An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 8 - Chapter 1 - Snowbound

January 7th, 2023 - Floor 8, around a mile from the Teleport Gate

For Jet, the Eighth Floor made him feel something he hadn't felt since he was a child. A sense of wonder at what he saw, as the light glistened off the snow, and what he felt, as the snow parted under foot. It almost took him back to his first holiday abroad, back when he was four. That also being said, he preferred not to remember that trip in parts. Mainly the bit where their plane had to land just a little earlier than planned... in England. Not exactly the Alps, was London Heathrow...

His girlfriend, on the other hand, was having a very different experience... ''I-it's f-freezing o-out h-h-here...'' - The icicle - formerly known as Koharu - muttered, making her current disdain for her unusually wide eyed boyfriend evident, especially since he was wrapped up well, whilst she just wasn't.

''I did tell you 'one of the days, you should get some cold weather gear, never know when you'll need it...', but nope.'' - Sometimes, she could slap him, especially for the smug look he inevitably had under that scarf he now wore. - ''Tell you what, how's that upgraded skirt holding up?'' - Correction, she will slap him, and it would be today.

''I-it h-had bu-better st-tats! Th-hat wu-was important!'' - She rebuked, rubbing her legs to try and warm up as best she could. It wasn't particularly effective.

''Nice and warm, then?''

''E-eff y-you...''

''Love you too, sweetie.'' - Jet smirked, an expression invisible under his scarf, before continuing on ahead of his frozen girlfriend. If he stopped to look back, he'd have noticed her blushing furiously... probably the only blood flow she still maintained in this cold. He took a quick look around for any cover they could use. As beautiful as this floor was, it was bloody freezing, and there really was only so much that could be taken before both of them developed an ailment known as Frostbite, and neither particularly wanted to discover how much that affected them. He looked back to Koharu, who looked incredibly unsteady on her feet, and went back to her. ''You really aren't coping here, are you?''

''I-i'm fu-fine... acchhhOOO!'' - Jet thanked a god he didn't believe in for SAO not modelling spit all that well, after his girlfriend just managed to sneeze on him - ''S-sorry.''

Jet just sighed, and quickly opened his inventory, and pulled out a maroon coat, and a black pair of long trousers, neatly folded, before holding them out to Koharu, which popped up a menu -

TRADE REQUEST:
From: JET

ITEMS:
[Winter Coat]
[Raging Bull Trousers]

[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]

Without thinking, Koharu accepted the request and wobbled off behind a rock to change. One of the many quirks of SAO was to do with it's clothing system, which meant that clothing would scale to fit it's user, meaning that the usual awkwardness that would be associated with the 5ft 2in Koharu wearing clothes that were almost certainly meant for a 6ft Jet, usually wasn't a major issue.

After a brief flash of light - a sight that Jet definitely thought impressive against the snow, and polished icicles - Koharu stepped out from the rock, and looked just a little more stable on her feet, though not by much. ''Better?''

''A little bit. Still freezing though...''

''Join the club. And here's 12 year old me thinking the Beast from the East would be the worst snowstorm ever...'' - Jet rolled his eyes at his younger self's naivety, whilst Koharu suppressed a giggle.