Sword Art Online: The Game Begins

[Mido]

Ardeel's attempt to lean over to catch a glimpse of the message is thwarted by Lenora's sudden turnaround over to his line of sight. As soon as he is spotted, his elongated lean is quickly pulled back like a slinky as he now holds the ends of his chair in mild defeat. This time, he truly was caught red-handed.

"Oh, yeah, um...I should be all right!" Ardeel replies in an attempt to rebound.

 

[Pen]

"That's good to know," Lenora says relieved. She had not realized that the reason why Ardeel came so close was to spy on her menu screen. Her mind was occupied with other thoughts. She interpreted Ardeel's action as an attempt to be closer to her and so she blushes ever so slightly. After Ardeel leans back to his chair, Lenora stands up and then immediately sits down in the chair that had previously been right between her and Ardeel, so they were now sitting right next to each other.

"We've come such a long way since we first met on that grassy field on floor one," she says as she's gazing into the thin air in front of her. Then she turns her head to Ardeel again. "Ardeel, do... do you ever think about what it would be like to live the rest of our lives here. I think about that sometimes..."

 

[Mido]

Ardeel picks up on Lenora's blushing, his face responding with equal measure while he looks down. He nods as she talks about their meeting at the Town of Beginnings. It felt like some time, but it seemed almost inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Not because of the moment itself, but because there was still much to press through in this game yet. Lenora's next question catches him off-guard, however.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Ardeel responds, genuinely uncertain of what to think. Aincrad was sure an interesting world, but he struggled to truly muster an answer to Lenora's question. His eyes meet Lenora's, his one hand over his mouth quizzically, trying to think of what to say. What made her think about this?

 

[Pen]

"I just... even though we've been through so much already, the game is nowhere near complete. Besides, even if we do live to see its completion, what's to say we won't still be stuck here. I mean, since when do villains stick to their word? So many people have died already, and surely countless more will suffer that fate as we continue up these floors. I'm lucky to still be alive, and I'm even luckier not to have lost any of the friends I've made here. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if any of you died." Lenora turns her face down toward her knees after saying this, and then she becomes silent for a while before continuing. "Anyway, it's just something that crosses my mind every once in a while. When everything is hard and when the end of the game seems unreachable. I do want to get out of here. More than anything. And if we do... I mean when we do, maybe we can see each other in the real world." She looks back up at Ardeel with a small smile again. She feels very comfortable in his presence.

 

[DekuNut]

Al continues on, but he's obviously shaken. Up until now, he'd been able to push back these feelings. But he knew he couldn't hold himself in forever.
"We should what?" he asks Aiko, turning back to look at her.

 

[Libk]

"It was a stupid thought anyway. Don't worry about it." She caught back up with the others but memories of her first few days in the game kept flooding back to her. She had gotten the game to play with a friend from school(not necessarily anyone's character unless they want it to be) and all was well for the first few hours. Until the game's creator revealed his master plan. They tried to farm and level up, but gaming wasn't really something her friend was great at. They died, 2 hours after the real game began. Aiko had spent the next few weeks unable to move or speak, barely eating. She almost decided to wait things out until it was all over, or do something more drastic in the hopes she'd see her friend again.

It wasn't until she found a few new friends that she decided to keep fighting. To try and beat this game. She felt that pain of losing her friend again after the first boss. She didn't share their views of beta testers.
"If you're going to defend guys like that, you're no better than them."
"Yeah. Might as well hand over all that stuff if you wanted to be treated the same way."

That's when Ulrich stepped in and she you d these new friends. But she didn't know how long it was going to last, however. She felt like every time she started making friends again, something ripped them away from her. A small part of her worried Ulrich wouldn't cone back from wherever he was going. Maybe Al was going about things better. He didn't seem as attached to the group, but focused on beating the game.

 

[Mido]

Ardeel is taken aback by Lenora's words. He sort of understood her perspective. This whole situation was ridiculous, and the odds to escape Aincrad were insurmountable. Nevertheless, he had to believe that hope was still on their side, and that they would all escape this game. To forget was, to Ardeel, to admit defeat. He could not in good conscience, acquiesce just yet. Still, he understood, returning a reassuring smile that things would be all right. Then, in the spur of the moment, he holds her hands with his own.

"Hey, Lenora." Ardeel stammers. "Can I ask you something?"

 

[Storm]

Lupus pulls a roadration out of his bag and bites down with a crunch.
*Triggered*

 

[Pen]

When Ardeel grabs Lenora's hand she immediately feels her face getting very warm. The warmth quickly spreads out into her ears and the rest of her body, and she can feel her heart racing.

"Y-yes of course," she responds. "You can ask me anything."

 

[Mido]

The warmth becomes contagious as Ardeel too, grows nervous, his hands shaking a little. Was it really time to ask such a question? They just got out of a boss fight, and the timing was awfully rash. Wouldn't it be better to take a breather like he said? No. It had to be asked. It...it was time.

"Lenora..." Ardeel maintains shaky eye contact with her. "Would...would you...like to go out to find Ulrich with me? I'd really hate to impose, it's just that he went out by himself to figure some stuff out, and while I'm confident he'll be okay since he's got a good head on his shoulders, I still would like to keep tabs on him. You know, just in case." He looks down for a moment before continuing. "Maybe we can take Oregano and Lupus along? If they would like, that is. I dunno, maybe I'm getting a bit worried about nothing."

 

[Pen]

"Oh," Lenora let's out in surprise and clears her throat discreetly. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea." She stands up awkwardly, and swiftly brushes off her skirt (even though there was nothing on it that needed to be brushed off). "Should we start by asking the others who are still nearby then?" she suggests to Ardeel.

 

[Storm]

Lupus quickly buys floor 3 materials and improves his armor and weapoms. The Smithing Tutor was on this floor, and ge would find him

 

[Mido]

"Yeah, that works for me-" Ardeel had turned around after speaking to Lenora as to assess of Lupus and Oregano were around. His words stop with a halt and his expression looks defeated. Lupus was not present, and Oregano looked as if he was in one of those do not disturb moods that if intruded upon, would make for grave consequences. If Ardeel recalled right, Oregano wanted to practice his cooking. It would be rude to interrupt. He then turns back to Lenora.

"Ooon second thought, perhaps a tandem of two could do the trick!" Ardeel nods over enthusiastically, contrasting his previously defeated demeanor.

 

[Woyogoyo]

Oregano carefully tasted the dish with a spoon. "Hm..." He thought it was alright, but he was a bit biased.

 

[Storm]

Lupus sends Ulrich a Duel Request
" Got a new Sword in the Boss Battle. care to help me try it out?"