closed

[curvaceous]

Who • Kara & others
What • Area exploration + private threads and stuff
When • August
Where • Lumina Cloth, etc.
Content Warnings • None for now, will update as needed

Feel free to PM this journal, DM me on Discord, hmu on the plotting post or add me at clodsire if you want to plot!

Comments

> owen, cyno, nana

[curvaceous]

Submission

[ What a silly little group they've formed, and all thanks to Kara's network post. She had messaged all three to gather them for an area exploration session, and their keywords wound up being Paling Fortune's Night Moon. Well, that can't go so poorly, can it? Seems innocuous enough.

They find themselves situated in a murky forest that seems to be...endless. There's no exit in sight. Cool, it adds to the adventure. Kara's equipped with her beginner armor and her fishticuffs, which she seems to be trying very hard to wear with pride. ]

Alright, how are we feeling? Ready to go forth?

[sicklysweet]

[He can't believe he's here with all these children...]

Let's just get this over with.

[This forest looks haunted as hell.]

Try not to get lost, because I'm not going to look for you.

[General you.]

[696_9]

I'll be fine. Let's check this out.

[cuteangel77 wanders forward slowly into the forest.]

So it generated a misty forest at night this time. It kind of makes you think of stuff like the Battle of Minatogawa, right? Which makes me wonder if there's a beach at the end of it.

[notfunny]

Battle of what?

[ idly spinning his scythe around, cyno clicks his tongue. this is certainly more his speed; he'll take a forest any day over some kind of hellishly hot landscape. as he takes a few steps forward, he's sizing up each one of his party members. ]

I wouldn't mind a beach though, so if it's something you're familiar with... I'll hope for the best.

[curvaceous]

[ little does cyno know, the following week won’t be so kind-

Anyway, Kara’s a shortie, standing at 5’0”, but she doesn’t seem worried or self-conscious about her performance at all. She walks forward, just behind Nana, trying to stay aware in case anything decides to leap out at them. ]

Okay, let’s be careful-

[ In the near distance, something shuffles. Then, there’s the sound of something flapping. ]

…Yeah. Definitely be careful.

[sicklysweet]

[Somehow, he thinks this isn’t leading to a beach…]

Sounds like danger.

[He pulls out his fans, waving them in a vague gesture.]

I can only buff one of you at a time, so I hope you don’t get jealous.

[And with that said, he waves his fan and buff’s Kara’s strength.]

[696_9]

Like I would. I should be strong enough anyway, I put, like, a ton of points into defence.

[She wanders forward with a frown, her weapon -- uh, sign -- in front of her.]

What do you think it is?

[notfunny]

[ he squints, raising a hand up to his brow. more of a 'looks cool' kind of gesture than anything else. ]

Bugs.

[ at least to him, that's what they look like? cyno grunts. ]

They've got... they're kinda thick.

[ what is with their butts ]

> dehya, cyno, tighnari

[curvaceous]

Submission

[ Entwined Love's Twin Rocks, eh? How strange. Kara has no idea what to expect with this one, but hey, it seems like they've got a pretty good group to tackle this with. She remembers Tighnari's impeccable aim, Cyno (whom she'd met once in-person, at the Create-a-Cub store) and his fighting spirit, and Dehya's ferocity. Surely this will be a smooth run, right...

Except when they land, it's in the desert. Oh, it's so hot. ]

Oh, god...the heat...

[notfunny]

[ oh no.

heat. again? so soon?? already he's thinking about how they'll all fare; while cyno doesn't mind the desert heat, this is feeling awfully familiar already. which means as soon as he has the chance, he's already sidling up to tighnari with concern lining his features. ]

This sucks.

[ he sighs. ]

Last time we were in a desert like this, I felt like sand got everywhere. Even offline.

[veardant]

[ WHY THIS?? TWO DESERTS IN A ROW.. ]

That's it, I quit this game.

[ okay not really, he's just being dramatic. but if this keeps up he's going to write a strongly worded letter to cccorp!! tighnari groans, wiping his knuckles across his brow, glancing toward their team. ]

I just wanted to study some flora.. [ s i g h ] All right, is everyone going to be okay?

[legendofthelion]

[Dehya shields her eyes. She, too, has had two deserts in a row now.] Well, if it's desert out here that means the dungeon inside is probably something else, right? And we can't really get heat stroke but maybe we should try and keep an eye out for shade until we see what's in the middle.

[curvaceous]

Man, I sure hope so. This is really gonna make concentrating very difficult.

[ Honestly, she can't blame anyone for being dramatic. She'd prefer to crawl into a fridge right about now, but she moves forward, urging the group to do the same. ]

But that just means we have extra motivation to kill things quickly, yeah? The faster we clear this, the faster we get to shade!

[notfunny]

[ he gives tighnari a gentle nudge with his hip as he moves past. ]

Break a sweat so we don't have to sweat, huh. Should've brought a sweater in that case.

[ feeling pretty good about that one, cyno's eyebrows raise. ]

That's a forest. Like, in the middle of... I guess they really left a lot of things to chance.

[ at least it looks more appealing than the sand, right? ]

So. You all enjoying the game so far?

[veardant]

[ moving forward.. yes.. that's their best bet. in his last area exploration, he at least was able to find relief in the shade once they reached the dungeon; he could only hope that the same would happen, here.

so he nods, having no energy to hip check cyno right back, and instead trudges along silently beside them. better for him not to talk right now, he'll need the energy he would spend bitching to shoot monsters, soon enough. ]

[legendofthelion]

[At Kara's concern, Dehya reaches to pat her shoulder.] Let me know if it gets too much, okay? I'll carry you.

[Even if the heat stroke isn't real, the exhaustion is still an issue. But Dehya's confident she can deal with the fake sun.

And then she raises a brow at Cyno's joke, but lets it slide without comment as he continues on.] Oh, yeah. It's kind of strange since I've never played a VR game this intense, but I'm enjoying the combat. And the world is interesting.

@ levi, post-carnival!

[curvaceous]

[ And with that, Kara steps into Glamour's quarters. It's unclear if any of the other members are in their rooms, wandering around, or simply logged out, but when she steps into the lounge area, no one seems to be around. ]

Looks like we might be the only ones in!

[ Which is great, honestly. She decides to head into her room, where it's only lightly furnished, but there's at least a comfortable bed for them to chill on. She closes the door behind them and takes a few steps towards it. ]

You okay with us sitting on my bed?

[trashtier]

[Levi smiles with nervous excitement as the two of them make it to the empty lounge and subsequently Kara's room. It's definitely a better pick than his own room that he's barely touched. He doesn't hang around the @ home enough to bother decorating it. His room at his own guild will be another matter entirely, once it's up and running, but for now...

For now, he can look around Kara's room with awe. It might be simple for the time being, but it's hers and she invited him to spend time with her in it!!

His tail flicks back and forth in tune with his nerves, but it's not the sort of nervousness that he was experiencing before their kiss. This time, it's more out of anticipation for what might come from this.]

Of course.

[He moves to follow her, sitting wherever she wants him.]

This feels so surreal...heh. Definitely in a good way, though.

[curvaceous]

[ She sees his tail swooshing around. It's very cute, and she can't help but smile a little wider when she sees it. But when they sit down on the bed, the first thing she does is angle her body so she's slightly facing him, hoping he'll pull her close again. She liked that a lot.

Kara hasn't let go of his hand -- she gives it a squeeze when he speaks. Surreal, huh... ]

I know what you mean. Honestly, I didn't think I'd experience something like this, ever.

[ Something that makes her feel happy. Something that doesn't bring bad feelings and resentment. ]

I think we're the same in that regard, so...I'm really glad I got cursed with those thought bubbles that day. I like seeing you this happy, Levi.

[trashtier]

[Oh, that is exactly what he's going to do. What has been distracting him is the thought of more cuddling, after all. He likes to think he's being all slick about snaking his free hand around Kara's waist to bring her close, but in reality, he totally missed her cue that she was angling for it in the first place.

He can't help but let out a bashful laugh when the thought bubbles are brought up again. God...that was so awkward at first, but...]

It really was a blessing in disguise, wasn't it? I could've ended up with a totally different impression of you because of how my stupid brain works.

[Ugh, it makes him shudder to even think about. He shakes his head as if to chase those thoughts away.]

I'm glad I didn't, though. Because you're right, I definitely didn't think I'd get to experience something like this. I didn't think I'd get to be this happy. Not with how my life's been going.

But here we are... [His smile widens into a small grin, crinkling his eyes at the edges.] Here you are.

[curvaceous]

[ Levi, truly out here trying his best. His best is good enough for her, though. ]

Here I am, huh... [ She blushes pretty deeply at that, and she can't help it -- her head moves forward so she can lean it on his shoulder. She's still looking at him, though, tenderly. ] You're gonna make me start falling for you even more, you know, if you keep saying stuff like that.

[ That's probably the closest she's come to telling him that she likes him, so far!! Anyway, she's curious about that tidbit about his life, so: ]

What's been going on, though? Aside from what you've told me about, well, people being assholes.

[ Now's a better time than any to learn about her...friend? Boyfriend? Eh, a label can come later. She's just happy he's Levi, more than anything. ]

[trashtier]

E-Eheheh... [Be still, his heart. He can say that all he wants, but it's not going to stop beating heavily anytime soon.] Guess I gotta find out what else works then, huh?

[Maybe he wants that!!

A-Anyway, he relishes in the feeling of her head against him for a moment until he has to talk about his IRL life. Ugh.]

It's...complicated, but the TL;DR version is I'm trying to make a change in career path and my oldest brother's vehemently against it. I can't really fight him on it, though, and it sucks.

I just feel trapped, but it's really no one else's fault but my own.

[curvaceous]

[ Oh, yikes. Family issues! Love that for them (no). She frowns when he gives the rundown of what's been going on, and she hums thoughtfully. People don't usually go to her for this sort of thing, so she'll have to practice her listening skills, like she did with Yael. ]

A change in career path? What are you thinking of going into?

[ This might not be a parental problem per se, but boy! Family members trying to control your life...yeah. It sucks. She understands. ]

[trashtier]

Right now I'm in college for IT, and it'd be good money, I know that. But... [He sighs and shakes his head.] I just don't have the passion for school or working a 9-5 job.

Streaming, though... It's perfect for me, and I really think I have a shot of making it a full-time gig. I can do it all from my room since everything I need is right there, but I can still be social in a way that's actually comfortable for me. Talking to people online is just so much easier, so I actually don't mind putting myself out there to share my passions with like-minded viewers.

I don't know how familiar you are with streaming, but there's actually a big name streamer playing the beta right now. Uta's her name. I'm a huge, huge fan of hers and I really want to make a living out of streaming like she does one day.

[He bows his head slightly, focusing his increasingly gloomy mood on their intertwined hands.]

But my brother doesn't get it. He says it's too unreliable- that it's not a real job. Since I'm relying on him financially, I don't really have a choice but to keep working on this IT degree.

> levi

[curvaceous]

Submission

[ Days before Kara and Levi meet up in real life, she brings him over to do an area exploration run, as promised. She's praying that they don't end up in another desert or lava pit, and thankfully, that doesn't appear to be the case. Grasslands! She can deal with this.

Kara turns to him with a soft smile. ]

First time fighting together, huh? I'll watch your back.