Dragon Lagoon Beach

[Apollymi]

Kou seemed to take the compliment on his updated appearance pretty well. Even so, Miki had to eventually let her gaze shift away, to save herself from future embarrassment, but unlike Miki, Hikari was staring directly at Kou. She knew her brother better than anyone else in the world. She knew for a fact that the lad had spent hours designing his character in the character creator to give it his own face as closely as he could manage it. He'd basically just been complimented on how he looked at base. It took everything in the demi-human's body for her not to raise both her arms behind Miki and ask her brother aloud what he thought he was doing not properly accepting this compliment. 'Like what the actual hell. She just said she likes your face, your actual face. She likes the way you look, balls in your court Baka-nii!' she thought. Instead of saying anything she watched with all the ill disposition she developed due to the lack of action here. In the meantime, Miki smiled bashfully down at the egg in her lap, she opened her senses to it once again, and felt its life force moving around within the shell. "Does this seem really active to you?" she managed to Kou. She didn't know what kind of progress to expect from this egg, nor did she have a real way to quantify her own abilities, but she was pretty sure this egg was way more active now than it had been at the start of their journey. To facilitate the conversation she moved a bit closer to the lad all while Hikari leaned her head back. She wasn't interested in hatching the egg, but she kept an eye on the situation for any valuable information she could get from this pairs interactions.

[Bloodedge]

Kou kept his gaze away from Miki for some time after sharing his gratitude. He wasn't sure what sort of reaction was reasonable to have to such a thing, but he was saved from having to do so by Miki herself. The girl moved closer to Kou while asking if the Filolial egg seemed unusually active. Considering her sudden closeness, Kou was able to tentatively reach out and touch the egg, simultaneously making a marked effort to avoid looking to Miki herself. He was at least able to confirm that, indeed, the egg's behavior was quite strange. "Hmm. Yeah, actually. If it's anything like the controller response, this egg's going crazy. The one I had didn't even make my controller pulse this much when it was literally hatching."

[Apollymi]

Both of the older teen adventurers seemed to be content not to look at each other directly, until of course the issue of the egg came up. Kou seemed to be tentative in how he approached it, but upon making contact with the egg, his insight was immedaite and gave Miki a bit of cause for concern. "Wait does that mean it's hatching?!" she exclaimed holding the egg up above the water's surface to have a look at it. "Oh shit! It is..." she said just as the little creature within seemed to rocket itself against one side hard enough to cause the first crack within the shell. "Oh shit, oh shit! What do we do?!" she questioned suddenly rather excited but at a complete loss as to what her next step should be. All this commotion caused Hikari to raise her head and watch the pair of other teens as they became the parents of a chicken.

[Bloodedge]

It was very possible that the Filolial egg would soon be hatching. Miki wondered aloud if it happened to be hatching here and now, only to exclaim that it was after looking at it again. "It is!?" Kou repeated with an upward inflection and much excitement. There was also a spark of nervousness within this reaction, as he didn't actually know what to do. "Uhh... I dunno! They just sort of spawn in the game, I don't know how to deal with an egg hatching when it's real! How do pregnancies work!? Hikari, we need towels and hot water!" he exclaimed, looking frantically toward the demi-human with his hands flailing in the space around the cracked egg.

[Apollymi]

Her head now raised, Hikari got a full vision of the apparent problems of her brother and his not girlfriend. In their excitement surrounding the moment neither of them seemed to know what to do. A string of swears came from Miki which she thought was about expected, but the flailing motions of her brother combined with his words which lacked real thought made her look at him eyes blazing. "First of all, we're teenagers, I doubt either of us has ever been pregnant," she managed, as she moved towards the lad. Upon reaching him she aimed a gentle slap across his face to bring him back to his senses because obviously he'd lost them in the moment. "Second, and this is very important, we are literally sitting in the biggest hot spring known to man. I'm not giving you hot water. Baka-nii, I didn't expect you to actually go fucking stupid on me over a chicken..." she mumbled. She turned to Miki and lowered the egg into the water and then made her way to the outside for the towels she was asked for all while muttering about how stupid this pair was in not so hushed tones. A second or two later, a bit of nervous laughter escaped Miki and she managed to shake off her own embarrassment. "Gomen... I just got a little excited," she murmured still feeling the constant shifting of the creature within the egg. A moment or two later, Hikari dropped a towel at their side of the hot spring on dry land, before moving a great distance across it, content to observe from a distance while muttering more insults about her brother. All the while more and more cracks appeared upon the surface of the egg, until bubbles escaped the shell and the entire top popped off. Out of this popped a small bird, jet black in color with a shining black beak and a look of sheer anger on its face. "Sugoi!~ It's here!" she muttered dropping the egg shell and reaching her hands up into the air with the intention of catching the small bird before it could hit the water again.

[Bloodedge]

During his freak-out caused by the hatching egg, Kou was approached by Hikari, who proceeded to slap him in a way which temporarily took him out of the moment at hand. In fact, the impact to his face made him pause entirely. The words which accompanied this were ones which rang true. If hot water would be of any use, there was no way to bring any... considering they were in hot springs. "... Oh, shit. That was retarded," he said in a moment of clarity. Hikari went about gathering the requested towels though, whilst Kou rubbed his face. The egg continued to crack in the meantime. In a matter of moments, a pure black Filolial was popping out of the egg through its top, rising above the water's surface in a state of rage. "Yosh! It really hatched like that!" Kou was elated, seeming to not even care very much about the status of the Filolial now that it had actually hatched. What's more, he saw the rage in the chick's expression, and realized why it must have been hatching so readily in this area.

[Apollymi]

"Yes, yes it was..." this was Hikari's only words to her brother as she settled back into the water. Still, it was something amazing to watch as this angry little bird popped out of the egg shell only to land in Miki's extended hands. The lass lowered her arms and the bird looked left and right with that same angry expression visible, but that soon shifted to confusion as it didn't seem to find what it was looking for. "Kawaii!~ It's black and cute... and kinda angry," said Miki as she extended her arms out to Kou so he could see it too. "Why is it angry?" she wondered as it was the only way to conceptualize the look on the face of the tiny bird, even as it shifted to confusion it looked between Miki and Kou multiple times only to have its feathers ruffle and then smooth, with the extension of its wings. A gentle chirp escaped it as it came to the conclusion that there wasn't anything present which required it to be aggressive.

[Bloodedge]

Miki addressed the fury of the Filolial, even holding it out for Kou to view in the meantime. He drew closer, until he was interestingly the same distance from the Filolial as Miki herself. "It is angry. I would be too," he said, already having an understanding as to what the creature expected upon hatching. "Filolials and Dragons are natural enemies, according to game lore. This place is full of Dragon Mana, so our little chick here was probably sensing it before hatching." As Kou spoke, he reached out to pet the chick with his forefinger, acknowledging its confusion so soon after birth. "There's no Dragon here, though. Everything's fine," he said with a gentle smile.

[Apollymi]

At the mention of how angry the little bird looked, Kou mentioned a bit lore in the game about Dragons and Filolials. His words implied that the Filolials actions were in response to the high quality Dragon Mana found in the area. "Sou ka, I guess I would wake up angry too, if I thought I was about to be thrown into an immediate fight with my mortal enemy," she said calmly. She shifted the little bird into one hand and gave it a gentle pet too. "Sugoi!!~ It's so soft," she mentioned seemingly excited by the prospect. She cupped it once more as the little chick seemed to lavish in the attention of pets and cuddles. Fully acknowledging this pair as its parental figures. Miki also realized how caring Kou seemed to be in the moment and found it quite cute as she looked at him. She too had all but abandoned the quest for high stats and the like from the creature as she simply fell in love with it as a cute existence. "Ano... one more question, can we tell if it's a girl or a boy? I mean... we still have to name it..." she said with a firm nod. "What if we name it Philip and it's a girl?" she said in a joking tone, though the general output of it was serious.

All the while, Hikari watched as these two practically fawned over their new pet. And while she would admit that the little chicken was quite cute, something about the way this pair was handling the situation was an entirely different kind of cute. 'Look at them. They don't even know they already look like a couple do they? Over there, beaming like new parents with their cute baby... Chikuso! It shouldn't be so hard to hook two people up...' she mused internally. Whatever the case, she'd continue to watch the developments to see what would come of their current situation.

[Bloodedge]

"It is! I never stopped to think what one would feel like, but it's really smooth and all!" Kou said, both agreeing with Miki and adding his own tidbit. Miki shared a curiosity about the gender of the Filolial, which Kou also hadn't considered naming until it was brought up. "Girl Philip would be hilarious, but... probably best to avoid that, yeah. It's a girl though, judging by the beak. In that case..." Kou continued rubbing the chick's head with his finger, wondering if it would respond to a name it preferred if he offered a list. "Filo? Liara? Kuroki? Leeroy? Fiona? Leeroy?"

[Apollymi]

"Right?! It's all fluffy like a pillow~" Miki explained her current feelings about the softness of the Filolial. As their conversation progressed it became apparent that Kou was perfectly capable of figuring out a male from a female Filolial. This was quite a relief to Miki as she didn't want to have to go all the way back to the farm to consult the farmer but she would. She also figured naming the creature earlier would help out its growth prospects, like it had with their other mount. The small chick lavished under the attention of the hands that petted it, "Girl Philip would be funny, but I don't want to ruin the life of a real creature... with my pop-culture references. Can't be a total meme lord or anything..." Miki mentioned. She was no internet troll, but she enjoyed the small jokes, but with a creature so cute she had no intention of making its existence a joke. Soon after, Kou started listing off names, and the little bird in her hands began looking at him as he did. Each time a name was spoken, she nipped at his fingers. Particularly hard when Leeroy was mentioned twice. All the while, Fiona got only a gentle flutter of the female chicks wings and her chest puffed out. Miki felt the vibrations of her little body within her hands. "Uh... might be Fiona, that gave a nice reaction... I think it's pretty cute too!~" she said of that particular name. At the mention of Fiona from Miki, a little vibration came from the creatures body again. Like it was indeed what it'd chosen.

[Bloodedge]

Kou listed a total of five different names, not quite expecting any of them to be preferred. The Filolial's beak bit his finger numerous times throughout his list, but one particular name produced a favorable reaction according to Miki. "You mean a reaction that doesn't take off my finger? Ouch!" he said, though after Miki mentioned the name Fiona again, Kou could see the reaction of the Filolial. "Fiona, then? Seems legit to me. Okaeri, Fiona~" he stated with a wider, brighter grin than he bore previously.

[Apollymi]

The little bird seemed to react favorably to the name Fiona and when it was mentioned by Kou that it seemed only favorable in that it didn't lose him a finger, Miki couldn't help but chuckle. "I mean... that's about as favorable as one could ask for right? You keep fingers, she gets a happy name... sounds fair to me~" she said in a manner light-heartedly sarcastic. Of course, his agreement on the name would bring more direct attention to the Filolial now known as Fiona, and the greeting he gave the creature brought about a happy reaction. Mostly it made the small bird chirp and flutter as it tried and succeeded at jumping from Miki's hands onto Kou's shoulder. "Kawaii!~ Fiona's so cute... and it suits you~" she said to the little bird, also bearing a grin quite large and bright at this point. Fiona continued to muss her feathers and vibrate seeming to gain a bit of pride about the name she'd been given. She reacted favorably to it being said again, this time vibrating against Kou's neck as she settled in there with a smug look of satisfaction upon her face. Miki didn't know what kind of reaction she'd initially expected from Kou, but she found his smile in this moment to be quite attractive, she also enjoyed the idea of him taking care of someone or something else. It was surely becoming one of her favorite qualities about the lad. 'Nice... it's good to see him smile like that...' the lass thought suddenly very pleased.

Hikari for all of her harping earlier, watched these two interact with there new pet and found them to be rather cute. Both seemed to be completely enthralled with something as simple as a chicken. And while she expected this sort of thing from her brother, she didn't expect his female companion to share that sort of interest in something so simple. 'Baka... both of them are so damned cute... they deserve each other...' she thought with a roll of her eyes content to relax until such a time as they left this place in search of their next destination or whatever or wherever they planned to go for the night.

[Bloodedge]

In the midst of the shared excitement over the newborn Filolial, Kou received the pleasure of having the chick hop onto his shoulder. In this way, it was acting more like a pet, or even a child, than what one would expect of a mount from a video game, but this was also just real life now. "From biting to this, huh? I don't mind the change, and I guess I'm doing alright as long as I still have fingers," he said while reaching up to Fiona again.

It was the later part of the same night that this group, still sans Karna, could be found at the beach again after acquiring a large tent and sleeping bags from another shop not too far away. The moon was high in the sky while Kou tampered with the six-person tent's support beams to ensure its solidity by the sandy shores. Once he thought he was as done as he could be with this, he hopped down and called out to the others. "Phew! Looks good! Can we get some runes on it? It'd be nice to not worry about some random monster showing up and trashing the thing while we're asleep."

[Apollymi]

Fiona, as their newest addition was being called, took to her new perch aptly. It seemed that it was respected when she didn't bite this man, and it got her extra petting which she appreciated. With that in mind she found herself snuggling a bit more into him while she was pet for the second time. Small chirps escaped her as well this time, as she was content to ride along this way. "Kawaii!~ She's like the cutest thing ever..." Miki mentioned with untold elation at their newest addition.

When the moon had risen quite a bit and they were back on the shores of the beaches, it would seem that Kou had decided to build the tent for them to stay in. All the while the Filolial chick, Fiona spent its time perched atop Miki's head. It was staring fixedly at what was going on, with a great deal of intelligence in those beady black eyes. Miki found herself absently petting the creature atop her head, as she was called upon to help in the efforts. "Hai hai... I'll take care of it. Not like I want to be attacked while sleeping or anything," she mentioned as she began to walk around the tent posting the necessary runes to create the bounded field which would enclose their sleeping space. "Sugoi! Miki-nee, you know Rune Magic? That's really useful..." she managed finding this whole process to be a bit strange to watch, but she figured there were worse things. "Hai, it was one of the first things I wanted when settling in to this place... it's one of my favorite forms of magic and definitely one of the most useful so far," she mentioned of her choice. Within a few moments the bounded field was created around the tent and to a large area surrounding it. "There... that should about do it..." she said with a quick exhale. Though it didn't take as much energy from her as it used to, creating large bounded fields was still pretty bothersome. After a moment, Fiona jumped down from her head and landed atop her shoulder, choosing to puff up and draw attention to herself. "Hai hai... you were a wonderful help~" she said to the little bird while doting upon it, much like she would any pet.