Fire Hazard (Private with Melina Caedus)

[Al Ciendra]

Another eventful and exhausting day at Beacon had passed.
Classes were exhausting, having to remember and learn so many boring things like the history of the world or listening to one of the professors lament on and on about how he killed a hundred Grimm by himself was boooooring!
But at least she had combat practice as well, letting her vent out her frustration on some of the holographic Grimm and not so holographic students.

But now she finally had some time to herself and to relax, first she really wanted to catch some fresh air and after going to her dorm, dumping her school books and so on into her closet and slipping into some more comfortable clothes Al went outside into the gardens.

She was just wearing some blue jeans, her usual heavy yet comfortable combat boots, a dark red hoodie and her trusty metal mask.
The latter two completely hid her head, drawing the usual confused looks from the other students.
But Al did not mind.

She walked through the facility, soon finding a nice tree, a bit further away from any students, and sat under it.
The grass under her and the bark against her back was nice, she took a deep breath, finally being able to smell something other than stale classroom air was truly a blessing.

Al crossed her legs, as she then began to idly play with a flame that she created in her hand.
Something else that she was not allowed to do inside, as it was a fire hazard, and it could scare other students.
Al let the flame take the shape of one of her professors, making their glasses extra big and dorky as they yelled at her.
Well, the flame just mimicked the motion of it.
Until Al snapped her free fingers and the flame puppet went up in a small and explosion that sounded more like a tiny firework going of.
Al giggled to herself, as she continued to play with her flames.

[Melina Caedus]

The day‘s end was drawing near.
Having left the library shortly after studying some of it‘s books on Grimm and Faunus physiology, she headed outside to stroll through the gardens to get her head nice and clear again. The day was exhausting after all.
The combat class she had today was at least not as bad as she thought it would be. The students didn‘t straight up fight each other which Melina was more than happy about.
She hated violence and unnecessary violence even more.

Carefully walking through the stone pathway of the garden she looked around anxiously to see wether or not people were looking at her. Her rather heavy steps came with a very mild sound of machinery, due to the moving metal parts her legs beared.
And the fact that she still wore both the Solemn Vow and the gauntlet didn‘t make her look any less machine. Only saving grace was that her white jeans concealed most of the machinery on her legs. but that was it, her red shirt did almost nothing to conceal the blue lights coming from the graft on her back. She didn't like walking around...

Melina then she spotted something that was most unusual. In the shadow behind a tree there was something glowing, akin to flame that yearned to grow.
A flame? A fire? Fire! There was fire on Beacon grounds! That was her exact thought process in that moment.

Melina‘s instinct immediatly kicked in, adrenalin rushing into her brain as she started running towards the tree. She may have been running, but she was sort of slow compared ot others. The mechanations in her legs slowly picking up pace as she got faster. If there was a fire going on she had to quickly extinguish it before it went out of control.
She thought about how a fire like this could even start. Did someone flick a burning cigar at it maybe?
Flicking her left arm the small storage unit in the gauntlet opened. Melina quickly took out one of her few types of dust-shells, an ice-shell to be specific, and grasped it in her metal hand ready to smash its trigger immediatly onto the base of the tree where she tohught the fire originated. Her aura could tank the ice, she was sure of that, and the ice would extinguish the fire.

As she rounded the tree and took a look at the growing fire she was expecting she was surprised to see anything but a fire. But rather a girl, red hood, a mask that seemed to be made out of metal and flames that danced along her hands like she was playing with them. Melina needed more than just a few moments to process what she was looking at. She would just stand there and stare at the hooded figure and their flames with an almost blank stare from her deep blue eyes. Her mask was deactivated, revealing her pale lips which beared a few scratches.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was still playing with her flames, a big smile on her face under her mask as she let it increase in size a little, making it hover over her hand and then take it on the shape of a hawk, letting the flame animal circle over her hand as it flapped its wings a few times.
Before it then for a nose dive landing on her hand to lose its shape and curl into a small ball which then turned into a bunny that started to hop around on the palm of her hand, before it stopped as Al looked at the new arrival, the bunny staring at her too.
Al was about to greet her but then noticed the shell she was holding, flinching as she recognized what it was, an ice dust shell!
She clenched her hand into a fist extinguishing the fire bunny into a few sparks that quickly died out midair.
"Woah, woah, woah! I got it, no need for the shell! Please, I really don't wanna end up looking like Blinky the snowman or something like that. It's Autumn way too early for snowmen."
Al said, as she raised her hands defensively, gees this girl was on edge nobody else was really this concerned with her pyromancy...but she guessed there could be people that were a bit more cautious about this sorta thing, Al couldn't blame her.
"Okay so, were chill right ?"
Al said as she lowered her hands again and relaxed herself.
"Names Al, sorry my semblance scared you, but I assure you I got it under control.
She chuckled a little, hoping that this would let the other girl calm down as well, would have been an awkward first meeting if she got iced.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina could watch the show of flames only for one more moment before the flame then died out. The masked person freaked out as they saw Melina holding the dust-shell and following their gaze to her hand she realized that she kinda looked like she was about to blast it right into her face, or rather mask. This freaked out reaction made Melina react in a similar fashion, throwing her hands up trying to convey that she didn‘t intend to blast her with it. Who was she kidding, how was she going to convey it like that? She would have to talk… again, just like the day before with Carmine. Come to think of it, he also wore a mask, which struck the atlesian medic as more than just odd. Figuring this masked girl, as it seemed, wouldn‘t understand sign language as well Melina reached for the switch on her mask to activate it, which then made an audible click-clack sound as the mask moved into place in front of her mouth and nose. She then proceeded to whisper into it.

“Sorry, sorry.“ Her mechanical voice rasped out of the machine with more than just regret over this situation. Melina paused a bit to give the girl some time to process what was going on. All the while she put the shell pack into her storage in the gauntlet. “I-I didn‘t see you behind the tree s-so I thought there was an actual fire.“
“I‘m just terribly sorry.“ She bowed in humility as she apologized for her overly cautious behaviour. Why didn‘t she think of this? This was Beacon. Of course there would be people who had semblances associated with fire. She felt stupid for not thinking of it and became even more anxious because of it. More anxious than she was already when walking around in public.

“G-good.“ Melina answered as the girl introduced herself as Al. Her chuckle indeed having the desired effect, Melina was now a bit calmer.
“M… Melina, that‘s my name. Again, I‘m sorry for startling you.“ Her voice kept rasping along. She was clearly uncomfortable talking in general.

[Al Ciendra]

Al sighed in relief as the other girl finally lowered the hand holding that ice dust shell.
Man was she glad that she did not get frozen, it would have been a big hassle to burn herself out of that icy prison, her clothes would definitely have been ruined afterwards.
She then noticed that the girl put the shell inside her arm ?!
Oh, it was prosthetic her ears perked up a little making noticeable bumps in her hood as she listened in a little, a lot of things about this girl were mechanical.
She could her metal joints and gears shifting from her legs too, this girl had it even rougher than Ax, or herself.
It was then that the clicking of something being locked in place caught her attention and she looked up to the other girls face again, a metal mask had moved over her mouth covering it entirely.
And she finally spoke.
Ah, so this girl was Melina, what a nice name, and she was so polite too.
Though Al noticed something else, her voice was heavily mechanized too, so this mask was making her speak ?
No, it was helping her! Al could hear the whisper behind the mask, that's pretty cool.
She could also hear her anxiety though, making her smile fade into a frown.
Al had no idea what she was anxious about, but Al really hoped it wasn't because of her, she should probably calm her down first before asking any questions.
"Hey it's okay. No need to feel sorry."
Al said as she just tried her best to sound as reassuring as possible, she would really like this awkward first meeting to turn into a good one, if possible.
"So what brought you here, besides potentially dangerous fire's of course."
She said and let another flame just dance across her hand, circling around her wrist and then having it pause on the palm of her hand where it took on the shape of a person, a person that Melina would recognize as Al, the little flame copy waved at Melina.
"Hope you don't mind if I'll practice a little more ?"

[Melina Caedus]

So this was Al, a nice and short name fo such a person. Melina only ever so slightly noticed the bumps in Al‘s hood, which indicated to her that she was a faunus. A relative unimportant fact. It made no difference for Melina whether she was talking to a faunus or a human, even as an atleasian. Both species had the same value to her and were to be treated in a same manner.

The fact that another person with a mask was sitting in front of her was reassuring. It meant that other students around here also had been through a lot. Just like with Carmine the day before.
At least Melina hadn‘t seen anyone wearing a mask just for funsies yet. Knowing that Melina was very happy to see someone like Al, who wore a mask that probably hid a big ugly scar beneath, could smile and seem as happy despite of it. Staying strong, even after going through the worst. Now Melina was a bit jealous of Al.

“I was just heading back... from the library. A little detour through here before... going to my room.“ Still a bit shy, but at least a bit more confident, her mechanical voice managed to explain her motive for coming to the garden. She was still a bit anxious, even after being reassured by Al in one of the most polite manners she had seen since she had gotten here aside the formality from teachers.
However she still was scared that deep down, Al would still somehow despise Melina for what she appeared to be.
A machine, automaton… doll.

Her doubtful thoughts and anxiety however quickly vanished as Melina then saw Al create another flame that danced across her hand and, more than interested, fixated her gaze on it. She slowly squatted down in front of Al, her leg-augments giving off mechanical noise as the gears shifted.
Melina observed it closely as it formed into a tiny fire version of the masked girl in front of her that then waved at her. So pretty.
“By all means... continue. I-It‘s fascinating and looks pretty. The way you control fire like that. It reminds me...“
Focusing on something other than her anxiety made way for interest and glee. She momentarily forgot what she had thought before and was lost in all her interest. Actually the fact that it was a tiny fire version of Al reminded Melina of her own semblance.

“I can do something… similar. If you want to see?“ She pressed her index fingers together waiting for an answer to her question. At least she was now visibly more comfortable with what was going on than before.

If Al allowed her to, from where Melina was squatting, Melina‘s white aura would form around her body. The white form created would then stand up and take a step back while slowly forming into a female knight of similar height and stature than Melina. White glistening wings would sprout from it‘s back after which the armor clad body of white would lift slightly off the ground and slowly hover next to Melina. It would then also wave at Al, in a way more confident fashion than Melina ever could muster.
“This is Albedo.“ Melina would exclaim a bit more timid than before and then wait for Al‘s reaction with a just as timid smile.

[Al Ciendra]

Ah, so Melina was just on her way to her room, she really wondered if she should keep her here then. Well...classes were over for the day and Melina said nothing about having to go, so it should be fine.
Plus it looked like Melina was really fascinated by her flames, Al felt quite proud, she had practiced a ton to do this sort of thing after all.

Al had of course taken notice of Melina's leg prosthetics, the noise they made was a little hard to miss after all, but her focus was still on the other girls voice...it was really weird listening to something like this.
Should she say something about it ?

Al was taken out of her thoughts as Melina offered to show her something.
"Sure, go right ahead."
Al replied, sounding quite excited to see what it was, another function of her cybernetics ?
Some cool trick ?
Or her semblance ?

Al looked at the other girl with anticipation, suddenly she began to glow white, wow Al was lucky to be wearing her mask otherwise she probably would have been blinded.
The white glow then left Maria and...oh wow.

Al just stared at Melina and Albedo for a while, Melina could of course not see Al's expression, but her mouth was agape and her face full of surprise.
Until Al finally spoke up.
"H-hi Albedo."
Al waved back, her fire self waving once again too.
Al then shook her head rapidly, to get herself out of her stupor, resulting in her hood falling of, revealing her brown hair and fuzzy brown ears.
"THAT IS SO COOL!"
Al exclaimed, stretching her arms into the air in an excited little hop.
"You AND Albedo are so cool!"

Al calmed herself down a little, she was still visibly excited about this reveal, and she had a thousand questions brewing in the back of her mind but...she really needed to ask this first.
"Wow...you have such a cool semblance! But Melina..."
Al said as her tone got a little nervous.
"...could you do me a favor and turn of your mask ? It's not that your voice sounds bad or anything, it's really quite nice, actually. But... I can hear you and your mask speaking at the same time. It sounds like someone is constantly talking over another person."
She rubbed the back of her neck, she knew that she was in no place to ask this of Melina, it was even hypocritical of her to ask this, but it would make this conversation so much easier for her.

[Melina Caedus]

While Melina was waiting for a reaction from Al, she rolled her thumbs in a fidgety and nervous manner. How was she going to react to it? The suspense of not immediately seeing Al‘s reaction was literally threatening to murder Melina, threatening to stab as Al finally spoke up and shook her head. This revealed her fuzzy brown ears, which surprised Melina a bit and filled her with joy. She loved animals, and the same went for the Faunus.

Beneath her mask Melina was blushing as Al praised both her and Albedo as cool. She wasn‘t used to this kind of reaction at all. Nevermind her previous anxiety and everything else going on, this excited wolf faunus could kill with kindness and adoreableness. Was that even a word? Didn‘t matter. This happening had plastered Melina‘s face with a much needed genuine smile, even if Al couldn‘t see it.

And then she requested for Melina to turn off her mask. Wait… what? Did… she hear that right? Turn off the mask? As in… talk with her normal voice? Her quiet, whispery voice? Melina thought this was infeasable to happen so she was caught quite of guard by this request. She needed a few moment to gather herself before actually being able to speak.

“O-okay.“ She wasn‘t even unsure when she said this. A part of her wanted to ask wether or not Al was sure about her choice, but the need to oblige to a kindhearted favor took control in that moment.
Melina slowly moved her hand to the apparatus that was her mask and pressed the switch. Air being released from the machine as it unlocked with a soft clack. The metallic part moving back to the cheeks they originated form and revealing Melina‘s mouth once again. Only this time, with a more than surprised and perplexed look on her face.

“Is… this better?“ Melina asked to Al, her voice being silent like a whisper, soft like a feather and smooth like silk. It‘s so smooth and soft in fact that Melina seemed startled at first. “I‘m not used to hearing my own voice like this, so sorry if I seem… unnerved.“

While this was happening Albedo knelt down next to Melina and seemingly stared down the little flame version of Al. After a short while, Albedo's wings would flap once and she'd raise a hand towards the flame Al as if to beckon it to jump into her palm.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was in turn happy to see Melina smile as she praised the girl and her semblance, what put a bigger smile on her face though was that Melina reacted a lot more positive to her request.
Al leaned forward a little as she watched the piece of metal that Melina had closed over her mouth only a few moments ago remove itself again, she really did wonder how that masked worked.
Maybe she should get one of her own, just had to find some way to get her hands on what ever high-tech stuff Melina was using, it was probably way out of her budget.
But it was a thing she should keep in mind.

But now that mask was gone and Al could finally get a good look at Melina's face, she was gorgeous from what Al could see, she had to lean in a little closer, tilting her head as she studied her face, oh there were some small scars on it, it just made her look a prettier in Al's own opinion.
Scars were pretty cool, though she was biased of course.

Then Melina, after seemingly gathering herself, spoke up.
This was so much better, Melina's actual voice sounded so nice compared to the mechanical voice her mask produced, it was so soft it actually made Al smile just listening to it, this was a good alternative to a lot of other people she spoke to who were sometimes a little loud for her tastes, without her realizing it Al's ears shook a little as she listened to Melina's voice, leaving her right air tilted of to the side and her other straight up.
"No worries, now that I can actually hear it clearly, your voice is....how do I describe it...melodious!"
Al lifted her hands up in a motion of joy, she really hoped she wasn't overpraising Melina, it could make her sound not genuine, she just really thought Melina was super cool.

She then noticed Albedo trying to interact with her little flame projection, which did not react without Al's input or control.
With a small chuckle, Al moved her hand in the direction of Albedos and let the tiny flame construct hop onto the knights hand.
That actually made her realize, she should try this too.
"Hold on just a second Albedo."
Al said as she got up and grabbed the flame projection, putting it in her own hands.
She couldn't believe she had ever tried this before, but then again her teacher did also sort of prevent her from pushing her semblance limits.

Suddenly the air around Al began to heat up as a few sparks came from her body as the flame projection began to grow, Al put it on the ground as more of her Aura was pumped into it.
Al was panting, she never had put this much Aura into a single construct, since they weren't very useful with her semblance, even the little ones took all her focus to maintain, and she could generate 10 hand sized of them at max, now she wondered how she would hold up when making a single big one.
The heat from Al faded as instead the flame projection absorbed it, now standing about 6" feet tall, it barely had any detail and even some basic features like arms and legs were a little off compared to the original.
However, the basic silhouette was recognizable, especially since Al had managed to maintain the appearance of her mask.
But beyond that this was not as nice looking as the mini version.
Al was also panting, as she made the projection move a little.
She had it wave at Albedo and Melina.
"Wow...that could have worked better."
Al sighed as she was propping herself up, with her hands on her knees and her body hunched over as she was taking a few deep breaths.
The projection then extinguished itself, as Al dropped herself on her butt to sit down again.
"Sorry about that, I just wanted to see if I could replicate Albedo. Did not work out as you can see, sorry Albedo, but I won't be able to make you a new friend for a bit"
Al said as she finally caught her breath, man her semblance really did drain her fast, well she did already use it a bunch today so no wonder she was almost out today.

[Melina Caedus]

Any worry Melina could have had about a negative reaciton form Al on her voice was immediately smashed. The little wiggle of the wolf‘s ears and her smile were all the indication Melina needed to deduce that this was way more comfortable for Al. Until now Melina had never ever even considered this when talking to faunus.

Upon hearing Al‘s reaction on her voice Melina couldn‘t help but giggle a little. It warmed her heart hearing something like this about her.
“Thank you. I was a fairly good singer back home.“ She softly and happily whispered as her fleshy hand scratched the back of her neck in an awkward manner. Her smile and light blush hinted on her being flustered by the compliment.

Melina watched with glee as Al‘s flame projection hopped onto Albedo‘s hand, letting out a small chuckle as a response. As then Al moved to take the projection back into her own hands Albedo only tilted her head as her wings beat once and she lifted off the ground, floating where she was kneeling a second ago. Shortly after, Albedo cautiously floated backwards aside Melina who also precautiously moved away from the fire that was now growing in front of them.

It was a bigger version of Al, albeit a bit deformed. It was clear that the pyrocinetic wolf didn‘t have a lot of practice creating bigger flame projections. Albedo curiously approached the projection before Al then made it wave at Melina and Albedo. It was a nice gesture quickly returned by Albedo waving as well. Amazement was overshadowed by worry as Melina realized that Al was visibly exhausting herself to pull this off. As soon as the projection extinguished and Al dropped herself on her butt, Albedo floated next to her in worry while Melina seemed tense throughout the remainder of the performance. For a second she thought Al was going to pass out in front of her and Albedo was seemingly ready to catch her if that would have been the case.
“Y-You don‘t have to strain yourself for me... or for Albedo. But I appreciate the effort… a lot. If there is anything you need, do tell, I‘ll... happily provide.“ Melina was clearly worried which was also reflected by Albedo‘s behaviour who seemed to float around Al, scanning for anything amiss.

[Al Ciendra]

Al watched Albedo fly around her and looked at Melina's worried expression, it was super sweet how these two were worried about her, it made her smile.
Al just took a deep breath to steady herself, before she then got up, although she was a little shaky in doing so.
"No need to worry about me, I'm okay. I just exhausted most of my aura with that little stunt, I also had combat school earlier, so yeah. It's nothing some good grub and a long snooze can't fix."
Al just showed her a thumbs up and turned to Albedo, the angelic knight was actually kind of cute...was this urge what others felt when around her ?
Al didn't really know how to answer this, but without really thinking, she reached up and gave the summon three pats on her head.
"Heh sorry, but you are just really cute, Albedo."
Al giggled as she watched both Melina's and Albedo's reaction, these two really were just too precious.

As this settled, Al was feeling a bit more energetic, and she had finally thought of some more things to talk about.
"Speaking of Albedo, it must be really cool to have a sentient Semblance...can she do anything else ? Not that your not cool already Albedo, I mean a winged knight, that's pretty badass!"
Al smiled again, looking at Albedo her posture showed how excited she was too with her leaning forward with her hands clenched to fists and held to her chest.

[Melina Caedus]

After knowing that Al was mainly fine, but just tired Melina let out a little sigh of relief. So it was lack off aura. If Melina had the ability to replenish aura she would have certainly given some to Al.

Upon being patted Albedo seemed embarassed and simply lowered her head downward to look to the ground as if to hide a bright red face, even though she clearly didn‘t have a face per se.
“Aww stop, you are making her die of emberassment.“ Melina had to chuckle aswell, seeing that reaction.

The posture Al showed was, simply put, adoreable. The excitement of a curious child, which brought Melina a smile of her own on her face. Melina then stood up aswell, her mechanations in her legs giving off soft mechanic humming.
“Oh its super useful. Albedo, care to demonstrate?“ Melina laid her hands together and looked at Albedo in a expectant manner. After which Albedo looks up at Melina, bows and then zooms around Al back to Melina to float behind her, almost looming above her user.
Albedo‘s hands then started glowing and with a short flash of white light a spear and a shield materialized, the shield being round and big enough to cover the upper body. The angelic knight then clanked the spear against the shield as if to bolster morale or to challenge an opponent that wasn‘t there. The shield gave off a metallic noise showing that it was in fact a solid construct made of aura. Afterwards she took on a fighting stance and levitated behind Melina, combat ready.
“She is faster than I am and keeps me safe when it comes down to it. But she lacks any strength beyond the capability of an ordinary human... a-and she requires aura to maintain when taking damage. It‘s... exhausting to say the least.“

As quickly as she was ready to takle any incoming danger head on, Albedo was back to normal and floating downward next to Melina, her gear vanishing into thin air. Melina then caresses the knights metallic looking arm with her own metallic arm after which Albedo faded back into her user.
“But she has helped me through my most difficult times and has always been there for me since back then. I am thankful to have her around.“
Melina then smiled while looking at her robot arm, as if to reminice back to what was and comparing it to what is now. She seemed lost in thought for a bit.

“Aah… I mean, sorry. I got cought up in my thoughts a bit.“ She hectically pulled herself back to reality and remembered that Al said something about having combat classes earlier. She silently cleared her throat.
“If I may ask. Do you have any bruises or the likes from that combat lesson?“
She looked thoughtful at Al, scanning her body for anything, but due to the wolf‘s clothing can‘t seem to make out anything that could be amiss. She figured that a recent scratch or bruise could help her demonstrate what else her semblance could do.

[Al Ciendra]

Wow Albedo sounded even more amazing than she looked, Al's starry eyed gaze only grew more excited as she heard and saw what the summon was capable of.
She spun her head with the floating knight, even fully turning on the spot as Albedo went around her, the constant staring of her lifeless masked eyes would probably be a little creepy, but Al paid no mind to it.

A warm happy smile found it's way on her face as she saw Melina's face, she was so happy to just talk about her semblance, no her friend.
It warmed her heart.
Which is why Melina apologizing was unneeded, Al just waved it off.
"Don't worry, I love to hear about it, both of you really are just amazing."
Al then lifted her mask just a little, flashing Melina a warm and genuine smile, she kept her mask pushed up, letting Melina see her mouth and chin, but nothing else, for now.

Which is how Melina could see the surprised look on Al's face as she was asked about this.
"Hmm, maybe I'm not sure...I got a bad habit of not paying attention to this."
Al thougzt for just a little, as she then pulled of her left glove and pulled up the sleeve of her suit a bit, revealing not only her pale scarred skin but also a big bruise.
"Oh yeah, one of the big dudes threw me, gripped my wrist really tight before he tried to launch me into the wall.
Al noted non chalantly, as she shook her left hand a bit and flinched.
"Ah, now I can feel it. Why do you ask though, you still wanna use that ice dust after all ?"
She giggled a little at her own joke, showing that she was very obviously just joking yet she also revealed her sharp fangs, as she grinned.

[Melina Caedus]

Seeing Al raise her mask up to reveal at least her smile was not only surprising for Melina, but also very uplifting to the medic who seemed embarassed only a second ago. A smile like that could make anyone feel better.
Then Al showed her the bruise she got from the combat lesson. The wolf‘s joke with the ice dust made her giggle a bit aswell. Her amusement was still to hear as she continued.
“No, no. There is just one more thing I want to show to you. So may I?“ She said reaching out with her prostetic hand to hold Al‘s.

Once Al allowed her to, she examined the bruise with a stern and analyzing glare. The scarred skin around the bruise was impossible for this ex-military medic to miss who had seen many wounds and scars by now. She quickly deduced Al‘s to be from a Grimm attack way in the past and therefore too old for her semblance to work on.
It also made her visualize what the injury would have looked like fresh, not a happy imaginaiton but one Melina could bear easily.
She seemed switched out. Instead of the rather shy girl that had freshly opened up and seemed frail, she acted now like the trained medic she actually was, even though the act didn‘t hold up for all too long as her stern look shifted back to the joyful expresison it was before as she finished examining the wound.

“Originally, my semblance could only do this.“
Her other metal embued hand would then move to the bruise, aura enveloping it in a white glow and making her touch feel soothingly cold once Melina rested her hand on the bruise. The glow intensified for a moment and when Melina removed her hand, the feeling would wash fully over Al‘s arm accompanied by a glistening light where the wound originated. Once gone, the bruise was gone with it. Only the scars remained.
“There, should be all better now. I sadly can only heal recent injuries so I can‘t mend any of the scars you have. But should you ever get hurt, I‘ll patch you up in no time.“
Melina then flashed one of the warmest smiles she could muster to Al and let go of her hand.
“After all, it is my duty as a combat medic.“ She‘d say with her prosthetic moving to her own chest and doing a small bowing gesture.

[Al Ciendra]

Al offered her hand to Melina without really thinking about it all that much, maybe her cybernetics had some ice pack function ?
She chuckled a little to herself, but still had her attention on what Melina was doing.
The girl in front of her looked really stern for, as if she was super concentrated on something, was her bruise really that special ?
No, it must be her scars, Melina was probably concerned about them, Al frowned a little she just had that encounter in her dorm with Bartok, she really did not want to open up about them again.

Then she felt the cold touch of Melina's metal hand and have it spread over her whole arm, the pyromancer shivered as her usually very warm body felt unusually cool for just a bit.
Al looked at her arm, the bruise was gone indeed, but her scars still remained, Al did not mind, she had gotten used to them after all.
"That's fine, thank you, my arm feels a lot better. If your cool with it, I would probably ask you to heal me a bunch, I get into a lot of fights, so I could probably use some quick patching up now and then."
Al laughed, showing Melina another smile.
Maybe it was a bit much to ask of Melina, as Al did not know how much healing others drained her and sometimes Al got a lot more banged up than this, maybe she was just a little too reckless while fighting.

Then something clicked with her though, a combat medic ?
"Wait, combat medic ? So you are from the military ?"
Al tilted her head, frowning, her ears tilting again as she looked Melina up and down once more, right now she looked really frail but thinking on it, especially that look of pure focus she had shown before, yeah that kinda made sense.
Well, Al had no idea how the military worked, from what she had heard it sounded really boring and frustrating, but it just made her respect Melina even more.
Al smiled, as she looked to her again.
"That's pretty awesome!"
She then looked down at Melina's mechanical limbs, her frown returning, but she decided to not address it, Melina was probably not super comfortable talking about her backstory to her since they had just met.

[Melina Caedus]

Right. Melina had never mentioned this to anyone at Beacon before now did she?
There was no normal way to really figure that out just by looking at her. Sure she looked hurt, but acted way to frail to have ever been part of a rough military company. She chuckled at Al‘s praise, but noticed the frown on her new friend returning.
“Well… um, I‘ve never really told this to anyone so far, because… well…“ she paused mid sentence to think on how to say the next part. “I enlisted in the Atlas military. Rescue Team of the 24th Platoon.“
Nervously she pressed her index fingers together, clearly uncomfortable talking about it. She was always so scared to be prejudiced. Her anxiety only got stronger as it was no secret that the kingdom of Atlas was very controversial in terms of ethics and such topics. Considering that the atlesians aren‘t the nicest people really, Melina couldn‘t even object about others having that opinion. Panic built itsself up inside of her, causing her to raise her arms defensively as if she had been accused of something.
“D-don‘t get the wrong idea please. The military may be have been strict, b-but they were not i-inhuman.“
Her flesh hand held the wrist of her robotic arm, clinging to the cold dead metal that it was as Melina looked to the ground struck by self-guilt.
“Afterall, I... did this to my...self.“ she then mumbled to herself with a sigh.

She then glowed again, the gleam coming from her this time more softer and less bright, as Albedo materialized again and took hold of the robotic hand of her user aswell. Albedo, she was such a big motivation for Melina.
Her family semblance was what motivated her in the first place to enroll, to use her gift where it was needed. And when it evolved, in Albedo she saw what could be of herself if things went different.
A shining beacon of hope, unbroken by adversity, a guardian for the weak. Melina smiled again knowing that she could try to embody things like that despite her current shortcomings.
“Ah, well. I‘m sure you didn‘t... want to hear all that. Sorry for being a bit more... sentimental. I‘ll be happy to heal any injuries you‘ll get in the future.“
She said it with a warm smile and newfound resolve, all the while Albedo faded back into Melina.

[Al Ciendra]

"Hey, no reason to get worried, I won't judge you for anything like this."
Al held up her hands disarmingly, she was unsure why Melina got so upset, was it her frown ?
Maybe she looked judgmental ?
That's of course not what she was aiming for.
"I think it's pretty cool that you were in the military, that surely means you got some fantastic skills, right ?"
Al yet paused, maybe she should explain why she had frowned before.
"It's just...Uhm I don't mean to be mean, but you seem like a really sweet girl, I myself would feel pretty bad for actually fighting you, but that's just a first impression I'm sure your tough as hell if needed be."
Al showed her a smirk again and a thumbs up, trying to be reassuring, but she had probably made this super awkward.
She just scratched the back of her neck, thinking on how to steer this conversation back to another, more casual direction.
"So uh...you told me a lot about you, do you maybe have a question for little old me ?"
Al leaned forward, her fangs glinting with a grin.

[Melina Caedus]

“I...see. I do look pretty frail… don‘t I?“
Melina giggled a bit embarassed as she said this.
Al then proposed Melina to ask about her instead. It was her turn to ask some questions and frankly, there were lots to choose from. There were so many things that seemed so interesting about Al.
There was the obvious one, Al‘s scars and what she assumed was a horrible injury at her face, but Melina didn‘t feel confident at all trying to ask this question. Probably wasn't a good idea to ask anyway. She would have to look for something else to talk about.
Al‘s semblance was the next most interesting thing. If Al was skilled enough to control little flame copies of herself then what else was she capable of doing? All Melina knew was that she could create and control flame, a form of pyromancy, but to what extent?
As she was about to open her mouth to ask, something occured to her that prevented her to do so. Al exhausted herself a minute ago didn‘t she? Only one option left then.
“So, where did you live before coming here?“
Melina put her hands together as she said so, a wee bit excited that she gets to know another student a bit more. No, she was happy that she practically had made a friend.

[Al Ciendra]

"NO!NO!NO! I did not mean it like that."
Al waved her hands in front of her face, she did not mean to insult or discourage Melina like this, but she was kind of right, she really did not look super mobile with all those robotic limbs.
But Al was not going to comment on it any further, she would just upset Melina.
"I just, think your super nice and uh...well it would be interesting to fight a soldier, but I would just feel bad, specially after you were so nice to heal me."
Al just stayed a bit nervous, fidgeting her fingers together, but the question Melina asked provided the distraction she needed.
"Oh well, I was born and raised in a town a day's trip away from the city of Vale called Azmarine. It's a nice little place, relatively safe, and got pretty much everything you need to live happily. But besides that, there isn't a whole lot to see there. Sure, it's nice and quiet, but I have never seen many of these things that are here in vale, like clubs, this many cars and all these different shops it's kind of crazy to think about how many new things I have seen during my short stay here."
Al chuckled to herself, she was very excited talking about vale and thinking about all the things she found out about.
"....like chocolate chip ice cream, I love that stuff, could probably get addicted to it."

[Melina Caedus]

Melina continued smiling at Al, even as she made a fuss about what she said. She almost wanted to say 'It's fine, don't worry about it.', but the gesture was actually sort of adoreable. And at the same time… why would she need to apologize? It was the truth after all and Melina was fine accepting that as long as she was still seen as a human being. Only sad that there were people who didn‘t think that way, but that had no place in this conversation. Melina just kept smiling as Al rectified what she said. The way that the wolf girl talked about fighting a soldier being interesting got her thinking. She almost wanted to speak up and tell her about her mentality on violence and all, but that had no place in a conversation that was about to get less intense.

Therefore Melina intently listened as Al picked up on her question of her origin. So she was form a more rural area from the sound of it more secluded, but safe. Well as safe as it could be apparently, the imagination of what could be under Al‘s mask didn‘t exactly reasure the thought. But other than that Al was a child of the land as opposed to Melina being a child of nobility and the city. Melina could only imagine how nice it would be to breathe all that fresh and clean air all the time. It sounded amazing.

Hearing Al being excited over all the new stuff she hadn‘t seen yet filled Melina with similar glee.
“Maybe… I could acompany you the next time you‘re in town? I haven‘t exactly been outside a lot. I could need a guide... of some kind.“ Embarassed to say that she hasn‘t really been in Vale before, Melina pulled a strand of her short hair behind her ear, even though it was clearly not in the way of anything. She was simply a bit nervous to admit this about herself.

[Al Ciendra]

Huh, a guide, her ?!
Al was very unsure what to respond to this, she would be a pretty bad guide considering that she herself did not know much about Vale, was Melina sure she wanted this ?
Then it clicked with her, yeah she'd be a horrible guide, but it would also be really really fun to explore the city together with Melina, she could atleast show her the few cool places she knew about and then they could go from there.
Yeah, that sounded like quiet a fun adenture.
"For sure! That sounds like a super fun idea!"
She responded with an obiously excited tone, her left fist thrust into the air and her ears peaked with enthusiasm.
Though Al paused, not because she thought of something upsetting but seeing Melina's smile and her nrushing her hair like this made Al realize how pretty and cute this cyborg really was, a small blush found its way on her cheeks as her desire to make the timid girl happy grew by about ten times.
"So uh...when ever I go to the city next or have some free time to do so we can go to Vale, I'd just need your number for that."
Al asked, as she had already pulled out her scroll with the "add a new contact" field already open.

[Melina Caedus]

Nervousness was rising as Melina waited for Al‘s answer on her proposition to go around Vale together.
And immediately anxiety kicked in as she realized that she was practically asking for a guide, even though Al herself shouldn‘t know all too much about the city of Vale. It really didn‘t take long for her conscience to take swings at her confidence again.
Melina saw that Al was a bit unsure at first and immediately began to worry that she made this seem weird or inappropriate…

Until Al instead declared it a ‘super fun idea‘ as she put it. Melina‘s face instantly lit up with excitement to the wolf girls approval. A bright and joyous smile formed on her face as she barely contained jumped in place.
The mentioning of Al needing Melina‘s number was what would pull her out of her short joyous stupor.
“Oh, right. One second.“ Melina said as her left hand took out her scroll and she tipped around on it with her right. She couldn‘t help, but glance at the scroll that Al had and compared it with her own for a moment.

Melina‘s scroll design was personalized and therefore varied from what the students usually carried. While it had the usual white color it sported Melina‘s emblem with the yellow diamond shaped button fitting neatly into the center of the helix form of the emblem. For a moment Melina was happy that she bothered to stay with her old scroll instead of getting one of the new ones. Sure, the new ones were smaller and even more easy to carry, but sticking with the old meant that she stood out at least a wee bit less.

“Here.“ After a few quick taps on the screen her own number showed up and she turned the scroll around for Al to type them into her own.

[Al Ciendra]

Al nodded and while looking up and down from her Scroll to Melina's a few times, Al typed the displayed number into her own scroll, she looked once again to check if she had typed in the correct number, Al did note that Melina's scroll looked a little different from hers or most of the other scrolls she had seen, but Al did not care much about these admit-ably very handy devices, yet she continued. With a swift tap, Melina would see that an unknown number was calling her.
"There, that should do it."
Al said as she stuffed her scroll back into her pocket, man she was happy Melina had asked her to guide her into Vale, this sounded like such a fun idea, especially since Melina did seem like a good new potential friend, a friend that was a bit shy, but she was a military medic, had a sentient semblance and was just adorable!
Al could not wait to hang out more with her.
Speaking of which, maybe they could do some hanging out right now ?
Al, without saying anything, began to tap the chin of her mask, making a feint metallic noise.
Then she spoked up again, her finger now raised to her ear level.
"Would you wanna hang out with me a bit right now ? We could go grab a bite or something, I did not have anything to eat yet...wait you do need to eat right ?"
Al asked, scratching her chin while tilting her head and looking at Melina.

[Melina Caedus]

As soon as her own scroll was ringing out, Melina hastily tapped the screen to add the new number to her contacts.
The feeling, the rush, the… relief she felt in that moment fueled her with such genuine joy and happiness she almost couldn‘t believe it.
And a few days ago Melina thought she‘d never make any friends in her time here at Beacon. Assuming wrong, has never felt so good.
For a moment the shy combat medic held her scroll in two hands as if she was treasuring this moment of having made a friend.
She then quickly and carfully stuffed the device back into the pocket of her pants.
And then came the kicker of the day for this hesitant little girl. Al was offering to go get something to eat with her.
“Y-Yes. I‘d absolutely love to.“
Melina was barely able to contain her excitement as she first stuttered to get out an answer, but quickly calmed again.
“Don‘t worry. The metal is only on the outside, not the inside.“
Melina grinned at the masked wolf faunus as she tapped the metal piece on her own cheek to mimick the sound that Al did with her mask. She found the question of her needing to eat rather silly, but humerous.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was elated to see Melina react in the way she did, she wasn't the best at reading expressions nor a psychic, but those few seconds that Melina just stared at her scroll made it seem like a major weight had just been taken off her chest.
While she did not know the nature of this weight, Al was happy that this little gesture had brought Melina so much joy.
"Right, just metal on the outside, scratches the question of you drinking oil or something." She giggled a little to herself.
"But yeah, I could really go for some hot chocolate and cookies, aura deficiency always make me feel like I'm under suggered."
Al said as she slowly, instead of her usual quick stride, made her way over to the cafeteria, just so Melina could keep up with her somewhat sluggish looking metal legs.
Al was patient and without any issues they made it to the café, Melina was allowed to settle down as Al got her and her own order, which resulted in a somewhat awkward balance act and Albedo having to save the platter Al was carrying and Melina from being showered in hot chocolate.
After that little, almost, accident and Al apologizing profusely, they settled down, with Al finally relaxing and regaining some of her strength, even summoning back mini fire Al, for Albedo to play with, so that the Knight had another summon to play with, her obvious excitement getting a little giggle out of Al.
The group continued to spend their afternoon together, with many laughs and more stories being told.