You get it?

"Nadeena, what's the matter with you?"

"What's the - what do you mean, Brandall?"

"You're not really here."

"I'm not - hey!, how can you say that? Do you think you know me?"

"Whoops! I thought we had already got over the deflection stage."

"Well, well - now Bran is a psychologist, too."

"I know you don't really want to be rude. I'll re-ask, then. What's the matter, Na?"

(Me, after sighing a bit:) "It's... It's Franco."

"What's the matter with Franco?"

"He doesn't like what I'm doing with you. He doesn't approve of it."

"Don't these drills make you feel better?"

"Yes, Brandall."

"Do you think you're wasting your time or your energy?"

"Not at all, Bran. Not for a single second."

"Aren't we working hard and making progress here?"

"Yes, Bran, of course we are."

"So what's wrong with Franco, then?"

"Well, Brandall - Franco is very weird, you know. He really prefers the way I was before you and I became friends."

"That's very difficult to believe. Doesn't he know you were feeling really sick before?"

"Yes, he does."

"And is Franco not aware of the fact that in the past, you used to fear failing, falling, freezing, and many things beginning with - never mind."

"Yes, he is, Bran."

"Well, then I don't get it. You're doing the right thing for yourself. Why is it bothering him?"

"Franco says I've changed too much."

"In what way have you changed?"

"We used to argue a lot, and I'd never fight him back. But I'm no longer a fool. Whenever Franco gets fastidious or fires up, he can't fence me in - and I'm not the one who 'forgives and forgets' anymore. I have finally learnt to face him, to stand in front of him. I just fix my eyes on Franco, as if I was defying him, and focus on my own feelings. I can be firm and self-confident, and I think it freaks him out a little. I'm really fed up with his awful flare-ups of fury! Well, Franco has already found out that firing up won't frighten me anymore, you see?"

"I see."

"Anyway, he can still piss me off... Definitely."

"I see."

"Well, Bran, sorry for deflecting."

"It's okay, don't worry."

"All right. What do you want me to do now?"

"Shall we check your program? I think we were supposed to do things beginning with b and p." 

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm joking. What would you like to do today?"

"Have you brought the swords and the masks?, I'd love to practise fencing... Or perhaps, you could teach me a few self-defense movements, as you promised."

"Let's do some boxing, then. You see? B, O, X - it begins with b!

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