02x03 - Abrupt Approach

[bunniefuu]

Great work, you guys. Cheers.

You saved our butts again today, Rudeus. That's our..

Quagmire. No, I'm only any use at all

because you all work so well together already,

and you're.. Always so modest. Stop!

Since that night in the woods, I've

been working with Counter Arrow almost exclusively.

And my reputation keeps growing. It's not

just the adventurers talking about quagmire.

Rudeus. It's the villagers as well. And one other thing has changed.

Sarah and I have gotten closer.

My dad was a hunter for years before I was born,

so I've basically been practicing archery ever since I could walk.

That's why I still use a bow today.

I know it's not the best for

adventuring, but I still like it.

My father was a knight before I was born.

I think he wanted me to be too,

but I always had more talent for magic.

So he hired me a tutor, a mcgurdy and mage named Roxy.

She was incredible. And I consider her my master even now. Oh.

That's neat. Some topics put her in a sour

mood, but in general, we're good.

Oh, hey, you don't mind if I change the subject? Do you

know? Well, being a hunter's kid, I'm

not too bad with a Kn*fe either.

But I mostly use mine to do repairs on my gear,

and the blade is getting awfully chipped.

So, uh, I've been thinking about buying

myself a new one pretty soon.

I see. That being said, if you're free tomorrow,

you want to come shopping with me?

Sure thing. That sounds like fun.

It's settled then.

Oh.

And only then did I realize what her invitation really was.

Her date.

That was so much fun. Can't afford it now, but seeing all

that stuff made me want a new breast.

Is something wrong with your current one?

Well, I bought it a long time ago now,

so it's starting to get a little tight on me.

I mean, honestly, you men are all the same.

Uh huh. I'm feeling a little tipsy.

I almost always drink too much whenever we are together.

Oh. Do you? Yeah, I wonder why.

Maybe I just feel safer when you're next to me.

Is this what I think it is?

Do I have a sh*t? As they say? I do. Right.

You're allowed to touch me. Oh. Are you sure?

Okay, then I'll go for it. I've

done a lot of reflection in the last s,

and it's high time I put the past behind me and moved on.

Hey, why don't we call it a night? It's getting late.

I'll walk you to your inn. On the other hand. I shouldn't try

to make a move until I'm positive

about this. Isn't that right, Paul?

I think I'd like to talk a little longer.

If you want. Okay, maybe we could

look for another tavern to try. Yeah. Um.

No, I think I'd rather go back to your room.

Come on. Does she realize how that sounds?

Even if she does, I need to control myself.

It's not even like that between us.

But. Hang on. Read the room. If she's fine with this,

maybe I should just go with the flow.

Let things take their natural course.

Okay, well, let's get going then.

Uh.

And here we are. This is a big room.

Would you like something to drink? Forget about that.

Come over here. Okay. Here goes nothing.

So what's up? I'm really grateful to you.

I almost d*ed, and if you hadn't

come looking for me, I definitely would have.

That's why if you want, we can do it.

Are.

Uh oh. Uh. And then it hit me.

The real reason I had felt like something was off.

It wasn't Sarah. She was amazing. Her body was perfect.

She left absolutely nothing to be desired.

The problem was me. My body was raising

one hell of a red flag. Or to be more precise, it wasn't

raising anything at all. It was completely unresponsive.

Oh. Come on. Why. How and since when? How long have I.

This doesn't make any sense. It's never stayed down before.

Even when I wanted it to.

What in the ever loving hell is happening to my body?

Hey, it's not like I was, I don't know, into you or anything.

What? I just. Wanted to thank you, you know, pay my debt.

So don't go getting the wrong idea.

I only came up here because I felt obligated.

You what? So. Bye. Hey. Well, what a disaster.

It's cold.

Give me another old man.

Kid, you're.. Going to hurt yourself drinking like that.

Lay off and pour, would you?

Well, well, if it isn't quagmire. Fancy seeing you here.

Not every day I find you drinking in our favorite tavern.

What are you moping about? Did someone

have a shitty day? Come on now.

Don't bother trying to hide it. I've seen you do this enough.

Whenever something doesn't go your way, you run

off with your tail between your legs

till it's time to deploy that sad clown.

Smile again. You're such a sh*t. You assh*le!

What are you so mad about? You're always picking fights with me.

Isn't this what you wanted all along? What are you.

What's wrong with smiling whenever I want? Huh?

Maybe I should go around insulting and belittling people just like you.

If I could get away with that sh*t.

If I could stand to make everyone around me resent me.

If I didn't care whether I drove everyone away from me.

If I could keep your attitude without

hating myself, then yeah, maybe I would.

I don't want anyone to hate me.

That's why I'm always smiling like that.

What about that pisses you off so much?

I just want you to stay. Smile, even if you don't mean it.

It's not that hard. And it hurts when you're so cruel to me.

Whatever. I'm done. I don't care anymore.

So bring it on. Hate me. Damn it! Have your f*cking fun.

Then when I'm sprawled out, you can

look down on me and laugh.

I know I can't take you in a fight. Uh.

Uh.

Hey, Soledad, it's about time you cut the boy some slack, huh?

Yeah. Guess so. All right, kiddo? That was my bad.

I'm sorry. Okay. Maybe you really do

have it worse than most people.

What would you know about it? Uh,

well, nothing yet anyway. Next one's on me.

So drink up and you can tell me about it.

It might help you get it off your chest, if nothing else.

Ah, so your girl dumped you because you can't get it up?

Yeah. So what, are you making fun of me now?

No, of course not. Don't be dumb.

Here's the thing. When you're down in the dumps like this,

you got to be clear about why.

Otherwise, no one can help make it better.

Well, I was feeling melancholy, because. Don't be so formal.

You sounded a lot more honest earlier.

Don't feel like you have to hide behind fancy words like that.

Now start over. Tell it to me straight.

Now. I was upset about something that

happened a long time ago now. I used to know this girl. Yeah,

we went through a lot, but we got

closer and eventually we were each other's first.

Sure, everyone's got to start somewhere. That's how it works.

But in the morning, she had already left.

Gone on some trip, and she didn't even tell me where.

Wow. She just ditched you, huh? Hey, quit the tears.

But if that's your reaction, I think

we just found out what your problem is.

Why would she leave? I thought we were supposed to know.

Well, based on my experience, it might have been

something you screwed up right beforehand.

But right beforehand. I must have really sucked.

No, don't start jumping to conclusions. Let's fix you up.

But how exactly? I don't know. But look,

sometimes the only way to get past

a problem is to keep pounding at it, if you get my drift.

Meaning what? It's time to call in a professional.

You.

Excuse me. I am Elise. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Would you do me the honor of sharing your name, sir?

Oh, yeah. I'm rudeus. Rudeus gray rat.

I look forward to serving you. Why

don't I get you a drink? Your reputation precedes you, Rudeus.

Does it? Oh, well, I suppose another adventurer must have mentioned me.

Oh, no. It was my sister. You

once cast a healing spell on her free of charge.

I did. You did? Last winter, while

you were clearing snow out of the square, she said. Oh.

I'm honored to welcome such a gentleman into my bed.

The other working girls will be terribly jealous.

That's nice. May I have another cup? Yes. Of course.

But our time here is limited,

so I do hope you'll enjoy me as well.

Oh, yeah, I will. Thank you.

So what do we do? Just start. Certainly. Oh.

Now M.D.. To bed.

You can lie back. Let me get started my way.

So then I said, you guys go around the back,

I'll take out all the monsters in the front

with one strike. Meet me at. Oh. Hey, quagmire, how'd it go?

She tried all sorts of different things for me, but no luck.

Yeah. sh**t. Okay. I'm so sorry that

I couldn't be of more help.

Hey, it's not your fault. You did what you could.

Well, I'm out of ideas. Hey, you know

him now? What do you think? It struck me that he's a bit,

well, frightened and timid around women in general.

So I wonder if his partner were

someone he didn't have to be afraid of.

Someone whom he feels certain would never

turn on him no matter what. Then. Ring any.. Bells?

For a moment I thought of Roxy.

But no, that probably wouldn't work.

I fear that such relationships can't be rushed into.

They must be nurtured little by little.

Ah! That figures. Well, drink up tonight,

quagmire. You deserve to forget this. Right?

Excuse me, sirs. We're a bit past closing time. Wah!

It's morning. Oh, well.

Hey, quagmire.

What? I got this rule. Like, when I'm going through a labyrinth,

I don't rush into things too quickly, you know?

Huh? Because the deeper you go, the tougher

the monsters you encounter are going to be.

Different kinds will even team up with each other sometimes.

And when that happens, you can't just go rushing in blind.

That's how people get hurt or dead. Yeah.

So what'd you do is you stay

a floor above and ease yourself into

things, and that works pretty well.

Yeah. Fight the weaker ones. So, with you and Sarah,

I think you just got in too deep. Too fast, too deep.

Haven't you been listening? I mean, sure,

I tried, but the problem here is that I didn't get in at all.

It's a metaphor because it sounds to me like

she was all ready and raring to go tonight.

But maybe you needed more time to get yourself prepped.

Like in your emotion feeling stuff or whatever.

Yeah, I'm not sure about any of that.

She said she was only doing it out of obligation. Yeah.

Hope you're not always that gullible, because from where I've been sitting,

it looks like she's plenty into.

Anyway, if you got the time, why not go see her again and see

if you can't talk things out?

Sir? Yes, sir. Yeah. Maybe I'll go see

her tonight or tomorrow or something.

I don't feel like you're listening. I was actually going to say.

Yeah, whatever. I get it already. Just let it go, will ya?

But what do I care if it doesn't work out?

You really think I'd want a woman like her?

I mean, she's built like a kid.

A real woman ought to be like Elise, you know, like stacked.

You get me? Come on. Soledad.

Am I right or am I right? I mean, shopping and dinner.

Can you believe that little girl crap?

Like, are we playing house or what?

Hey, quagmire, leave it at that. I'm just..

Stating facts. Rudeus deserves a real woman.

Uh.

Mm. Oh, no, Sarah, I didn't.

You're the worst. I never want to see your face again.

Rudeus that was out of line.

Hold your horses, dumbass. You go after her

right this second and explain yourself, okay?

Stand up! Idiot! Go! What's the point? Won't help.

I don't want to. Don't want to do anything.

Yeah. Okay, then. Hey, why not take

a trip to visit your family?

Where's your old man at? Huh? Asura. Where? Milos.

Yeah, that's pretty far away, isn't it?

Then you want to come with us.

Huh? A huge labyrinth turned up over in the Duchy of Neris.

We were thinking of heading out sometime

today. Come on, it'll be fun.

Why? Why would you even offer? I thought you hated my guts.

Yeah. That creepy smile and that kiss

ass attitude really rubbed me the wrong way.

And I just wanted you to drop the mask.

But now that you have. And I know what's at the heart of you.

I know you got reasons for acting the way you do.

So there's no reason to hate you now.

I feel like I've really misunderstood, Soledad.

I've been giving him a wide berth because of my first impression.

But he's a much better person than I ever would have imagined.

So what's the verdict?

I'll go. Please take me with you.

Okay. What are we waiting for?

Oh, hey. Get this. There's a rumor about some

incredible mage who just showed up.

Apparently, he was able to help a party

of under people take down a stray

dragon without even breaking a sweat.

Impressive. This guy got a name. They

call him like quagmire. Rudeus or something.

Quagmire? Huh? Pardon me. Gentlemen, would.

. You mind telling me more?

More about what? This rumor about the adventurer

Quagmire Rudeus was it? But that's pretty much it.

I don't actually know anything else about him.

Come on, think harder. Surely you can remember a little more.

There's something good in it for you

and your friend there. If you do.

Oh, yeah. I know he's in Pippin Bocherens second city. Pippin?

Is he really? Thank you so much.

So I finally found him. Lya. Lya.