First Character! Introducing...

"Now... what do we have here?"

He read the riddle for himself. He was pretty sure the guy was right, there was a Character inside and the answer would have some bearing on that. He smiled. He actually liked puzzles and such... and he thought that he had this one figured out. "Let's see... L. O. V. E. Love. Well?"

There was no incorrect buzzing sound... and no correct sound either other then a soft hiss as the pod unsealed and the faint seam of a hatch appeared before opening up. Inside lay a petite asian girl with a slim build. She was dressed in a black sleeveless onepiece suit with black fingerless gloves and a long grey and white striped scarf. Her dark black hair was cut in a bob.... until a light scanned his face and then hers coloring a goodly portion of her right front hair with a matching pink highlight to his. "Huh, neat trick," Roman said brushing his fingers through her highlight. "Cute. What's this?"

He looked at his arm bracer display as it made a *cha-ching" cash register sound. "Oh! Sweet. Looks like I just got a reward of two hundred Tokens! And It shows one's Characters and their particulars under status. Very cool. It's probably linked up to their collars."

Of course it only had the one Character at the moment. "Knives Chau, eh? 18 years old. That's good. I was wondering because of how young she looks. Whoa! Not bad combat stats. Wasn't expecting that from such a little cutie." He grinned thinking about his dear mother. It was slightly annoying but also endearing the way people mistakenly assumed that they were siblings sometimes... even without using her semblance. "Appearances can be deceiving, indeed. Never judge a book by it's cover."

He wasn't surprised that the riddle was difficult for others to solve but did think it odd. "Love" was an odd concept, especially "romantic love" on Prime. He'd seen it, between his parents, between his siblings and their Characters (particularly that fool Dave), and between his extended family. But he'd never experienced it himself. He'd always felt just a bit odd that way considering how passionate his family was but had also assumed that they were different from a lot of Prime and that was just how things were.

He watched as Knives stirred a little then slowly opened up her eyes. His eyes met her clear, dark ones. He felt... funny. Strange. Like he'd fall into those twin black holes of sparkling, darkness... and keep falling forever.

He realized that he was staring for God knew how long. *Say something idiot!* his mental self-image desperately reeled. *And for Pete's sake make it cool! You're going to need her help to make it through the trials ahead and a good first impression will go a long way towards that! We got an image to maintain!*

"Uh... Hi," he said as his mental self-image facepalmed at the absolute zero cool factor introduction. He couldn't help it! His tongue felt heavy and tied for some reason... and it was warm out earlier but it suddenly felt so much hotter!

"Umm... Hello," said the young blushing woman. She noticed this guy, who had probably opened her capsule pod and was her new owner now, was staring at her and blushing. She worried about how she looked. Was she naked? She quickly glanced down and was relieved to see her standard battle outfit. She toyed with the end of the scarf nervously. So why was this guy staring so much!

But she made the mistake of looking up and meeting his gaze again. His mismatched eyes held her gaze as they did something magical and seemed to dance through a scintillating pattern of colors. "Your eyes..." she whispered. "Are so colorful... beautiful! Like a space rainbow!"

Roman blushed. "Oh. Sorry. Yeah they change colors sometimes, like my mother's do, when I... uh, n-nevermind!" He tried turning away.

"What?" She asked squirming cutely trying to get a better look. "Tell me... please?"

Roman sighed but smiled maintaining eye contact with her large dark limpid pools. "When I'm happy," he whispered. He brushed his fingertips through her pink streak. "I uh, I like your eyes too. Dark and beautiful."

He watched her turn as pink as her hair then bright red as she cutely pulled her scarf up to hide half her face. "Ahwawawah!"

Roman smiled. He wanted to just keep teasing her! She was too cute! But the pod made a beeping sound. A reminder of where they were and what they should be focusing on. Infact he felt incredibly foolish for getting so distracted. "Uh, sorry to cut this short but this isn't really the time or place. There's some guys near by that might not be too happy that I cracked the riddle and claimed you when they couldn't." He frowned just a bit. "They might try to take you away by ****. That's not going to happen. You're mine now, Knives!"

Knives blushed even redder at the unintentionally passionate declaration coming from her new owner and how he sounded saying her name. It made her heartbeat faster and faster for some reason. "I-I see... and what is your name?"

Roman blinked then smiled sheepishly realizing he hadn't even done that yet like a fool. "Oh! S-Sorry about that..." he coughed to cover his embarrassment. "*Ahem* My name is Roman Stark." He grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Knives Chau!"

"Roman," she said smiling in a way that made his heartbeat. "I'll remember that, M-Master!"

Roman swallowed the lump in his throat while reminding himself that their current situation was tentatively precarious. "Sorry for the rushed introductions. Let's get you and your things out of there."

Knives nodded and wrapped her long scarf around her neck a few times to cover her emotions as her handsome (*H-Handsome?!?!!*) Master gallantly offered her his hand to take and help her out of her pod. She didn't hesitate to take his hand however she did do it a bit slowly. It felt like he was a prince and she was a princess... even though she knew she was just an awkward goofball. But the way he looked at her, smiled at her, even now holding her dainty hand... he made her feel good. "Oh what was the answer to the riddle?"

"Oh," he said taking her dainty? Yes surprisingly strong hand to help her out. "Love, actually."

Roman was surprised as Knives said with a sigh, "Love"... especially as the word physically manifested from her lips on a sparkly pink cloud of breath. It hit him in the face before bursting into swirling vapors and he thought he heard an old video game sound... and he suddenly understood. "Love" was probably a strong concept at her Characters core. Some Characters were "love focused". Some of his Moms were like that and it made them powerful. Their love was a source of strength for them and his father.

But there were two-sides to every coin. Some Characters were "Love Obsessed"... and like any obsession that could turn dark and dangerous. So which was Knives and how much of that was at the core of her Characters makeup from her video game (comic? Cartoon? He wasn't sure yet and was getting mixed signals. He'd have to ask later) world?

But looking into her clear eyes? His gut feeling was there was a story there but she didn't seem dangerous to him. Infact he simply had a good feeling about her for some reason. He squeezed her hand and felt her squeeze back before-

"Aaahhh!" "Aaiiee!"

[Roman Stark and Knives Chau

Will Return In

Trouble

Coming Soon]