few days of freedom I have. There is a hermit of a man named Master Myoga who lives in a temple hidden in the mountains on floor seven, I am to be his apprentice and become something of a shinobi or ninja something or another. I will be away for a few months while I train up there, cut off from the rest of Aincrad. But it's a good opportunity for me..." she trailed off, she was talking to two complete strangers, the story would be forever to tell.

She smiled in regards to her own interruption, "Yep, just a little fun in the sun~. Would you guys be interested in swimming with us? Despite this being a game of death, it doesn't mean we can't live a little while we are here. Even the hardened warrior needs to rest his weary mind and muscles..."   

Edited September 11, 2015 by Opal

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's head turned to Opal with a smile on his face. He was happy he accepted her invitation to a chat with some drinks. "Great. Maybe we can go before your trip.. Or after you get back. I'll leave that up to you." He ended with a friendly wink, hoping she actually would choose the time and place. Just after that were when Calrex and Oikawa joined the party and he had stood up to meet them. "Yeah, same reason I was down here.. Being its usually a pretty peaceful place and all." After introductions were made between the five, Koumori asked the group how the three men had met. Calrex mentioned that he and Oikawa had been friends since the beginning, and he had met Jomei randomly on this floor. Jomei nodded, "Aye, that was with the dire wolves in the forest with Lancelot, am I right? Oikawa too bad you missed that, Tristan and Zel even showed up." he chuckled. Crossing his arms, he decided to add onto it, "First time I met Oikawa, and second time I met Calrex was in the fighting season as well..." he rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly, "both of you... managed to kick my ass pretty good." He didn't like thinking about the season much.. coming out with many more losses than he did wins. He felt honored now to be considered to fight the next floor boss alongside such strong players like Calrex and Oikawa.

Opal went on to mention to Calrex about how her late friend, Lindow, knew Calrex. And his presence must have brought on old memories of the gentleman, which seemed to bring pain into Opal's heart. He could hear her voice slowly breaking as she went on, even turning away for a moment. Jomei gently reached out his hand and placed it on the girl's shoulder, consoling her. It seemed to have worked, because moments later, she answered Oikawa's question about their relaxation at the lake, taking time away from all of their busy schedules. "Yeah. Things have been busy with The Velvet Room.. trying to find new members and prepare for the upcoming boss fight.. Everything together had been pretty stressful." The girl then invited the two to join them, to which Jomei nodded, agreeing with Opal's suggestion. "Why not lad's, you're more than welcome to join us." 

[Oikawa 1]

The blonde listened as everyone spoke. The brunette, Koumori had introduced himself as well as the others getting somewhat acquainted. Pushing a gloved hand through his hair, Oikawa pondered the offer laid out to them. I really should be preparing for the large task ahead but as Opal pointed out, even I need to take some R and R.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he sheepishly brought up his menu. Glossing over the equipment tab, he removed his jacket and pans and replaced them with a pair of trunks he had gotten from Lowenthal some time ago. His figure wasn't overtly muscled but his frame gave off a fit and healthy look. Shaking his bangs loose, he took a half step before leaping over the brunette. Breaking the surface with a slicing dive, he came up with an exasperated breath. His face glistened with droplets as he eyed the others and gave a slight grin. "What can I say? The water is certainly relaxing."

[Jomei 0]

((OOC: Since half of the group seemed to vanish, I figured I would just sum it up and close the thread))

Jomei chuckled as Oikawa accepted their invitation to join the group swimming. "Alright Cal! Your turn!" He hoped the blue haired fellow would join the gang as well, which eventually he did. The players enjoyed their short time of some rest and relaxation swimming in the lake, taking their minds off of the upcoming boss fight and countless hours of training they would all have to endure to do so. But for now, the group would enjoy the fun they were having. As the sun began to set over the lake, the players all began to emerge form the water. The system would instantly dry each of them off as they equipped their casual clothes or armor once again. With a heavy sigh, knowing he would have to return to the grueling world of preparation, Jomei said farewell to the Opal, Oikawa, Calrex, and Koumori as they all departed in their own directions

Thread Complete: 

+1 SP and 80 Col Each