Oblivious Innuendos [AW!]

Awkwardly walking as if placed within a tight pair of shoes, most likely attracting a few strange stares from those whom passed by. It wasn’t alike she expected and she didn’t believe that she could grow used to it, being a completely different person in a world like this. In reality although she had heard about the rumours and high amount of praise for the game, virtual reality wasn’t something one could actually know how jarring yet stunning it was until actually experiencing it themselves, and as a first time user of the machinery she could certainly say it has currently lived up to all the hype. Whether it was a simple breeze in the air brushing against her skin or the touch of the surface of a building, Saeko couldn’t quite understand how it felt and looked so real- yet still keeping elements that allowed it to feel like a game.

Perhaps it was her trail of thought attempting to procure an answer to the system of the game that led her astray, causing her to get lost within the settlement and her current goals that was in mind. Blinks of obliviousness as she would gaze around, wondering to where she happened to find herself. Left and right, down and up, the only thing of notice would be the apparent sight of darkening clouds slowly closing into her current placement. But the sight would only leave her to wonder a few words. There’s weather too? Would that mean that the game could also emulate her getting cold and perhaps getting a cold? She had hoped not, that would certainly be something troublesome to worry about every time a storm rolled in.

A call, beckoning her in the midst of her cycle of deep thought popped her out of those very actions, allowing her avatar’s blue eyes to peel at the sight of the origin of the sound. Several confused blinks would occur, perhaps trying to register the words that were said while holding a finger to point at her as if wondering for a moment if Saeko didn’t make the mistake to see whether or not the person happened to be speaking to herself. Perhaps she had misheard what she said, couldn't help to have her cheeks lightly blush upon registering the said words once more. “M-me?” The girl’s words came out as stutters merely out of the moment of surprise, only for her words be met by the view of a party request popping up in front of her- almost startling her.

A hand lingered outwards, not yet pressing a button yet debating whether or not to aid the stranger in whatever they had been speaking about, perhaps it was a quest or something else- she had no knowledge being completely new to the current game. Yet, she still moved a finger to click on the confirm button, she was stronger and confident than she was before and had to act like it. It was the whole reason for her starting up the game wasn’t it, to be a completely different and reliable person. Rejecting a plea of help would be the complete opposite of that. With that, she could see the addition of another health bar with a name. <<Cross>>, apparently simple but certainly not something forgettable. “A-ah. Yes. I’ll help you with uh- whatever you need getting done. You can… rely on me, I think.” Perhaps the confident part of her new persona needed working on.

In a matter of seconds soon after her confirmation, she would also be met by the notification of her sharing a quest, only to prove that her assumption about what she needed help with was correct for the most part. A bit relieving considering if it was anything else; she doubted her experience when it came to games on consoles would help her. Fake aquamarine lenses focused, slowly reading the details of the quest before turning her head to examine the old woman in the distance that <<Cross>> was prior pointing to when she had first saw her. A quest to find pets was something a little commonplace in the gaming world, often tedious if they were coded with a system to automatically run away once someone stepped near them. Considering how the world of this game was, it wouldn’t be presumptuous to think that the felines would behave like normal ones do; then again the developers may have not put that much detail into the animals.

Soon removing the quest menu from her sight by fiddling with her left hand- her dominant one, most likely seeming strange to others whom aren’t familiar with seeing a person fiddle with the menu, her attention would once more return to her current comrade. ‘I think so too. Artemis' has always been trustworthy.’ Those words left her slightly furrowing her brows, left a bit clueless at the remark. What a strangely nice thing to say, emphasis on the strange however, the way she said it was like they had met before- then again she could have been referring to the mythological figure not that Saeko was capable of figuring that out so quickly. Still, the words did aid her by giving a momentary boost of confidence keeping her act up as a lightly curled fist would press against her own chest with a peeled smile, “Right, always- most of the time.”

And there she went- quite literally, the figure already started walking without her while the slow starter <<Artemis>> took a few moments to render what was happening and attempt to swiftly catch up to her party member’s pace. She had even spoke out a question in the midst of her sudden movements, which had certainly caught the teen by surprise. It was going to be troublesome keeping up with <<Cross>>’s pace. “I never had a kitten so I wouldn’t know, my- uh… I’ve just never had the thought of keeping pets around me before.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t voice chatted in a game, just attempting to hide vital stuff about herself coming out in conversation was somewhat difficult to say the least.

“But don’t cats normally hang around in alleyway bins, chase mice and meow a lot?” Her knowledge of cats were little to none, at the very least she did have a general impression of them developed by famous kid cartoons. Would that mean that they had to look for a mouse, but aren’t mice in game generally huge and monster-like? Saeko would immediately imagine in her head a small cat attempting to chew on a giant mouse’s tail, swiftly being swatted away as the tables turned, leaving her to shudder in spot at the mere thought of having to see a realistic version of the beast.

Dwelling away from the topic of cats chasing rodents, the pinkette would be surprisingly caught off-guard once again by an instruction. A strange thing to do, especially considering that their names were visible to the both of them. Would it be rude for her not to respond? But then again considering she had already said her name perhaps it would be seen as strange. Maybe <<Cross>> thought that <<Artemis>> was unaware of the party menu and name at the far end of her sight. Clearly overthinking things it took a bit of a while for her to simply just say, “Hello Cross, I’m Artemis. It’s nice to be partying with you- uh- teaming. The game? I think it’s… ‘nice’. Perhaps it’s a little too ‘real’ so it does feel somewhat weird.”

It was clear from her words that she did seem a little awkward when it came to actually conversing with people, though not completely terrible at it. “U-uh- maybe ‘real’ was a bad word for it.” Stuttering her words right after mulling about what she said, it was hard to come up with a simple review on the spot. Despite her apparent constant moments of generally thinking to herself for a couple of seconds with her eyes often darting of two places it was quite clear that she was trying to keep an eye out for those cats though the chances they’d find it within a few minutes of starting the quest was highly unlikely.

Trail of words would come to an end upon her party-mate coming to halt at a break into an alleyway. Normally in a situation in real life, Saeko wouldn’t step an inch into one she wasn’t familiar of, yet the game did a perfect job of emulating the gloominess and shade that would emit making her second guess following right in after <<Cross>> but with a deep breath in, she trudged forth into the unknown to figure out what had caught her eye.

There were boxes, an abundance of them to be exact. She helped with the forage within them, hoping for a peek of whiskers or perhaps something else that may catch the eye. It wasn’t like games never had any little prizes hidden for those whom search everything, especially boxes and trash bins, not that she’ll want to be ever seen by someone doing such an act. But secretly there was an inner desire for Saeko to be witness to seeing a cat appear from a box. The teen did say she never had a pet, but that never meant that she never wanted to have one. All those videos on the internet with cats playing with boxes were certainly something that warmed the heart.

Sadly there were no cats stuck inside a box much to the hidden brunette’s dismay, her facials not holding back the show of apparent disappointment. “No luck on my side.” She’d comment, although the result was quite apparent to them both, as was for <<Cross>>’s search for the elusive creatures. But it had seemed that her partner had come up with an idea, leaving the girl to fold her arms and think about the suggestion. “Well, n-not to be mean or anything but to use fish as bait that would mean we have to get some. I don’t think that it’s possible for us to currently fish or look for them giving our time limit and… well buying them would ruin the whole point of the quest.” Who would even spend money to finish a quest that gave you money?

Feeling somewhat mean from attempting to politely dismiss her comrade’s opinion to the best of her abilities, something that she would normally just keep in her chest rather than say it if she was in the same situation as in real life, it would seem that it wasn’t needed as the idea was already just thrown in the bin.

Sounds of laughter would begin to echo, laughter of kids to be exact, along with the clanking of wood. What could only be described as a faint voice of a child, rising into a shout declaring itself as a plea to halt some sort of action? Perhaps it was mere gears that had finally started spinning but the moment she heard a cry of a child instead of standing still clueless the teen had sprung into movement, heading towards the source. It was just like then. It was the sound of bullying, alike the time that one of the kids in her orphanage was being picked on, like she was once. Although she was a meek person, those were actions she couldn’t tolerate sitting down and witnessing without raising one hand though the same couldn’t be said when being the victim of the act herself.

And when she entered the scene, an inhale followed by an exhale of a stern voice, “H-hey! Leave him and the cat alone.” She hadn’t been aware of the fact that the cat/s could very well be the ones that they were looking for or the fact that she had ran off without her partner. At this point of time, her big sister-ly instincts had taken the helm.

The situation was something that she had seen all too often, even though one could refer to it only being a game it just hit too close to her heart. If it was a simple game on a console there would have been a high chance that she would’ve skipped all the dialogue in order to finish the game as soon as possible but this was different. Like she had said before, it felt too real. There was no way she could ignore the sounds of a crying child attempting to protect harmless felines.

Allowing herself to take a step forth, Saeko would first make her way towards the boy, having a hand reassuringly pat the top of his head while the other wiped at his tears. Naturally, his attention would have focused to her in the moment her actions took place. “Don’t worry; I’ll stop them from being mean to you and the poor cats.” It wasn’t the norm for her to be this way; perhaps there was an added confidence of having a different body and holding a different name, the fact that she wasn’t her same weak self and an entirely different person brandishing the name known as <<Artemis>>.

That being said, she couldn’t help but feel a bit worried on how she was planning to do so as her heart would begin to plant seeds of slight fear of showing her true self into her brain. The older girls were clearly getting their way, poking the cats that squirmed and squealed at the sticks while laughing their head off, all while provoking the fallen kids with words that were meant to both mock and provoke him. So upon the sight of seeing her partner coming into the scene she aimed to do exactly what he could not, walking up to the two munchkins with her chest up and giving a deadly glare of pure warning to them for the sake of intimidating them. “If you keep on being intent on harming those cats, I and my friend will have to demonstrate what happens to troublemakers who think they can get away with harming the innocent.”

Of course the whole act was feigned, she was practically barely holding her nervousness from showing for the sake of making this seem realistic. But perhaps it was her height or the fact that she and her partner clearly appeared to be adventurers based upon looks that the two girls seemed to be scared from the act. “Fine! It was just starting to get boring anyway, right?” The one on the right side, as her accomplice agreed relatively quickly. “Right! We can find something way more fun to play with than these cats and that stupid crybaby.” Sticking out her tongue, the girl took her friend by the arm as both sticks dropped to the ground before the kids ran off. And with that Saeko’s composure slumped as a sigh of relief exhaled from her mouth, while a hand clutched at her chest. She didn’t think she was capable of keeping the brave act going any further.

A distinct shudder coursed throughout her body formed from the origin of her shoulder, giving a slight bounce out of skittish fright. It had almost escaped her mind that she was in the midst of a party doing a quest, with what went on it was like she had overcome some personal trial in real life. “U-uh, you probably would’ve done the same thing even if I didn’t do it.” She mumbled, not one to take credit so easily, but it was apparent that she did take kindly to the praise.

Allowing her attention to fixate upon the kittens, allowing a smile of purity to creep upon her mouth merely at the sight of the wonderful creatures, she would once more look upon the boy whom still a bit tattered in looks but at the very least seeming happier. The story of what occurred would begin to play out, seeming a little generic in nature but still realistic in a way. It did make her wonder about several matters, alike was the quest meant to result like this or was this a mere coincidence that it happened to be something that she was used to experiencing. Though there was little use in wondering about ifs.

Especially when one of her many moments of thought would be collapsed by the hug of the child, ruffling his hair a little as she would comment, “Don’t worry. I’m certain even if I didn’t come you’d eventually stand up to those bullies yourself. I was just giving a little help.” Saeko did want to believe that it would’ve happened, but it was merely meant as words to make the child feel a little bit better. It was quite apparent that she didn’t think of him as a <<NPC>> one bit. All the happiness would however be brought to an abrupt halt by the comment of her comrade, soon stating the obvious that Saeko was apparently too blind to realise. That they were on a quest meant to bring the cats back to their owners.

As if there wasn’t a solution however, lightly curling the tip of her lip she’d almost smile at how much the boy cared about his new feline friends. Kneeling down to his height, the teen would begin to explain to the boy the situation at hand. “Well, we’re going to bring the cats to their owner. They got lost and their owner is really worried about them, so she hired us. We have to do our job; however that doesn’t mean that you can’t come with us and bring the cats to the old lady. I’m certain if you tell her that you saved them from those meanies that she’ll allow you to visit and play with them whenever you pop around.” The dishevelled brunette expression would sadden with her words, before beaming up a bit more but still looking a little bitter.

He looked to the kitty and to the other two, as if debating whether to go ahead with her plan. “I know how hard it is to let go of something that you’ve… grown attach to. But sometimes, it may be for the better. I bet the owner really misses her kittens and they really miss her too.” Advice that was once given to her, she remembered it fondly. The boy puckered his lower lip out as he slowly nodded his head, mopping sadly as he let out the words. “Okay.” What a brave kid, something that she wished that she could have herself; sadly she wasn’t the hero that she had shown herself to be. At least to herself, she didn’t think that she had any ounce of courage within her heart. “That’s a very noble decision you made. Don’t worry, this won’t be the last time you see your friends.” With that she came to stand up and peel her aquamarine optics at her partner, giving a little nod to show that the case was solved.

“Yeah, I do.” Her comment responding to her partners words instantly and without thought, only to later correct herself with flushed cheeks and shaking both hands semi-frantically as she corrected herself, “N-not in that way.” Gosh, she didn’t want to seem like the kind of person whom had children, then again considering that this person was likely someone that she’ll eventually come to part ways with it didn’t quite matter if she had left that impression. However, it would mean that she wouldn’t be able to show her face in front of her again and she certainly didn’t want to be worried about the off chance of having to also be worried about that whenever playing this game.

Taking the poor kitten that certainly looked worse for wear considering all that had happened into it into her arms tenderly she would hurry on after <<Cross>>, questioning the fact that it had a furry texture and warmth emitting from it. After all, it something she’d expect a cat to exactly feel like. A look up to the virtual skies above, examining the clouds as she heard the light mumble of her partner’s words in order to check for herself unaware of the intent behind them.

“I don’t think so.” At least it didn’t feel like there were sprinkles yet, then again it might be something that wasn’t implemented. “Hope not, that would make all our work worthless... partially. If the time limit was the rain falling, then certainly things would be problematic to them both not to mention it would be complete cold granted the weather works as if it should in real life and with the cold atmosphere it seemed as if that were the case.

She peeled a glance at the boy whom was following after them, also coming to question him as well. It took her a while to register the fact that he was a simple <<NPC>> of the game, but was the game really this complex to allow a situation where he would follow them back to the quest giver? Or did all the routes to tackling this quest end up this way? Saeko could only imagine how detailed the game was, somewhat in disbelief that anyone could develop something like this at a modern age. Soon enough the trio paired with a trio of kittens would eventually be close to their destination, having her prior soap opera moment becoming a thing of the past yet something that she’ll likely keep in memory.