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They had met by pure chance. There wasn't anything that they had in common. Except a shared taste for visiting the Gandharva Ville Rainforest Park, apparently.
Rukkha had felt the first raindrops and knew immediately that they were the first raindrops, rather than a small shower. And she was carrying technology in her backpack, so she had to get to shelter as soon as possible.
She made a beeline to the nearest building she knew she was closest to on the map, one of the observation towers. At ground level, it was camouflaged so that you could watch ground-dwelling animals through a one-way window. At the top of the small tower, you could see animals in the canopy.
This one was not one of the very tall ones that climbed above the canopy. More importantly, it was shelter. This rain would last for a while, so. The rainforest park was quite large, and it was better to wait it out somewhere rather than try to trek back to the entrance through the mud.
There was no one in the ground floor area, so she made her way up. There was one person up here, a woman with pink hair, wearing a blue jacket. She also wore a mask, one of those surgical ones. Quite common when someone knew they had a cold and didn't want to get others sick.
They nodded to each other when they came up to the observation deck. Rukkha sat down on the bench immediately, catching her breath. It had been a bit close, there. The rain had started coming down in earnest as she had climbed the tower. Soon it would get to the “sheets of rain” phase.
“We're going to be stuck here for a while,” she commented to the pink-haired woman, who turned to look at her and nodded.
Rukkha sighed but just as she was about to pull out some headphones to listen to music for a while, the woman spoke up.
“Hey, question.”
“Yes?” Rukkha looked at her.
“Do you happen to have a charger on you? My phone died.”
“I do, actually,” Rukkha replied. She fished in her backpack for it. “Right here.”
“Oh, thank you,” the woman said, coming closer and reaching for it. She had a very nice manicure. Painted pale blue and white swirls...
“There's a power outlet right behind this bench, I think,” Rukkha said, turning her head a little to see. “Yeah.”
The woman plugged in her phone and set it on the bench. Its screen lit up and shifted to a progress bar.
“How long is the rain going to go?” the woman asked. Rukkha looked at her. She had very dark green eyes, and there was something vaguely unsettling about them, but she had been nothing but nice so Rukkha ignored it.
“Maybe an hour. I've been stuck waiting out the rain before. Not here here, but in the visitor center.”
“I see,” the woman said. “Then once the rain lets up I'll give you back your charger.”
“No rush. We're going to be here a while.”
Rukkha's stomach chose that moment to grumble. The white-haired woman sighed.
“I have a picnic kit with me,” the other woman said. “Would you like some? Now that I'm not going to get to have a picnic here.”
“I... mmm,” Rukkha started. It was embarrassing, but she hadn't eaten at all that day.
“If it doesn't get eaten, it'll go bad,” the woman said.
Rukkha made up her mind. “Well, in that case.”
She ate the packed lunch. The woman sat down to eat as well, eating a sandwich while Rukkha devoured everything else. Oh, that was so good.
“You eat like a starving woman,” the pink-haired stranger said.
“Not completely untrue,” Rukkha replied. “I haven't eaten since yesterday.”
“Too busy to eat? That happens to me sometimes.”
“Yeah, maybe. Actually, I'm a broke college student. Don't tell the forest rangers, but I came today because it's a free day and I was hoping to find some wild fruits to take home. I'm going to be sick if I have to eat another pack of noodles, I swear.”
“That bad, huh?”
“It's not great.” Rukkha sighed. “I'm studying programming at the Akademiya, and I have a project that's taking up a lot of my time. But it's not yet far enough along that I can start pitching it to investors or anything. So I just have to.... hang in there. I got a scholarship, but it only paid for my full tuition, nothing extra.”
“Still impressive. So, you're good with computers?”
“I'd like to think so, yes.”
“Could.... could you take a look at my phone?” The woman raised her phone, still on the charging cord. “Even before it died, I've been having a lot of problems with it lately. I don't know what happened exactly, but it overheats and dies very quickly these days. And it's not that old.”
Rukkha blinked. “That's interesting.” It sounded like classic spyware, but that was usually aimed at famous people. “Sure, I'll take a look at it.”
The phone had powered up. It asked for a face unlock. The woman removed her mask for a moment, and Rukkha saw--
She.... had definitely seen this woman before. In the news.
Seeing the picture of a movie theater poster as the background, she knew now. This was--
“Nabu Malikata?” Rukkha raised her eyes. “The artist?”
Nabu chuckled. “Dancer, model, designer, artist. At your service.”
She didn't deny it. Rukkha was astonished. This woman was a public figure in Sumeru. “W-what are you doing here in the rainforest park?”
“Same as you. Well, you said you were here to take fruits, so maybe not quite the same as you. But I was here just to enjoy the free day and come see nature.” Nabu nodded out the window, where the rain was still pouring through the canopy. “And I sure am seeing it, all right.”
“Let me take a look at your phone, then.” Okay, the spyware thing now seemed a lot more plausible. Nabu Malikata was a prominent public figure in Sumeru, a model who also made her own designs for the runway. She created a theater troupe to perform her own plays. She had the favor of the Dendro Archon herself, Lord Kusanali.
Sure enough, Rukkha found something. “Ah. Here we go. Yeah, there's definitely something here. Give me a moment.” She took her laptop out of its case and swiftly hooked up the phone, but also putting it in a digital isolation chamber.
Nabu Malikata watched quietly as Rukkha rooted out the malware. As she explained to Nabu, it had made its way in through a QR code that had gone unnoticed but was feeding the photos Nabu took with her phone to a third party, most likely a paparazzi of some kind.
“Ugh,” the pink-haired woman said. “I feel very stupid now.”
“Don't scan QR codes you don't absolutely trust. And even then, you're a public figure, so you should be careful. Maybe even consider getting a new phone altogether, since that one is now a proven security risk.”
“I will be careful. Thank you, miss...”
“Rukkha,” she said, introducing herself. “Nice to meet you.”
They shook hands. Outside, the rain was finally slowing down.
“While you still have my phone, please put in your contact information,” Nabu said. “I intend to pay you for your services.”
“Oh, it's not necessary. It helped me pass the time.” And Rukkha had even gotten a real meal out of it, too.
Nabu waved a hand. “No, you deserve to be paid for your time and expertise. I'll pay you fairly, I promise.”
“You're too kind.” Rukkha realized that Nabu wasn't going to let this go, so she put in her contact information aswell as her bank transfer code.
She showed it to Nabu. “There you go.”
“Perfect. Once I'm back home I'll make it happen.” Nabu unplugged her phone. “Thanks again, I am truly grateful we ran into each other like this. But I do have places to be, and I wasn't planning on staying here as long as this. Perhaps we'll run into each other later?”
“Perhaps,” Rukkha responded politely and waved as Nabu went down the stairs. “Have a good rest of your day!”
There was no way they would ever run into each other again. Rukkha volunteered at community gardens so she would get some fresh fruits and vegetables. She went to coding events and LAN parties. That was her social circle. Nabu, on the other hand, had been invited to Fontaine Fashion Week and wore her own designs to fanfare across the nation. They would never cross paths again.
Later that night, once Rukkha landed in her bed in her ratty pajamas, she was fiddling on her phone when a notification came in. It was her bank app, telling her that money had successfully been transferred into her account.
She flicked open the notification and--
Rukkha sat upright in bed immediately. No, this couldn't be right. That number was way too big. Even if she considered what she'd done an hour of very skilled labor, this was...
And yet, the little note that came with the transfer insisted otherwise.
“My privacy is worth more to me than you might realize. This number reflects that, so don't try to return the money. It's also rare that I meet someone like you these days, someone who has so little but is still willing to give what she has to help a stranger. Feel free to message me, I'd love to talk again.” And she included her number.
Rukkha didn't know what to feel about that.
No, that wasn't true. She did feel at least one thing she could immediately identify. A powerful sense of relief that she wasn't living on a financial knife edge for... at least a week, easily.
It was enough for her to close her eyes and rest.
---
The next day though, she was back to thinking about the woman. While she was in her computer science classes, she couldn't stop thinking about her. Not about her looks, really. But the offer to chat.
She was distracted all day, and it was driving her crazy. She sat down on a bench after her classes were done, frustrated. Then she scratched at her head of untamed white hair.
“Ugh, fine! I'll message her!”
She sent the message before she could stop it and grabbed her own hand to prevent herself from pressing the undo message button. There, it was done. Out in the wild, going towards its recipient.
<Hi, this is Rukkha. How are you today?>
The most inoffensive message possible. She had refined it in her head for hours. She groaned and covered her face with a hand. Her contact information was in Nabu's phone, so it wouldn't be seen as an unidentified caller but as someone she already knew...
And not more than a minute later, she heard a little notification buzz on her phone. Rukkha blinked and immediately opened her phone up again.
<I'm fine, thanks. You caught me in the middle of my lunch.>
<Oh sorry>
<No problem at all. What do you like to eat?>
<Um. Well I was raised on typical Sumeru food. I like spicy food>
<You've eaten today, right?>
<Yes! I did. Thank you again for your generosity.> Rukkha was nervous about bringing up the money thing again.
<Again, just what my privacy is worth. Say...>
Rukkha felt like she was sweating bullets as she saw an ellipsis pop up for a while. Finally, Nabu finished typing.
<Do you have time later? I was considering looking for a new phone. One that won't be as susceptible to the kind of malware you mentioned, ideally. You did say I should treat this one as a security risk.>
Oh, that's right. She had said that to Nabu. Rukkha thought about it for a moment.
<I do have time. I just have one class left and then I'll be free after 3>
<Perfect. I just have one more thing to get done here, too. Meet me at Zaytun Plaza at 3:20?>
<Sure thing, campus isn't that far from there>
Nabu seemed satisfied with that, and didn't send her any more messages. Zaytun Plaza wasn't actually named for a fruit, Rukkha thought its real name was something like Shirin Plaza after a figure from ancient Sumeru history, but the Zaytun flagship store was there so everyone called it that.
Zaytun's logo was the silhouette of a Zaytun peach with a bite taken out of it. Rukkha knew she had arrived when she saw it. She joined the various other people who were standing outside of the store, taking advantage of the free wireless Akasha access.
She had arrived just a little early, rushing over on an electric scooter. She didn't have to wait long, though. A woman in a white coat and matching white boots, with pink hair in a ponytail, and wearing a mask and purple sunglasses showed up. She pulled off the sunglasses, and yes, she saw those dark green eyes....
“Now I realize why you wear that,” Rukkha commented as she approached her. “You're not actually sick, are you?”
“No. But I do value being as anonymous as I can in public. My privacy means a lot to me.” Still, it was easy to see by the crinkling at the edges of Nabu's eyes when she smiled. “It's nice to see you again, Rukkha.”
“So, what did you want to do?”
“I was going to go in and see if there's any good phone choices in here,” Nabu replied, nodding towards the Zaytun store. “I'd like to have you by my side while I do.”
Rukkha was no great fan of Zaytun the brand, finding them a bit of a walled garden in terms of apps. But their devices were quite secure. “What do you mean?”
“I tried to look through some of their phones earlier, but the specifications to the side... I don't quite understand what I'm seeing when I read them. I can only assume that bigger numbers are better. But then I remembered, I just ran into someone yesterday who might be able to help me understand them.”
“Sure, I'd love to.” Rukkha couldn't do this kind of phone shopping herself. She would have looked for a phone that met the requirements she had, and then searched for weeks for an affordable one to pop up in local secondhand market listings. Crazy that Nabu would just stroll into a store and pick one up there. Well, at least she would tell her if what she was looking at would help.
The two women looked at phones for a while. Rukkha asked Nabu what she wanted out of a phone, and Nabu listed some specifications. She needed it to keep track of her schedule, to have plenty of storage for photos, to be fast, to have a lot of data, and of course to be secure...
“There are a number of good options here, but you could always look on the Akasha for others.”
“I could. But I'd rather make the choice now.”
Rukkha bit her lip. She wouldn't, in Nabu's shoes, but then she wouldn't have walked into a flagship store with high prices to begin with. But to her, the price was clearly no object.
Nabu looked at her for a long moment, then nodded.
“I see you're reluctant. Do you want me to wait that much?”
“I think you should at least look at other options around the same price, with similar specifications. There's more than one phone company.” God, she sounded so lame.
Nabu shrugged. “As you advise.”
And with that, she started moving for the door. Rukkha blinked and looked at her in astonishment, before Nabu turned towards her.
“Are you coming?” she asked.
Rukkha hustled after her.
They were back out in the plaza. Nabu looked at Rukkha, and this time Rukkha wished she could more easily read her face, but it was hard with a mask on.
“So, where would you like to go? Doesn't have to be about phones.”
“I-I, um,” Rukkha stammered.
Nabu put a hand under her chin. “The weather will start to get cold in a few weeks. Do you have a good coat?”
“Erm... not really.” Rukkha had been counting on visiting a clothing drive to see if they had anything in her size, but not for a while.
“Come on then. Shiruyeh is right there and they make some great women's clothes. Let's at least see what fits you, yeah?”
And that's how Rukkha ended up tagging along with Nabu for an afternoon, going into Shiruyeh with her and trying on clothes while Nabu watched, legs folded, mask off but gradient purple sunglasses on this time. Somehow it shifted from coats to pants and then to blouses...
“Looks good. We'll take them,” Nabu commented to a sales attendant who was standing by with a few bags.
“Take which one?” Rukkha asked, confused. Why-- 'them', plural??
“All the ones that fit,” Nabu replied, pulling out a black card and handing it to the attendant. “You have a number of options there for cooler months now.”
“W-wait, I didn't--”
“You'll need shoes. Faramarz Footwear isn't far. Come on.”
Rukkha was so terribly confused by the end of it all. Being with Nabu, shopping with her, was like being in a whirlwind, but there was the woman, pink hair unruffled, calm in the eye of the storm.
By the end, they had a number of bags as Rukkha sat on a bench, utterly perplexed by what had just gone on. These were brands Rukkha would have never dreamed of purchasing from. Maybe from their secondhand knockoffs.
“Hm. I hadn't considered the matter of how to get your new things to wherever you live. Where do you live, anyway?”
“Ah?” Rukkha looked up. “In an off campus apartment. On the other side of the river.” Where rent was a lot lower. “The, uh, Saleh Apartments.”
“Hm.” Nabu pulled up her phone and called someone.
“Lili. Feri. I'm in the downtown area, I need you to come by and pick up some things that I need delivered for someone. We're going to dinner at the Zumzurud Hotel, so I'll send you my location. I'll leave the bags with the attendant at the cloakroom.”
“We're what?” Rukkha asked blankly.
And yet somehow in twenty minutes she was sitting at a table with a menu in front of her. She looked down at it with confusion. These were names for dishes she'd never seen or considered before.
“Lili and Feri are here. They'll take the bags and put them in the car, and wait for us to finish and then drop you off at your place.” Nabu seemed satisfied and set down her phone. “It was probably good that I didn't switch over to a new phone yet. It's on the agenda, but I ended up using it more than I thought today.”
Rukkha felt like she was going to melt under the candlelight. Perhaps of mortification.
Nabu had actually taken off both sunglasses and mask this time, so she could see when the pink-haired woman looked at her in confusion. “Is something wrong? Don't like the food options? We can go somewhere else.”
“T-this... all of this today, it was... just too much!” Rukkha stammered. She put her head between her hands and her elbows on the table. “I... it was just all so expensive, I....”
“You didn't spend a single mora of your own money,” Nabu told her. “Why the concern?”
“B-because!” Rukkha swallowed, hating how calm Nabu was. She wasn't insane! It was Nabu who was-- “You're spending so much money on a... on a woman you barely know!”
“I am getting to know you,” Nabu said quietly. “I'm learning about your tastes in clothes and food, and your sizing, in case I want to get you something nice again in the future.”
In the--
Rukkha's eyes flew open. “The future?” she asked in a horrified whisper.
Nabu looked startled. Then she nodded very slightly.
“Rukkha, I think you're unnecessarily stressing yourself out,” she said in a low voice, again. “It's truly not that complicated a situation. Let me... explain.” Nabu coughed into her hand, then looked at her, meeting her gaze.
“I met a lovely young woman I think is kind and intelligent and quite attractive. I fear I am too old for her to have much interest in me for very long, but while I still have her attention, I wanted to treat her. I can see that she doesn't have much money, and I simply do not mind giving money to someone who could use it. I don't spend much anyway.”
Rukkha looked at her. The woman across the table looked... a lot more shy than she had appeared. A perfectly manicured nail scratched at her cheek.
“I just thought you might enjoy it,” Nabu said quietly. “I enjoyed myself today.”
“I...” Rukkha took a breath. “I... did too. I just....” She put a hand on her face. “It's.... I don't wish to take your money endlessly. I'm not a parasite.” Wait, what was that Nabu had said about her being attractive? Her mind was just catching up and processing what she had said....
“I don't think of you that way.” Nabu shook her head. “It was all my treat. I just wish to... perhaps, spoil you a little.”
“I-I just feel...” Rukkha felt anxiety like it was churning in her stomach. “Like you're going to ask me for something now that I'm so far in debt to you.”
“Debt? No!” Nabu shook her head. “How many times do I have to say it? Today was my treat to you.”
Rukkha was surprised at how pained Nabu sounded. But... still.
“Even so, I still feel... even if I don't pay you back for all of this, since I can't... I feel like I owe you something.”
“The most I desire is your continued companionship,” Nabu said. “Trust me. You don't know how many years it's been since I... even spoke to a normal person who didn't even know who I was.”
Rukkha blinked. “Really?”
“Even when I occasionally meet fans, they're... fans of me.” The pink-haired woman sighed. “Gushing with praise and admiration. It's not like I don't like those things, I just...” She shook her head.
“You're different. Other people just look at me and see how a relationship with me of some kind can make them famous. Or benefit them in some way. And you're different. I mean, even now, after having treated you to a small shopping spree, you're objecting to my very presence.” Nabu sighed. “Perhaps this was a mistake.”
She got up from the table. “Excuse me--”
Rukkha's hand shot out and grabbed hers.
“No, please. Stay.” Rukkha's brain was whirling at a thousand miles an hour. She was starting to follow Nabu's train of thought.
Nabu looked down at her hand, sadness on her face.
“I just wish for your companionship,” she said in a quiet voice. “I'm not trying to leverage it against you. You're... too kind for that.”
Rukkha squeezed her hand.
“Can we eat together?” she asked. “I would... enjoy being your companion, Miss Malikata, if that's what you want.”
Nabu looked at her eyes. Rukkha met them, kept her gaze steady and didn't look away.
After a moment... “Very well.” Nabu gave her a small smile. “And... you do not object to my age?”
“What? Your age is the furthest thing from my mind.”
“I am old enough to be your mother.”
Honestly, for her age, Nabu looked incredible. She was clearly not young, but she took good care of herself and obviously she had lots of money. She was a very attractive woman for her age.
Rukkha scoffed. “If my mother had me when she was very young. Which... she did, actually.”
Nabu coughed in a way that seemed like she was hiding a laugh. “I see.”
She sat back down. “So, what interests you on the menu?”
“This looks good, but it's a little...” Rukkha pointed at something on the card.
“A little what?”
“Pricey for what's on offer.”
“You just focus on finding something your stomach will enjoy,” Nabu replied. She reached across the table with her palm up. “It's my treat.”
Rukkha saw the open hand and knew what it meant. She put her hand in Nabu's.
“Then I'll be glad to take up your offer.”
---
Later that night, Rukkha collapsed onto her bed. True to her word, Nabu's two personal attendants, two young women in black and white pantsuits named Lili and Feri, had helped her bring her things into her apartment. It was more than a little ramshackle, and now with a bunch of expensive bags in the small doorway next to her closet, it felt even more cramped.
Today had been tumultuous, in more ways than one. Rukkha had sort of acquired a rich patron who was.... basically her sugar mommy, yeah, and a very nice one. Who was really good looking for her age, and liked lavishing her with gifts.
Objectively it was a triumph. However, even if Nabu said she only wanted her company, Rukkha knew how much she was worth. She had tried and failed to get a job multiple times, usually because it clashed with her coding schedule, or gotten a job for just a few days before she had had to leave because her boss had tried to exploit her talents for minimal pay.
Nabu was more than happy to give her spending money, she'd said before they parted that night. “I don't mind giving you some pocket change so you can get yourself some nice treats here and there, okay?”
And with the suspicious interest Lili had had in taking a photo of her home address, most likely on Nabu's orders, while Feri had asked her what time she usually ate, she now had the sneaking suspicion that she could expect to see some food delivered to her door.
Nabu was very kind. Rukkha wanted to treat her gifts of clothing, cash, and food as an investment in her. She was taking care of Rukkha, so Rukkha could focus on the important things. Her project, above all else. No more trying to eat cup noodles she had long ago grown tired of, no more trekking into the rainforest to try to collect fruit.
So she sat down at her desk, cracked open her laptop, and opened up her major coding project. She was working on something that, if successful, she hoped would revolutionize the way people planned for their days and weeks. No more getting surprised by rainstorms. She had trained this algorithm on decades of weather reports, and when she refined it, she would finally have a product that any tech investor would see value in.
Nabu had gotten there first, though, and she would always give her credit and thanks for that.
Varunastra.exe popped up. Rukkha nodded in satisfaction.
She was going to make Nabu's investment in her worth it.
She opened up her code editing program, and got to work.