"Do you have banks, where you're from?" Kyra asked Ryan as they entered the bank.

"Yes," Ryan answered. "But I've never actually been inside one before."

While it was the first time he had been in a bank, it wasn't the first time he had heard of them. More recently, he had heard of Kyra's ex-boyfriend acting exactly as Ryan had intended and robbing one just two days before. In his own time, he knew of banks as something commoners often went to so they could extract money they had put inside.

"Right," Kyra said. "You've probably never had need of actually spending money."

"Indeed," he lied.

While money was spent on him, it had never mattered to the Novar Heir. With a wealth rivaling the largest of Guilds, the Novars could afford virtually anything they wanted, and the heir himself was allowed anything.

But he wasn't going to tell Kyra that. For the past week, she had helped him learn some of the finer details of her society, and Ryan felt the seal's weakness growing slowly, but it was akin to a drop of a leaky faucet being fed by an ocean into another ocean: insignificant. As far as she knew, he was a god, worshiped and revered where he came from.

So he kept the truth a secret while portraying himself as the deity he really was. The young god also kept tabs on the Order of the Gray Staff as well, just in case they proved problematic. There was a branch of them nearby, so he wanted to be sure in case they caused an issue. As far as he could tell, they weren't actually noteworthy, once he put his attention to them.

Other than that, things were progressing nicely for him. In just a week, he had adjusted to living in a smellier world with an annoying lack of magic permeating everything. At least, that was what he told himself, even if he knew it wasn't one hundred percent true.

"So what are we at the bank for?" He inquired.

"I like having some cash on-hand," Kyra explained. "And prefer getting it from the tellers directly than using the ATM."

"The ATM," Ryan said as they stepped into line. "That's the machine you told me is for withdrawing cash in twenties?"

"Yes," she answered, and Ryan noticed her becoming aware of the people near them, who were giving them odd looks. "I like having ones, fives, and tens, in addition to twenties, so I prefer going through the tellers so I can get those."

"I see," Ryan said. "If you were standing in line and noticed someone with an accent asking about a feature of your society, how would you react?"

The patrons who had begun looking at them quickly turned their attention away, and Ryan smiled.

"I would probably wonder where he came from," Kyra told him. "Some staring is to be expected, Ryan. You do draw attention with that accent and some of the things you ask."

Ryan frowned a little as he noticed something with his senses, then turned his head to imitate actually seeing it with his eyes, for the benefit of others around.

"Kyra," he said. "Is it normal for a woman to bare her breast in public like that? We are not at a beach."

Kyra turned to look where Ryan was looking, spotting a woman breastfeeding an infant in the area where patrons waited to be seen by a manager of some sort for something the tellers could not handle. The woman was looking around at everyone, as if searching for something, rather than paying attention to her infant or something else.

Though she was feeding her infant with her right breast, she had bared her left breast as well. With his empathy, Ryan already knew the woman was attempting to cause a scene before his focus had even turned his telepathy on to check. He also knew she was growing frustrated due to everyone not looking at her.

It was the first time Ryan had seen a woman breastfeeding her infant, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. The subject wasn't discussed much where he was from, but he thought it strange she was trying to cause a scene.

He also doubted that was normal, and that most women who breastfed their babies in public didn't attempt to cause scenes. With a local guide, he could ask for more information. He was also curious on the rules regarding bare breasts, as Kyra had told him that was usually not something done in public. Ryan, himself, didn't care, as long as the purpose wasn't to cause a scene, and he didn't understand why it would be taboo for the public.

"There's a lot of debate on whether or not it should be allowed," Kyra told the young god. "There are several issues with the debate. The first is that while saying it should be allowed because breasts are not sexual, many of those same women become angered when men stare at said breasts for the very reason that breasts are sexualized."

"A conflicting point," Ryan said.

"Yes," Kyra said. "In general, it's considered to be in good taste to only bare one nip, and some women will cover the infant and breast while feeding them, usually with a light blanket. That was how my mother did me and Nick, and how Sabrina is going to do their kids, though it's not really a mandatory thing."

Sabrina was Nick's girlfriend, and Ryan had taken a liking to her. She was confident in herself and never let anyone talk down to her, much like Kyra.

Ryan wasn't sure about having the baby covered while feeding, he found infants adorable and didn't understand why someone would want to cover them up.

"To reveal the unused nip for no reason," Kyra continued. "Is considered to be in poor taste, and is just asking for someone to look so that the woman can scream perversion, sexual harassment, and other things."

"Would you?" Ryan asked as he felt the anger rising in the mind of the woman feeding her infant at Kyra's words.

"Bare both breasts?"

"Do that, if you did and some guy looked?"

"No," Kyra answered as they moved forward with the line. "If I bared both breasts in public, then I'd accept that some guys would probably ogle them. It would be the same as a guy baring his dick in public. It's not a purely sexual thing, considering you also pee out of it."

"So if a guy did that," Ryan said. "You'd probably ogle it?"

"Of course I would," Kyra told him. "I'd probably also mentally compare it to yours if it were erect. It's a two-way street, and the ogling goes both ways. If I did something that I knew would draw stares and looks, I'd not get pissed off about the ogling. Only a lesser person would. I opened the door, so I'd accept what happened, just as I'd expect a guy to do the same. After all, if boobs shouldn't count as sexual objects, then why is it okay for us to stare at a man's bare chest, but not them to stare at ours?"

"You're repeating yourself."

"I am," Kyra admitted. "Because it's clear that Miss Double-Revealer is getting annoyed. You looked for barely a second before turning your gaze away, and the other guys here are making a point of not looking at her. She's trying to cause a problem, so I see no issue in pointing out as many times as possible that she's being a bitch. If you intentionally open a door you know people will walk through, don't get mad at them for doing just that."

Ryan supposed she had a point. He decided that for breastfeeding, he didn't care if the baby was covered or not, but didn't see a reason to bare both breasts. Kyra had a point about it being similar to exposing the dick, in his opinion. If he let it out, then he was opening it up to being stared at.

"Are you curious how you compare to her?" Ryan asked.

"I already know," Kyra told him. "And people don't verbally compare in public."

"Okay."

"So," she said as they moved forward with the line again. "What about where you're from? Do women breastfeed in public?"

"Yes," he answered. "But as you said is what's generally considered proper custom here, they only bare the breast the baby is feeding from. I don't know if they cover up while feeding, though. I think the only time I was around a beastfeeding woman was when I was an infant and my own mama was feeding me, but that was never in public, and she probably didn't cover it up. I'm not sure if she'd have covered up or not if she was in public."

"You were born?" Kyra blurted out, and Ryan laughed as her face heated up with the blood rushing to it, her mind filling with embarrassment. "I-"

"That was funny," he told her as they moved forward with the line once more. "Yes, I was born, just like other people."

It was then that Kyra realized that their new line of discussion would draw even more attention from those who could hear it.

"Let's table this discussion for now," she told Ryan.

"Okay," he shrugged. "That lady is still glaring at us."

"Well, we did call her out on her attempt at causing a scene," Kyra said. "Now, she can't cause a scene and try to claim the victim. I do have to wonder how often she attempts this, though."

"Do you know her?" Ryan asked.

"No," Kyra answered. "But if she goes to a bank and bares both nipples to feed her baby, who says she doesn't do this elsewhere, too?"

"She's in here every week," the man in front of them said. "On this day, at this time, doing it. As far as I know, no one's taken her bait yet, and management won't say something to her out of fear of some of the things your friend mentioned."

Screaming sexism and discrimination. Ryan knew there was no reason for her to bare both breasts for it. The woman had practically removed her shirt for it when as far as he knew, such a thing wasn't necessary. For her, it truly was an attempt at attention, something he knew for a fact because of her mind and the desire within it to cause a scene.

People who sought attention for the sake of attention was one thing Ryan despised. He made jokes and played pranks, but never went of his way to do so at the level where it could be considered attention seeking. For the most part, he would just take opportunities he found, not go out of his schedule in order to create the opportunities. He never did for attention, either, but for his own amusement and fun.

Never would he do something like the mother would, going out of the way to create an opportunity to create negative attention. To scold and berate someone for an issue she intentionally created. Even with the Novarax, Ryan felt he had always treated them as the Novarax should be, and that anything he had done was a result of either their actions or a moment of opportunity, though he knew there might be some people who would argue him on that point.

Because of that, the young god decided to play with her. A storm had been brewing all day, and even if it hadn't peaked yet, he could still start things a little early. He shut off all senses except for his sense of lightning, which he stretched as far as he possibly could.

At the edge of the sphere of sensing and a little off to the side so that the building would not be targeted, Ryan manipulated the energy to cause a bolt of lightning to draw from the skies. He watched as it struck and the next phase of it, at which point, thunder boomed out, rattling the glass of the doors of the bank and shaking the air.

Nearly everyone jumped and the infant began crying. Kyra gave Ryan a questioning look.

"You know," Ryan spoke loudly enough for the woman to hear again. "I would say that if some form of god existed, they had issue with the obvious attention-seeking. Feed the baby, don't look for a scene."

"Good thing I'm an atheist," the woman glared at him as she tried to stop her infant from crying.

Ryan fixed his attention on her as he returned his senses back to what had become the norm, then manipulated time, slipping out of it with her at the same time. Unlike Kayla, he had no need to touch his target directly.

"What the-" the woman began as she noticed her infant and everyone else frozen.

"As I said," Ryan turned his tone darker as he turned his body to face her. "A god has taken issue with your obvious attention-seeking. I have come to this world to judge it. I have seen some good, and I have seen some evil. If I ever learn of you doing such an obvious attempt at causing a fuss for attention ever again, you will regret it.

"The issue here," he said. "Isn't you breastfeeding in public. The issue is you exposing your other breast with the clear intent to find someone watching and cause a scene. You need to pick a viewpoint: are breasts sexual, or are they not? If you consider them sexual, then keep them covered. If you consider them not, then bare them, but don't try to find a scene. And before you say 'I wasn't', you are talking to a god. Your mind is clear for me to read. You want to advocate rights for women, but at the same time, you are doing it in a toxic way. Cover up the second breast and just keep breastfeeding. It's doubtful someone would say something about that. And if they do, you will be polite about it. Showing hostility over a simple matter only escalates the issue and paints you in a bad light as well. Be the better person. Don't use your infant to try to cause a scene. Otherwise, I will come for you again."

He slipped them back into time and turned back to Kyra. He could tell that he had frightened the woman, and hoped that she would see some sense. The fact that she brought her baby into her attention-seeking had annoyed him more than had she not.

"So what are our plans for after we leave here?" He asked.

"You weren't faced away from me a moment ago," she frowned slightly.

"I move quickly," he smiled.

"We'll head to the mall," she told him, and the young god sensed her deciding not to push inquiring about why he looked away. "Hopefully, we don't get too wet outside. If there's lightning, the rain is sure to start, too."

"Indeed," Ryan said as thunder boomed again. "Your turn is next."

They waited for a teller to finish with their patron, then Kyra and Ryan moved forward to the counter. Kyra withdrew her funds and checked her balance, then the two of them made their way back to her car.

"So," Kyra said as she began driving. "You were born? Gods don't form?"

"I don't know if some gods do or not," Ryan shrugged. "But I was born to a pair of mortals, actually."

"So you ascended into goodhood?" She asked. "How old are you, anyway? Did you change your appearance to-"

"No," he laughed. "I stopped aging at eighteen. I was born a god. It's one of the many mysteries of gods. As far as I know, we're either born to mortals or born to gods. If a mortal's child is a god seems to be a completely random event."

"So your mother was mortal?" Kyra asked.

"Very," Ryan turned his head away from her.

"Your expression," she said softly. "Something happened to her, didn't it? You had a similar expression when you mentioned her breastfeeding."

"She was killed when I was eight."

"…Oh."

"Yeah," Ryan said. "I found a way to save her, though, even if the time has already passed. I'm a god, after all – what is time to me?"

Kyra sighed, and Ryan knew that she realized what he had done.

"You froze time and said something to that woman, didn't you?"

"No."

"Then how-"

"I slipped us out of it," Ryan answered. "That's much easier than freezing an entire universe."

As he said that, he realized that if freezing the universe was difficult, then a reset would be even more complicated. He wasn't just freezing it – he was erasing time itself. All time, not just a localized area's.

Another mystery of how time magic worked, and of how gods were different from mortals.

"I'm… not even going to bother asking more about that," Kyra sighed again. "So you were born to mortals?"

"I was," Ryan nodded. "My father was still alive when I came here, and my best friend was mortal, too."

"Your best friend?" She asked. "A mortal, not a god?"

"Yeah," Ryan snorted. "If he were here, you'd probably have fawned over him instead of me. I might be a god and have godly looks, but Tyler? He's hotter than me to the point it's annoying."

"So your name," she said. "You said that's your mortal name – that's what your parents named you?"

"It is," Ryan nodded.

It had taken Ryan until he was fourteen to find out why that was his name. He had asked his father many times over the years, and his father eventually revealed that his mother had named him after her dead brother. Her brother had been born early and grew up weak. Even though she was younger than him, she was his big, strong sister.

His uncle had relied on her for a lot, but was strong in his own way as well. According to his father, before his namesake had succumbed to his weak body in his teens, he had proven himself smarter than nearly everyone in the Family, reading, memorizing, and understanding every book he could get his hands on.

Before he'd died, Ryan's uncle had progressed several pieces of technology. Though a teen, he was a genius beyond geniuses. Cell phones which allowed them to call out of Volnal were among the advancements he had made, as was a newer design of vault, allowing for more secure storage of Family secrets and treasures.

"My mother picked it," Ryan sighed, and felt the tears wanting to come out as he thought about her. "I wish I could leave now, so that I could save her."

He could feel Kyra's uncertainty, her conflict on what to say to him, if anything at all. It didn't bother him as much as he would have expected such a thing to do. Were he in her place, he knew he'd likely not know what to say, either.

He hoped everything came to happen soon, so that he could get on with his business.

"Tell me," Ryan said. "If a god wants to pray, who do they pray to?"

"I don't know," Kyra answered. "Wouldn't praying to a god as a god be some sort of self-condescension?"

"Who knows?"