Growing Closer...?

The day passed with Ryker and Meiling growing steadily, once again.

After the usual decadent supper in Long Meiling's personal dining hall, the two of them retired to their respective rooms, continuing their training with the less physically intensive aspects of their regimens.

Long Meiling had taken to holding onto the compad, for the time being, utilizing the time after dinner to consult Mini C on ways to improve her control over mana.

Her goal was to be able to use it in a fight like Ryker could; it seemed like a great way to take on someone much stronger than yourself.

[Good, don't lose focus. Just keep a steady breathing pattern and endure.]

They were currently in the middle of a mana control exercise to increase her mental endurance, light green wisps of mana gently swirling around Meiling as she held control over it for a period of time.

She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes. Her mind was feeling hazy from the mental strain of constantly moving mana, and she could feel a headache coming on if she pushed herself any further.

Still, she held out, squeezing her eyes shut in concentration.

[...And that's time. Nicely done,] Mini C announced after another long moment had passed.

A breath she didn't know she had been holding escaped her lungs, and her eyes shot open as she gasped for air, letting go of her mana control.

[Shall we take a rest, for the evening?] Mini C said with some concern, [Any more than this would likely end up straining you beyond your limits.]

"Yes, that sounds good," she said, nodding as she caught her breath, "I'd like to get some fresh air."

Getting up from her luxurious bed, she didn't bother putting on any footwear before she went out the door, closing it behind her.

Her destination was the garden's Reflection Pond, a place she always liked to go to when she wanted to relax, in the evening.

The moonlight danced playfully among the many reflective pools as she walked among them, illuminating the lotus flowers floating on the water's surface with a pale glow.

{Wow, so pretty!} Bestie's voice rang out from the compad.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Long Meiling replied with a gentle smile. She sat at the edge of one of the pools, slowly dipping her feet into it with a nostalgic gaze.

The sentimental atmosphere gave Bestie an idea, however, and she rubbed her chin in thought.

{Hmhm, looks like now might be a good chance!} she muttered to herself, without activating the compad's voice function.

She bounced on her toes and smiled in anticipation, quickly accessing Mini C's notification functions to contact Ryker.

[And just what are you up to, now?] Mini C asked, eyebrow raised. Did she think she owned the place?

She was really starting to get ahead of herself these days, he thought.

--

Ryker was also training at this time, sitting in a meditative pose on the cushy bed they provided him.

He was practicing circulating his qi quickly from one part of his body to another, alternating where it went with each cycle.

The sparring with Captain Cheng had actually been very helpful for him, as he was always one to learn by doing.

And it didn't hurt that he got more of a feel for how qi is supposed to flow by being repeatedly struck with qi enhanced attacks.

He'd also gotten a manual for a movement technique from the captain, which he was currently reading while practicing qi control.

"Damn, and here I was thinking I was done with flipping through textbooks..." he muttered to himself as he turned the page.

He was going through the later parts of it when he felt the notification buzz from his holoscreen.

Glancing at his arm, he saw it was a message from Bestie, who had found a way to hijack Mini C's notification system to send him text messages a few days prior.

| Bestie's Mission: Romantic Night at the Reflection Pond! |

| The mood right now is feeling right! |

| Now's your chance to get closer to Long Meiling! ૮₍´｡ᵔ ꈊ ᵔ｡`₎ა |

| Hurry over to the Reflection Pond and make your move! —̳͟͞͞ ૮ o ﻌ oა |

"Hah, she's really getting the hang of all the compad's functions, huh?" he said with a grin.

Hopping up to his feet, he grabbed his jacket and left the room. Since his wing-man was telling him there was a good opportunity, how could he pass up on it?

Even with them being together for the past few days, most of their time was spent training, so they didn't have many chances to talk to one another. Not that he felt she was particularly keen on talking to him, or anything.

But, since the system task called for it, he figured he should be giving befriending her a good try. They were at least a bit more comfortable around each other now, he supposed.

He'd memorized the layout of most of Meiling's side of the estate, so he had no issues as he made his way over to the Reflection Pond. The only concern was how best to make it seem natural...

When he got there, he saw her sitting at the edge of one of the pools, dipping her bare feet into the waters.

"Yo, Meimei!" he called out, opting for the straightforward approach. She turned to look over her shoulder as he did, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Don't call me that," she said with a somewhat annoyed look, turning away from him.

"What? I thought it was a good nickname," Ryker answered with a laugh. He plopped down beside her cross-legged, leaning back on his hands and watching the sky.

The two of them sat in silence for a good while, both of them comfortable with just sitting there and saying nothing.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, watching the ripples move across the water as she gently kicked her feet in the pool.

"Oh, I was just taking a walk and saw you sitting here, so I thought we could hang out."

"'Hang out'?"

"Yeah, like, uh, spend some time together? But in a casual sense," he explained.

"Hm. Well, I don't mind, I suppose."

Meiling fell into silence once more, Ryker wondering how best to continue the conversation as he looked at her.

"But man, fancy place you got," he said, fishing for a topic to talk about.

"I was worried your family might say something about me barging in, but I guess you've got the run of things around here, haha."

Meiling just rolled her eyes at his comment, splashing a bit of water with her feet.

"My sister is always out fooling around, and my father doesn't care what I do, so long as it doesn't affect the family's reputation," she said, scoffing.

She hesitated for a bit before continuing, however, eyes slightly downcast.

"...My mother... is no longer with me."

"Oh. Sorry for bringing it up..."

Ryker scratched his head with an awkward look.

"Don't be. I don't know why I even mentioned it," she said, looking up at the moon.

They sat in silence once again.

At this point, Ryker was feeling like he'd flubbed his chances for tonight, opting to instead just accompany her as she watched the moonlight reflecting in the rippling pond.

He got the sense that she wasn't much for talking about herself. But just being near each other like this was bound to make them closer, right?

However, despite his concerns, after a short while she began to speak.

"...You're a very carefree person, Ryker. Don't you have any worries, at all?" she asked him.

"Huh?"

The question caught him a bit off guard. He wasn't expecting to talk about himself, tonight.

"Well, yeah, a few, I guess," he started, "How to get home, where my friends are, how my family's doing..."

His thoughts started turning to if he was ever going to see Greyson Shores, again, his hand wrapping around the jade amulet in his jacket pocket that his dad had given him, a few years ago. What did his dad want to talk about before he left...?

He slapped his cheeks with his other hand before he went any further down this gloomy train of thought, however, shaking his head vigorously.

"Ahh, but you know, worrying about it won't do me any good. Just gotta keep doing what I can, right?" he said, grinning.

"Do what you can..."

Long Meiling looked down at the crystal clear waters in thought.

"Yes, that's right. We just do what we can," she said with a bit more conviction. The mood between them was a bit more comfortable now, each of them with their own thoughts.

"So, what's *your* family like?"

"Mine? Well, my mom and dad run a restaurant, and I got two younger sisters. I guess I'm closest with Lil, she's like my twin; we got into a lot of trouble together back home, haha..."

They spoke and watched the moon for a while longer, the mood between them growing more comfortable with each passing moment...

--

| Relationship with Long Meiling became: Favorable |

| Received: Frozen Sword Lotus x 1 |

| Bestie's Mission: Complete! |

| Received: Bestie's Admiration and Respect x 1! |

| ૮˶• ﻌ •˶ა |

| ./づ~ 🦴 Good Job Ryker!!! |