The Kingdom of Eonis

[Bloodedge]

When the two placed their hands upon the mount-summoning platform, every insignia began to glow before slowly fading away. There was one exception to this, and that was the Ryuuko's symbol. However, when the others faded, the Ryuuko insignia glowed brightly and produced a diamond with the Ryuuko's image within it. "Congratulations, Strangers! You-" the merchant began speaking, only to be immediately interrupted by none other than Kou. "Managed to summon enough creatures and sell them back to you that we paid you enough for this?" he asked rhetorically, much to the surprise and strange satisfaction of the merchant. The man could only laugh while bowing to the pair. "Knew it. Everybody profits, so whatever... right?"

"Eheheh. I look forward to more business with you, Strangers." This was the final statement offered by the merchant, who managed to disappear into a dark smoke behind the counter. The summoning apparatus also vanished, leaving the Ryuuko's crystal to fall into Kou's hand. In spite of Miki's previous statement, he held the crystal out between them. "Alright, so I guess it's time to register our new ride. C'mon."

[Apollymi]

They placed their hands upon this podium only to have something very strange happen as a result. All of the other creatures began fading away, only to leave the one they'd been aiming for in the first place. Miki's eyes widened at this, but before the merchant could even properly congratulate them, Kou was explaining the mechanics of this game. The lad's words, while shrewd in their assessment, were indeed corroborated by the merchant. A giggle escaped Miki at this, "Wow, that's pretty clever of you. Both of you... I guess," she said. Having a great deal of respect for Kou's brain, as well as the merchant's business savvy. All of this happened and then the merchant disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Sugoi! He's so mysterious, I didn't think I'd get to enjoy a nostalgia trip so much~" she almost sang happily. Soon enough though the crystal for summoning the Ryuuko was within Kou's hand and he had something rather strange to say about it. Her face seemed to move in confusion. "Our? But it's your roll, so it's yours..." she summarized. She knew the base mechanics of this universe and knew it to be the case. In addition to this, she was quite into playing such games herself, and knew that people of the actual female persuasion were stigmatized by the 'gamer girlz' trope of individual who played games to get carried and get attention and she wanted neither of those things.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, right? That guy was amazing! I wonder if other games are blended into this as well; it'd be really cool to fight Diablo later on. You know... way later in levels," Kou said with a slight laugh. Moving on, he expected Miki to take him up on his offer to share this mount by registering it simultaneously, but she chose to question this and point out that it was his. Prior to responding, Kou shook his head firmly. "No way. We're both in this, so I'll share it with you. Besides, you're a girl," he went on, only to realize the likelihood of his closing statement being misconstrued. "Uhh! I mean, not like that. I just mean to say... it's a show of good faith. You don't seem like some random chick who picked up a controller and whatever console is popular just to get attention. But, I know it's gotta suck to not be like that and have everybody online assume you are, or treat you like crap... and I don't want you to think I'm one of those guys, or one of the guys who thinks you don't know what you're doing because you're a girl. This might be a weird way of saying that sort of thing since I'm offering to share something people would spend loads of their real money to get; I just thought it'd be a good way to solidify a partnership if we can both have access to something as great as this." His clause trailed on for quite some time, resulting in Kou rubbing the back of his head to clear the slight case of nervousness he'd given himself with his initial speech. In the end though, he wore a bashful smile and continued holding out the crystal. "So uhh... what do ya' say?"

[Apollymi]

"Or or, we could run into Deckard Cain..." she said remembering the narration of a certain character within the universe which she found to be an equal amount of amazing while she was running raids in a popular Action-RPG style game before this one. Moving on from this, her question about his offering of this mount as a shared item was answered a bit strangely. His words seemed initially encouraging but then trailed off into the level of crazy that normally made her log off and join a new server, not that she had such an option here. 'Jeez...' she thought but soon the lad was rambling rather intensely trying to clarify his last statement a bit better. 'Uh...' Miki just stared at the lad, and though her expression seemed displeased once again. "Sou ka," the girl said still staring at this bashful lad. Somehow even without knowing what his real face looked like, and without really having any other connection to him at all, she felt he was being sincere with his offer. His earnestness and understanding in this moment won her over and beyond that... he was willing to give her a fair shake as his partner regardless of all the other craziness involved with their current lives. She took a deep breath and nodded, making an active effort to shift her face, knowing it likely looked more severe than she meant. "Hai!~ I'll take you up on that..." she said as she reached out for the crystal in his hand aiming to register it with the lad whenever he was ready.

[Bloodedge]

It didn't initially seem like Kou's speech was ending very well, considering the expression on Miki's face. He sighed, but Miki soon appeared to understand his true meaning through some miracle following his rough approach to the topic. She even agreed right away to sharing the Ryuuko mount. "Really? I thought I was making things worse for myself," he said by the time her hand reached the summon crystal. One final application of mana was all it took for the crystal to recognize its two owners. In a matter of moments, both Adventurers from another world were made capable of summoning the Ryuuko. After using so much mana throughout the day though, Kou yawned. "Great! It's settled. Gomen though, I'm pretty tired, so maybe we should find an inn and regenerate overnight. This mount could probably handle the whole Lizardman quest for us, but I want some of that action to get my own level up."

[Apollymi]

One final application of mana came from Miki as well. While they did this, she chose to address the lad's apparent worry that he'd dug himself into a deeper hole while speaking. "Iie, I was just thinking... it was really nice of you to go out of your way like that. And give me a fair shot at being your partner," she said, having her own bit of bashfulness. It wasn't often that she felt like she could undertake any of her adventures with anyone else. And she found their banter comforting as a space for her to nerd out without judgement. Even if his delivery of his ideas hadn't been the smoothest, she thought him honest in his words and that was enough for her. Soon after this, they'd find themselves both capable of summoning the Ryuuko though Kou admitted to being tired and offered the idea of them finding an inn for the duration of the night. "Hai hai, sounds like a great idea to me. I am pretty tired too. And I don't want to miss out on the fun later either," she said, fully committed to this new life she had to live. Beyond not wanting to depend solely on a mount to be carried through combat, she also didn't want to risk herself or her new partner to tiredness, and she felt like they'd accomplished more than enough for a single day.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was soon made to understand what was going on in the mind of his partner, and he found it relieving. What's more, they were in a mutual agreement to retire for the night and return to their adventure the next day. "Cool. There should be an inn down the street," he said while making an effort to leave the black market. In no time at all, he would be setting foot in the nearest inn with a silver coin in hand. "One night," he said to the innkeeper, gaining the key to a room of his very own. "Yosh! It's been a great first day!"

[Apollymi]

It seemed they were on the same page, and the explanation of her initial look was taken in stride as well. It seemed like the pair was well on their way to a proper blooming partnership. As they moved along, they soon left the black market with the idea of finding somewhere to stay for the night since they'd both agreed on that next action. She also entered the same inn with a single silver coin in hand prepared to get a room. Soon, after watching the lad, receive his room key, she tried to get one herself. "Um-hm, it's been pretty productive too," she mentioned to Kou before returning her attention to the inn keep. "One night, please..." she offered in response she got a solid shake of the inn keepers head from left to right. "That lad there, got the last room we had open. Sorry lass..." he mentioned. The idea that there were no vacancies in this place was a bit of a downer, but this couldn't have been the only place to sleep nearby. "Hai hai, thanks anyways..." the girl managed not to sound to down about it. "There is another one nearby, no worries. I'll catch you tomorrow," she mused with every intention of simply finding another place to stay this night.

[Bloodedge]

Fully prepared to head to his own room, Kou paused only upon hearing the innkeeper claim he'd purchased the last vacant room. Miki wasn't too visually bothered by this at all, but her intention to go find another inn wasn't much appreciated by Kou. He threw his room key toward the girl while calling out to her. "Oi! It's fine, take my room. I'll go find another spot and meet up with you here in the morning, so you can just rest up right away." With that said, he drew closer to Miki until he was able to lean forward and whisper to her, avoiding the ear of nearby people. "The NPCs in game have mentioned this being the best inn around. You should take advantage; I bet it's even better if you can experience it yourself," he said, content from there to pat Miki on the shoulder and begin his walk toward this inn's exit.

[Apollymi]

Apparently Kou wasn't at all okay with the idea that Miki aimed to go and find another inn to occupy for the night. He went on to toss his key towards her, which she caught only to look bewildered by it the second after it made contact with her hand. Of course, the explanation he gave to follow made her eyes widen slightly, "Wait, but I couldn't accept..." she started. This was an exceedingly nice gesture on top of the others presented by this lad today. Her mind began to race through the possibilities as her need for this to be a fair endeavor was weighed against all other possible options in her mind. If this was the best possible place to stay, it wouldn't be good to send her only partner out alone somewhere else. Beyond all that there were several other variables which would make it less desirable for them to separate for extended periods of time. "Kou!" she said reaching for the lad, she'd utter a sentence which had never left her mouth before this moment. "Wait, just stay with me!" she said, and then it was her turn to look embarrassed. Her entire face flushed red as she quickly aimed to explain herself and all of the thoughts she'd had before this moment, in the hopes that this didn't sound like a strange proposition. "Look, we're both tired and there's a room here. There is safety in numbers so that's a plus. Besides, it's more economical that we both don't waste money on separate rooms. It will allow us to gear better and thus lead to better overall outcomes when we go out on adventures," she said quickly, managing to look abashed. In actuality beyond these points, she still didn't like the idea of their positions being forced, if she offered to share the room he'd been chivilarous enough to give up, she could feel like there was fairness in the outcome.

[Bloodedge]

Kou's path toward the exit was halted by the call of Miki. Her words took him aback at face value alone, and when he looked toward her, he also got a glance of the staring people nearby who all had very interesting reactions to the statement as well. "Uhh..." he muttered, his face turning red. Miki went on to explain using a logical approach to the situation. Kou could agree to the usefulness of saving an extra silver for later, but as he approached the girl, he couldn't keep himself from believing this was something awkward nonetheless. "Well yeah, I guess that makes sense... but that's a little extreme, isn't it? I mean, it's a one bed room, and... well..." Kou made every attempt to explain his point of view, but it was only becoming more embarrassing over time to even have such a conversation. This was especially true thanks to the inclusion of the others who heard Miki's outcry and were still staring at the pair.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Miki had succeeded in getting Kou's attention. Along with the attention of everyone else presently in the inn. This, of course, wasn't at all her intention, and the fact that everyone seemed shocked by what she said, made it no less embarrassing for her. He also pointed out that this was a bit of an extreme leap, and maybe it was, but it wasn't as if this would be the first extreme leap of the day. "Yeah, and I woke up in a video game," she said somewhat sarcastically. Only to shake her head from left to right. "Iie, that isn't really it or anything... It is a tiny bit extreme. But consider it from my perspective. You've already been nice and fair to me in this entire situation. I wouldn't want to take advantage. It is a single bed room, we could share it though, alternate bed usage, or sleep back to back it doesn't really matter. But I can't really keep taking things from you and call myself your partner. So, we can share it. Besides, I'd rather have someone trust-worthy nearby. This is still a new place and all... besides everyone is staring now and it's a little embarrassing," she mentioned a red tint still plastered on her own face. Aside from the embarrassment of the situation, she still had real-world fears of things that could potentially happen to her if she say, traveled alone or if someone knew there was no one nearby to help her out of a situation. And she still didn't have any real measure about the realness of this world compared to the game and there were certain things she'd rather not find out through first hand experience. "So... new plan. I'll buy us dinner right now, and you can decide later, so it doesn't put you on the spot. That way we can avoid all the intensity of people staring at us," she offered this as a plan to come to an eventual outcome.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed Miki only wished to avoid taking advantage of what Kou was offering, and in all fairness, she did have a point. Considering the brief discussion they had earlier, he could see how negatively one could take such a thing. Either way, it didn't sound like a bad idea in the first place; it was only a bit awkward. Kou gave this plan a decent amount of consideration, but before reaching a consensus, Miki made an offer to think about it over dinner. Kou was quite hungry, so this was considered a grand idea without a thought. He agreed rather quickly, and the pair went on to acquire sustenance. In the end, Kou made his decision and eventually set foot in the room he and Miki were to share for the night. A mighty exhale left him as he viewed the lone bed of this room. "Alright... shared room..."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough, Kou had at least agreed to the dinner she'd offered. Whether this was to be taken as a sign in the positive direction, Miki wasn't quite sure, but at the very least she felt like she'd properly communicated her point without it being taken the wrong way. Though she'd not mentioned it herself, Miki was also starving so the meal was rather comforting to her, and seemed to do wonders towards restoring her mood. Soon after dinner though, she was going back to her supposed room with Kou in tow. 'Sharing a room with a single boy, I kind of know. Somehow still better than having every male patron in this place know I am here alone,' she thought to herself as she also stepped into the room and had a look at its offerings. 'Yep. Just concentrate on the task at hand. It's just sleeping. No big deal...' she thought to herself. She took to looking around the room and found it contained the single bed, a small upright chair, side table, dresser. Strangely it also contained modern plumbing though with an old world feel.

"Hm, yeah shared room. Weird though I didn't expect it to be so modern... I don't really understand what time period this world is supposed to be based on... Actually..." she muttered to herself. But at least she could have everything she did regularly. It also made sense of why the NPCs mentioned enjoying this particular inn better than potential others. She soon began thinking back on the day's events, and if she had misgivings about the realness of this world, one thing that stood out to her was their first shared quest. Clearing the warthogs from the farm had been an early game quest she'd done before, but each of the beasts were released in waves. When they'd arrived on the farm it was simply overrun. Considering such a thing made her wonder what other real-world type mechanics the game had come to have with them inside of its world. Still there wasn't enough information to draw any conclusions. There were also several things that made it still feel like a game, gacha events, the meme merchant, the interaction with the quest givers. It was kind of confusing to shift through. And as Miki thought about it, she found herself staring out of the sole window in the bedroom, a somewhat displeased look on her visage, though she was only thinking.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, I didn't either. It didn't look like this in the game," Kou said as he, too, took in the view of very modernized features within the inn. Perhaps this was some strange conversion, leaking their world into the game when they entered. Either way, Kou was satisfied to be avoiding a very archaic lifestyle as much as possible whilst here in this world. As these thoughts flowed through his mind, he rid himself of his sword and other such things, though he didn't dress down much at all before sitting on the left edge of the bed. He noticed the return of a strange expression to Miki's visage, and thought to comment on it in case there was some sort of issue harbored by the lass. "You alright? You're doing that weird face again."