Match of the Millennium

Description: She turns to you and holds up a swimsuit. 'Albert-kun, what do you think?' (->)[Option 1: "You would look totally cute in that!"] [Option 2: "C'mon, guys don't know about this stuff!"] [Option 3: flee the room in a panic]

[ARISA]
After her bout with Chevy and Tanwen (and Braun, sort of), Arisa Hawkins was in need of a long nap, which is exactly what she did. The island may be lacking in things like 'the basic nutrition humans need to survive' but it apparently has other amenities of a different stripe, like 'air conditioning' and presumably running water. Considering this is an abandoned(?) island resort, thankfully there were plenty of empty hotel rooms for competitors to use and not need to share.

One might imagine a long, hot shower is not necessarily called for in a tropical summer climate, but it's exactly what Arisa does... and she does indeed seem better off for it afterwards, not the least for which being that a long hot shower's evaporating heat is a great cooling mechanism.

In the lobby of the same abandoned hotel where most people are staying, sitting at a cafe table, Arisa is sifting through a stack of things she seems to have... well... pilfered from either empty rooms, staff quarters, or even gift shops. Among them is a needle and thread, which she is applying to the ombre-pattern fleece she typically wears, a casualty of her fight with sword-wielding Homura. This means she's dressed in the same sports bra and camisole combo she wore while fighting Tanwen, but hopefully that's merely temporary.

Humming a vague tune as she works, the Texan's focus is on her stitching, for the most part... and replaying her memories of that fight and how it went. After all, you can't improve without reflecting on what you did wrong and what you did right, and it's not like she has great expectations for her 'mentor' walking her through it or anything.

[ALBERT]
A certain faux-knight has been kind of not very present with any of the socialization and planning interactions of any sort amidst the island. Blame it on him more or less spending his time actually just training effectively from Day One in preparation for all of his matches.

There's thankfully some more time to spare after his most recent bout, at least. And that does also mean he gets some time of relief away from his armor, too. Sure, he has been pretty keen on wearing armor for the sake of his whole "thing", but let's be honest -- a breastplate in an island like this is *freaking hot*. ANd not in the fun eyecandy kind of way. For that matter, the thing is probably left hung somewhere to be aired out after a *thorough* washing.

And so now, with that bit of free time?

"HI!!"

The jumpscare of a greeting comes just off to the side from Arisa, to draw attention (more than just hers, probably, considering the volume) to a certain faux-knight approaching from the way of whatever hallway or stairway or elevator leads to the hotel rooms proper. No, actually, considering the brunette's current getup of loose beige shorts and a simple blue t-shirt, "farmboy" would probably be a more accurate immedaite description, wouldn't it? He is not exactly very fashion-sensible, this one. That doesn't seem to hamper any of the energy he carries with him, though, while he's approaching where Arisa is sat down, hand set to rapidly waving and lips turned to a friendly smile and all.

"Arisa, hi! It's good to see you!"

Well, good to know his mood isn't the least bit hampered by the current overall situation either.

[ARISA]
"OW!" comes the probably thoroughly unexpected reply to Albert's greeting, on Arisa's part, followed by her quickly shaking out her right hand and then briefly putting the tip of her thumb in her mouth, brows beetling a bit in consternation. Grimacing, she turns to see the source of the world's loudest hello and blinks in surprise to find out who it is, perhaps tinged with relief that -- since their paths hadn't crossed since arriving here -- the German himbo-errant is unharmed.

However.

"My fault for this kit not having a thimble," Arisa says, looking down at the shirt in her lap, "but point of advice, Al: don't sneak up on someone using a sewing needle and then speak real loud," the Texan offers, trying to find where exactly her stitch got interrupted before the needle she'd been using had been accidentally jammed right into the tip of her poor thumb.

Getting that situated, however, Arisa sets her impromptu shirt repair on the table and actually properly LOOKS at Albert, instead of vaguely perceiving him out of the corner of her eye. A faint grin comes to the American's face at the outfit. "You look good! And I hear you've been tearing it up in the, uh... 'tournament'?" Arisa says, rising intonation on 'tournament' and verbal quotation marks decidedly audible. "Which, you know, will be cool as long as we're not left here to die on a cursed tropical island surrounded by weirdo demon fire or whatever."

[ALBERT]
The pained excalamation was definitely unexpected, and it visibly takes Albert off-guard at first, only to for worry to immediately bulldoze over whatever else he was thinking about. "A-ah?! Are you okay?!"

... And then all that is immediately replaced by a distinctly sheepish look of guilt over the realization that he is, in fact, partly to blame here.

"O-oh... I didn't see..." He mumbles, his volume suddenly *much* lower than usual. He's even rubbing the tips of his index fingers together for a few seconds!

But he bounces right back again just from seeing a smile form on the texan's lips. ANd even more so with the compliment over his... uh, outfit? And yeah, his performance in the can-this-even-be-called-a-tournament-anymore.

"Aheh, thanks! I've just been trying my best! Though everything going on is kind of a bummer admittedly..."

He doesn't quite move to sit down, but he does move to stand just by the table the blonde is sat by, and leans over with his hands clasped together behind his back, suddenly flashing a thousand-megawatt grin to her.

"At least we can say we both have been to a tropical island now, right?"

[ARISA]
As has probably happened to Albert before, the look-on-the-bright-side comment gets the briefest, slightly walleyed moment of 'is he for real?' from Arisa, but thankfully, she's similarly inclined to take it as it comes, and gives a little laugh and a not there. "Yeah, I guess that's true. It IS a pretty nice place, if you ignore... uh, 100% of the context," she adds, turning to look around the lobby, which is at best sparsely populated by NFG staffers who managed to make landfall with everyone else, and even that is a tiny fraction of the place's capacity.

For a moment there's some silent stitching (and clear focus) on Arisa's part, before she suddenly pulls a thread taut, cuts it with a pair of scissors, ties it off, and turns the fleece top she was working on right-side-out, holding it up in front of her. The various tears and slashes from Homura's sword are... well. They're fixed, but it's an obvious mend job, all things considered. "Could be worse, I guess, but all my other clothes are back on the ship, and uh..." A pause, then she pulls the gauzy camisole she has on over the sports bra and sighs. "I dunno, man, I don't think this look says the right things about me at ALL."

Pulling the fleece top on, she glances up at standing-there Albert and sighs. "You're lucky the guys' clothing we could find around here was pretty normal. I feel like I learned a LOT about Zack just going through stuff in shops trying to find something to wear." Her tone implies that what she learned was: Not Positive.

Another beat, and then a raised eyebrow from Arisa. "Are you, uh, gonna sit down, Aruberuto?" she says, a little teasingly, sounding out Albert's name in slightly exaggerated Japanese.

[ALBERT]
The german's eyes do turn down to focus on the sewing and mending work with at least a measure of interest. Not necessarily over the sewing itself (since he has absolutely zero knowledge on it), but more for the focus she is working with. Only for his gaze to slip towards the camisole as she gives it a tug, and... well.

He quite pointedly looks awy almost immediately after.

"I mean, I don't think it looks that bad..."

Then he's pinching his fingers at the fabric of his shirt, to lightly pull at it in turn, brows creasing slightly while he gives the garment a thoughtful look. "I mean, I guess. This stuff isn't anything special though... but it is better than sticking in the undershirt for my armor all the time, you know?"

The boy blinks rapidly, giving a confused "Aru...?" over the way she enunciates his name, but rather than giving any further question or complaint about it, he shifts himself around the table and plops himself down onto a chair opposite from her.

"So, uh... I haven't really had a chance to go and just look around and stuff. Are all the shops just... 'awful'?"

If he's trying to picture just what kind of women's clothing would have been stored around these parts, he's not letting it show. At least not yet.

[ARISA]
'I don't think it looks that bad...'

Bringing her hands up to fluff the back of her still slightly damp hair, the blonde blinks at Albert for a second, clearing her throat. "I... I mean, I'm sure I look good in ANYTHING," the Texan says, with -- let's be real -- probably false bravado, in the face of the knight-wannabe's comment. "But, you know, I'm pale. I'll burn instead of tanning, probably! Right? So this is better, for now." Yeah, that's the ticket. It's not because it was perhaps TOO slutty a look for HORNY ISLAND [frantic backspacing] TROPICAL ISLAND.

And that, of course, is exactly where the conversation ends up going anyway. "Ugh," Arisa says, genuine annoyance and even exhaustion in her voice. "I mean, you know, we're on a tropical resort, obviously most stuff is gonna be swimsuits and whatever," she says, brow furrowing slightly as she looks away before meeting Albert's gaze again. "But so much of it was, uh... I mean... it's..."

Some internal voice is going: he didn't know what a chlorinated swiming pool is! How are you going to explain 'skimpy' to him?!

"It's not like I'm a prude or anything!" Arisa suddenly says, FAR too quickly and vehemently, waving her hands in front of her. "But like, you know. It felt like if you're gonna wear clothes, even a bathing suit, they should cover SOMETHING up, you know?!"

Somehow, he's done it. Albert has actually made Arisa flustered, her cheeks reddening. "UGH. Gender! It's dumb! I just wanted like a t-shirt or a crop top or something!"

[ALBERT]
"...Well I mean, yeah, probably," is Albert's blunt observation over her bravado-filled suggestion that she might very well look good in anything at all. Which, well... it is just first, hair-trigger honest thought, without any real evaluation put behind it. Or any thought over what it might sound like coming from him either.

His head tilts in his own little puppy-like curiousity while she's mulling over the best way to describe her issues with the clothes she'd come across. He even lets out a prompting "It's...?" with that same kind of innocent curiousity, and not even the slighest bit of consciousness over the potential riskiness of the conversation.

But when she comes and blurts out ALL THAT? Oh, even that innocent well-meaning energy of Albert's is pushed away to a point where he is blinking with widened yees at her, and even leaning back slightly. And for that matter, a little bit of red does gather at his cheeks too!

"U-uh, r-right, I understand..." he mumbles, suddenly struggling for a few seconds to even look in Arisa's general direction. For reasons that are surely completely incomprehensible to everyone. Surely.

"...So, like..." He mumbles after a moment of akward silence, tapping a sandal-clad foot against the floor a few times over. "We're basically stuck with just the one change of clothes unless we can find something decent?"

The brunette boy frowns deeply at this, rubbing his fingers along his chin thoughtfully for a couple seconds. But then...

"Alright!!"

He suddenly springs right up from his chair, and thumps his right hand in a fist against the open palm of his left.

"I'm going clothes hunting then! There's gotta be something around here!! It'll be like a treasure hunt!! Yeah!!!"

[ARISA]
Whether it's his resolve or the thumping noise (or the fact that Albert's expressiveness is dialed up to 11 at all times), the German's resolve to go clothes hunting makes Arisa sway backwards an inch or two, regarding him curiously. After all, he's got a t-shirt and shorts combo! That's pretty good for a tropical island! Plus he can always take the shirt OFF, unlike her.

Still, it sounds like a more interesting way to pass an afternoon that sitting here doing nothing, so the suddenly contemplative expression on the Texan's face suggests she's at least thinking it over.

"Alright, Al-kun," she says, closing the sewkit she'd found shut and stretching her arms over her head in an arch, fingers interlaced. "Let's go forage for clothes, I guess? It's not like I've got anything better to do, and who knows, you might have better luck finding something than *I* did." Not that she was looking all that hard, since she had a fight to get to, but some nagging feeling is telling Arisa Hawkins that even if she'd had hours to look, there probably weren't any substantial swimsuits for women on this island in sizes greater than a child's Large.

Getting out of her chair, Arisa folds her arms over her chest. "Plus you can tell me all about how things are going with your new mentor. How is it? Did you multiclass into Wizard and throw fireballs now?" Whatever disease Tanwen has appears to be highly communicable.

[ALBERT]
"Yeah! That's the spirit!!" Albert's cheerful declaration comes with a single hand thrust out with a thumb held up to compliment his ridicilously-bright, toothy grin. "We'll have an adventure together! It'll be great!"

He's already turning to all but burst himself out of the hotel lobby just like that -- but her sudden question about how things have been going with his new mentor... or no, rather, the whole *wizard* thing, makes him halt completely in his tracks to the point that he takes on the visage of a comedic still image, with one foot lifted up off the floor already and all.

"...Huh? Um... I dunno about this class stuff or whatever... Or fireballs for that matter..."

His foot does drop back down onto the floor while the farmboy's hand goes rubbing at the back of his head, smile suddenly a bit more wry. "I mean, I guess it would be kinda cool to learn magic? I just think I probably don't have the actual potential for it or whatever, though." He does pause there to give a waving gesture to beckon her to follow alongside with him while taking a much more reasonable pace towards the door. "She's mostly helping me with, like... the practical stuff of actual fighting and stuff. She's really smart so it's been a huge help."

Another immensely bright grin flashes out.

"She's pretty cool!"

[ARISA]
The sudden pause means that Arisa almost walks into Albert from behind, but thankfully she brings her own step to a halt just in time, tilting her head at the reaction. She'd got the impression they were getting along, based on Tom and Lou's... well. As Chevy said, can you actually trust Tom and Lou? (This is rhetorical; the answer is no). The hesitancy makes her worried she read that wrong, but his response reassures her that she did not.

Hopping a step or two forward to walk alongside rather than just behind him, the Texan listens to the rest of Albert's response and shrugs her shoulders out a bit. "I fought your friend Tanwen," she ventures, a little carefully; after all, her statement to the dragon at the time had been that she wasn't sure if the knight(-ish) and the dragon would get along really well OR be natural enemies. "She said *I* was doing magic in our fight, but I dunno that the stuff I do really counts. I hear 'magic' is a pretty specific thing, after all." A pause. "But I'm glad you're learning something useful from her, sounds like?"

Looking across the streets and buildings of the center of the resort, Arisa squints a bit, trying to find something that suggests it would have swimwear for Albert to plunder. "Kinda jealous, tee bee aych," she says, almost off-handedly, facing away from the German at the moment. "I got introduced to my new 'mentor' in that fight and he turned out to be an absolute jerk. Losing that fight sucked, but at least I don't have to have any more face time with that guy."

A pause, and then she turns to Albert with a very serious expression. "Al. Promise me you're not gonna grow up to be one of those like, hypermasc dudes with really weird opinions on women. I mean," she adds, swiftly, "you're too nice for that to be likely, but still."

[ALBERT]
"Tanwen, huh..."

Albert gets a kind of far-off look in his eye at the mention of the dragon-girl. His arms go on to reach behind the back of his head and fold along each other there while the two of them walk together.

"I want to fight her again... I did so poorly in my fight against her."

His head tilts slightly towards Arisa while she goes on to talk about magic, though -- and more importantly so over the comparison to what she does, herself. "Mm... Is it not? Well, I guess I have no way of knowing. I thought I saw magic in one of my fights before, but then I was told it wasn't magic... I guess it just goes to show how little I actually know about the world..."

He does seem to be at least a little self-conscious about that. About how very little he actually knows. He did admit as much to Iris before too, but... He promptly shakes his head, all in an effort to ward off any of that deeper ruefulness to show on his face. It's not *entirely* successful, since Albert is, frankly speaking, absolutely awful at not wearing his heart on his sleeve. But he's making an effort, at least, so as to not harsh the mood with his own worries, and instead focus on what Arisa is saying.

Even if her request does bring out another confused look from him.

"Um... I'm not sure why I would have any kind of opinion on women as a whole but... I'll try my best?" Well, clearly he has not been introduced to a certain part of the internet. Maybe it's a good thing he knows very little about the world.

At this point, though, the German suddenly veers off to the side from the central line of the road proper. There's a larger building that is missing signeage that very clearly used to be there. Maybe rusted off from a time spent in neglect? Or maybe burnt off, who knows. It's not marked as anything obvious, though, but intuition alone seems to be leading the knight-to-be on. All the way to the front window, leaning almost right against it while peering with squinted eyes at the darkened interior.

"Hey, it kind of looks like there's clothes here!" He suddenly declares with a sharp sense of purpose, and rapidly shuffles his way over to the storefront's door proper to push it open--

"...Huh?"

The door doesn't open. It does clatter a bit from the obvious sound of an engaged lock mechanism pushing in against the frame.

"...O-oh..." And just like that, he immediately deflates with his hand falling away from the door. "I guess it must be outside of opening hours..."

Isn't it more that it's abandoned?!

[ARISA]
The question of what is or isn't magic gets a shrug from Arisa, the sort of exaggerated anime shrug where her arms come up in front of her, wrists turned out, eyes briefly closed. "We live in a world where people who can punch through a steel wall fight it out for fun on livestreams for our amusement," the Texan says in response. "And like, people can throw fire from their hands and stuff. Heck, my mom used to hunt zombies and vampires and stuff for a living. Feels a little silly to get too hung up on what 'magic' really means, I guess."

Philosopher Arisa Hawkins apparently has thoughts on the matter, egalitarian and pragmatic though they may be.

On the subject of not becoming some kind of MRA scumbag, however, her opinions are more definitely expressed, and Albert's vaguely confused 'okay I won't' at her request causes Arisa to grin and punch him playfully in the shoulder. "I mean, most of the kind of guys I'm talking about usually DO have opinions on women as a whole. Like... bad ones. So you're off to a good start, probably?" she says evenly. The Texan had mostly meant it as a joke, but she does have a hard time imagining fresh-faced Albert searching out hardcore tradwife types to date or whatever.

CASE IN POINT: they're trapped on a tropical island surrounded by mystical fire with seemingly no hope of rescue and this adorable German boy is giving her a puppy look that says 'oh no they're closed D:'. "Yyyyyyyep," the blonde says, peering around Albert's shoulder into the storefront in question. "Definitely closed."

Without hesitating, the Texan plants one foot and executes a high forward kick, which snaps the door open with the vague crunching sound of a lock being twisted and broken in the process.

"Al-kun," Arisa says, affectionately, patting the knight-in-training on the shoulder, "never change. I mean that."

[ALBERT]
"Ooooh?" There's a sudden sparkle in Albert's eyes after Arisa's mom's profession is brought up. "That sounds cool as hell... Do you fight like she did? Does that mean you're going to be a zombie- and vampire-hunter too?" His smile just keeps on growing and growing, in the most sincere kind of boyish glee.

"That's super cool!"

Well, that was a moment earlier. Right now, the german's left staring a little slack-jawed over the sight of the door having been forced open so handily with the Texan's high kick. "So strong..." he mumbles, before giving a sheepish smile down to her from the shoulderpat. "W-well, I guess we were told to scavenge and stuff afterall..." His tone of voice does suggest that the whole thing might go a *little* against his sensibilities, but at the same time the circumstances kind of call for it, right?

And so, he's leaning in past the doorframe a little hesitantly at first, almost as if to check if there might still somehow actually be staff present, only stepping inside after confirming that there's no one in sight.

"Soooo..." He chimes out with a look back to Arisa. "Do you have any idea what kinda clothes you'd wanna find if you had the choice? I dunno what I'd even want, honestly... I usually just wear whatever I happen to have on hand." He gives his extremely plain shirt a quick pinch and tug with that too. "Like this."

[ARISA]
What WOULD Arisa want to wear if they found her ideal swimwear? Well.

Stepping past Albert into the darkened store and then off to the left, like a horror movie teen entering the haunted house, the Texan answers without looking back at Albert, instead scanning around the room. "It's... well..." Usually she's got fast answers for this sort of thing, but apparently the German's question has her... stumped? Confused?

Arisa is still looking away when she finally answers. "Just maybe something a little more full coverage," she mutters, running a hand across a bunch of bikini tops on the little display table she's standing next to. "It's not like I've got a bangin' beach bod or anything." The subdued tone of voice, coming from the woman who just kicked in the door to the store, seems decidedly out of place.

Taking another couple steps into the store, after a pause the blonde turns to look at Albert again, answering a previous question. "As for taking after Mom... I don't know. I'm still technically enrolled in college," she explains, lips pursed. "Just on break for the NFG. I kinda wanna see what life might have to offer before I commit to punching zombies every night?" Finally, a more genuine smile at that; she seems relieved to be off previous topics. "But yeah, everything I know about fighting, I learned from her, or from my dad."

[ALBERT]
"Bangin'...?" Albert repeats this word like he's not entirely sure what it is even supposed to mean in the context of 'beach bod'. His head tilts, slowly, to the left side first, and then to the right, somehow managing to maintain a perfect fourty-five degree turn each time.

"Are you supposed to bang a bo--"

Thankfully, Albert isn't *entirely* ignorant, because he actually stops himself right there with an akward "uhhhhhhh", with the absolutely *horrified* look of someone who realized roughly two tenths of a second too late just what the hell he started to say.

"...N-nevermind..." is all that comes out for the sake of defending his own blunder, while he *just so happens* to turn to the side to look over some display racks off to the side. It's definitely not to hide his utterly embarrassed face, nope, not at all.

The talk about Arisa and her parents is a good distraction, at least, even while he half-heatedly goes through the swimsuits and such on display. Thankfully the section they are in for the time being seems to be the most 'front-facing' part, which means there's both women and men's clothes on display rather than a more distinct seperation that is probably found deeper inside.

"I get what you mean, honestly..." He murmurs, sounding a bit more serious for just a moment while he pokes at some of the brightly-colored men's swimming trunks on one of the tables. "I mean, not the college part or such. I mean... trying to decide what you want to do for yourself, you know? I mean, if I was going to take after either of my parents, that'd just basically mean I'd live at the farm forever and never by anything else."

Braving to delve a bit further past the display racks, he actually finds a... discount bin? Something of the sort? It's basically a big bucket with horribly unsorted articles of clothing. "It's good to respect where you came from, and all, but..." Leaning in, he actually starts rifling through the pile in the bin.

"You have to figure out who you are for yourself, right?"

The tone of voice does suggest that, for all the puppy-like energy the faux-knight exudes, this is actually something he has given a fair bit of thought about.

Either way, something tangles in his hand while he's going through the pile-o'-random-clothes. Enough so that he pauses momentarily and frowns in confusion, before yanking his hand out, giving it a shake to try and straighten up the cloth, and...

There, thus, hangs a loose bikini top. Well. 'Bikini Top' might be too generous, since... it very much looks like it might as well just be string in the vague shape of a top.

"...Uh...."

A little red spreads over Albert's cheeks at the realization. But even worse, the *instant* he gets the sense that Arisa may or may not be turning to look at him, a sudden jolt of panic stings through his body, and--

"GAH!!!"

He CHUCKS the accursed thing right across the room into the opposite direction with such force that there is actually an audible crashing sound against the far wall, and a small cloud of dust sent exploding out. Which, when you realize the strip of fabric must have been barely a gram of weight, is just utterly absurd, but so are a lot of things that the farmboy does with his strength.

"I WASN'T DOING ANYTHING."

[ARISA]
If anything, Arisa seems... extremely grateful that Albert understands what she meant, and her facial expression says it all, equal parts grateful smile and the softening impact of relief as tension not even she fully realized was there drains out of her. "Yeah! Yeah, exactly," the Texan says, enthusiastically. "And like, maybe you might be happy working on their farm but you won't know that until you see what the alternative is like. Right?"

Blessedly(*), she appears to have completely forgotten about Albert's brief foray into discussing what one does with a beach bod, moving right past that particular conversational line item.

Whatever she was ABOUT to say, however, is completely lost in stunned silence as she watches Albert fish into a bargain bin and then, in no uncertain terms, utterly destroy a bikini top in a decisive and fluid motion. For a second, it's clear she has no clue how to react, Arisa having watched the entire thing with wide eyes, before suddenly erupting into so much laughter that she hunches forward, hands on her knees, cracking up. When she straightens again, the blonde wipes her eyes and clears her throat. "So... sorry, Al-kun," she manages to get out between aftershock giggles. "I'm not laughing AT you. I promise."

(* it's not a blessing; it's intentional, but thankfully for all involved, Arisa's amusement at Albert asking what he's supposed to bang tripped some internal alarm, unlike the bikini death, that made her keep that information to herself)

[ALBERT]
Arisa's laughter does, before she has the chance to explain herself, still cause no small measure of a blush of embarrassment on Albert's face. He's left stock still otherwise, too, and completely uncertain of how exactly he should continue from here on out without making a complete fool of himself. More than he already has, anyway.

With the apology and the assurance he's not really laughing at *him*, he does at least allow a faint smile to tug at his lips. "Aheh..." And even just a little bit of a laugh for his own part, even if much more subdued for the time being than that of Arisa's, while a hand scratches akwardly at the back of his head. "I guess I shouldn't go blindly poking around and stuff..."

With a deep cough to clear his own throat, he decides to completely leave the container now designated in his head as the Clothing Bin Of Doom behind, and come back to padding besides Arisa. "A-anyway, let's, uh... keep looking. Sure we'll find something you'll like..."

Okay, maybe just a *little* akwardly self-conscious about that whole thing still.

[ARISA]
"Didn't you say you wanted it to be a little adventure?" Arisa throws back at Albert over her shoulder, as she moves deeper into the dungeon [frantic backspacing] store. "And you slew the first monster we came across like a knight should, right?" Is she teasing, offering his own overactive imagination an out, or some combination of the above? Probably that last one.

Still, the atmopshere's a little lighter now than it was a mere 180 seconds ago, so maybe the net result is a good thing anyway?

"Maybe, but it's not looking good," Arisa says, distractedly, as she looks around displays and tables and racks of clothing, almost all of it women's stuff, and ALL of it uniformly frilly, lacy, slinky, or some combination of the above. "I mean I'm happy with what I've got on for now, I'm just a little worried if I have to fight another guy with a sword. I don't think my wardrobe can take it." A pause, then a shrug as she half-turns toward Albert. "I'm out of the official tourney though? So I guess that's probably not REALLY a problem... OH."

Lunging forward, the Texan beelines to a nearby rack where she sees a bunch of swimsuits, or something like it; the light and her angle blocking it makes it difficult to tell, until she spins around toward Albert holding something that's mostly rolled up. "How about THIS baby?!"

Flicking her wrists, she unrolls... a men's one-piece swimsuit straight out of a Charlie Chaplin film, a short sleeved, shorts-length union suit-esque thing complete with Zack Island log on the left breast. "You could be king of the beach, Al... what do you say?"

[ALBERT]
"I, uh, just... I g-guess I wasn't expecting the monsters I'd come across to be like that..." Apparently embarrassment caused by accidentally handling Questionably Sexy Swimwear is enough to throw off even Albert's usual funk.

"Well... I mean, even if so, surely you'd have to change out of that to something else eventually, right...?" Albert suggests, too, just before Arisa's making a sudden break for some kind of Point Of Interest. "...Arisa?" He calls after her uncertainly, watching from afar at first before going trailing after her, so he can witness... The Swimsuit.

"Uh...?" It's clear that Albert is not entirely sure what to make of it at first appraisal, looking the thing over with a curious furrow of his brow. But even so, he reaches out to take the swimsuit from her, holding it up with both hands for closer inspection.

"It looks kind of old-fashioned," he observes first, but... when he peeks past it at Arisa, and perhaps catching on to at least some eagerness on her part (or potentially completely misreading a possible teasing moment?), he offers a small smile and a, "...But I mean, if you want me to, I can at least try it on?"

[ARISA]
"No!" Arisa says, somewhere between helpless giggling and being entirely aghast, snatching the old-timey swimsuit right out of Albert's hands, unless he's got a death grip on the thing. "God no. Al-kun, promise me you won't wear something like this even if your life is in danger." She holds the thing up in front of her again for a moment, staring at it, before literally just tossing it over her shoulder without a care in the world.

Wiping her brow as if she'd just expended tremendous effort -- and who knows, in some way, shape, or form she might have -- Arisa squares her hands on her hips and looks around again, shaking her head. "This is what I meant, though. Everything that's here for ladies is... is..." She turns and throws an arm out in the direction of the slain bikini top, "...DENTAL FLOSS, and all the men's stuff is either boring, or just WEIRD like that last one."

"Sorry," the Texan says, after a brief pause, sounding genuinely contrite. "I shouldn't have teased you with that, and I KNOW I'm being weird about this." Stepping forward a little, she looks through a stack of flip flops, non-prescription sunglasses, and the huge bath towels that get sold for use on the beach, each one printed with some silly tropical motif or the Zack Island logo.

"I guess this just feels like something I can actually do something about, as opposed to, uh... I dunno, literally anything else about this situation?" Arisa adds, giving Albert a rueful smile. "Adventure is fine, but being trapped on some abandoned horror movie-ish island by some... some..." She spins her hands a bit, clearly searching for a word, before settling on "...BEING floating out there roasting anybody who tries to leave. Then we're told 'hey let's just do the fighting tournament like normal I guess while we wait to starve'? It's..." Arisa seems to deflate a little, letting out a breath. "It's a lot."

[ALBERT]
"E-eh? Even if my life's in danger?!"

Well, Albert definitely didn't understand how much of a tease that suggestion actually was, seeing how surprised he is by her completely withdrawing the swimsuit. He even asks right afterwards, "Is it that bad?!" Gosh, he *really* has no fashion sense whatsoever, does he?

But there's a much more meaningful outburst coming up from Arisa, and whatever further comedy routine -esque reaction he may have had in reserve still is left to the margins. Sure, he's been keeping a fairly positive and energetic outlook altogether, but... it's not like he can't sympathize with what she is saying here. It is, on a grand scale, a pretty awful situation.

"...Yeah," he lets out himself, in agreement right in time with Arisa's deflation. "It is a lot." It's almost like the admission alone is enough to completely wave away all of that cheerfulness he usually has. Facing reality.

"That being said though..." But, some of it does return now, if only a little. It comes with the sight of his posture straightening up a little bit from a subtle slouch he had instinctively ended up in. "There's a bunch of really strong people here, right? I feel like if anyone's going to be getting out of this kind of trouble, it's going to be the lot stuck here now. I have faith."

Taking a breath there, he steps closer to Arisa, eyes turned to meeting hers. "Besides... Remember what you said back on the ship? We'd go see all the ridicilous stuff in this world together, right?"

The farmboy-knight's hand comes up, settling onto the blonde's shoulder, surprisingly gently so for all the weight he usually shows behind most of his movements. But more importantly so -- the touch comes with a smile that seems somehow warmer than even the blazing heat dominating the island.

"Ain't no way I'm planning to let that journey end for either of us this early on. You can count on that."

[ARISA]
In truth, the expression on her face as all those words tumble out of Arisa suggests that not even she was entirely aware of just how fully she was either worrying, or suppressing worrying, about a bunch of related topics. The fact that they can kick doors down and throw fire and leap ten feet in the air is good camouflage for the fact that a lot of these NFG competitors are teenagers barely out of high school. The current situation is just... you know. A lot to take for someone that age regardless of their background!

Albert's hand lands on her shoulder and the German knows the exact right things to say, making Arisa's stormcloud grey gaze lock onto the wannabe knight's brown eyes for a moment, unblinking. Usually the Texan projects an aura of energetic confidence, but for just right now, the slight coloring of her cheeks suggests an ever-so-brief crack in that presentation.

There is a warm, golden silence of that tableau, for a moment that seems to stretch on longer than a moment normally does, and then Arisa closes her eyes -- head still turned to Albert's -- and smiles. "Yeah... yeah. You're right. I did say that, didn't I?" Her eyes open again and their brightness suggests whatever was haunting her moments ago has either passed, or has fled in the face of Albert's unbridled positivity.

And then she slams a fist into the opposite palm with an almost disconcertingly loud *SMACK!* sound, turning to the unexplored bits of the store... not that there are many left. "Yoush," she says crisply, dipping smoothly into Japanese for a moment. "Let's keep looking. There's gotta be something good here somewhere."

[ALBERT]
The moment lasts long enough that somewhere deep inside, Albert might be feeling just a hint of worry, even if he does resolutely keep his eyes locked on hers all the way through. Before that worry can make itself visible on his expression, Arisa's smile thankfully starts making it's way back. And in turn, while her eyes are closed, his smile turns all the more warm while he's gazing down at her.

"You did," he confirms in a voice much softer than is usually (or really, ever) associated with him.

The smack of her fist against her own palm prompts him to snap his hand away from her shoulder, but at the same time, it does also turn his smile into a toothy grin, suddenly feeling re-energized from her own spurt of inspiration. "Yeah!" He agrees, quickly mirroring her by thumping his own fist against his open palm while his grin gets growing ever wider. "I'm sure we'll find something good! And then we'll go have more adventures--"

Suddenly, Albert feels like he may as well been hit by a truck. He's not entirely sure why, though. He's merely looking on after her while she's walking further into the store. Staring, actually. Watching her blonde hair sway behind her while she's resolutely moving forward.

"...together."

How strange. He finds his hand briefly rubbing at his cheek thanks to an odd burning sensation there.

"...Ah."

It's not like the farmboy is emotionally unintelligent or anything of the like. It's just something he hasn't felt beforehand, is all, so he's not entirely sure what he should do about it. So for the time being, he just stomps his way forward. Best to try to focus on the task at hand instead of worrying his current Quest Partner with anything.

"I'll look over there, I guess..."

[ARISA]
Does Arisa INTENTIONALLY move away from Albert so that she's temporarily facing away from him and they don't need to make eye contact or anything like that, so she can get her thoughts in order? Nobody can really say one way or the other, but that's the outcome here anyway, so let's not dwell on it, right? [Natalite Portman voice] Right?

Brief emotional moments aside, the store continues to be... well. A largely abandoned swimwear store on a tropical resort island that either never opened or was open for the briefest of moments before the island's populace simply left (or worse, a tiny horror movie-understanding part of Arisa's brain supplies). It's not entirely clear what the Texas-Germany Alliance was anticipating finding here, but that doesn't appear to be a deterrent.

"So what's your style, anyway, Al-kun?" Arisa throws over her shoulder as she sifts through another rack of nothing but gauzy lace tops and suchlike. "I know you said you grew up out in the country... lotta, like, tank tops and hard-wearin' jeans and stuff? Things you could work on the farm in?" A pause, and then a grin as she finds something, pulling it off the rack. "Or are you secretly like, a formalwear guy? Suits and jackets and... and cravats? Is that what the fancy vampire ties are called?"

Turning around, she shows what she yanked off the rack: a two-piece bikini decorated entirely in an American flag motif, which she holds under her grinning face. "Hey, what's the German flag like? Maybe we could get you one of these in those colors?"

[ALBERT]
"Er... Definitely not cravats," Albert declares with a little cough. "Uh... Besides that, I... kinda honestly don't know what my 'style' is?" He gives a vaguely helpless shrug with that, too. Apparently he is even distracted enough by that question that he's left mainly to hover by ARisa while she's doing the heavier lifting of actually browsing and searching through the items in the shop. "Like I said, I kinda usually just.... grab and wear whatever is available without too much of a thought to it otherwise. Although..."

He does look down at his current attire, perhaps a little self-consciously at that. "Yeah, tank tops and jeans... sometimes shorts. That sounds pretty much like me most days."

The farmboy does actually give a little "Oooh" when the american flag -bikini is presented, eyeing it over while it's getting framed to Arisa's body. "That looks nice. Do you think--"

Only for his eyes to blink at *her* question. "Uhhhh... I mean... It's just three different colored stripes. But um, besides that..."

He gives the two-piece she's holding a good, long, curious look, before leaning back slightly with his hands held out over his chest in an overly dramatic manner, as if he were covering himself up. Which doesn't quite have the same impact while he is still wearing his shirt, but still.

"You really think I have the figure for something like thaaaaaat?"

[ARISA]
"Bad news, Al," Arisa says, looking down at the swimsuit in her hands and trying to imagine it done up in three solid stripes... hmmm. Probably doesn't work on a bikini. "'Three colored stripes' is like 90% of the world's flags, my dude." At his little play on acting the model, however, the Texan grins and turns to put the bikini back on the rack, skating right on by 'that looks nice' in an extremely deliberate way.

"See now I'm imagining you actually wearing that and thinking about what your drag name would be," Arisa says, turning back around and leaning backward with her palms down on a table of men's sandals. "I can't tell if that was intentional revenge or accidental."

Still, the comments about his style (or lack thereof) -- or more accurately the body language and tone of voice he uses during them -- make Arisa tilt her head to the side a bit. "S'not a crime to not have a favorite fit, Al," she offers, ducking her head a bit while continuing to look at him. "I mean, if it were me working the farm, I'd wanna be comfortable first, look good second." She gestures around the store with a sweep of the arm. "Maybe think of finding out how you want to dress as, like... another one of the weird adventures you're gonna have in the NFG? After all, there's money involved, and you should at least spend SOME of it on something dumb and fun for yourself, right?"

A pause. "Once we get out of here, I mean. I don't think you're gonna find the right style in this place, that's for sure."

[ALBERT]
"Drag name...?" Albert repeats at first, with a bemused narrowing of his eyes. "I'm not sure what that is? Is it a drag racing thing?" Oh. Oh no.

Since Arisa's relinquishing the american flag bikini right now, Albert also moves to round along another table, poking around for more menswear. Which... is definitely much more sparse. It is definitely indicative of the kind of clientele the owner of the island *wanted* to get around here.

"Mmm... I could probably give it a good think. I'm not opposed to trying new things, afterall. Just... I was kind of thinking, if I did win any prize money and stuff..."

He pauses to yank a fairly simple pair of swimming trunks from one display rack -- in navy blue, with a white stripe running along one side. He considers it for a moment... and well, he's not throwing it away at least right away, he isn't.

"I kinda thought I might use that to fund some trips around the world. So I could learn more about what's out there... See more interesting things and people."

[ARISA]
Drag racing thing? "Yyyyyyyyyyyyes," Arisa says, cautiously. She does enjoy teasing her young himbo companion, but only to a point. "Something like that." There's a show CALLED 'Drag Race'! It's not entirely a lie!

The Texan watches Albert pick up a totally normal, if slightly unexciting, pair of shorts, turning to glance around the store a little more before turning back to him. Using the money to travel sounds pretty reasonable, to Arisa's ear, anyway. "Legit. I mean, you make the money seeing the world on the NFG's dime, then spend the money seeing the parts you didn't get to yet? Something like that." She flips through the rack Albert was looking at, but just finds more shorts in different color combinations, none too different from what he had picked up just now.

"Hey, Al-kun," she starts, furrowing her brow for a moment and then turning to look back at him. "Do you... think you're gonna keep up pro fighting when this is all over?" It's a question she's asked herself a couple times, but most of her social contact in the NFG has been with people from the first season... and their answer as to 'will they keep fighting professionally' seems obvious, if they came back for round two. "Or is this just sort of a one-time thing for you?"

There's a moment of silence, but before Albert can actually answer meaningfully, Arisa's jaw drops open and she darts past Albert to head behind him. "Aw YISS, jackpot!" she shouts, dashing over to a very small display tucked in a corner, in a very 'we don't want anyone to see this' location, before turning back toward Albert and gesturing at the rack next to her. "Burkinis! Perfect!"

[ALBERT]
Ultimately, Albert does hang the swimming shorts right back on the rack again, seeming vaguely unsatisfied. Sure, they'd be the kind he would normally wear, but Arisa's words are ringing a bit in his head still. Maybe he *should* try to find some kind of new style that fits him. Try new things.

Try to find something that is 'him'.

As to wether or not he will continue in the professional fighting scene after everything with the NFG has ended?

"Hmm... I didn't really give that so much thought either... I mostly signed myself up so I could have a chance to jumpstart myself as a knight. I figured I could get stronger that way and I guess... try to get the attention of people who would actually make me a knight, too."

Whatever that means. The way he talks about it, he probably doesn't really truly know what 'becoming a knight' would actually entail, too. He was definitely the kind of kid who would proudly declare "I'm going to be a heroic soldier!" or something of the sort without actually realizing what actually being a soldier would entail.

"I dunno. I could for money and training and stuff. But I'm not too interested in winning like... big titles and stuff. At least I don't think I would do any of that stuff right away. I would rather go travelling first. Oh..." His eyes suddenly light up. "Maybe I'll be a wandering hero? A knight errant!"

The would-be-knight's attention perks up quickly with the american's sudden energetic declaration. He's actually brought to wobble in place briefly with how quickly she's sweeping right past him. "Hmmm?" Leaning around a rack to peer after her first with a rapid series of blinks, and then coming gingerly padding after her.

"A what kini...?"

[ARISA]
"Burkini!" says Arisa, enthusiastically, as she flips through the (admittedly not particularly large) selection on the single rack, answering without turning back to Albert. "They're full-coverage swimsuits, basically, like... whole-body stuff. Some Muslim women who observe hijab wear 'em, and people who are sensitive to the sun..." There's a pause in the *clack-clack-clack!* cadence of sifting through the hangers on the rack, and the Texan pulls one out.

Turning back to Albert, she holds it up in front of her; the burkini in question is a muted pink and purple shade, with a pattern of tropical flowers up the right side. Of course, because it IS a burkini, it's not just the torso part of a swimsuit; there's attached leggings and even a hood. "What do you think? Obviously I don't want to go TOTALLY covered up, but I could do some cutting and altering... this would be perfect!" She seems happy, anyway! Pulling the thing away from her, Arisa looks at it appraisingly, then back at Albert. "Thank god for accidental cultural sensitivity here on Zack Island, am I right?" Arisa asks.

Folding the thing over one arm, she starts looking around the store again, squinting a little. "Alright, that's me settled," the blonde says, almost distractedly. "Now we just gotta find something YOU like..."

[ALBERT]
"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you said you were looking for more coverage, huh..." comes Albert's pretty blunt observation while he's leaning in to get a closer study of the burkini she has brought up.

"Um... I feel like the color would suit you pretty well, at least, but I feel like I can't give a proper opinion before I see how you're planning to cut it up. But I can tell you're really feeling at least, so..." Leaning back away, he flashes his teeth in a wide, encouraging grin, even thrusting out a single thumb-up for her benefit. "Do you need any more reason to pick it than that?"

Seeing her fold the suit along for easier carry, he gives a decisive nod to her, and declares, "First Quest Objective complete!" Buuuuuut... His expression does calm and recede a bit right after saying that much, and he even gives a faint chuckle of akward self-consciousness. "Aheh... I mean, I could just pick any old thing... Regular old swimming trunks fit me well enough I feel like, um... Maybe I need the opinion of someone other than me?"

THe way he's looking at Arisa now, that 'someone else' would probably be her in his mind.

[ARISA]
"Well, yeah, it's maybe a little more extreme than I was thinking of," Arisa admits, looking at the swimsuit she has draped over one arm before looking back at Albert. "There are people who rock them just like this, though; my friend Aliyah from college has a navy blue one with little silver thread patterns, she looks so good in it!" A pause, and then a little laugh. "She probably wouldn't approve of this color, but whatever, she doesn't have to wear it."

That just leaves the issue of what, if anything, they take home for Albert.

"I don't think anybody who's seen you fight would guess you're so shy in real life, Al," Arisa says, genuinely surprised, as she thinks about what he's saying. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing or whatever, but I finally got to watch videos of a few of your fights! You're really bold on the field, or... well, that's how it looked to me, anyway." Apparently she didn't get to see the fight with Tanwen, given her relative ignorance about how to the two get along (or don't), but the rest painted a pretty definite picture.

Elbowing the German in the side (and while she doesn't have Albert's raw physical prowess, there's more strength in that diminutive frame than one might guess), Arisa gestures expansively to the rest of the room. "Come on, show me some of that fighter energy! Just... go with your gut! You're probably overthinking it, is all."

[ALBERT]
"Eh? Shy? Really?" Albert doesn't seem to immedaitely make the connection between this adjective and himself-- though he doesn't exactly do a good job of beating those allegations when his reaction to the way she describes how she saw his fights is to give an akward little laugh and a wry smile. "Aheh, I just try to fight with some guts is all."

"... That being said though..." He shrugs his shoulders uncertainly after getting subtly jostled by the elbowing to his side (and even giving a vaguely surprised rub of his hand over the spot where she'd bumped him!), brown eyes turned to scanning through the various racks and displays.

"... I don't know if it's so much I'm shy and more... I dunno, it just kind of feels like, as far as swimsuits go? Designs for men's wear are not that varied, and I feel pretty good in just the shorts already. Besides those my options seem to be some weird stuff like that thing you showed me earlier and... mmmrrrh..."

He contemplates some of the items on display for a few seconds in silence before continuing, only to reach out, half-blindly, to yank a particular item off of a rack, and...

"...And stuff like this, I guess?"

TUrning to face the blonde again, he wiggles in his hand what appears to be... a green, very, very tight speedo.

"But I dunno if this is really 'me', either..."

[ARISA]
Later, when she journals about this, Arisa's going to write: 'THAT was CHEATING.'

She sort of starts to get a sentence out; "I know what you me--" but this was doomed from the start, because Arisa -- who had been idly sifting through a bin of novelty sunglasses -- turns and finds Albert holding the skimpiest possible dude swimwear that isn't a posing pouch of some kind. And he's wiggling it. WIGGLING. IT.

There's a clatter as Arisa's sudden reach for purchase on the sunglass table so she doesn't FALL OVER scatters the product a bit, then Texan's hand coming up and covering her mouth for a second, grey eyes looking at Albert over the top of her own fingers. This leaves the sounds she's making as the only real way to gauge what her reaction is, but a combination of her hand muffling it + the sounds themselves being a sort of nondescript "mph!" that could be a laugh as easily as shock does not help.

Eventually she gets control of herself and, clearing her throat, adjusts the burkini draped over her arm and tugs on the bottom hem of her top for a second. "J-just remember, Al-kun," the blonde says, blinking a couple times as she does so. "You should wear stuff that makes YOU feel good, you know? Screw everyone else." A pause, and then a moment of unexpected reflection. "S'what I shoulda said to lion-wolf-bear guy, actually. Hmm."

[ALBERT]
"Hm? Hmmm? Arisa? Are you okay?"

Albert's eyes narrow with concern over watching Arisa's sudden near-stumble, complete with the vague sounds muffling against her own hand. It takes him absolutely no time at all to come padding his way over to her in a hurry.

"Do you feel okay? You don't feel sick, do you?!"

He even reaches his hand over to briefly press the backs of his fingers to her forehead to check for any abnormal warmth. Thankfully he's doing that with the hand he isn't using to hold the ridicilously skimpy swimwear. But that still leaves the fact that he is *still* holding on to it in his other hand, while standing at a *much* closer proximity to her now too! "Hmmm-- No fever, I think?! Is it heat stroke or something? Do you need me to carry you back to the hotel?!"

He does spare a quick glance to the speedo again, though, with an uncertain "Hmmm?" over her little piece of surprisingly insightful advice. "Is that so? Hm... Yeah, that makes sense to me... And I dunno if these would feel good to *wear* with how small they are..."

Oh no. He's lifting them up to eye-level now. As if they aren't already too easy to see to begin with?!

"What do you think?"

[ARISA]
IF THIS WERE AN ANIME:

-- Tight shot on Arisa's eyes
-- Echoing reverb loop of Albert saying 'how small they are'

This is not an anime but let's be real, this is PROBABLY how that's playing out in Arisa's head anyway.

Does she feel feverish? Well... warm, certianly, but probably not feverish! "Y-yeah," the Texan bites out, before quite literally reaching up and snatching the speedo out of Albert's grip with snakebite speed, then tossing it over her shoulder. "I'm fine! Totally fine, all okay here." Is the speedo lost to the sands of time and history? Probably! Is the alternate timeline where Albert put them on a very different MUCK than this one? Likely!

Still, you can't keep a girl who grew up learning about the squishiest places to shoot zombies stunned for too long, and while Arisa's no tomboy, there is a definite sense of... well. She's an Active Girl(tm) for sure, which is probably why she reaches up and slaps Albert's shoulder before moving past him, looking for the EXIT to the store. Part of her is afraid he's gonna go back for the old-timey swimsuit which would be messed up in a totally NEW way!

"How about after we get off this island, wherever the NFG goes next, we'll go clothes shopping for real instead of this post-apoc survivor thing we're doing now? We'll... invite Ishida and Rodrigo too, maybe? Make a night of it."

[ALBERT]
"Ah?" Albert doesn't have so much as a chance to react to the lightning-fast speed the Texan's snatching the speedo away from him and tossing it away into the darkest depths of the store with. All he can do is send a series of confused blinks in that vague direction, first, and then after Arisa herself.

"If you're sure...?"

Without questioning it any further than that, he's walking after her and for the exit -- though he does snatch that one navy-blue pair of swimming trunks he was looking at earlier on the way there.

"Oh, we should totally do that!" He's quick and eager to agree, enough so even that he gets a bit more of a spring into his steps that launches him right up to where he can walk alongside her rather than just trail behind her. "And we can look for clothes besides swimsuits too, yeah? You can help me figure out a cool outfit to wear when I'm not wearing the armor and all!"

He does tilt his head a bit more thoughtfully right after saying that, however. "Mmmm... That being said though, will there be anything to the NFG after we're away from this island? It almost feels like they were planning this to be the main thing and stuff..."

A brief scratch to the back of his head... and then he shrugs his shoulders in a completely carefree manner. "Eh, no biggie. I'd still go with you even if this is where it ends."

[ARISA]
That's a surprisingly serious question, and as the pair emerge from the store Arisa shields her eyes from the sudden change in light for a second before stepping out a few more steps and turning around to look at Albert. "You think so? I guess that could be true," she says, thoughtfully. The company that runs the NFG has been notoriously opaque about the long-term structure of the NFG, after all. Plus, well...

"I wonder if they'll even let us keep going after this? I bet their legal department is losing their minds over 'oh yeah and we got a bunch of people stranded on a tropical island with no apparent hope of rescue'." The NFG participants all signed releases and waivers aplenty, obviously -- just the way of things in pro fighting -- but there are LIMITS to what you can effectively sign away in terms of your rights!

A pause, and then a shrug; Arisa stretches, her arms arching upward, the burkini in her grip dangling down her back as she does so. "Well whatevs, that's tomorrow's problem, right? Plus, well." A pause, and here she looks at Albert sidelong for a moment, coyly. "I mean, just because the NFG is over doesn't mean we couldn't find a way to hang out or whatever. Right?"

[ALBERT]
"Who knows... IT is kind of a mess, but all that kind of business and legal stuff is a bit beyond me, if I'm being perfectly honest..."

He does understand the severity of the situation, at least, and how it might affect the organization running things.

But there's something else he is focusing on, right in this moment. The time they're spending together, if nothing else. And he finds himself offering an agreeing smile at her latter words, too, alongside an eager nod. "Yeah, that's right! I mean, regardless of how things will turn out..."

His tone does shift a bit more sincere, even if it does still remain largely good-natured. The pace of his steps slows down, too, to the point that he even stops altogether. Even if just so he can, for but a moment, turn to fully facing Arisa.

"I can still see you after everything's over, right?"

[ARISA]
A pause, and then an equally bright smile from Arisa right back at the wannabe knight. "Yeah! Definitely." She extends a fist for the traditional brofist sealing of the pact, which the Texan dearly hopes Albert understands the cue for.

Whether he leaves her hanging or not, though, she holds up the burkini a waves it a little like a piece of evidence. "I got a lot of work ahead of me turning this into something I'd wear, so... I'll see you later, Al, alright?" A little wave of the fingers with her free hand. "And if I don't see you before your next fight, good luck! You'll crush it out there, I'm sure!"

And then she's hop-skip-jumping her way back to the hotel, where she hopes the sewing kit is exactly where she left it.

[ALBERT]
There's not a singular universe where Albert would leave her hanging, believe you that. The wannabe-knight's fist promptly swipes itself up to bump knuckles together, and his grin only grows wider. "Absolutely."

He spares her a nod with her declaration, too, and brings his own hand up to send her off with a wave while she's skipping away. "Yeah! I'll see you soon!"

And so, he sees her off like that, with a friendly wave and a warm smile to empower her with, watching her move on in their momentary parting. Until...

"...What am I doing?" He mutters, with a sudden narrowing of his eyes. "I'm going the same way, aren't I?!"

Log created on 11:25:12 07/06/2024 by Arisa, and last modified on 04:07:21 07/10/2024.