Private - Face To Face

Admittedly, Comet felt odd stepping foot on Druuk Island for the first time. She'd managed to sneak onto a ship ride before it departed from Dunnstads. Feeling cheap, and a bit ashamed, she avoided speaking to other passengers or leaving the small area her body was forcibly - by a strong resistance to socialize or wander off - confined to. Despite an immense excitement within her only now satisfied by venturing off, she still felt anxious. The young woman refrained from traveling out of fear for not being good enough: a fear that often controlled her desires. In-game and out, fighting insecurity proved to be particularly difficult when facing things that had the potential to be better than she. Enough so that fitting in or having fun or meeting looming expectations weren't possible until such a strong self-doubt could be beaten down with a source of alternative emotion. Today, said emotion happened to be persistence. A goal to touch every inch of Terrasphere's world had to be accomplished soon - distracted by the war and making new friends, Comet won the fight with dangerous determination.

Though the ship smelled and clearly had far too many players and NPCs shoved into one space, a small small curled her pink lips that she gingerly touched with trembling fingers. The childish joy might have seemed silly to anyone else who observed the young woman, but what escape from the mind and sense of self-worth that adventuring and traveling brought held a special place in her heart that no one else could ever manage to touch. In the end a persistence became her salvation and motive to live among criminals and savages and other "evils". The descriptions by those who've claimed to visit Druuk Island surely intimidated Comet but not as much as with others for she realized they would hardly care less about someone without a title to their name with possible riches to steal; in fact, she might fit in with the lowly crowd and their less-than-praiseworthy reputation. That, and she had no acquaintances or a name made to be honored among thieves. Not yet at least.

A small group of strange men intrigued Comet. They huddled together, dressed in strange but somewhat appealing garb, and adorned sleek, curved swords that were frightening just by appearance alone to the pink-haired woman who imagined what it'd be like to fight against them. With a shiver sent down her spine by an grotesquely active imagination, she shook her head to clear the thoughts and listened in on their conversation whilst trying her best not to attract attention by staring too much. "Looks like we'll have to hunt them down." one complained while eyeing the approaching island with a noticeable harshness. "They can't run away from what they owe us. It's their lives or their money - both if that's what it comes to." his partner, too, spoke as if disgusted by the people who "owed" them (what seemed to be money). Comet's mind roamed to the possibilities of who these men were after and who they were in the first place when a rough jerk of the ship indicated that it'd docked. The crowd swiftly ventured off of the ship, so quickly that it was shocking, leaving Comet alone in her corner to face confusion regarding the secretive conversation. To follow or to leave the men alone? She wasn't quite sure, generally able to make quick decisions, but if anything knew she previously learned to tackle desires before they became to strong. Thus, the pink-haired woman jogged off of the ship and decided to stalk and find out more. Adventures make themselves in this game, she told herself, as if those words were enough compensation for her actions.

"Oof," Comet groaned while grabbing for her shoulder. It'd been hit pretty hard in her haste and instinctively she turned to whoever or whatever clashed with her lithe frame. Striking blonde hair and two swords that resembled the group of men she'd been observing caught her eye. And, oh, how she resented not taking time to follow her current if it meant seeing him again. Though social customs taught from an early age urged her to speak up with a polite, "My apologies, @Zelrius, I didn't see you there." blue eyes shifted worriedly to and fro before settling on the man before her. Partly anxious to greet Zelrius whom she'd last seen drunk and vulnerable, who she'd been dirty and disheveled in front of, and planned to never meet again. Partly anxious to keep track of the men and their mysterious intentions of a nosiness. "It's nice to see you again," she lied with a natural smoothness. "What're you doing here?"

 

Zelrius was back in Drukk, after spending quite a bit of time in other places, and having not been here since the days preceding and following the war, having spent too much time in the Dunnstadds and in Tunnels. To be honest, the golden haired man was completely over the idea of tunnels and being underground, much much preferring the breeze and open air of these islands and beaches. There was something so liberating about the slight rustle of your clothing as the wind danced and kissed the lines of your figure, the breathable air that seemed to on endlessly, and that beautiful and ever so relaxing sound of the waves clashing and receding away from the sand that marked the beginning of any amount of land.

The man had secured a good relation with some of the people on the Dunnstadds, a fisher here, or an anti-pirate there more than willing to pretend they never saw him climb aboard, all the while sharing ale or mead and engaging with the conversation. It appeared the common villager loved the adventurer sorts, atleast, to some degree. Which made sense to the golden haired man, the same thing that made them so interesting was the very same reason most people played or dreamed of worlds like Terra. Living a life free of rules and taxes, being able to hop from one place to the next in search of a thrill. And sometimes, the locals engaged in their own sorts of adventures, the most broad and clear of which was, of course, Piracy.

And one such group of the wannabe adventurer types stood in a small circle, hushed voices filling the air as they occasionally would break their hold on eachother to fixate on anything in sight, a clear glance or two being thrown at the golden haired man and his two weapons. In their minds, he probably came off as another Pirate; the two cutlasses on his hips being an indicator for most, but the fancier clothes suggesting the opposite. So naturally, Zelrius was a suspicious figure, probably looking closer like an Anti-Pirate than a Pirate. He couldn't hear one word of what they were saying from where he was, though the curiosity was killing him, and so, he tried to, in a roundabout kind of way, edge his way toward them, slowly but surely picking up an extra word or two with each movement.

But it was too late, they began heading to the docked ship and wandering off, Though he had no intention of following them, Zelrius immediately saw locks of pink hair. Comet, Was his only thought before he collided with that same pink haired frame, completely unintentionally. "Commandant Zelrius, to you missy," His mind spoke up, though it was a meaningless title that he had just made up on the spot to poke fun at her, he actually quite liked the ring of it. "Where are you in such a hurry to?" Though he could guess the answer, and had the full intention of stalling until they had left, not really wanting her to endanger herself for what the golden haired man saw as a fruitless venture. He avoided her questions and politeness, trying to see if she'd dwell on that and let the ship go, though he wasn't entirely banking on that fact.

 

"Who calls you that, hmm? Your many followers?" she searched for any other nearby players that recognized them mockingly, emphasizing the fact that Zelrius indeed had no one that would call him by the made-up title, and when satisfied smirked in his direction. Often more than not Comet would be nothing but utterly polite to even those who gave off rude first impressions; with the blonde man as her only company, however, she felt far more comfortable letting the restrictive social custom go. A part of her wanted to disappear and avoid further contact but the other decided having a companion would be much safer while on Druuk Island. She chewed her bottom lip, chest tightening, not sure how to explain her goal. All the more unsure about Zelrius' possible reactions towards it. He certainly wouldn't be getting in her way. Yet despite this determination to uncover the mysterious gang's motives Comet's insecurity still felt the need for approval. These plans that her mind tore apart and put back together again in a matter of seconds to perfect. These "perfect" plans that could be tossed aside into the trash by the shaking of a mere acquaintance's head. Hands trembling, pink lips curled into an awkward grin that she attempted to control, she opened her mouth to speak but failed to find the words for a few, awful moments that she mentally cursed herself for.

"I want... to know who those men are after. I need to know. It could be important? Or it could be nothing... Either way I'm out to satisfy my curiosity. You're in my way yknow. It's probably best we say our goodbyes now and call it a day." she paused to sigh and look back, as if longing to leave, before speaking again. "Unless you're interested too? I think they wanted debt money from someone on the island. Maybe there's gold in it for us if we mingle our way into the group? Nothing wrong with earning a little harmless pay." the pink-haired woman quirked both thin brows in curiosity. In a specialized, subtle way she'd asked for Zelrius' acceptance while seeming to simply be telling him what she happened to be up to. Dull eyes had been glazed over with an unidentifiable glow, the light hue pairing with jittery limbs and the unusual tone that laced Comet's words to give off an avoidable hint towards an anticipation for what lay ahead.

 

"Maybe when my dumbass gets any followers. However unlikely that is..." And just like that the little bit of confidence he had conjured himself up for the day was thrown away as quickly as it had come. Zelrius watched as her own expression shifted, one that felt all too familiar to him, though his was more reclusing and shrinking away, an urge he fought off doing right at this moment, trying his best to not seem so scared away by the girl. Truth was, she wasn't scary in anyway, just.. pretty. The golden haired man never did well with particularly pretty girls, especially ones that were actually nice to him, which for the most part, Comet was. He did even worse now, as he felt himself drawn to them, but then be struck by the lightning bolts of guilt as the thoughts of his ex-wife would creep up, and he'd feel bad about having 'forgotten' her, even for just a moment. So, with that in mind, he kind of took a step back, though continued to watch her, and occasionally flick his eyes to watch the pirate gang. They were departing now, everything they needed being packed up and the ramp being receded into the boat now. It'd be moments before the deckhands jumped off the boats, ropes in hand, and pushed it out to sea before climbing back on. He had to make a decision on what to do soon, and he couldn't get caught up by Comet for too long.

The stream of words came out, and for a second it seemed like she was the one stalling, and not the other way around. However, the golden haired man repeated the words back to himself in his head and they made more sense the second time in a coherent sense; his mindset having head the words individually, and alone, sort of like reading a book. And then she departed, but turned around to ask if Zelrius himself was interested. Which he very much was. He now tried to reason it beyond that, trying not to come off as too eager, despite visibly filling with excitement. "Yes! I mean uh, yea. Money's cool I guess, and I could use a bit more.. Nothing wrong with a bit of hanging out." He was equally nervous. Despite his high masteries, Zelrius was still under the impression that he was below average at best. He nodded, grabbing her elbow gently as a way to steady both himself and her, and a way of mentally saying 'Lead the way'.

 

"Money's cool," she repeated, the words falling from her mouth with astonishment. "No. It's great!" Comet began walking upon feeling Zelrius' warm touch to her cold, pale skin. Contact and approval were nice things during moments of having even the slightest insecurity torment the soul from within. Perhaps, she thought, the blonde wasn't (and wouldn't be) so bad to have around after all. The pink-haired woman decided to toss away the day of their first meeting that led to not-too-great first impressions. This Zelrius right here and right now happened to be the one she certainly get alone with and possibly even grow a liking for. A sincere grin covered up the looming nervousness once made present by a slight frown. It highlighted the haunting emerald eyes, slim physique and long pastel locks of the young woman who seemed jittery over the idea of hunting down the pirates for money.

If a job had to be done, requested by the worst of the worst, she'd do it for sweet payments of gold in return. Life worked for Comet in this way and in this way only since birth: money proved to be the force that someone could have as a load on their shoulders or heavy weight on the heart while providing enough benefits as itself to make those specific feelings numb. Therefore greediness coated her near-frozen heart more than kindness could warm it up in a lifetime spent mostly by facing the monster in her mirror. "You are too. So let's go socialize a little. It could probably do you some good," she laughed, regarding Zelrius' off-again-on-again awkwardness and few words though meant no harm by it whatsoever.

Long legs led the young woman and her companion down a shady road of Druuk Island. Attentive eyes scanned the area for the last location spotted before shifting to the man beside her. "Where did you last see them go? I know it's in one of these-" her companion's elbow would be yanked in the direction of a loud and any sort of reply interrupted. Comet promised, mentally and to herself, to be positive of the hastily made choice due to catching a familiar face ducking into the building. It was grimy and loud even from afar and she mentally cursed herself to deciding to attempt what seemed to be the very definition of impossible. Stopping outside the swinging doors she gave up on hanging onto Zelrius and turned her lithe body towards him with thin eyebrows lifted in curiosity.

"Are you sure you wanna go in?" she would ask but continue on inside either way simply to be polite and to appear as an open-minded individual. Going alone would be risky but all rewards could be kept to herself. On the other hand, the blonde man hardly seemed unintelligent and would most likely be into the potential of a successful deal as much as herself. Having backup never hurt, she reminded herself when thinking about independence, and with a hidden nod of the head in self-acknowledgement Comet suddenly wished she completely pulled him in without so much as a second thought; she fell back, retracing footsteps, unsure of what position to take on the many possibilities at hand. "I know what the group looks like if you wanna follow my lead. Not gonna brag here but... I'm definitely good at getting what I want. You don't have to say a word if you don't want to. All I'm interested in are plans that I need to know. There's just a strong feeling in my gut is all. One that says we'll end the day with a ton of gold in our pockets..." she paused, not allowing a moment for true partnership to be determined. Instead Comet shook her head and pushed at Zelrius. "Actually... that's why I'm doing this alone." she breathed through her determined lips without remorse before turning away from him. It wasn't spoken rudely but rather promptly and as if a demand more than suggestion or request or plea. Her mind fell on the fact that being alone would mean no sharing and no complications if communication came into question. Greed now pushed her to complete the task at hand.

--exit thread--