When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

[geonomy]

Who: Everyone! EVERYONE!
Broadcast: IF YOU WANNA
Action: Everywhere! EVERYWHERE!
When: Mid-September - Mid-October

[How's your ship doing, pardners? Is it still pretty damaged? Is it glitching out hardcore? Well, there is one place to land to take care of all that, and that's on a dusty old moon in front of a planet that no one wants to go to. On this moon, you'll find a civilization that looks a lot like one's stepped into a wild west movie, hardened cowpolk and mutant horses and all. Will you become a vigilante, hunting bounties and stopping gangs from doing their dirty work? Will you go exploring planetside, with a cowboy hat and a stalk of wheat in your mouth to complete the look? Good luck with that; there is no wheat. This town ain't big enough for all you flooters, but make it so! For the ratings!

In other words, it's a planet mingle! Get 'er done!]

[September Planet info here]

Comments

[huaaaaagh]

Eh? You mean- are you not...?

[How can you talk about inventory and not be from a game?]

[experiencepoints]

[... Well, fuck. Her face falls again, and though she tries to retain a smiling face, it's very clearly forced.]

No, I'm not.

[huaaaaagh]

[Hmm... so she has no home outside of a game-type world, then? Maybe an AI, or a really advanced character? Or just a full-dive player, part of a system like SAO, only way more long term?

God, that makes him shudder. He can't imagine staying in a world like that longer than the time he'd already spent. But then again, if it's all he'd ever known...

Either way, he tries to backpedal.]

Ah, that's surprising, then! I can see why most people would assume something like that. But for others, it's just reality, you know?

[experiencepoints]

[She can't tell what he's thinking, but she's heard it enough times by now, that she repeats the mantra she's had in her heart again, almost to herself:]

My world is not a game.

[Because, if her world is a game... What does that mean about her, who couldn't even last in that game? She didn't just fail out of life, she failed out of a life that didn't even matter, because it was just a game... It's so pathetic it's almost funny. And what about the others? Yura, Araj, Cove? Just characters in a game?

No. Her world can't be a game. It's reality, everyone else is just wrong.]

It is reality. My world is just as real as anyone else's. Even if we have save points and monsters, it's real.

[huaaaaagh]

[Something about her tone bothers him- he'd tried to be more gentle with his words, but it seems like he's not conveying it well. And what she says resonates with him, too. Back then, during his life in SAO... it hadn't been just a game anymore, not after the first day when the true nature of that world was announced. A world where you can actually die, a world where you fight and even kill to survive, where your only chance at freedom is to destroy whatever stands in your way as you climb to the top? It wasn't a game, it was real. The world of Aincrad had become the only reality he knew. In that sense, it had certainly been as real as the so-called "real world" he came from.

Asuna had said it best: he wasn't just playing SAO, nor was he merely surviving it. He'd been truly living there. With a home, a family, with real experiences and emotions. To call it a game wouldn't do it justice. If her world is like that...

His expression shifts, looking more serious now- and above all, honest.]

I understand. You're right, of course- even if they exist for some people as games, there are definitely real worlds with stuff like that. It's a kind of life that others can't comprehend.

[experiencepoints]

[His words calm her down a bit, and she manages to pull herself together again.]

Yeah. Sorry. I just- It gets tiring to hear time and time again, you know? I can't talk to anyone about my home because of this sort of thing.

[huaaaaagh]

I can imagine. I'm sorry for saying it- I won't make that mistake again.

[He bows very slightly as he apologizes. He's not always great with words, but hopefully sincerity helped a little bit. Alfheim and GGO were games to him, sure enough, but he'd always had plenty of his own reality drawn into them somehow, making them as real as any other world. After SAO, no MMO would ever be just a simple game to him.]

[experiencepoints]

... Thanks. And- Sorry for getting weird about it.

[huaaaaagh]

You weren't weird. If someone told me that my world wasn't real, I'd be bothered by it, too.

[experiencepoints]

... I guess so. Thanks.

I'm Nightingale, by the way.

[huaaaaagh]

Kirito. It's nice to meet you.

[Phew. Feathers mostly de-ruffled, that's a relief. Now he just has to keep from doing that again.]

Do you want a ride somewhere? I think this horse is sturdy enough for two, and it's getting pretty hot out here.

[experiencepoints]

It's okay. I, um.

[She looks kind of embarrassed.]

I don't really know how to ride those.

[huaaaaagh]

Aha... well, it's not so difficult as a passenger. You just sit down and hold on until the ride's done.

[He's kind of clumsy with it, admittedly, but it's not especially complex. A few basic commands, and the horses are trained enough and used to being ridden.]

[experiencepoints]

... I'll try, just don't let me fall.

[That said, she's going to look for how to even get up on the thing, because she is tiny.]

[huaaaaagh]

I'll do my best.

[He is making zero promises. He does recognize her plight, though, and removes one foot from the stirrup to give her something to step into, offering his hand out for a boost up. Two tiny people on a zebrahorse, surely this'll go great.]

[experiencepoints]

[Fortunately, she's 5'1, so yeah, super-tiny. Easy enough to get her up there, though now she's really, really wishing she had clothes that didn't involve short skirts. Still, only other person around is another girl, so...]

Let's go, then.

[huaaaaagh]

[Kirito's not much bigger in this body, so hey, at least she's in good company.

He catches sight of the skirt riding up a bit as she sits - briefly, before he hastily turns to face forward again, cheeks pink - and switches his hand back to the reins.]

Okay, hold on tight.

[He gives the horse's sides a light kick, starting it off at a trot so she can get used to the ride. Easier to talk with someone at that pace, too.]

[experiencepoints]

[Unfortunately, Nightingale will be taking note of those pink cheeks...]

Are you okay?

[huaaaaagh]

[Ack, crap. Being caught just makes him even more embarrassed.]

Y-yeah, I'm fine. Like I said, it's... hot.

[It's not like he saw anything! He's just. Aware. He'd been in a similar situation with Asuna once, too... how does this stuff happen to him?]

[experiencepoints]

Yeah, it's like the one time this uniform is useful.

[Yeah, a purple magical girl dress with a cape? It's a uniform. Really.

Also, sorry, Kirito, but she's gay. Though maybe that would make SAO better, if Kirito's harem just went off with each other.]

[huaaaaagh]

[that would absolutely make it better, since he only actually wants one of them anyway

As uncomfortable as her short dress is likely to make him, he'll give her that.]

And here I am dressed all in black... I really didn't think before going out into the desert, did I.

[experiencepoints]

[I 100% support this AU.]

Yeah, I... was kind of wondering about that.

[huaaaaagh]

[SAME]

Ah... I didn't really have anything to change into, so...

[Truth is, he isn't sure how changing clothes works on avatars outside of a game, so he hasn't tried yet. He's worried about losing the armor somehow by de-equipping it.]

[experiencepoints]

I have a couple of spare uniforms. Want me to lend you one?

[The minidress, she means.]

[huaaaaagh]

[NOPE NOP NOPE NOPE Kirito can already envision the disaster that would cause. He's already been in two situations involving a girl, a misunderstanding, and someone's underwear. He has zero desire to get slapped for something that isn't even his fault.]

N-no, no, that's- that's okay! I'm getting used to it. Besides, your clothes might not be the right fighting class for me.