Silent Greenvale (Tristan)

[Frederick Cooper]

Frederick had just, you know, stepped aside as the other guy moved on in and fixed up all the nasty-nasties that were around. Sure enough, they were RPG-shits. They even revived their own. Wonderful! And, by wonderful, he meant the complete opposite. The guy seemed to be able to handle himself well enough, though. Then again, he probably wasn't weak to fire. So that was a moot point. Fred was still a bit pissed off about that insulting smell clinging to his clothes. It was exceptionally wrong that it was the one thing he was weak to. Why not lightning? Or gravity? Or something like that? Well, whatever. Seemed the other guy was Tristan.

”Yo. Frederick here. You can handle yourself pretty well.” He observed, with a half-wave gesture of acknowledgment before crossing his arms. His ax went behind him. Like a metal carnage wing. Actually, it'd be better if he didn't think like that. That was pretty fucking awesome, and then he'd want wings like that. Maybe Mechazou would get them later? That'd be cool. Unlikely as hell, but cool. For a moment, the man just stared at the other, seemingly in thought, or observing something. It was almost curious, but he quickly revealed the reason for his apparent brooding.

”With a name like that, I guess it's safe to assume. You speak English, man? I kept my mother tongue sharper than this here ax, so I'm good with it, if you are.” Whether it was an offer or a request wasn't quite apparent. Well, that was assuming Tristan even understood the English he spoke. Then again, Frederick understood what it was like to have another language forced on someone. If the other guy was good with English, and comfortable with it, he was sure it was probably something the other party would enjoy, as well.

[Tristan Carter]

Frederick, huh? Tristan mused to himself. He wasn't sure how to respond to the compliment, but he felt sure it was an actual compliment. He did know how to respond to the following statement. "Yeah, I can speak English. Hell, it's good to find someone who's got the foresight to ask." He gave a smile to the man.

"As for handling myself well, I'm not so sure about that. These things are just smallfry compared to some of the things I've had to deal with." Tristan smiled sheepishly as he looked over the man. He was a bit heavy set, sure, but Frederick seemed to be able to handle himself well. It would be interesting to see how the man improved.

Tristan then thought of something he felt he should have probably started with. "By the way, how much do know about the situation?"

[Frederick Cooper]

”Good, good!” The man laughed with a bit of happiness. It was seldom he could actually hold proper conversations in English with people other than his father and the older man's associates. Trash-talking someone in an online match didn't count. He shifted and let the upper part of his ax rest on the ground, treating it half-like a cane. Seemed like it'd be pretty easy to get along with the guy. Humble, too. Sure, there were more powerful things out there, but he wasn't dead yet. That was good enough for Riki. Then that question came up. Boy, oh boy. How did did he know? Well, that was simple.

”Jack shit.” He declared with what might have even sounded like a bit of pride. ”Close up shop one night, get attacked by some RPG-bullshit monster. Get magic voodoo powers and find others with similar powers. Sounds like the plot summary for a generic RPG. All I know is that these things are annoying, plentiful, and come in all shapes and sizes. Like T-rexes. People are in coffins, except for ones like us, and there's strange magic portals to Ye Olde RPG Lande, where everything from fairies to evil spirits await.” Fred shook his head and shrugged. The shaft of his ax rested against his thigh.

”For the most part, my ax, and this thing,” He gestured to Zouchouten, ”work on them. For now, that's good enough for me. I don't suppose you happen to know where the obligatory dark death evil devil is, would you?” His tone, by the end, already suggested he doubted it. Still, there was a lingering sense of hope there. Truly, the man just wanted to get that mess over with and focus on his love life and food crafting. Such was happiness.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan couldn't help but smile. Frederick was right about it seeming like a generic RPG. Everything from bullshit magical powers to bullshit cannon fodder enemies and bullshit random bosses. It even followed the trend of the players not knowing shit about what was going on at first. He knew it couldn't be a game, though. That couldn't happen, bullshit magic or no.

"Sorry, man," Tristan said with a sigh. "I have no idea yet. Besides, I have a feeling nobody is near ready for a fight with anything of final boss caliber." he gave a shrug before continuing. "Besides, after him, we'd have the secret bosses to deal with so long as we want the good ending. And that's always a pain in the neck."

"As for what's going on, that practically sums it up. We haven't progressed the plot enough yet." Tristan started to smile as he finished his sentence. "Man, this is gonna be a pain, huh? Well, at least it'll be ann interesting pain that keeps us on our toes. I can't stand a predictable RPG."

[Frederick Cooper]

”Well. About that.” Frederick started saying something while his expression went completely blank. ”I actually can't even stand a normal RPG.” He blinked and stared for a moment. Perhaps that was his way of saying that the situation really was shitty? Either way, he shrugged again. ”Could've at least, I dunno. Been a fighting game. Or an FPS. I could at least tolerate an FPS. Or a beat 'em up. Hell, hack and slash would be fine. Why's it gotta have magic? I could just swing my ax around, or punch things. Now there's voodoo mecha, hell-blobs, men in tights, and other things.” It definitely seemed that the man had issues with the more fantastic nature of things.

”Oh well. I'll use what I have to to smash what I need to to protect what I want to.” Despite his rant, he wasn't going to back out of the, well, “divine intervention” that chose him to go and fight those things. Though that might have been because he liked not-dying. And if, by not-dying while fighting, he managed to live longer overall, he'd do it. ”So, I take it you're just out for a stroll and patrolling and whatnot? I doubt you're just going outside to enjoy the clean night air, after all.” His smile had returned. Sure enough, it was hard to enjoy an evening outside in Tokyo. At least in non-rural areas.

That was only that much more true whenever that time was active.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan looked at the other man with a smile. So, Frederick didn't like RPGs. That was perfectly fine. To each his own and all that. "Eh, it could be worse," Tristan said. "It could be survival horror and none of us would have a chance of surviving. Compared to that, I think I prefer even a bland RPG." He looked around and took the surrounding area in. It certainly looked like something from a bad survival-horror, honestly. Everything changes at a random time and monsters start appearing? If it weren't for the bullshit magic powers, Tristan was sure nobody would be able to survive.

Frederick went on and made a few more comments, which Tristan couldn't help but smile at. Finally, a guy with some humor! I was starting to think I was the only one around who knew what a joke was, Tristan said to himself. Sure, the only person who acted as if they had no humor was Lucretia. However, nobody else was really cracking jokes about the situation. There was something that Fred had said that Tristan felt he needed to respond to. "Oh, I'm not out for the midnight air, no," he said with a smirk. "I'm here to bask in the glow of that beautiful cursed moonlight!"

He gave a chuckle before looking at Fred with a serious look in his eyes. "Honestly? I'm simply here to improve. I doubt I can find anything out from these areas, but I'm working to get stronger. I bet wherever the ultra-demon lord is, that's where we can find answers." Tristan sighed before continuing. "Anyway, you said you have something to protect? That's interesting. So far, it seems everyone else is just sating their curiosity, myself included. If you don't mind me asking, what is your charge?"

[Frederick Cooper]

Honestly, survival horror'd be okay. The characters and coding in the games tended to suck because of a lack of common sense, but a survival scenario would probably be really easy in the real world. Seemed Tristan had his own brand of humor. Cursed moonlight indeed. Straight out of some vampire story. All it needed was to be red, and it'd be straight out of a certain princess story. Towards the end, it seemed that he'd managed to spark some degree of curiosity in the other. Sure enough, he was curious about all the nonsense going on. That was natural. Hell, he couldn't blame a single person for reacting like it was a curious new toy to screw around with. But he more wanted it gone than wanted it to stick around. Curious, sure, but that curiosity was far outshone by his desire for a normal life.

”Nothing much.” He opened up. He wasn't going to say “My girlfriend!” like it was the biggest thing. It'd make him sound like an idiot. Or a protagonist. Or a romantic. It wasn't like he was down-playing her, either, though. ”Me and my life. My lifestyle. The everyday things. I don't want any of that to change. I get paid to do what I like. I have people I care about. This shit endangers both to various degrees. So, here I am. Cutting, punching, kicking, and generally ending everything that gets the hell in my way of a normal lifestyle.” He slowly nodded. ”Some guys might find it fun, but I find it honestly fucking disturbing. You ever seen a kid's coffin? I have. Not at a funeral, but during this shit. Bit unnerving, to say the least. While the occupants aren't dead, you see these people in coffins. You see your loved ones in coffins. It's pretty wrong, no two ways about it.” Simple and honest truth, he felt.

”And the other corner has honest to God boogeymen. I have to wonder if there's some asshole fairy there that might have actually taken my teeth now.” Well, so much for a solemn atmosphere.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan gave the man a nod. Frederick certainly seemed serious about protecting the things he cared about. It almost made Tristan think about checking in back home.

Almost.

Instead, it made Tristan a touch envious. After all, he had nothing here to protect. On top of that, he doubted he would do much good protecting anything. Of course, he wouldn't say anything. It was good that Frederick had something he cared for. And a sense of humor to boot. Hell, Tristan was sure the two would have no problems being friends even if the world wasn't going insane. "Oh god, the tooth fairy," he started to say in mock fright. "Watch out, his appearance signals the return of The Easter Bunny!!! He cracked a smile before continuing.

"All seriousness, though," he said. "Having something to protect is a mixed blessing. Sure, you have a purpose and something worth fighting for. At the same time, if you mess up, everything could go wrong and you could lose that purpose. I don't have either of those things to take into consideration, though. I don't have anything to protect, so I have nothing to lose."

[Frederick Cooper]

”Sure you've got something to lose.” Frederick calmly countered Tristan's point. He opted to neglect commenting on the Easter Bunny. Partially because he fully expected to see demonic rabbits soon enough. He really did not like that idea, either. Hell, he didn't really like usagimimi. Huh. Thinking on it, he really didn't have any real love for rabbits, in general. Actually, he never tried rabbit meat. That would be an interesting thing to try out with his foods. He'd have to make a note to either try trapping somewhere, or seeing if there was a hunters' association that did something like that. Rabbit meat wasn't just going to be at the super market, after all.

”You can lose your life. And while some might argue that they have nothing to live for, so long as there's good food, cute girls- or guys, if that's your thing, I guess, or other things you like to experience, there's something to live for. Don't know about you, but so long as I can taste and I've got people I like to be with, that's plenty of reason to live, plenty of reason to protect that.” He waved his hand dismissively. ”Not that I'm saying your trying to get killed. Not a psychologist. Too boring. Annoying. But you do have stuff to lose.” He paused for a second.

”I got dibs on your shit if you die, though?” It was delivered with a slight smile. Whether it was a morbid joke or an honest request was entirely up for debate.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan listened to the- to be perfectly honest- unexpected source of philosophical wisdom. Frederick certainly had a point. So long as there was something in life to enjoy, there wasn't anything bad enough to make a life worthless. He nodded as the man continued before hearing the last sentence. He started to laugh uncontrollably, almost as hard as he had that day he spoke with Lucretia. As he laughed, he really wondered what was wrong with his sense of humor. Dark, morbid stuff shouldn't be that hilarious.

He wiped a tear from his eye as he finally stopped laughing. In between chuckles, he looked at Frederick with a smile. "You have a deal, Freddie," he said with a grin. "So long as the opposite is true too. Not that I suspect you have any plans on going out anytime soon." Tristan had no doubts that Frederick intended on lasting as long as possible. After all, he had things to protect.

Oh, and, uh, so there's no confusion later, not into guys. Just inexperienced with girls." Tristan froze. He had no idea why he said that. Sure, he knew why he had started, but why did he keep going? Maybe it was the lack of sleep. He was starting to get a bit loopy. But did that really cover all of it? Maybe he thought of Frederick as a kindred spirit. But that didn't seem to be a good enough excuse, either. Damn it, what the hell? Still, it was too late to take it back. He would just have to proceed from there.

[Frederick Cooper]

”Fortunately, I'm the hard to kill sort, yeah. Besides, I have far too many sandwiches to make and eat before I die.” There was a certain degree of conviction behind those words. The words themselves might have been silly, sure. That sort of purpose was likely laughable compared to the dreams of others. But that determination was all too real. It was the sort that actually got things done. That meant he'd probably skedaddle the moment it looked like something was a little too dangerous. And, truthfully, he would. He wasn't a hero. Just some oversized guy with a girlfriend and less-than-savory interests. And savory interests, as well, obviously.

”More importantly.” He drew a bit close to Tristan before slinging an arm over the other's shoulder. ”My friend, my English-speakin' brother, if one lacks experience, then one simply needs two things: instruction and motivation. The motivation, you'll be responsible for. Hop out there like a bull ready to gore some asshole in red. For the instruction, let me give you some tips.” He was a large fellow. Not all of that mass was flab. There was some serious muscle there, too. Enough to lob a Spriggan, carry a crate, or decapitate a demon. There was plenty of calorie-burning, force-producing instruments of movement there.

”First, you need to be honest, not just with the girls, but with yourself. Don't do that fabrication macho shit you see in anime or dramas. That might snag you a one-nighter, if you get lucky, but that's not how you get a relationship goin'. A relationship is built on trust. If you can be honest with yourself, you can be honest with others. If you can be honest with others, you can be trusted by others. If you can be trusted by others, you can get your girl and do the wally-boogy. Possibly later on that other thing.” He paused, offering a toothy grin and an awkward- that ax was still in his other hand, you know- thumbs up.

”Goin' steady for a year here, despite my size, so I'm not shittin' ya.” Whether or not these lessons in love were really necessary was really up for argument. But it wasn't like it was an incorrect tip, at the very least.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan wasn't sure what he had expected. Perhaps he expected Frederick to simply laugh it off. Maybe he expected Frederick to give him some guff. He didn't really expect relationship advice, that was for sure. He could feel his face burning from embarrassment. He honestly didn't know how to proceed. He couldn't even work himself up to saying "thanks." Sure, it was good advice. Tristan wasn't complaining. That didn't mean he knew how to respond.

He looked Frederick in the eyes. "I.... Um... Thanks." He smiled slightly to show his gratitude, but he felt even more awkward than before. What he needed was an excuse to go. Preferably before Frederick decided to give more advice. Tristan was starting to feel like a younger brother. A very awkward, unsociable younger brother.

[Frederick Cooper]

”No worries.” Frederick retracted his hand, giving the younger guy a slap on the back. ”But that's it for today's lesson. To get the rest, stay the hell alive. And, no, that's not permission to go get yourself killed because you think it's weird to get romantic advice from a dude.” Riki let out a chuckle before taking a few steps away from Tristan, stretching his arms out. While a bit of socializing was great, he was really feeling like heading off and grabbing a snack at that point. The neighborhood seemed safe enough for the time being. Hopefully. It wasn't like that time period extended indefinitely.

”Dunno 'bout you, but I'm hungry. Either we scared off what was around, or that was all that was around for the time being. Well, either way. Seems to be fine for the time being. What are you gonna do, man?” He turned half-way, looking over as Tristan. With one hand in his pocket, and the other lightly swinging that ax back and forth, he could have passed for some easy-going, modern berserker. Either way, Fred was reasonably relaxed, despite having just given a lecture. Clearly, he didn't think much of the act. He did, however, mean every bit he said.

Whether or not it helped Tristan was entirely up to him, though. Much like anything taught and anything learned.