Private Eastern Brisshal That time I went into starter town and accidentally adopted a little sister in a VRMMORPG death game.

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I imagine you can try using your sense of touch and sm-" Brutus paused. "The leaf patterns are fairly different so it shouldn't be too terribly difficult once you get to know them better." That was close, almost calling out her newly lost sense of smell like that. Would have been awkward, like an MK Ultra meeting on September 12th.

"Pulling them is pretty easy, since you can sorta see em you just gotta make sure you get them by the root." He would help walk her through the art of pulling them. Firmly grasp it by stem, pull fast and quick.

"You had Gardeners? That sounds rad." He would comment. "But it's all about practice, nobody was ever born an expert at something, y'know? Just because you're learning late doesn't mean you won't ever figure it out."

Slowly but surely the pieces were beginning to line up, presenting a rather interesting picture. Or perhaps he was holding the puzzle upside down. Only time would tell.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

She gave a very polite smile his way at his mistake, understanding that he hadn't meant to offend. Besides, losing her sense of smell was actually pretty banger so far. She leaned down closer to the vague semblance of magic that was supposed to be a mushroom and sniffed at it a few times.

"I can actually smell it just a little bit, actually! Although, that's a scent I'd rather cross infrequently if I had the convenience of choosing."

She reached down to feel at the mushroom as well, and tried to note the texture of it despite her apprehension to feel the entirety of some bottom-feeding fungus. In spite of this as well, she was cooperative with Brutus's instructions, though she had a bit of trouble pulling it out traditionally, and instead opted to create a little rudimentary hand shovel using Arcanamancy if he agreed it wouldn't mess anything up.

"I suppose you're right about that much. After all, if I can get this used to being blind this late in my life, how could I complain about something this simple? By comparison, this hardly feels like any sort of heroic deed."

The young girl giggled, looking up at the towering man's head for once unlike the generally-towards-him indirectness of the vast majority of the time despite his magical shape being clear to see.

"Once we've taken ourselves back to town, are we expected to part ways?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

Despite her reservations, Azykia was turning out to be quite the little gardener, hell she could even make her own tools. He would watch her dig up the plants as the sun shone in her golden hair and chuckle, dabbing a bit of sweat from his forehead.

He would chuckle a bit at her question, not in a mocking way but more merrily. "If you would prefer to keep spending time with me today, I have nothing on my plate and wouldn't spending more time with my cute new Imouto." He would grin and pat her on the head. "Was there anything in particular that you wanted to do? Anything on your checklist of tasks to do or things you wanted to learn?"

In truth, he had planned on spending the day checking in with some of the various goings on in town. Old man Stankins had the guard on constant lookout, and he had his own green boys keeping an eye on things as well. It seemed like danger was only going up since the Starcalled had arrived, not down, which was worrying. But all of that would wait for the moment. He didn't have to be in Superhero mode 24/7 and relished the chance to relax and worry on the little things for once.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

For once in her short-lived life as a blind girl so far, she didn't flinch as she was suddenly touched, now all the more thankful that the man was coursing with magic and able to bring her just one more layer of relaxation.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to fully take in the sensation of human contact that wasn't 'for her own good'.

"Truthfully, I wouldn't mind learning how to sew, although I don't expect such a thing to be your expertise. Aside from that..." Her eyes opened wide as she practically lit up. She remembered. She just remembered that one thing she had wanted ever since she had arrived here. Even taking breaks to do it out of the game didn't allow the feeling to carry over into this completely alternate feeling body. She hesitated a few seconds before actually mentioning it, as she felt a certain apprehension about it based on... gender? Or maybe it was that the two had just met.

And yet, all of her friendships in this world so far had been through close and quick sessions of getting to know one another and assistance being granted by either party or even both just like today. What was the worst that could happen?

"Well, I learned Hydro-mancy," she separated the words, almost like it was hard for her to say for some reason, "so that I could keep myself clean. I was also advised that somebody with Pyro-mancy could warm up the water for a nice hot bath." She chuckled, raising a loose fist to her mouth and looking to her right with a blank but happy stare. "Of course, that's not the sort of thing I would like to do with a man, much less one as old compared to me as you are, so what if we forwarded that idea in spirit?"

She looked back up at the people's champ. "How do you feel about getting a manicure while relaxing at a spa? I'm sure even your hands could appreciate a touch-up with all of the hard work you do. Much less after picking plants out of the ground as we have been."

"Oh, but, hm. I'm not certain that Honeyhome even has a spa. You would probably get stuck escorting me somewhere else. Maybe it'd be best to rain-check it after all?"

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Well you see." Brutus raised an eyebrow. "There's a hotspring out in the woods, they have a mud bath and a hotspring, but it's not attended so you're just vibing out in the woods and nature. I've..." he paused, blushing a bit as he remembered his antics there. "...spent a lot of time there with some friends soaking up and enjoying relaxing after an assbeating or two. There's no mani's or pedi's to be had, and if you want a massage it would have to be from me. You can ask your aneue, Toko chan, they're pretty solid."

He would chuckle a bit, trying to cut the tension within him. They Hotspring was the source of literally all of his...antics in this game. He was hoping he wasn't about to suddenly catch a case.

"If that's a deal breaker, I happen to know a really good spa out in Stokbon, but it is a bit of a trek. I'm down with dragging you off on an adventure if you're down for it." He would waggle said eyebrow and shoot her a grin the he wasn't quite sure she could even see. "We can rent a wagon which will not only shorten the trip, but allow us to log out, "sleep" through the trip, and then wake up as we arrive. It might mean we "raincheck" our adventure for a bit, but by this time tomarrow we could in face, be enjoying a nice spa day. How does that sound?"

Traveling from city to city in this game was a pain in the ass, and he was hoping some egghead in MIT was working on making teleport crystals or something to make jumping around a bit easier, but he highly doubted it.

"As for my hands, I'll have you know that a real hero knows when its time to take care of himself. I'm a spa champion."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Her smile faltered a bit as he mentioned logging out and going to sleep, but she didn't let her thoughts dampen her mood enough to listen with a bright smile the whole rest of the way through his surprising admittances.

"I'm afraid I'm a fair bit smaller than Toko-ane', so any massage you gave me would probably snap me in half like a cookie." She jokingly declined his offer. "On top of that... How do I put this politely?"

"I'm a little bit anxious about people touching me sometimes, especially men. We've been fine so far, but in a place of relaxation that could change pretty quickly. On top of that, I don't have any desire to bathe in a spring with anybody older or younger than me. It simply feels weird, don't you think? yet I would need help into the water, so a bath is more suited to me anyways."

She offered a giggle to soften the mood of admittance. "But a spa day in and of itself sounds good. I just wish the trip could be subverted somehow."

"Especially since, that would mean I'd be alone for the duration of the trip."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"That's fine, honestly I've been surprised about the amount of people who've taken me up on the offer myself." He would reply to the woman, looking her over. He could see how she would have problems with people, men especially. "I can't blame you for any of those hiccups, in your position I think I would probably feel the same. Especially with no sight, it's impossible to know if anyone is up to anything unscrupulous." Gods, her position was especially precarious now that he thought about it a little more than not at all.

"Alone?" He would ask cocking his head, his tail swishing idly as they spoke. "We would be traveling together aside from..." he would bend over to get on her level, squinting. "Are you...UI locked?" The question would hang in the air as he hammered down how else that could possibly be the case. Anyone who was anyone would just log out and "sleep" the whole thing off.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

UI locked. That terrible phrase with even more terrible implications. She blinked twice, then turned her head to the left a little bit. "As much as I seek difficulties in my life and to overcome them, I can thankfully say I'm not."

"It's just that I..." The young girl trailed off. The joy of the moment had been partially drained, and a bit of the monotony from the woman she was in the outside world finally reached her voice as reality had to be confronted in this moment. Azykia raised a hand and curled it in a loose fist on front of her chest.

"My body in the outside world is painful. At first mentally and 'emotionally', if you could call caustic apathy emotions, but eventually it took a toll on my physical health as well, to the point where someone is stationed at each of the stairwells just in case I need to go downstairs for anything." She looked down just a bit with the last remnants of a bitter smile on her face still. "Not that they let me get much further than my bedroom door. It's the sort of existence one shouldn't be able to complain about, yet the thought of logging out even to give the most rudimentary remedial care to myself for an hour or two couldn't be less appealing to me."

"So I always prefer to sleep like this." She gestured to herself, only now glancing to Brutus again. "It's a lot less painful."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"I see." Brutus would muse, listening to her story. "That sounds...fucking awful. I'm sorry to hear you're in that situation." His brow furrowed and he would shake his head. "I wish I could be more present for the journey if we undertook it but..." he would pause. "I already push the amount of time I can spend in VR to the logical limits my life can support..."

This was a predicament, not one that could be idly solved through words or simple platitudes.

"I wish there were something I could do for you, but I cannot, unless being your friend and supporting you here would help, in which case..." he would waggle his hands a bit in a Tadaa sort of motion. "I would propose we take the trip regardless, if not for you just to learn a bit more of the world and experience new and exciting things from all over the game."

"What say you?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Azykia could at least giggle at the giant of a man's jazz hands, but bit her lip in apprehension at answering his question. She really seemed to be giving it some thought.

"As much as I would love to... Well, I have one or two people in Honeyhome who would worry if I strayed too far, and I'd have to rely on you a little more than I'd like to in order to return."

She finally gave him that warm sort of grin she'd had earlier during their more casual talks. "But I'd really like it if you took me with you on a couple of board requests the next time you're in town. I need to earn my own fair share of experience living in this world. I wouldn't be too happy if this turned into a second life of everybody handing me everything I could ever need, you get what I mean?"

Azzy giggled once again. "I don't plan on being a hero of your caliber, but perhaps I could earn a few friends here and there if I became a little bit more competent at playing this game."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"You want to join me an adventure?" He would raise an eyebrow. He would blink a bit, chewing his lower lip as he thought. He would raise a hand up, rub his chin, and then nod.

"Sounds like a plan to me honestly. We need to get you on a more handicapable grind. Really teach your disability what for. I bet we can get really creative with other forms of magic to really widen a big net and let you see more. Like uh..." he would pause.

"Daredevil, you could be like a cute little daredevil!"

He would give her a headpat and a thumbs up. "Do you want to go on an adventure today? Or do you need to mentally prepare and fortify yourself? A real day of adventuring can be incredibly tiring, and you might need more appropriate adventuring clothes."

The wind would rustle through the air, tussling both their hair. "If you want to take a rain check we can do that too."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Eh? Daredevil...?" She stopped to think it over, the confusion clear on her face as she could only drawn reference to the general meaning of the word, not the super she had never heard of before. Being called cute was a plus though. She could count on one hand how many times she'd gotten such a compliment in her life, obviously not including all those business meetings with lonely older men. Those compliments left her with a chill down her spine, more often than not.

"As kind as you seem, mister Brutus-" She realized a bit too late which world of formality her mental train was on, and endeavored to get swinging back the other way. "Brutus-san, I have a lot of discomforts when it comes to... adventures with people I've only just met." She offered him a smile nonetheless. "So I'll take your words to heart and prepare myself, both mentally and physically."

"I hope my answer isn't offensive. After all, I also worry that I might hold such a competent hero back, and that is a guilt complex that will be important for me to destroy before we next meet, if I want to be of any actual assistance to anyone. Not that I want to be a full-on hero such as yourself in the first place."

"So," she raised the herb she had pulled before, just a bit, "should we head back? I'm sure somebody will be happy to see us sooner, rather than later."

@Brutus Dahlgren

 

[Brutus Dahlgren]

"Sounds like a plan for another day then, I suppose." He would nod and turn to head back down the trail. "I take none of your words as a slight on my ego, honestly, I find it refreshing. Way too many people will just bump into me and be and next thing I know I'm knee deep in mud wrestling them. Sometimes I like a simple meeting." Toko was a trip, and he meant her no ill will but that day was wilder than it had any right to be.

Not to mention others.

"As for holding me back, have no fear. When you're a champion of the people you're always on your A game, Rain or shine, Sun or Moon." He would grin from ear to ear. "It's not about what you do, how you do it. As long as you intend to make the world a better place through your actions, you will find a way to do so."

He would walk her back to town and bid her farewell with these final words.

"Anyone can be a hero! You just have to find the right problems to solve."

@Azykia