His eyebrows raised, "You know Karate? That's pretty cool. I wouldn't have pegged you for knowing any martial arts. Maybe we can spar sometime." Taking another bite of his burger. "Don't worry, I'd match your strength and speed. It'd just be for fun anyways." He smiled to her. "This burger is pretty good. Let me guess. You don't like the thought of being underwater for hours. It shows on your face. If you meditate at all, it's nice. The calmness of the water around you, the slight swaying, the near weightlessness of your body. You almost feel as if you move to a different place, beyond the world we live in." He took a sip of his drink, "Mmm...good. Here, give it a shot." He moved the glass towards Nicki.

Nicki shook her head as Kaz explained the water thing. "I love mediation, but at the same time, I don't like the idea of being underwater for that long. I'm really more of an Earth person than a water person. It makes me feel cut off from the world around me, not tapped in."

Nicki took a sip of Kaz's soda, making a face a little and than slid it back to him. "It's okay. A little too strong on the Diet Coke for my taste but I guess I can see what you see in it."

Kaz nodded as Nicki spoke. "I can understand that. Where do you usually go to meditate?" Kaz looked around for a moment, as if something had caught his attention. Looking out the window, he put a hand to his pocket, and felt his phone. <No...it didn't go off. Probably just my immagination.> Sighing inwardly, <Wonder what Abyss and Syn are up to. Ehh, whatever.> He took a large bite of his burger, which was nearly gone now, before taking a sip of the drink. "Ya know, I think you're right, there is a bit too much diet in here."

Nicki happily ate her burger, sipping her shake all the while. "I usually meditate in the closet actually. It's private, dark and allows for some real privacy to tap into what's around you. I also like when I'm near a body of water, just not in it" Nicki smiled, looking over to Kaz.

She furrowed her brow a little, raising an eyebrow. "Everything okay? You seem distracted. Did you need to meet someone?" Nicki asked. She wasn't sure if she was picking up on something or fishing.

"Closet? That's a new one to me, but I can understand it." Chuckling a bit, returning Nicki's smile. Kaz finished his first burger before answering Nicki. "Yeah, I'm alright. You ever get that weird feeling, like..someone just said your name, but you don't know where it came from. Or think your phone went off when it didn't?" Sighing as he laughed, slightly embarassed. "Heh, don't mind me, I'm probably just going crazy." He stuck his tongue out a bit at the girl.

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about" Nicki smiled, leaning back. "And don't worry Kaz, you were crazy to begin with" She chuckled lightly as the waitress came over. "Oh perfect. Can I get a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream on the side? Oh! And a chocolate sundae please? Spare the nuts and double the whipped cream. Thank you" Nicki smiled brightly.

"That's good...I think?" Kaz looked a bit confused. "I think I'll take that as a compliment." He laughed until Nicki ordered the rest of her meal. Then his eyes went wide. "You weren't joking were you." Shifting a bit in his seat, to have a better look at her. "Ok...where are you going to put all of it? Are you hiding a portable fridge with you somewhere?"

Nicki smiled as Kaz checked her out, then, as if suddenly realizing that Kaz was checking her out, she turned bright red. She chuckled a little, looking down, slightly embarassed.

"I like sweets" Nicki chuckled, giggling a bit. "I was always one of those girls who didn't put weight on easily and I used to get asked if I had an eating disorder a lot fo the time. I started eating a bunch and never going to the bathroom in public to get people to cut it out" Nicki laughed a bit, calling on memories she hadn't considered in years. "I guess I just kept the eating habits"

"This may sound barbaric of me, but, if I was your brother, I woulda beat those kids until they shut their mouth. Though I take it your approach worked well enough by the sound of it." Chuckling a bit. "There's nothing wrong with having a healthy appitite, even if the food isn't healthy." Winking at the girl, as he bit into his second burger. "Besides, sweets taste good. We can enjoy them. Later in life we may not be able to." He made a mock-scared face.

"My brother was very...inactive I guess. He believed in people taking care of their own shit. That was big in my family. Learn to deal you know?" Nicki shrugged, picking up her spoon and sinking it into the sundae. "If we had a family crest 'learn to deal' would be around the sheild in latin" Nicki forced a laugh.

Sticking the spoon into her mouth, Nicki smiled brightly. "The ice cream's not bad. And I think this is home-made whipped cream..."

"Hmm." Taking a slow sip of his drink. "I can understand that to a point. People should learn to deal with their own stuff, but then there's the family aspect. Family helps family. At least they should." <I wonder how long that philosophy would last if someone was picking on them or beating them...> When Nicki spoke about her dessert, Kaz got a craving for one of his favorites. Their waitress was walking by and he caught her attention, "Could I get a rootbeer float please?" The girl nodded and walked to the counter to place the order. "I'm a fan of the simple classics."

Nicki furrowed her eyebrow as she kept on scooping the cream into her mouth. "Yeah, classics are pretty good...thus the sundae" she smiled, before clearing her throat and setting down her spoon.

"You were wondering about that idea huh? About the learn to deal? How far it applied huh?" Nicki asked, amazed at how much she was able to pick up from Kaz. It must have been the fact that he had opened up to her...she was never usually this good.

Kaz grabbed his spoon and took a bit of Nicki's sundae. "Hmm...Not bad. You were right about this place thats for sure." He set the spoon down on a napkin as he leaned back. "Yeah, I was. Do you think it's wrong of me to think like that?" He finished off his burger and drink before speaking again. "You said you were close with your mom right? Did she think the same way?" Just then the waitress brought his rootbeer float. He loved the way it foamed above the liquid. Taking the straw out he licked it clean before taking a spoonful, and sturring the dessert around in the glass.

Nicki took a cue from Kaz and reached her spoon over and scooped out a bit of the ice cream and foam. He was right, it was good. "Wow...and I'm not even the biggest fan of root beer"

Returning to her sundae, already almost done with it, Nicki avoided eye contact. "No, my mom wasn't like that. It was mostly my dad and my brother. My dad was in the military when he was younger and he really believed in us kids handiling ourselves. My brother believed that too. There was never a point where he came to my rescue. I guess I kinda owe them a lot though...I might never have tried to learn karate if I had my brother coming to save my ass everytime someone got a little rough with me..." Nicki shrugged, still avoiding eye contact. "It's not bad for you to be wondering aboutthat...I probably would have been had you said something like that..."

"Not a big fan of rootbeer? A...I don't think I can talk to you anymore." Kaz's voice sounded shocked, though is face was all play. Kaz made a small 'humph' sound when Nicki spoke about the military. "I hope you don't get mad at me, but, I think your brothers an idiot. Your dad has his reasons, so its understandable for him, but your brother, believing something like that blindly just 'cuz your dad says so. It's just how the military and government want people to act so they can be controlled easier." Sighing, "If something good came of it, I guess it wasn't all bad." She hadn't looked up from the table for a few minutes, so Kaz leaned over and turned his head to look at her in the eyes, "You alright?" He leaned back in the seat, "Or is the stain on the table that interesting?" He gave her a playful smirk.