Bonding Experience (Sam)[MATURE]

[Damien Kross, Jester]

"Scary?" Ah, now there was the keyword I liked to hear... Brought a certain welcoming tone to the table. "Aw, well, if I'm scaring you, then I'll stop if you want me to." I said, putting on an obviously joking tone of neglect. "Mean ol' Jester will stick to the strict teacher/apprentice style and not waste time with silly things like flirting." I said, giving a wink to her, finding it a fun move to openly admit it.

"Unless of course you don't mind." I gave a small shrug, taking a bite of the delicious pasta. I took my time in chewing and swallowing it. "Because if you don't mind, I'd certainly like to continue."

Oh yes... There was something about this girl. Don't you agree Damien?

Yeah, I feel it too, trust me... But I'll be damned if you try anything Jester.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam smirked at him. "You don't have to do that," she said, completely without thinking. "I don't really mind." It wasn't until after she finished speaking that her brain fully registered the words that had just come out of her mouth. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she dropped her fork, covering her mouth with both her hands.

Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no. What just happened? "Umm... I mean... I..." What did she mean? Looking at him was too uncomfortable, so she snapped her eyes shut, moving her head down so her hands were covering her entire face. She'd done it now. If her face were visible at that moment, all Damien would have seen was a cherry red tomato. As it was, she was sure her very forehead was turning pink between her fingers.

Why had she said that? One could only assume it was because it was true. And, thinking about it for a second, she realized it was. He was good at the flirting thing, a perfect combination of forward and sly that made him very hard to resist. She was damn well gonna try, though. She knew she could end up saying or doing something she might regret later.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

Oh, now this was getting interesting... She continued to give marvelous reactions to everything I said. The blushing was an excellent cherry atop the sundae. This was the point where I could have stopped... or... I could see how far I could push it. Both would be fun. I chose the former... Just for shits and giggles.

"Ooooh... No need to get shy dear..." I said comfortingly. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you... Even if you say it's fine..." I pretended to ponder those words. "Come to think of it, YOU'RE confusing ME now." I smiled. "You say it's fine for me to flirt with you, but you're curling up into a little ball from it..."

I paused a moment, looking at her with interest. "Does that just mean I'm good at it? I'll admit, it's been a while since I've flirted with a cute girl."

[Sam Ballerino]

Oh, man. He was doing this on purpose, wasn't he? Oh, fine...

"You're doing this on purpose..." She looked up at him with a glare that would melt iron... if she hadn't been smirking underneath it. Sighing, she managed to sit up, the blush just starting to fade from her cheeks. "It is fine... I like it - I mean, I'm flattered... It... just..." Hah. Now they were both confused. Fantastic. She didn't even know what she was trying to say anymore. Dammit, couldn't she get through just five minutes without a bright red face?

She gave up on figuring out what she was trying to say to him, and instead focused on answering his question. "Yeah, you're good at it," she finished, lamely. What else was there to say? He was good, and she did enjoy it, it was just... confusing her. She was still trying to cross the teacher/student boundary into the realm of flirting, and it was a little difficult.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

"Well then, here's to a successful endeavor." I said, pouring myself another mixture of RKO for myself and my apprentice. "This toast, is to youth, and the wish that is fleets slowly, leaving more time for what matters." I said, knowing my toast was slightly cryptic. But... then again, that is always what I want.

The way she spoke and the way she replied to me showed that she was telling the truth when she said she didn't care about the flirting... A part of her, I think. truly welcomed and liked it. God, it felt good to see that again... Those girlish glances that Kate and Tracy once gave us... Sigh... Feels good to be young, doesn't it Damien?

You're starting to sound... human Jester.

Me? Naw. I'm just enjoying some of the finer points of life.

Trust me Jester... I know humanity better than you ever could.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam watched him as he poured the drinks. More alcohol? Well, all right. It didn't taste too bad, once she got past the burning in her throat. But the toast he gave this time confused her.

"To... youth..." She replied cautiously, staring at him quizzically for a moment before downing the drink. It went down slightly easier this time; she only coughed once, but her muscles still worked on their own, pulling a face as she swallowed it.

Well, that was cryptic, to say the least. "More time for what matters"? Try as she might, she couldn't make head or tail of what he was implying with that one. She took another bite of pasta (merda, that was some good pasta) and chewed it thoughtfully as she tried to decipher it, like a hidden message. If it were her father, he'd say that bettering yourself was the only thing that mattered in life - after obedience to authority, of course.

Uh oh... She'd completely forgotten about her father up to this point. He was going to start tearing his hair out about her missing Aikido; unless she could make him realize that spending time with Damien was probably more beneficial to her survival in this school. Which is why she was here in the first place, right?

Still, that was gonna be one hell of a phone call.

She shook her head quickly, clearing it, putting that issue to the back of her mind until later, and returning to the present. She looked up at Damien again. "More time for what matters, hmm? What matters to you, then?"

[Damien Kross, Jester]

"Oh, many things matter to me my dear..." I said, making a note of calling her 'my dear' again. It was the small things like that that would nag at someone's brain. "In particular... Family, friendship... time spent with those important to you." I raised an eyebrow to her as I took a sip of RKO.

"My position matters to me. My health matters to me. The Court you sit within matters to me. You matter to me." I said 'you' playfully, conveying it not as a heartfelt conveyance, but more as something that I knew would get to her again- in the fun way of course.

This is awful... This is like a bad soap opera.
You would know.

Touche asshole, touche.

[Sam Ballerino]

My dear... another of the many things that confused her about Damien. On the one hand, it could be just something he said, like Jay Gatsby's "old sport" habit. It sounded like something Damien would do. But was it really?

She smirked at him again, not taking his bullshit this time. She was sure he meant everything he said, but after he added her to the list of important things in his life, she knew he was trying to get to her.

And it did. In a good way.

"Nah, couldn't be," she giggled, shaking her head in playful disbelief. "The others make sense, but..." She pretended to contemplate his list. "A lowly apprentice, important to her master? Unheard of."

[Damien Kross, Jester]

Sigh... Was she really this dense?

"What part of what I say are you not understanding? How many times today have I tried to convey the importance of not letting teacher/apprentice weigh on you...? This is my point. Just because I am teaching you to fight doesn't mean we can't be friends, can it? How dumb is such a thought?"

Pretty damn dumb...

THANK YOU DAMIEN!

"It's these little things, having good food and drink with a good friend, that make life worth living. Personally, I'd find it ridiculous if you didn't agree with that thought." I cocked my head. "Or, perhaps what you're really nervous and afraid of is accepting that teacher/apprentice doesn't have as many boundaries as you choose to think."

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam laughed, a little surprised that Damien, of all people, didn't recognize a joke when he heard it. "Of course it's not dumb," she said. "I'd... I'd like us to be friends." The idea had definitely been growing on her. She was finding that the more time she spent with him, the more time she wanted to spend with him. He was a very interesting person to be around, and it made Sam want to stick around, just to see what he'd do next.

She took a minute to seriously consider what he said next. "I definitely agree with you, on both points," she said, leaning back in her chair. "There's nothing better than spending time with people you care about. And I wholeheartedly feel that it's the little things in life that make it worth living at all." She was glad that they were finding a common ground on that point, at least. "But... I saw you as a figure of authority before anything else. And with the way I was raised..." She thought of her father, and his rigorous teachings on the importance of authority. "It's a difficult thing to override."

She wanted to override it, and that alone was surprising to her. But in some strange way she thought maybe she wasn't overriding it at all. Maybe she was only trying to override her sense of boundaries because he wanted her to, which in a rather twisted sense was her still deferring to authority.

You really need to stop over thinking things, she told herself, taking another sip of her RKO.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

"Well..." I began.

This is where my time with Sam was going to reach it's pinnacle... She had openly admitted the problem, and thus, the remediation could now begin.

"...if you ask me to, I can help you see past the technicalities. Would you like me to?" I asked, knowing of how to change her perception.

Easy enough, but she would have to say the oh so simple word "yes." As far as that move went, it was up to her.

Oh, Dr. Jester has the answer to every problem.

Mhm, I do.

[Sam Ballerino]

She watched him, a mixture of suspicion, amusement, and curiosity on her face. It sounded like he had something in mind, and while she very much wanted to know what it was... she didn't want to get herself into anything she'd want out of later. But Damien, as usual, was unreadable. She was trying hard not to show it, but her stomach was in knots. Hopefully asking him straight out would give her solid answers.

She licked her lips, leaning forward towards him slightly. "And if I were to say yes, how would you help me to... 'see past the technicalities'?"

[Damien Kross, Jester]

With a wide grin, I would stand and walk over to her chair, holding out my hand for her to take hold of- insinuating it was time to take her out of this room.

"Come along." I said, encouraging her to accept my offer.

I would lead us out of the dining room and up the stairs, taking a right turn instead of a left this time. We would pass a handful of doors before reaching one in particular- one that appeared no different from any of the others.

I would let go of her hand and step to one side of the door.

"At your leisure." I said, allowing her the space to open the doorway.

Let me guess...

Showtime.

[Sam Ballerino]

She smiled back at him as he stood up and offered his hand. She took it, standing up and allowing herself to be led upstairs and down a hallway. They passed a few doors that all looked the same, and Sam wondered in passing how he managed to remember which room was behind which door. She'd need a blueprint.

They stopped at one that - surprise, surprise - looked just like every other door she'd seen here so far. He let go of her hand, telling her to open the door, and she gave him another curious/suspicious look. But she reached out and grabbed the handle, turning it slowly and pushing the door open.

[Damien Kross, Jester]

The decor was no more... The shades of dark brown were gone- replaced by shining white tile, matching white walls, and different architecture. The room went a good hundred yards down before ending at another wall, the width of the room being about half the length. Small pillars lined an invisable walkway to the other door, twenty of them in all. Unlike the other rooms, there were no pictures- no statues- no windows- nothing but pure white.

With a smile and a wave of the hand, I beckoned her to enter the room, remaining a silent watcher. However, as soon as the young girl was within the room, I would follow, closing and locking the door behind us, putting the silver key into the inner pocket of my coat, closing the area shut with a button.

"To see past the technicalities, a happy medium must be found first..." I smiled and assumed a Hapkido stance. "No whistle- no Qi- just the purity of combat."