AN: Due to requests from several readers, I have made this Side Stroy its own chapter—which is how I will proceed to handle Side Stories in the future.

If you're looking for the new chapter, its the one right after this one.

Side Story: The Mechanical Girl

It was a nice day. Temperature a steady seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit—or twenty-four point four degrees Celsius. Humidity low and the sky a majestic blue—majestic, she should use that word more often—and would be for a while, going by the forecast for the evening.

But even though it was such a lovely day, her mood was rather…glum? Ah, yes, glum. That was the word; General Ironwood had used it several times before, and she felt it was a rather apt description for herself.

Penny Polendina frowned as she sat alone on a bench. She was outside the Vale Cross Continental Tower—specifically twenty-three feet away from the main side of the building—and her eyes scanned the men and women walking around the plaza. Most were students, which was the most logical outcome since the tower was within Beacon school grounds. But there were other people here as well, civilians who came here to perhaps…talk to friends who weren't with them right now.

She felt her frown deepen.

This…might not have been the wisest choice she could have made. She didn't know why she had decided to break away from the Atlesian soldiers who had been sent to guard her, nor did she understand what made her want to venture to the Cross Continental Tower of all places...

But here she was. Fiddling with her fingers on her lap as she looked down at the ground.

She supposed it was rather inaccurate to say she had no idea as to why she had decided to defy General Ironwood's orders and venture off by herself. She would be lying if she said that coming back Vale hadn't brought up several memories that made her almost unknowingly step away from her guards when they weren't looking. And she would be lying if she said that once she had snuck away, she hadn't thought up of several plans of having just as much fun as she could.

But once she had snuck away, she almost immediately realized that her plans were unrealistic.

Because all of her plans involved seeing her one and only friend. Ruby Rose.

She sighed.

She knew that it was silly; she knew that she shouldn't be thinking about visiting people she couldn't—well, shouldn't, technically—visit. While her father hadn't forbidden her from seeing her new friend, he did heavily imply it would be reckless to try and do so, since she might risk revealing her true nature by accident. It was expected of her to maintain a low cover for now. The Vtyal Festival was fast approaching and with so many people from so many different Kingdoms in Vale, there were more eyes on the city now more than ever. Eyes belonging to so many different organizations and governments that would take a keen interest in her if the truth was exposed.

And she did not like to think where exactly that "interest" might lead.

So yes, staying with General Ironwood and his men would have been the smart choice; the wise choice. As she ran the odds in her head, she saw there was a thirty-two percent higher chance of something going wrong now that she was away from her guards; though, the odds of things that could physically hurt her were almost minuscule. She was combat ready at all times, but the problem was that the threat she faced wasn't physical. It was the threat that her secret—that Atlas' secret— would be revealed.

And she did not need to be told again just how bad such events would be if they were to occur.

Which meant that right now, regardless of what she wanted to do, she had to make the most logical choice. And right now, logic was dictating that she return to General Ironwood and his guards.

She was already moving up from the bench and beginning to walk away, shoes clicking on the stone ground.

She was making the right choice. The fact of that matter was that if she visited Ruby, she would be risking so much just to satisfy her own selfish desires. She needed to be responsible; to not let her feelings cloud her judgment. This was the right choice to make, she knew that.

But…

She was now walking along the side of the tower—intent on taking the shortest path out of the plaza—as she weaved through the crowd; taking care not to bump into anyone.

But…she still wanted to see Ruby. Ever since she had left the docks, she hadn't been allowed to do much of anything that didn't involve running tests on her body or working to further enhance her skills. She hadn't truly talked to anyone—in terms of talking about things normal teenage girls would talk about—and the months of keeping most of her thoughts to herself was driving her…stir-crazy? Was that word? She supposed the exact the word didn't matter; just the fact that the months of solitude were making her wish to talk to someone that treated her like she was a real girl.

She was quickly approaching one of the tower's corners.

But…as much as she wanted to talk to her friend again, she couldn't help but think about what might happen if her friend found out the truth. And if Ruby were to find out about what she really was…then she might lose her one and only friend.

And that was something she did not ever want to happen.

She glanced to the floor, sighing. There were fewer people walking by here, and she was sure that no one was in her immediate vicinity—so it would be fine to lower her eyes for a moment.

This is the right choice. You know this.

She slowly glanced back up.

But that didn't make it any-.

Her green eyes went wide.

Maybe it was because she hadn't been paying as much attention as she thought; or, maybe it was because he simply rounded the corner of the building at the moment she looked down. But no matter the reason, the fact still remained that there was now a man mere inches away from her. A man whose eyes were firmly on his scroll as he continued to walk forward.

And as he took another half step forward, he glanced up from the scroll, eyes widening once he saw her inches away from colliding with him. In her mind, she saw that she had less than a second to do something; otherwise, she would crash into the man.

So, she moved. She side stepped to the right, and she was sure that she fully avoided the man.

Until she felt the tip of her left shoe meet with the man's own shoe. The man instantly stumbled, scroll falling out of his hands as he plummeted to the ground.

And as he fell, she saw confusion within the man's expression as he stared up at her. But the confusion vanished the moment the side of the man's nose made contact with the flat stone edging surrounding a planted tree in the middle of the concrete ground.

She heard a crack. And when the man pushed himself up from the stone edging, one hand covering his nose, she saw blood staining the large stone he had crashed into.

Her eyes widened even further.

Oh, my goodness.

"Ow."

She whipped her head and saw the man back on his feet. She saw he was wearing a blue suit of some kind with several broaches in the shape of ladybugs at the front. She saw that he had yellow hair that was neatly curled and braided in the back to form a small tail.

And she saw that there was blood trailing from underneath the gloved hand covering his nose.

What was the expression again? Eyes popping out of her sockets? She was sure that expression would be a very good description for what her eyes were doing right now.

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!

The man slowly turned his head towards her. And once he was fully facing her, the man spoke.

"Ah, my apol-."

"I am so sorry!"

She had instantly moved so that she was only a few inches away from the man; her voice full of regret as she stared.

This was a nightmare! An absolute nightmare! In literally five-point-three seconds she had violated one of Atlas' most sacred codes; never harm an innocent civilian!

"I should have been watching where I was going! I did not mean to injure you!"

There was discomfort in the man's expression. Which was to be expected since she had hurt the man to the point of causing blood loss!

"Miss, I am-."

She once again moved closer, interrupting the man before he could finish. She placed her hands on the man's cheeks, the discomfort in his expression growing.

"On a scale of one to immense agony, how would you rate your pain!?"

The man took a step back and she quickly followed him, making sure that her hands were still on his cheeks as her eyes scanned him.

"Miss, I understand you're worried, but if you let me finish-."

"Do you feel lightheaded?! Is your vision blurry!? Do you feel like you're going to die!?"

Another step back, and once again she followed him. Her eyes were still scanning his injuries and, for some reason, it was taking far longer than it should've to determine just how injured the man was.

"As I have been trying to say-."

"Do you wish for me to call an ambulance!? No, wait, perhaps it would be better if I take you to the hospital myself!"

She saw his blue eyes narrow.

"Miss."

"Do you feel like you could make the trip to the hospital!? If not, I will try my best to heal you myself!"

She was well aware that panicking and shouting would not in any way help the man, but she hadn't been trained for this! In battle, yes, she could easily determine how injured an ally was and suggest appropriate medical treatment from there. But this wasn't a battle, this was her own clumsiness getting an innocent civilian injured; her scanners were not even helping her determine how injured the man was, malfunctioning at the worst of times and saying there were no injuries present on him!

"Miss."

She heard irritation in the man's voice; the fact that she could recognize that emotion must have meant the man was especially incensed right now. But why wouldn't a man who she may or may not have killed be irritated at her!?

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry for doing this to you! I swear not every Atlas' student is a destructive monster like me!"

"Miss."

There was more irritation in his voice now, but she tried to focus more on coming up with a solution to help the man with his injuries.

"Do you know what blood type you are!? You may require surgery, I'm not sure!"

"Miss."

She saw his left eye twitch; were it not for her enhanced eyesight she might have missed it. Oh no, eye twitching was an early sign of brain aneurysms! And considering how much he kept repeating himself and emphasizing the same word over and over again, there was a very large chance of that happening at any second!

"Oh my goodness I am so sorry!"

Another twitch.

"I did not mean to kill-!"

"Miss!"

The man grabbed her shoulders as he shouted, pushing her several steps back with ease despite the fact that she was much heavier than she looked. She looked up at his face...

And saw that his nose was perfectly fine; not crooked or bent in the slightest. His face was absent of any cuts; there wasn't even a hint of blood staining his face as his narrowed blue eyes stared at her.

"I. Am. Fine."

With that terse assurance, she once again began to examine his body with her scanners—the x-ray function displaying the man's skeleton. The bones in his nose still showed no signs of cracks or any fractures.

But…

"How are you fine!?"

Her head whipped to the stone edging the man crashed into; she could still see the blood dripping from the stone.

"Your nose hit the edging at the worst possible angle. It should be broken; I heard the cartilage snapping."

She had stopped shouting, but that did not mean her voice no longer had any panic left within it.

"In fact, your nose should be at the very least bleeding and swelling and possibly bruising."

The man looked down at the stone he had hit.

"Well, as you can see, I am not injured. Nor am I dying."

The man then turned to face her as he let go of her shoulders.

"So, there is no need to shout."

She watched as the man glanced behind her, and she followed his gaze and turned her head around. She could see that there were now about a dozen people staring at them, attracted by all of her shouting. Some seemed confused, some vaguely worried, and others had out their Scrolls and seemed ready to dial at any moment. And while she had little to no social aptitude, something told her it was rather bad to have a plethora of civilians staring at her thinking she had just severely injured a man.

She let out several nervous chuckles as she smiled; a very crooked, very awkward smile.

"It's okay! I did not kill him!"

She pointed at the man to further emphasize her point.

The people around them continued to stare for several more moments, and she knew that her smile was becoming more and more strained with every moment. When she got back to General Ironwood, the first thing she would ask would be what to do when civilians thought you were a murderous criminal.

But eventually, after one minute and three seconds of silence, the crowd of staring civilians slowly began to continue walking to whatever destination they had been heading towards before.

Her shoulders sagged, glad no one had called the local authorities. She did not want to explain to General ironwood why she had been arrested.

She heard a sharp exhale from behind her. Turning around, she saw the man once again covering his face with one gloved hand.

"Oh no, are you in pain?"

She took a few steps forward as she looked him over, concern within her words. After all, why else would he have a hand massaging the bridge of his nose? The man slowly removed his hand from his face as his narrowed blue eyes stared at her, frowning. For about fifteen seconds, he did not speak.

"Did the blow to your face indeed hurt you in some way?"

As she spoke again, He continued to stare at her. But after ten seconds, his frown slowly moved into a thin line as he raised a brow.

"You're being serious, aren't you?"

She blinked.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You are honestly just asking me if I am in pain?"

"Yes."

"You are unable to pick up the fact that I am vaguely annoyed right now, and am trying to alleviate my stress by massaging my nose."

She blinked again.

"Oh. In that case, no. No, I did not."

And then as she began to process the man's words.

"Oh wait, if you're annoyed than that means it's because of…"

She didn't finish as she realized that it was because of her that the man was annoyed. And considering that she had been the one to knock the man to the ground, even if he hadn't been injured, she couldn't blame him for feeling that way.

Her body went stiff as she felt remorse rising in her expression. She shifted on her feet as she glanced to the ground. This…definitely was not sensational.

"I am sor-."

"You have repeated yourself three times already. Please do not do so a fourth time."

The man's firm voice made her flinch; for a moment, she was reminded of General Ironwood when he was about to reprimand one of his soldiers. She shouldn't have come to the tower. Then she wouldn't have inconvenienced a random stranger. Then she wouldn't have incensed someone due to her carelessness.

"Besides, your apologies are meaningless to me."

She flinched harder this time. She truly made a mess of things, didn't she?

"Especially since I'm the one who should be apologizing."

You see Penny, this is what happens when you act selfishly and-.

When she finally processed, the man's words her head snapped up as she stared at him.

"Wait, what?"

The only thing within her two words was confusion as the man let out a sigh.

"You did nothing wrong. The fault lies with me."

"But…I tripped you."

"Only because I wasn't looking where I was going. And if you hadn't dodged, I would have just collided into you."

The man's eyes—eyes that were actually very calm despite what she had just done—stared into hers.

"I can not exactly place blame on you for my own carelessness."

She blinked, the confusion within her continuing to rise.

"You are…not mad?"

"Only at myself for being so careless."

She…was not sure how to respond to that. While she had little social experience, she would have thought that tripping a man and causing him to bleed would lead to said man becoming angry with her. And something told her that this man's reaction shouldn't be considered a normal response.

She watched as the man looked down to the floor, eyes glancing around. It looked like he was searching for something.

Oh, wait.

"You're scroll is fifteen feet behind you."

The man looked up at and saw her pointing a finger behind him. The man slowly turned around and followed the direction of her finger, and his eyes looked to the scroll laying on the concrete facedown.

"Ah, thank you."

The man walked towards his scroll, and once he was close enough, he picked it up with one hand.

She kept thinking back to the crack she heard, eyes glancing towards the stone edging and the blood that still stained it. She didn't understand how an average civilian could heal that fast unless-.

She blinked again.

Oh. Now that she thought about, that would explain what she had just seen quite easily.

"Do you have your Aura unlocked?"

The man turned to face her, and after two seconds, spoke.

"Yes, I do."

"Oh. I see."

So, she was right; the man had Aura. He must have been greatly surprised by his sudden fall then if he didn't properly channel his Aura to protect himself.

She then looked him over.

"Then that means you are a Huntsman?"

She almost said Huntsman-in-training, but the man was clearly quite too old to be a student at any academy. Going by his height—which was several inches taller than her own—the static lines on his face and his sharp jaw, the man looked to be in his mid to early twenties.

"No, I am not."

As the man gave his answer, he placed his scroll back in his pocket before looking back to her.

"I am something else."

She tilted her head to one side. Something else? What could he mean by-?

"But I am afraid I must leave now."

The man's words interrupted her thoughts; she saw him turn on his heels before walking away. Well, she supposed she had kept the man away from his tasks. And she should do the same; it wouldn't be wise to continue-.

"May we meet again, friend."

Her thoughts came to a crash. The last word the man said kept repeating over and over again in her head.

She didn't know when, but she had moved. And seemingly instantaneously, she was in front of the man again. She saw his eyes widen as he stopped walking, his head whipping behind him before quickly turning back to her.

"Weren't you behind me?"

She didn't respond to the man's question; instead, she stared at him with her wide green eyes.

"Did you just say 'friend?'"

The man blinked.

"Yes."

"As in, you called me, a friend?"

Hesitance rose within the man's eyes—why, she could not say—and after another two seconds, he spoke.

"Yes. Why?"

She could feel the joy that lit up her eyes. Her lips curled into a big, wide smile as she let out a delightful squeal.

"Oh, that is wonderful!"

Yes, she was aware that she had just decided to go back to the General. Yes, she knew that it was hypocritical to the extreme that she felt such joy from that one word when she had just thought of the ramifications of spending time with anyone who didn't already know about her secret.

But…but…

This was a chance to make another friend; this man had just offered her friendship even after what she had done. And the idea—just the mere idea of becoming friends with someone who viewed her like she was normal— was more than enough to make the joy suffusing her grow with every second.

"Do you truly mean that?! Do you truly consider me a friend?!"

The man looked at her, expression blank. His blue eyes stared at her own; there was no emotion at all within them. As she continued to stare at the man—smile still in place—she noticed the man's mouth move from a thin line to a frown. A very deep frown.

For about two minutes and three seconds, the man made no response. He only stared at her. And her smile slowly diminished as the seconds continued to linger.

"Is…something wrong?"

Still no answer from the man. His only response was for his eyes to narrow. And once again, she thought of General Ironwood. She thought about the times he would deeply concentrate over a problem; trying to come to a satisfactory answer when he only had a limited time to think of a solution.

And after another minute, the man spoke again.

"You're being serious again, aren't you?

Her expression was now perplexed.

"Yes."

She tilted her head, and the man slowly looked her over, eyes trailing over every inch of her body.

"Miss, how would you rate your social skills?"

"Oh, near to nonexistent."

Her honest reply made the man's expression tighten—she could see his eyebrows furrowing together. It looked like he was contemplating something.

"Now, I have a series of hypothetical questions I would like you to answer. "

"Oh…okay. What are they?"

The man placed two fingers under his chin, pointer and thumb to be specific.

"Say a man dressed in black offered to be your friend, someone you have never once seen before. Someone who just seemed to pop out from some alley on the street just when you're alone and no else is in sight. What would your response be?"

Oh, well, in that case…

"I would ask if he truly wanted to be friends."

"And if he said that was what he wanted?"

She smiled.

"Then I would be jubilant for making another friend!"

She saw the man's frown become even deeper.

"Alright. Now, say your new friend asked you to get into a big white van. Your response?"

"I would ask where we are going?"

"Say he said it was to meet up with some of his friends. And he further explained that it was his intent to introduce you to them. How would you respond?"

Her eyes widened.

"Oh, then I get into his van and eagerly await to meet his friends!"

The moment she answered, the man placed a hand on her shoulder. And his expression was now grim as he let out a small sigh.

"I can not leave you like this."

She once again blinked.

"Huh?"

"Ooh."

Penny Polendina had little to no understanding of social norms. Before, anyway. Now though…

"I see!"

Now, she could say she understood some of them.

She turned her head to the blonde-haired man sitting a few feet away from her. They were both sitting on another bench—this one overlooking a small park near the tower—and she smiled at the man.

"In regards to the questions you asked me earlier, my correct response should have been not to get in the van, but to instead get away from the man as quickly as possible; as he would have most likely taken me to…"

How had he phrased it? Oh, right!

"An unfavorable location where a bunch of grown adult men would have me surrounded and would attempt to force me to do illicit activities with me! The most likely of which being-."

"You are correct. However, when talking about something like that, you shouldn't talk with such glee. Remember what I said before about how you should watch your words and tone when discussing certain topics?"

She blinked at the man's interruption, and then she remembered what he had said before as her eyes widened

"Ahh, yes! When conversing about serious and or sensitive topics, one must be careful about tone of voice and specific words used. Otherwise, to the person you are speaking to, it will sound like you aren't giving the topic the proper respect it deserves."

She raised a hand to her side before lifting a finger.

"One example would be if someone close to you recently lost a loved one, then it would be a poor idea to make it seem like they'll 'get over it' within a few days. Instead, one should offer sympathy and a 'shoulder to lean on' in order to help them through the grieving process."

"Correct."

The man gave her a small nod, and her smile was back now.

"In addition, when someone calls another 'friend,' depending on context, it could be mean a variety of different things."

That had been one of the more confusing things the man had told her. But with enough explanation, she felt like she had a somewhat solid grasp on what the man was trying to tell her.

"Sometimes, people may call me a friend in an attempt to lower my guard and trust them, that way they can manipulate me to do whatever they want. Other times, it could be used as an insult or perhaps to mock one if used with heavy sarcasm."

She pointed a finger at the man.

"In your case, you called me 'friend' just to be polite and did not mean anything by it!"

The man once again nodded, lips curling just slightly upward.

"Right again. It seems you are starting to understand."

She nodded her head eagerly.

"And it's all thanks to you, sir!"

Really, he had helped her tremendously. Explaining things with great care that no one—not even her father or General Ironwood—had ever done before. Whenever she asked a question that she knew most would already know by her age, the man took the time to go into detail and made sure that he explained in a way that would help her understand.

"I had no idea that there were so many intricacies and nuances when it came to socially engaging with other people. But now, I do! I feel like I can confidently have a conversation with someone like a normal person! All thanks to you!"

"It is no problem, Ms. Polendina."

"Please, call me Penny!"

Her smile grew as the man chuckled.

"Alright then, Penny."

The man had told her that while he couldn't say they were friends—and yes, that had made her a touch upset—he did say he was open to being acquaintances. And that was fine with her, once he had explained what exactly an acquaintance was. It was someone who wasn't quite a friend, but was also someone who you liked enough not to mind spending time with.

And really, just being able to spend time with anyone would make her happy; whether they be a friend or an acquaintance. Like right now.

"I shall be sure to use the things you taught me to good use!"

"Just remember, Penny; you shouldn't immediately try to make friends with everyone. You should observe who you're talking to first, try to get an idea as to what their personality is like through small talk, and then decide if you want to be friends from there. You should also make sure to look at their body language to see if they are either trying to deceive or manipulate you; so, practice the tips I gave you to avoid failing to such tricks."

She once again nodded.

"I will, sir!"

The man smiled.

"Excellent."

"You are most kind, sir!"

And he truly was! She was fairly certain that it wasn't common for random people to take the time out of their day to give advice to strangers about things that should be obvious to everyone.

"I do not know how I could repay you!"

She would have to figure out some way to. She didn't know what exactly she could do right now, but maybe she-.

"Actually, there is something you can do for me."

She blinked as the man's words brought her out of her thoughts. She looked at the man as he crossed one leg over his knee.

"You said before that you were from Atlas, correct?"

She heard a hint of curiosity in the man's voice amidst his cordial tone.

"Oh, yes, I am."

She tilted her head to the side.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's just, do you know General Ironwood?"

She froze; her entire body became stiff.

"Um...wha-what?"

This was not good. At all.

"It's just, several times throughout our conversation, you mentioned a General."

Oh no…

"And, if memory serves right, General Ironwood is one of the few people in Atlas who holds that rank, correct?"

Calm down. Calm down. She had to push the past the fear rising within her and calm down. Because she could not afford to break one of her promises to the general.

She slowly nodded her head, trying not to make the movement to stiff.

"Th-that is correct, yes."

The man's smile grew as he clamped his hands together.

"Ah, so you do know him!"

Her eyes widened.

"No!"

Do not hiccup. Do. Not. Hiccup.

She looked into the man's eyes, trying not to show her unease on her expression; but she was almost positive that she was failing as her anxiety grew stronger the longer she stared at the man.

The man blinked, looking down before rubbing his chin.

"Oh? But I was almost positive that you went into great detail at one point about how a general helped you adjust to your student life once you were accepted."

Oh no, she did say that! She had been so energetic with the man that some things had just slipped from her tongue—though, not an actual tongue because she didn't have one—without her realizing until right now!

She quickly reviewed exactly what she said to the man, and if she had blood, she was certain she would have paled.

"And, if memory serves right, did you not also say this General also gave you special tutelage for years? And that he helped prepare you to enter Atlas' Huntsman Academy and still helps you even now?"

The man raised a brow at her.

She couldn't panic. She couldn't let her fear make her do something that might make the situation worse. She just had to tell the man he misheard her; it was that simple, she just had to…lie.

She knew her expression was nervous, and that no matter how hard she tried, the smile she gave the man was awkward at best.

Do. Not. Hiccup.

"I…I believe you are mistaken s-."

She didn't finish as a large hiccup interrupted her. She slapped a hand over her mouth as her fear once again rose.

The man tilted his head to one side, eyebrow rising higher.

"Are you alright?"

"I am fi-."

Another hiccup; she slapped her hand on her mouth again. How could she even hiccup in the first place!? She lacked both a diaphragm and vocal cords!

She saw the man was staring at her, confusion within his eyes.

"Do you need some water?"

"N-no! I am truly fine, sir!"

She was smiling again; a horrible, obviously strained smile.

"A-and to answer your earlier questions, I am afraid you misheard me!"

Her voice grew louder as she hiccupped again. But this time, she pressed on.

"I did not mention a General before. I-I said that I was generally tutored and helped throughout the years by a variety of people!"

She hiccupped. Curses, stop doing that!

She let out an absolutely awful laugh.

"I have only really seen General Ironwood in passing! Which is perfectly normal for an average, nonspecial Atleasian student that attends his academy! But aside from that, I have never seen or spent any time with the man!"

She bit her lower lip; this time, the hiccup did not escape her mouth, but it still made her shoulders shake.

The man was still staring at her.

"Is that a fact?"

She tried to give him an easy-going smile but…well, she felt how her lips kept twitching as she failed spectacularly to keep her nerves from showing on her face.

"Ye-yes."

Do not hiccup! She had promised General Ironwood that no one would learn about her relationship with him or any of Atlas' military. There were far too many questions that would arise if someone were to figure out that fact.

This time, somehow, she kept herself from hiccupping. She stared at the man with her incredibly nervous smile as he stared back, his expression calm as opposed to her fearful one. For roughly two minutes, neither she nor the man spoke, and she hadn't seen the man blink even once since the silence started.

And then, he broke away from her gaze as looked down, rubbing his chin with his gloved fingers.

"I see. My apologies, I was almost positive you said you knew a General."

Oh, thank goodness he believed her.

She didn't let out a sigh of relief because she knew that would be suspicious. Instead, she let out a laugh, trying to make it sound genuine and not forced.

"W-well that's okay. We all make mistakes."

The man glanced at her.

"I suppose so."

The man then pulled out his scroll from one of his pockets, powering it on before looking at the screen.

"I should be going now."

"Oh, I didn't keep you away from other important matters, did I?"

The man only smiled in response to her question.

"Nothing like that. I do have something to attend to later today, but I still have plenty of time to make that little appointment. If anything, you helped me pass the time in a rather enjoyable matter."

"Really?"

"Of course. After all…"

The man moved a touch closer to her, and then he reached out with one hand towards her face. His fingers then grabbed a stray lock of her orange hair that had fallen out of place and placed it behind her ear.

"What better way is there to spend one's time then by talking to such a lovely lady?"

His gloved hand stroked her cheek. And his smile became…odd. She had never seen anyone give her a smile quite like the one man was giving her. There was a kind of…affection in it that looked different from any other time she had seen that emotion on someone's face—such as her father or General Ironwood.

She squinted her eyes at the man, confusion scrunching up her face as she stared; she reviewed the words the man had said to her and tried to discern their meaning.

Wait, she felt like they had discussed something like this earlier; she was fairly certain that even her father had told her something similar at one point. What exactly was it? When a person gives flattering comments and warm gestures to someone of the opposite sex they were most likely-.

She blinked, confusion fading somewhat.

Oh…was this man flirting with-?

There was something pricking her skin.

Her hand instantly shot to the spot on the back of her neck where she felt the prickling. But her palm felt nothing.

"Something the matter?"

She saw that the man was looking at her, expression curious. Well, she supposed that was a normal reaction when one sees someone spontaneously slapping their neck.

"Oh, nothing. I simply thought I felt something on my skin; perhaps an insect of some sort."

The man removed his hand from her cheek, and she removed her hand from her neck. She examined her palm, expecting to see perhaps the remains of an insect, but it was completely bare.

"It was probably just the wind."

All evidence was pointing to that conclusion. Still though, she had been she felt something akin to legs crawling on her skin, even if it was just for an instant.

The man stood up from the bench as he turned his head towards her.

"It was a pleasure chatting with you, Penny Polendina. But I am afraid that I must say goodbye now."

Yes, she supposed she should do the same. By now, her guards would soon be closing in on her location.

She stood up from the bench and smiled.

"I hope that we can have another conversation like this in the future, sir!"

"Perhaps someday we will."

The man gave her a polite wave and one more smile.

"May we meet again, Penny."

With that, the man turned and began to walk away from her. And she smiled at the man before speaking.

"Have a lovely day!"

She turned and walked in the opposite direction, this time with a noticeable skip in her step. What a day! Learning new things about how to be a normal girl was the last thing she expected to happen to her today, but she most certainly wasn't complaining! Her social skills had probably improved leaps and bounds just by talking to the man! She didn't expect to meet someone like…like…

She blinked. Once, and then a dozen more times.

And then she froze; her smile becoming rigid.

…What was the man's name?

People walked around her still form, but she couldn't really focus on them.

Surely, she had asked at some point? They had talked for an hour and forty-three minutes; surely, at some point, she had asked such a basic, easy question that anyone would ask…right?

She reviewed every detail of her conversation…and she realized she hadn't asked him once what his name was.

Not even once.

She had said her own name and introduced herself ten minutes into their talk, but she hadn't thought to ask for the blonde stranger's name; she had been too immersed in his explanations about social situations and how to respond. And now that she thought about it, she hadn't asked anything about that man. Like, where he lived, what were his hobbies, why had he come to the tower or any type of question one would ask to get to know a person better. She hadn't even asked where she could find him if she ever wanted to perhaps talk again.

Her smile twitched. She slowly turned her head around back to the bench she just left. The man was nowhere near the bench or in any area she could see on the plaza. And she didn't see even a strand of the man's neatly braided hair amongst the crowds of people

Her smile plummeted into the deepest frown her lips could manage; she brought her hands over her face as she let out a groan.

"Why am I so bad at this?"