Complete Private Dunnstads Free cake and new friends

[Aaron Marone]

Galilea's Cakes and Pastries was doing a promotional event for its grand opening. Show up, meet a new person, and get a free slice of cake. Essentially, a blind date without the romantic implications. A blind friend date. As such, it was one of the very few times that Aaron was logged in without wearing his armor. He felt exposed without the heavy plates weighing upon him, his body too light for his own taste. Should he have made himself bigger or more muscular? Too late for that now. Dressed up in his best clothes and his hair tamed to actually be laying flat, he had arrived to the shop at the exact time the pamphlets and advertisements had said the event would begin. Normally he'd try to show up to something early, but showing up early to something like this felt like it was more a sign of impatience than discipline.

Hello! I'm here for the cake and friends event.

Absolutely! Just take a number and go to the matching table. When someone else gets the same number, they'll be sent to your table, and when you're both there we'll bring you your cake. Would you like to order anything while you wait?

Yes please. Just some tea, please. Thank you

Aaron took a sheet of small paper from the table and read it. Number 5. Got it. He walked over to the table marked 5 and looked around. A few other customers were at some of the other tables, but no one was at table 5 yet. He sat down slowly. Was this weird? Did he overdress? Did he underdress? Was he positive this wasn't supposed to be a blind date date and was just for friends? He shook his head. No point worrying about it now, he was already here.

 

[Sol]

Sol wasn't quite sure why she was here. She had noticed the pamphlets for a kind of... Cafe opening? If you show up, you get free cake. And although she didn't seem like the person for it, Sol quite liked sweets, so she thought she would come by. Dressing up in a fit a little more casual then her usual one with her hair tucked into a ponytail, she showed up outside of the building that morning. What met her was a bunch of people dressed nicer than her mostly, looking around nervously and sitting up at paired tables. She tried to hide it, but her face wore an incredulously confused look as she approached the front counter.

Flicking open the pamphlet once more as she approached the front, she read a little lower where it mentioned that free cake would come with, asterisk, if you went on a little blind friend date experiment. Sol bit down on her lip as she approached the front, squeezing her eyes closed. Why didn't I read the pamphlet in more detail? Good thing it wasn't a date thing, because that she definitely didn't know what to do about. But... Wasn't this basically?- Oh no.

It was too late, anyways. She looked at the lady at with an even expression as she waited for her to speak first, gulping heavily.

Hi, are you here for the event?

U-Uh, yes.

She immediately looked away, eyebrows furrowing. She needed to calm down, yes she was out of her elemental, but this was literally nothing she couldn't handle. Looking back at the girl again, she reiterated herself.

Yes, I'm here for the... Event.

Perfect! Just grab a number and head over to your table, we'll bring out your cake. Did you want anything else?

Just a lemonade, please.

And with that, Sol grabbed her number and turned, looking around the room. It was then she spotted her table, with a guy sitting there. He seemed to be dressed up nicely, which made Sol inwardly groan. She hoped he didn't hit on her aimlessly or something, that would be... Not nice. Clenching her jaw and walking over, she slipped into the seat across from @Aaron Marone, making eye contact as she held out her hand like someone would do at a business meeting, hard gaze staring back at his.

Sol. Good to meet you, and you?

 

[Aaron Marone]

Aaron nearly jumped when @Sol slid into the seat across from him. He cleared his throat and strengthened his back, sticking out his own hand to meet hers in a firm, but not too strong, grip. He shook it lightly.

My Aaron's name. My name's Aaron. Aaron Marone. It's good to meet you too. Sorry, I'm... really bad at this kind of stuff. Which is why I'm here. I figure if I'm stuck with someone, I kind of have no choice but to talk to them and get to know them, and that's like the first step to being friends, right? I'm rambling. I ramble when I'm nervous, I'm gonna stop talking now. And the cake. I'm also here because I like cake. I don't eat it all the time or anything, but on special occasions it's nice. Do you like cake?

He cringed at himself. Of course she liked cake. She wouldn't come to an event about eating cake if she didn't like cake. He shut his eyes and breathed for a second, sending a silent prayer to the gods to calm him down. Whether they listened or not, he wasn't sure, but he felt a bit calmer.

Sorry, nerves. I'll be less frantic once they bring the cake out. A topic to discuss always helps.

 

[Sol]

Sol blinked hard once at @Aaron Marone when he jumped. Twice when he shook her hand. She kept her same stoic expression as they shook hands, immediately dropping his as soon as they had shook for a proper amount of time and resting them in her lap. And that's when he started rambling. The longer he spoke the more Sol lips began to purse together. It was hard to tell if she was uncomfortable, annoyed, or didn't want to be there. Probably all of them mixed into one. Glancing around the room at the other people, she looked back at him, before sighing deeply.

Leaning against the table, she put one arm resting on the table and the other with her elbow on the top, hand pushed up into her forehead as she seemed to be rubbing her temples for a second. Releasing her forehead a moment later, she rested her arm down against her other arm as she looked at him again. But then, she paused, getting a real good look at him. As much as she wanted to tell him this was all a mistake, that she wasn't interested in being friends, grab some cake and get out of there, she could see his anxiety and the way he closed his eyes for a moment as if he was praying. And she wasn't that mean of a person. She might really hurt him by being honest in that moment, and really... It didn't hurt for her to try and extend an olive branch more than she usually would. Well... At least not physically.

"Yes, I do like cake. Red velvet, to be exact. Also anything strawberry and lemon," she said in reply to his question, not making eye contact with him as she stared past him at a picture on a wall. Every now and then she would look at him, but only turn her gaze elsewhere a moment later so as to not put too much pressure on herself. She was doing her best here, you know, "I mostly came here for the cake, not really good at making friends. I've been trying to branch out a little more here in game, but sometimes it's just easier to do things solo." she explained to him, fiddling with a strand of her hair before looking at him in the eyes once more.

"Now that you know something about me, tell me something about yourself. What brings you to Terrasphere?" Not that she was really deeply invested, but he said that topics always helped bring down his anxiety, so they might as well find something to talk about to make them both comfortable.

 

[Aaron Marone]

"Oh man, my mom used to make a killer strawberry cake back when I was a kid." He smiled at the memory, and some tension visibly faded from him.

"As for what brings me to Terrasphere... I was here before the shutdown. Initially I started playing because a game where you could do and be anything you wanted appealed to me. I loved playing paladins in other RPGs, and getting to actually experience what that would feel like sounded amazing. Then... Then I died once. And I started having issues telling reality and fiction apart. I took a break. But I missed the friends I made here, so I was pretty distraught when it shut down. Once I heard it was back, I had to come see it for myself. And here I am. What about yourself?"

He glanced around the area, passively taking note of what all was going on. Waiters and waitresses were busy going from table to table, but he imagined it wouldn't be long before their cake was brought to them. As if to confirm that, a waitress came by with a tea and a lemonade, and placed it before them on the table. "Your cakes will be ready soon."

 

[Sol]

☀˚̣⋅ .

Sol internally sighed as she watched the man across from her relax for a moment, finding her shoulders relax a little too as she leaned against the table. He was about to start blabbering again, but while she was here she might as well listen to what he had to say- And what he had to say was instantly not something that she wanted to hear.

Her eyebrows furrowed together as she looked away from him, staring at a spot in the wall as she felt herself once again face to face with another person talking about death in Terrasphere. How many people struggled with this? How many people couldn't literally use their brains and separate reality and fiction? It was simple- Sol was not real. Sol was her in game character. Estelle is real. Dying and resetting like any other video game shouldn't cause them to blend those two together, This is just for fun, anyways. Why do some people take things so seriously?

Thankful for the arrival of drinks at their table, Sol nodded silent at the waitress as she took her lemonade, still not meeting the eyes of the paladin as she gazed into the sour yellow mixture, carefully grabbing the straw and bringing it to her lips as she took a sip. ... Nice. Calming a little as the cold melted into her body, she looked up at him finally, her expression fine but a look in her eyes that just read 'I don't want to talk about it'.

"I just picked up this up from a friend who sent me the e-mail and decided to give the game a try. And now, I'm here," She didn't say much else as silence surrounded the table again, the only sound being the soft 'sip' that came from Sol's mouth whenever she would have some of her drink. A couple more beats passed before she looked up at him once more, unsure really what to speak about but deciding on anything but the controversial d-topic.

"So what made you like paladins?" Simple. Easy. Not a question with much thought... Unless.

 

[Aaron Marone]

Aaron took a sip of his tea. Warm and sweet, exactly how he liked it. He did note, however, that Sol had looked away when he talked about death. He chided himself internally. He shouldn't have answered so seriously, this was supposed to be a fun event to make friends.

"What didn't make me like paladins? Brave warriors of light who stand for truth and justice, who face down the worst creatures imaginable without a trace of fear, yet still make an effort to spread kindness and joy throughout their travels? As a kid who was scared of his own shadow half the time, they sounded amazing."

He took another sip of his tea. He knew he was talking a lot. What sort of questions would get her talking more? Or was she just the sort who didn't like talking? Either way, he felt the metaphorical ball was in his court. "What about you? What kind of build are you running?" he asked.

 

[Sol]

☀˚̣⋅ .

Sol raised an eyebrow at his answer. He was just very... Different, then her. She had to appreciate his optimism and mission, but she just wasn't as day dreamy like that when it came to similar things. She definitely loved to be creative and make big ideas come together, but something like that was just so beyond her. Besides, paladins were just not real. At least his dream was good though.

"Well, that's nice." She said simply as she looked back at her drink, fingers tapping the table. She didn't really have much to say, but she didn't much mind the silence either. And she was obviously unaware, or didn't care much, if her table partner was uncomfortable in any way.

She looked up at his answer about her build, pulling her straw away from her mouth for a moment as she cut slightly in to her finger with her finger, wincing very slightly, That never stops hurting. Pulling her finger away, a small point of blood shot up from her palm before disappearing to where it come before, earning a glance towards Aaron's way, "Hemomancy, Pyro, and Slashing. Simple and easy, does the job for fighting pretty well. I can protect and fight, do whatever is needed."

Curling her hand back up into a fist, she leaned back against the table again, "Not that I've had much the opportunity to use it yet, I've more just been exploring. The world is pretty beautiful." She added as she leaned her chin against her hand and turned her gaze to look out the window, studying the outside as she did so. As an artist, it was kind of in her blood(hehe) to look for beauty, so that's always what she was doing. After she said that, she seemed to daze out a little, purple eyes lost in the world outside.

 

[Aaron Marone]

Aaron watched as Sol displayed her Hemomancy. He would ask if it hurt, but he saw the wince and knew it was a dumb question. But then she switched topics to one Aaron loved. He followed her gaze out the window. "Yeah. It's really something else, isn't it? This world is so vibrant, so... alive... you know? There's not all the bustle of cities choking out the natural land. Sure, there's hints of it, but there's still so much unspoiled beauty too. The hills roll as far as the eye can see, the forests teem with life, the plains touched only by wind."

At that time, a server brought over their cakes. Whether they were listening or the two adventurers were lucky, there was one slice of strawberry cake and one slice of red velvet. "Enjoy!" the server said, before quickly moving off to serve another table.

"Well! I assume you'll be wanting the red velvet?" Aaron asked.

 

[Sol]

☀˚̣⋅ .

That was something they could both agree on. Sol nods a little bit in her daze, tilting her head to the side as her eyes continue to study the horizon, seemingly going farther and farther until they come back, turning back to Aaron, "I'm an artist. A lot of the things in this world... They're perfect for anybody's artist block." She hadn't had any problem with inspiration since she stepped into TerraSphere, infact her painting had gotten better than ever. She had been stocking them up in her house since she started playing and was planning on selling them wherever she could without getting caught.

She opened her mouth to say something else, only to have their conversation be interrupted by the server who finally brought the cake. Biting down on her lower lip slightly in a show of excitement, Sol thanked the server with a nod and quickly pulled the red velvet cake towards her, answering Aaron's question with an action instead of a words.

Quietly, she dug a fork into the corner of her cake, seeming to be very picky with her portions as she placed it into her mouth, letting out a soft sigh before pointing at the cake with her fork, "Now this? This is some good shit. Video game food, huh?" She felt herself grow into a more comfortable state with the delicious delicacy in front of her, keeping her eyes on the slice as she didn't say much to Aaron otherwise.

 

[Aaron Marone]

"You're an artist?" Aaron asked, his impression obvious. "Paint or pencil?"

He picked up his fork and cut a small corner off of his strawberry cake. He rolled his eyes in an exaggerated delight as he bit into the dessert. "You know my mom's strawberry cake that I mentioned earlier?" he pointed at the cake in front of him. "So much better. Don't tell her I said that." He laughed slightly at his own joke. The cake was moist and iced perfectly. He took another bite, larger than the previous. "Seriously, I don't know how the food here is as good as it is. I've not had anything bad since I've come here."

He paused for a moment, a look of concern growing on his face. "Your hand, where you cut it earlier to show your hemomancy, does it still hurt? I have healing magic, if you'd like I can heal it for you."

 

[Sol]

☀˚̣⋅ .

"Paint. Every once in a while I'll sketch when I don't have access to materials, but otherwise paints are my craft of choice," Sol explained while she carefully cut another piece of the cake off from the larger slice, popping it into her mouth as she savoured the flavour for a couple seconds.

This continued on as Aaron spoke, her purple eyes flicking up at him as she nodded in reply to what he had to say, a small humming-laugh coming out of her closed lips as she looked back at her cake, "I feel the same- About the food tasting good, my mother wasn't really the type to bake cakes." She said this nonchalantly without any change in her tone of voice or expression, obviously content with the space they were in. It was soon enough that her plate was empty, cup following suite. Sitting back in her chair after using a napkin to wipe her face, she let out a long satisfied sigh. His next question however brought her attention back to him, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, no thanks. My skin heals over pretty quickly- Probably the benefits of hemomancy." Holding up her hand, there was not a mark in site. She placed her hand down once more, looking to the side as she studied the front counter, searching for something, "I wonder if they have slices to go..." She murmured to herself, one hand tapping the table as she processed what to do next.