((OOC Please don't post here just to be OMG IM SO DRUMFK and be disruptive. I'd like this thread to be a place where characters can interact casually, and have fun in an relaxed setting. Feel free to take on the role(s) of service staff, musicians, or even NPC patrons!. Enjoy! ))

Dempsey had visited the Blue Rat several times before, and it was quickly cementing itself as her go-to watering hole in Stokbon. The establishment ran a brewery in the basement which provided a plethora of alcoholic beverages abundant in quality and quantity. The menu was simple but good, and during the busy hours of the evening, there was always good music and pleasant company to be found. The inn was a smaller establishment, but prided itself on cleanliness and a friendly and subdued atmosphere.

At this early hour in the day, the place was usually nearly empty, and the fire pit which was the central feature of the plainly but comfortably furnished bar was kept low until later in the evening when it was needed for warmth and light. She sat cross legged on a stool at the plain and age worn bar sipping her drink and muttering to herself in silent contemplation. She quite enjoyed her life here in terraspehere, and even simple moments such as these ones filled her with a great deal of satisfaction. Her beer was called wheat spiced something or other, and it tasted like buttered bread.. well ok, it tasted like beer that tasted a little buttery somehow, but the drink was fantastic and strong, enough so that she almost didn't mind the ridiculous prices they charged for a pint of the stuff. For almost four times what she'd pay for a mug of ale anywhere else in Stokbon (Five times if you counted the dives that sold watered down rotgut by the gallon and charged rooms by the hour)

When she first joined terrasphere, and barely had two coins to rub together, she frequented these places more than she cared to admit. The poor atmosphere and worse patrons quickly drove her away to the higher end establishments frequented only by successful adventurers and more upper class NPCs were more her speed. As far as she was concerned, the extra gold she paid for everything at the Blue Rat was money well spent on a more refined atmosphere, and not having to threaten someone with a katar every five minutes because "Your ass just looks so pinch able though"

Not to say she never had ANY fun with it, as it was the perfect setting to draw unwary newbies out into an alley for one sided beat-downs that other might jokingly refer to as a duel, but she had enough conflict and violence in her day that she didn't need it in her leisure time any more. She realized that she had trailed off and was beginning to daydream when the bartender politely asked if she'd like her drink refreshed. Out of habit, she downed the remainder of the mug and nodded her affirmation.

Today was going to be a good day.

 

In the real world, Amane wouldn't have blinked twice at entering a respectable establishment such as the Blue Rat Inn, her upbringing guaranteeing that money was never and would never be an issue, not when it came to granting her access to places to frequent. In game, however, just a short day ago she wouldn't have nearly a fourth of the gold required to pay for a beverage there without draining her inventory completely dry. If, perchance, she had craved an evening drink, she would have little option but to resort to the more dubious, shoddily created stalls in the shady little alleyways that weaved through the buildings of Stokbon.

By a stroke of luck, she had encountered a platinum blonde felis just as she exited the boss fight, the girl looking to buy the Mystery Egg that she had received as a reward for her own contributions, as insignificant as they were. While she still felt a tinge of guilt at the exorbitant price she had manage to extort for what amounted to nothing more than a cosmetic item, the mini pet useless in combat as it was, she didn't regret the money that she had gained as a result, a total sum easily equivalent to a couple weeks worth of farming and quests. With it, entering homely, welcoming establishments like this had became a possibility, one that Amane would take advantage of for as long as her funds held up.

Walking through the doorway, Amane took a moment to survey the environment around her. It was unlike the cheaper inns that she had previously frequented, and though simply decorated, each furniture looked to be of quality and, most importantly, comfortable enough to relax on. With a note of disappointment she realised that establishment was mostly empty, with many of the patrons already sitting in rather tight-knit groups. Having just finished a rather difficult assignment, Amane had been hoping to interact with other players, maybe even make a new friend or two as a means of celebration, though in hindsight, at this time of the day she should probably have expected the place to be pretty deserted.

Casting a second look around the inn, her gaze happened to fall on a lone figure sitting on the bar, seemingly lost in thought. The person looked like she was in a good enough mood, and Amane decided to seize her chance, making a beeline for the counter, getting into the seat beside that of the other felis, before raising her hand to signal for the bartender. "I hope you don't mind my company," she said, shooting the other a sheepish grin. "But it's a bit too early in the day to be drinking alone."

OOC: @Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey was preoccupied, offering an amused smile and an outstretched finger to a pure white dove with red eyes that had simply appeared on the rim of her mug. this was not the first time her and the bird had played this game. It would not budge until she offered it attention or treats, and would lightly peck at her fingers or face if she tried to shoo the bird away or take a drink from her dove infested mug. the bird sidestepped her finger and ruffled it's feathers a bit, indicating that she'd guessed wrong and that it was feeling more hungry than wanting for attention.

Dempsey obliged by shelling a peanut from a nearby bowl and crushed it with the base of her heavy mug, which she then brushed into a neat pile. Pleased by it's servants gesture, the bird hopped down onto the bar and began pecking at the pile of crumbles contentedly. While all of this took place, a lone woman entered the bar. As the newcomer sized up the crowd, so did Dempsey evaluate the woman from the corner of her eye. Although clearly a newer player, she was already well dressed and carried herself with the confidence of someone who simply knew she belonged in places like these.

She was taller than Dempsey, but not by much at all, and she quite enjoyed the other womans novel decision to color her hair pink. Most players were bent on either recreating themselves in appearance, or simply strove to recreate a favorite fictional character. She'd seen just a few days ago the entire cast of a popular anime traveling in a group together, no doubt seeking to create a theme character guild as soon as the system was out of beta. To Dempseys satisfaction, the woman choose to join her and strike up a conversation.

she could play it off all she liked, but someone of her limited in-game resources wouldn't be here spending what little they had to arm and equip themselves on fine food and drink when less costly options served just as well. This woman was here to network, and to find someone, and that someone seemed to be Dempsey. As Amane spoke, the white dove leapt into the air and vanished, and at the same tine Dempsy was taken aback by the smooth, almost musical quality of her soft voice. She returned the greeting with an outstretched hand and a welcoming smile.

"You're more than welcome to join; It's never a good time to drink alone when it can be helped. I'm almost positive if you hadn't joined me I'd be heading over to wherever it was you choose to sit anyway. What brings you here?"

@Amane Hirota

 

The bartender approached the counter, and Amane gestured towards her companion's drink. "I'll have the same as she," she said. The truth was, she was no liquor connoisseur, her parents having disapproved of anything that could lower inhibitions, not to mention her age, and the most alcoholic beverage that she'd consumed was a glass of wine or two at restaurants. Because of that, she didn't recognise what any of the options on the menu meant, and picking one at random ran the risk of appearing ignorant and out of her depth. Still, as the bartender began to prepare the beverage, she started to doubt the wisdom of such a decision. The stranger, with her rogue aesthetic and dual-wielded katar that hung at her hips, looked like the type who could really handle her drinks.

She thought she saw a strange, bird-like apparition perched besides the woman's mug, but it vanished before she could get a closer look. One of those vaunted mini-pets, perhaps? She studied its owner curiously. Though her outfit was cut more for practicality than appeal, its quality was nevertheless more than apparent, especially when compared to that of the multitudes of players that called Stokbon their home base, many of them still beginners. A veteran player, then.

The felis returned the smile, inwardly thankful that she didn't read the other person's mood wrongly. Being rejected would have been embarrassing, to say the least. "To be honest? Boredom IRL, mostly," she answered, tucking one of the strands of hair that hung at either side of her face behind her ear. "I came here in hopes of company, and if I'm lucky, some excitement as well." Giving the player a small playful, almost cheeky grin, she added, "I guess I've already found half of it."

"My name's Amane," she continued, the bartender arriving to place an identical mug down on the bar top, the only difference between that of her companion's the fact that it was far less empty. Taking it in both hands, she swallowed a small mouthful, barely managing to suppress a wince at the burn that scoured the back of her throat. "What about you?

OOC: @Dempsey Fabijain

 

She listened to Amine speak as the bartender quietly but cherfully tended to his duties, serving Amanae her drink and refreshing Dempsys as well. Dempsey was quite curious to learn more about the newcomer, and listened intently to her explanation. As Amane cited 'boredom IRL' for her reason to join Dempsey couldnt help but chuckle to herself. if her new companion only knew...

Regardless, she was silent until Amane had finished with her introduction, taking note of the other womans playful smile. She decided not to read too much into that yet, but there were more than one forms of excitement available to the open minded Terrasphere player.Instead she decided to keep things casual and friendly, asking about her new found companions experience thus far instead.

She smiled and offered a handshake as she introduced herself. "I'm Dempsey"

She waited for Amane to finish her drink before continuing, doing her best to repress an amused smile. "I'm here for much the same reason as you, though I don't want to get into personal details quite yet, if that's alright with you. Boredom... Terrible way to spend ones life, just sitting around waiting for things to happen, right?"

She paused to lift her mug and take a drink before continuing. "What sorts of excitement are you looking for? I have all afternoon clear if you want to go grind somewhere?"

She was aware that some people would interpret this as a subtle double-entente, but she was careful to maintain an innocent and oblivious expression as she spoke.

 

She took the offered hand, giving it a few firm but light shakes, letting go when (or if) Dempsey does. "That's a unique name," she commented. Though Amane wasn't very familiar with western names, that was one that she hadn't heard before. Perhaps it wasn't English? "I wouldn't expect you to," she said, referring to the woman's reluctance to reveal her personal life. "I'm a complete stranger, after all, and I'm disinclined to providing details myself."

"It's the worse," the felis agreed, unconsciously nodding her head. "Especially since, in most cases, things don't happen. I've been cooped up at home for days." With the start of the college semester a couple months away, stranded in a new country and unfamiliar with the youth culture in the states as she was, Amane at present didn't have any friends that she could visit or socialise with. Even chatting online with her friends back in China was rife with its own set of difficulties, namely that of their different timezones. "Terrasphere has been a godsend, at least here there's always an event or two happening."

Taking another sip, this time she was prepared for the subsequent burning sensation, and swallowed it without too much difficulty. Now that she wasn't struggling to contain a choke, she could understand why people would choose to drink beer on a daily basis — it's taste was somewhat pleasant. With her friendly expression and tone, Amane found Dempsey quite engaging, and honestly, would welcome the opportunity to further hang out with her. "I'm up for anything, and my masteries are probably at too low a level for me to attempt the same quests as you, so grinding works. Where would you like to do it?"

As she spoke, the felis clenched her hand, opening up her menu before scrolling down the options. Seconds later, a friend invite notification should appear in the other player's interface.

OOC: @Dempsey Fabijain . I'm assuming it's june in the Terra Sphere (Terrasphere? TerraSphere?) world? And I'm also very unfamiliar with the US education system, so I might have messed up somewhere~ whoops

 

Dempsey released the womans hand after a final enthusiastic squeeze, and returned to her drink as her new friend spoke, both answering Dempseys own questions, and adding a few insights of her own. She was quite pleased with Amane sent her a friends request; generally Dempsey had to be the one to initiate such things. As side from the ability to easily direct message her, having Amane on her friends list would reveal Amane's general location as well, greatly facilitating the 'chance meeting' they would have in a day or so, should everything go well today.

Dempsey smiled and accepted, then fired back with a request of her own:

Invite

Dempsey Fabijain has invited you to their party. Accept?

As Amane reacted to the invitation superimposed upon her field of view, Dempsey explained her motives. "We don't have to go right now, but being in a group prevents other players from spamming us with invites. Beings that I'm a veteran and you're a healer, I'm Actually surprised we haven't had to deal with any yet, but trust me, once you get enough MP spent that you can throw a decent heal, all you're ever going to see are invite after invite. It gets tedious."

Dempsey stretched, folding her arms behind her head and arching her back. She felt completely relaxed in this familiar setting, and spent a good two seconds maintaining this pose. she couldn't help but cast a discreet sidelong glance, curious as to whether Amane liked the view or not.

After a moment she relaxed, and let out a long comfortable sigh. "So, what did you have in mind as far as grinding goes? Have you been to Adecus yet? There's some pretty tough monsters that scare beginners away, but lots of lower level ones that you can make a good bit of MP off of fairly quickly.

See, here's the thing. I'm not doing this just to be nice. No matter how tough you are, you can't do the Really good stuff without a group you can trust and count on. I want us to be friends just because, but also because you're exactly the kind of ally I need. Smart, practical, Motivated and most importantly, cute!"

She punctuated her final statement with a wink and a devilish grin, but turned away to attend her drink before the statement had a chance to turn into a conversation on discussion.

@Amane Hirota

 

Amane lifted her hand, quickly pressing the green circle before swipping the pop-up menu off her interface. She was glad Dempsey had initiated the party request — from her enthusiastic smiles Amane had figured that the other player was enjoying their conversation as much as she was, but it was always nice to have confirmation. Besides, Dempsey's logic was sound. She hadn't known that healers were so in demand in games such as these — she mostly picked Illumancy because the idea of light magic appealed to her, and support seemed like a good way to be useful to a party — but being able to avoid getting random invites sounded like a smart move. "Ah," she said, "then thanks for helping dodge a bullet there."

As Dempsey stretched, she couldn't help flickering her gaze down to the other player's ample bust, though she lifted her gaze almost immediately, in a quick enough action that if one weren't paying specific attention, would have gone unnoticed. It was only natural; the white haired felis cut a very aesthetic figure in her leather armour, but Amane really didn't want to give the other player the wrong idea. A little flustered inside, she made especially sure to maintain eye contact throughout the rest of their conversation, focusing hard on the rest of Dempsey's words.

"I haven't been," she replied after Dempsey finished speaking. "I've mostly only wandered around Brisshal, since my level isn't too high that the monsters there no longer yield MP, though its been getting slower these past few days. Still, I'm pretty sure I can handle the lower-levelled stuff in Adecus; it can't be too different, and I have you with me."

The frank and brazen manner in which Dempsey explained her actions startled a laugh out of Amane, her tail flicking from side to side in time with her chuckles. She turned back towards the counter, burying her face in her cup as she took a deep swallow, conveniently hiding the red tinge that stained her cheeks. "So, you trust me?" She said at last, her tone tentatively teasing, before growing more confident in time with her grin. Dempsey, too, had a lot of qualities that she looked for in a friend. Intelligent, good-natured, witty, with a forceful, charismatic personality that drew her in. "Then I'll be honoured to be your ally."

She finished her drink, choosing for now to ignore the comment about her being cute. Surely Dempsey had meant it in a joking manner, the same way her friends back home would throw similar remarks as both a tease and a compliment. She waited, deciding to take her cue from the other player. If Dempsey made to stand up, Amane would follow her to their aforementioned grinding engagement. But if not, she was perfectly content with ordering another drink.

OOC: @Dempsey Fabijain

 

Dempsey watched as Amanes cheeks flushed slightly and suppressed a smile of her own, pleased with how things were unfolding. She decided not to press that particular envelope any further for the time being, and instead regarded Amane as if she hand't noticed anything at all. She decided to move the conversation along with a simple reply.

"I don't know that I'd say I trust you, as obviously we just met. What I will admit to is that you seem like the kind of person who is intelligent enough to make herself trustworthy when confronted with a mutually beneficial opportunity. I need support, you need protection. Obviously I want our interaction to be friendlier and more personal than that though. But to be completely blunt, We're two people engaging in a mutually beneficial arrangement."

She paused to gauge Amane's reaction, but it was just then that her fade dove decided to rejoin the conversation. The bird simply appeared out of thin air standing on the bar between the two women, first looking at Dempsey, then toward Amane. The bird hopped once toward Amane, and inspected the colored print of her clothing. After coming to whatever conclusions birds come to when they make bird decisions, it retreated back to Dempseys shoulder and ruffled it's feathers once before fading away again. Dempsey watched all of this with the expression of one whom was just about to say something before she was interrupted, then spoke again. "I haven't named it yet, and I can't think of anything."

"Where to go..." She muttered to herself as she browsed the list of available quest from her palm menu. After several swipes of her index finger, she perked slightly and smiled, holding her hand out to inspect for herself, then giggled. of course Amane couldn't see it, and must be thinking there was something terribly interesting in Dempsys palm.

"Sorry. There's a quest that just launched in Adecus. Seems kind of easy, and they're offering a new kind of reward; Reputation. Don't know how that whole system works, but we'll figure it out, right? Let's go before it fills up and we have to wait!"

Dempsey slid off her stool backwards and bounced on her toes eagerly, waiting for Amane to follow with bright eyes and an excitable expression.
((Dempsey Exits the thread here))
@Amane Hirota

 

A mutually beneficial agreement, huh? Amane mused idly as Dempsey finished. That's true, to be honest she didn't quite trust the other woman either, though she found herself quickly warming up to the white haired felis' quick wit and charm. But in the scope of this game, for now there wasn't much for her to risk at all — Dempsey had no reason to PK or mug her, and even if she did, considering her superior stats she wouldn't need to lie and trick her way into lowering Amane's guard in order to do it. She could steal loot, but compared to the benefits of having a strong, experienced partner, that was a small peril to pay.

And logic aside, perhaps she was letting the friendly atmosphere of the bar cloud her judgement, but Amane's gut was telling her that Dempsey wouldn't stab her in the back, not in such a deceitful manner, at any rate. "Alright then, mutually beneficial allies it is," she agreed cheerfully. "If you ever need healing, feel free to send me a PM and I'll see what I can do, and I hope you don't mind if I do the same." From what she'd seen of the other player so far, she really wouldn't mind working with Dempsey on some quest or other.

In a flare of white, the spectral creature that Amane had witness minutes prior reappeared on the counter top. Looking closely, she realised that her previous assumption was right, it was a dove-like mini-pet. "It's gorgeous," she said, awed, as the bird hopped closer to observe her with an almost intelligent-like scrutiny, before withdrawing and fading once again into the air. She wasn't too good with names herself, but Dempsey made her want to try. "If I think of something, I'll let you know," the felis said, giving the other a small smile.

As Dempsey checked her menu, Amane busied herself with observing the other player. Just as she was debating the merits of ordering another drink, the sudden giggle from Dempsey nearly gave her a start, and she felt a brow raise slightly in amusement, lips cracking unconsciously into a grin at the contagious sound. When Dempsey finished telling her about the quest, Amane got up after her, replying as she went.

"Reputation?" She asked, a tinge of curiosity in her voice, but with a nonchalance that hinted that the question was more rhetorical than anything. "Sounds like something to do with the monarchy here. Maybe its our foot-in-the-door to this world's politics." Not that Amane was particularly interested with political affairs, especially with cozying up to some NPC nobles — she had done enough of that in real life as it were. But with a reward like that, it seemed like an important quest, a special event that she'll be a fool to turn down. Besides, it sounded much more enjoyable than grinding. "Sure thing, let's go then!"

OOC: @Dempsey Fabijain , Amane exiting the thread~