fic: virtually
Title: Virtually
Rating: T
Pairing: Soul/Maka, friendship and implied romance
Summary: AU. In which Soul and Maka are partners in a MMORPG called Meister.
Spoilers: General premise.
Prelude: Black Screen
He blows off piano practice for the day and spends a good two hours idle in the electronics store. He’s not even planning on buying anything. But Meister is out. It’s been out for almost a week so it doesn’t matter that he didn’t preorder it because the store has already restocked. He picks up the box and examines it, the very picture of fifteen year old apathy. Cool.
*
Once home, he ignores his older brother’s scolding and ducks into his room, booting up the computer. It takes about twenty minutes to install and set up.
Username?
the screen prompts him.
He grins, thankful - not for the first time, though it is rare - for his mother’s choice in first names.
Soul Eater
The screen fades to black, pulls up a series of glowing white letters.
A
s
o
u
n
d
s
o
u
l
d
w
e
l
l
s
w
i
t
h
i
n
a
s
o
u
n
d
m
i
n
d
a
n
d
a
s
o
u
n
d
b
o
d
y.
Soul blinks.
Okay.
Fade to black again. Red letters sweep over the screen, burn white. A series of personality questions. Of course. The game revolves around a pair strategy. One player must function as a weapon, the other as the meister. Soul is skeptical about this aspect, but even moreso that it appears he is not in control of choosing which he gets to be. A quick glance at the manual in the box tells him that he can opt out and restart the game after a trial period. No. There are two trial periods. One before you get paired with a partner, one after you’ve completed the entry level missions together. That reassures him, so he turns his attention to the first question.
What is your most prominent personality trait?
He scrolls the list, deciding on “cool, laid back”. Prompted for a secondary trait. It’s optional, but he finds himself choosing “loyal” and sticking to it.
*
He’s a scythe. Uncool.
As little as he knows about this game he knows he doesn’t want to be the weapon. A slightly longer glance through the manual informs him that the role of the weapon is more challenging. That peaks his interest. After all, there is a trial period.
Before the system connects him with another player, he’s assigned the basic training module. A dummy avatar stands in for his meister. His job is to have very fast reflexes, isolate the targets as the meister attacks in order to deal the most damage and to defend.
Half an hour into the training and he’s pretty sure he’s got it down. Wes knocks on the door and says something about dinner and their parents and disappointment. “I’m doing homework,” Soul retorts. “Big essay due.”
The lie seems to serve its purpose, but silently he knows that his family is holding onto the metaphorical receipt for what they just bought.
We have located your meister.
the screen says.
Begin?
Soul’s fingers twitch over the keyboard. He opts out. Tomorrow is another day.
Rating: T
Pairing: Soul/Maka, friendship and implied romance
Summary: AU. In which Soul and Maka are partners in a MMORPG called Meister.
Spoilers: General premise.
Prelude: Black Screen
He blows off piano practice for the day and spends a good two hours idle in the electronics store. He’s not even planning on buying anything. But Meister is out. It’s been out for almost a week so it doesn’t matter that he didn’t preorder it because the store has already restocked. He picks up the box and examines it, the very picture of fifteen year old apathy. Cool.
*
Once home, he ignores his older brother’s scolding and ducks into his room, booting up the computer. It takes about twenty minutes to install and set up.
Username?
the screen prompts him.
He grins, thankful - not for the first time, though it is rare - for his mother’s choice in first names.
Soul Eater
The screen fades to black, pulls up a series of glowing white letters.
A
s
o
u
n
d
s
o
u
l
d
w
e
l
l
s
w
i
t
h
i
n
a
s
o
u
n
d
m
i
n
d
a
n
d
a
s
o
u
n
d
b
o
d
y.
Soul blinks.
Okay.
Fade to black again. Red letters sweep over the screen, burn white. A series of personality questions. Of course. The game revolves around a pair strategy. One player must function as a weapon, the other as the meister. Soul is skeptical about this aspect, but even moreso that it appears he is not in control of choosing which he gets to be. A quick glance at the manual in the box tells him that he can opt out and restart the game after a trial period. No. There are two trial periods. One before you get paired with a partner, one after you’ve completed the entry level missions together. That reassures him, so he turns his attention to the first question.
What is your most prominent personality trait?
He scrolls the list, deciding on “cool, laid back”. Prompted for a secondary trait. It’s optional, but he finds himself choosing “loyal” and sticking to it.
*
He’s a scythe. Uncool.
As little as he knows about this game he knows he doesn’t want to be the weapon. A slightly longer glance through the manual informs him that the role of the weapon is more challenging. That peaks his interest. After all, there is a trial period.
Before the system connects him with another player, he’s assigned the basic training module. A dummy avatar stands in for his meister. His job is to have very fast reflexes, isolate the targets as the meister attacks in order to deal the most damage and to defend.
Half an hour into the training and he’s pretty sure he’s got it down. Wes knocks on the door and says something about dinner and their parents and disappointment. “I’m doing homework,” Soul retorts. “Big essay due.”
The lie seems to serve its purpose, but silently he knows that his family is holding onto the metaphorical receipt for what they just bought.
We have located your meister.
the screen says.
Begin?
Soul’s fingers twitch over the keyboard. He opts out. Tomorrow is another day.