Private - Something fishy

As he plunged his halberd through the face of the Hyena, Scon felt a sickening crunch, his motion unleashing a torrent of crimson. The decimation of his quarry brought a wry smile of satisfaction, completely unregulated by the male's lust for victory. He wasn't entirely sure why he was out murdering wild animals on Terrasphere when he had so many chores to be attending to at home, but he also didn't care - this was fun. Likewise, he could probably have picked up a quest of some kind, to at least profit from his not-grinding-because-there-wasn't-exp-in-this-game.

"Call me a HoUNdTER!" He bellowed out to the virtual sky with a hearty laugh, completely alone in this sweeping plains. A couple of carrion crows that had been creeping closer to his kill took flight, scared off by the male's sudden declaration to nobody in particular. It was a poor pun, too, so even if there had been anybody partying with him, he would likely be met with the same depressing silence. Somehow he remained without friends in TS, a surprise given his overflowing charisma and penchant for witty conversation...

The feline made short work of the carcass, skinning and slicing the dog's body into a few items he could sell on later. In his inventory sat a variety of furs and hides, but that was all he had to show for the last couple of hours wasted out here in this otherwise boring wilderness - there were about three quests that involved being here and one of them was just an escort mission through the area. There needed to be a big dynamic boss here or something - the flat, sweeping nature of the grasses begged for it.

Patting the fur down before it disappeared into his inventory, Scon was reminded of his first pelt; the bear fur he gave to the Faerin-turn-Human as some small recompense for... Well. Yeah.

"Guess I should go ahead and hand these in, find a quest..." Speaking of Savannah, she would be proud that he was finally going to obtain some cash.

@Savannah Reed

 

Had Savannah any knowledge to what Scon was currently up to, she would have been proud, yes, but she would have been prouder if he were doing quests and errands for the citizens of TerraSphere. This is all to say that attaining Savannah’s approval after their very first meeting, in which she died, was a highly unlikely thing to happen. Perhaps that was why when Scon reentered the village with his inventory full of furs and meats, ready to trade and sell, Savannah immediately noticed him and looked for a place to hide.

She wasn’t afraid of the Felis, no, far from it. She found him of an interesting sort and didn’t abhor his company, but she hadn’t seen him since New Year’s Eve in that Tavern and, well, how in the world do you carry on a conversation with someone that you face-sucked at midnight? It hadn’t even meant anything to the azure warrior. She was just doing it because she had been inebriated and everyone else was doing it and it was supposed to be good luck so –

“Savannah! Oi! Did you get those fish?”

Wide silver eyes immediately swiveled away from the proud Felis walking – strutting was probably a better term – through the village center to the man standing in a doorway behind her. His face was sunburned, his hazel eyes hooded, but his smile was genuine.

“I just need those fish you were gonna catch for me!”

Her shoulders immediately hunched up around her ears and she groaned, knowing that Bradley’s voice carried, especially in the small town where they were. It was how he normally got his kids to come home from whatever they were doing. He merely stood out in the center of town, sometimes he wouldn’t even move from his doorway, like now, and bellow of them by name.

But maybe Scon had been distracted? Maybe he hadn’t heard? She crossed her fingers for luck and immediately slunk over toward the NPC, her face tight and her smile brittle.

Yes, Savannah replied with a forceful sigh before digging into her inventory. I have them right here. Four white trout, three salmon, and six muscles.

“Any pearls?” the male asked, eyes twinkling.

No pearls, Mr. Bradley, the Death Knight replied, glancing over her shoulder. She had lost sight of the other male. Damnit!​

 

Marketplaces still intimidated Scon. It was too overwhelming, too much a mish-mash of players and AIs, voices confusing the already lost male with too much information, choice and distraction. He just wanted to get some coin for his wares, find a quest to kill something fun and get out. Instead, five seconds had passed and he was hooked by a new shield to purchase. It was a big tower shield, gleaming silvery iron inlaid with bronze designs. The piece was beautiful and he would have probably been convinced by the shrewd merchant to part with his entire inventory in exchange for it, had he not suddenly heard something that made his head snap up.

It wasn't Savannah.

Silvestre had gone to great efforts to get into character as Scon, including but not limited to maximising his cat-like behaviours. On first logging on, he had been amazed by the sight of his tail, his ears, his whiskers, even the claws. Enamoured with the Felis race and a cat lover by nature, the male had done all he could to roleplay convincingly as a feline - purrs, tail-flicks, ear flattening and an intimate desire to play with yarn. And, as he expected Felis to behave, he had convinced himself he was obsessed with fish.

"Salmon? Trout!?" The male had muttered to himself, his ears detecting the words that lifted over the open courtyard. He could also smell them, now, the raw fish registering on the male's sensitive nose with self-imposed delight. There were only a few stalls out today, and none of them were shifting fresh seafood. Scon's curiosity soon had him moving towards the source, leaving a disgruntled armoursmith in his wake.

"But , we could find you some..." Scon offered to a hooded man perched in a doorway, answering a request that wasn't really made. Savannah had looked over one of her shoulders as Scon had propped himself over her other, the furry hair that decorated his face tickling her neck and ear. He had evaded her line of sight and interjected into her conversation with a fluidity only achievable by a cat, a soft purr rumbling through his neck as he smiled widely at the presumed NPC.

Taking a step back before she struck him, Scon tilted his head and smirked at Savannah.

"Right?"

 

The lithe female nearly jumped out of her skin when Scon appeared over the shoulder she hadn’t glanced over. She gave a gasp that ended with her choking on the inhalation of too much air, her hand gently patting herself on the chest while Scon offered their combined services to find Mr. Bradley his pearls. Wait, she hadn’t agreed to that! But Mr. Bradley was already nodding his head, his arms filled with the fresh fish that Savannah had brought him.

“Really?” he said with a smile, his attention going from the Felis to the Human and back again. “That’s really kind of you. I’ll owe ya a fish dinner for your troubles. Ten pearls should be enough.”

Ten?! Savannah exclaimed as the NPC retreated into his storefront and closed the door, a curl of smoke gently wafting out of the chimney as the door snapped shut. Ah, video game physics…

She grumbled and turned to the massive male next to her, mercury colored eyes sparking with anger.

Do you even know how to get pearls? You gotta fish up those damn calms and the freaking spawn chance on the pearls is less than 1 percent. She honestly didn’t know if that was true or not, but it sounded good in her head so why not on her tongue?

She couldn’t help the groan that passed her dark blue lips as the quest blinked into existence in the corner of her eye. Scrubbing a hand up and down her cheek, she sighed, her shoulders slumping. Fucking hell, she whispered. Well, I guess we need to head to the river…

Blinking, she took a step forward before turning her attention fully on the Felis, a light blush coloring her cheeks. What are you doing this far removed from the city, anyway?​

 

"I wanted to find you." Scon lied, snapped off so instinctively and naturally that he almost believed himself, accompanying it with a heartwarming smile to the blue-hue chick. Her lightly-blushing face was attractive and she was the closest thing he had to a friend in this game - they had encountered each other enough times by nothing beyond chance that Scon was convinced they must be fated together. Or something. That, and now that she wasn't a fae her body was remarkably hot.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you."

...If only that would stop his desire to troll her.

"Anyway~" The male cut over himself, stopping her before she could even react to his flirtatious comment. "This way to the nearest freshwater, right?" He nodded towards the grasslands that were home to the river Savannah was referring to. Scon had actually spent quite a bit of time in that area lately, the serene background helping him relax after a nice long day of real world problems. And, per his character, he had done a fair bit of fishing in Terrasphere, too...

"I don't know if that's necessarily the right spawn chance..." He replied belatedly to her earlier comment. "I mean, maybe where you were fishing they were an ultra rare item or something..." He paused after giving the female the benefit of the doubt. "But I found quite a few last time I was there."

Scon led the pair to the edge of the village, making sure his azure companion remained in tow.

"Just think about that fish dinner!"

 

Savannah was obviously crestfallen at learning that she had been fishing in the wrong area this entire time. The image of the pond was crisp and clear in her mind, surrounded by weeping willows. It was a quiet spot, away from the eyes of others and off the beaten path. She had gotten so many fishing achievements by merely sitting on the bank and casting a line, repeatedly. But fishing up a clam with a pearl in its mouth seemed impossible.

Well, a fish dinner actually sounds pretty good, Savannah whispered, grumbling more to herself than to Scon. She didn’t want to acknowledge his words about missing her or looking for her. They were probably bullshit, said in the heat of the moment to make her feel a certain way.

Well, she most certainly wouldn’t allow herself to feel that way, no sir!

Scon’s strides were much wider than her own so she had a little trouble keeping pace with him. His normal walking pace was matched only by a skip here or there or a quick rush forward so that they were stayed abreast of one another. She didn’t know where they were going so she allowed him to lead the way. Still, she glanced around, taking note of the open plains and the long grass that swayed in the breeze. Today was a nice day, all things considered.

So, uh, Savannah started, rubbing the back of her neck as she searched her brain for something to talk about. Silence unnerved her, especially when she was questing with other people. What, uh, what have you been up to since New Year Eve? Nothing too devilish, I hope?

Ugh. Even as the words melted from her lips, she felt like a lame for asking. She felt even more embarrassed for herself for bringing up that night. Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she gave a small frown and opened her mouth, prepared to tackle the subject, but her nerves got the better of her and she immediately closed it. Maybe another day.​

 

Scon was positively salivating at the idea of a chargrilled salmon decorated with a sprinkle of herbs and drizzled with honey. He quickly wiped the back of his hand over his lips and shook his head, chestnut hair splaying around him, to dismiss the thought from his mind. Savannah had to admit it, too, and he wondered if maybe she was actually thankful for the turn of events - this was a chance for her to get fed well.

After a long walk through the docile grasslands and a longer stretch of silence, Scon's companion spoke up with awkward conversation starter, her hand positioning not lost on the male as he shot a gaze over at her. His eyes met her own, or at least the corner from which she had looked, and he couldn't help but smirk. She was positively adorable...

"Devilish? Like making out with sexy avatars?" Tact+1 "Nah, I've mostly been wasting my time, truth be told." He paused, expecting some kind of indignant rebuke. "But, that was true beforehand. Like I said back then, I only seem to do anything worthwhile when you're around..." This time he hadn't even meant for his words to sound so corny, trailing off introspectively. He blinked at himself and laughed loudly and suddenly, attempting to cover his tracks with his default nature of being intentionally brash.

They came up to Scon's destination, a wooden scaffolding that hung over one half of the running river. It was a pier-like construct, designed specifically for setting up a seat and fishing, with room for about three people. There was even a crudely drawn sign of a fishing rod dipping into a couple of waves, unmistakably a gaming sign for a fishing spot.

"Tah-dahh~" The catman announced, arms stretched wide open.

 

Savannah immediately blushed and crossed her arms over her chest upon hearing Scon’s words. A blush attempted to caress her cheeks, but she turned her face away before he could see whether or not the blood had rushed to her face.

No, she immediately responded with a scoff, rolling her eyes even though he couldn’t see the action. Not making out with other avatars. But, hey, if that’s what you like to do in your down time, who am I to stop you? Sure, she wouldn’t stop him, but she would judge him…heavily.

His follow up comment made her arch a brow and turn to face him once more. Her lips pursed as her eyes scraped over him, from head to toe and back again. Surely, he was jesting! They didn’t spend much time together so there was no way he was being serious. There was plenty to do when she wasn’t around; quests, events, dungeons, or just selling wares to any merchant NPCs that offered a good price. So, she didn’t believe him…

…Even if he looked like he was telling the truth…

The knight said nothing and instead looked at the wooden scaffold that stuck part way into the river as well as the crudely made sign that advertised it as a fishing spot.

Did you draw that?” Savannah asked, her voice serious. So you wouldn’t forget where this spot was? She walked up to the sign and scraped her index finger across the drawing, a sound of disbelief exiting her nostrils in a huff. The paint wasn’t wet after all.

Well, I guess we start fishing, she muttered to herself, opening her inventory while still speaking to the Felis. Do you have a fishing rod? Or do you guys just, I dunno, fish like cats…however that may be?​

 

Savannah had, much to Scon's chagrin, hidden her face from the pesky feline as he laid on the comments. This prompted an unabashed frown directed firmly at the back of her head, his gaze burrowing ineffectually into her locks of hair. He needed to know how she reacted - the female had not seen him since the night they made out, at the turn of the year, and their future... relationship? hinged on what she thought of it... He hoped her aversion was a sign she... liked it. Liked him? Liked kissing. Him...

Savannah's words tweaked in Scon's mind as he considered what she was saying. There was something... jealous to her voice - passive aggressive, but his Sconliness meant he was mostly oblivious to it, choosing instead to convince himself she must just be madly in love with him. It wouldn't take much more of his sterling charisma and wit to get her clothes off, for sure...

"Now, come on... I draw like Da Vinci! Give me more credit than this." Scon mumbled in regards to Savannah's dismay at the sign's quality. To the Felis, it was a pretty normal indicator for the fishing spot, but she seemed to have a lower tolerance for it - or maybe she was that much more immersed in the game that suspension of belief was painful to her. Either way, Scon was amused that she thought he had done it.

He had been in the midst of pulling his fishing rod out of his inventory when the female's voice asked him a question. It wasn't a sensible question but, as the male hunched over his bag, he grinned widely from ear to ear. Instead of putting the tool into his on-hand slot, he moved some of his items around entirely differently... Scon's armour and most of his clothing disappeared instantly, leaving the humanoid wearing nothing but his underwear.

What had once been shining plate mail became a blur of lightly tanned skin and chestnut fur, Scon's whole chest bared to his female compatriot. His boxers were a sky blue, buttoned at the front with a tail-hole at the back. His tail, already on show, wiggled more vibrantly as he thought about the fish he was about to chase.

"Obviously, I fish like a cat!" he called, taking a running leap forward off the pier, into the water and flailing ineffectually at the fish present. He was grabbing at them with his empty hands, pouncing dramatically and causing large splashes.

 

He was naked.

The crazy cat had stripped down to his underwear and jumped in the lake. Savannah could only gawk at him and shake her head, a smile comforting her mouth, a low chuckle vibrating into the air as he splashed around and grabbed for fish. The knight said nothing as she swapped out her items in her own inventory and eventually equipped her fishing rod. That done, she walked closer to the pier and stood atop it while waiting for his flailing to come to an end.

Whenever you’re done scaring the fishes! she yelled at him, rolling her eyes for emphasis. Well, clams more like. Ugh, this will take all day. She glanced over toward where the sun hung in the blue sky and saw that it sat at about noon. Hopefully Scon was right and the spawn chance for these pearls was much greater here than it was elsewhere in the game.

Unless you’re gonna go clam diving like that, get your furry tail up here and help me fish, damnit. She grumbled as she sat down on the piece, her legs crossed Indian style, her fishing pole held in one slender hand.​

 

After a few moments, Scon finally looked up from the river at Savannah, striking eye contact with her after gazing past her crotch and torso. He was soaked through, water dripping from every overhanging feature. His fur was slicked down and stuck to his body and in his mouth hung a limp fish, nothing like the pearl-containing clams he had promised they'd find the NPC in town. Even the fish was an impressive catch, given his approach to the situation. But the game had apparently chosen to simulate real world physics so closely that throwing yourself around in a river would eventually allow you to find a fish.

"I got this for you!" Scon said with a grin as he climbed back out of the water and onto the fishing structure. But, having failed to remove the dead prey from his mouth, it fell onto the decking with a squelch, lifeless. He looked down, stared at it for a moment, then looked back up and her and smiled. Before she could even react he burst out laughing, shook his head and looked down, before leaping back into position beside her, getting ready to fish.

"I'm so ridiculous, I'm sorry." He stated, patting down some of his fur to try and dry it. The day was fine, the sun relatively high in the sky for late-winter, but it was also chilly, a brisk wind carrying cool air through the plains. Bad if you just jumped in water. Scon shivered slightly as he tried to shake himself off.

"Okay let's find these pearls, then." And with that he pulled the fishing rod he had originally been reaching for out. He cast it into the water and began humming a merry tune as if nothing had happened. Naked.

 

Savannah was completely expecting him to crawl onto the wharf beside her and shake the excess water off of him and onto her. Thankfully, he didn’t. While she wasn’t dressed in her heavy armor at the moment and instead had on cloth clothing that bespoke of meager beginnings under a heavy winter cloak, getting wet with the chill in the air wasn’t something she was looking forward to. Still, she glanced down at the fish and smirked before nodding her head.

Nice catch, she told him, her voice serious. That’s probably one of the biggest White Trout that I’ve ever seen. They’re a delicacy up North. If you take it up there, you can get some decent coin for it. The only reason Savannah knew this information because she had done the very thing she had suggested for him to do. Fishing was a love of hers and she had gotten pretty good at it.

Of course, fishing wasn’t clam diving. Hopefully luck would be on their side and they would find some clams and they would have pearls. Ugh, there were too many ifs in that statement to begin with…

She cast her bait into the water alongside his and remained quiet for all of a single minute before she glanced at him, frowned, and directed her attention to his face. Aren’t you cold? she asked, feeling like captain obvious. Why don’t you put your clothes back on? I dunno if you can actually catch a cold in game, but you can’t be comfortable right now…​

 

Scon smiled as he followed Savannah's suit; throwing his line out into the water, suitably far from her lure. In the real world, there was no way this would work for the purpose of finding clams - they didn't just bite onto bait like this and Scon's previous ridiculousness was much more akin to how to gather them. Sort of. Usually using an appropriate spade tool... Silvestre didn't really know how to do that, but he knew he could gather pearls like this, in-game.

"Oh. Does this make you uncomfortable?" Scon asked, in response to Savannah's advice, his own frown decorating his mouth. There was some concern behind her words, which warmed his cheeks just a tad. Unfortunately, being Scon, he had flexed a virtual muscle at her as he said his words, presenting one of his bared arms at the female. He wiggled his eyebrows as if he were showing something impressive off whilst continuing to flex his bicep.

As he continued posing like a bodybuilding model, Scon's line remained stationary in the water. His virtual muscles had been bared to the cold air for an uncomfortable period now and, without further response from Savannah, there wasn't much point to it. The fact that he left all of the game's setting as realistic as possible meant this trolly attire wasn't as effective as a given generic mmo...

"Guess not." He mumbled, almost pouting as he brought his inventory back up and redressed. Sure enough the cat was instantly re-adorned in his armour plate he favoured journeying in, even able to keep his line out as he did. Apparently there wasn't anything biting, given he had scared it all away... His tail waved indignantly as the male formulated a sentence.

"Come on then, Savannah, tell me about yourself - illuminate me as to who the lady behind the blue skin is." He looked up and down her as he felt the warmth returning to his skin. He assumed that was the doing of the padding he had put back on, rather than the side profile of the female's curves. They were just pixels...

 

She thought ignoring him would be the best. Maybe he would get the hint that she didn’t think his antics were funny or necessary. The best thing she could hope for was that he disappeared…though, the more she thought along that line, the more she was ready to throw it out altogether. He was the one who had gotten her into this mess, so she needed him to get her out of it. She was so caught up in trying to ignore his stupidity that it seemed as if it was enough to get what she wanted out of him.

Glancing in his direction, she noticed that he was once more adorned in his armor, different than the last time she had seen him. But, it was clothing and he wasn’t naked anymore. What more could she ask for? A tiny sigh passed her lips as she sat up a little straighter, the smirk that pressed against her lips full of self-serving satisfaction.

Huh? she asked, completely thrown off by his question. She blinked and turned her head so that she could easily glance between the bobbing fishing lure in the water and the male she was seated next to. It was polite to look at those whom you were talking to after all.

You wanna know about me? Really? A frown tugged at her features before she shrugged and wet her lips.

Ah, well, I’m a Knight to Lady Lucia of the North. She’s probably Terra’s most notable Necromancer. I, uh, fashion armor in my spare time, but it isn’t amazing. Sometimes I get really good are-en-gee streaks, so I can pull off an uncommon drop, but it hasn’t happened in a while. My other past time is doing this, she nodded to the water and her fishing pole. Ever since they introduced fishing to the game, I use up my spare time fishing. Sometimes grilling, but mostly just fishing and selling or trading it for stuff.

Savannah paused and turned completely to face him. Haven’t I told you this stuff already? She was conveniently ignoring the fact that he wanted to know about Addison, not Savannah.​

 

Scon quirked an eyebrow at the female as she unloaded a series of tidbits about her character. He knew some of this already, having bothered her into talking multiple times before, not least of all when they got drunk at New Years'. The information about her Lady Lucia was intriguing - could you even become a knight to someone else? That was something that struck him as peculiar for inter-player relations, so he assumed the necromancer was an NPC. Hell, he hadn't even known there were Necromancers in this game until now. It also said something about Savannah, to him at least, that she wanted to serve under a non-player.

"I didn't mean your fishing or armorsmithing, Missy." the Felis replied with a small, knowing smile. "I was talking about the human being wearing a VR headset in some apartment in New York. Or wherever it was you live..." Scon was sure she had told him where she resided, in the real world, but he really couldn't recall it. Moreover, the fact that she had avoided his question was wholly apparent to the male - He was pushing her for actual answers.

"You have a bite, by the way." He said nonchalantly, nodding in the direction of the female's line. Sure enough, the bobber was jingling on the surface of the water; indicating in rudimentary video game terms that her attempt had been successful.