Babying Toto
Smultronstället
“No, no! To the left!!” He barked at two of his companions, the tone harsh despite his good intentions. He watched as the two young men, a brunette with golden eyes and a bluenette with orbs of grey, quickly heeded his advice, jumping out of the way just in time to miss the red armored monster’s spear slash the space his companions had just been standing in.
“Thanks!!” The two shouted, eyes wide with the realization that they’d just barely escaped a fatality.
He shook his head in a ‘no need to thank me’ manner and motioned for them and their other companions that it was time to end this battle. “All at once, you guys!” He shouted, jumping into the air with his broadsword held high above his head.
He watched as a barrage of magic blasts, electrical currents, arrows, knives and swift slashes aimed themselves directly at the red armored fiend, gravity bringing him down to deal the final blow. Blade met the cracked armor, easily breaking through to the blue flesh underneath which didn’t stand a chance against the sharp edge. He continued downward until his feet touched solid ground once again, eyes closed to the body as it fell to the ground in two pieces before disappearing completely; no trace of it having ever been there.
“That was great, Shishi!” One of his other companions cried out happily, the young man possessing brown hair with bangs covering one of his green eyes - though you wouldn’t know it because he was always smiling.
“Thank you, Dada.” Shishi replied, turning to face all of his companions now. He cocked his head to the side when he heard a tinkling of bells coming from one of the blondes. “You finally level up, Tats?” He asked with a smirk.
The aforementioned one, lifted his head from checking his stats, a bright grin on his face. “Yep! Finally!” He grunted the last word bitterly, his eyes shifting to the yellow eyed avatar with disdain. He said nothing else after that, simply going back to checking his stats, wondering what all improved while the others conversed and split the coins the battle gave them. The blue haired avatar blinked curiously and walked over to pick up something, tilting his head some before turning back to his companions.
“Hey, this Cadet Valkyrie dropped this spell book - it has some odd writing on it,” No sooner than the words came from his mouth than the book was snatched out of his hands by their more silent friend out of the group - the self labeled ninja. “Hey, Keke, don’t snatch!” He huffed unhappily, dropping his arm by his side.
“Sh,” Keke hummed, flipping through the book before his eyes grew wide, “Ah, this has multiple uses...” He hummed, “Joko, come here.” He glanced up to the staff bearer, both of them receding to the side to look over the book together while the blue haired avatar merely shook his head and went to Shishi’s side, scratching his head awkwardly.
“Hey, Toto - don’t mind him so much, he’s always like that,” Tats spoke up finally, approaching the blue haired boy and Shishi, reaching out to ruffle Toto’s hair affectionately. Toto merely groaned and shook his head to “fix” his hair.
“You always act like a mom...” Toto mumbled unhappily, his mood suddenly shifting to somber as he stared down at the ground. Tats merely shrugged and looked to their kind-of leader, Shishi.
“Where to now, Shishi? Is there another mission - or do we just go out and do whatever we want?”
Shishi gave a thoughtful hum, shrugging at the question before he waved a hand, peering curiously at the screen that appeared in front of him. He was silent for a few moments, perusing through the list of missions he’d made earlier for his companions and himself to complete. Not a minute later, he closed the screen and looked at the two in front of him once again.
“It seems that’s it for today you guys. We’ve gone through the entire list I made.” He murmured, frowning slightly at the prospect of already being done. They’d only been at this for a couple of hours now.
“That .” Dada stated, pout thickening his tone enough that Shishi didn’t have to look at him to see his protruding lip.
“I agree but it can’t be helped.” Shishi nodded, sighing softly.
“Well, what about visiting the barkeep in town?” Dada suggested, “I think I heard someone mention that he would be posting up new missions soon....”
Shishi grunted softly in response before shrugging. “I suppose we can give it a look - it wouldn’t hurt.” He nodded, secretly doubting that the barkeep would have anything for them. He hated shooting the archer’s idea down though because it was uncommon for him to suggest something - probably for the reason of whatever he said getting rejected.
Dada smiled brightly, well more brightly than usual at least, and pumped a fist in the air. “Great! Let’s go then!” He said, bouncing excitedly.
“Hey guys, this is book is pretty awesome. Keke was right about it having multiple uses.” Joko stated then as he and Keke finally turned to the rest of the group. “I’m not entirely sure of everything it can do but powering up one’s character is one of them among countless others.” He nodded, giving a sharp look at the blonde shifting slowly towards him. “Oh no you don’t. We don’t know if there are any negative side-effects from using it yet - I’ll have look more into that.” He stated, holding the book to himself.
“Must be a rare item then.” Dada stated, oblivious to others’ eyerolls and murmurs of ‘duh’ under their breath.
“It’s a good find.” Shishi stated, placing a hand on Toto’s shoulder then. “Good job, To. When Joko figures out everything about it, I think it should go to Toto. Any objections?” He questioned, raising an amused eyebrow as his gaze immediately landed on Tats.
Toto immediately raised his hands to reject it - not relishing the idea of everyone getting upset with him if accepted the generous offer. Sure he was one of the weakest members of their group, but he could hold his own. Before his arms fully raised, he saw Keke nod his head casually as though he really didn’t care (and he most likely didn’t), while Tats gave a reluctant nod. Toto bowed his head some, looking at the other two unsurely. After they nodded as well, Shishi clapped him on the back, but Toto felt a little awkward.
“Ah... it’s really too generous..” Toto murmured, rubbing his neck sheepishly. Tats shrugged his shoulders some, not really bothered by the fact the blue haired avatar would get the rare item - he was the weakest member of their group, surely he needed some help leveling up or else he’d get left behind.
Toto smiled slightly and nodded his head, looking at Shishi, “Thank you, Shishi - that’s... well, uh, great.” He smiled a bit brighter before a screen popped up in his line of vision and a gasp left him. “Ah... I forgot to do my chores earlier, I have to go now. I’m sorry, hwaiting on your other missions - I’ll see you all tomorrow!” With that, Toto backed away from everyone and bowed before the avatar faded out, signaling him logging out.
Tats frowned, tilting his head some, “Anyone noticed how he seems to stay less and less? Or is it just me?”
Dada nodded slightly in silent confirmation as Shishi shrugged one-sidedly at the question, attention diverting to the screen he’d just pulled up again. It wasn’t that the latter was unbothered by their youngest’s tendency to suddenly leave or just not show at all, because really he was, but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t see sense in moping or even pondering over the matter - what Toto did in his offline life was his to keep to himself.
“Didn’t he mention he was going to be a freshman this year?” Joko muttered suddenly, finger pressed to his chin in a thoughtful way.
“I remember him saying that.” Dada nodded, eyebrows furrowing, “He’s been really nervous about it because of all the freshman horror stories he’s heard.”
“As long as he puts his foot down and refuses to accept what they do to him then he won’t have anything to worry about.” Shishi stated, closing the screen out.
“Easy for you to say, Mr. I Don’t Take From Anyone.” Joko scowled softly, “Not everyone can do that and for some it just makes the situation worse.”
Dada nodded vigorously, adding, “I’ll be a sophomore this year but my freshmen tormentors promised to keep me in mind when they’re bored.” He visibly shivered.
Shishi raised an eyebrow at the two but said nothing, instead turning his attention to Keke and Tats, “You two have anything to add to that or the possible reasons Toto’s been getting off so frequently?” His tone wasn’t annoyed so much as bored - he had no idea why they were making this a big deal in the first place.
Keke shrugged as well, pulling up a screen and checking his in-game messages, humming in distaste. Tats just looked at him, rolling his eyes - the odd avatar sometimes got on his nerves because he was so nonchalant about everything and seemed uncaring at times. He knew he, himself, could be callous, but he at least showed he cared. Tats turned his gaze to Shishi and shrugged one-sidedly, “Not really - I was just making an observation really...” He nodded his head.
Keke cursed softly, closing his screen and grunting unhappily. He offered no explanation about what he was annoyed about, but no one assumed he would answer anyways, so they ignored him. Tats looked at Dada and Joko, adjusting his black and pink jacket and running his hand through his blonde hair. “Alright, well I propose we go see what the barkeep has - if anything,” Tats nodded, waiting for someone to interject.
“I’ll go on one more mission, then it’s time up for me,” Keke spoke suddenly, nodding his head and adjusting his kunai tassel around his neck. Tats nodded slightly and looked to Shishi for guidance - waiting for him to make the first move to transport back to the main city.
Shishi gave a silent nod before waving a hand to summon the portal that would carry them all back to the city. The other four quickly moved onto the signia that glowed brightly underneath his feet, making sure they they’re feet were actually on it and not half off. Once he got the affirmatives from his companions, Shishi selected the city they were to go to. They were enveloped with a bright light and once it faded, they noticed their surroundings had changed from the dusky field they’d been in to a nice port city.
The sound of seagulls crying, waves splashing and boat horns met their ears, a sense of ease settling over them now that they were here in the city. They were safe from any sort of surprise attacks by powerful monsters here.
“Alright, let’s get over to the barkeep and see if he has anything for us to do. If he doesn’t, then we’ll just call it quits for today, okay?” Shishi questioned, glancing at the others.
“Agreed.” They all confirmed, though they knew a couple of them, a.k.a Joko and Shishi, would probably stick around for a while yet. Tats was subject to this too if one of his many friends happened to log on.
Tats was the one to lead them through the city to the barkeep. He waved at avatar he knew, shouting to them in a teasing manner at some points, picking on some of them. The others in his group just rolled their eyes at him - Tats and his popularity was legendary, everyone knew Tats or knew of him anyways. He loved the attention, it was often a joke amongst the six of them, teasing him and joking about just how he got so popular. Of course, Tats would set them straight - he was popular on the forums, often answering questions or helping out newbies - he was always chatting with someone.
Once they arrived at the small building, Tats led them around to the side of it where the barkeep usually stood. The NPC was standing there waiting for them, turning to them as soon as they approached. “Hey barkeep - got any missions? Maybe retrieval missions or rescues?” Tats asked, waiting for the avatar to respond. He took out a log book and flipped through it, as he usually did, before he shut it and turned to look at them with an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry, there doesn’t seem to anything more today - perhaps try another city?” He offered, as usual before he went back to his normal state of blankness.
Tats turned to his companions and shrugged, “That’s it I guess...” He nodded his head, turning to look at Keke.
“Well, I’ll be leaving then. Good luck on the rest of your day,” Keke nodded his head, his body fading until it was completely gone.
Tats turned to looked at Shishi, Joko and Dada, “Well, I guess we’ll call it a night then? I’m being PM’ed actually... I should check it soon..” He nodded, awaiting the other three’s answers.
“Yeah, I’d better go too. I didn’t realize how late it already is.” Dada replied, having almost gawked when he’d seen the time - he’d stayed up later before, of course, but given that tomorrow was the first day of school he should’ve been in bed some time ago. “See you guys later.” He waved, his tone of voice conveying his reluctance to log off, and then faded out.
“I think I’ll go and see what’s going on in the battle forums. I haven’t been there in a while and someone mentioned something about an upcoming tournament.” Shishi murmured and gave a so long gesture, his avatar fading before either could reply.
Joko ‘hmph’ed at that and turned to look at Tats. “He can be a real sometimes. How did we become friends again?” He questioned, a scowl on his lips. Both knew he meant no harm by it though, Shishi was a great friend when he actually took the time to focus on something besides missions and battles and he was an even better comrade. Definitely the type of person you want on your side in a fight.
“So, I suppose I’ll talk to you later?” Joko questioned then, smiling a little at the blonde. “I wanna go look this item up so I can give it to Toto. Hopefully, it won’t have any side effects from using it and if it does, I hope they’re not too bad. He needs all the help he can get.” He chuckled.
Tats nodded his head to Joko, frowning some then. “Hey.... you don’t think we’re babying Toto too much and that’s why he keeps disappearing, do you?” he questioned his friend, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He didn’t think much on it usually, but Toto’s disappearances and no-shows had gotten quite frequent, so, being the considerate person he was, he couldn’t help but worry something bad was going on or maybe they were scaring the poor boy away.
However, before the staff-wielder even had a chance to open his mouth, Tats shook his head and shrugged some. “We’ve never treated him any different, so maybe it’s just because of being a freshman - I remember I had it pretty tough back then, especially since I was a little nerd. But now I’m much better... speaking of which, I gotta answer that PM before I get blasted for it,” Tats opened his screen and checked, “Yup, better go. I’ll see you later Joko - have fun with your book searching, I hope you find some good results for Toto. Toodles~” Tats waved his hand as he faded out, wanting to hurry to the person who PM’ed him.
Joko raised an eyebrow as he stared at the spot Tats had been only moments ago, wondering how he’d ever become friends with the social interaction junkie. “Send him a message and he’s like a dog with a bone...” He muttered to himself, rolling his eyes as he recalled the blonde fencer had once abandoned one of their missions for a friend’s message. Shishi had been absolutely pissed because it had caused Dada to take a critical hit from a fiend, just barely managing to retreat so he could take a healing potion.
Still, though Tats had his faults, he really was a good person. That was evident when later that same day he came back bearing special items for all of them, having apparently gotten them from the friend who’d messaged him. He’d been the only one to remember the date they’d started their guild. Shishi had been too busy ogling the item he’d been given to modify his armor to chew Tats out about earlier.
Joko was pulled out of his thoughts by a gentle pinging sound, signaling that one of his friends had gotten online. “Just the person I needed to talk to.” He hummed to himself, quickly leaving the bar to talk to his friend about the book Toto had found.
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