Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

Maybe a lot of things would change soon. Maybe among those changes would be a change in the state of Charlemagne's manhood. That would have been lovely... if it didn't change in the wrong direction. Ah but no, he couldn't do the things necessary to make that happen. Instead, when Angelica stood up to take her leave, he let his eyes wander. Some credit could be given for his attempt to look away, right? Well... probably not. He thought he should look away, but never did he manage to do so. All he managed to do was make his trunks fit even more snugly. . .

Even with his terrible decision of watching Angelica walk away, Charlemagne was eventually set on the right track for her backside being out of sight. He could sit where he was, taking a bit of extra time to let the thoughts pass. All things considered, that could have been way worse than it was. Luckily, Angelica didn't prove to be so casual about a "simple mana transfer" as he expected. He wasn't sure why that was the case, but he would have expected her to treat the situation like it was nothing. Ah, some luck struck him this day.

It took Charlemagne a solid few minutes of relaxing/meditating before he reached an appropriate level of flaccidity. With that, he could finally get up and move around comfortably. Once he was up and about, he looked first to the moving water around that net he'd placed earlier. Many small fish on their way toward the river had been caught, and they would soon be useful. "Whew! Thanks for waiting; we can get started now! Er... I'd offer a drink, but all I have in the tent out here is beer. I could make a quick trip to the cabin if you'd like though," he said, assuming one called the Holy Princess wanted nothing to do with beer of all things.

[Apollymi]

It would probably be a while before this pair of people understood the kind of effect they had on each other. Such was to be expected when two teens met with different backgrounds at such a strange junction in their lives. Regardless, Angelica easily found herself staring out into space, her mind nearly blank enough to hear whispers over the water. Once again, she seemed to have dozed off a bit, well, not really... she was listening rather intently once more for that strange voice which kept trying to reach out to her, it was almost like a breeze, but once again, it disappeared. Her concentration broken but not in a way she minded at all.

It'd taken a few mintues, but eventually Charles was up and moving around again. He claimed they could now get started and this piqued her interest. Of course, he went on to offer a drink, claiming he only had beer in the tent but offering to get her something else. One of those preferred little blurbs popped back up into her head and she waved him off. "Beer is fine, I haven't had one in ages. But why is that the only thing in your tent?" she asked, seemingly more interested in why that specific drink than turning it down in favor of something else. She wouldn't send him out of the way just to get her something else to drink. Besides all that, she didn't dislike beer to start with, though she could see how it might be an acquired taste.

[Bloodedge]

Charlemagne had no idea what happened while Angelica looked out at sea, nor did he have any idea she'd been spacing out in such a way recently. It was the first time such a thing occurred around him, and he was rather preoccupied with his own situation at the time─ there was no noticing that. Now was the time to figure out what he'd be searching for in the cabin... except that wouldn't be happening. Just as he prepared to turn around, Angelica said beer was... fine.

What? Charlemagne had been attached to Aincrad for about a millennium by now, yet he'd never heard a stranger thing from anyone else here. Something about princesses of any sort and beer just didn't seem to mix naturally. It was a surprising thing to hear, albeit not unpleasant. Frankly, Charlemagne considered it to be something of a humanizing element to the otherwise beacon of holy majesty. "I'm not even going to ask when you've ever had a beer. Alright," he replied. En route to the tent, Charlemagne processed a question. Why was beer the only thing in his tent? The answer may have been strange. "It's kind of a tradition I guess? You're most likely to learn how to fish from some old guy, and they often have beer around. It sorta fits. It's a long, relaxing activity, so a few casual beers is the way it goes," he explained.

With that said, he'd reach into the tent and exert himself just a bit to lift a keg onto his shoulder. Two mugs were grabbed as well, just before he turned about and walked toward the dock. "Full disclosure, I'm cheating just a little," he said while lowering the keg. "This thing's a magic item that keeps the beer cold until it's poured. It's not exactly living off the land, but..." The clause ended there with a shrug. Charlemagne wasted no further time before tapping the keg and filling both mugs, one of which he offered to Angelica, while the other was placed on the dock. "Have that. I'll grab the rods and bait."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that there was a bit of strangeness when Angelica mentioned that she wouldn't mind drinking a beer. Of course, there was quite a tale behind most of Angelica's life experiences. She'd gone without talking about them for quite some time mostly because of her own remaining feelings about the person she'd experienced them with. Of course, she could talk about it now, but she was rather pleased. "I assume my first beer experience wasn't too strange a thing. I didn't expect that to be surprising at all..." she stated. Regardless, it seemed there was an open answer to the question she posed.

According to Charles, one was usually taught to fish by an old man. Said old man usually had beer and it became a part of the tradition of fishing. It was a relaxing and quiet experience and casual drinking seemed to go hand in hand with that. "I see. That does make a reasonable amount of sense. I am kind of glad that a random old guy isn't teaching me though. Seems like that would be boring," she said placing the thought away for a while. Charles came back from the tent with a keg and two mugs in tow. He claimed this was kind of cheating for their 'living off the land' scenario, but also made the claim that the beer was kept cold within the keg. "Well, if I am being honest, warm beer is disgusting so... thanks for the minor deviation from the original plan~" she mused. Soon after she accepted the mug and casually took a sip out of it. There really was something to the whole, old beer thing. She could easily find herself staring out into the distance again, this time being a bit more conscious of her surroundings given Charles was only walking away for a moment.

[Bloodedge]

Angelica didn't believe her first beer-drinking experience was strange. Charlemagne could imagine why. Apart from himself, there were only two likely suspects for introducing the Holy Princess to cheap alcohol. One was unrealistic at face-value, but... he knew a bit better than most how that one was. "I shouldn't be surprised. Apparently, beer is the common drink of many places here. There are these places, Mesopotamia and Egypt, where beer is super popular. Wine is a way more precious thing, but somewhere like this, wine is what's expected. The outside world is weird sometimes," he rambled.

Charlemagne had been taught the art of fishing by an old man in his original life, and again by an old man within Aincrad. Both of those elders were drinkers of beer, so it was only natural that he'd become one. It may not have even been his drink of choice, but it felt right when fishing. As for Angelica not being taught by an old man, Charlemagne scoffed. "You are being taught by an old man. I'm somewhere around a thousand by now," he said from a few meters away while dragging a net full of small fish out of the water. With the net slung over his shoulder, he took both rods in one hand to begin his return trip. "I know you are too; I'm not even sure which of us is older. But... a thousand years is more than ten times a normal person's lifespan. Where I come from, you'd be lucky to see eighty," he mused. Charlemagne took a seat on the pier's edge with that note. The two fishing rods were placed between Angelica and himself, and the net was secured just behind them. He took a moment before getting into the thick of things to pick up his mug and raise it to toast.

[Apollymi]

According to Charles, beer was a popular drink in a lot of places. But he mentioned two of the countries, which were part of the continent in the sky, as places which partook. He commented on the rarity of wine in such places as well. "Yeah, I remember hearing that. And drinking a bit. Wine is good too, but I find it a bit misleading..." she said. What was the truth of such a statement? She'd had several girls' nights with a certain young woman before. And during those she drank beer a few times, then wine and then some other sort of wine which was well beyond wine of normal quality. She was certain such things were likely hard to come by, given the strength was determined by mana quality at production. This meant the best wine had to come from the highest quality existence. "As for wine, does that really count?" she asked in an almost sarcastic way. After all, she'd had the 'wine' that was common in Aincrad and she'd also had some which was of a quality she couldn't even describe.

Moving on, Charles claimed that he was around a thousand years old, and though they were pretty close in age, he wasn't sure which of them was older. He made an interesting statement about that, claiming that where he was from the lives of the average person weren't expected to reach eighty. "Hm, that is really young... though I heard something similar before. I assumed that the mana density had to be exceedingly low for death to be something so very frequent," she said. Ah, her understanding of the world was rather spot on, but she wouldn't ever really know how right she was. "Regardless, you don't seem that old, and you're not stuck in your ways or anything so I wouldn't worry about it," she said of the aging difference. In this world, people like Charles would live quite a long time. She was certain she'd also live quite a while longer than most considering she was already 1000 years old give or take a few years. Still she held up her mug for a toast, tapping it gently against Charles'. "Not sure what we're toasting to but cheers~" she said happily. Yes, they were going to be fishing but that didn't mean they couldn't just have plain amounts of fun and conversation.

[Bloodedge]

"How's wine misleading?" Charlemagne wondered. He supposed there were some aspects of wine that could be considered in that way, but he had no context for Angelica's meaning. He also wasn't sure what she meant by asking if wine 'counted', though perhaps it had something to do with the quality she knew of. One Jeanne d'Arc had spoken ages ago about a wine of divine quality. "I guess it depends. I'm sure you know some people drink wine as a ritual, and some drink to get drunk. It all depends on the culture and wine quality," he stated.

Mana had to be a key factor in human lifespans within this world. Charlemagne hadn't given it much consideration due to being far too occupied with... staying alive, doing quest, etcetera. Comparing this world to the one he'd first been born in however, magic seemed to be the main difference, so there was a great deal of sense to be found there. "That's the most sensible take I can think of. And you can say all that, but it'll take another thousand years for me to stop thinking I'm old now. And by then, I'll be old!" he proclaimed. As for what they were toasting to when Angelica bumped her mug against his, was there even anything worth toasting to? Charlemagne took a moment to think. "Huh, I guess there's nothing really. It's just a habit at this point, so... to being old but not old?" Of course, that would do just fine, he thought. With nothing else to add, he lifted his mug for a few healthy gulps. Meanwhile, he dragged over the net of baitfish. "Step one: baiting the hook. Pick out one of these guys, make sure the hook's in it good and sturdy. That's all there is to it."

[Apollymi]

A light scoff came from Angelica in a moment like this, she'd tasted wine, and she'd tasted the thing being given out in Aincrad and called wine and they were two very different things. "The wine they hand out here is juice," she said. "Calling it wine feels wrong," she added. Of course, having tasted the best possible, it was only natural to call the false thing what it was. It would be equivalent to witnessing a miracle and then watching parlour tricks, the difference was so obvious that it didn't need to be rationalized. Ah, but Charles had a rationalization just the same, the claim that drinking for ritual and drinking for drunkness were different. "I suppose those two reasons are good enough for the types of wine to exist as they do," she said giving a shrug.

Ah, but there were more things to discuss than just that. Their relative ages, and Charles view on his own mortality and her thoughts about the mortality of mortals seemed to be something interesting. He seemed to agree with her idea about the lack of mana being the main reason for shortened lifespans. "Hm, I suppose if you are twice your age, that is a lot relatively, but still nothing to worry about. You don't seem like the kind to get left behind by the times or anything, if that's the case, you won't really be old even when you're like super ancient~" she mused. Of course, their toast was then to getting old, without getting old. She smiled then. "I can drink to that~" she said and then a few healthy sips of her own beer were taken as well. She'd spend the time after, having Charles explain how the whole fishing situation would work. She needed to use a small fish as bait, making sure it was on the hook properly. She went about attaching such a thing with her now free hands. Though she wasn't used to using her own hands for things like this, she had reasonably high amounts of dexterity. As such she had a relatively easy time attaching hook to fish, though it was quite slippery. After it was attached she washed off her hands in the water. "Does this become a waiting game now?" she asked seeming to have made a few assumptions based on the 'relaxing' nature of the experience.

[Bloodedge]

Juice. The wine produced in Aincrad was referred to by Angelica as... juice. How very specific. "Tell that to the people who drink it for leisure," he said, knowing a great deal of Templars who stumbled around the higher floors in their downtime, all due to the very 'juice' Angelica spoke of. His words weren't necessarily to point out a difference in wine qualities, rather the varying purposes of drinking it regardless of its potency. Of course, the more powerful varieties likely served a more specific purpose. Either way, he had little more than a shrug to offer the topic. "It's more than I bother to think about. If it serves whatever purpose you're going for, have at it," he concluded.

If he had any say in the matter, Charlemagne wouldn't change one bit in a negative way, even if he lived a billion years. Alas, there were a few things he occasionally shivered over. "I'd definitely try to avoid becoming some crotchety old man. My biggest fear might even be becoming one of those weird beard-having zealots with some gaudy getup and a 'back in my day' attitude about everything. I'll take my own head off before I become that uncool!" he stated with absolute certainty. A few swigs down, and both of them were hooking baitfish that would soon be put to use. Things were going well. Sadly, there was a certain occurrence that always followed things going well. "This is the waiting game. Put your wrist to work and fling. Watch where you're casting; go for the deepest part if you want a good... catch." Just at the end, Charlemagne hesitated. He'd once more come to realize additional implications of his own words. Well, perhaps that one wouldn't be so obvious.

[Apollymi]

Another scoff left Angelica when Charles mentioned those who drank the wine within Aincrad for complete leisurely purpose. Why? Well, by her own approximation the only way such a thing could function as such was if the body of the person drinking it was weaker than the drink. That was something which seemed like it shouldn't apply at all to 'Holy Knights Templar' which made it sound like they were made of way sterner stuff. Regardless, she couldn't actually counter any points and there seemed to be no reason to do so. Charles and her agreed about several things and the last of what he had to say was something that resonated with one of the life lessons she'd been given by her 'Big Sis' stand in. "You're right. I do believe that as long as its hurting no one, people should do what makes them happy," she said. She took that lesson herself, going on to even expand and change her own floor because it was something she did which made her happy.

Moving on from happiness, there was a new conversation to be had. Charles claimed that he had a steep fear of turning into a very specific kind of person. With such a stark desciption, Angelica could almost picture it. "Hehehehahaha~" a laugh left Angelica before anything else. "I'm sorry. I pictured it and I'm sorry. Don't worry... if you ever come close to being like that... I'll make sure you know how absolutely uncool you are, before you figure out how you're going to cut off your own head~" she said barely able to stop her laughter. She didn't know why, but there was a combination of that image being utterly ridiculous and also something she could imagine that made it funnier than she was sure Charles meant for it to be. Whatever the case, there was now fishing to take place.

She was told to work her wrist, and aim for the depths if she wanted a good catch. She could manage that, but... a quick glance to her side had her look at Charles directly. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was sure that sentence of his was a bit, suspicious. "Yeah, I got it... " she said, rod in hand she looked out at the water. She lifted that rod of hers, and then slung the line forward, keeping a firm grip on the rod itself. The line flew out quite a bit as the bait made its way to the water. She'd aimed for the deeper part of the water, where she assumed the bottom wasn't something easily reachable and then began the wait. She held the rod in one hand, and sipped from her mug with the other. Maybe there was something to this whole, relaxing fishing thing.

[Bloodedge]

The pair had a moral code that aligned seemingly at all times. To Charlemagne, it was relieving to know someone who spent their entire thousand years of life locked in one spot to have such fair viewpoints on anything. One could have expected her to be some jaded individual angry at the world for her own situation, or to have her head so far up her own arse the bulge of it could be seen in her torso. Everyone deserved a shot at happy life, and Angelica understood that.

Angelica also understood how ridiculous it would be if Charlemagne became the sort of old man he described. He didn't seem to be aging more than a year every few centuries at this point, but what if he randomly started to? If nothing else, Angelica assured him that she'd point out his lack of coolness and enable a bit of self-decapitation. Charlemagne heaved a great sigh of relief. "Whew! Good. If I ever even look like I'm becoming that, I give you full authority to slap the living daylights out of me and tell me what for!" he declared.

His explanation of casting a line was obviously taken as innuendo, or at least suspected as one. Charlemagne saw that quick glance in his direction a gulped. Ah, but Angelica moved on from that without a word spoken. Good. Once her line was out, Charlemagne flung his own rod to land in the water a few meters away. "And now... we wait. One of us will get a bite eventually," he said. A quick toast to the air, and Charlemagne was back to gulping beer.

[Apollymi]

Angelica wasn't jaded, nor did she really blame anyone for what was happening her life. She'd like to get out more and try things, but she figured all of that would come with time. Her own understanding of time was very different. Perhaps she was just being kept until she could protect herself? Or maybe her father wanted her to be happily married and all before he let her roam more freely? She could see those things as potentials, and the few people she'd had honest conversations with over the last millennia, had given her quite a well-rounded world view, even if she hadn't seen it for herself yet.

Moving on, it seemed Charles was happy to give Angelica a bit of control over him. Claiming that she had permission to smack him and send him back to the right path if he ever strayed from it. "Okay, just know... if I hit you that hard, you'll probably be unconscious for a bit," she said honestly. Whatever the case, they could at least keep fishing. She hadn't brought attention to his verbal slip and he didn't either. Soon enough they both had lines cast and were sitting and relaxing drinking beer and waiting. A bite would come eventually he said. So she'd wait for it. All the while carrying on a happy conversation and some light but appropriate drinking. "What do I do if I get a bite?" she asked, not sure how to go about the end game of fishing at all.

[Bloodedge]

Though Angelica agreed to give him a healthy smack if he ever veered onto the wrong path, she also claimed he'd be rendered unconscious if such a blow was delivered. Charlemagne knew the woman to be a high-level individual, even a higher tier of existence than himself, but that seemed a little extreme. "Oh come on, give me a little more credit than that! I've been knocked around by things you've probably never even heard of; I'm tougher than you might think!" he insisted with a finger extended upward.

Once more, Charlemagne brought a mug to his lips. He wasn't exactly a heavy drinker and should likely slow down because of that, but... recent occurrences had him needing to take the edge off a bit more. While he was gulping away, Angelica presented another question: what was she to do when a fish took the bait? The answer, surprisingly, wasn't the least bit incriminating this time. "Pull. That's all there is to it. When it takes the bait, that hook is going right through its cheek. All you have to do is pull it out of the water and to you. Careful, though. A lot of fish like to fight, so you might have to bring it in while not letting it snap the line. In that case, steady your hold until it runs out of energy for a bit, then pull. Make sense?"

[Apollymi]

Tougher than she might think. This was Charles, rebuttal to the idea that he'd be knocked unconscious by the blonde haired lass. His points for backing this was he'd been out and about a lot, and that he'd been knocked around by things she had never heard of. That was probably pretty reasonable to most people, but Angelica considered herself a bit differently than most people. She smirked in a moment like this enjoying her beer. "I was considering you to be pretty tough," she said though he had no reason to understand why she'd mention it in such a way. Angelica knew barehanded was her usual method. She was also the sort of person who was magical but seemed to prefer more brutish forms of combat than others would have thought fitting for her. "Just remember you asked for it, if you ever receive it~" she teased gently. Of course, she was being rather honest. Maybe she couldn't knock him out in one hit, but she was sure it'd jar his brain more than a little to receive such a hit from her.

Whatever, the likelihood of her needing to give such a punshiment to Charles was improbable at best. What was much more likely, was her or him having to catch a fish pretty soon. For clarification she asked about that, and was told to pull. There were notes made, about being careful of the line, tiring out the fish if need be but, the end result would be her wrestling a fish onto land. "Yeah, it makes sense... " she said. She'd begun thinking about fishing as a source of getting food, and decided that it was more about relaxing than eating. Drinking beer, sitting on a pier just having a simple conversation was actually pretty refreshing for her. So she continued to relax until of course, a bit of a wiggle occurred and then her line was being drawn.

Of course, such a thing happened when she was mid sip. She found herself wrestling with her rod while placing her mug down. "Oops, I got a bite!" she seemed excited, and was soon doing her best to wrestle it up. She could see the shadow approaching from the bottom of the lake and wondered what sort of fish this would be.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, Angelica had already given consideration to his potential toughness. The way that sounded, she still figured she could knock him flat. Naturally, Charlemagne disagreed. He'd taken quite the beating before, but who was to know? It was possible that Angelica had some sort of secret punching technique that would make his heart explode or... something of the sort. That would be frightening as a discovery. "Well either way, the goal is to avoid the situation entirely. If things do come down to that, I'll try to keep in mind that I signed up for it," he answered.

The explanation of reeling in fish made as much sense as he'd hoped it would. Now that he thought about it, Charlemagne wasn't sure if this method was easier or somehow harder than methods used in his original world. Adding an actual reel to the rod may have been a bit much to deal with... though he did miss them. Maybe he could be the one to invent the fishing reel in this world! If he did, Angelica would be the first to hear about it since she seemed to be enjoying the experience so far. Speaking of the experience, Angelica made note of her bait being taken for the first time. At that moment, he shifted his gaze in her direction. He, too, had been mid-sip at the time; that came to a quick halt when he saw her line wiggle. Watching that, and taking note of the visible shadow in the lake, he made some assumptions about the fish itself. "Must be a big one! Can you handle it?" he asked. Once more, maybe things could have been phrased a bit differently. Oh well; Charlemagne hadn't noticed his own words this time either.