A soft giggle escaped her lips as she made sure to turn so her back was facing the fairly embarrassed faerin- or whatever was under that suit of armor. "I promise not to look," She spoke softly. She could understand the embarrassment- especially since she didn't know if there was a man or a woman or something entirely different hidden in the midst of all that metal. She wouldn't want to look at a man out of nowhere, especially one she just met. Alex's name made it hard to guess, after all. Solaria blushed, shifting in her seat as she assured she didn't peek, moving to hug her legs closer to her as she embarrassed herself, lost in thought about her own issues. Because she was embarrassed by her own self, afraid of it. The distraction caused her to take a moment before she heard the scowling from behind her- which led her to jump to her feet before she'd even been asked for help. "Why would I tell anyone? It's not like it's that big of a deal, you know." Given permission to look and tend to the wounds, she faced Alex's direction and got as close as she could, putting her hand on the wound at the girl's thigh with a feathery touch. She could feel the blood coat her fingers as she moved to put pressure on it- it was bleeding quickly, and the more contact she gave it, the better she was sure her magic would work. That, and pressure was important for clotting, wasn't it? "Let's look back to before harm's way found you."[/b1] Fate Rewind A soft glow took her hand and slowly stitched the wound up with invisible thread- or rather, with the magic she used, the magic that welled up from her soul. Pulling her hand from the patched up leg, she looked sadly at the blood that covered her palm. It was embarrassing that she was still fairly squeamish with blood when she wanted to be a nurse of all things. Her face felt as if it was turning a mixture of red and green just staring at it. It was like she was a Christmas tree: green from feeling gross looking at her hand, red from being embarrassed over feeling so disgusted by something so natural, something she by now should be perfectly at ease with seeing. "I won't tell anyone what you look like, so... Don't tell anyone I'm still awkward with things like blood, okay? It's something I'm working on. Just... Not there yet, I guess." A nervous giggle left her as she sat down as close as she could to the pained, openly exposed girl. "Now we can stay as close as possible to share warmth. Even if we're not naked, it should work fine to help our temperature rise- just not so close we can't dry off, obviously. Where else do you feel pain? I'll tend to any other wounds you notice you have."
With her face shrouded by the trusty helmet that concealed her identity from the rest of the world, Alex could blush freely without the other girl knowing she was. Solaria was the first person to lay eyes on Alex's endomorphic frame. Ursula personally thought it gave her an almost cherub-like appearance; but had always been worried what other people would think about a curvier figure on such a small character. “It is a very big deal to me.” she objected to the nurse's chidings as she allowed the other woman to approach and winced for several reasons at her touch. Solaria's skin was the same shade as Alex's, causing the faerin to wonder if she would actually be darker if her flesh ever saw daylight. She didn't have a lot of time to ponder differences in skintone or physicality however as soon she was concentrated on ignoring the pain that was growing from her wound. With the increased heat to her core, that meant the feeling in her limbs was coming back as well. Every second that passed by the flickering light of the fire brought a little more painfull awareness to her aggrivated injry. The magic began its work and it was painful at first as the act of sutureing the wound was enacted by magic threads, however as the task finished, it changed from a painful recreation of normal wound treatement, to the more soothing qualities of a magic that made everything better. It took on a strange almost eerie sensation that Alex could only describe in her mind as a warm numbness. A sharp tingling sensation covered the entire area of the wound and then quickly diminished to a faint pins and needles buzzing before vanishing entirely. Now whole, she felt much better. At least, her leg did. Her HP meter agreed with this assessment by re-filling somewhat. Alex had turned around to thank Solaria for the mending, when she noticed the green loon on her face. Reflexively she wrapped her arms around herself as if this would somehow conceal her body from her companion. Alex had instinctively assumed that the yladian woman had found her features to be grotesque in some way. It was only after these thoughts had firmly rooted themselves in Alex's mind that Solaria once again assured she would not reveal her secrets, and offered a different explanation for why she had seemed queasy. Alex nodded in agreement, the helmet wobbling somewhat on her head as she did so, and reminding her how silly she must look in her underwear, and a helmet. She did her best to try to push back her self-conscious doubts about the truth of Solaria's explanation, trying to rely on her trust in others to do so. Alex felt a tingle of apprehension run up her spine as Solaria sat down very close to her, near the fire. For her entire time on Terrasphere Alex had been no closer to another person than her armor allowed; but what Solaria was suggesting was something definitely beyond that. Though from the simple feel of the other girl's hand near her wound, Alex could not doubt that being in such close proximity would no doubt make them both feel warmer, and she did have a blanket or two for them in her inventory. For the moment she decided to take things one step at a time. Mercifully, Solaria had offered another activity for them to focus on in the meantime. One that served a function as well as acted as a bridge, allowing Alex to warm up to the idea. Accessing her inventory, the faerin woman produced a bear pelt, which she spread out on the floor near (but not too near) the fire. Something furry and warm for them to sit on instead of the cold hard dirty stone of the cave floor and she hesitantly gestured to invite Solaria to once more take a seat beside her. Alex however remained standing, and produced a small rag which she made damp with a little water from a water-skin. She used it to wash off the blood that still lingered on her leg, and when she was finished cleaning herself off, she offered it to Solaria. After all, the blood on her hands was still Alex's blood. When all this was done, she still did not take a seat. It would be easier for Solaria to see all her wounds this way. “If it will not tax your energy too much.... I could do with more healing; but I don't want to be a bother.” Spreading her arms, even if Alex had been more tan, it would have been easy to see the bruising on her body. On her left side, at her waist, there was a large dark bruise, and it mirrored another on her right collar bone. Lastly on her chest, where a spear blow had hit hard and knocked the wind out of her, when she lifted her camisole enough for her ribs to be seen, the final bruise was evident. Her armor had saved her from a lot of bleeding, but the larger and stronger creatures had struck with enough force to still leave marks.
To Solaria, the girl was less of a cherub and more of a concern in how tiny she was- in that somehow, Solaria just couldn't understand the way she wore such thick armor without collapsing under it. Clearly, this girl- or man (surely men wore feminine attire at times as well)- was in a different league of strength. However, the more bruises the healer noticed, the more she felt she might go pale if she weren't already of a light complexion. Man was she glad she chose a light skin tone to hide from situations like this! First, she thanked Alex for the cleaning cloth and the rug to sit on, wiping her hands of the faerin's blood and opting to wring it out with care as far from the fire as possible, before leaving it in a 'laundry heap' as she would likely call it from now on. She sat on the rug without a second thought, looking at each end every shared bruise on the battered body before her. Maybe it was a bad idea for me to get her to warm up... The cold is bad for her, but the pain must be horrifying now... With a sad smile, she ignored memories that passed through her mind and held her hands up without getting any closer, not even a step. Touching when she used her magic was better for more distinct healing- it was something she found helpful when working on very specific wounds that were deep and required extra focus. With all these bruises, which likely didn't leave much room to focus on one over another, she figured a rounded approach would work. She chanted her same spell and let the light envelope her friend as a whole. It took quite a bit of energy for her to see the marks from their battle leaving the surface. They appeared to get worse before they got better, much like they would in reality... But they did heal, or appeared to at least. "I think that's the maximum I can do for now... The good thing about the cold was it was keeping pain from you, but in reality, cold is a temporary solution in general. It helps stop swelling, but it also constricts blood flow to do that. Warmth helps the healing process itself... so the best method in situations like this would be generally to switch between them. Warmth will make you feel the pain more possibly, but it makes sure you get blood flow to the area to heal. Cold stops the pain along with the constriction..." Hearing herself, she soon realized she was rambling quite a bit. "Sorry, I'm going overboard explaining, aren't I?"
Solaria had been quick to join Alex and tend to the work she offered. Alex looked away while she was being tended to, her cheeks flushing a bright red inside her helmet as she could still not easily reconcile with herself that she was fine, and had no need to fear the kind aspiring nurse. The more she thought about it the more she felt embarrassed, not just because she was being seen, but how likely childish she seemed for hiding so desperately. In short her embarrassment only made things more embarrassing. The strange sensation of tingling warm light washed over the majority of her body this time, and Alex closed her eyes as she stood and felt the magic happen. The dull throbbing from her various aches and pains grew for a moment and then quickly subsided as things that should have taken weeks to heal were encouraged to patch themselves in minutes instead. She was not restored fully, when the light faded away; but compared to how she felt before Alex was worlds better. Solaria moved quickly into a lengthy explanation of the benefits of heat and cold on a healing body. While Ursula had some rudimentary knowledge about icing and heating suspected sprains and muscle strains, she had never heard the reasoning before so she, as Alex, listened with mild interest to the information being imparted to her. It seemed it was a night for both of them to share bizarre trivia at unusual times. Still Alex was grateful for the distraction from how awkward she felt. Hearing the Yladian apologize for her tangent made Alex shake her head. “No, not at all. Well, m-maybe a bit. But I didn't mind.” She twiddled her fingers together suddenly feeling uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with her hands. All the little minuscule fidgeting she did inside her armor that the world could never see was not only now easily apparent, but her tendency towards it grew stronger as she was far more awkward without the suit. “I-I'm sure I don't find it nearly as odd as you must find me. Hiding like this, I mean.” Alex gestured towards her helmet as she finally approached the topic that she felt like they were dancing around whether or not it was actually the case. As much as she felt the need to bring that subject out into the light, at the same time, Alex felt regret and embarrassment for bringing it up and knowing it would be analyzed now. She quickly busied herself with accessing her inventory and produced a large and heavy blanket. “B-Body heat is probably easier to share, with something to trap it in.” She stammered, nerves affecting her speech more than cold this time. “I only have the one.... but we could.... share.” Her voice trailed off inside her ridiculous helmet as she offered the folded blanket to her companion. After all neither of them were going anywhere till their clothes were dry at least, but more likely not until after the storm outside had passed. By the muffled sounds outside, it was still going quite strongly.
With words that showed herself as being fairly self-deprecating for a moment, Solaria could only watch Alex with a blind sense of concern for her mental health. Sure, she'd just assumed on her own that her rambling was a bad thing- but it was different than calling oneself strange for a personal preference, wasn't it? Actually, she wasn't so sure. It just felt it to her, for the time. "I mean... We all hide in a way, don't we? It's not like I actually have green hair. It's just a style choice I made when I made my character." Her soft smile, however, likely matched one she'd give offline- but that was because some facial features weren't easy to manipulate if they were too different from the norm. That, and lips were fairly similar no matter what body they were on. With the blanket brought out and handed to her, the elf took a moment to pat the spot next to her, preparing to open the linen so that it could cover the both of them, starting it around her back as she waited with an arm held out, much like waiting for a hug. "You're right. It definitely stays better if it's trapped... and this is luckily big enough for two easily, don't you think?" Plus, she was pretty sure heat was shared better with more skin contact. That was what her mother said, way back when. Sure, her mother wasn't a nurse, but she knew some stuff from experience. Experience that had helped Solaria a lot in her life. "We're all hiding from things at times. Right now, you and I are hiding from a storm, you know? But there's nothing weird about that, right?" She made sure to wait for the one she knew now was a girl to sit by her, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and making it so that the cover draped well to cover most of their bodies combined. Beneath it, she lightly rubbed Alex's shoulder, hoping to help sooth her mind with less magical means. Friendship was a healing magic all its own, wasn't it? "In real life... I have brown hair and I'm pretty boring. I think the only real thing I have in common with my game character is I can hold my own in a fight to some degree and use a sword. I can't use magic to heal people, and I'm not quite this tall in reality either. Basically... I'm just a normal, boring person. Isn't it fine to hide that behind a more fantastical facade? You hide yourself under armor, but really... I just hide under a thinner set, you know?"
Solaria's attempt to be comforting and reassuring did not go unnoticed; but also only served to further disarm Alex. The way she approached the topic, she seemed to feel it stemmed more from psychology than Alex was ready to admit, and moreover made it impossible to keep the separation of her immersive escapism from the reality that was the game. The diversion and business of the blanket, and heating themselves was something of a diversion, but one fought with its own perils. As nervous as it made Alex to be so close to someone, they had already seen beneath most of her armor, and any potential awkwardness was still preferable to slow death from cold. Strangers though they were to one another, Alex had to admit the smile Solaria gave was a disarming one. Ursula knew that an avatar in a game was not at all a guarantee of the person playing it, and deception was easy. Despite herself she felt like Solaria was not that kind of person. She bit her lip as she approached the extended arm and sat down on the blanket beside the Yladian, folding her legs under herself as she allowed a warm and gentle arm to drape around her shoulders as the blanket shrouded them both. At this point, as Solaira reassuringly spoke about the different ways that people could hide, and how she felt she understood, Alex felt only more ridiculous for still wearing her helmet. The clunky cold piece of metal was only getting in the way now, and likely inhibiting Solaria's ability to get warmer, or offer comfort. The trusting girl then surprised Alex, by revealing information about herself. While it could have been made up, it felt true. Something about the way she acted spoke of sincerity more than sinister manipulation. Alex sighed inside her helmet. “I am afraid I understand what you mean more than you know.” she began to explain. Hesitantly, slowly, Alex reached up to her helmet and slowly pulled it off her head. Facing away from Solaria as she did so, the first thing that could be seen was a head of dark brownish red that leaned more towards crimson than auburn. The hair had clearly been fashioned into several buns to keep it up out of her hair but all four of them had become messy and disheveled messes as they had been jostled and crushed within her helmet. Alex set her helmet on the ground beside them and exhaled slowly as if to calm her nerves. Without turning back to face her companion she decided to steel herself while elaborating more on what she had meant. “I don't usually talk about the world outside the game. Or about the fact that its a game at all, really.” without her helmet, Alex's voice was clearly feminine. Slightly higher pitched than one might have expected, without being cartoonish or shrill. Her tones were softer, both from nerves and how she as both Ursula and Alex chose to speak naturally, rather than the boastful loudness of their helmeted self. “I prefer to be immersed, as if it is the real world. I role play full time, to enjoy the game more, and... if I am honest, to escape reality a little more as well. I suppose you could say its yet another layer of armor that I hide in. That is I, as the player, not Alex.” Ursula paused, realizing she likely sounded crazy, but tried to tell herself she was not the only one, and Solaria seemed like the type to understand at least. Lots of people preferred to role play full time in the world for many reasons. “Alex is not me, she's a character I play, like an actor, sort of.” Alex shook her head as if silently disagreeing with the way she tried to explain it. She reached up and began to free the messy buns of her hair in order to give herself something to do while she tried to better explain. “I know it sounds crazy, but its like I am her, but she is also a different person at the same time.” Alex's head shook out her now freed hair as she searched for the words and point she was trying to build to. “When I created the character, I spent three days in character creation. Shaping every inch to be exactly what I wanted it to be. I knew you could pay to change faces later on, but in the real world people are born with the face they get, and that was the way I wanted to play Alex. Everything had to be just right. After three days, I was finally satisfied with her... with the new me. However as soon as I entered the game proper, appearing in Brisshal, I overheard two players teasing each other about their new bodies. My chest got tight, and I was too afraid to hear what anyone might think of what I had made, chosen, for myself. I found a rusty helmet in the dirt, and quickly put it on to hide my face, and have been hiding ever since.” Alex sighed heavily from the confession and fiddled with the section of blanket she had gripped with both her hands. “If you ask Alex why she hides, she has a line about being a symbol for right that anyone can look up to because she could be anyone; but in truth I guess its because the self-consciousness I have, bled into the character I created for myself.” A sad smile crossed her lips as she listened to herself talking. “I am sorry, I know it is very childish of me. You did not need to hear this whole story, but I guess it had been bottled up in me for so long, I had to tell someone.” Alex realized the truth of these words as she spoke them. She felt the weight of her fear and apprehension had been lifted, somewhat, from her shoulders. The crushing weight of embarrassment and nerves had lessened so that breathing was easy, and what she intended to do next was not so impossible a task. Alex turned to look at Solaria. Her large, round, eyes were a vivid ultramarine as they searched the face of her companion. Rounded cheeks were blushing pink as straight white teeth could be seen between full, coral lips as the lower of the pair was abused with nervous biting yet again. Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times as she blinked away the beginnings of tears that threatened to emerge from the mixture of emotions that welled in her in that moment. Relief, fear, embarrassment, foolishness, nerves, and pride all battled within her as slim eyebrows furrowed together with fleeting worry. She forced it all down however and managed to make herself smile, revealing a dimple in her cheek right next to a small beauty mark that kept the two halves of her face from being mirrors of one another. “Thanks for letting me ramble this time.” Alex said as she tried to continue a conversation despite how she felt inside. The honesty helped as she added “For what it's worth, I really like your green hair.” unconsciously brushing back the wavy half-frizzed mess of her own helmet hair as she paid Solaria the compliment.
It was hard for her to stay silent while Alex went through her monologue, but she spent each second of it processing the words spoken with half of her mind trying to come up with analogies to give her in her return spiel. Her limbs still cradled each other as she tried to pull her own hair out from under the blanket, preferring to let the dampness lessen from her shoulders just a bit more. When she saw the face that looked at her struggling to stay calm, she smiled without a second thought, without a word. She stayed silent, just a bit longer than needed. She wanted to let the emotions settle before she spoke again. "I put on an act when I play too," She chimed softly. "When I first started playing games year ago... I found it easy to play the leader for my friend that was always with me. I started out always playing at my best friend's house, so we always played the same MMOs together... I was always the attacker, she'd support, and I'd figure out how to solve the puzzles from the front lines while she kept me from dying." Her words were a bit butchered at points by small awkward breaths as she let shivers take over her body for short bursts. The movement helped warm her faster, anyway. A deep breath would help her rambling slow down and sound more fluid not long after. "I play games to escape from reality too, you know? I let my impulses run wild here, for the most part. Not all of them, but a good chunk of them. I normally think a lot... So I kind of run wild in this game, a lot of the time. I've had plenty of people see me as an idiot." The last couple words made her laugh a bit more than normally expected considering the context. "None of them would guess I'm an honor student or anything along those lines." The moment she saw Alex move to adjust her unkempt hair, Solaria instinctively moved to fluff it slightly before helping to set it a bit neater as well. Her lips stayed splayed in a soft smile, her voice having ceased entirely as she kept her eyes gently upon the smaller frame. When feeling a bit more at ease with her work, she let herself lean on the girl's shoulder in a nonchalant manner, her head atop the other. After a small second moment of silence, she managed to return the compliment as she'd wanted to. "And for what it's worth... I think you look plenty cute with or without the armor. It doesn't matter what anyone else says anyway, though. You chose this build because you liked it, didn't you? So be proud of it. Of yourself."
Ursula felt a little more at ease as Solaria explained her own history with games and how she chose to approach them. It wasn't quite the same as how she did things, but it sounded like there were more similarities at the core. Being another person than who you were to the world. Though Ursula doubted that the honor student was as much of a total shut in as she was. She didn't really feel like talking about or exploring the aspects of her real life as it was. It was nice that Solaria was so trusting and willing to share, but Ursula was a little more protective about her real life, for a number of reasons. She wondered, to herself, if that trusting and caring nature was why some people might have mistaken the girl for a fool; but decided not to bring it up aloud. After all Alex liked her already, just the way she was. "People don't tend to think Alex is the brightest bulb in the box either; but I think its less a lack of intelligence and more the reckless heroism may have given her a few loose screws." She shared from her own experiences within the world of Terrasphere. If Ursula was being honest, it was part of what she liked about being Alex, the recklessness she approached the world with. "I usually made a character before deciding on a class in other games, and it was always something different. Alex is more of a tank, but she actually has the capacity to heal and help too, if she'd take the time to focus on that for just a little while. So I guess I'd be kind of like what your friend was for you. Only I'd focus more on keeping you from getting hurt, than healing you after." Alex's cheeks went from blushing slightly to a much more noticeable pink as Solaria started fixing her hair for her. It felt nice, soothing even, to have fingers run through her hair and brush against her scalp, even a little. Ursula became aware herself how long it had been since she had made real contact with another person either in or out of the game, and wondered if just maybe she should make a trip home to see family, or at least go try to interact with people in Maine. Before she could think much more along those lines, something happened to make Alex's face go from bright pink to bright red. Solaria grew significantly closer as she leaned her body against Alex's shoulder. Due to the differences in their heights, they couldn't exactly sit shoulder to shoulder and so a moment later she felt the other girl's head resting lightly on top of her own. Alex had expected them to sit side by side under the blanket, and had not been to surprised when the other girl had draped her arm around her, but this almost familial comfort was more than she had expected to experience. Still it was not unwelcome, and after a hesitant moment she allowed herself to lean against the person leaning on her. She thought about stretching out an arm to wrap around Solaria in return, but worried that doing so would rest her hand awkwardly on the yladian's hip, so she folded her arms together instead. She felt flattered and embarrassed in equal measure when her compliment was returned in kind. “Th-thanks. It'll be a while before Alex takes off her armor in front of anyone else; but its something to think about.” She allowed herself a small smile as her heart rate tried to slow down. “Just don't be surprised when you talk to me another time and I act like I don't know what you are talking about if you reference the real world, stat values, or meters. I keep that kind of talk to private messages mostly. I think this is the first time I've broken character since I started playing the game.” She felt a little proud of that fact as she thought about it. Having made it so long without dropping the character she played, even one that was such a part of herself, had not always been easy. Though if she was being honest, sometimes the hard part was actually slipping out of Alex and back into herself. “Oh! Speaking of which...” Alex untangled her arms from themselves and shifted the blanket around enough to reach them outside so she could see her palm and bring up her menu. A few gestures later and she sent her new friend a proper friend request. “I don't know about you, but I don't normally take my clothes off with strangers on the first meeting.” A mischievous lilt danced in her voice that mirrored the smirk that accompanied it. “Do you find yourself cuddling with girls in caves often?” Alex asked the question more to tease Solaria than to actually seek information.
Solaria tried to think of what it was like to play a character and stick to it the way Alex did. She just couldn't put a finger on the method, couldn't think of how she'd go about it herself. Sadly, no matter how hard she tried, nothing came to mind. "I'm not really the creative sort... I usually just play a straight out heavy hitter with a sword, maybe some rogue. But... I made my character this time to reflect the people I usually played with. I combined my usual skills with my friend's, used her usual style choices along with my own... This way, I can play both sides of the coin. I can protect with the warm magic she always shared, and I can deflect attackers with my sword." Surely enough, Solaria was a very sentimental type of girl- sentimental yet logical, in her own reality. She didn't believe in ghosts, but on the contrary, still used the herbal remedies she'd been raised on by her friend's grandmother, a shaman for an indigenous Chilean tribe- even though it was already well into the modern ages. She still wanted to believe that her mother's soul was at rest, that she was in a better place now that she was no longer suffering. This world let her believe the things she normally couldn't. It let her realistic mind fall in line with her longing for something to take the wheel for her when she wasn't trying to be in control constantly. In this world, she was free. "I was normally more of a tank myself. Kill the bastards before they can get to my friends. Now... I just kind of do both. Well, I try to. I've come to realize that even if I have a mastered level of either skill... It takes a lot of focus. More focus than I want to admit to. More focus than I willingly give when I'm letting loose..." Trailing off, she decided to stop talking about her flaws. She had a plethora of them, and she knew that- and she also knew that her play style still had some kinks to it, months into the game. "Time changes people, I guess. I feel like I've learned a lot about my friend by adding her role to my own. And... I'm learning a lot about myself too in this game, lately. It's pretty amazing, you knoww?" A soft grin on her face, she wrapped an arm around the girl when she joked about cuddling close on their first meeting. Solaria would easily admit she had found it entertaining as well, but she had to think of a good way to respond. A witty way. A way that suited her. "I don't find myself in caves often in general, but it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl. If you're drenched and likely to die of hypothermia, I'm gonna drag you into a place to warm up and make you undo. I take my future pledge quite seriously. And besides..." She scooted her butt just a bit closer, wrapping the blanket closer to her skin. "Nothing wrong with skinship between friends, is there?"
Alex listened to Sloaria as she explained how she approached her role. While she felt the girl had a strange idea of what a Tank was supposed to do, she didn't really feel the need to correct them. It was probably just a matter of semantics. The girl had enough on her mind about her own faults, and wanting to escape concentrating on them. That much Alex could tell. She didn't want to be part of what drained the fun away from the world for them. Solaria turned her words in a more positive direction, talking about growth and change and learning. Alex laughed in turn. “I don't know if I learn anything necessarily, but I can agree that the world is amazing.” The other girl's warm arm wrapped around Alex and she felt less nervous and embarrassed than she had previously. Perhaps because she was becoming more comfortable with the arrangement, or maybe her dislike of the cold was simply winning out over her reservations. Her new friend tried to retort about her teasing and only gave Alex further ammunition with which to taunt. “So you'll just undress anyone in a cave if they're cold enough?” Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively as she looked Solaria in the eye as she teased her. “And here I thought I was special.” Alex couldn't help herself and burst into a fit of giggling. She wasn't sure what skinship was supposed to mean but it didn't really matter. She was having a good time warming up and keeping dry with the first person who had really taken the time to get to know her since she joined the game. Alex shifted where she was sitting so that her back was now resting against Solaria's side and she pulled the other girl's arm that had been resting around her, over herself like a second blanket, underneath the heavy blanket that kept them both warm. She supposed one of the advantages to being so small was that she had a lot more room under blankets and things, and more of herself could be surrounded by a larger friend. It wasn't exactly something Alex had thought about before, but it was amusing to think on now. “I feel we are good friends already, and yet we barely know each other.” Alex remarked as she looked towards the fire watching the dancing tongues of flame race up and down the burning logs in that way that only fire moved. “What do you do most of the time in Terrasphere? I am always in search of noble adventure and never stay in one place for too long as I am off to the next great deed. I guess I never noticed before, because I was so busy, but it has kept me from really getting to know many people, so I guess I haven't really stopped to make many friends before today. It took hypothermia and a gnoll ambush to slow me down.” Alex fisnished her musing with a small laugh at her own expense as she realized how true her own words were.
It wasn't hard to tell that she was being warmed up to- or at least, that was what Solaria hoped in this situation, as the smaller girl began to cuddle a bit closer, turning the elf into a second blanket overall. She was happy to oblige, naturally- hugging onto someone was just as helpful for her as being held could be, since the warmth was primarily near her core, which was the most important pace to keep warm- though covering the feet and hands, and head, many times, was often just as important to make sure that heat didn't escape. "You're special in that you're the first one I've actually had to do it to. Does that count?" The words had her joining in on the fits of giggles, curling closer around the small fighter, finding that hugging onto her helped keep her from flailing unintentionally under their comforter, their primary source of heat. She turned her gaze to the flames, adding a soft, "I rarely end up in caves in general. Maybe I should try it more often." With a smile, she listened to Alex explain the way she spent her time in the game. It was a tale that felt familiar to her, as she had once done quite similarly back in the beginning. "I used to adventure more myself, but now it's mostly to find ways to help the people around me. I mostly go on hunts for monsters if I hear from a village that I'm taking care of that a certain monster is causing havoc and harm. Most of the time, my travels are to find people that need help with their health, or to gather things I need to make medicine. I run an apothecary in Astorea, but I still try to help other places in general as often as I can. Good thing I was able to hire a local NPC to take care of the shop for me. Let's me get around more to find new ways to be of use." It wasn't until she finished her explanation that she realized the pang of pain in her chest from Alex's personal introspection. "I'm the type who's quick to talk to someone I've never met... I can't imagine not taking the time in travels to talk to people." With a smile, she fixed up a friend request and sent it the warrior's way. "With this, your friend list is less empty... And perhaps we'll find more friends for you yet. Make sure to tell me about your noble deeds while we're at it though. Who knows? We might just have to fight together again. Hopefully on purpose, next time, though. Getting caught in a similar trap is one heck of a way to meet, but... I still feel guilty we had to kill those ones off, since they don't cause that much harm outside their territory..."
Alex blushed a little as she accepted the friend request that was sent her way. “My list isn't EMPTY you know. Its just... Not everyone on your friend list is actually a friend just someone you met that you can work with in the future.. “ Alex trailed off realizing how potentially pathetic that might sound. Also she was glad that Solaria was not able to see her friends list to realize just how short it actually was. Most players she had worked side by side with were not the sort that wanted to stay around and talk after. They moved on to other business, swiftly. “It sounds like you keep busy, and still get out and see things, just closer to a home base than before. There's benefits to that I am sure. People know where to find you, and you have roots someplace. I live in a tent more often than not and have seen more than my fair share of caves.” Alex drifted off for a moment at the thought of caves. Her mind slipping away from the present to some time in the past as her face grew blank and her words fell silent. A memory she did not want to recall came back to her and as she snapped out if it Alex spoke her next words as if they were a grave warning “Bring rope. Always bring lots of rope.” And just like that she shook her head as if shaking away a daydream and seemed all at once normal again. “If you leave the invitation for Alex to share her noble deeds, then you better be prepared to have your ear talked off, and often. When I am her, we get carried away, and easily. Probably part of why I don't get to know many people is because as soon as our time together is over I am usually off pursuing my next big story about how I protected more people. That or waking up in a medical tent being patched up again.” Alex laughed “I may be your first cave cuddle, but you are not my first emergency healing. My shield and armor are there so that I can take hits that were meant for other people, and I think I do my job pretty well if I do say so myself.” she paused, thinking about the delicate concerned heart her new friend seemed to bear and decided to add something to keep her from worrying overly much. “But I take care of myself. I try not to be too reckless.” Alex paused and thought about the gnolls as the sensitive girl might have. It had been a shame, but it was something she was accustomed to, and thought this woman with a sword would be even more used to it. Most players that carried a blade seemed to care little for hostile races, some could hardly be bothered to handle NPCs with caution. “It is always a shame when life must be lost, but you carry a sword, a weapon. Sometimes that weapon has to be used so that you can continue doing good for other people.” Alex paused for a breath as she realized her next words and chose them carefully. “I think that is part of why I only carry a shield. I know in truth it can be just as deadly; but I feel like it represents more purely my intent to only protect. It makes fighting harder sometimes, but I think that maybe sometimes enemies that were not meant to die that day are spared.” She hadn't meant to sound as if she was disparaging the sword, and hoped she had not come across that way. Alex had almost carried a sword for herself as well; but in the end had chosen to focus on her shield first both as Ursula desiring to make her an effective tank and as Alex for the reasons she stated and many more. Deciding to put a positive spin on it and lighten the mood she added “Besides, then I get bragging rights when I say little me beat someone twice my size with only a shield.” she smirked as she said it knowing she had won more than a few drinks at the tavern for just such feats of martial prowess.
Naturally, Solaria hadn't meant for it to sound like she was Alex's only friend. She wasn't up to moving to show that, however, and merely hugged the girl tighter if she could manage it- that would show it off, right? "I said 'less' empty. There's always room for more, you know." Her words were said gently, her head somehow finding its way into the auburn hair below her as if finding it a nice little pillow for herself. "My friend's list has gotten longer over the past few months, but it's never long enough... I want to get along with lots of people. The more people I meet, the more people I can potentially help. And just listening to their stories can be fun, too." Well, to be fair, Solaria wasn't actually good at listening as much as she was when she was younger. She tried, of course, but she wasn't able to focus as well as she once had been. The thoughts left her solemn for only a short period of time. Thinking that way makes me sound old... And I'm not even twenty yet. Jeez. She had to snap out of it quickly, focus on the moment. If she was going to complain about a skill she needed to work on, why not work on it now? Alex had gone into a slight silence of her own, the elf noticed not long after reclaiming her own mind. "Rope...? I mean, that is generally always good to have, but there's ways to get around it if you have enough clothing you don't mind shedding for the cause." It was only natural that her first thought with rope had been to help create a makeshift tourniquet. Sure, she could see using it in conjunction with cloth for other things too- for example, a makeshift 'elevator' to get out of a burning building- but really, that was way more MacGuyver than she'd ever need. A tourniquet was the only time she really used anything of the sort. "If you know an error you make, such as not giving enough time to listen to someone in return, that's a good thing you know? It means you can work on that habit. Just like I could learn from you to be less reckless. I don't bother planning when I'm in this world... I just 'do'. It's come to be clear that isn't always a good method, even if I find it more freeing and fun." Having two selves, in her case, might have been a bad thing in the long run. In fact, it might have been her impulses that originally lead her down the path of a swordsman. She hadn't started with those, after all. She liked them, but she had always been more of a rogue in the past. So, thinking about why she chose a sword when she wanted to take care of people, she began to ramble her thoughts without actually letting herself mull over them enough to be coherent. "My sword is something I cherish because I learned that it could teach me discipline. I started learning to wield one offline when I was still in middle school, on the recommendation of a friend I met online. It's good not to do harm, but sometimes... You have no choice. I've trained with people and purposely used just my pommel to keep them from actually being in danger fighting with me. But if I need to, I can cut my enemy swiftly so that they don't suffer too much, or so I like to think. Plus, I save a lot on knives for cutting herbs this way. It's its own bonus, I guess? It's not bad to be frugal."
Now that they were talking about weapons and fighting methods, while dancing around ideology, Alex felt more comfortable with the conversation, and the more Solaria shared about herself the more comfortable she felt sitting so close to her. Solaria had become her living back rest and blanket, and Alex had become her body warmer and head rest. It was a comfortable and mutually beneficial arrangement. “Make no mistake! My shield is a weapon of defense, but few people understand how dangerous a weapon it can be as well. I'll spare you the graphic details, but you saw just some of what it could do with the gnolls out there.” Alex paused as images of the creatures that had been eternally silenced by her shield that night appeared before her eyes. They had given her no choice, their life or hers, and they had provoked the encounter, still she considered it a good sign that she could not so easily take life without at least thinking on it after. “As for using your sword as a tool... I know some that consider the blade to be sacred, and to use it like a common utility knife is to treat it with dishonor and to displease the sword. I do not know what I think about all that; but I will say that when it comes to being prepared a sharp sword is always best, and it would be better perhaps to use a utility knife for cutting plants and gathering things. That way your sword is always ready for its true purpose, and you don't have to sharpen it as often as a knife. Nor would sharpening a knife take as long.” Alex paused and her cheeks flushed a little. “But you should do whatever you like. I don't mean to sound like a nagging wilderness expert.” She let out a little laugh. “I'm far from an expert at anything really... except shields. I am pretty good at shields.... and armor”
Surely, Alex's words rang true in Solaria's mind. She had certainly seen that in reality- particularly this one- a shield was quite deadly if used properly. That said, there was no doubt in her mind she'd fail to do such a thing if she had the option. Perhaps that was why she hadn't opted to take the mastery in the first place? Or she just hadn't noticed it since she had a plan from the get-go. Honestly, she wasn't really sure at all. "On the contrary, to use it as a tool is part of being honorable to your sword, or so I believe. My kendo instructor told me long ago, 'your sword should be seen as an extension of your body'. If I can use my hand as a tool, I can use my sword that way. My sword is part of me, not just a weapon. That said..." She paused and began to make awkward hand gestures, going through her inventory with a nervous chuckle. "I have enough swords where using one as a knife, even if unfair, probably isn't a bad method. I can't really figure out how to sell them, and I can only use two at a time at most in a dungeon or boss battle. So... Having so many is kind of useless if I don't find other uses for them outside battle, you know?" That said, she'd have to take into consideration what Alex had told her. What was fair when it came to a sword? Or a shield, for that matter? "Innovation is part of necessity. If you needed something that was mostly flat and had nothing but your leg or your shield, what would you use to cut upon? Likely not your leg. I think it's similar... You make use of what you have, when you have it. It's natural.... Isn't it?"
