Rania and Na'im's Scilabs Meeting

Rania headed to the familiar bench where she'd met with Mill some time ago, sat down, and crossed her legs. The mission wasn't the primary concern in her mind; she was more curious as to why MeleeMan had suddenly decided he wanted to be part of the NetPolice. He didn't exactly seem like the peacekeeping type. "Hey MeleeMan, let me ask you something. Did you want to team up with Na'im's navi because of our run in with the Mafia recently?" she asked curiously, after turning on her PET to look at her navi.

With a nod, MeleeMan verified her guess. "That's right. We need a little payback, right? It'll be for both of us," he responded, giving a rather handsome smile. His smile seemed to be hiding something, however.

Curious, Rania began to search for the original offer posting. As soon as she found it, she instantly realized MeleeMan's other motivation. One of her hands gripped more tightly down on the lower end of her shirt while the other clutched the PET. "Oh? That would be a nice little mushy line if it was true, wouldn't it?"

"Mushy? I'm anything but mushy. What the hell?" he asked, although he already seemed to realize where she was going with her accusation.

"You make up all of that crap about joining the NP to get back at the Mafia, when really that's what you're after, huh?! Are big boobs really that important?" she groaned, putting her face down onto the table and resisting the urge to bite into the wood. "I swear, of all the low-down, dirty, inconsiderate...!"

"H-Hey, I wasn't lying! This really is revenge. The huge boobs are just a perk of the job!" he explained, feeling somewhat agitated at having a complaint lodged against him when he actually didn't deserve it for once.

Damascus gave a curt laugh, then settled into her usual scornful frown. "Of course something like that wouldn't influence your decision, Master," she jested.

"Well, on the other hand, we're talking huge. Like, even bigger than yours," he muttered, stroking his chin thoughtfully with one gloved hand. "Hey, maybe this is the way it ought to be? A guy like me deserves the biggest and best."

One of Damascus' eyebrows twitched offendedly; apparently, she wasn't used to losing out in that category. If she lost out there, her personality couldn't do much to redeem her. "Ha. Let's see what sort of imbecile you've matched yourself with now," she spat, crossing her arms beneath her sheath.

((Waiting for Na'im))

"Ah," Na'im muttered to himself as he entered the park, "I forgot to ask Camillia about that emblem thing." To get to the park as fast as possible he had put on some rollerskates he had borrowed somewhere. His PET was still on his back, the screen dimly lit for Djinni to have her hologram out and about. Standing on Na'im's shoulder, unaffected by the wind or speed, she looked around as the Operator continued his path through the park. "And once again," he continued talking to himself, "I have no idea who we're looking for."

"But that Navi knows what I look like!" Djinni exclaimed happily. She had her facial mask back to covering her mouth and nose, but it didn't affect her voice at all. "I'll just fly into the air and make him look for me!" she continued, maintaining the happy tone in her voice. But as Djinni jumped into the air in order to fly upwards, she was interrupted. "Urk!" she uttered as Szand grabbed her with his hand from behind, his fingers encircled around her entire waist.

"And how would you maintain connection to the PET, huuuh?" Szand asked her after he had pulled her towards his face, one eye larger than the other as if raising an eyebrow, "The boss found that crippled girl, didn't he? He'll find this person as well."

"But I wanted people to see me," Djinni whined, still in Szand's grasp and being spun around to hang upside down as punishment. Feeling defeated by her Support Program, she just let her arms hang above/below her head. "But that guy's name is Meleeman, so I figure he's like a martial artist?" the genie continued as she looked around the park even though she was still upside down, "We'll just have to look for a fighter, like those of Path Pugilist and Queen of Brawlers!"

"We'll see," Na'im simply replied to her, admittedly not searching for his date but instead was having fun with the rollerskates, "All we know is that she's here, her Navi is named Meleeman and probably a close range fighter." Still skating around as if he had nothing to do, he spun around and began to skate backwards without trouble. "Her last name's Firebrand though, so maybe we'll be lucky and she'll be a fiery person," he commented and then spotted a redhead sitting on a bench, "Like her."

"Where?" Djinni asked as Szand had turned her the other way, then spun her around as if shaking her like a baby's toy. "Oh, there they are!" Djinni said, seeing three redheaded girls at the three benches, her head in a daze from Szand's rough handling. Releasing his grip on Djinni, Szand dropped the Navi onto Na'im's shoulder and dragged himself to the edge.

"Nothing to lose," he said, spun around again to face and race forwards and then made a course for Rania. "Hey there," he said as he stopped in front of her, "Would you be Firebrand?" On Na'im's shoulder were the holographic images of Djinni and Szand, the latter looking more relaxed than before and waved at the Operator while Djinni had one hand at the side of her head and trying to figure out which of the three girls was the one they were looking for.

Interestingly, Rania spotted Djinni flying around the sky before she noticed the huge Whazzapian guy on rollerskates, since her eyes happened to be turned upward. "Oh hey, that's the navi from the..." she muttered to herself, but was interrupted as Na'im skated up to her. "Oh. Uh... Yes, that's me," she muttered to herself, then broke into a laugh. "Wow, and are you the Asad?" she asked in a silly way, amused at being addressed by her last name.

"It may be a cultural thing, Rania. As may be his eccentric dress, giant musical instrument, and rollerskates. You should be careful not to offend him," Damascus muttered seriously, although she was really just goading her operator.

Rania hadn't considered that all of this ridiculousness might be part of some culture she didn't understand. After all, the man did look like a foreigner. Changing her tone, she laughed weakly and scooted over to give him a seat. "Anyways, it's good to meet you. That's an interesting navi you have," she commented, smiling up at Djinni and Szand. As she watched Djinni's boobs shake up and down from her hanging position, however, her real feelings were betrayed; her eyebrows and the corners of her smile twitched visibly.

"Hey, Rania, you're used to working with all kinds of people right? Let's give them a fair shake," MeleeMan grunted. "Anyways, how are they out there? Some kind of hologram? Or are you telling me I can actually move outside of this damned PET and never realized it?"

"Oh, yeah, it's a hologram. I'll turn on one for you and Damascus too," she muttered, fiddling with some settings. Once she found the switch, a rather laughably tiny hologram of MeleeMan and his SP appeared. He looked around uncomfortably as Rania slowly turned the dial to expand the image. "There we go!"

Damascus watched Szand and Djinni play around and gave a curt smile. "Maybe I should dangle you by your feet too, Master?" she muttered out of the side of her mouth.

"Sounds kinky," MeleeMan answered in another secret grunt, then smirked. "Hey, we're partners now, so let's try to be serious. You're joining the NP, right? I want to get down to business as soon as possible, so let's not stand around," he told Djinni, quickly settling his expression back down into a stern frown.

"Public Safety department to be precise!" Djinni exclaimed happily in reply to Meleeman. Now they had gotten out of the PET, she could get a clear view of the two. It was easy to spot which of the two was the 'man' as Djinni's eyes swiveled over Damascus' impressive chest. But in the end, she knew she would triumph. Meleeman sort of looked as Djinni had imagined, strong and brute. Without saying a word, she gave a thumbs up and a smile at the two.

"I concur with Meleeman," Na'im said as he took place next to Camillia on the bench, the Navi and SP jumping from Na'im's shoulder to the top of the PET once it was laid upon his lap. "However, this all was my Navi's idea. I don't know who to approach to get what we're looking for."

"Me neither!" Djinni said as she shrugged, "I was hoping to meet up with someone who knew where to go." Meleeman's request of being 'serious' was quickly shattered as Djinni's dumb yet sincere words were uttered.

But before she could speak any more words, Szand slid forwards and spoke before Djinni had the chance. "I apologize for her behavior. It cannot be fixed, believe me I've tried," he said, his eyes darting around the surface of the sand swiveling around his core, "But the truth remains that we do not know who to ask." His eyes slid around to put Djinni in his sight after he stopped talking. "Could she have asked for someone because she didn't know how to get in touch with them...?" he thought, realizing the idea was not farfetched enough to be the truth.

"You seem to be familiar with the NetPolice, Meleeman," Na'im commented, looking down at the Navi. But before he continued to talk, he had to start looking for the proper words to say to the Navi. "'If you could be so kind' feels kind of weird to say to this Navi," Na'im thought. "Can you and Rania take care of this?" he eventually said, taking the safe course of also talking to the Operator who seemed nice enough compared to the Navi.

"Public safety? I suppose that's understandable. She seems like a person that to be seen," Damascus remarked, making a hidden jab at Djinni.

"Uh... yeah, sure... I know where to go," MeleeMan laughed in response. He gave a secret glance to Rania, indicating that she should back him up and start taking him there, but it was unfortunately too secret for her to see, thanks to his heavy visor. "Well, I'm gonna go there right now."

Rania finally understood that she had a role to play in that and nodded her head. "Ah, yeah. I know where the kiosk is. It's in Internet City, right?" she piped up, feeling only semi-confident in her information. She thought she'd heard Amelie talk about it once way back when, since so many strong navis had been gathering there.

"Damn right. Let's go to Internet City," MeleeMan replied with an approving nod. Rania withdrew the holograms and started the navis on their way to the destination.

The operator laughed awkwardly, finally addressing Szand's earlier comment. "It's sort of funny that both of our SPs act that way about our navis. I guess maybe it's just part of being an SP? If I were Damascus, I probably wouldn't like being ordered around by a meathead like MeleeMan" she giggled.

"How do you feel about being ordered around by me as an operator? Isn't that more or less the same thing?" the navi asked with a smirk as he headed towards the recruitment kiosk.

((Jacking in, heading to Internet City))

"Ah, he vanished again," Djinni commented once Meleeman had vanished into the PET. Her first impression of the two wasn't bad. Meleeman at least seemed like a man she could count on and Damascus had her head in the right place; Not in the clouds like Djinni.

"Shouldn't we go after them?" Szand asked as he turned to Na'im, ignoring a disappointed Djinni who was about to answer but realized the question wasn't meant for her, "He doesn't really seem to know what he's doing."

Na'im stroked his chin with a single finger, thinking, but once he had thought it through he simply shrugged. "Rania seems more to up to date with this than we are," he said then turned to look at Rania, "So we'll leave it up to her. But while we're waiting, can you tell us something about yourself and your Navi if it's not too much of a hassle?" Although he had asked this, he had mixed feelings about wanting to know more about their new allies. Knowing Meleeman's strength would help, sure, but he also figured he shouldn't tamper with the mysterious force called 'young girls' anymore.

"Hey hey!" Djinni exclaimed as she jumped up and down on the screen of Na'im's PET, "Can I go look there?" She stopped jumping and pointed at Rania's PET. Na'im only got far enough to raise a finger and open his mouth before Djinni ran at the border of the PET. With a quick leap she landed onto the PET and ran over to the screen to sit down and stare at Meleeman and Damascus.

"...You know," Szand started, remaining on the PET he came from, "Forget it." He had almost apologized for Djinni's behavior again, but in the end just decided not to in an attempt to make Djinni's impression to the others worse.

"Hahaha," Djinni laughed cheerfully, still staring at the screen of the PET, then rather than sitting on it she leaned forwards and laid down on it. Swinging her legs back and forth, her head propped up on two hands and her elbows on the PET and her breasts firmly pressed against the screen, she just silently stared at her allies and the network around them.

"Just tell me if I have to remove her from there," Na'im commented, looking at his Navi's obnoxious behavior towards someone they had barely met.

"I-It's fine for now! Let her have her fun!" Rania laughed, waving off Djinni's antics. It wasn't like she could be very upset with anyone else's navi for just acting silly when hers was such a jerk.

MeleeMan looked up from the desk he was pounding on, staring into the PET's monitor. Damascus stared up as well for a moment, then returned her gaze to MeleeMan. "You're surprisingly tolerant. I'd think this sort of thing would irritate you," she mumbled.

"No... I don't really care..." he muttered, staring at Djinni's breasts as they pushed up against the screen. "Hot damn..."

"Master, please try not to drool all over the GNA kiosk's desks. I'm sure they won't appreciate that," she grumbled irritatedly. Realizing that she was right, MeleeMan stopped drooling and got back to business negotiating the terms of their mission.

Rania was a little wary about giving out any personal information after being attacked by a fearsome mafioso named Hector Goodall so recently. That sort of careless trusting had gotten her into some real trouble. Then again, she'd arranged that over the net; she'd met Na'im in physical form and she didn't think that the roller-skating Whazzapian looked like the kind of guy who would hurt her.

"Well, I'm a college student at Dentech. I don't have a major right now. I have a lot of hobbies; right now, I'm doing boxing," she explained. It was kind of neat for her to have someone interested in her; so few other people she'd met for virus busting or missions over the net really asked. "My navi is MeleeMan. He's a real pain some times, but he's a good guy, deep down," she sighed. "For the purpose of our strategy and what not, if we end up in a fight, just let him in close to the opponent and he'll take care of them. Damascus er... hrm... I'm not sure what she's capable of doing. You can trust her, even if she acts sort of scary."

The operator raised one eyebrow and looked down the navi snuggling her PET. "How about yourself and your navi? You look like you must have a pretty interesting life," she mused, resting her head on her hand with an endearing smile. She enjoyed the concept, imagining this strange roller-skater running around with his buxom, silly navi. Rania couldn't stop her mind from wondering what sort of relationship a big, quiet guy like Na'im would share with his navi, though.

"Oh, just so you know! MeleeMan just sent me the mission coordinates... Apparently, it's a mission in Electown Net, MeleeMan's already heading there. Our navis will be collaborating with a navi named IcicleMan in a political environment... Oh geez," she mumbled, trying to imagine how Djinni and MeleeMan could avoid upsetting such a tense and formal setting.

"I suppose it's not surprising she's a college student," Na'im thought as he looked at Rania tell about herself and her companions. While Na'im was listening to Rania, Djinni was still on top of the PET's screen and waved at Meleeman once she noticed he was looking at her. Szand, on the other hand, had vanished back into the PET.

"Interesting life," Na'im mused, taking the words in and wondering for a moment if he looked like a person with an interesting life, "I suppose. I'm from a small country near Netfrica called Whazzap. Long story short, a group there is convinced their ancestors created the internet and tried to retake what is 'rightfully' theirs. A program was made for mass deletion in order to keep the internet 'ransom', but it was stolen." He then simply pointed at Djinni and continued his story, "It is now buried in her programming."

After his explanation, knowing exactly how stupid it sounded to another, he averted his eyes from Rania and looked in front of himself. "I just do whatever job comes in my path," he said, "And do a lot of travelling." Having said this, Na'im realized he had better give an example of something he had done in the past. "Like this one time I was hired to be the nanny of this rich girl. That was quite an experience," he told Rania, turning his eyes back to her as he spoke, "But enough about me."

But at this point they were both notified of the mission they had received. Djinni stood up and made a quick hop over to her own PET, then turned to Na'im and spoke to him, "You heard the lady." Djinni's holographic image vanished while her 2D image appeared on the PET's screen, "We can't let Meleeman handle things on his own."

Na'im looked at the little screen and nodded. After tapping a few buttons on his PET Djinni's image vanished followed by the transmission message. "Djinni..." Na'im started, "Wants to use that program's strength to help others instead of destroying. Aside from that she's a klutz, an air head and not the brightest tool in the shed. But she tries her best, which is enough for me."

Having the introductions out of the way, he turned to Rania and smiled. "Boxing, huh? It suits you and your Navi if he's as melee as his name claims. I'd like to hear about your other hobbies sometime," he said. Rania seemed like a good person and not overly active, unlike his previous encounter with a young girl. It then struck Na'im that she was a student at Dentech University. "I was actually in the area of your school recently. Do you happen to know of a man named Burt? He teaches... Something at your school." He wasn't exactly sure what Burt did there, as he had never heard of counterinfectionalism before meeting Burt.

"Traveling... I ought to travel some time. It feels like I'm so hard rooted in Electopia that I never get out of here, eheh..." she laughed, thinking back to her house and all of her grandfather's feudal Electopian decor. She looked down at her screen to make sure MeleeMan was still on track, then back to Na'im to continue listening. "I see," she laughed, understanding Na'im's relationship with his navi well. It reminded her very strongly of her own with MeleeMan.

She raised her eyebrows when he mentioned her other hobbies. It made her realize that recently, all she had done was exercising and activities with her net navi. "I wonder if virus busting counts as a hobby?" she asked herself, thinking that it sounded a little too lame to say out loud. Her eyebrows lowered again when Burt was mentioned. "A girl at school I know took one of Dr. Blanchard's classes and she talked about him a lot. He was a good guy for a while, then I think he went insane or something the semester before she started his class. He's uh..."

It sounded like Na'im had met Burt before; he might even be a friend of Na'im's. She didn't want to say anything that would insult him too directly. "Well, she described him as interesting but a tough teacher. I hear he only does religious studies classes though, so I'm not likely to meet him," she continued. She was agnostic herself, so she felt quite sure she'd never run into him without looking for him. "Is he a friend of yours?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

It occurred to her that if he'd known Burt before the insanity hit, he might really take offense to how casually she'd approached the topic. She knit her eyebrows worriedly, hoping that wouldn't be the case. Her face looked so childish and innocent that it was hard to believe she was a college student.

"A friend..." Na'im said after Rania had asked her question about Burt. He noticed the tilt of her head and copied this with a smile as he turned his eyes at her. This was all new information to Na'im as he had never heard of it before, but knowing the man himself it didn't feel impossible at all. Na'im had seen what Burt's reactions were when they were busting and their Navis had gotten into a sticky and bare situation. He moved his head back to a normal stance and began to speak to her, holding his eyes on her.

"I suppose I could call him a friend," Na'im eventually replied, "But one I'd like to keep on a distance. It's not that he's a bad person, but... Eccentric would be a good word to describe him." He knew that he himself could've been described with the exact same word, but Na'im decided that this was the least insulting word he could think of.

"But what about your hobbies, Rania?" he asked again, not having heard an answer yet, "I'm sure there must be something." Na'im averted his eyes for a moment to look at the PET's screen to check if everything was still going fine. Djinni and MeleeMan didn't seem to hit off as well as their previous encounters, but it was something to be expected. This was the first ally that was an actual man. He turned his eyes at Rania again, still waiting on word about her hobbies.

Rania had begun fiddling with her PET, attempting to program some .GMOs that would help MeleeMan and Damascus fit in with the setting better. She thought about Na'im's question, pressing one finger to her lip absently. "Well, I switched around a lot. Right now it's boxing, but I've done all sorts of other stuff: wrestling, baseball, kendou, cheerleading..." she counted off, unable to remember all of her past activities. "I just haven't really been able to decide on one, hehe..."

"Most importantly, I exercise a lot every day," she finished, giving a nod and smile, a rare moment of self-appreciation. "Nowadays I seem to spend all of my time exercising, hanging out with my friend... and exercising some more, or busting. I also volunteer at the hospital, though," she laughed, realizing how one-track her life had become. "I wonder if I'll still have time for all of that once I get out of college and into a full time job."

"You and Djinni have been on a lot of missions together, right? How did they go and what sort of things did you do? We've only been on two of them and neither was quite as serious as this one is," she inquired, suddenly understanding the gravity of protecting a political figure. "Was your last mission really formal and professional like this one is?"

As Na'im listened to Rania speaking about her hobbies, he tilted his head her way to peek at her PET as he could see her doing something with it. As he saw the designs on the screen, Na'im suddenly realized what Rania was telling him. "Cheerleading," he thought, "And nursing. Burt would have found a goldmine if he met this girl." But it was obvious that Rania was a very sporty person as Na'im dwindled his vision over her appearance. "Yes, I can tell you are quite active in sports. You have a good body. And do you wear one of those cute nurse outfits at the hospital?" he told and asked her, having no other intentions with it.

Focused on Rania's body, however, the question about Djinni's previous missions was merely heard as a whisper and something Na'im wasn't fond of talking about. But Rania was one of the first people to meet that he could talk comfortably with.

"Yeah, quite a lot actually," Na'im said as he practically ripped his vision away from Rania's body, partially to not stare and not to become like Burt, "Our track record is a rocky road." Sitting back and glancing at the sky, he tried to recall all the missions Djinni and he had taken in the past.

"The first mission we took is only a blur on my memory. It was our first team battle with a Navi named Broadside. He was a good guy and little did we know that we'd be teaming up more often. Two more missions at least."

Na'im just kept talking to Rania, recalling the other missions as well. "We met some Navi named Voulge together with Broadside in a battle where they had become giants as a test if Navis were to ever fight giant monsters," he told, memories vividly returning to him but then came memories of the third and fourth mission they had taken, "Then came a mission with a war against the Neo Shogun army. It went well at first with Djinni and her 4 companions, but while the 4 others were in a tower Djinni was in the air. She tried to defend a dear friend of hers, but it didn't turn out well for her yet her friend came out well. It was her first emergency jack-out to say the least." It didn't pain him as much as it did to Djinni, but it was still a blow to him that Djinni had lost.

"The next mission was a sport, Netball, and Djinni was a new player to it. Long story short, she did make a point but quickly after that broke the only rule the game had. No attacking. So it was two missions in a row that we had to end," he told Rania, leaning forwards again and tapping a few buttons on his PET to design similar outfits that Rania had made for her Navis.

"After that mission," he continued to speak to her, "We met Burt and his Navi. That job went perfect, almost too perfect. Djinni has always continued to evolve between missions, burning with a desire to grow stronger. And that's why I have full confidence in success for our companions."

A grin surfaced on Na'im's face as he turned to look at Rania. "But that is basically our history," he said, then realized that he had gotten too absorbed in speaking about himself. It wasn't often that he could tell his story to people, especially people he had only met briefly. "Do you guys have anything like that?" he asked Rania, "Or any exciting battles? I figure you've been Netbattling for a while." In the back of his mind he wanted to ask more about her hobbies as she seemed pleased when he showed interest in it, but he was also curious about MeleeMan's previous battles.

Rania's eyebrows rose as Na'im gave his own opinion of her body. She couldn't remember the last time where anyone she'd met for busting had given much of a hoot about her, let alone her body. Truth be told, she could think of few things that would make her more satisfied and ecstatic than knowing that a man liked her body. She blushed and sank her head down closer to her PET while trying to hide her smile. "Oh, er, I just help low severity patients. I-I don't have to change my clothes or anything," she admitted, hoping it was alright to speak to Na'im so candidly about weird inquiries.

Not without her faults, Rania was far too absorbed in the pleasure of having such a compliment to focus on what Na'im was saying about his missions. Still, she got the basic idea: things had been very hard on him in terms of completing missions successfully. She felt a little disappointed when the subject of the conversation turned back to MeleeMan, but beyond that, she felt guilty that Na'im and Djinni had failed so many missions, while all of hers thus far had been successful.

"I actually haven't been netbattling and busting for all that long. My friend Amelie got me into it and I guess I've devoted a lot of time to it since then. MeleeMan and I have finished a couple of missions, but they've all been really tailored to him... that is, a lot of fighting without a lot of thinking. I'm hoping this new one will go well..."

She paused, then thought to herself. She was fine talking about MeleeMan, but she really wanted to keep a personal conversation going if she could. "So with all of the traveling you do, does that make you sort of a loner? That'd be pretty cool, backpacking around the world like that... Where do you sleep?" she asked, suddenly curious as she tried to imagine the big, rollerskating man sleeping in a regular, single-person bed with an ordinary blanket. It didn't seem to fit him at all.

She realized it might be sort of creepy, asking a person where they sleep. Turning the question around, if he'd asked her that, it would have felt pretty suspicious. "Er, I was just wondering if you lived with any friends or family," she laughed, hoping it would dispel the awkwardness of the question.

"Tailored for him...?" Na'im thought once Rania mentioned it about MeleeMan, reminding himself of the last mission they had finished. It was too easy. "I'm sure this'll be fine," his thoughts continued while looking at the screen, "Szand and Damascus look like they're capable in steering their owners around."

"Hmm?" Na'im hummed as he was suddenly asked where he slept by Rania. He wasn't really surprised by the question, knowing this girl had no strange intentions with it, but raised his eyes at her once she explained her questions. "Hades Island," he simply answered, "A friend of mine got this small 'base' set up in a cave and I sleep there the most. Apart from that, I sometimes take a cheap hotel somewhere and explore the surroundings." From within his jacket he took out a small and cheap photo camera and raised it so Rania could see it. "I like just taking photographs of things," he explained, "And that's basically the reason why I travel."

In the back of Na'im's mind was a debate going on whether he should tell Rania about his relatives and the complications going on around that. "I hardly see my parents lately," he said, "They're not really fond of me anymore. So I go everywhere, except my hometown." This was enough information for the subject at hand. It was all true, but the reasons were unpleasant memories for Na'im. "But it's alright. I manage just fine on my own," he ended his answer to Rania's question with.

"What about you, Rania?" Na'im asked as he glanced at Rania over his sunglasses, "Where do you live?" After having asked his question, however, he realized that asking the same question Rania had asked suddenly had a different meaning. From a bystander's perspective it might've looked like Na'im was trying to get personal information from the girl for his own twisted reasons. "Or rather, what's your living situation like?" he altered his question, not sure if it was any better.

"Man, that's a really exciting lifestyle. A base in Hades Island... traveling the world... wow," Rania muttered, sighing and resting her head in her hands. "Oh er, sorry about your family, I hope I didn't offend you. You do seem like a really independent person, though; I'm sure you'll be okay no matter what comes your way. I say it that way only cause I know what it means to be estranged from your parents."

She rested her head flat against the table idly and thought for a while. "I don't actually know my parents. They vanished from my life earlier than I can remember and left me with my grandfather. Sensei says that I shouldn't hate them, but sometimes it's hard. I just can't imagine what could make them do that... and I've been a burden to Sensei, I'm sure. Even a man like him feels his age eventually," she muttered sadly. Her eyebrows perked up suddenly and she returned to her upright position. "I should explain, Sensei's what I call my grandfather."

"Anyways, I basically live with Sensei in our Electown house that's way too big for the two of us, hehe," she giggled, suddenly realizing the silliness of living in a giant, two-story house with just herself and her grandfather. "I have Amelie and friends over too sometimes."

She thought about the strange room her grandfather had shown her earlier, full of ancient weaponry and housing Damascus. She realized that his past must be plenty interesting as well. "I wish I could find a way to have a really dazzling life like my grandfather must have. Everything about him's just so cool," she muttered wistfully. "It'd be cool to travel like he does. I'd meet so many new people... A life of traveling the world and helping people would be awesome," she mused.

"Na'im, I want you to take me some time!" she suddenly burst out, looking resolute. Her eyebrows arched intensely, showing her conviction.

"It's a bit different for me," Na'im thought as he heard that Rania was on her own as well, "My parents didn't want me around. She doesn't even know hers." As he heard Rania talk about the house she lived in and her grandfather, Na'im was wondering if that giggle he heard from her lips was just a cover for the realization that she's alone. Having those thoughts in his head, he didn't really have time to be surprised about her request. "Take her..." he thought, knowing what the girl meant but praying to the great Whazzapian gods that she had chosen different words.

Not sure if it was the right thing to do, he simply put a hand on top of Rania's head. "I'll take you wherever you want, Rania, and for as long as you want," Na'im said, not sure if this was the best path to take in his life, "And when you return, you can tell your grandfather all about your adventures. To show that you can dazzle too." Na'im had smiled a bit after saying this, always having the impression that a grin or a wide smile not being suitable for him, and removed his hand from Rania's head.

"I apologize if it was a bit invasive," Na'im commented about his actions, then took a peek at his PET's screen to check what was going on with Djinni. "Still nothing," he thought and figured that he should change the subject of the conversation with Rania. But before thinking of one, a couple of words slipped out. "I know what it's like to live without parents," he muttered. It was an odd feeling he felt with Rania, like he wanted to take care of her.

In a way Rania had reminded him of Djinni, both wanting an exciting life and being bigger than anyone else. This, however, put the image of Rania wearing Djinni's clothes in his head with the text 'too small' planted all over her chest. His facial expression betrayed him that he wanted to laugh, which he did shortly afterwards. "Hahahahaha, that is exactly true," he chimed to himself after his short laugh. If it was Rania, he could be himself.

Djinni and company was still in the phase of waiting for anything to happen, so Na'im stood up from their location and searched around. Eventually he spotted a vending machine and turned to Rania, making an amusing spin with his rollerskates. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked, pointing at the vending machine with his thumb.

Rania allowed Na'im to pat her head, smiling back uncertainly. On one hand, it was a comforting, fatherly motion. On the other hand, she'd really been trying to break away from being treated like a kid recently. Apparently, her image was still pretty child-like. Still, she guessed it was okay if Na'im saw her that way.

"Well, I'm probably being a little hasty. I shouldn't just go out all across the world with people I just met. Maybe if I get a chance to get to know you," she laughed in response, realizing she'd been too quick with her proposal. She looked back to her PET and raised one eyebrow. "It looks like Djinni's putting MeleeMan and Damascus in their places. I just hope she's alright. Getting in between those two is definitely sticking yourself between a rock and a hard place..."

She watched Na'im rise and appeared amused at his antics. "Nah, let me get a drink with you. Sorry, but I'm not the type to let others pay for me," she replied, rising out of her seat and heading towards the drink machine herself. She fished around in the pocket of her sweatshirt, then pulled out a few coins. After idly plunking them in, she pressed one finger to her lip pensively. "I guess I'll take a coffee," she muttered; it wasn't just her trying to act mature, she really did like the taste. Accepting the coffee, she stepped back from the machine to let Na'im at it.

Rania had already understood by this point that she probably wasn't going to be seen as anything more than a kid. With that weighing on her spirits, she tried to think of what else she might be able to talk about. Even though it hadn't worked so well with Mill, she decided to look for common ground in exercise once again. "Say Na'im, do you have any exercises you like? I'm always looking for a good running partner," she pitched in. "I don't know a whole lot about roller skating, but I wouldn't mind trying it some time..."

She omitted boxing and wrestling, because boxing or wrestling a man that much larger than she was would be awkward, to say the least.

He wasn't all too surprised by Djinni's meddling into MeleeMan's and Damascus' situation as Rania mentioned it. "She just wants to take things on as big as possible. Getting those two together would be a finish worthy of a movie's ending," he thought, guessing that was how Djinni was thinking. He kept looking at Rania as she passed him by to the vending machine. Calmly he followed her, kind of surprised at her choice of drink, and then reaching for the machine himself.

"You'd do well if you were to travel," Na'im commented, figuring that due to her parents missing she had to learn to live on her own, "You could've just accepted my invitation for a drink." Taking his wallet out of his pants' pocket, he took a few coins out and slid them into the machine. After picking his favourite amongst the options, a can was quickly dispensed which Na'im took for himself. On the can's label was simply written 'chocolate milk' and it was brown in color. Now he had received his drink and Rania has hers, he gestured back at their PETs to return.

"I exercise, yes," he answered to her question as he returned to their seats, "I have to keep my stamina up if I want to travel. I also do mountain climbing once in a while or simply walks through forests." He decided not to add the reasons to his excursions, figuring they were not necessary to complete the answer. "I don't regularly exercise at a gym or anywhere indoor, but I've done it a few times so I'm not alien to it," he continued, "As for rollerskating. I like to keep myself busy outdoors. Maybe find a spot in the wild and play some music."

He took his position back on the bench, sipping his drink once in a while as he wasn't truly thirsty but just wanted to do something small for Rania. Only to have it backfire by herself. "Doesn't that friend of yours tag along with you, Rania?" Na'im asked, looking back at her while taking a glance at her drink. Na'im had, admittedly, odd meetings with women lately. The first was an old friend, the second a crippled girl in a wheelchair and the third a hyper active rich girl. Rania was entirely different from the others but felt the most natural, giving Na'im a good feeling over their simple conversation. Looking back at Rania's face he continued his question, "What kind of person is this Amelie?"

"Sorry for not accepting, it's just me being stubborn. I like to pay my own way when I can. One of those independence things, I guess," Rania laughed. It really was part of her attempt to look more mature, stepping in like that. At this point she couldn't help but think that her relationship with Na'im might be more natural if she just acted like a kid, but she still really wanted to be seen as a grown-up.

She was at first surprised to hear that Na'im played music, but she then remembered his keyboard. The portable keyboard Na'im wore on his back was already a pretty strong indicator that he practiced music regularly. As the subject went to Amelie, she was at first cheerful, then immediately cautious. Amelie was, after all, not just a friend, but also a rival. If she were to describe Amelie in too flattering or interesting a way, she'd be doing herself a disservice by removing Na'im's interest from herself.

"Yeah, she hangs around with me a lot. She comes from a rich family and likes to... hrm... do anything that requires being stronger than a woman ought to be. That is, er... wrestling, for instance, cause it uses all of the strength in your body," she explained. She figured she'd spare Na'im a physical description. She really didn't want to talk about Amelie's unnaturally curly hair and enormous boobs if she didn't have to, as that'd probably put an image into his mind that so many of the opposite sex students at her school already enjoyed regularly at wrestling practice.

"We compete at everything; she's the person most even with me at most types of games and sports, so she's sort of my rival. Her personality's not bad, but she's got to be the loudest person I've ever met," Rania finished. She started to ask Na'im if he had any friends like that, but then she remembered that he was something of a vagabond and likely didn't keep constant companions (or so she theorized).

Her mind returned to Amelie momentarily; she remembered how her friend had suplexed a guy nearly twice her size just a short time ago and saved her. It was amazing to watch...

"She wants me to start wrestling again," she mentioned, forgetting that she'd never told Na'im about her brief wrestling stint. "I keep telling her that it feels too ridiculous. People don't give women's basketball a lot of credit, but women's wrestling? I think a lot of people don't even realize that it exists," she continued. "Yet that aside, Amelie is on a team, so I guess there are others..."

Pressing her chin down against her palm, she tilted her head slightly. "Do you know what a back suplex goes like? When you wrap your arms around the other person, lift them up, then drop them back behind you? I wouldn't think that just anyone could do it, but she makes it look so easy," she sighed, getting exhausted just thinking about Amelie's energy. "Do you think you could do a suplex, Na'im?"

"I couldn't," Na'im answered to Rania after she had asked about the suplex. He had length on his side, but that was about all. "I don't have any sort of physical strength to achieve that," he continued, mostly to explain his answer. Despite knowing her Navi was MeleeMan, he was still surprised Rania had a strong interest in wrestling. She didn't seem like the wrestling type, judging from her appearance and attitude.

"But isn't it nice to have a rival like that?" Na'im asked Rania, "Together you'll just keep advancing yourselves. I don't really have anyone I can consider a rival." After saying this he did a quick check of the people he knew but didn't consider anyone a rival after all. There was Joseph, his friend from Hades Island, but as he was no Net Battler, musician or traveler, there wasn't much left to consider him a rival in. "None I can remember at least," he continued. Djinni had once proclaimed a rivalry against the Navi MachMan, but Na'im didn't really feel he was part of that.

"But this Amelie friend of yours sounds interesting. A woman who prefers to do masculine things?" he mused about Rania's friend, "I don't really think it's bad. I've seen female wrestling matches back at Whazzap, although that was the lucha libre branch." He emptied his drink and put the empty can on the table in front of them. Taking a peek at the PET's screen, noticing it was still peaceful, he put his hands behind his head and took it easy. "If you want to wrestle again, why don't you?" he said to Rania as he glanced at her, "I'll cheer you on. Or even train you if you would accept my help. I think you've got what it takes. You're different from women I've met before."

Thinking back of the matches he had seen in the past, pondering what it would've been like if Rania was participating in those, he dug into a pocket inside of his jacket and pulled out a small camera. Keeping one hand behind his head and the other hand on the camera, he turned his head towards Rania and held the camera in front of his eyes. "It'd be a shame to get bruises on that face of yours though," he said, "You do look nice." Without warning, Na'im clicked on the shutter and took a picture of whatever pose Rania was in.