Open Eastern Brisshal An Old dog's new trick

[Maia Blood of Fenris]

(TW vague implications of death, abuse)

Charlotte hadn't been this excited in years. Fresh off the heels of her latest break-up(What was another decade, in the scheme of things?)and needing to indulge in some deep escapism, she'd indulged in what was, in her eyes, likely a foolish purchase. She'd never been one for video games, save a short(Well, four expansions.. short in MMO terms?) stint in a popular MMO during her youth, though she had nothing but polished, pleasant memories about it. Likely a contrast to how terrible her real life had been at the time, she'd always found games time-consuming, but the kind of time-sink escapism she needed.

Her latest client, a nice, young couple starting up a somewhat frugal digital transcription service, had keyed her into the game. It wasn't as though she hadn't heard rumblings about it, here and there, from old guild-mates that were still in touch. But she hadn't given it much thought, until the father had chastised their son for playing it in front of her. It didn't take much to coerce the lad into giving her a copy of the app.

That she hadn't any VR equipment wasn't a bother. She dropped a notable sum at the computer outlet, and walked home, a spring in her step. Setting it up was quite another story. Were these instructions in Japanese? What's a data jack? Where are the cables to plug it into the tv at? *Goddamned modern garbage, how the hell am I supposed to figure any of this shit out if it's..*

"Oh! It's on!", the little blue LED flicking on in the corner of the device set the woman's face to split in a grin as self-assured as any cat who'd just knocked a glass of water to the ground. She settled into her recliner, popping the top off a beer and downing nearly all of it in one drought. MMOs were painfully nostalgic for her, and as someone who kept very much to herself in real life, the thought of having people to spend time with again was beautifully saccharine.

She sat there, for a long time, with the VR visor in hand, considering old memories. She missed John most of all. She'd made good friends with an old army dog, spent most of their nights- well, their good nights, together. Despite being a world away, they saw something familiar in each other, and he had been a great comfort to her. She wished she could have been a better friend to him, maybe then he'd still.. "Eh?", something hot rolled down her cheek, and she winced as she wiped the tear away with a thumb, the pressure sending a jolt of pain through her as she brushed her bruised face. Her wince warmed into a faint smile. No point doting on nostalgia. For John, then. Let's see what it's like.

She donned the visor and relaxed into her chair. The room faded away into gray pastel. She tilts her head at the middle aged woman before her, wrinkling her brow slightly. She'd gotten old while she wasn't paying attention. Heaving a little sigh, she shook her head, at least she was still fit and trim, though she'd definitely need to hit the gym again. She was getting a little too 'Mommy' looking. Especially around the tummy.

"Name? Hmm.. ", she knew what she wanted. A little re visitation to the past couldn't hurt anyone. M A I A. She cracked a grin. The last name didn't matter, she recalled some old werewolf games she enjoyed and plugged a reference to some under-utilized NPC as the last name. How delighted she was to find vaguely wolf-shaped people.. well.. the anime-sort-of looking ones. A little disappointed she couldn't be a twelve foot tall, hulk of a killing machine, so she settled for the next best thing.

"Hah, there's the abs I knew in high school.. oh WOW, HOLY SHIT!", playing with ratios, she laughed at how cartoonishly oversized some of these body proportions could be. She played with the model for a good, long time. Even played with the male model, but shrugged a little, opting it would be a more authentic experience for her to play as a female. Though, upon hitting 'accept', she wondered if she'd gone a little too overboard with the muscle-mommy build. Oh well, too late now!

She found the soft gray illumination fading, and the light completely fading into black silhouettes. She waved a hand in front of her face. "What, is it not working?", a little shocked at how gruff her voice sounded in her ears. No, the overhead display was working fine, and a queer wave of.. smells? hit her. An absolute deluge of information she wasn't prepared to process. She clapped a hand over her face, nearly gagging. *What the hell?!* She knew she'd picked enhanced senses, but she didn't expect it to feel so *real*, much less so *utterly overwhelming*.

"Too bad I didn't pick night vision", she mutters softly to herself, muffled through thick fingers.

Ah.. there was the problem. It was nearly 4 in the morning. She supposed that would have something to do with it. She hunched down, finding the motion extremely jarring- she certainly *felt* much bigger than in real life, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. Maybe it *had* been a mistake to go too far off the base model? But, her eyes adjusted soon enough, and she found herself in a dense forest.

*A forest, at night, in an MMO, probably not a great prospect*, she thought, opting against speaking aloud for fear it might attract unwanted attention. She began to inch forwards, head swiveling, and feeling something flapping around on the top of her head, she immediately ducked and swatted at her hair, yelping. The thought that she was being assailed by bats, or some other nighttime predator was quickly dispelled as she felt the pair of furry membranes. She tugged at them, feeling the ungodly sensation of unease at having her basic anatomy moved around so much. She clapped hands to either side of her face, running her fingers up and down where here ears *ought* to have been, finding only more hair. This was weird. This was a weird sensation. She wished it were light out, so she could check out the rest of her changes, but, feeling around behind her, she felt the puff of a long, canid tail behind her.

*Yeah, alright, that's enough of that for now*, she chuckles, continuing through the wooded area, endeavouring to find some break in the trees, and while she went, she began poking about the UI, somewhat indifferent to the noises around her, though the occasional prick of unusual scent caught her attention. These were all alien inputs for now, nothing but static noise taking up valuable attention, better spent on figuring the game out- she made a note to start cataloguing them as soon as she could.

 

[Alavia Silver]

The feeling of existing in another world. Escaping the perpetual drag of existence that clung to his heart measured everything he had as strange. The real world seemed to drag on. Carving passively with every social gathering he'd string together. The mountain of sums that his services netted felt rather meaningless in the measure of experiences that he provided. People were happy for the excitement of the real world. Their aspirations and dreams. He wasn't quite sure what to do besides search for an outlet. Coming across the VR MMO, curiosity as morbid as any other participant plagued him until he was booting up the system barely a few minutes before another player. Syncing into the world and leaving behind a well kept space of possessions and house plants.

For the most part, He'd spend less time playing with the models and more eyeballing the masteries available at start. Alien to what they were it was with a desire for newness The chosen masteries ended up being all being unique. Strange. Acquiring them only to don a hair style and facial structure mostly lighter then their own. Jumping into existence without a second thought or any real previous VR experience the first few moments were a jolt.

Spawning in the first few second of his digital life had been on the ground. Kneeling in an unfamiliar place while the feeling of fur protruding on newish shape left him reaching for them. Awkwardly laying on the ground Alavia barely processed the feeling of his ears before grabbing the tail at his rear. Tugging on it before realizing it was very much attached. "Ouch?" Was muttered in this mix. Before releasing his fluffed up extension Alavia dragged themselves off the ground. Standing only to brush away some of the digital dirt with minor discomfort. He genuinely expected to spawn in a city or some grand temple. The woods, at night felt a little intimidating. Very really.

His first steps into the darkness were taken incredibly slow but still crushing dead foliage. The realness of the sound had Alavia pausing. Reaching down to dig his claws into the underbrush before quietly pulling back. Letting the fragments blow away as the wind flushed into a small howl against him. Spooking him, there was a moment where he froze. Staring at the blackness around him before looking at the UI. His status. Unsure of what to do, he'd begin doing what he saw in some mediocre survival shows. Gathering wood.

Mostly overwhelmed with the new senses, Alavia spent several minutes gather up wood. Ignorant of the wilds possibilities, slightly lost and with an arm full of mixed sticks. Some being dry, others being slightly damp. Each gathered in the dark through sheer happenstance, while the person who held them hopelessly wandered forward. Reconsidering whether or not he was actually playing an MMO, Alavia stood in place. Doubling over menus. Turning off pain limiters and pinching themselves to check how real it was. Which once one set of claws caught their bicep, the fire wood was dropped. Tumbling onto the grounds while Alavia's face contorted into a frown of sorts. "Seems a little too realistic." Saying this out loud quietly, he'd go back to having it off. Shaking his head in disapproval before making way towards what looked like an opening between trees.

Gathering up his wood, he'd make his way towards the edge of the space. Now moving with more grace due to a mastery, Alavia ended up tossing down his fire wood over a large mostly flat rock. Staring at it like an idiot before making the firewood into a small pyramid. Snapping some branches so they looked visually pleasing, the resulting small star in it's center did not promote it actually catching on fire. So naturally he'd use magic. That made sense.

It would have made more sense if he chose pyromancy... So in the moment of raising his hand and snapping expecting something to happen, a skeletal shadow encompassed his arm. Encompassing the would be fire would and smashing it into fragmented splinters before dispersing. Leaving Alavia flabbergasted and lowering his arm on self defeat.

 

[Maia Blood of Fenris]

The smell caught her first, faint hints of.. something pleasant. She didn't know how to assign familiar memories to the altered sense-data she was trying to process. The earthy, sweet-rot smell of old growth logs? Peat moss and jasmine? Cinnamon? Sweat? A touch of boy's gym room?

She suspected it was something, either.. alive or boggy-rot or plant? This was a bad choice, on her behalf, and it was proving more confusing and time-consuming than helpful. Perhaps she could change it to something else later. Or she'd have to get used to it.

Still, with not much else to do, she crept towards the scent, attempting to stay quiet, though the way the lengthy nails on her feet kept clipping through the dry tangle of dead leaves and dry sticks, she was doing a horrid job of it. Still, the loud crackling of twigs and branches coming from the origin of the scent was far louder than her failing stealth. She pressed herself to a tree, narrowing her eyes, as though to peer through the darkness, though it did little.

Charlotte- or, she should say, Maia- saw the vague outline of a humanoid moving about. More like, stumbling. It's back was to her, she might have gotten some free exp- but given the unusual way it was moving about, she doubted it was any kind of programmed pathing. Further observing the form, she felt fairly confident it was a player. Or, maybe a cleverly programmed NPC? Maybe this was an escort quest?

"Hey..", softly, then raising her voice, "Hey! You a person? Better speak up, I don't wanna accidentally kill a player!", she was bluffing, of course. She hadn't even found the basic longsword dangling at her hip yet, too unused to the new physique to notice much out of the ordinary. She could feel the strength in her hands when she flexed them, and felt the bark peel under what must have been impressive claws. She could probably handle a goblin or a boar if it crossed her path, but she doubted anything humanoid that wasn't a PC was going to go down so easily. She was counting on her gut instinct to be right, she didn't want to die to the first enemy she encountered in the game.

"You.. need a hand, there?", the voice, strong and assertive, ironically comes out from behind the safety of a nearby tree, a firm barrier between the speaker and Alavia.

 

[Alavia Silver]

Unaware and busied with the mess of wood unfit for fire, Alavia hadn't the ounce of the idea Maia was actually present. His own hands drawing over the crumbed fragments to pile them on the rock. His brow raised with almost disbelief. Disgust for things simply didn't work. Then something broke the fleeting moment of failure. A sound of someone else or something. His thought shifted from a dull drone to racing as he began to actually amass a concept of danger. Freezing, his hands stiffed as the features of his body reflected this.

"What?" Was asked initially. His eyes searching the darkness before the second statement sunk in. "Yes, YEAH. I'm a person!" *Was responded rather dramatically as his facial features furrowed with a degree of concern. The craning of his ears finally serving a purpose as her voice rung out again. Without truly diverging from his current space, Alavia moved to the side of the rock. Drawing his hand over the sticks before planting his feet. Looking forward into the blackness with the gold eyes shimmering with uncertainty. Then with the sputter of her question, he'd find himself stuttering over the idea.

"I've got - I. Yeah, Honestly." Saying this, Alavia would betray their character and looked the rock with wood piled over it quietly. Although not quite over the spook, Alavia delivered their skepticism with a question of his own. "You're not a banshee or anything like that, right?" Asking this, Alavia took a step away from the rock. Their ears pinning forward for sounds. Soaking in the forest in a sputtered mess of trying to find which tree the voice stood behind. Questioning his senses, Alavia would turn in a circle. Checking over all of his surroundings before finally making a small effort to seem competent.

"I've got together wood for a fire, but I don't have anything to light it with." Saying this, Alavia walked forward towards the tree he'd assume the other person stood behind. Striding before coming to a stop. Reaching forward with a hand to wave, it transitioned upward instead. Alavia would rub of the back of his neck. His real person never felt this awkward interacting. Thing were usually pretty easy. Trying to be someone else probably complicated things. So with a singular motion, Alavia did a small trot forward and around the tree to see who or what was talking. Just in case it wasn't a person.*

*Once he had, there was a dumb pause between the action and the realization. His small trot, shifted into a dead stop before he stepped back. Returning to the point where the tree obstructed most of her. Scratching the back of his head, there was distinct silence from him. Gushing over the thoughts of She's tall, Huge? Is she martial based? She also has ears. Then reasserting what they were doing, Alavia stepped backward, towards the rock dragging their heel in the ground's greenery digging it up. "Do you have any skills to light stuff on fire? I see these need gauges. Not that they're close to empty..." Trailing off, he started looking at them. Quietly digesting their pseudo realism.

 

[Maia Blood of Fenris]

"Oh, perfect!", came the resounding response. "Uh, me too. I didn't realize it'd be night when I logged in, or I would've waited for morning!", a weak laugh punctuates the humiliation of the situation she's found herself in.

The tensed resignation in his voice was all the invitation she needed, slowly stepping out from behind the tree, clad in.. well, not much. The starter martial equipment didn't seem to be much more than pants, bandages and a feeble looking sword, the sheathe of which was doubling as a belt currently. The woman was *massive*, clearly she turned the slider all the way to max for more than a few settings. An exposed mass of hypertrophic muscles, bulging abs and biceps. Her face was lean, probably in her 30s, and decorated in the standard beastfolk features- peering, reflective yellow eyes, a pair of nervously twitching canine ears atop her head, the same ivory colour as her long hair, which hung wildly about her shoulders.

"Hey, uh, hm.. I know how to make one in real life, *at least in theory*.", she grins, cautiously approaching the man, and, seeing he seems as taken aback as she, visibly relaxes. Hunching down to examine the pile of tinder betrays just how massive her frame actually is. She begins assembling a little tee-pee shape of sticks, she knew how to get a potential fire started, but her girl scout troupe had been deadset on the bow method, and she didn't have any string, nor did she fancy rubbing two sticks together for an hour.

While she built, she gave an unconscious flick of her thick tail, the same snowy colour as the rest of her hair, and from the revealing outfit, Alavia could see the mane of matching tuft which crept from whence her tail protruded from her body, up her spine and vanished beneath that wild tangle of white.

"I guess you didn't take pyromancy, huh?", she chuckles. "I'm afraid I went with a kind of tank build, all physical, so best I'll be able to do for you is rub two sticks together.. I'm Maia, by the way. Just joined today. How long have you been playing? Is it always this dark in the forest? I'm assuming it's actually the night cycle."

She was already falling back into familiar habits, far chattier than she was in person. Once the tinder pile was sufficiently overstuffed with dried foliage, she picked out two similarly sized sticks, and took to the arduous task of rubbing them together. She laughs, softly. "I was worried for a minute, this is a pretty real experience, was worried about muscle aches later, but I guess that's not something we have to worry about, huh?"

 

[Alavia Silver]

He felt similarly about waiting till morning. If it was intentionally night apon arrival, that would have seemed like a strange difficulty curve for such a realistic game. In real life, he could recall having to get off at some smaller airports in the black of night. Although, the landing strip lights and people made the difference. This was just trees and darkness. Well now, trees, darkness and one large lady. The latter being some comfort.

In contrast to her, Alavia chose almost comically the opposite. More lithe and compact. Until like his real self who spent a reasonable amount of time developing healthy mass. This form was sharper. He was hoping it fit the idea of a stray wolf. Which was supposed to go with the masteries he chose, but her? She seemed more fitting of concept. Which when she approached Alavia ended up-looking up. Realizing that huge, was the term to use. The definition and exposing attire made him feel a little flustered. Even flinching despite how slowly she approached.

"Wonderful. Yeah, I know how to in theory as well? Maybe not." Alavia began to feel a small measure of ignorance. TV shows were just for views. Honestly, the more he thought about - the more it felt like he should have been watching feel good movies. Nevertheless, at the present He was occupied with another question. "I didn't really think about it, honestly. I mostly went with things that were cool." Telling Maia this, he felt a tinge of embarrassment. Which partially melted away when she mentioned she also just started playing.

"I wanted to play a sort of caster shadow wolf, cause wolfs are cool, but I think I probably invested a little too much into it?" Pausing for a moment, Alavia had to rekindle their memory of what their new name was. Smiling, the expression filled with canines. Sharp pearly fangs filling their mouth. Sprawling into whites that pierced the dark, while golden eyes ignited. "I'm Alavia Silver. I haven't been playing for more than an hour, really." Telling her this, Alavia would watch how she began to rub the sticks together.

In a 'Monkey see, Monkey do' manner, he'd also take up sticks. Looking down at them and then back at her. Peaking his ears towards her mouth as she spoke, before starting to attempt the same thing. Which while he was mimicking her, his success was non-existent. Which didn't deter him, but made him more interested in conversation. "Oh, I don't think so? At least not outside the game? It seems like there's alot of abilities that circumvent that. I think this mastery does?" Which at the moment that passed, Alavia drew their hand outward, curling their fingers into a fist before the manifesto of his battle spirit crawled over it.

Unfamiliar with it, the smaller beast folk simply eyeballed it. The stick in his hand cut beneath bone edged fingers before his attention strayed back to her and the skeleton that surrounded it faded into nothing. "It's one of the transformation abilities. That's how this happened." Pointing to the mess of shattered sticks in the mix, Alavia shared a small laugh. Touching on the subject of realism. "I wouldn't turn the pain limiter off unless you're a masochist."

 

[Maia Blood of Fenris]

Reaching up to flick one of the triangular, soft ears sticking out from her mop of hair, giving it an indicative flick, she grins. "I rather agree that wolves are cool. I was hoping I'd be able to do like, a big mother-wolf tank kind of schtick, I was *hoping* the metamorph alter mastery would give me the ability to transform into a big, hulking werewolf.. buuuut I might have to combine it with beast arts or something later down the line.", she offers a little shrug, chuckling. "I mean, I dig the idea of like, a shadow wolf. Like a warlock? A *wolf*lock? Ehhhh!?", she grins, tilting her head just enough that her hair spills in little waterfalls over brawny shoulders, wiggling her eyebrows, hoping for approval of her dumb joke.

"When I think shadow casters, for some reason I think assassins, jumping from shadow to shadow kind of ala nightcrawler? I'm sure its a mental image from a video game or something but I dig ranged dps.", it took far less time for an ember to emerge from within the sticks, the excitement riding Maia's face at her partial success hidden in the darkness, and the quiet that occupied that time made her seem far more proficient and calm than her manner of speech belied.

The little red coal was dropped among the nest of dry leaves, lowering herself to all fours, pressing her face to the ground to puff even, slow breaths across their newborn potential fire. This did nothing for poor Alavia, who now had the sihlouette of the woman with her ass in the air, tail upright and wagging lazily from side to side, to cope with.

She did her best to continue listening to her new acquaintence, which proved fighting the tide against the thrill of accomplishing her first real action in game. The fire sprung to life far more easily than in reality, or perhaps, her lungs were stronger here, or her luck was better. In a matter of moments, her feeding small twigs to the fire grew to broken branches, and finally, a full log- and now the two of them had a small fire, and enough light to actually *see* one another.

"Oh, wow, your guy is super cute!", she laughs, as she pulls herself to her feet, dusting off her threadbare pants with her bandaged hands. "You must've spent hours to make him look that good. Alavia Silver- yeah, fits him. Cute name, too.", a little cant of her head in his direction, and a friendly wink made the good-naturedness of her flirting apparent. "I think I went a little too edgy with my last name, but honestly, I just wanted to get in and play, so I ripped a name from my favourite NPC from an old tabletop game."

The towering beastkin seemed as astounded by the little summoned spirit as any child seeing a new and interesting bug for the first time. "Wow! What does that do? What ability is that!", she slaps a hand to her forehead, shaking her head. "Ah, shit, sorry! I know, I talk too much. I don't get much socialising IRL, so.. you know how it is. I didn't read the game guide very thoroughly before rolling up, I picked through some of the nature magic stuff.. originally I was gonna roll a ranger type with some healing? But then I thought 'nah lets go full healer!', buuuuut then I saw metamorph and, well, being the huge werewolf nerd I am, of *course* I had to swap entirely over to physical. Couldn't bring myself to dps though, I think I'm gonna...", she pauses, huffing softly. "Shit, I'm doing it again. I'm sorry, Alavia! Okay!", she drops to the ground, cross-legged, forearms resting on her knees, and grinning with somewhat more imposing canines than his own, offering him the floor. "Why don't *you* talk for a minute, now? Otherwise I'll do all the talking for the both of us!"

 

[Alavia Silver]

They had reasonably similar ideas. With distinct differences. It was actually pretty reassuring to find someone also interested in wolf's and transformations. It eased the feeling that he may of made a mistake in character creation. Which apon hearing what she intended for her build to be, Alavia laughed before his own tail shared a few choice wags of approval. "It works really well. Strong women are hot." Telling her this his ears pitched at the transforming into a werewolf and the mention of metamorph. Pausing he'd take a moment to think about how he was using Battle Spirit. Unsure of whether or not they were really the same. Given he was using it with Animancy to give it shape. Then she provided her joke. Which put his face into a wide smile. It was pretty funny.

"Yeah! Basically." Sparing a few moments of surprised laughter, his eyes watched her go about trying to start up the flame. Recycling her mention of shadowy assassins. Which came to be kind of ironic. Raising his face he'd grin. Awkwardly chuckling only to provide some chase on thought her association of the two things. "Actually I've got Shadow Arts as my third mastery." Mentioning this just as the sparks came to life, Alavia went quiet. His eyes watching her breath over the blossom of embers with minor disbelief. It felt like it happened so quickly.

Hushed while the light slowly grew. In that span, Alavia learned forward. As if flames were a foreign existence. New and fresh. Mostly what he felt was shock. The warmth slowly amassing around it and the flickering light beginning to peel away the darkness. He didn't really process the sight beside him. Being emotionally busy with the realness that transpired. Alavia would have compared to a dream but the flames were easily touchable. He already tested how real pain was, so he didn't actually reach out to grasp the light.

then his eyes gathered her. Maia's shape and form on all fours nursing the flame. Capturing his eyes in partial awe and some measure of extra interest. Given it was a little overwhelming; the warmth that seemed to burn momentarily on his face. Then she stood up. Still partially crouched next to the fire he'd muster a response. Wading through the sight of her form seemingly towering beside him. Spewing a few comments and questions.

"Oh, Thank you. Yeah I spent an okay amount in the creation screen." Then watching her face playful gesture his eyes slightly widen. Leaving his tail to swish almost anxiously in response to the attention. "The name fits you. You're impressive really, I mean your shape - Your avatar and name and stuff." Alavia bubbled with a measure of uncertainty and made a few attempts to stop whatever his tail was doing to no success. Given it seemed to catch the air like a fan. Nearly smacking against the rock before her next question strung outward. Which it took a moment to follow what she said.

"It's a mixture of Animancy and Battle spirit. It's I guess a martial empowerment?" Then he seemed taken back. Confused by her following statement then he delivered something his real self would say. Not that he'd been actively acting like his intended persona. "Really? You seem really warm and friendly. I can't imagine why people wouldn't wanna socialize with you." Saying this Maia began to speak again about builds. Leaving Alavia momentarily at loss for answer for his own question. Which didn't bother him. Not while her smile seemed to gleam in the dark. It was honestly one of the first genuine interactions he had in a while. One that didn't hinge on the real world's currency. So her continuation of words netted a change in their heights and a continued interest on Alavia's half but he was beckoned to speak.

"It's okay. You're really passionate. I'm trying to be pretty passionate with it too. I've heard lots of good things and I've been looking to kind of escape from media and business stuff. It's been wearing on me. So I kind of just grabbed stuff I thought would be cool. Like Battle spirit, it's kind of like a show's will power abilities. The shadow arts and Animancy was more of a sort of supporting pick. So even if I'm out of place I can help people... Which I guess kind of goes against the arrogant wolf persona I was going to play on." Bombing her with this massive chain of words, he paused. Hoping he didn't bore her. His ear actually pinned back to represent this. Being relatively unaware, he then reached out to support himself on her shoulder before sitting on her rock. Sitting beside her and the fire for the sake of continuing their conversation more comfortably.

 

[Maia Blood of Fenris]

Her own tail gave a few enthusiastic wags, the thing seemed to have a mind of it's own, and she wasn't sure how enthusiastic she was about wearing a highly visible mood ring for all to see. "Yeah?", she winks, holding up a bicep and offering a flex. "Well, play your cards right, cutie, and I'll let you take this strong woman for a test ride.", she laughs.

"Oh yeah?", her face brightens, "Sweet! It'd be sick if you could like.. teleport around and fling spells. I'm sure it won't serve any mechanical function, but it *sounds* sick as fuck!", she laughs. She sits back, drawing her knees to her chest, lazily looping her forearms around them.

"Hmm.. pain limiter, huh?", her eyes flickered as though chasing ghosts in the smoke trialing upwards- she was perusing the UI. "Oh, here it is. Cool. I'm gonna hotkey this for later. Er.. well, I guess I *would*", she chuckles. She flicked the option to 'off', hesitating- she didn't feel any different. It's what she came here for, after all.

"Masochist?", she arches a single brow, unable to suppress the vague impression of smugness riding her features. "Me? Noo.. but I do want to try it out, just to see. Realism and immersion and all that. You know.. whatever excuse sounds good, you can just put that in right here."

When he lavished her with compliments, she turned her head slightly away from him, and for the briefest of instants, he could see a little flash of pain across her face, even as she tried to mask it with the soft 'hm' muffled in the back of her throat. "Oh.. no, I just.. I'm pretty reclusive IRL. That's all.", and then all was normal, back with a wide, happy smile for her compatriot.

Perhaps she was caught up in the fact this was the first PC she'd encountered, but she felt a bit taken with her new friend. It helped that he was the same race and even subrace as her. What a coincidence! Or perhaps this was the kind of dynamic she'd always fantasized about but never quite managed to land IRL. But her eyes were transfixed on him, glowing with all the intensity and focus of the blazing fire caught in reflection in those intense eyes. She hung off every word.

"Hey, that's as legitimate a reason to play video games as anything else?", she shrugs lightly. "I think it's a good set of masteries to start with, personally. Besides, we can pick up a few more, and I'm sure there's respecs or something?", she scratched the back of her neck, ears perking with just how sharp those claws were, pulling her hand back to look at it for a moment, returning to touching the back of her neck. Ah- that was it. Her limbs felt less heavy, like a pall had been lifted. Something had been off since she'd logged in, and hadn't been aware of it until now.

"Nah, you can still roleplay as an arrogant wolf-lock", gracing him with another, friendly wink. "Like, if I were that kind of person, I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty. Everyone likes to pretend buff and healing classes are like, subserviant passive people, but *honestly*, I think they're like middle or upper management- supporting the guys who get their hands dirty. You could *totally* play off that angle and not miss a beat."

Brassy hues shifted to his hand on her shoulder, but otherwise seemed unphased as he used her as living furniture to manuever around. Another grin. She was only too happy to be helpful in this regard. IRL she was always 'too tall' for a girl, but never tall enough to be any sort of exceptional help beyond what an average height man could manage. If she could prove to be useful by being larger than others- which was secretly her hope- she'd settle for being stairs, a stool, even a bedframe, hell!

"How long do you reckon it will be before dawn? I'm a bit worried something's going to path our way. Haven't seen any other newb's rolling up out here, so maybe we're in the bad part of town, hm?"

 

[Alavia Silver]

He was honestly surprised, excited and a little bewildered at how forward she. It was charming while her suggestion had him bridled with a measure of heat. Mostly crossing his nose. Given she quite literally offered him a ride. It was hot. He had to take a moment to collect his braincells after such a pleasant shock. "I'll try to." Was muttered outwardly before he'd give a more confident response. "I look forward to it."

Then came the conversation of the pain limiter. Which left him to watch her. Seeing her turn it off netted a few quiet questions. Contained in the gold of his eyes which was mix of curiosity and fluster. Mostly from the emotional high her direct flirts burned into his head and the second being a measure of concern. At least it was concern until her face changed into a smug smile. Which he smiled as well subconsciously. A strong lady that was also a masochist? The feeling of everything being a dream washed over him again. Although more violently which hearing distinction of pain she suppressed, made him resituated himself. Adjusting as his tail hesitantly swung into a partial measure of excitement. Looking back at it in minor shock, he quickly grabbed it as the subject moved on. Forcing it to sit in his own lap.

Then like her, he'd turn off the pain limiter. To drink in the immersion. Taking her claim of being reclusive he'd shrug before playfully touching his own nose. "If do that on here I'll find you." Sniffing the air, he soaked in the surrounding scents that were obvious. Most just burning his nose due to be unaccustomed to it's sensitivity. Which made him sniffle afterwards. In hindsight he wondered if she found him via senses. It scratched a strange emotional itch. Enough that he stared at her. In an almost hungry manner. Captivated and hunting for something to bite onto. The gilded gold, bursted anticipation. A instinctive want.

Then she played forward the idea of his character. Which from her perspective to his made sense. To have a sort of companion to deal with issues or handle domestic problems. He'd need someone to work with, to yank and get their hands dirty. Which in the lapse of thought and seating himself he came to a sound conclusion. Which sitting up his tail escaped his lap and in a flash of fangs he'd speak. Presenting a possibility.

"I could definitely! I need a companion to fold people." Beaming childishly at her he continued making a gesture to her form. Then inquiring about her interest in him. "You could get your hands dirty for me. I could heal you. If you're not against it, I could also sit on your shoulder or something to look down on people." Pausing his ears fell back against his head and he sat back down. Raising an open palm only to point at her as he'd confirm her consent to such a thing. "If you'd like to anyways. Then we could pick some more flavorful masteries. We can both shapeshift, me less but it could be cool. Like those Norse wolves that chased a god?"

Suggesting this he found himself, gleefully staring at her. Then her other question sank in. Which scratching behind his ear he'd sigh. Laughing in his own ignorance. "Not sure. I think it might be faster or slower. It is really dark out." Feeding the fire a few more pieces of wood he'd raise a brow. Swallowing his spit. It was very possible they were off the beaten path. "Hopefully it's not too long. Maybe there's a road or something nearby we can get onto?"