Fourth Shot

[tank_sniper]

[Shockingly enough, Shinon is not in a dungeon or field for once! Rather, she's sitting for a break in the Warp Gate room in Mac Anu, her beloved Hécate II propped up beside her. She's also... incredibly zoned out. To the point where she probably won't notice other characters unless they actually come up to her and call out to get her attention. By the looks of it, she's fairly worn out despite it only being the afternoon.

The people most close to her (particularly guildmates) are free to note that not only has she not been around the @Home much lately, but she also seems to have lost a level somehow.

Somebody's been pushing herself a tad too much as of late...]

Comments

[minetodecide]

[So here's something out of place. Shinon being, well, not herself. The usual focus she has is pretty much gone and the fact she dropped a level was a matter of concern. He wasted no time to approach her.]

Something the matter?

[tank_sniper]

[She blinks a few times before she fully registers him.]

...Oh. Ryusei.

It's... not really important.

[minetodecide]

Uhuh.

[He takes out his relic and after a few clicks, he opens his friends page. He sits down next to her.

You lost a level over something that's "not important", is that what you're telling me? Do you expect me to believe that?

[tank_sniper]

[She raises her voice slightly in her agitation, which is especially odd since she's usually good about keeping her cool.]

So I made a mistake and bit off more than I can chew. Even I mess up sometimes.

[minetodecide]

Yeah, but to mess up like this?

[He tucks the relic away in an attempt to not agitate her anymore]

What happened? Why didn't you call for back up?

[greaterspeed]

[never one to leave his friends alone, Sonic's going to be standing in front of Shinon, waving his hand in front of her]

Yo! Earth to Shinon! You there?

[She's usually pretty good at noticing him. It's not like he bothers to ever hide his presence anyway]

[tank_sniper]

[Give her a second to shake herself out of her thoughts. She's still clearly distracted, though.]

Yeah. Did you want something?

[greaterspeed]

Nah, I was dropping by to say 'hi' but you look beat. Wassup?

[tank_sniper]

Nothing really. I just... took on more than I could handle.

[Judging by her expression, she's none too happy about that. But it's also clearly not the only problem here.]

[greaterspeed]

[...]

Doesn't look like 'nothing' to me.

[he flops down next to her uninvited before asking;] Gold Ring for your thoughts?

[mercuryangel]

[...welp, this looked bad. Mia crouches down to get closer to her, trying to gently get her attention.]

Shinon, what happened?

[tank_sniper]

[It takes her a moment to rouse herself from her thoughts.]

Mia...?

[And a headshake.]

It's nothing. I'm just resting.

[Totally.]

[mercuryangel]

It certainly looks like you have a reason to.

[There's no way that isn't at least part fatigue. She knows a lot of Shinon's habits when it comes to exploration.]

[tank_sniper]

I skipped some breaks, that's all.

[Or more like all of them, but well.]

[mercuryangel]

[She rummages around in her bag before realizing that her inventory is still Relic-controlled. Man, she might never get used to that.]

[After all that, she takes a rather ordinary-looking cookie out.]

I'm not sure how much this will help, but I think you should have it.

[greatcleavage]

...What's with thousand-yard stare?

[Roy has an apple and is munching it as he ponders his guildmate with a concerned expression.]

[tank_sniper]

[Oh hey there was a person there. And somebody she knows.]

...Nothing much. I'm just... A little tired.

[It's kind of true at least.]

[greatcleavage]

[Roy stops, because as true as this may be, it nevertheless strikes Roy as unlike her nonetheless. He waits a moment, to see if she'll enlighten him further.]

[tank_sniper]

[Nope, because she's back to staring into space, except it's vaguely aimed at the ground this time.]

[greatcleavage]

[Once that moment elapses, Roy takes a seat next to her, then wordlessly digs an apple out of his inventory and offers it to her.]</small.

[elucidator]

[ on his one break of the day, it wasn't often that he found himself running into Shino. in fact, it had been a while since he had seen her, hadn't it? not ever since their first meeting.

there's a hesitant pause, before he calls out from a short distance behind. ]

Shino. [ a beat. ] Hey. Long time no see.

[tank_sniper]

[Oh shit this is so the last person she wanted to see her like this.]

Oh-- Er, hi.

[She tries to maintain her cool nonetheless.]

...Yeah, it's been a while. Still level grinding?

[elucidator]

Is there anything else to do around here besides that?

... You're right on the mark, at any rate. [ a yawn escapes his mouth, before he plops himself down a small distance away from her. ]

I'm guessing you've been up to the same.

[ it's not hard to tell that something different was in the atmosphere today, but Kirito was never one to pry. ]

[tank_sniper]

More or less. Like you said, there's not much else we can do.

[...She almost looks like she's about to say something else, but... It's not like she can exactly broach the whole Laughing Coffin topic easily.]

[elucidator]

[ he pauses after hearing that, reluctantly. ]

You look like you have something to say on top of that.