[IC] In-Game

[Midna-Phobia]

A small look crossed the girl’s face as he thanked her ad then turned tail and ran. A look that was a mixture of curiosity, amusement and confusion. That small, hesitant and almost timid thankyou was not a side of James she had ever seen before. Then again the only side of him she could really say she’d seen before was insulting ass hat. So it felt fairly easy to say that unless he’d insulted her it would have been a side of him she’d never seen before. She still had a few things she wanted to do, so whilst he ran back to the dorms she continued into town.

Thinking about it she could have sworn maybe she’d seen this small look of fear on his face, but thinking it over again she shook her head slightly and realised she was being stupid. And she wasting her time thinking about James. In town Avery picked up a few books, figuring she had to find something else to amuse herself with now that she wasn’t comfortable going back to Fairy Tale yet and some things for dinner. A fantasy movie completed her ‘staying home’ night and she began making her way home.

Over the course of her trip the rain had lightened up significantly, now it was only light patters. You could walk through it without getting saturated by now and she assumed it would only get lighter and eventually stop as night rolled around. It was about six by the time she arrived home, glad to see her umbrella had made its way back to her, slightly surprised to see a thank you note from James accompanying it. Sighing she pulled out her notebook and a pen, scribbling down a Fairy Tale forum address on it and sliding it under the boy’s door.

There was no point keeping it to herself now since she had no clue when she’d be going back. Heading back into her room the girl let herself in, closing the door behind her before she began putting her things away.

[datadogie]

"Right, it's time to get some dinner." The boy says to himself. Looking at his phone, he begins a back and forth text conversation with Sophia, working out that only she was at the Cafe. James had missed lunch, and was starving, so he figured he may as well join his lonely friend. Turning to the door, he only now sees that a note had been slid under. A quick read of the address written on the paper, and James nods respectively, remembering that he had asked for the forum a while back. He scribbles down a note saying simply two words; "Thank you," before he begins to walk out of his dorm, locking it on his way out. As he passes Avery's room, he slides the note under the door.

Arriving at the Cafe, James nodded to Sophia before he bought himself a chicken panini and some chips. He takes a seat, and they begin conversing, James purposefully avoiding starting a conversation about having to receive help from Avery because of the rain. Sophia already knew about James' dislike of the rain, so she did not bring up up (even though she thought it was funny).

[Midna-Phobia]

Avery made herself a fairly simple dinner, instant chicken noodle soup since it was perfect weather for it. The bowl in hand she snuggled up on her bed and put the movie into her computer. It was a comfortable night, nights she figured would probably have been better spent in company. It didn’t help that all her friends were across the ocean. She’d struggled making friends here, but it made sense, solo player online, solo in real life. For all James’ rudeness he at least had friends, which would sometimes lead her to wonder if it had been, in fact, her who was the problem.

Then she realised she was thinking about James again and the girl made a face as she finished off her soup and retrieved the ice cream. It was relatively early, about ten at night when she finally decided to turn in for the night. Tomorrow was looming and she had to figure out what she was going to do to amuse herself. Fairy Tale loomed and she figured she could just go off on her own, Sif was still a low level player with no skill. He had no chance of following her if she went out into the neutral zones with even moderately difficult monsters.

[datadogie]

Eventually, James decided he shout turn in for the night. He said goodbye to Sophia, and went to his room to sleep. By that time, the Cafe was completely empty, as nobody was going to be eating dinner at midnight. As soon as he enters his room and changes to his pajamas, he thinks of something. Maybe... Will she... Nah. Worth a try, though. He grabs another piece of paper to write a note on, and begins to write.

"Avery, I feel kinda... Funny writing this, but you gave me the address to the Fairy Tail Online forum. That means you must be a player, right? Maybe, if you are, we could meet up or something. I'm a bit of a newbie at the game, but I know the basics. Hah. - James"

James walks out into the hallways, and slides the note under the door, before walking to his room and jumping into bed. It feels like all he did was blink when he woke up, however the blink appeared to have cured the tiredness of the night before. The rain had appeared to have stopped (thankfully), though James wondered if it was going to start again. Shrugging it off, he grabs his NervGear and slips it on, not even moving from his bed; the advantages of a bedside table. He logs in.

[Midna-Phobia]

The blaring of her alarm woke her up and Avery groaned in annoyance. She hated that she was so responsible. In an attempt to keep a regular and healthy sleep schedule she made sure to wake up fairly early each day. It was only seven in the morning, but to a lot of people apparently that was early. Outside the sun was shining, the perfect day to go outside and do something not game related. However the virtual world was calling her. She was sure there was some addictive element to the NervGear, there had to be.

Still she should at least get some breakfast before she ate. She was sure she had some toaster waffles stashed somewhere. The notes at her door caught her attention and she moved over to them. Apparently this was a thing they did now. However it did make her giggle slightly. So the forum address told him she was a player but the threat to smite him from the other day if she ever met him in world was nothing. Now she was presented with an interesting dilemma. Honestly she was still very suspicious of James, this could very easily be a ploy to kill her and take all her things online.

Sure she was strong but outnumbered no one stood a chance. Eventually she decided to give it some time to think it over and simply decided she’d reply later as she pulled her gear out and slipped it on, logging in and appearing on the hill near Cait-Si starter town. Turning quickly the girl took off into the forest where she figured she stood less chance of running into Sif again.

[datadogie]

Okay, it shouldn't be that hard, Sif thought to himself. Someone had came up to him and asked him if he could go and get some wolf hide while he went to fetch some petals of a flower, and he offered a little bit of money as a reward. Sif's first quest. Fortunately, he knew where wolves were because of Belle, so he began to jog there at a light pace. He saw Belle suddenly appear online; the party had never been disbanded. He sighed sadly, and continued to walk, wondering if she had gotten his message.

Sif arrived at the fields in record time, and immediately came across a wolf, sitting down, facing away. This was a perfect opportunity, so he approached it from behind, and pulled his weapon out as if he was going to strike, but waiting for the weapon skill to activate. He felt the rush of power, and then struck the wolf, which howled out in pain. However, it appeared this was not going to be as easy as it appeared. More wolves rushed over, and Sif immediately discovered he had run into a pack. He quickly tried to dish out as much damage as possible in the least amount of time, but was taking a lot of damage quickly from the wolves.

[Midna-Phobia]

A small pinging noise caught Belle’s attention and she could see Sif’s health going down rapidly and it dawned on her that she’d never disbanded the party in her anger and haste last night. Her first reaction was to simply disband the party, however her hand hesitated and eventually letting it drop. Pina looked at her, cooing softly and causing Belle to growl in annoyance. “Gah I hate myself!” She said angrily as she pulled out a small blue crystal and threw it to the ground, blue light exploding around her before she appeared in the beginner’s field next to Sif.

Pina spread his wings and took to the air, quickly healing Sif as Belle stood there as she began muttering strange words softly, circles of floating words began circling her, some glowing powerfully as others faded away. The glowing words began lining up. The wolves weren’t taking this lying down; however, after the initial shock of Belle’s appearance they sprung to attack her, the A.I evaluating her as a bigger threat. However Belle didn’t move to defend or retreat, rather focusing on the spell until flames suddenly burst from the circle of words, engulfing the wolves as they began bursting into non-existence whilst leaving Sif unharmed.

Pina circled around and landed on her shoulder, Belle letting out a small breath as she turned to Sif with narrowed eyes.

[datadogie]

Sif had been continuing to engage the wolves in close up combat, swinging at them, though he now felt quite weak. It was a surprise when Belle appeared, words floating around her, Pina healing Sif just enough for him to continue holding the few that still had him as their target away from himself. She looks mad, Sif thinks to himself as he takes a glance at Belle. I shouldn't have said what I said yesterday.

Suddenly, Sif flinched as the flames burst from the words, holding his hands up instinctively as the flames gushed to the wolves. He relaxed, a little, when it became apparent that the flames were not targeting him, but a new threat appeared; the narrowed eyes of who was his friend, though it was unlikely that she shared the same friend opinion of him.

"L-Listen, I'll leave. You didn't need to help me. It's clear I'm disliked now, and..." Sif closed his eyes, sighing. He flicked his hand, brought up the party menu, and opened his eyes to find out where the leave party option was, which he pressed. If she didn't like him, there was no point of him being with her. "There. You don't need to see me again." He whispers sadly.