THE MOMENT
"There's no twist?" Valentine voiced the question as she studied the unusual pastry. 'Pastry' was the only word that came to mind for the treat. It was bread but she didn't agree with what Frost told her it was. "How is it a pretzel if there's no twist?" she asked. Once she let her curiosity out, she took a bite of the salty, soft stick. Valentine and Frost walked through a bright, loud mall together. It wasn't crowded but there were enough patrons to give it a busy atmosphere.
"That's why it's a 'pretzel stick'," Frost chuckled, then took his own bite.
"I feel like that's just an oxymoron," Valentine giggled. "Pretzels need a twist! Otherwise, it's just a breadstick."
"That's what they're called on this Earth, I didn't name them," Frost shrugged. He enjoyed her company and any conversation he shared with her. However, they'd spent a lot of time together over the past few months and he'd developed a knack for reading her moods. The pretzels weren't important; but, there was something she wanted to talk about. She wasn't particularly sociable on her own. The fact that she was rambling about something so trivial meant she was trying to find somewhere to start.
"So, another Saint Valentine's day dodged successfully, huh?" He asked. She tended to resent her name more around this time of year. He quickly realized that just adding a single word of clarification made it easier to talk about for her. They weren't in any sort of official relationship and as much as he would have enjoyed it, he did not ask to meet on the dreaded day.
"Yeah, it was great," Valentine nodded with a genuine smile. "I spent it alone watching TV," she said. She took another bite of bread.
"That's great," Frost nodded. He realized whatever was on her mind wasn't related to the holiday. Though, that made it harder to guess. He gave up on trying to help her solve her problem and decided to wait until she was ready to talk about it.
"Watch anything interesting?" he asked. It was a filler question. She had access to countless TV channels from alternate universes; it would be impossible not to find something interesting.
"Actually....," she slowed her pace. "I did end up watching something informative," she said. "...kind of," she added with a shrug. Frost's ears perked up; she had all his attention.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Do you know who Helios is?" she asked. Her voice dropped to a near whisper. Then, after the question, she pulled on Frost's arm to move out of the way and against the wall.
"The A.I. that runs Sharp Development?" he asked. That was the only Helios he knew of. Valentine nodded. "Yeah, what about him?" he asked.
"I don't know if you have an opinion but... do you think he's trustworthy?" Valentine asked.
"Sure, I guess?" Frost shrugged. "Whenever Dara needs something he's always there and helpful," he said. It was entirely anecdotal; but, he trusted Dara and she trusted Helios. "Why?"
"He visited me," Valentine said. "To talk about the match against Spider."
"And?" Frost asked.
"And... Helios told me how to beat Spider...," she sighed. "It's honestly what I was already planning. He gave me confirmation that I was on the right track; but, I just wanted to know if he was worth listening to at all, he had some good tips."
"Helios is doing something against Ms. Sharp?" Frost asked. Valentine shook her head. Her long, wine-red ponytail made waves with the motion.
"I don't think so," she said. "He explained she doesn't actually care about the match. And, he's bored, it kind of makes sense," she said.
"I guess..," Frost wasn't convinced; but it didn't matter. Valentine was.
"So... what's the plan? What's the big secret that's gonna help you win?" Frost asked.
"There's no secret," she smirked as she started walking again. She grabbed another pretzel stick.
"What do you mean there's no secret?"
"I'm a ninja too, remember?" she told him. "It's hard to hit us; but if we take a hit it hurts. Helios just confirmed what I already knew and gave me some helpful pointers specific to Spider. His advice was like these breadsticks," she giggled.
"Huh?" Frost smiled just because she was smiling; but, he didn't quite get the joke.
"There's no twist to it," she said. "I just have to hit him REALLY hard."