Go West, Young Man

The scene fades in on the cabin where Yeowang had leg Jayu on their departure from Carmina Gadelica Marina. She has retired to the other cabin, to change clothes, leaving Jayu to explore the trunk of clothes left for him. She had indicated that the Captain's Table was considered a 'somewhat formal' affair, equivalent to a RL 'collared shirt and tie' level deal. The contents of the trunk turn out to be a considerable selection of clothes in various styles, including a few options at the appropriate level, and a large selection of casual clothes in various colors and materials. It seems she -did- eye Jayu's size pretty well, it all looks like it will fit.

Jayu spends, probably, more time getting ready than Yeowang does. Even before the Apocalypse, he was never used to fancy clothing, and that is even more true now that he has spent three years in nothing but combat armor. He goes through every piece of clothing, uncertainty plaguing him at every turn. He eventually ends up picking out a combination of clothing that matches what his High School Uniform looks like: that at least, he can be sure, is considered to be dress clothing.

Pic: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/654326946636759071/1096458734089285632/image.png

Yeowang is, in fact, wearing quite a feminine outfit, which is not like what Jayu is used to seeing her in, which has been generally on a level of her workout gear. They don't have sweats here, but on that level of casualness. She's wearing an actual dress, without too much ostentation, but a bit of frills and lace, as appropriate to the Captain's Table. The closest equivalent a High School/college student might know would be something like a Prom Dress. Yeowang knows all the words, girls tend to for some reason, but she won't bother Jayu with it, she suspects he wouldn't care, and he's got so much to take in as it is. She won't fill him with unimportant details. She does straighten the lapels of his jacket, this is a feminine need that is genetic and cannot be avoided, but it's quick, and then she will link her arm with his and head out into the hallway, which is barely wide enough for single file. She sighs.

Jayu regardless of how proper or casual society might think her outfit she is wearing to be, Jayu is left gaping at the sight of Yeowang in her white dress. He is silent for a second or two before chiming in quickly, "Ah. You look... Lovely. I mean, you always do, but... The dress looks beautiful on you." He is somewhat surprised by the adjusting of the lapel; he has never had the opportunity to grow accustomed to someone doing that for him. Still, he does blush a little bit when Yeowang does this for him, as he comments quietly, "It's like... a wife helping her husband get ready for work... I... It's nice. From you." He looks to the right in order to avoid her gaze, but doesn't move his head in case he interrupts her task.

Yeowang has seen her mother do this for her father from time to time as she grew up, perhaps Jayu was too young to have seen it done before he lost his father, or perhaps his parents didn't attend formal functions often and the task never happened often enough to have been noted? In either event, she smiles at his compliments, and says, "You look quite dignified, too." Given that the passageway is too narrow to walk side-by-side, she will lead him to the Dining Room. The Dining Room on this ship is a small room, as rooms go, though it's probably the largest space on the ship that has a roof. A single long table down the length of the ship with a white tablecloth and silver settings and the ships' officers, who have tried to make a formal go of it, are seated at various seats up and down the length of the table, with the captain at the table's head. Conspicuously open are the seats immediately adjacent to the captain on either side, and Yeowang will lead Jayu to sit on the captain's right, while she will sit on the captain's left.

Jayu will, of course, pull out the chair for Yeowang; that's something that even HE knows that a gentleman is supposed to do, before having a seat at his designated spot. He does look a little nervous, but he smiles regardless. Nervous smiling seems to be Jayu's default visage.

Yeowang has met the captain before, and she offers, "Good evening, Captain," by way of greeting. "This is Ja...yu," she had to stop herself from saying Jae Gu, "A good friend of mine. Jayu, this is Captain Harkness." The Captain inclines his head to Jayu and Yeowang, and says, "It is thanks to your generosity that we may eat so well," speaking to both of us, because Yeowang paid big bucks for this trip. "So, you are welcome at my table."

And then supper is served, arriving in several courses with soup and salad and entreess, all quite good, all real food, and no plain crackers to be found. Jayu may, if he needs, watch Yeowang to know which knife and fork to use with each stage, she seems to blend in fairly seamlessly. Or else they are blending in with her since she's the one paying for it all. Either way, it is quite a feast.

Jayu bows his head to the Captain, "It's nice to meet you, Captain Harkness." He tries to say as little as possible in order to hide his nervousness, which only seems to highlight it more.

As they go through the dinner, he does his best to emulate Yeowang's mannerisms, to the point of taking a bit of the same food every time Yeowang does. That being said, at one point, he casually remarks, "This is definitely a departure from soggy crackers..."

The Landers look puzzled at the soggy crackers comment, until down the table, one officer pipes up, "The players complain about that from time to time. Something about their way of making a great deal of food quickly, I'd heard?" Yeowang nods, the soggy cracker days were much briefer for her, luckily.

"When players first arrived en masse," Yeowang explains, "There was not enough food for everyone. And so rather than starve, they used a mass production method of cooking that could put out enough for everyone, at the expense of taste. Once the supply lines were able to catch up, real food was once again generally available. If sometimes at a premium." The conversation drifts to other topics. What brings us to Westelande, to which Yeowang explains that she's meeting an old sensei, which draws a few puzzled looks. What sort of work to do you is met with Yeowang's explanation of being a banker and owning mercantile holdings in Dun Loireag.

Jayu blinks a couple of times, confused, "So... Are we meeting your banking sensei or your martial combat sensei?" Nevermind that they just had a whole conversation about this yesterday.

Yeowang chuckles to Jayu and reminds him, "This will be a martial arts sensei." The Landers take this in stride, there is no real 'mens jobs/women's jobs' nonsense in Lander society, possibly because it -is- a game, and therefore completely made up, and partly because, statwise, there are no real differences between male and female characters aside from appearance. This amuses Yeowang tremendously because in RL, at an equal skill level, most men could beat most women, and that was a driver for her to increase her skill level. But here, it's -all- skill. "I'm sure Jayu will pick up a few techniques as well."

Jayu smiles and gives Yeowang, "I have been training. Hopefully, I will be at a level where your sensei can teach me some new moves. I am already working on this one..." He turns away from the captain and punches rapidly with one hand. At the DINNER Table. "I call this one, 'Consecutive Normal Punches'."

The Captain watches, puzzled. "Are those not just normal punches done consecutively?" he can't help but wonder. Yeowang smiles mysteriously and tells him, "That name is to hide the hidden power behind it." This meets with hrms around the table. Soon enough, supper is concluded, and Yeowang will lead Jayu up to the main deck. It's a merchant ship, with sailors running around doing things with sails and ropes that are surely important. She doesn't know the system down to that level.

She does say, "Thank you for coming to supper with me," and will look out into the evening sky.

Jayu smiles to Yeowang with warm eyes, "No, thank you for bringing me. The meal was wonderful. The captain was also good company. And..." He sneakily puts an arm around her shoulder like their at a movie theater but skipping the dramatic yawn, "I was with you." He gently pulls Yeowang closer, leaning his own body into her so that their sides touch, "I think, perhaps, I should go to a finishing school or something, though, if I am going to consistently be your date for events like these."

Yeowang leans into Jayu's side as he puts his arm around her, and she says, "I was entirely pleased to have you. It's a bit more formal that we normally do among adventurers, and the Landers don't really know our real-life customs. Now as far as finishing schools go," she says, "I think you will have to meet one of my friends, a Baroness, but a player. She would certainly be able to coach you."

Jayu gives a relaxed sigh. "I could do with some coaching. I... want to be able to help you as much as I can. To make up for lost time.

Yeowang laughs, "You should be helping yourself, but I am happy to hear you'd like to help me. We can certainly help each other, I imagine, as we go about our tasks. But if we select complementary skillsets, then we can fill each others' weaknesses, and that's a good thing, too."

Jayu grins, "Well, if you are going to help me, I need to figure out something that you can help me WITH first, right? Sure, right now, I am just enjoying the freedom of not being a... Hunter." His mood drops for just a split second as he drops that one word before continuing with the same level of joviality, "Once I figure out something for myself, I will definitely ask for help. Until then... I suppose what I want most is just to be by your side."

Yeowang suggests, "You've always been driven by your goals. Helping your siblins. Beating that rotten kid from your middle school. When you don't have those solid goals, you sometimes lose focus, I think." She looks out over the dark ocean. "Maybe if you find a good in-game goal, that will help you find your way? I'm sure your Alliance will help with that."

Jayu adopts a bit of confusion as he leans just a little away from Yeowang so that he can look into her eyes. "My... Siblings?" His voice seems a little perplexed at the idea. "Did... I don't... think I had any siblings, did I?" His eyes become a little glazed over for a second before he shakes his head, "I... did I?" He is unsure of himself as he speaks, "I am pretty sure I would remember if I had siblings..." Something clicks in his head, and a panicked look appears on his face, as if he just realized something, "Oh, yeah! My siblings. I am sure that they're doing fine, heh..."

Yeowang looks at Jayu worriedly now. Forgetting the twins that were such a big part of his life when she met him, /she/ remembers them quite well. But she'd heard dying makes you lose part of your memories, and she puts two and two together and frowns. That's unfortunate, and won't happen again if she's got any influence on the matter! "Yes, they're doing fine. You and I are almost certainly out there doing fine as well," she points out. "You know /my/ family." Her grand-dad, who Jae Gu met so long ago. Will he remember him and how he doted on Ingui? "Would they leave me trapped in a game for two and a half years? We must be spun off copies of ourselves, so nothing to worry about back home."

Jayu thinks really hard about the information that Yeowang presented just nod before nodding with a smile, "Yes, I am sure that, if something happened to us, your family would take care of them." He's obviously trying to pretend that he still remembers them so as not to worry Yeowang. That ship has already sailed, thought. "But... Copies of ourselves? What... What does that mean? Like... The 'US' right now is just really complicated AI?"

Yeowang nods to Jayu about being a complicated AI. "That's what I think. And if you forget something that you're sure you'd never forget, that's because the integrity of the AI is not perfect." not through the dying process, it seems. Jae gu had her granddad in his apartment! He impressed the old man unwittingly with his earnestness. If he can forget that, what must he have been through?! She's glad she wasn't forgotten!

Jayu can feel Yeowang's apprehension. He turns, wrapping his arms around her completely in a tight hug before resting his forehead against hers, "I... have seen a village where the adventurers who lost all their memories ended up. They're... They inspect as landers now. It was... pretty sad." His eyes are closed. That is one memory he wouldn't mind forgetting.

Yeowang shivers as Jayu tells her about that village. She'd heard that's what happens, but she'd never seen it. To imagine there was a whole village of them is terrible! "That -is- sad," she agrees. "But we will fight them. I think the Yamato server will win, though, because generally in history, the free tend to beat the chained in the end."

Jayu gives a frown. "I... I am not sure if I should fight. My respawn point is still..." His face contorts with stress, "That church." What memories he lost in that church were replaced with the terror of drowning over and over again, dying over and over again... Until fear of losing any other memories, until the fear of losing his Queen, won out over any form of pride that kept him from submitting.

Yeowang nods understandingly. "I don't want you to take chances either. I'd rather rescue you a thousand times than have you forget me." She considers. "I do have some influence in Lander circles, I can almost certainly get you naturalized in Yamato. We should work on that, I think."

Jayu takes in a deep breath, and then exhales heavily, the hot air rushing past Yeowang's face. "Everything will be alright now. Everything will be okay. We are together now: nothing can beat us."