Dusk wasn't exactly that far off. Angel could only be on after school, after all. She shrugged at his statement. She hadn't really meant to leave the forest yet, but according to her map it really wasn't far. She supposed she could always wander back. She was in no hurry to get deep into exploring until she felt she had a good handle on everything. Plus, the world felt real to her digital self, which just made it that more fascinating to explore. "No worries~" she giggled. "It's not that far, we're still in the newbie area." Did people still say newbie? She was known for using outdated terms despite them being way before her time in the real world, though she was trying not to here as much. "More or less anyway. I can't say I actually know when things start to get uh, harder or whatever."
"Yeah, and I think this entire region is considered a place for new characters, not just the forest." Ashnor said, then deciding that it might seem faster if they talked while they walked, he continued with, "So, earlier you had said that you hadn't seen any male characters in game before you met me?" Ashnor shrugs his shoulders, "So far, I'd agree with you, that it seems a lot of girls play this game. Other than me, I'm the only male character I've seen, too." Yeah small talk, that should help pass the time while they walked. As they walked and talked, they could hear all sorts of sounds from nature: birds singing, crickets quietly chirping, there also must have been a pond nearby somewhere in the trees, because Ashnor could hear a few frogs croaking. And he was sure, that with how complex of a game this already seemed to be, it probably wasn't just an ambient sound track that was playing, he guess that the sounds all came from individual animals. This game really was something, wasn't it?
"Well I mean, maybe some of the girls are -actually- guys," she glanced down at herself, examining her arms and such. "But really I've seen some guys, and i think they were players, but I've not talked to one before now." She scratched her cheek and glanced off to the side. "I'm not saying there would be anything wrong with it or anything, but I don't think I could handle it. Just changing to being a different girl when I put on the gear is weird enough for me." The thought process was weird to her brain. Just thinking of trees not actually being there since it was a game made her head want to explode, so going even deeper into the possibilities made her dizzy. "Sooooo" she tore her mind away from all that and did a little hop-skip-spin and stopped in front of the guy. "If you don't mind me asking, what sort of thing do you see this world as? It seems like everyone I talk to sees it as something a little different. Like, do you want to be a big strong hero or what?"
Ashnor let's out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, I know that some guys like to play as girls in games, and that what you see isn't always what is actually there, but what I meant was the player characters. The bodies we move around in in this game. It might just be me not being here for as long as you have, I haven't really had the time to meet other players." He shrugs finished with that thought for the time being. To be honest, Ashnor hadn't really thought of things that way, their brain just didn't think like that, he supposed. "Huh, now that you say it like that, I suppose it does sound a bit ridiculous, when I'm here, I'm acting and looking like an entirely different person than my real life self." They emerged from the forest into a large clearing surround by even more forest. Brisshal evidently had more Forest than Ashnor had thought. The sun was low in sky, making the clouds into a colorful mosaic of yellows, oranges, and pinks. The 2 players were atop a hill it seemed giving them a great view of the little Hamlet of Honeyhome, it's villagers beginning to light their homes as the shadow from the forest cast the small town in darkness. "Man these questions are getting pretty deep." He laughs, just thinking about them made him feel like he was some sort of philosopher. "I suppose to me - real me - this world is a place where you help the characters you create reach their goals in life. When I created Ashnor, I gave him blacksmithing because I was interested in what kind of path that would lead me down, I suppose in a way, that became his goal in life, and I should help him reach it, help him become a great blacksmith. One that helps others by fixing up their tools, and supports his country by crafting fine weapons for the citizens that defend it." Ashnor takes in a few deep breaths, apparently talking that much made him run out of breath. Once he had returned to normal, he let out a laugh and said, "Well, I suppose that's enough for the philosophical debate, we're nearly there."
Angel hummed to herself lightly as Ashnor talked. It wasn't that she wasn't listening, but they were walking and she had... attention issues at times. Luckily she did catch everything he had to say, but she wasn't quite sure why he'd had such a big answer for what she'd thought of as a simple question. "Um, well I think I like exploring best so far," she decided. If she looked a little confused it was because she was. "I mean, I was mostly asking what sort of things you thought were fun, I guess I did word it weirdly~" She giggled, noticing that yeah, they were definitely nearly there. The forest had passed by while he'd rambled about his game philosophy. "But It was definitely fun to listen. Usually I do most of the talking. And it made the trip go faster."
Ashnor gave an awkward laugh and messed with hair. It seemed like Angel wasn't expecting his answers to the questions to be so large, Neither did he, but it sometimes takes a lot to explain things to others. "Uhh, yeah exploring seems like a fun thing to do, I guess. There's probably plenty of different places to visit in this game." Ashnor laughs again, "Heh, yeah sorry for the super long answer, but it sorta seemed like that's what you were asking." They had reached the edge of the village, and Ashnor paused, "Yeah, it seems like time does fly when you are having debates, heh, but anyways, the plan was to get some food, right" Looking down the Hamlet's main road, Ashnor could see what looked to be a two story building, possibly an inn or a tavern, or it seemed like it was. Usually in small towns like this, the inns were the only two story buildings around.
Angel's bare stomach audibly growled in answer, which she quickly covered with her arms and a slightly embarrassed giggle. "Yeah, it's so weird how this game tricks you into thinking you're hungry and stuff, then you eat food in the game and you're okay again." She had only eaten a couple of times in-game now, since she wasn't constantly logged in. "What sort of stuff is here?" she opened her map but the map didn't say what there was to eat. She made a slightly frustrated (yet cute) noise as she deflated. "Whelp, I guess we just need to look for someone selling food right? Or a restaurant or something? The last place I went they had a little tavern." She wasn't as familiar with the idea that inns and taverns might be the only two story buildings around.
Ashnor laughed out loud as he heard the deep rumble emanating from angel's stomach, "Well, one of us sure sounds hungry, you sure you don't have some sort of animal in that belly of yours?" Ashnor slowly moved down Honeyhome's main road, in the direction of the two story building along the road, kicking a rock as he walked. "Well, if I'm right, this two story building over here should be this town's inn, or tavern or something like that. Fun Fact: in a small town like this, you can usually tell where Inn is because it's likely the only two story building in the town, because they have to have someplace to put bedrooms." As the two approached the building, they could see it was a tavern. Extending out from above the door was one of those hanging signs, with what looked like a mug of frothing alcohol. Ashnor, being the gentleman man that he was , went ahead of angel and held the door open for her, indicating with his hand for here to enter.
Angel blushed a bit at his question about having an animal in her belly. "Hey to be fair my tummy sounds less like a bear in real life okay?" she teased. "But I guess this way it's hard to ignore too long~" She flicked her eyes to Ashnor. "I just hope I don't miss any meals in the real world because I eat a meal here." She nodded at his advice on how to identify inns and taverns. It was good information and something she'd never considered, if she was honest. She stared straight up at the beer sign as they walked in. "Too bad I'm too young to drink," she sighed. "It'd be such an authentic medieval experience too." Not that she actually wanted to drink per se. She had little desire to if she was honest. But it did seem weird to enter a tavern when not old enough to get such things in the real world.
"Oh really? What does it sound like outside of the game, a lion?" Ashnor teased back, poking her belly quickly. "Oh yeah, speaking of the real world, I'll probably be logging off after we eat, it's getting pretty late, after all." Upon hearing Angel's reasoning for not drinking in the game, Ashnor thinks to Fiona - his real life counter part - and how she had only turned 21 a few months prior, but hey, above the drinking age was above the drinking age, right? "Yeah, I wouldn't drinking if you're still underage, plus the bartender would probably just outright refuse to serve you it, seeing how tall you are. But anyways,are you going in or not, we're letting in the cold air here." As they entered the Inn, the muffled talk and laughter they could hear outside paused for a second as the patrons in the inn turned to look at the newcomers, then returned to it's normal volume. Looking around the room, The inn's main area didn't appear to be too crowded, quite a few tables were still empty. It seemed that the late night crowd had not arrived yet. At the back of the main room there was a raised area that contained a few more tables and chairs. Behind the counter was an older looking man - the greying of his hair fairly visible - who was cleaning a mug with a cloth that didn't look like it had been washed recently. Next to the Bar counter was we're some stair, where one could presume the rooms for rent were.
"Oop!" Angel hurried into the little inn... tavern... thing (which one was what? Did taverns have beds? Did inns have food?) and looked around rather interested in the scenery. She crossed her arms, feeling the cooler air on her skin since she was out of the sun. "Is this like, what bars and things are normally like? It's pretty loud..." Not that she minded loud. Angel could be loud. "Oh, yeah, I should get dinner too," she had to check the real world clock in her menus. She had to cook for herself since her dad would be asleep right now. At least someone could cook for her here. "But first, time to eat! ...right? Does that sound weird? Ugh, MMO's hurt my head before I found this one," she giggled, not really bothered. it was really weird that she had to eat here and in the real world though, admittedly. "Uh, do you understand tavern stuff? Can you order for me?" she asked. There weren't menus or anything, and she wasn't a big reader to understand how this stuff went down. "I know I shouldn't be giving out much info but I'm like, sixteen in the real world soooo no bad adult stuff okay?"
Ashnor entered the Inn after Angel, and like her, examined the inside of the Inn. "Well, I'd presume so, but it's not really all that loud in here, might be because it was so quiet outside." Ashnor nodded and led the pair over to a small table against the wall. A few moments later, someone who appeared to be a waitress appeared and approached their table. "Now, what would you two like tonight?" She asked, patiently awaiting the two's answer. "Just two beef stews, an Ale and some water, please." Ashnor says, leaving a few coins on the table for her to pick up. The waitress picks up the coins and leaves the table, heading for the counter to inform the cook of their order. Looking around, Ashnor sees all sorts of groups around the Inn's dining area, small groups to large, married couples, groups of men sharing their stories with each other. "This feels so real, and even though it's not, I still want to believe it is, that we really are in a fantasy world." Ashnor rests his chin in his hand as his blue eyes flick from one thing to another in the tavern, taking it all in. "So Angel, what sort of masteries did you pick for yourself?" He asks, turning his head to face her.
Angel stuck out her tongue playfully. "What if I didn't eat meat~" she teased him. She couldn't even wait a few seconds before correcting herself. "I mean, I do. I like it almost as much as fruit and stuff, I was just joking," Mostly she didn't want him to apologize for assuming anything. "Actually it sounds pretty good. Can you get tired of eating things in one world to the point of not wanting it in the real world? I wonder if I'd want stew twice..." Then the usual question was asked, likely to pass the time. "Masteries... people's favorite question..." Angel mused to herself. "I'm a uh, well, I guess I was going for a sort of Paladin thing at first, but now I'm not so sure," she admitted. "I chose swords and healing and I kinda wanted to try playing an instrument..." she was still failing to remember the proper names of skills without looking at them, and obviously she wasn't doing that at the moment.
It seemed to Ashnor that angel was quite the the playful person, seeing as how she had stuck her tongue out and teased him on more than one occasion "Well, if you hadn't liked meat, then you would have likely told me and I would have ordered you something different" Ashnor laughed, somehow she seemed to come up with these interesting questions, different mind sets, he supposed. "Well, then I suggest that you don't make any beef stew when you actually eat dinner, if that's the case." as he finished he was saying, the waitress returned to the table, carrying a mug of frothing alcohol and a glass of water. Ashnor shrugged at the comment on asking about masteries, but then turns to the waitress, thanking her as she set down the drinks. She apparently didn't realize something, because she sets the ale down on Angel's side, and the water on his. "Uhh, Ok then." Ashnor shrugs again, then returns to Angel's comment on masteries as the waitress leaves the table. "Well, I suppose that's because it's hard to tell sometimes from just looking at someone." Listening as she listed off what she had, it sounded like she had chosen slash and one of the healing magics, along with music which he couldn't remember the name of either. "Oh, you chose music? What instrument do you play?"
It wasn't hard to notice which drink was which, and Angel slid out of her seat to take the water and return to her own chair without even touching the ale. "Actually.... I have no idea," she shrugged and sipped the water that was placed in front of her. Angel had no idea if water was supposed to taste this refreshing or if it was part of the program. "I picked music but I don't have any instruments. D'you think maybe I can just play anything I buy? Once I have gold or whatever first?" Angel had yet to actually ask for any reward for what she'd done. She was just a little too nice. "I'd ask what your masteries and stuff were, buuuut one of them is probably some kind of knowledge about inns and taverns and alcohols," she teased. Well, that and honestly Angel barely cared what others were so far. She would probably start later when she did more things with people, but this was a social occasion and she knew she'd forget by the time she logged back in. Angel did have a good memory most of the time, but not so far with the game's systems.
