Another Day In Paradise

Xander
Tolbana

    The small town on Floor One has not had much done to help revive it. Maybe a bit here and a bit there, but lets face it. Those chasing the Tower are not really crafters; They are fighters.

One such individual stands on the roof of a building that has seen better days. The dark scaled Salamander named Xander is going through different sword techniques and foot work to match. Fighting the unseen opponent on the roof.

He is ignoring those walking by below and doesn't seem to care what they may see in his direction, but what is obvious is that with each swing, though controlled, there is a hidden, deep anger. A mind that may never be happy in this world; Or even in the real one.
Kita
Tolbana

Since the Scale Emblem Alliance has managed to push past the first floor boss, it seems to have revitalized some of their efforts. There are a few groups of people walking together, talking about explorations in the desert floor above. Others seem to be moving supplies, the members of Divine Dragons doing their part.

Kita is among those who seem to be wandering the city, heading towards the fountain, her nose stuck down in her sketchbool. The girl somehow manages to avoid walking into anyone, though it's hard to tell if it is skill or sheer luck that she doesn't. It isn't until a shadow crosses over her book that she looks up, squinting at the strange artificial light within the tower to catch sight of Xander on the rooftops.

Some might wonder if he'd lost his mind, practicing up there by himself, seemingly fighting ghosts no one but he can see. It's quite possible he never had a sane mind to begin with.

The next instant, as he draws his sword back, a raptor stands there, human height, giving a slimy, bad-breathed challenge. Where in the heck did that come from? Oh yes, it looks vaguely familiar, doesn't it? One of the undead raptors that Kita had summoned while fighting the floor boss. It snaps at him, then spins, whiping a tail at his legs.

Below, Kita stands in an arcane circle, twitching her fingers now and again as if she were playing puppetmaster to the creature.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander is suddenly surprised to see an undead raptor looking at him. ".. What the?" So when the creature starts to make moves, he does avoid it and attempts leap over the tail, before backing up slightly.

His eyes skim down to below at last and calls over to Kita, "Hey! If your going to harass me, at least throw me the request so we don't accidentally mis-mark one another!" There was a minor grin there, but his talking to her was far from done, "Besides! I like to have a word with you!"
Kita
Tolbana

"Harassing?" She lets out a chuff of a laugh, humorless and edging slightly towards dark. "You're pretty dense behind those scales if you think /that/ was harassment." The girl drops the summoning circle, the raptor vanishing with it, though it gives a parting hiss before it fades completely. There is something about her posture that suggests that she may just be back to the more defensive version of herself, arms crossed over her chest.

"Besides, it never even hit you. What are you going to do? PK me because I tried to give you something real to actually attack?" Yep, she's definitely feeling more prickly than the last time the two had talked. Then again, that hadn't ended well, either. "Next time, I can just leave you to your own devices up there. Though don't be surprised if you start getting known for being that crazy salamander who thin air."

Rolling her eyes, Kita continues to walk down the street towards the fountain, seemingly ignoring his request to 'talk'. Then again, she is easy to follow, so it isn't as if she's actually trying to escape him, either.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander listens to her and rolls his eyes gently, "Like I care! They could think I'm the king of England if that makes people happy!" The Salamander sighs, as he rubs the bridge of his nose with his free hand, before he goes to sheath his blade.

"Yes, just walk on." He murmurs to himself as she continues on her merry way. Before he goes to hop down the path he used to get up there and then goes to jog after her.

Once he does catch up, he extends his hand for her shoulder, "Look, Kita. I was worried about you..."
Kita
Tolbana

Oh, Kita doesn't miss the sound of him hopping down, or the tred of his footsteps behind her. The Imp isn't exactly athletic, and she is shorter than him, so it is no difficult task to close the distance. When he calls out after her, she turns, eyes looking almost icy in their steel-blue depths. "Why?"

He might notice, in that instant, that she doesn't look as tired as the previous times he'd seen her. The dark circles under her eyes are gone, suggesting she's had some proper rest, though the girl still looks a bit too thin around her cheekbones, a leftover sign of her time in Ezzo.

"If it's because of the floor bosses, I'm fine. A little bit of healing magic does wonders." She does stop in her tracks, though, her hand gripping her sketchbook.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander low rumbles, before he goes to quickly step ahead of her smaller form and his eyes look her more dead on. "Yes but-- also I wanted to tell you I am sorry."

His heavy, scaled tail flicks the air. "When you left off that evening, of /that/ day, I.. didn't handle that situation well. I /don't/ handle situations well lately. I have one hell of a fucked up head and its makes it /very/ difficult to..." The Salamander does a deep inhale to keep his words focused, from going off on some slur, stammering stumble. "... express things."

"I've pushed a ton of people away in my real life, because I didn't want them to be stuck with--" He pauses and stays quiet for a moment before he continues, "Just. I am sorry and-- You deserved better."
Kita
Tolbana

There is a stiffening in the girl's body language when he steps ahead of her. As a soldier, he might be able to read into it. Her eyes flick to the left, where there is an opening between a couple of buildings. Looking for some kind of path of escape should he seek to try anything physical. It leads, perhaps, to the question of why she might have that reaction.

Kita takes a step back, just enough to have a more comfortable distance between them. She opens her mouth as if to make some comment in snarky response to his words, but the apology cuts her off short. Rather than speaking at all, she closes her mouth, eyes showing more uncertainty than her impassive expression. This isn't the girl who had laughed so easily in front of the tower, nor the one who had fought so intensely against the floor boss.

"You're fucked up." She finally says, though the words don't have the edge of an attack. Instead, Kita is quick to continue, "I'm fucked up. We're /all/ fucked up Xander." She balls her hands into fists, though it seems more protective than agressive. "You think I'm not struggling with my own shit?" She pulls her sketchbook closer to her chest.

"If you want to push me away. Fine. At least be fucking honest about it." Her dark eyebrows draw downward, lips pursed. "I don't know what is going on in your head. I don't know what you've been through. But guess what? No one knows shit about anyone here." Her Imp tail lashes once. "Just tell me what the fuck you want from me?"
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander does pick up how her eyes dart. The clenching of her fist, how she holds her sketchbook closer to her chest, "Yes... We all are." He says softly.

The Salamander tilts his head gently. His, voice trying to take on a calm tone. Trying to defuse this situation before it explodes anymore than it has. "You are very correct. No one knows anyone and-- in truth-- seems like no one really cares. Everyone wants to live in ether there made up fantasy or in their own self-worth."

Xander motions with both of his hands outward, "And that... That makes a fucked up team. Even worse.. Horrible grounds for teamwork." His hands fall by his side, before he then extends his scaled fingers to her, "But, I'd like to change that...Correct mistakes made."

    "I'd like," He says to her, looking her dead on still, "To be your friend, Kita. Nothing more. Nothing less, but I would like to know who /you/ are.. If you'd let me and if you'd forgive me."
Kita
Tolbana

The shift in his tone of voice seems to help ease some of that tension, though she still seems to hold herself in that posture. A posture that clearly speaks to someone expecting violence, even if there is no reason to believe he might lash out at her.

"I don't want to live a fantasy life." She shakes her head, white bangs moving across her forehead in the process. There's a lot she could say in regards to Elder Tale, the real world, and her new role here.

Her eyes, still with that cold edge to them, look at him when he suggests that he wanted to be her friend. "You want some truth?" She says quietly. "The only reason I got into this game was because I hoped this expansion would merge the regions. I thought... maybe, just maybe I I would be able to see my girlfriend more than once every five or six months. Maybe I wouldn't be stuck at airports watching her leave again, and again, and again."

Pain sparks in those eyes. "I thought I could dodge having to have a talk where we might end up having to break up because I'm too weak to deal with the distance anymore. How shit of a person does that make me? To ask someone else to give up everything they've ever worked for?" Her nose scrunches, "I'm an asshole. I'm an asshole because we're stuck here and a part of me is fucking relieved."

Then, her gaze flashes back to him. "You don't want to be my friend, Xander. This is how I treat people I care about."
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander listens to her, his brows furrow a little. His head tilts gently as he makes a strange, deep rumbling sound. He was silent the whole time Kita poured out what was going on, what might have been, and what exactly /is/ happening.

Xander gets down on one knee, lowering himself to her level a bit more. His hands extend out toward her, trying to rest on her arms; Gently at that. "There is nothing wrong with wanting that life. There is nothing wrong with being relieved either. You /love/ her and apparently, if she is willing to do all this for you-- she loves you as well."

    The Salamander tries to smile, but its a look of more concern, then worry. "I had to let someone go that I loved and I will /never/ know if she really loved me back. Ever, but you," Xander grins a little. "You have a chance to /be/ with the one you love and if she is happy for that. If /she/ is happy that you two are together? That you two can /be/ together, no matter if we are in this crazy ass world..."

"Then /live/ it. /Live/ that life here and now. Work out things, while you can, and-- create a strong bond then you ever could." Xander then does give an honest smile. "Because once this is all over, we go back to our normal lives and you two... You two will be far more than what you are now."
Kita
Tolbana

"Nothing wrong?" Kita asks, then repeats herself a second time, "Nothing wrong..." The girl takes a breath, shaking her head, "Jurou has already given up /enough/ for me. Her reputation at school, the trust of her parents. How the hell do you think they reacted to her being with someone like me?"

His life in Japan likely gives a lot of clues into this. Kita had explained before that her appearance is body-scanned. Her outlandish hair, piercings, and general manner all put her squarely amongst those who Japanese society would almost certainly frowned upon. Not to mention the fact that a good chunk of Japanese society still frowns upon same-sex relationships.

"She asked me, before she accepted the university scholarship, if it was okay. I could see how excited and happy she was. I couldn't take that away." Kita shifts then, walking a little out of the center of the street and off towards one of the nearby buildings. There, she leans against it. "So I lied. I lied over and over again because I couldn't take away her dreams."

Oh, the idea of simply living their life here to the fullest is an appealing thought, but it wouldn't change the world out there. "A part of me would love to just say fuck it to the world. We're here. Make the best of it. A stupid, selfish part." She looks upwards, though the sky gives no impression of just how tall the tower is above them. "But I have to fight for her dreams. They exist out there in the real world, not here."

It's not a resolution. The fact is, the two likely have a lot to talk about in the long run. Kita doesn't seem bothered by his touch on her arms, but she does sigh, leaning her head back against the brick wall behind her. "Welcome to a glimpse of how fucked up I am." She murmurs then, "You've got your reasons, too. Reasons you push people away. Keep them at a distance." It's a statement of fact, not a question.
Xander
Tolbana

    "I do." Xander admits, standing up and goes to lean against the wall. "But yeah, you already figured that out... and I know the world out there is a cold. It-- isn't friendly in many ways, but.." The Salamander closes his eyes in thought. "Really, in the end-- I can say whatever and it won't change the heart of the matter in the end."

Xander then looks over to her, "You two should live while you can and maybe, while you have the chance. Talk over your concerns with her. If you love her and she loves you-- Talk. Hiding shit won't help, it just makes problems worse."

The Salamander pushes off the wall, before he looks back to her, "However, as a change of subject." He tilts his head gently, "... Why did you seem afraid of me?"
Kita
Tolbana

Sometimes, there are things that you know you need to do, but that doesn't make them easy. "I just got her back. So, I think I'll be a selfish and hold on to that for a little while. Maybe after things have settled down a bit, we'll talk." It is something, though.

When he tries to shift the subject back on to her, though, Kita actually manages a smirk. "Oh no you don't, lizard breath." She reaches out, prodding him with her tail. "You just got me rambling about shit I wouldn't tell anyone, not even my girlfriend, and you want more?"

Her brows raise, "Seems a little quid-pro-quo is in order here." She folds her arms, looking expectant.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander sighs softly and then leans his shoulder agaist the building as he arms cross over his chest. Her tail does poke him and his own tail flicks. "Okay okay. Fine, would would you like to know, Imp?" He says with an amused look on his face.
Kita
Tolbana

Kita draws one hand up under her chin. It's one of those softer gestures that shows that she can be alluring even if that isn't really her intention. Her fingers seem to rest there, as if she were considering him. "What's... your shoe size?" Her lip quirks, as if she's having trouble keeping a completely straight face. "They say you can learn a lot about a man from his shoe size."

Her eyes glance downward, then back at his face again, giving a playful wiggle of her nose in the process. "Combat boots maybe?" Ahh, she might just have a devious mind there with that question. "I always did like a man in uniform. Especially the way you took command back there with Uta and the others." Yep, she's definitely picking at him with this line of questioning.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander's tail flicks again. "I'm six foot in real life as well." He admits, "I /was/ in the Army, so yeah, I have a military background. Raised most of my life on base and in Japanese schools, though I spent about two years in America."

The Salamander shrugs his free shoulder gently. "Genetically, I'm a mutt. My mom is half Japanese, but we live in her family home that is passed down to her. My dad..." His voice grows distant then, his eyes look down, "... he is... was... American."

    There is a long silence, his claw finger taps his arm gently in thought, "Last time I actually wore shoes? Or at least what I remember about when I did bother with wearing them... Size twelve?" He glances up, "... Seems about right. Yeah. Size twelve."
Kita
Tolbana

"Hmm." Kita offers, as if considering the details he offers. "I'm not sure how accurate the body-scan is, but I'm around 155cm. That's... 5'1 in American." She has to think about the conversion, since it doesn't quite come naturally to her. "Jurou's got about 15cm on me, but she's always been really tall."

"My dad's half british, mom is full blood Japanese." She did have some parts of her features that were softened slightly by that mixed bloodline. "I'm nineteen, almost twenty. Going to school in Tokyo for art and commercial design with a minor in business." Unlike those who use random appearances, it is easier to read the age of those with body-scans.

She can pick up a bit from those pauses in his story, though. "Big boy." She raises a brow, "Assuming you are a guy. I don't judge either way, but you sort of put on that whole... masculine demeanor to me." Kita seems curious though, "Guessing you don't go walking around much anymore, then, huh? Accident or something that happened in the service?"
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander listens to what she has and chuckles a little. "So short!" He teases with a playful tone, "But yeah I'm around 182... 183cm." He moves his hand side to side gently, showing he has the math down easily enough to go back and forth.

The Salamander nods softly, "I think I remember you bringing up your school, once, maybe?" He raises a brow, glancing up, "Fairly sure of it." Then chuckles a bit, "Yeah, I'm a dude. I'm not really into the whole roleplay stuff, so didn't really get /that/ different from myself, you know?"

However once Kita got to wanting to know more about what happened, he freezes up. His brows narrow, his eyes grow more distant. Kita can slowly watch what almost seems like he pales a little. His jaw line tightening, before he closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Rather not e-explain, sorry." He says softly.
Kita
Tolbana

"Hey. I'm taller than average for a Japanese girl." Kita pokes at him again with her tail, giving him a narrowed glance. She isn't offended, though, it seems more akin to her playful demeanor.

When he excuses himself from explaining further, the girl doesn't press. Instead, she offers, "My dad was in an accident when I was twelve or thirteen." She taps her foot slightly on the ground, "Truck clipped the front tire of his motorcyle. Launched him from the bike and up onto the sidewalk."

Something passes in her eyes as she tells this story, though it is hard to tell what exactly that expression might mean. "He was in the hospital for months. They weren't certain he'd recover his ability to walk. Then rehab for almost a year or so after that." She glances at him, "He's okay now, though. But it was pretty rough for us for a while."
Xander
Tolbana

    "He is lucky he survived a crash like that." Xander says to her. "Even more fortunate he was able to regain his ability to walk." He goes to roll his back against the wall and slides down to sit on the floor.

His arms rest over his knees as he looks out. "I am... Paralyzed from the waist down. Can't walk, no matter how I tried and trust me, I tried. You can pretty much figure anything from belt line, going down? It has zero feeling."

Xander chuckles a little, but it wasn't a happy one. Bit distant, sad even. "Someone could slam a rock between my legs and I'd never know it." He rests his head back and looks up. "So, for me, VR games like this gave me back something I lost. However this game..." He looks over to her, "... Lets just say when you go from nothing working, or at least not feeling /real/, to /things/ working as if they /are/ real. It takes some adjustment."

    He looks over and slightly up at her, "So, when you were teasing me and the like? It wasn't the fact I didn't /mind/ the attention, it was-- more like-- I was having trouble, you know, behaving." He laughs softly. "You grow up knowing how to deal with things, then when you have it taken away, then given back.. Its.. hard to... readjust."

The Salamander looks over to the fountain, "I think its been... damn.. I'm thirty-five now, so..." He closes his eyes and leans his head back, ".. two years.. rec.." he mumbles, though it was hard to make out what the ending word was. "... shit has it really been that long." He says out loud, then a sad smile crosses his face. ".. Holy.. ten damn years.. Ten, long, painful years."
Kita
Tolbana

"I know." Kita replies, though her voice is even softer than before. It's easy enough to assume that it had been a traumatizing time for her and her family, but her reaction seems to hint that there might be more to it. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but then he speaks and the topic at hand seems serious enough that she respects it.

"Shit." She murmurs. It lacks all the levity as she slowly lowers herself to sit next to him. As if not even thinking about it, she reaches out and places a hand on his leg. It is just the sort of touch that he wouldn't have been able to experience in the outside world. "I'm sorry." That's when she seems to realize what she is doing by trying to offer comfort, and she lifts her hand again, sighing to herself.

"Force of habit." Kita tucks her hand back into her lap. "Listen... I can't say that I would have acted different if I knew. I'm not sure I would." She looks at him, lightly chewing on her lower lip just over a spot that has a faint pink scar. "Not because I was trying to rile you up, but because I tend to be affectionate with people. I mean, shit, it's kind of flattering in a way. Not like I've ever had a guy show any interest whatsoever." She laughs.

"I'll try to keep my hands to myself, though, if that makes it easier. Though I won't be offended by any reactions, either." She shrugs, "You have a right to feel whatever you can feel here. I imagine it's amazing to have that back." Thoughtful, she hums to herself. "If I was single, I'd offer you a go to try out the plumbing but..." But she isn't.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander listens and smirks as her hand goes to rest on his leg. "Its fine. I-- need to get use to it again. Even though I know that..." He stops himself. His eyes fall to the stone under his feet.

".. do I really..." He whispers gently, before he looks back to her, "But yeah, I need to get use to it. So, feel free to hug away and prod me-- if it becomes too much, I-I'll just let you know, okay?"

    Xander reaches over and pokes her in the shoulder gently. "And its fine! I'll take that as a compliment as well. I actually use to be a bit of a one night stander when I was younger, though there was many bets and drinking involved," He admits with a hand wave. "Not that many women on base, so, well, I'm sure you get the idea."

The Salamander rubs the back of his neck gently, in realizing how bad that may all seem. "Besides, I /know/ it works, just," Points his finger at her, "No questions on it okay. Just /don't/."

Xander gives her a quick once over, "By the way, that scar on your lip... What is that all about?"
Kita
Tolbana

There is a look that Kita gives him, not quite able to figure out exactly the line of his thoughts as he jumps from sentence to sentance. Still, she gives him an incline of her head as confirmation that she understands the boundaries. "I'm fine with that. You tell me the boundaries and I'll follow them."

When he pokes her in the shoulder, she casts those stormy blue eyes back at him. "I've... only ever been with Jurou. We met in highschool and have been together pretty much ever since. Other than the long-distance thing." Kita explains. "So I don't exactly have much experience with guys. Probably never will, but that's okay with me." She hesitates for just a split second, "I want to marry her someday."

And on that admission, she clears her throat, leaning a little over against his shoulder. It's companionable, the warmth of her against his side, but without the teasing edge to it from before. "Gods forgive us, I know how it works Xander. You know porn is a /thing/ right? The internet has been back up for a year now and I'm a lonely college girl." The laugh that follows is soft and genuine.

"Huh?" She blinks when he asks about her lip, raising a finger to brush over it. "Oh. I used to have more piercings than I do now. Lip, tongue, eyebrow." She uses the same hand to brush the strands of hair away from her brow where a similar pink mark is visible. "Jurou has a really conservative family, so I got rid of a few." Which closed up without being used.
Xander
Tolbana

    Xander lets her lean against him and he chuckles a little at the porn remark. "No /really/." There was a heavy sarcasm there. "You /don't/ say! Such an innocent /artist/ mind, brought low by that darn, evil, porn industry!" The Salamander laughs a little. "Good on you though for sticking to Jurou. I could tease you about some stuff, but eh, what you never know, you never miss."

Xander shifts just a little to get a bit more comfortable from the leaning of her body weight and perhaps maybe even make it a tad more comfortable for her. "Well, that is nice of you. Though you are a bit of a social rebel after all huh? Crossing those lines all over the place."

The Salamander yawns a little, seeming to be relaxed. "So, uh, am I forgiven yet?" He muses at her with a friendly smile.
Kita
Tolbana

"Hey, don't mock it. That shit sells." Kita quips. "An artist could put themselves through college on the boners of the hentai-obsessed unwashed masses alone." Though she does not confirm, nor deny that she was doing that, herself. Afterall, she had been taking commission work. "My dad is a biker who performs rock music, I think I was corrupted long before ALTIMIT."

With another of those gentle laughs, Kita shakes her head. "Well, I kind of figured that if people were going to call me a freak or a witch, I might as well look and act the part?" She blows a few strands of hair out of her eyes, "Besides, people don't bother you as much when they think you might be a delinquent and they are worried about what crazy shit you might do next."

At his question of forgiveness, she gives him a long, hard look. "Maybe." She decides. Because teasing him is more fun than a straight answer.
Xander
Tolbana

    "I'll take the maybe." Xander admits, before he yawns again. "Though if you're not careful, I might use you as a pillow." He tail gently thumps the ground. "Your pretty comfy. I can see why this Jurou would keep you around."

Was he honestly going to fall asleep, sitting there against her? Probably!
Kita
Tolbana

"Get some sleep, then." Kita replies, not seeming to have any issue with being used as a pillow. With Xander present, it's unlikely that either of them will get harassed much, and it gives her an opportunity to sit, quietly, working on some drawings.
Xander
Tolbana

    And sleep Xander does and for that very reason. Less likely for trouble, when you realize the combo sitting side by side was a mage and a tank. That is just asking for a double fireball in the face.