Tactical Decisions [c]

Eventually the fact that she was alone in the library, save for the employees, did in fact change. The man that had walked in caught her curiosity not due to this fact however but rather because of the way he looked. Appearance wise the male was a direct contrast to herself. In an effort not to be rude and stare at him however Syndra would return to the book in front of her with her original purpose of gaining more knowledge holding steadfast. This was a library after all.

The moments passed without much change afterwards. She kept flipping through the pages effortlessly while still absorbing the information at hand. The sounds in front of her made her eyes glance up again and low and behold the same man that had walked in had now sat down in front of her. They held there for about a minute and were finally caught by the mystery man's gaze. She wasn't too shocked that she was caught out and rather than embarrassing herself she gave a small wave as greeting. The book he had selected was a hefty one as well but should she have expected anything less from a person that visited a library with glasses? It was a small library with no one else in it so perhaps it would have been fine for the only two people within it to speak but Syndra wouldn't have known that and was trying to be polite... minus all the staring.

There was a smile towards her wave but it was nothing that Syndra could use to decide whether to start up a conversation or not. The man decided not to initiate a conversation either as he immediately returned to his book afterwards. He seemed very much more interested in returning to his reading which was a decision that the somewhat studious girl respected. Deciding it was best not to disturb him Syndra also returned to her book, but it felt a tad awkward doing so. Perhaps that was the natural feeling of libraries.

She remained sitting up straight as she flipped through a few more pages of her own book. The feeling of being looked at loomed over her but every time she glanced up to the man in front of her he was engrossed into his own dictionary like novel or at least that was what she thought. She couldn't see him much from behind his book. The first few times she didn't bother to take note of what was being read by him, only engaged in figuring out whose eyes she felt on her. Eventually her jade eyes fell upon the imprinted title on the cover. It was obvious she would with the book being propped up like it was. The book was one she was unfamiliar with and for good reason, thought the title gave away what the contents were about. It caused her to pause momentarily in thought, her hands now idle rather than rifling through her own pages.

This was the third time to her knowledge that she encountered something to do with one of the two teams that supposedly terrorized the region. Everything she had heard about them was of the negative connotation however. One person in her travels even saying they desired to annihilate Aqua and Magma for their misdeeds. Syndra personally knew fairly little of each team upon coming to the region aside from their base values but based on what she had heard it baffled her to see someone reading up on them. "Why are you interested in Team Aqua?" She found herself saying out loud albeit softly so that would only be heard by the two of them. When she realized what she said she hesitated with a quick glance to the side but returned it, not taking back the question in case he would indulge her with an answer.

As expected the first response to her question resulted in a negative way. The book was placed down and now her jade eyes met with the similar eyes across from her. The look that crossed his expression was mildly disturbing and was one of the few times that she ever encountered such a thing. Her lips pursed reactively. The muscles in her forearm tensed as well as she unconsciously gripped the page in her hand harder with enough force to wrinkle it. Up to this point the girl wasn't sure what to think about the last few seconds that transpired. "Umm," she managed to say hesitantly before the male readjusted himself.

This time with just a push of his glasses the male seemed like a whole different person again with being somewhat more approachable as a bonus. For good reason Syndra remained hesitant but her subconscious grasp on the single page was released at the least. "Crime research?" she repeated the words as if skeptical of why one would need to read team aqua's history rather than a criminal investigation textbook. Her eyes never broke away from Julius as if attempting to read his thoughts merely based on that connection. At the least she knew nothing about pokemon rangers so this could very well be the truth or not but the female trainer wouldn't know any better. Maybe studying the history of evildoers were how rangers did things? "I'm Syndra," she said with some tone of friendliness in response to his introduction of himself. She gave her real name out of courtesy even if the male across from her might have been lying about their own. After all what would her name mean out of anything?

Now Syndra herself was generally neutral to group ties or anything of the sort so it wouldn't have particularly mattered to her if Julius here was truly Aqua as long has he didn't do anything actively against her. Then again if he was telling the truth the part of her would have felt bad for not believing him. She wouldn't be able to tell based merely on what information she was given so far. At this point Syndra was just a bewildered child so she just decided to go with the flow of things until given a reason not to. "Sorry, I just got curious. I've heard nothing but bad things so far in my travels about aqua and magma." A small smile formed in an attempt to mend whatever it could between the two. She noticed the grin on Julius now increasing in size and she still was unsure of what to make of that. For the most part the female wasn't quite relaxed but enough not to draw attention to herself based n that. "I'm a traveling trainer. Maybe you could help brush me up on what dangers I should look out for in Team Aqua... or Magma if that is within your expertise too."

The levels of fluctuating moods in the air around the supposed Ranger in training puzzled Syndra. One moment Julius appeared relaxed more and friendly with the next back to a serious tone. Did the mere mention of either Aqua or Magma truly set off someone's mood that much? This was the second time that this type of thing had happened and it was mildly disconcerting every single time so far. Even the warnings to avoid them was blunt and ominous, not that she would have known if she met any of either groups so far. None of the people she had met save for one in the beginning of her journey had triggered her and she had already taken care of that mess. Yet Julius didn't offer much new information to her aside from that warning. "I think I can avoid them if I recognize one," she finally offered to his statement. That said she was an adventurer so she wouldn't run away from a battle if she could help it and if someone else was in danger then she had as much of a right to help them as any ranger.

Syndra's lips pursed when he had gone back to a more happier tone with the assurance of protection from the rangers. Her mind went back to her encounter with the ranger during her expedition tour. The protection that was promised ended up being her group's combined effort to defend each other and the ranger guide from the dangers of the cave while Terry hid and called for help every which way he could. Thus her skepticism of Julius' words were high. Almost enough for her to overlook what he called her. "I wonder about that," she said as she finally broke eye contact to have her gaze drift to the side to show her skepticism. She released whatever tension she had in an attempt to lighten the mood, realizing that she might have been insulting him with that statement as he claimed to be studying to be a ranger. "I've only met one ranger and they did not inspire much... inspiration in any respect."

The sudden burst of laughter startled the female, leaning back in her seat from the shock. The male had to stop himself with a hand and Syndra ended up looking around to see if anyone else was there. They had finally drew the attention of the librarians and other staff which was slightly embarrassing but nothing that couldn't be overlooked. The two were the only real people there studying regardless. The suspicions that she had about the one across from her had returned with a vengeance, unsure of what to make of this. Reestablishing eye contact she did notice that his eyes were no longer glazed over and now had a revitalized energy.

She gave a short nod to answer his question, not that he waited for it. He began to contradict every single word he said about rangers and Syndra began to wonder if Julius was right in the head. Now of all times to drop the soon to be ranger act and down talk them, while maybe warranted, was also questionable. It took back whatever answer that Julius gave about studying team Aqua too so the two were back on square one. Actually they were probably on square negative one. "Uh-huh," she hummed with some uncertainty. For now she did not believe that he was part of team magma or aqua based on the little tip given to her. He pretty much insulted the two in one comment about them having no brains.

The female released a breath to relax herself as she straightened herself up in the chair once more. "So you aren't a ranger in training," she wanted to instate this so that there was no question about it and so that maybe he would tell the truth this time. He had to have known he was getting more and more suspicious so if nothing was clarified it wouldn't bode well. "Then who exactly are you supposed to be?"

Well that was more believable if only due to the lack of detail the statement actually had. It was only less believable now due to the lie that was told moments before. Syndra was still skeptical. She had every right to be after that ordeal, but she wondered whether to push the topic or not. The male seemed more enthused now and even the air around him stabilized to a more reassuring vibe. That much was an improvement to be sure. "Then why lie about that?" Syndra finally decided to ask. She had closed the book she was reading at this point, this conversation showing more promise than the book had. "If you had said that before I would have believed you, though it still doesn't explain the book."

It was very much possible that Julius here was also a trainer hating the guts of both what team aqua and magma stood for but what were the chances of that? She hadn't heard the word annihilate come from his mouth yet so that was a good sign. In addition she couldn't overlook that the brunette also did not like rangers despite himself pretending to want to be one. To prompt him to take such a recourse had to have meant something was up. Though the female made no indication of these thoughts at the same time she couldn't bring herself to smile either. "I don't think you're one of them but even you have to admit you're looking pretty sketchy here."