This one time, in Haviah Camp... (Incen! :D)

[Anonymous]

A bitter laugh made its way from Fala's mouth at his first statement- yes, she'd been taken out early. She was insubordinate, wouldn't submit to anything, and that spelled danger for the Pilots. She wasn't someone that another Pilot could put their trust in- a vital element when fighting side by side- and loyalty was not her strong suit. Her allegiances were constantly in question, and that, rather than her screw ups, had gotten her thrown out.

But she wouldn't tell him that.

"Jorinth is an ass. He knows I haven't the slightest clue where you're rooming, but I guess we'll figure that out." Looking at his pointing finger and giving a curt nod, she did as Alik had suggested and moved in that direction. She herself had roomed in another area of the ATC, down one of the other halls when the Candidate load had been unusually large- she'd long since forgotten where most of the others had taken to rooming. Until her own Candidate had come under her wing, she'd never had a reason to.

"Okay, here we are." When he swept the door open, she half expected to see his room filled with all sorts of flamboyant extravagance or excess... only to be quite taken aback by how utterly empty it seemed. It needed clutter, in her opinion- this apparent cleanliness (or lack of decoration, rather) almost upset her. Was the kid afraid to express himself, or had his things not come yet?

She herself thrived in chaos and clutter when in her private space, and didn't quite know what to make of this.So she remained standing there for a moment, one eyebrow raised to the point where it looked ready to high-dive off of her face, until his voice rang out again.

"Are these what you wanted to show me?" Looking over, she smiled with a sense of satisfaction. Ah, so Jorinth had sent them to the right room! Wonderful. She acknowledged his question with a nod, and motioned that he should take a look at them.

"Yup. As you know, each mentor has supplementary texts for you to go through on an individual basis, in addition to your current scholastic load. I figure you can handle it pretty well." Pointing to the first book on the stack, Performing Under Pressure, she looked to Alik and prepared to give him his first assignment.

"That book's on pressure points. Just give it a once-over, if you would- I've got a test for you tomorrow on the basics. You should do fine, given your test scores." Wondering if he'd think she was giving him a written exam, she kept her laughter to herself. Oh, no, she hated grading papers. Such a waste of time- let the professors deal with that! No, she thrived in the physical training, much to Alik's probable disappointment.

Anatomy of Musculature and The Art of Combat lay just underneath, followed by a single book that almost didn't look like it belonged... Coffee for Dummies. Oh, yes, she'd gone that far for her fix. If all went as planned, his coffee machine would show up tomorrow, free of charge!

She'd bought it, of course. She couldn't make a cup of her own to save her life, hence her regular attendance to the cafeteria's barista.

"You do well tomorrow, and there's going to be a reward for it. Any questions?"

[Anonymous]

Fala looked rather shocked when she walked into his room, and he noticed it, looking around nervously in case his roommate had left anything out that could put a face like that on a Pilot. He found nothing, and was thus confused. Jeez, I'd hate to hear her opinion of it after I've finished decorating.

He looked at the first book. The title seemed... rather self-helpy. Or like something for first-time sex slaves. That didn't mesh, considering Alikaahra Ipfeiyi didn't need self-help, and Fala didn't seem the type to recommend it. "That book's on pressure points." Aah. "Just give it a once-over, if you would- I've got a test for you tomorrow on the basics. You should do fine, given your test scores." Alik smiled; ego-stroking was a surefire way to put him in a good mood. "I won't disappoint you, then!"

The next two were fighting books. Acceptable, considering what she's been given to work with. However, the third one... Alik looked over at Fala with a disappointed look on his face. "Oh, you cut me deep, Fala. Deep indeed, to have assumed that I was a novice at making coffee." He put the back of his hand to his forehead and swooned dangerously, but altogether overdramatically. Then he smiled. "I'll read it anyway, to see what I can learn."

"You do well tomorrow, and there's going to be a reward for it. Any questions?" Alik was feeling daring. Later on, I'll probably get myself grievously injured this way... He sat on his bed and leaned forward with a Cheshire grin, head on his hands, elbows on knees. "What kind of reward?"

[Anonymous]

His smile was contagious. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she gave him a smile right back, nodding at his confident words. Ohhh, if only he knew what he was in for, he might not be smiling. It'd do the kid good to feel confident, though, so she kept her smile free of malice and only reflected the amusement she felt.

"Oh, you cut me deep, Fala. Deep indeed, to have assumed that I was a novice at making coffee." At that, she couldn't help but chuckle at his melodramatic swoon, backing away from him as his hand flew to his forehead like some cheap soap opera actor. Geez, who was he kidding? She was just being careful. Though she had known he was confident about his brewing skills, it didn't hurt to give him a little backhanded gift once in a while.

"Just covering my bases. Yours, too. Coffee machines these days just don't like me." Though she conveniently left out the part about having broken nine out of ten of them, of course, she merely shook her head and shrugged theatrically. He was going to overact? She'd do it, too.

Looking at him as he moved to his bed and sat down, she recognized that cheeky grin from anywhere. She'd had that beaten out of her the first week in the program, and was amused to see it now- clearly he still thought this was a walk in the park. But she wasn't like some of the others- was she a bitch? Yes. Was she sadistic? To a point.

Was she going to torture him for no reason, like her own mentor had done? Nope. She'd only beat him senseless if he damn well deserved it. So this little display was nothing new--

"What kind of reward?" At that, she returned the grin, only this time, she'd spiced it up with what looked like apparent seduction. Oh, yes. If he was going to act cheeky with her, she'd turn that acting right back on him.

"What kind of reward, I wonder?" Purring her words and moving beside his bed, she knelt down, caressing his cheek softly with her gloved hand. Though she wondered what he'd be feeling like, being almost felt-up by his mentor (though this was nothing, in comparison to others!), the giddiness of toying with him like this was far exceeding her curiosity. She hadn't screwed with someone's head like this in a while!

Moving forward almost as if preparing to give him a kiss, she even tilted her head, wrapping a lock of his soft, red hair around one of her fingers and...

Slapped his cheek softly several times with her hand.

"You're going to have to see, tomorrow! You think I'd tell you now? That'd just take all the fun out of it!" Sitting back and laughing for a moment, she mussed his hair with her hand and grinned at him. Hopefully he'd get all hot and bothered like Marshal would.

Now that would be amusing.

[Anonymous]

Alik chuckled at her overdone shrug. I can't bring myself to think that it's been the coffee-makers' fault...

Alik watched her reaction to his smile. Ooh, she's eyeing me down right through that visor. Alik smiled back, eyelids lowering, pink-and-gold eyeshadow sparkling. I wouldn't be surprised if it melted. "What kind of reward, I wonder?" She said, her voice getting silkier by the minute. I'd better not be daydreaming, he thought. That'd be damned embarrassing.

Fala knelt down next to him, and he felt her glove against his cheek. Whatever is she planning? He played along, tilting his head just a little and parting his lips just slightly. She leaned in and twirled his hair a bit. Target locked. This won't end well.

She slapped him at the last possible second, not hard, but a lot. He reached up to his cheek, a hurt expression on his face. "You're going to have to see, tomorrow! You think I'd tell you now? That'd just take all the fun out of it!" She enjoyed her laugh at Alik's expense and he rolled his eyes. Then that hand reached up again... target confirmed... and ruffled his hair.

"Ohhh," he said, whining melodramatically. He took the four barrettes out of it and straightened the bangs up blindly. "The worst part is, I saw that coming." He fixed the back and the top, and slipped the barrettes back in with practiced symmetry, and flashed a devious smile at her. "I was wrong; you're definitely the worst Pilot I could have gotten!" He laughed, a resounding, surprisingly un-girly sound. "What horrible luck! Poor me!"

[Anonymous]

(Seeing as I'm going to be gone for Expo, we can either timeskip, or wait until the Candidate party takes place to restart the thread. I'll edit the post if it's after the party, as she's giving him a day off for that.)

If he'd been acting, Fala had been fooled quite well- just like she'd thought, he'd tilted his head like a lovesick teen, parting his lips invitingly as preparing to have them ravished at any moment. She knew she'd laugh at that mental image for quite some time. Maybe bring it up to the others, later.

"Ohhh! The worst part is, I saw that coming."

And just as he'd done after the gravity had returned to normal, his hands had flown back up to his hair like a magnet to a block of metal, working almost automatically to get his hair back to the way it was supposed to be. Though his whining voice reminded her of a child, his experienced hands told her that he'd done this way too often. It would have impressed her, had she understood the reasons behind it. Though vain in her own right, it was once again her inexperience with long hair that left her confused and relatively apathetic to his plight.

But that smile just came right back, bouncing back like a ball from a stretched rubber band. She wasn't sure she could bring herself to break that smile, one day. It was too... reminiscent.

"I was wrong- you're definitely the worst Pilot I could have gotten!" At that, she shared his laugh, not caring how oddly masculine his voice sounded at that moment. She liked this kid. No ass-kissing or anything of the sort- god, she would have just died if she got an obedient, subservient little bastard to work with. Much too boring to work with, day after day.

Humor made her world go round.

"Of course, of course! Alas, poor you, indeed. You're stuck with me, kiddo." Sticking out her tongue at his second comment, Fala stood up with another small chuckle, waving at him as she moved towards his door. She didn't have anything to do- though she knew she'd have to coordinate meetings with a few Pilots, in order to introduce him to the best and worst of the lot- but she also knew that he'd have to do some studying if he was to pass, tomorrow.

But then she remembered his party, hosted by one of the other Candidates. When was that, she wondered? She'd gone and forgotten.

"Later, Alik. If you need me before tomorrow, just drop me a message- I'll see about getting you some choice beverages for that party you're going to, also."

[Anonymous]

((OOC: I say after the party. Alik would be a distraught person indeed, the day of.))

Alik was glad she didn't take it seriously. I was far too worried. Not all the Pilots are jerks. "At least I'm a quick hair-fixer. I can take anything you throw at me!" He lay on his stomach as Fala stood at the door with that thoroughly amused expression on her face. Indeed, his skill had come in quite handy back in the city... nothing gave away everything like messed-up hair.

Another tenet of Alik's moral code: Never Get Caught.

"Later, Alik. If you need me before tomorrow, just drop me a message- I'll see about getting you some choice beverages for that party you're going to, also." He looked at her, outright amazed. How did she find out in the first place? "Thanks, then! You know, I really don't think anyone would take it badly if you showed up... but don't say I said that." I might even be persuaded to tell you where it is.

He waved goodbye as Fala left and took the first book off the stack on the table. Pressure points, eh? he thought. Makes me wonder what kind of test she had in mind. He opened the book and started reading it. If I can get through most of this, I'll spend the rest of today compiling an outfit!