Lost in Neon-lit Confusion

Di could sympathize with Lythael. Maybe not on the same level as her, but he knew what it was like to be responsible for yourself and someone else, yet be completely alone. Akua was hardly worried for himself, which left Di to be the parent of the duo. We need a place to stay, Akua. We need money to live off of, Akua. You need food to survive, Akua. Even back home, it was always like that. Sure, his parents helped, but Di was responsible for the details. He was built for this kind of thing, so it didn't bother him that he was essentially a one man team. That's just the kind of Navi he was.

"Personally, I think it's harder to be the Navi. Our Operators have it easy compared to the things we've got to do. Fight viruses, deliver emails, schedule appointments, fetch information. We're essentially their messengers. If you think about, without us, they'd essentially be crippled in their society. I'm not sure Akua, my partner, would last more than a few days if he didn't have me around."

"Hah! Yeah! Whatever!" Akua gave a snide reply. "I bet YOU couldn't last a day without me. Maybe I should leave you in this network and see who can last the longest." It might have sounded like a threat, but Di knew his partner was only joking. "My point is," Di continued, "don't be so hard on yourself. Maybe you should do something to relax instead of worrying about Rogan all the time. Whenever Akua doesn't need me, I like to get in an isolated network and just relax. I prefer my solitude to rejuvenate, but you might like something else. Maybe you could relax and help your Op by finding a job you like. In a city like this, there's bound to be some place that could use a little extra processing power."

The young girl tilted her head slightly as she listened. A part of her knew that all of those functions were the sorts of things a lot of navis did, but the way Di spoke made it seem like it was the norm for every navi who had an operator. Here eyes dropped to her hands again, uncertain. Rogan seemed unconcerned most of the time, yes, and spoke to her as a tool with a function when they were working, but her friend's words brought a new thought in alongside that.

"I guess... I guess I'm lucky, really. I shouldn't complain. I've never had to do any of those things. Rogan didn't own a proper PET before Eric gave me to him, so, he's always done all of that by himself. He still does..." She trailed off, thinking to herself again, breathing deeply. "All the time I've known him he's been solitary, and takes care of himself. We move around all the time, and he doesn't seem to have a home that I know of. We stay in hotels, or with one of his contacts, usually, and he monitors his own emails and jobs without me, like he always has, I guess." She shook her head, the stood up, brushing herself down a bit, not minding that she was now standing on a bench intended for sitting. Upright and still, it was clear her skirt only really came down to the tops of her thighs. As she moved it seemed to shift and twitch in small ways that didn't quite agree with physics, managing to keep her decent most of the time, but Di had already seen that it didn't take too much to overcome the simplistic modesty coding. She folded her arms at her midriff now, just below the end of her vest and looked about the small park.

"To be honest, I'm not sure I'm really any use to him at all. He doesn't seem to need me for anything day to day, or his life in general... but I know, deep in my core, that he does, somehow. I just wish he'd stop tyring to save money by neglecting his body, and stop getting caught up in contracts that are so illegal." She caught herself a moment too late and bit her lip, blushing again, and turned quickly back to Di, her eyes pleading.

"Please don't repeat that. It's not his fault, I'm sure, it's just that, well, he takes contract work, no questions, usually, and sometimes it's not entirely... well..." She stopped, anxious that she might have said too much, but after a moment quickly changed the subject.

"But I guess it means I do have time to myself, more than some. When Rogan is working, I'm there to assist him, though lately that's led to viruses, and I'm really not cut out for fighting... but, the rest of the time, he doesn't have any use for me, so, I guess I'm on my own.... I..." A small, shy smile managed to creep not her lips for a moment.

"I guess, to relax... I like to watch him sleep," the admission was followed by more confident, less bashful words as she moved on quickly. "And to look at all the places we go, and see the things he sees. He talks to a lot of people, and a lot of it seems very shady, I suppose... but nervous as it makes me, I get to see a lot of interesting places, so long as I'm silent." She shook her head again, smiling softly, and it finally seemed as though the combination of Di's calm patience and her rambling train of thought had dispelled the last of her panic.

"But, I thought I might be more useful if I actually achieved something while he was resting. I can use his PET to simulate my own forced links just about anywhere, even if the transit is rough, so I thought I might be able to find something profitable to do in between, and maybe make sure he has enough to at least eat properly between jobs."

She shrugged and ran fingers through her hair again, looking skyward for a moment.
"But I don't even know what I can do, or where I can go, to try anything like that. How do non-combat navi's even earn zenny in the first place? I just jumped in here, I don't know, guessing it would be all signposted or something. I didn't really think it through." Her somewhat obvious admission was followed by another small smile as she ducked her head.

"Sorry, I'm talking your ears off now. Thankyou. I'm really glad you followed me and are here now, I'm not sure what I'd have done if you hadn't come by." She bit her lip for a moment, thinking.

"I shouldn't' distract you from what you're doing, but, I think I'd be glad of some company while I'm here. You were showing your operator around the town, right? Would you mind if I came with you? We could explore together, and maybe I'll even see something that I can do." She stretched and jumped down from the bench, skirt flashing up for only the barest hint of a moment before settling down again as she landed, then turned to face him again, a small smile quirking one corner of her lips.

"It's alright." Di finally had a chance to get a word in. Lynael's mood was starting to lighten up, and Di was beginning to see just how talkative the perky girl's personality was. It didn't bother him one bit. "I'm used to listening to people. Anyway, I'd be happy to help you around town. To be honest, I still don't know this place all that well, or even where we are in relation to the rest of the city. I can at least give you company, and you'll be better company than my partner is." Di caught himself, raising his hand defensively at his remark. "Don't get me wrong. Akua isn't a bad guy, and I certainly don't hate him. I know I haven't said much good about him, but we do get along just fine. I've spent entirely too long with him, so I don't want you thinking he's abusive or that I'm a lousy Navi."

Di stood to his feet, shooting Lyntael a glance that he was ready to go. He didn't want to look for too long, because the prying eyes of Akua weren't something that should be given opportunity. Rubbing his scorch mark one last time, he nodded in the direction of the park they had entered. "Shall we?"

Lyntael nodded with a quick enthusiasm as her new friend accepted her offer, grinning and clapping her hands without any sort of conscious thought going into the action. A proper smile this time it finally showed off a perfect set of neat, white teeth, small and uniform except for the slightest hint of pointing at her canines. As she turned with him to face the entrance of the small park, her hair had perked up again as well, standing in short, somewhat dishevelled, rough-ended spikes.

She looked up at Di, then shrugged her shoulders softly.
"It sounds like you and your operator are friends. I know that Eric and Rogan snip at each other a lot like that, but they each do really care about one another. I'm sure you get on fine." Grinning at him she held out a hand, then paused and withdrew it for a moment, staring carefully at her fingers. She seemed to concentrate for a few moments, examining herself, then nodded and reached out again.
"Should be safe now, I think. Let's go!"

Electown is a funny place in the current day. Once, a few handfuls of years ago, it was the hustling, bustling place to be; most major net traffic in Electopia routed through it in some way or another. It contained the network for the urban center of Electopia, the country-- and, more particularly, the Den City downtown. Then came the Netsquares, which took over as a hyper-convenient way to meet up or route traffic, which took a good chunk of Electown's traffic. Then came Internet City, which was everything Electown had been-- and then some.

So what had Electown done to survive as a relevant network?

It changed. It became a city that resembled a giant shopping mall more than it did a functional, multi-purposed downtown, and as such the entire area had turned (mostly) into one big commercial district, like a cross between a bazaar and every Bartrucks cafe you'd ever seen. Big brands mingling with little unknowns, shops that were crowded next to shops that were empty and overlooked, and a place to find everything you could ever want online.

That was how Electown had thrived.

And so, as Lyn and Dee strutted around the town, there was quite a lot to see; everything from GMO-styling parlors, to battlechip "refinement" studios, to clothes vendors that specialized in custom designs that matched your navi, "Gaurenteed!" ...Yeah, some of these places seemed kind of worthless.

Finally, as the two stood on one of Electown's many automatic sidewalks, a couple of things managed to catch the pair's eyes; The first was a place that called itself "Adventuring Hour!". From the sign, it was a game show of sorts-- they would give participants a number of chips to use to try to get through an obstacle course.

The second thing that caught the pair's eye was a "Mystery Capsule!" machine parked outside of a store. It advertised a "Variety of prizes!", but seemed empty...

Lastly, there was a navi with a deck of cards and a table standing at a street corner, calling out for big prizes for anyone who could best him in a game of "Pixie".

Of course, if the two of them didn't care for any of this, they could always continue on...

As they stepped back out into the brightly lit city-scape, Lyntael winced again, but the persistent hum and buzz of the city's energy seemed less overwhelming that it had before. It wasn't any less invasive, certainly, but at least her senses seemed to be gradually growing used to it.

She grinned up at Di as they walked, in between looking all about herself at the different advertisements and bright displays. The more her own discomfort faded away, the more her natural curiosity and eagerness were given a free hand to steal her focus. She tried to stay on track, really she did, but before too long had passed she had abandoned simply looking around with her eyes, and let go of her friend's hand, darting about him now as they walked, staying close but always zipping back and forth from one thing that grabbed her eye to another.

She paused for a moment in front of one of the many shop-fronts displaying a sale on outfits, staring wistfully for a few seconds at the things she knew to be far out of reach, before her attention was pulled away by something else again. This time her gaze lingered on what was apparently a game-show of some sort, standing still for a moment as she stared up at the building, and the advertisements displayed on it. After another few moments staring, she darted back towards Di again, but paused as she passed a seemingly empty capsule machine. Something about it caught her eye and she couldn't put her finger on what, but she hesitated long enough to look at the sorry machine.

"Aww, poor thing..." She murmured, looking at the device trying to sell itself so hard, despite looking like it had no stock at all. She tapped once on the glass with a rueful smile, then turned her back, retuning to Di properly this time. She bounced on her toes, springing up and down lightly in between walking backwards in front of him.

"See anything you want to look at yet? Or your operator? There's so much stuff here! I've never seen anything like it!" Her excited tone was mirrored by small trailer sparks of electrical energy running up the spikes of her hair, but at least this time they seemed quite well contained and not likely to jump or arc.

Di took Lyn's hand, reluctant at first but decided to give it a go anyway. Now that the Electric Navi was in control of her emotions, there wasn't anything to worry about. Akua snickered at the consensual gesture since Di really wasn't the touchy-feely type, but Di ignored his partner's jeers and followed along with Lyn. It's not like holding hands meant anything especially to Navis.

The rush of the city wasn't Di's ideal scenario. The lights were as annoying as ever, and the passing stares of other Navis wasn't welcomed, but it was certainly more tolerable going through the city with someone else. Di didn't really care to look around, but he did it anyway to keep his partner's curiosity happy. It was more of the same: shopping centers, flashing neon lights, busy streets. A few games in particular caught Akua's eye, making Di stop as he looked at the battling game show.

"That seems pretty cool. You should give that a shot, Di. You could certainly use some combat practice, plus winning free stuff sounds good to me."

"Out of the question," Di said under his breath. The game show didn't bother him, but he knew Lyn didn't exactly like fighting, so it wouldn't have done her much good. To offer another suggestion, Di pointed to the street corner Navi inviting people to play a card game. He gave a glance at the now energetic Lyn, offering a grin at her newly improved attitude. "Why don't we try that out? It seems simple enough, and I bet you could win something from it. It wouldn't hurt to give it a shot."

As she followed his gesture to the navi on the street corner, she tilted her head, curiosity piqued. there had been decks of cards at Eric's house, and she recognised that he was probably a card-sharp of some sort, but, well, there was no harm in asking, at least.

She nodded to Di, offering him a grin, and beckoned for him to come with her at least, then approached the card table cautiously. When she was close enough, she gave a small wave, shy, and caught his eye. It wasn't too hard, and a part of her was quite sure that, as an enterprising street performer, he had probably marked her approach long before.

"Hi... I, um... how does the game work?" She asked him, once she was standing in front of his table, green eyes watching his face rather than where probably ought to have already been, on the cards.

"Well, Miss! Interested in a game, hm?" The navi, a man in a black suit with a white undershirt, gives a jovial, yet strange laugh. He shuffles the deck in his hands, shifting the cards around far faster than the eye can see, and then deals two sets of five out onto the table in a flash. "The rules are on the sign next to me." He says, nodding towards his right.

Sure enough, there's a sign there.

"It's a bit like speed Poker." The navi explains, setting the rest of the deck down. "Since you can lie, or 'bluff' about what you've actually got. If you've got any questions, I'll be happy to answer 'em. Otherwise-- the buy-in is 100z. Lose, I keep your bet. Win, I give you this."

The navi flips a small box out from under the table, juggling it in one hand, then holds it up. The lid of the box is clear, showing the chip data inside, but just in case the box itself has a label. "Zapring1" is printed just beneath the window, in big, easily-readable letters.

"Of course, if your friend there wants to play instead..." He flips a second box up with his other hand, this one holding a MistConvergence1.

"Best two out of three in either case. Of course, you two could also go double-dutch on me... that'd make it best 3 out of 5, and I'd be playing two matches at once." He hauls a second deck up from underneath the table-- how much stuff does he have under there?-- and sets it down on the top. "You in?"

Di was apathetic about playing, although his curiosity was peaked by the game. He wasn't that great at card games, but he was certainly better than Akua was. Eyeing the sign and pondering the opportunity, Di gave a small nod as he made up his mind. "Sure, I'll play, but only if my friend has enough zenny." He turned to Lyn, a strange feeling rising in his chest as he offered a polite gesture. "I'll pay for it if you want to play. I only have enough for one game though, so you'll be on your own. Don't worry about me, though. I'm terrible at these sorts of games, so you'll probably do much better than I could."

"Hey!" Akua spoke as the reasonable one this time. "We don't have a lot of zenny, and you're blowing it on her? Sheesh, you're practically drooling over this girl, and you act like you don't even care!"

Di gave a small chuckle and a slight shake of his head. Akua just didn't understand.

The rule board looked complicated, and Lyntael took a few extra moments reading over it quickly while she debated. The money she had was Rogan's after all, and he certainly hadn't given her any permission to risk or spend it. He'd be very annoyed at her wasting it on games, too, she knew. The rules seems straight forward, more or less, though, and a small part of her felt daring enough to want to try.

As she looked up at her friend, Lyntael's eyes widened slightly and she took a small step back from the table, shaking her head suddenly.

"Oh! Oh, I can't let you do that for me, we- we only just met, that's too generous! I—" She bit one lip, rocking on her toes uncertainly, trying to reach a conclusion in her own thoughts. "Oh, I really shouldn't, but, he said that this money was set aside anyway, for me to use to get stronger... and I guess that getting more chips could be taken as getting stronger, in a way, right?" She was looking up to Di with eyes that seemed to plead for reassurance while she convinced herself to go ahead, but in the need the return gaze was all she really seemed to need. She swallowed, then nodded, more to herself than anyone else.

"Alright, let's both play a round them, if you want to. One game, just one. Sound alright?" She managed a small grin, now that she'd made up her mind and tapped the corner of the card table nearest her with the base buy-in. She turned a nervous smile back towards their dealer. "I'm in," She nodded, then glanced back up to Di.

((OOC note: For fairness, convenience, and sanity, I will be using an actual deck of cards for this. That's ONE deck of cards, as one deck of 52 playing cards contains more than enough sets to make two Pixie (21-card) decks.))

Before Lyntael could so much as think the words "Maybe this isn't such a good idea", the dealer's hands whipped out, snatched the zenny, and dropped it into his pocket. A moment later he dealt two hands from the deck, five cards each, and laid them out next to each other. "Pick your hand." He set the remaining cards-- the deck-- on the table between her and him.

"How about you then?" he turned to Dee. "You in? Or are you going to make your date play by herself?"

Lyntael's eyes flickered with his movements, blinking as he dealt out the cards with an unnerving smoothness. Her own naivety prevented anything more than a look of slight concentration from crossing her features, however, and she tentatively reached out to take up the hand on her left.

She looked up to Di briefly before examining her cards, but was quickly lost in a deeper focus of concentration as her eyes shifted back and forth frequently between her own hand and the rules board as she waited for her companion to make his own decision. While she focused, her right hand, unoccupied, drifted up to her chest, beginning to trail one finger in a gentle circle over her emblem in a distracted, unconscious action.

Di eyed the dealer's black suit, not finding his comment towards him the least bit humorous. With a heavy hand and a handful of zenny, Di gave a curt reply. "She's not my date." He picked up the hand of cards on his right and took a glance at it, then looked back over to Lyn as he lightened up. He wasn't trying to be offensive, but a reassuring nod was his only indication that he didn't mind being around the electric Navi. Akua couldn't help but crack up at Di's response.

The aquatic Navi ignored his partner's hysterical laugh as he waited for further instruction from the dealer. The rules might have been posted on the sign next to him, all of which was generally easy to understand, but this was still a new game to Di. He might not be that great at card games, but his poker face isn't all that bad. That didn't mean he'd do well, of course, but it was better than nothing.

"Ready when you are."

The dealer picked up Dee's buy-in with a similar swiftness-- and then snatched up the hand that the navi hadn't picked. He beamed at them as he held up each of his hands in turn-- one for each of the games-- and nodded. "Well then, I believe I will go first." He said cheerily, slipping a pair of cards onto the table.

"Seven of Hearts." was the card he supposedly put down next to Lyntael's deck, a perfect smile spreading across his features as he put it on the table. Perhaps too perfect?

A moment later he turned and put down a card in Dee's game, almost like an afterthought. "Four of Hearts." Saying the card name was the longest part of his move; Dee was pretty sure he hadn't even looked at him.

...So then, what to play against him?

LYNTAEL'S HAND: 10 S, 6 S, 7 S, 10 H, 8 C
Dealer: 4 cards

DEE'S HAND: A H, 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE
Dealer: 4 cards

As she examined her own hand, concentrating, tiny sparks danced along the slender lines of her eyebrows, knit tightly. Her eyes jumped back to the rules again and she bit one lip, thinking carefully. It was always her wont to over-examine things like this, and her mind jumped back and forth over possible strategies that her opponent might be using.

She turned her head to glance up to Di, her apparent deep concentration faltering as she broke into a happy smile. Her eyes twinkled slightly.
"It's fun to think about, don't you think? There's so many possibilities for what could be, or isn't, hehe!" Her nose made a cute crinkle as she grinned at him, before her eyes returned to her cards, trying to focus again.

The finger trailing lazily around her emblem began to tap gently instead and she reached a decision. She pulled two cards up, still holding them close in.
"So... If you put Seven of Hearts, then... I could play..." She tentatively slipped one card onto the table, keeping two fingers on it while she called its name.
"Seven of Spades... And then..." She slipped a second card down after it with the same delicate precision. "I can follow with... Six of Spades? Is that right?" She blinked a few times, looking at their dealer and tilting her head, holding her remaining three cards closer to her chest now.

----

Down: 8C, 6S.

Lyntael's Hand: 10H, 7S, 10S.

Di had no reason to think the dealer was lying. It was the first move, after all. Why start out on a lie? He gave the dealer a suspicious look, but played a card down confidently as he declared his move. "Ace of Hearts." Better start out telling the truth before moving on to the gutsy calls.

---

Down: A H

Hand: 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE

"An interesting move..." The dealer smirked at Lyntael's play, an awareness glittering in his eyes. His hands flicked to his cards-- "Six of Hearts, Nine of Hearts, Seven of Hearts." One by one, three blue-backed cards laid down upon Lyntael's lie, her move unchallenged.

"And now for you." He put the hand for Lyntael's game down, then turned to her partner across the way. The cardshark flipped the small hand outward like a fan, looking at the "secrets" held inside, and stared Dee down. A moment later his hand plucked three of them from the deck and put them on the table. "Two of Hearts, Four of Hearts, Four of Diamonds."

Down: 6H, 9H, 7H (Current)
LYNTAEL'S HAND: 10S, 7S, 10H
Dealer: 1 card

Down: 2H, 4H, 4D (Current)
DEE'S HAND: 2C, 3D, 5S, PIXIE
Dealer: 1 card

The young girl's eyes flickered over the table as the cards went down, and she silently mouthed what each of them had claimed to be. She grinned at the dealer after he played, and giggled, holding her cards in front of her face impishly.

He'd fibbed, obviously, though whether in the first play, like she had, or in the second, she had no real way of knowing. Her eyes twinkled with an enthusiastic glee anyway though, getting more caught up in the back and forth of the game. Something in her opponent's eye kept her wary, though no sign of such underlying thoughts managed to break through her enthusiasm. Even so... Her own bluff had been as a card from her own hand; there was no honest way he could know she had, and yet... something in his eye stayed with her.

As she glanced down at her own hand again, thinking, her free hand returned to its lazy rubbing at her emblem, tracing slow, delicate circles with a fingertip. Apparently it was something unconscious that happened, whenever she was thinking. Lie or not, there was no sense in attempting to call him on it, not when her next move was simple and honest.

She offered her dealer another impish grin, showing a full set of neat white teeth in her glee, then started to place her cards in response.

"I think I get how this works now, hehe... So..." First card, with two fingers holding it delicately in place as she called. "I follow with Seven of Spades," She couldn't resist a small wink to the dealer here, as her repeat call mirrored his. Without slowing though she placed her second card, sliding it up with the same two fingers and holding it there while she called. "Then Ten of Spades," She put her last card down with the same precision as the first two. "And then Ten of Hearts."

Lyntael giggled and clapped her hands close to her chest, bouncing up and down on her toes for a few moments. On a more endowed young woman, the motion might have provided some eye candy, but skimpy vest or not, Lyntael had precious little to cause any sort of real movement there at all. When she calmed she smiled brightly for the dealer, her eyes dancing.

"Aand I'm out! Is that right?" Sparks danced in her hair again, more visibly jumping from spike to spike, rather than simply running up and down them now, in her glee. She looked over to Di, eager to glance at his hand and see how he was doing, but not daring to in case it wasn't allowed.

----

Down: 7S, 10S, 10H (Current)
Lyntael's Hand: (Out!)

Di kept a stone cold expression on his face. The dealer certainly had a lot of hearts, but the aquatic navi missed that the dealer played the seven of hearts twice. Di was sure he was lying, but he didn't know if he was lying to both of them or not. Since Lyn didn't bring it up, Di would. "I'll call."

----

Move: Call

Hand: 2 C, 3 D, 5 S, PIXIE