Open - A New Lens | Page 2

"Alright, take care, Surry." Aria gave a small nod of acknowledgment and waved the silver-haired Faerin goodbye as the petite songstress made her way out of the cafe. The Felis couldn't blame her really, the atmosphere was so thick with venom and scorn, mainly coming from the pink-haired Emo-bitch, it was a wonder she stayed that long. Hell, Aria wanted to book it herself, however, the blockhead Cain couldn't read the atmosphere, no, he thrived in it as he humored the dark magical girl's antics. Oh come on! If there was one thing justified reason on why she should smack Cain's head right now, it'd be this.

"Heh... I don't believe you're really a kid, 'kid'." The Felis muttered with a felineous growl. If she was a veteran player with piles of gold and masteries under that frilly skirt, no way she was a real young child behind the thinly-veiled facade of 'innocence'. "I bet you are a lonely middle-aged virgin who has to resort to video games to vent your sad, sad, existence." Two could play that game, you fake. "Heroine... more like, morphine."

"Sure... here." Scooting closer to Cain, Aria shared her parfait with the midnight-haired muse. It was clear indication that she could enjoy her little Not!Date hanging out with the muse, if only... if only, gah! The Felis just sighed, the Muse likely shared Aria's sentiments but he derived amusement instead of frustration. Just... why? Yep, she would never stop pondering that question for as long as they were here. "...or a slut who catfishes sad men..." Aria muttered, jealousy brimming in her heart.

The 'roleplay' was too much, if Magi Heart was indeed roleplaying, then Aria didn't like it, not one bit. This was a social game, common courtesy should triumph, there was a line one mustn't cross such as killing your fellow players without consent. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think Magi got fat because she stole them from other players, any kind of dirty, cheating, no-good conduct would fit her really. "Ugh..." Aria rolled her eyes at Cain's reference to that old Japanese Animation series, she only watched one or two episodes when Samantha, her geeky friend from High School, showed her among various other geeky things she loved.

Sailor Jupiter... that was the one with the brown hair and greenish highlights to her otherwise white outfit, right? Come on, Cain, there was no resemblance between her and that character unless you really pushed it. Also, who was Eldhi again? Another girl? No... it couldn't be, was Cain really dating all these girls? Well, not that she mind, Aria believed in open relationships herself, but damn, she was curious. "A friend of yours, Cain?"

@Magi Heart
@Cain Darlite

 

As the goth songstress left the table. Tenebris could not help but a bit torn. It was good to see the ignorant AI go on it's merry way and stop cooping up Tenebris personal space. Yet it also meant she now had just these two dopes to keep her unwanted company. This place was supposed to be a fun little gathering spot right? This was not really fun or much of a gathering... it was a sap fest. Fleabag here, Aria, was at least playing along and getting into it. Tenebris did love open or passive signs of aggression and tension!

"Gosh... now I just gotta get you two to poof. Hehehe... Not that I ever attracted many friends to begin with. This is easy peasy."

The Tuxedo Kamen wannabe was not shutting up. Tenerbis looked at him with a mixed look of boredom yet interest. It was like watching a car crash. You just could not turn away. Was he... praising her? What a joke this was! He was being sarcastic wasn't he?! No one praises her. Tenebris did not want praise, nor sympathy! Even if it was sarcasm, it was only okay if the dark magical girl did it! Not someone else!

"Praising me with a dagger behind your back? You don't have to try so hard. I couldn't care less about your praise or opinion. No one who kills for fun gives a hoot about what the victim thinks... hehe. Know what I do like? Truth! Tell me the truth! Fill me with grief! That's what I want. You don't get it white suit, but your flea covered pet on your arm does. I hate you and you me... *snicker*... you know the rest of that song right❤? Babies who like sweets definitely watch Barney or something like that."

Tenebris actually was to some small degree enjoying this little banter. Her desire to just stick arrows into these... gee whiz no... the whole place, was really building up. Then the 'chat' went somewhere else... the gir'ls face suddenly went a lot darker as the area around her eyes became shadowy and her teeth grinded some. They were actually... happy... about taking on such a.... dumb... stupid... pointless... hopeless mantle?!

The snarky remarks of fleabag were falling on deaf ears now. This Cain guy... he then mentioned Eldhi as Mars??? He knew Eldhi? Whatever, it didn't matter because right now her rage was too strong. He must be someone that knew her before she changed. Before she started to like stabbing her best friends really hard.... Tenebris face suddenly turned greenish as she felt her stomach turn. Tenebris loved grief, she loved sharing it with others. She loved to help them in her special way that she never could have before. There was a few things though that were beyond just realistic rescuing of these dumb people persons. That was idiots that wanted to live a fantasy that was so absolutely impossible! Now Tenebris Cordis did not feel grief, but rather rage.

"U-u-unrealistic... do you e-e-even know what your t-t-talking about?! I told you already... it's a dumb, s-stupid, s-s-sstupidest, d-dumbest THING TO DO!!!"

She was shouting very loudly now. The entire room was likely looking at her. Big deal, she would enjoyed their antagonism anyway.

"YOU WANT TO BE A DOPE THAT R-RUNS AROUND THINKING EVERYTHING SOLVED BY KISSES AND HUGS!? YOU WANT TO LIVE LIKE A TEN YEAR OLD WHO ONLY READS OUT OF COLORING BOOKS?! YOU WANT TO CHASE AFTER I-I-IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS, CARTOON FANTASIES, A FAKE HEAVEN THAT ONLY EXISTS IN YOUR OWN DUMB HEAD?!"

Tenebris raised out of her seat and trembled. She clenched her fists and her face was a mix of anger, grief, and happiness from that grief. Truly a strange sight that would definitely make her insanity and broken nature obvious to a person who cared to notice.

Maybe if she had more time as she was now. Maybe then the Dark Heart would have handled this differently, but not today. She was still getting to know her new self to some extent. Her feelings were distorted and she was actually confused deep down as far as a concrete view on everything went. What they were doing.. was not exactly that offensive. It could be worse. They actually be those magical girl's they are so casually joking about. It just had hit a nerve that Tehebris had not been prepared to have struck. Her new disturbed way of handling things was becoming completely out of control...

"Y-you... hehe... you know why I dropped it? Because it's the only way to save anyone is to get them to enjoy life! Magical girls don't don't bring joy to anyone, ever! Hehehehe... and that's some nerve talking about Eldhi so casually as something she gave up on too! Hehehe... actually... hehe... it's not like she ever wanted that anyway! Eldhi wanted to be some dumb knight person! Well she got it! She's a knight and I'm... I'm... whatever I want to be! Eldhi... would never want to be a stupid dreamer. Dreams for sappy noobs like you! Keep.. hehehehehe! Keep dreaming! Someday you'll wakeup. Maybe after the game kills you , or maybe after I help you out myself! I can't stay here and listen to this anymore.. hehe... I might do something bad... or wait no... good❤. Yeah I'll do something very good hehehe❤! UUUUUUURGH... I'm getting out of here. Move it jerk!"

Tenebris pushed someone who was coming to calm her down. The archer boy dressed in blue who said hi earlier. He fell into a table and several people started shouting. In the commotion the reverse Magi was gone...

{exits thread}

 

“Mmm, that’s pretty good as well,” Cain remarked, using Aria’s spoon to scoop out a bit of her own parfait before letting the spoon rest in his mouth a little longer. With a napkin, he wiped the spoonhead judiciously, placed on the parfait’s plate once more, and turned his bemused attention back towards Magi Heart, the magical girl who continued to splinter and break and fall to itty-bitty pieces, the remaining scraps of her sanity crushed under the weight of the madness that had infected her. The parfait was bitterer than it was sweet, but it was tasty nonetheless.

And just like a matcha parfait, the pink-haired psychobitch with an attitude problem was a mixture of hate and love, more love at this point. Oh, this was great! An absolute riot! Cain smiled as she went on and on, like the crazed hormonal rebels that both of them were. Of course there was sarcasm, but there was also honesty. Of course there was a dagger, but there was also a salve. Magi was FUN! She was EXPLOSIVE. And as she stood up, the red of her face turning into a sickly green, like rotten apples giving to a princess to force her into eternal sleep, Cain stood up as well, smiling and basking in her antagonism, in her emotion.

“HELL YEAH I DO!” Cain replied, his grin all teeth, all fang, “Fuck reality! I’ll chase impossible dreams, enact cartoon fantasies, and solidify that fake paradise of mine until I beat reality into a pulp and make my desires real! So bring it on, Magi! With a heart as weak as yours, no wonder your Childhood’s End came forth so quickly!”

She was escaping, she was running, she was going off because she could no longer deal with whatever paradox was unfurling within her virtual cranium, that pink form dissolving into the crowd that formed around her as Magi left the Rocky Road.

“Cause all you do is run and give up the moment it hurts! The moment you bear a weight for longer than you’re fucking comfortable with! Don’t even pretend you’re better than us, you bipolar half-wit! Don't run! RAM.”

His voice travelled past, following her out and out and out, as the commotion around him grew to a fevered pitch. Snatching his treats, Cain slapped the gold pieces for the meal onto his table and shouldered his way out. Bursting into daylight once more, the muse let out a breath in the colder temperatures. That magical girl was gone. Probably went off to torture frogs or whatever losers like that did. The grimace on his face turned into a grin, and that grin turned into an open mouth as he tossed a slice of lava cake in his mouth, pleasantly surprised at just how warm and moist it was. There was a spicy kick as well, one that suited his emotions very well at the moment.

Volatile and raging, but unexpectedly pleasant. All the words he wished he could shout at Eldhi, in a way. Mmm, and watching all those emotions broiling on that little kid’s face! It was either absolutely masterful acting or just her real personality, wasn’t it? Well, as real as it could get. Finding himself a streetside bench, Cain sat down, and was surprised to see that Aria had followed him. His three desserts were placed to the side as he turned to the green-haired archer apologetically. Scratching the back of his neck, the muse said, “Sorry about that, Aria. Guess that wasn’t the fun experience you were looking forward to.”

A sigh, dark eyes zoning out towards the streets that were filled with both players and NPCs.

“Eldhi’s someone similar to Magi. Met her when I first emerged on this side of the world. Had a blast, really. We were both having fun and all that. Crazy adventures and all that. You know that prison break thing? Wild stuff like that.” Cain paused, momentarily, a spoonful of parfait melting in his mouth. “Fast forward a month and she changed. Dead serious. Forced smiles. No real enjoyment. No actual roleplaying. A complete shift in her personality, where she no longer played, but ‘served’. A master that had the power to change the world, you know?”

Cain chuckled mirthlessly.

“Wasn’t something that I’ve investigated thoroughly, but well, they both had the same rose, and they both have a propensity for giving up and despising fun shit. Which is weird, you know? You can’t really make real money from Terrasphere, and a game is just a game, but neither of them treated it like one.”

He blinked then, before smiling, genuinely.

“Apologies for springing all that on you though, Lady Aria. Let’s salvage the rest of this day, despite that misfortunate encounter, yes?”

 

The reply that he expected though, never came, and a degree of sadness flashed over Cain’s expression as he turned to Aria. The green-haired huntress neither responded nor even reacted, and, ten seconds later, her avatar disappeared, the matcha parfait that was held in her hands falling onto the pavement. Its glass form shattered, sending shards bouncing off his shoes as the ice cream splattered violently on the ground. Dark eyes willfully concealing emotion stared at the display, before a small sigh left him. Perhaps something important had turned up in real life, but was it really that?

Cain wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t capable of purely sexual attraction, but he was very, very aware that it existed. And he could understand it. Beautiful things were good. They were coveted. Desired. A rose commanded more attention than blades of grass. A man as statuesque as himself drew more attention than the slobs that existed in reality, and this was only exacerbated by his way of acting, of the elegance and grace that he enjoyed roleplaying all the time. A masterful thespian and a true gentleman, that’s what he put on airs as, right? That’s what drew Aria to him, wasn’t it?

But now that she saw past that mask, into the smiling, hedonistic individual he was in the core, perhaps the Huntress of the Verdant Sanctuary no longer desired to interact with him. A bitter smile, like the bitter treat that spread out, melting against the heat of the concrete.

There may have been a better reason for this, but still…Cain couldn’t help but feel as if another bridge had been burnt, another bond severed at the root, something that would never recover again.

He looked out towards the crowd, before deliberately picking up his desserts once more. One bite. Two bites. Three bites. Four. Stubbornly at first, the muse shoveled the delicate treats into his mouth, savoring each saccharine burst of flavor, drowning out the bitterness in the roof of his mouth.

He wasn’t sad.

It was fun.

He wasn’t wrong.

It was fun.

He wasn’t apologizing.

It was fun.

What was the smile on his face right now?

Was it happy or was it sad?