An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 19 - Chapter 2 - Sleep No More

Returning back to the campsite, the pair had made notes of roughly where they'd found the physics defying river, and settled back into the bedding. It was no bed, that much was certain, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable either - the soft and fluffy blankets almost making up for the bitter cold water earlier.

That was another thing still replaying in Jet's mind - earlier. The atmosphere as they'd headed back had been thick enough that his sword would be needed to cut it, and they'd exchanged very little in the way of conversation. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that he'd upset Koharu slightly, by being hesitant around her. He knew that they'd agreed not to talk about it, but he wondered whether that was the right course of action. Not talking about things was how couples ended up resembling his mom and dad, and if he was at all honest, he'd rather not go down that path...

''Hey, Ko?'' He whispered over to her, as she rolled over to face him.

''Hm?''

''Earlier? I didn't upset you, did I?'' Deciding there was no point in dancing around the point, he went straight in with the question on his mind.

''I thought we said we weren't going to talk about it.'' She rolled off her side, and onto her back, eyes fixed on the ceiling of the tent. ''But yeah, a little bit. We're supposed to be dating, and well, it feels like... I don't know, I can't explain it.'' She admitted. ''It's like there's a sort of wall between us, I guess.''

''I... I'm no good with that sort of stuff, I kind of froze up...''

''I'm not upset, you know? Just... I don't know. It's like feeling like you aren't attractive enough, I guess?''

''It really isn't that. Believe me, in our relationship, you are definitely the looks... and probably the brains too, to be honest. It's just... I guess I've got issues - the whole wall thing, maybe it's closer than I'd like...''

''If you two are going to discuss your sex life, please do it outside...'' Phillia mumbled, as a pillow smacked into Jet's face. A pillow that had almost certainly been thrown by the mildly annoyed ginger girl, who was trying to sleep...

''We're not, but we'll talk about it later. Goodnight, Jet.'' Koharu rolled onto her other side, facing away from Jet. Some part of him told him that this wasn't going to be forgotten with a good night's sleep. He felt a weight on his eyes as he closed them, and felt himself dropping off to sleep, despite not being particularly tired...

/-/

Jet looked around, as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the air around him. It smelt off, a familiar smell but not one he'd ever have expected in Aincrad - the smell of diesel fumes. Before he could really process that thought though, the ground rumbled through the chair he found himself sat in. Again, the rumbling felt familiar, but he couldn't place were he knew it from.

The room around him was definitely not somewhere he'd have expected to see in Aincrad - glass panels surrounded him on every side, a clear view into the dark void outside, lit only by strips of luminescent lights about halfway up the glass panes. At each end of the room was a small screen, with lines of information on it, and that was the confirmation that perhaps he wasn't in Aincrad anymore.

He stood up, and took a look at the screens - they were departure screens, but the information displayed was absolute nonsense. Something about this was far more confusing than it had any right to be. His confusion was broken by another familiar noise - a four tone bell that Jet knew intricately... the noise that signalled an upcoming announcement at a railway station.

The next departure from this station is... a sad, lonely teenager with delusions of heroism. The voice announced, and Jet's face contorted. Okay, whatever was going on here was so far beyond ridiculous, it was absolute nonsense and he knew it.