A little Town Tour [Private w/ Al Ciendra]

[Melina Caedus]

School life at Beacon went into its weekend with a cloudy, but sunny sky this time around. For Melina, this was a rather okay week. It was her resting period, so the robotic arm and gauntlet were off for the majority of the week. Much needed relief for her, albeit reinforced, but still frail looking body. With that came the trouble of living with one arm. Luckily she always had Albedo at her side when she had problems or needed help. The literal white knight in shining armor was a really big help in her life.

With classes now over and a weekend up ahead that she didn‘t have anything planned for, Melina was lying on her bed, defeated by the rather dull lifestyle she had. Her gaze first fell onto her violin in which she noticed that entertaining herself by playing it had less of an effectin the recent days. She could only sigh as she then looked onto her scroll and saw Al in her list of contacts. She remembered how Al mentioned that she‘d go with her to Vale if she had some freetime. It was the beginning of the weekend so, maybe she now had some time? But then she would have contacted Melina, right?

A dreadful thought entered Melina‘s mind. Al hadn‘t forgotten about her, now did she? The prospect of one of her first real friends at Beacon forgetting her, created a rather stinging and alerting feeling which bursted into Melinas chest as those thoughts rushed into her mind. It didn‘t take long for the almost literal guardian angel Albedo to manifest and realize this panic that was making it‘s way into Melina‘s consciousness. The white knight hovered above Melina who was stilll staring onto the list of her contacts. To Melina‘s surprise Albedo suddenly without any warning tapped the ‘Send Message‘ prompt beneath Al‘s name.

“You want me to message her?“ she silently whispered to Albedo who simply kept levitating above her rather shy host. Usually it was always people reaching out to Melina in terms of social interactions. Never had she dared asking others first, she was always approached by the people around her. People interacted with her, not the other way around. Should she really dare doing the first step? Can she really do that?

“Hey Al. Do you want to go to Vale today?“ she reluctantly typed into the text box. She was still unsure whether or not that was the right thing to do. She doubted herself too much and hadn‘t pressed on send yet. Should she really make the first step? She needed to think about this more and buried her face into her pillow trying to block out everything else, her scroll still open lying with the display upwards next to her. Luckily she wouldn‘t need to make that decision on her own. Albedo, representing the way more confident Melina of the past, gave the Send Button a rather quick and unnoticeable tap as the message was then sent off to Al, unnoticed by the still indecisive Melina.

[Al Ciendra]

Wow, what a week!
Life at beacon sure was busy, she had classes most of the day, lots of combat training and the bit of free time she did enjoy was largely taken up by sleeping, homework and more private training, as good as combat training with her teachers was just getting to blast the though walls of the training room, or Grimm simulations was just too darn fun.

So, now she was just laying in her room resting. She laid splayed out on her bed, mask by her side, her school uniform was unbuttoned and her boots just thrown into the corner of her room.
Now what ?
She had no plans for the coming weekend, maybe she should just go and take a nap ?
Al curled up a little, her head now laying on her pillows as she pulled the blanket up to her waist.
"Bing~"
"Huh ?"
Al looked around confused, oh her scroll.
She felt around on her nightstand until she found the device and turned it on.
This better not be a reminder that she's due for some sort of assignment.
Oh, it was Melina!
Wow, she had honestly not expected to receive a message from her this soon, she really did think that she would have to message her first, except...she forgot.
Al felt guilt creep up in her gut as she realized that she had not written a word to Melina since about a week, not just Melina, anyone for that fact, apparently she was terrible at keeping in touch with her friends, good to know.
Anyway, Melina asked if she wanted to go to Vale together, she did have plenty of free time, so why not ?
Al hastily tapped away at her scroll, at least she was quick to respond.
"Sure! How about we meet at the fountain in an hour ?"
Al wrote back, adding a little smiling emote.

----------------------

An hour later:
Al was outside, now dressed in her usual casual attire, she had swapped her school uniform for a simple white shirt, thigh highs, her brown boots and her usual red hoodie, with her mask on top of course.
She still felt a little uncomfortable going into the city with her ears exposed, cute wolf girls tended to draw a little too much attention for her own comfort.
She was just sitting at the ridge of the fountain, her legs were too short to reach the ground from this position, so she was just letting them dangle freely as she was keeping a look around for Melina.
"Hm, hope she's gonna show up on such a short notice."
Al said to herself as she looked at her scroll, nope, no message saying she wouldn't show up.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina was groaning into her pillow trying to figure out what to do. At this point she was frustrated with herself even, so much so she didn‘t even hear when her scroll made a noticable notification sound.
But Albedo did. Upon the all too familiar ‘Bing‘ sound chiming in, the white clad phantasm tapped Melina on the shoulder to get her attention and it didn‘t take long for Melina to look up and see that her scroll lit up. Being understandibly confused she picks up the scroll to see what had triggered the notification.

She froze up when she read the text Al had sent. Not in fear or such, but in surprise and confusion. She was sure she didn‘t send the text to her, but at the time anticipation and happiness was shooting into her head. Al had agreed to go to Vale. She didn‘t even bother accusing Albedo, she was happy in that moment. So happy in fact that her legs kicked her bed in excitement. Albedo knowing that she made her host happy vanished into her again.

After getting out of her stupor of excitement she was onto preparing herself to meet up and go to town. Ditching the Beacon Uniform she put on something more casual that would help her not stand out so much in the city. Then again, all her stuff usually had bright vibrant colors, white was going to stick out like a sore thumb was it? Having no other choice she dorned her casual clothes, blue shirt, white pants and white shoes. It would hopefully do enough to cover the mechanical reifnorcements she had like the legs and graft. She had considered the option of leaving her arm and gauntlet in her room for most of the hour she had to prepare. In the end she decided to keep them on, she‘d never know when they would come in handy. She just hoped she wouldn‘t get stared at too much. With that Melina was as ready as she could be… probably.

----------------------

An hour later:
Melinas heavy steps carried her through Beacon on her way to the agreed meeting place. The fountain. She tried to hurry as much as possible. Once she got to the area where the fountain was, she slowed down a bit and looked out for Al.
She didn‘t take long to find her as she was sitting at the ridge of the fountain, seemingly waiting for Melina to arrive. Naturaly she approached Al, albeit being a bit fidgety and reserved.
“I hope I wasn‘t keeping you too long.“ she said as she came close enough for her whispering to reach her ears. She was a bit relieved that Al clothed herself as casual if not even more so than herself.

[Al Ciendra]

Al had heard Melina coming from far away, the sound of her mechanical joints and the heavy footsteps she made were easy to distinguish, even if there was a big crowd Al would have had no issue hearing her coming, so considering that the gardens were relatively empty at the moment she was already looking at Melina when the cyborg arrived.
"Hey no sweat, you are right on time, I just got here a bit earlier cuz if I stayed on my bed I probably would have fallen asleep."
She responded with a grin, hidden behind her mask, and her hand lifted with an a-okay sign.
With little effort, Al hopped off the fountain's ridge and was now standing in front of Melina.
She looked her up and down, without her armor Melina actually looked even cuter, Al yet kept these thoughts to herself as she did not want to make Melina uncomfortable.
"So where do you wanna heaf ?"
Al asked, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her hoodie as she bobbed back and forth on her heels, it was very apparent that unlike last time Al was full of energy and raring to go.
"Or should we just stroll through the place and see where fate takes us ?"
Al asked, leaning towards Melina as she was just stood on her toe's, it was almost comical how Al still kept her balance, yet she soon moved back, resuming her bobbing.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina was immediately relieved to know that she wasn‘t too far behind on the wolf girl. But relief quickly made way for uncertainty again as Al asked on their destination.
Where did they want to go? Melina had no clue. While it was true that she had just recently went to that one ramen shop with Bartok, that was really the only place she had went to that day. And it didn‘t help that she only went there because she was so kindheartedly invited and practically dragged there by the bat boy once she agreed.
After that week did Al expect Melina to know more about the city or that she went out somewhere?
Al bobbing back and forth on her heels made Melina feel like the wolf girl was awaiting a concise answer. She seemed energetic today in comparison to last time and probably wanted to move around town. Almost like a child ready to go exploring. Melina was about to say something, her arm scratching her elbow trying to distract herself, when Al continued making Melina freeze for a second but then also breathing relief back into the anxious girl.
“Y-yes. We should just stroll around town for now...“ she quickly affirmed with her soft whispery voice. She needed a short moment to gather some confidence before continueing her answer. “...see if we can find something interesting or… someplace… haven‘t been around yet. T-too busy of a week.“
Melina chuckled lightly and in an awkward manner at the end before being able to muster a soft smile on her lips as she looked at Al. She was slowly warming up to social interactions like these, albeit rather slowly.

[Al Ciendra]

Right, Melina had of course not continued to explore Vale, Al did not know her very well but with how shy she was and her reduced mobility, yeah it made sense.
Al did not mind, it just meant that she could show Melina the few places she had actually found for herself...without looking too much of an outsider herself, heh.
Al facepalmed in her own head, she was in no place to judge Melina.

With a step forward, she stopped her back and forth bobbing and stood right next to Melina now.
"Right, strolling around town it is!"
Al said as she began casually walking ahead, she took it slow just to make sure that Melina had no trouble keeping up, on the way there Al would have plenty of time to think of where to go.

After a little while, the two girls made it to Vale, Al had already picked the place she first wanted to take Melina too, it was a little fast food cart with a few benches placed in front of it.
Al was already at the counter, talking with the cashier and asking him for a hot dog.
"Hey Melina, you want one too ?"
She asked as she stood at the counter waiting for her order to be done.
"Sorry I dragged you here first, I just really need to get something in my stomach before I do anything else."
She shrugged a little, with what Melina could only guess was an embarrassed smirk.

[Melina Caedus]

As Al began walking ahead Melina naturally followed. Her heavy legs carried her after the jolly wolf girl who was making sure that she could keep up with her. Melina was already wondering where Al was going to take her and where they would walk around.
The anticipation was killing her a bit.

In Vale Al dragged the two immediately to a food cart with a few benches nearby.
Apparently Al wanted to eat something first before starting their little tour through the city.
She couldn‘t blame her. Melina was a bit hungry herself.
“Yes, please.“
Melina quickly stuttered out.
“I-It‘s fine, really. I frankly haven‘t eaten yet aswell so… hehe.“
She shyly giggled. Being embarrassed herself Melina was understandably timid out in public. Who was she kidding, she was timid in public all the time.
The threat of people commenting on her cyborg parts was always lingering in the back of her mind.
She didn‘t like being out and about, but that was why she wasn‘t alone this time around. This time she had Al, so maybe this would be different?

[Al Ciendra]

Good, Melina liked hot dogs too, they would have had some real trouble if she was vegetarian or something like that, Al shuddered a little just at the thought.
Soon enough, Al was holding two hot dogs, she passed one to Melina as she walked by her and sat down on one of the benches.
She seemed to hesitate a little before pulling up her mask once more, whether it was Al just being careless due to food being involved, her own new-found confidence or her trusting Melina due to her experience as a combat medic her mask went up further than usual, while her face was still covered by her hood from the sides, it was quite easy for the girl across from her to see her damaged face.
Al was gauging her reaction with a look or two as she ate, a bright smile on her face as she dug into her hot dog, it did not take her long at all to finish.
"Man, I could go for seconds, what about you ?"

[Melina Caedus]

Melina graciously accepted the hot dog Al handed her, she added a little bow with the head to express her gratitude further. Meanwhile Al had quickly sat herself down and was quickly digging into her meat in a bun, which she practically devours. However not before moving her mask up to be able to eat her meal.
Melina‘s eyes were captivated as she managed to get a good look at a part of Al‘s injuries, the very reason she was wearing that metal mask. And being a trained medical expert, she unconsciously started dissecting the injury with her eyes alone, trying to analyze it.
Flesh… torn off… most likely a Grimm Attack, not recent... multiple years old. Given these factors, Melina almost didn't want to imagine what it must have looked like fresh.
She almost forgot that she was technically just standing there staring at the fiery wolf and snapped herself back to reality only several moments later, Al had already eaten half of her meal at that point.
Once she did notice however, Melina hastily went to sit next to Al on the bench and started eating her own meal. It was obvious she didn‘t mean to be rude.
Melina wasn‘t even halfway done as Al had finished and intended to go for seconds.
“Eh? N-No, I got no need for another… for now.“ She muttered after chewing and swallowing the one bite she still had in her mouth.

[Al Ciendra]

It was very easy to notice that Melina was staring at her ever since she lifted her mask, though this was expected, she had thought that Melina would maybe do something else as well, but this was nice too, they were in public after all so her not drawing a lot of attention was probably for the better.
Al offered her a smile, "Right, just a second then.", she pulled down her mask again and got a second hot dog, letting Melina be for a minute while she herself thought about if she should push this topic, perhaps only a little, Al couldn't imagine that Melina was one to deal well with being pressured.
So she sat back down, her mask pushed up once more.
Yet, Al did not immediately start eating.
"Guess my pitch was right."
Al took the first bite from her hot dog, easily gulping down one third of the whole thing.
Leaving Melina time to think of a response.
"Sorry, I'm just still getting used to the whole "showing people my face thing", I just thought you would be a good starting point considering you have seen or experienced much worse."
She looked at Melina's cybernetic limbs for just a second before she looked into her eyes again.
"The last person I showed it to started crying because he felt that bad for me"
She giggled a little, remembering Bartok's reaction to her reveal, while his caring attitude gave her a major boost in confidence, it also made her unsure if this is how most people would react, well Melina wasn't most people either, but better to cover both extremes of the "I have seen some shit spectrum" first before moving onto anyone else.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina hesitantly continued eating her own hotdog as Al got herself another. She felt bad for staring as much as she did and was feeling bad about it for being so rude in that regard. The feeling gnawed at her insides as much as she gnawed at the remains of her food when she reached the last bite of her meal. It was at that moment that Al came back with another hotdog, again pushing up her mask as she sat down. She didn‘t immediately start eating. Did Melina offend her in some way? Was Al mad at her now? The shy girl tried not to have Al in her field of view and looked sllightly to the side for a moment.
Up until Al did speak up. It almost came to Melina‘s surprise with what she said.
“Eh? W-what do you… mean?“
Melina was caught off guard and perplexed at first, but when Al finally told her that she was easing into showing her face around people Melina could breathe a sigh of relief.
“Oh… I see. That does make sense. Injuries really don‘t faze me anymore. I'm used to seeing it... and... such.“ Melina giggled a bit awkwardly and quickly ate her last bite as Al went on.
“Its a common response… that people feel bad I mean… uhm… not that they cry… that‘s a bit extreme.“
She continued as she was done with her hot dog, a metal finger tapping her chin as she curiously tilted her head at Al.
“Were they that emotional of a person?“

[Al Ciendra]

Yeah, that's what Al had expected and wanted to hear, she was kind of scared that seeing her injuries would make Melina upset, but no, the ex military woman took it without much of a reaction, well, staring at her like that made Al feel like she was the subject of an autopsy, but that discomfort was easily shaken of.
"Hm not really, Bartok is just a hopeless romantic or gentleman as he would call himself, seeing girls get hurt upsets him, so when he saw this mess...you know."
She just pointed at the mass of scar tissue with a smirk, before sighing as she looked to the side, then back to Melina, leaning over the table.
"I don't think ill of it, he's my boyfriend for a reason, but sometimes he does coddle me a bit too much."
She lowered her head, propping it up on her palm.
"Sorry for the dump, but I do have hope that answers your question."
She giggled again, leaning back and continuing to eat her hot dog.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina looked at Al with raised brow, her head tilting as she looked at the fiery wolf wiht surprise plastered on her face. Did she just mention Bartok? A gentleman…? That sounded about right for him. The bat faunus she had met a weekor so ago. The same she played a song for... the same that took her out to eat in order to repay the favor? That same Bartok? A feeling of creeping dread made its way up her spine as Al mentioned that that same Bartok was her boyfriend. She really hoped Al wasn‘t going to be mad about that, being his girlfriend and all. Better to not mention it for now.
“No no, it‘s fine.“
Melina waved her mechanic hand dismissevly at Al.
“I‘m just a little surprised that you mentioned… Bartok. I met him a few weeks back, a... weird story, and he didn't had that kind of reaction at all when he saw... I mean... uh... noticed my... you know. “
She took hold of her mechanical hand, as if to refer to her own injuries.
“I-I guess it's because he can't quite see my augments? T-Then again they do make some noise, so he might know... I mean.“
Melina smiled a bit more awkwardly at Al, a hand scratching her own cheek, as if she were a bit embarassed. She had never blamed her lack of social skills so much in a normal conversation than now. It was quite obvious that Melina didn't quite know to which direction she should push this conversation.

[Al Ciendra]

Al was a little confused as she saw Melina ramble for a while, but it was a little funny just to have her try and connect the dots to a pretty obvious answer, an answer that Al didn't know herself, not that there really was a concise answer, but Al had a theory.
"I don't know for sure, but Bartok is almost blind, so he does not see a lot of things, so actually seeing my face must have been pretty bad. So yeah it's probably because he only heard your limbs, not seen them."
She shrugged, it was honestly not that big of an issue for her, in retrospect it was just kind of sweet that he cared that much.
"Anyway, horrible injury aside, do you wanna start our little town tour now ?"
Al asked with a grin, as she leaned over the table and looked at Melina.
Before she then pulled her mask back down again, as she curled up the hot dog packaging into a trash ball and with a little pause, tossed them into the bin, she watched for a bit so see if she'd actually hit and saw the ball teetering on the edge of the bin before falling in.
"Nice."
She trusted her fist down before turning back to Melina and awaiting her reply.
After getting this off her chest and actually revealing her face to another person, out of her own volition and in a way less awkward manner this time, Al felt really good about herself, so she felt even more energetic than usual.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina listened as Al gave her own point of view to why Bartok‘s reaction was so different with her. Vision based on sound left a lot for speculation after all. The only mechanical part he had ever really felt from her was her arm when he invited Melina, in a very gentlemanly manner, to eat Ramen with him.
That was one of the best days she ever had outside of Atlas until now. Before she could ride that train of thought all the way back to when she had actually tasted those delicous noodles, she was broken out of her thoughts when Al spoke up again and put her mask down again.
“S-Sure.“ A short, but concise answer accompanied by a small giggle as Al managed to nail the shot when she threw her packaging at the trash bin. Trying to mimic Al a bit she then also crumbled her packaging into a ball and delicately tried throwing it into the same trash bin… only for her to miss her mark entirely and the trash ball dropping to the ground next to the bin. She almost wanted to summon Albedo to catch it mid air… that would have been cool, but she worried more about startling the people around her.
“Damn.“ She only muttered in defeat, immediately standing up to correct her mistake. Her leg augments giving off soft wirring noises as her legs straightened and bent according to her posture. She quickly returned to Al afterwards.
“L-Let‘s go.“

[Al Ciendra]

Al watched Melina try to throw the piece of trash into the bin with a slight look of dismay, it was always a bummer to something like this happen.
But Al knew how to cheer up Melina!
As the demure girl turned from the hot dog stand, Al grabbed her hand.
"Yeah let's go!
She had pulled up her mask, showing Melina an excited and happy smile, perhaps to cheer her up just a little, though she pulled her mask back down again and started pulling Melina along, as well as she could, Melina was quite a bit heavier than she had expected.

Yet, soon they had arrived at their destination.
Standing out among many of the other building was the arcade, a giant purple plastic sign, in green glowing text read: Gabe's Gaming Gorge.
"Here we are!
Al bowed towards Melina, pointing to the arcade with both hands, as she then turned and began to head inside.

As they looked inside, there were rows and rows upon consoles, standing on red carpet, old arcade machines, common computers and even a modern holographic screen similar to that of scrolls, even some VR-Headsets were available.
A counter was in the western corner, with more neon glowing text mentioning tickets food and snacks.
"This place is awesome, so many things to play! This is exciting, and I don't even know how to play video games."
Al giggled to herself, overflowing with excitement as nearly ran to the counter, but instead restrained herself, only staring at all the consoles available to them.
"How long do you wanna stay here ?"
Al asked, with a tilt of her head, it was obvious she was very into this even without her face being seen.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina didn‘t have much time to lament her missed throw further as she was dragged away by Al. Or at least she allowed herself to be dragged away when she saw the rather excited expression of the wolf faunus.
Apparently Al already had an idea on how to kick their little tour off.
And surely enough, they soon found themselves in front of an arcade. Gabe‘s Gaming Gorge as it was called.
After a little gesture from the wolf she le dthe charge and headed inside.

The place was very colorful with many bright lights, colors and so many things to see, it was everything was trying to get a visitors attention. Melina had never been in an arcade before, so seeing such a glamorous packed place really was an experience Melina could have never prepared herself for.
Despite how retro some of these machines looked, excitement was still building up within Melina as they all looked like fun to try out. She was even pleasantly surprised as she saw some of the modern VR-Systems they had, which Melina had heard about when she was back home in Atlas.
And Al seemed to share her excitement as she marveled at everything on her own. It was obvious that Al was holding herself back from jumping straight at a console. The way she was excitedly looking at Melina through
“I… I‘d say we stay as long as we… want to? I-I‘ve never played such games either… so… erm.“
Melina answered, scratching the metallic frame of her cheek with her metallic arm, as if she was pondering on which of these machines to try out first. Diciding which one to try first was the toughest decision here.

[Al Ciendra]

Well, that answer was about as vague as possible.
But Al took it with an internal shrug, she didn't really think that Melina was the decisive sort, so she'd just decide for her!
"Right, don't worry your pretty little head. Let's just get to trying these things...just wait here for a second."
Al turned on her heel and headed over to the counter, quickly buying a few tickets for herself and Melina, she also seemed to inquire about something, the answer seeming to take a bit of wind out of her sails as her shoulders visibly slumped.
Just as quickly as she had left, she returned to Melina's side.
"Here ya go."
She shoved three tickets in Melina's hands, grabbing her other hand and once again dragging Melina away, to a few of the retro looking arcade machines.
"It's only respectful to start with the elders."
She looked between many of the games, Martial Kontest, G-One, Hac-Man and the last one that caught her attention, Sirtet, yep there really was only one choice.
"Come on race me!"
A challenge was uttered to Melina as Al sat down in one of the leather chairs, feet firmly planted on the plastic pedals and her hands grasping the steering wheel that doubled as a controller, catchy theme music was blaring out of the speakers as Al patted the seat next to her.

[Melina Caedus]

Melina waited patiently for the fiery wolf as she got their tickets. In the meantime Melina took another look around the place. There were so many different colours and ligths it was easy to get distracted.
The veteran medic looked back at Al just in time to see her stature shift, the wolfs shoulder slumping down. Was something wrong? Did something happen? Couldn‘t they play in the arcade for some reason after all?
There was no time for worry to settle as Al quickly came back with three tickets for Melina and then dragged her once again away towards a set of older looking arcade machines.
“Come on race me!“ Al quickly exclaimed, beckoning her to take the seat next ot her, giving no time for Melina to examine all the games.
“Eh? O-okay.“ Melina stuttered as she took place in the seat next to Al. She hesitated at first to agree, but in hindsight… the racing game was probably the best choice here.
From what she caught on the other screens of the machines, there were a fighting game, some sort of stacking game and a game where you play a figure that ate its way thorugh corridors.
Melina quickly took a hold of the steering wheel and planted her feet down on the pedals, the sound of her softly wirring machinery was slightly drowned out by the catchy arcade music as they moved into position.

[Al Ciendra]

Pfew, this was really exciting, so exciting it almost bordered on stressfull.
But, it was good that Al had choosen Melina to play with her, not that it was on purpose, if she had gotten completly destroyed during her first little baby steps into the world of videogames she would have most likely gotten pretty frustrated and she wasen't sure if her competetive nature extended to videogames.

Either way, Al was quick to familiarize herself with the controls, which luckily were rather simple.
And then picked a car, did these matter ?
She did not know or care and instead just picked the one she thought looked coolest, in her case a slerk and low to the ground vehicle that looked more like a fighter yet called the Red Eagle.
She hit the ready button and then waited for Melina.

As the low quality anouncer was counting down the numbers Al leaned forward, glaring at the screen, her foot ready to hit the gas pedal on the acrade machine aaaaand...GO!

Al somehow instantly hit a wall.
Letting all the non player racers pass her and Melina as well.
But she shook it off and now drove a little more careful.
"Note to self: this steering wheel is not nearly as resistant as the one in dad's car."

[Melina Caedus]

The controls were rather easy to figure out as the arcade emulated those of a race car. Despite that seeming simpleness however Melina was still a bit too careful with everything as when they were both thrown to the selection screen for their racers, Melina was a bit confused with how many different choices there were.
In the end, her choice landed on a rocket-jet hybrid named Blue Impala, and that only because Melina was still going thorugh the different cars and landed on it when the countdown had reached 0. She was... again… surprised by this, because she didn‘t expect there to be a time limit for character selection.
Then again it made things easier, wouldn‘t want to keep Al waiting. Besides, they were here to have fun!

Then the race began and Al was visibly excited to get going. It was reassuring for Melina to see that she was having fun already. Melina made herself ready aswell, putting the peddal to the metal just in time for the countdown to finish. And when it did her and many other racers stormed forward, well… Al seemed to have immediately hit a wall after the start, allowing everybody else to speed past her as she recovered.

Melina wasn‘t doing necesssarily better though, with the speed things were going she had a bit of difficulty registering everything that was going on at first. And when her racer suddenly hit a booster panel, things got even faster, so fast that at the next corner she was basically ping-ponging between walls and other racers for a few seconds before getting her machine stable again.
“T-This is pretty fast, honestly!“
Her energy bar at the top right was diminished up to half due to this, not only that but she was pretty sure she was falling behind, despite quickly accelerating again.

[Al Ciendra]

Well that was a bumpy start to say the least, Al laughed a little to herself as she ripped the steering wheel around and got back on track, literally.
With, now a bit more finesse Al was slowly but surely gaining some ground, after all the CPUs weren't that difficult to beat in the first place, so she had soon come up to mid-field with her now driving carefully, even the increase in speed wasn't that bad, Al was used to going much faster in her day to day training exercise after all.
"Yeah it is, but it's fun!"
Al grinned as she then passed Melina, using the very same boost pad that had thrown her off in the first place.
Her competitive side was taking over now, as she had leaned forward and was trying her best to just drive!
Drive faster and faster!
A happy little giggle came from Al as she managed to land 4th place, but she was growing ever so frustrated as she noticed that she could not close the gap to number 3 and beyond, these CPUs were simply driving much better than all the others, especially number 3 was driving her mad as the CPU didn't seem all that concerned with winning itself but just simply cut Al off,
"Ragh! Come on, let me pass!"
She complained, gripping the controls tighter as she tried really hard to just pass, without any real luck that is.

[Melina Caedus]

Al‘s machine shot past Melina who was still trying to regain her speed after becoming a bumper car the moment before. She did try using the boost button on her steering wheel, but pressing it made no difference right now as it seems.
Luckily her machine seems to be one of the faster vehicles as it quickly sped back up to its top speed, allowing her to slowly catch up with Al and securing the 5th place.
Melina also got more used to the sudden acceleration that the boost panels provideded which helped her slowly approach Al‘s position who seemed to have problems getting past the 3rd place.
She noticed special areas in the track, which upon driving over them caused her energy to fill again.
While this didn‘t help her gain more speed to overtake Al, it made her less worried since at least her vehicle wasn‘t about to get destroyed.
And then when it seemed that she was going to catch up with Al and the CPU racer, the latter went out of it‘s way to ram Melina as she tried to pass, reducing her speed and energy and giving Al the chance to get ahead.
A very quiet groan of frustration came from Melina as she picked up speed again via booster panels.
They were approaching the finish line, about to go into lap two.

“YOU GOT BOOST POWER!“ the arcade machine blurted out as Al shot into the next lap quickly followed by the CPU and Melina who was surprisingly undeterred by the loud voice.
Remembering the boost button doing nothing before, it would surely do something now… right?
And it certainly did. As Melina pressed it, the Blue Impala shot forward in a burst of speed, zipping past the CPU that had been a pain in Al‘s side before and catching up to the fiery wolf with ease.

[Al Ciendra]

This really was getting tedious, was there no difficulty setting for this game ?
...knowing herself, she most likely set it to hard right away, cocky as she was, if she did it was really biting her in the rear.
But it was only a video game, and Melina seemed to be having fun, so Al was pretty okay with this.
So she kept on fighting against the CPU!
Oh, Melina, had caught up, good on her, why did her car look so much better than Al's own ?
Was she actually good at these ?

Huh, something about boost power ?
Uh, did the game get faster or something ?
No, Al could suddenly see Melina and the 1st placed CPU in front of her suddenly shoot forward!
Shit, 3rd place was catching up too !
Where was the button, what did she have to press to go fast ?!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Al was touching all around the steering wheel and then, boom!
She shot forward and just in time for 3rd place to not block her out again, that was a relief!

Al had made it into second place now and honestly, for her first race she was content.
But, one thing left to do.
With a glint in her eye she propped herself up, looked over to Melina and with an exaggerated bow let her take second place, as she herself now got to blocking out 4th place, the CPU that had stopped her from going further before.
It was only a computer, but this felt good, get that sweet revenge.
So, that's what Al would spend up doing for the rest of the round, not only blocking 4th but everyone that tried to pass her, incidentally also making sure Melina had no one else to compete with.

[Melina Caedus]

Despite the breakneck speed the boost had granted her, Melina managed to keep her machine on the track. It wasn‘t long until Al had found the boost power as well and they both were hanging behind 1st place.
They sped along until Melina noticed that her nergy dropped significantly from using the boost power.

She bit her lip weighing the optinos, it meant she had to be cautious. Using the boost too much could endanger her machine.
In the corner of her eyes she saw Al bowing and before Melina could worry about having to deal with any pursuers with a weakened machine, the fiery wolf let up on the gas to block the encroaching CPU, just as it did to her moments ago.
A bit surprised that the seemingly competitive Al would be willing to do so, Melina missed the next booster panel, only for her to snap back and go for another boost to compensate.

Her machine shot forward, almost scraping the outer wall of a corner, in hot pursuit of the 1st place CPU.
She was getting close, she was sure she could overtake with another boost.
However that energy bar of hers being only half full worried Melina and she also didn‘t know how she‘d feel about leaving Al behind.
Maybe she shouldn‘t push ahead yet?
She should use the chance when she gets a refill on the recharge track, it should be just around the next sharp corner.

[Al Ciendra]

Yet Melina's hesitation would be thrown out of the window as Al turned to her, she had seen her hesitate for way too long now, she had to win this, so at least one of them could kick their virtual asses, not that she'd try to lose but with only this lap left there was little choice in the matter, but Al did have a plan to achieve just that.
"Just go Melina, I got this."
She proclaimed with an unusual calm demeanor as she looked towards the other girl, without looking away Al then clicked the boost button and shot forward, she had luckily picked up enough resources to boost forward and past the 2nd place, now confidently taking her spot behind Melina, she could have used the last of her energy to maybe try and catch up with Melina, but her plan was to simply take second, Al may be of a very competitive nature, but what she valued over her own victory was her friends, she was not gonna have some bots beat her and Melina.

So she'd continue blocking the angry crowd of 1's and 0's now approaching from behind, all so Melina had easy sailing for the number one spot, provided she could keep this up until the lap was over, that stunt had cost her most of her car's energy, she should really focus on NOT crashing, Al leaned forward to once again focus on the game.

[Melina Caedus]

Then there was Al‘s affirmation. So she really planned to give Melina all the leeway.
“R-Right.“ she whispered, leaning in as her machine took the corner with bravour.
And once the cyborgs machine hit the recharge track, it blasted forward yet again as Melina boosted seemingly without energy consumption.
While that wasn‘t exactly true, since she‘d be leaving the recharge track quicker than usual, she got plenty of energy from the track to not be in danger and still pull way ahead of the competition, Al included as she kept the following CPU‘s busy. Of course they could follow up with their own boosts, but at this point Melina was far ahead.

Without any further troubles, Melina‘s machine rounded the last corner to the finish line and a last boost at the end sealed the deal.
"FINISH!!!" The announcer blurted out as Melina‘s racer shot through the gate, the loud voice of the arcade machine finally managing to startle Melina as she wasn‘t as focused at the end, with so much of the tension taken off her. She let out a surprised yelp as the announcer continued "1st Place!"

[Al Ciendra]

Well her plan was working, good, for once one of her impulsive idea's, this one fueled by rage, worked.
Al was proud of herself, a genuine smile was under her mask as she still kept on focusing on the race, which was not going that well for her.
Her car was banged up, she had missed the repair pad and the bots were on her tail.
One of them raced past her and Al lost her second place and then one more, just before Al hit the finish line now in 4th, eh still good enough.
Al shrugged, as she moved away from the controller.

Only seeing Melina squeak at the announcers voice, unable to bridle a giggle at cyborgs cute reaction, yeah this was all worth it, Melina being her adorable self cheered Al right up.
"That went well."
Al got up, locking her arms behind her head and stretching, letting out a few popping noises, then looking at Melina.
"But, I think that's enough for my first video game experience, I need to stretch my legs again."

Al checked the watch on her scroll, they had plenty of time to hang out somewhere else, she put her scroll away, tapping at the chin of her mask, she had dragged Melina along till now, so it was about time she let her mechanical friend choose their next destination.
"Where do you want to go next ?"

[Melina Caedus]

In the end Al only got 4th place. Melina had a bit of a frown on her face. After all her own victory came at the expense of Al, even if she willingly fell behind to guarantee Melina‘s success.
It didn‘t quite feel right, at first. Was it because Melina was usually the one helping others at her expense?
Al seemed somewhat okay with the result and was quick to get up and stretch herself. She was right, they had to get moving. While Melina‘s cybernetic enhanced legs rarely ever needed the reprieve of movement to stay in top condition. She didn‘t want to stay in one place for all too long, less for her own sake and more for her wolf companion who had been rather energetic today.
Upon being asked where to go next, Melina… wasn‘t sure.


“Err… maybe…“ Melina didn‘t know what to suggest, as she was put a bit on the spot. Tapping the metallic contraption in front of her cheek with her own metal fingers she pondered.
“How about… the park?“ She sounded a bit unsure with her suggestion. She wanted to suggest the beach at first, but remembered that the sand could go between her mechanical parts. Rinsing them off the sand was rather tedious. “Maybe we‘ll find something… interesting along the way.“

[Al Ciendra]

The park sounded perfect to just stretch her legs after sitting still for such a long period of time, Melina really did have some good ideas when she spoke up, Al really should try and get the shy Atlesian girl out of her shell a bit more, she was so nice to talk too.
"Yeah, the park sounds perfect."
Al said and turned towards the exit, waving and saying goodbye to the store owner, who waved goodbye as well, looking a little perplexed by this act of curtsy.

Soon the two had arrived at the park, Al had lazily tucked her hands into the pockets of her head, leaving it open to still sway her arms a little.
She had been thinking a bit on their walk here, what could she ask Melina to open up a little and maybe get to know the loveable medic ?
Well...this one could work to that effect, and to also still her own curiosity a little.
"Hey Melina, you're from Atlas, right ? How is life over there ? I'M just curious cuz I've never been there, only heard stories, most of em being kinda hard to understand."
Al said this, wile keeping hidden that she had heard a bit more about atlas than she let on, mainly from Ax and from the few Atlesian's that passed through her hometown, most of them...weren't that good, especially because people told her, as a faunus, not to go there, the people of Atlas apparently weren't that friendly to faunus over there, a trait Melina luckily seemed to lack.