[center][h3][color=f7941d]Wendel[/color] & [color=FFD100]Sunny[/color][/h3]
[sub]Collab with [@Diggerton][/sub][/center]
[hider=Sunny is a menace.]
[color=fdc68a]"--and she doesn't even know Kevin so it's like what, Jess' boytoy gets an invite but I don't? Like, if the bitch has so much beef with me then she should just fucking say it."[/color]

Wendy fiddled with the straps of her headset, listening attentively with legs half-crossed over the couch. This happened a lot. Joy continued fussing by the hallway mirror.

[color=fdc68a]"She totally could have privated her snaps too. She's provoking me, I know it."[/color] The statement was punctuated by the closing snap of her handbag.

Wendy tried the headset on. Hm, still too loose. There was a joke about Lucas and his big head somewhere in there but...

Joy frowned. [color=fdc68a]"You're playing again?"[/color]

[color=f7941d]"Uh...yes."[/color] Wendy removed the device. Because eye contact. [color=f7941d]"Just a little, though. Doesn't this mean you don't have to play nice with her anymore?"[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"She's still in 'the group', hellbent on stealing everyone I fucking breathe at. God, she's gonna be there tonight too."[/color]

[color=f7941d]"Yeah, but..."[/color]

Wouldn't it be a relief, not having to force herself anymore? It wasn't an option, apparently, but it didn't sound too unreasonable for Wendy. She stared down at the straps of the VR device, unable to come up with anything. Joy didn't waver a bit.

[color=fdc68a]"I'll probably be at Steph's so you shouldn't wait for me. Casserole's in the fridge."[/color]

Only a nod in response, and a slightly frustrated huff. Joy observed with a small chuckle.

[color=fdc68a]"Lucas' head?"[/color]

[color=f7941d]"...Yes."[/color]

[color=fdc68a]"Spent so much time with the thing that it stretched out. Don't end up like him, yeah? There are enough weirdos on the internet."[/color]

Wendy twitched. It wasn't like she'd been planning to tell Joy about it, but having the option suddenly erased like that was jarring. Sure, it had only been one day. That Sunny girl had been so friendly though. She totally counted as new friend, right? It was only sensible to tell Joy about the people she met. Even if it had only been one party session. And the fact that she only knew Sunny's screen name. And the fact that she had no idea how old Sunny was. Or if she was actually a he. Or if she had a criminal record. Or if Sunny actually planned on meeting again or if she was just being polite...

By the time Wendy came to anything resembling a decision, the door had already slammed shut behind her. Seconds passed in silence before Wendy sighed, waved a customary goodbye at the apartment entrance and logged into World's End Online.

By now, Sunny had been playing long enough that she would probably be embarrassed if someone asked. God, it’d been… hours? She wouldn’t really consider herself a gamer by any stretch of the term, but the idea of VR was always kind of tantalizing, and now that she had moved away she didn’t have to worry about her parents scolding her. She could practically hear their nagging already, even if they weren’t there. 
 
Maybe they were right too – the game was addicting as hell. But it wasn’t exactly like she had much else to do. She’d been uncharacteristically reclusive since she’d moved. Maybe she was just enjoying her new found personal freedom, or maybe there was something different and intimidating about city people, or maybe she just needed to mellow out for a bit. Either way, the game was a good way to pass the time, especially with the welcome distraction of other people. People like Wendel – her parents put her under the impression that strangers on the internet were scary, but that wasn’t the case. 
 
Or maybe it just looked that way, all she knew was that Wendel seemed pretty alright.
 
Sunny had been sitting in a virtual tavern drinking a virtual beer as she was contemplating this, something that had seemed way too surreal for someone like her. She was knocked out of her train of thought by a sudden vibration from her pocket. She pulled out the pocketbook that the game used as a friends list, flipping it open. 
 
Wendel was online! She was a little excited, but quickly stymied the feeling. It was a little embarrassing, after all, Wendel was just someone she met online. But still, she tugged on the page, expanding it and pulling out a pen to write. She quickly scribbled, her handwriting as sloppy as ever.
 
[quote][i][color=FFD100]Heeeeey! How’s it going?[/color][/i][/quote]
'Wendel' jumped with the vibration. The sensation of occupying a new body was strange enough without the sudden notification. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit of relief when she saw who kept yesterday's word.

[color=f7941d][i]It's going good--[/i][/color] Exclamation mark? No, full stop. No, what was this, a dissertation?

[quote][color=f7941d][i]It's going good

![/i][/color][/quote]
Jesus Christ.

[quote][color=f7941d][i]Have you been on long?

Also how are you?[/i][/color][/quote]
Wendel let her face flop into her open palm with a groan.

Sunny did a bit of a double take at the message. Did this guy read her mind? If Wendel fumbled his message, Sunny was too busy thinking about the embarrassing amount of time she’d spent on here to notice it. 
 
[i][color=FFD100]Uhhh, a couple hours.[/color][/i]
 
She quickly scratched it out. No, no, she didn’t want to sound like a loser.
 
[quote][i][color=FFD100]No, not really.
 
And [u]fantastic[/u]![/color][/i][/quote]
 She underlined for appropriate emphasis. Because she was, as always, doing [i]fantastic[/i]. 

Wendel grinned at the underlining. Yep, that matched up with the Sunny from yesterday.

[quote][color=f7941d][i]That's good

to hear.[/i][/color][/quote]
A noticeable silence.

[quote][color=f7941d][i]Do you feel like meeting?[/i][/color][/quote]
Sunny took a long sip of her beer, finishing it in record time. She stood up, collecting her (few) possessions, slinging a mostly empty backpack over her shoulders and repositioning the book and pen in her hands so she could write while walking. 
 
[quote][i][color=FFD100]Yes please! I’ve been [u]boooooored[/u]. :P[/color][/i][/quote]
 Her handwriting turned notably sloppier, unsurprising as she no longer had a table to write on. She also already regretted using the emoticon. Who [i]writes[/i] emoticons? 

The scarred swordsman cocked her head to the side as she read. Bored? In a video game?

...Eh, it didn't seem polite to question it too much.

[quote][color=f7941d][i]Okay

![/i][/color]

A rudimentary scribble of a thumbs up gesture followed.

[color=f7941d][i]Let's meet at Prontera.[/i][/color][/quote]
She hurried to the waystone with an eager smile, almost missing the peculiar blank slot in the locations list. A pause, her finger hovering over the oddity before selecting her initial intended location. Probably just a glitch she'd report later. It didn't seem polite to keep someone waiting, especially when she was the one that proposed moving. 

Wendel's head started bobbing around, searching as soon as she rematerialised on the other side. She did her best to not let the crowd unnerve her.

Sunny smiled a little bit at the thumbs up. She wrote her own back, but it was almost illegible. She wasn't much of an artist, unfortunately. With that she snapped the book shut, returning it to her pocket, and headed towards the waystone. She was already in Prontera, she was just looking for Wendel. He didn't take long to find, even as a new player his appearance was pretty distinctive - tall, with all those scars on his neck. It was a little weird looking but Sunny didn't mind. Instead, she hurried towards him, giving him a short wave as she made her way past the crowd around the waystone. 

[color=FFD100]"Hey!"[/color] she called out as she made her approach, [color=FFD100]"Nice to see you!"[/color] she said with a grin.

Wendel nodded quickly, waving back.

[color=f7941d]"You're--yes, it's nice too,"[/color] she managed, her hand still swaying in the air for some reason. Was the swordsman going for a hi-five or...?

Sunny kept on grinning, eagerly giving Wendel a high five. [color=FFD100]“So, what’re we gonna do?”[/color]

Oh. Right. Hi-five was definitely what she was going for there.

Wendel quickly whipped her hand to behind her back. [color=f7941d]"Uh, there's that quest line I've been putting off. Not sure if you've already done it but..."[/color]

Hm. Actually.

[color=f7941d]"Hey, did you see something weird on they waystone list earlier?"[/color]

[color=FFD100]“Huh…?”[/color] Sunny gave an exaggerated look of thought for a moment, bringing her hand up to her chin and looking down. Actually, she did see something weird… [color=FFD100]“Yeah. There was like, a spot where nothing was there. Is that what you’re talking about?”[/color]

Another nod. [color=f7941d]"Might have to file a report before we leave."[/color] Wendel was already pulling out one of her books.

Sunny raised an eyebrow. [color=FFD100]“Why don’t we see where it goes? Maybe we’ll find, like… I dunno, some neat glitch. Or maybe our games will just crash.”[/color]

Or they got stuck in some blank white space, forever falling with no one to ever find them until their bodies finally broke down beyond human recognition...

Yeah, Wendel wasn't going to voice that thought like a weirdo any time soon.

[color=f7941d]"Glitch sounds good,"[/color] she squeaked, [color=f7941d]"Lead the way?"[/color]

[color=FFD100]“Yep!”[/color] Sunny chirpped eagerly, popping open her book and quickly placing her and Wendel in a party. [color=FFD100]“Hopefully it doesn’t mess us up too hard."[/color] She opened the locations list on the waystone, picking the peculiar blank spot and confirming it as their teleport location. 

And suddenly they were in front of the gate with the others. She took in the location before giving a glance to Wendel, [color=FFD100]“Woah. Where the heck are we now? You seen anything like this?”[/color]

The swordsman glanced around. [color=f7941d]"Sort of. In an ani--"[/color] Noooo. [color=f7941d]"Uh, in a cartoon a few times. I think."[/color]

Sunny gave him a wry smile. [color=FFD100]"In a what now?"[/color] she said teasingly, giving him a slight nudge with her elbow.

[color=f7941d]"Ani-animation. You know."[/color]

Sunny narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t watched a lot of anime and didn’t have much of an opinion on it, but this was funny. [color=FFD100]“Oh yeah? Anime-tion? Huh, what sort of cartoons do you see all this Japanese stuff in…?"[/color]

Wendel squirmed, made a series of helpless muttering noises before gesturing to the NPC and the scrolls in front of them. [color=f7941d]"H-hey, what's up with this contract stuff? Wouldn't they have sent a notice if new DLC was out?"[/color]

Sunny shrugged. [color=FFD100]“Maybe they wanted to do something different? Some kind of hidden event for new content?”[/color] she hit the accept button without hesitation, taking barely a second to read the EULA, [color=FFD100]“Seems interesting though, doesn’t it?”[/color]

The swordsman watched with dread as Sunny accepted the scroll with barely a glance. Great, now she was going to look like an idiot if she took the time to read it. Normally, Wendy never even used wi-fi hotspots without at least skimming the Terms and Conditions.

[color=f7941d]"Yes, it doesn't really seem like a World's End aesthetic,"[/color] she said as she skim-scrolled through the EULA, trying (and most likely failing) to look as nonchalant as one could, [color=f7941d]"It might be another crossover event. Or something?"[/color]

[color=FFD100]“Yeah. They had a tie-in anime, right?”[/color] Sunny said with a half-smirk, trying to suppress a chuckle. 

Wendel tapped the 'Accept' button with a deep grimace. 

[color=f7941d]"L-looks like we just wait here,"[/color] she blatantly ignored that last comment.

[color=FFD100]”Guess so.”[/color] Sunny said, stretching her arms upward and yawning, [color=FFD100]”So… like… what do ya do besides video games?”[/color] Sunny said with a smile, trying her best to start up a conversation so they didn’t just stand there like dopes. 

Ah, yes. Small talk. Wendel mentally ran through the tips Joy had given her as she spoke.

[color=f7941d]"Not much."[/color] No, wait, she wasn't supposed to do that. [color=f7941d]"There's a nice reserve nearby. I go through--[i]jog[/i]. I jog around it. And through it. Uh, besides video games? I watch movies with my brother sometimes. And friends."[/color] Because she was a normal person that talked to people outside her immediate family, yes.

That went about as well as it could have. [color=f7941d]"Uh, you?"[/color]

[color=FFD100]"Oh, around it [i]and[/i] through it."[/color] Sunny teased lightly with a grin, [color=FFD100]"I, uh, play guitar. And sing. And write songs, I guess, but I've been uh... I guess I've been kinda busy and haven't been doing that so much lately. Work and stuff."[/color] Sunny said with a shrug, [color=FFD100]"I knit, I guess"[/color] she added on nonchalantly.

[color=f7941d]"Oh, that's nice."[/color]

And it was. Sunny seemed like an interesting person, way more than Wendy. Wendel (unwisely and to Joy's instinctual frustration somewhere in the city) decided to leave it at that.

Sunny smiled. For a moment she waited for Wendel to continue, and then realized that he wasn’t going to. That didn’t deter her, however, [color=FFD100]“I work as a barista. At one of those hipster coffee places, so I guess that’s a hobby too. There’s a lot that goes into that stuff… y’know, like, grind size, uh, roast, they’re even kind of particular about the kind of water we use.”[/color] she said with a small laugh.

Wendel blinked. Shit, yeah, she was meant to grab onto those conversation threads. A tinge of relief filled her when she realised what Sunny did. [color=f7941d]"Huh. I guess tap water's not an option?"[/color]

[color=FFD100]“Heh. No, certainly not. They have us, like, filter it and then add this chemical solution to it. They’ve got a recipe for water, believe it or not. Guess that why it’s four bucks a cup…”[/color] Sunny laughed again, running an idle hand through her hair. 

[color=f7941d]"I hope your cafe's not situated anywhere near a drinking fountain then,"[/color] Wendel allowed herself a chuckle too.

[color=FFD100]“No, it’s not. Good thing too!”[/color] Sunny said, laughing a little harder. There was a slight pause, [color=FFD100]“Man, I wish this show got on the road already! I’m interested in seeing what’s behind that big gate.”[/color]

[color=f7941d]"Yeah,"[/color] Wendel glanced at the gate, [color=f7941d]"I have a feeling it's going to be something nice."[/color]

Sunny nodded before continuing to chatter away about her job, because Wendel seemed interested in that.
[/hider]