Walk the Plank

[Blitzen]

He Recibido Peor

Sam smiled as she saw the masked boy cross the quad. She carved into a power slide stop in front of him while giving a slight wave. It was hard to read his expression sometimes. Well, most of the time. Maybe it was because of the mask, or maybe it was just because he was one of those people who just didn't show a lot of emotion. In any case, he said he'd surfed and wanted to give skating a go, so she waited until church was out to go meet him.

"Heya Diego!" She said, kicking up the tail of her skateboard and offering it to him. He hesitated a bit, causing her to tilt her head. "Sunday. Skateboarding, remember? We were going to go? We're burning daylight." Diego shook his head slowly.

"The Diestros..." He began, but she cut him off, lowering her voice.

"Yeah, but" She paused for a second, silently pouting. It wasn't fair, it was just like with Artie. Artie had people inside his head telling him how to spend his time too. Training for what? For whose standards? What about being a kid? Her mind raced for a second before deciding on a tactic. "How's about you tell them I need to pay you back for helping me pass Spanish? I mean, if I didn't pay you back, my ancestors will be all mad at me, on account of it's only fair. And besides, we'll be going skateboarding, and that teaches you how to focus and you gotta balance balance on account of if you don't? You'll fall on your tail a lot. And you even said there was a surfer or two, so they totally know the benefits of plank walking. So if it's all the same to them, one, two hours would be great. Then you can go back to whatever it is you do. Oh, and throw in a por favor, por favor, because it always helps to be polite and all." She raised her eyebrows in anticipation of the answer, but Diego just chuckled, letting a grin cross his face. "I take it they said yes? Tell 'em I said gracious por todos."

"I'll do that, Samanta." He replied in perfect English, accepting the skateboard from her. She giggled a bit at the formal saying of her name in Spanish, the same reaction she'd get when Stasi would throw in an extra syllable, saying her name as Samanantha. She unlaced her own board from the bungies on her backpack and carried it under her arm, indicating he should do the same.

"All right, we're gonna skip the park for now, on account of the guys can be sorta harsh on you if you're just learning, plus there's this place in Skyway me and Tony always go to just to mess around, learn new stuff without an audience and c'mon, I'll show you. " They took the green line over to Skyway, making the short walk to a vacant parking garage. Diego refused the Starshot helmet and armor Sam packed just in case, but she shrugged it off. Maybe he had a gene that tanked him up too.

"First thing you wanna do is find your center of gravity." She dropped her board to the ground, and took a hop landing with both feet square on the board. "You should be good at it, cause I figure you gotta have good balance to..." Diego mimicked her action perfectly, squaring himself on the board with a smile. "And see? I was right. Try and keep most of your weight in the front. If you shift your weight, the board'll move with you, lean in or out, and yeah, like that. Think loose, lose the mighty oak and be the tree that bends in the wind, or however that saying goes. Now, pushing off, just sorta bend your knee a bit... and like this." She smiled as Diego followed, pushing off without hesitation.

"Okay, hotshot. I get it. You catch on quick, so you want to try follow the leader?" Diego made a sweeping hand gesture and a "Ladies first" comment that made her laugh and roll her eyes as she pushed off, watching him from over her shoulder.

Diego managed to keep up pretty well. She over exaggerated her movements leaning toeside to heelside to carve and he followed along with ease. He was able to mimic even the slightest shift in weight, so he had no problem following a kick turn and after a few step offs could manual and even pop a decent ollie. She led him into a basic heel drag to stop, grabbing the front of the board.

"Not bad?" He asked with a smile, kicking on the tail of his board. The front popped up and nailed him clear on the knee, and he strained not to flinch at the jarring.

"You're a ringer." She chuckled, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"Que?" He asked at the accusation.

"A ringer." She repeated with a smile. "I mean, this was all mechanics and stuff, it gets way better."

"So let's try something better." He said, letting another smile cross his face, as he pointed behind her.

"Yourgunna Spill Hill?" She asked, looking at the steeply inclined street with it's sharp turns. The sign on it proclaimed it to be "Yourgner Street," but most people who'd skated called it by its appropriate nickname. It almost reminded her of San Francisco's infamous Lombard Street. "Yourgunna Spill Hill is like... There's a reason it's called Yourgunna Spill!"

"I no es scared." He asked, rolling past her with a smile.

"Shyeah, but Diego, it's a lot steeper than it looks, and there's a lot of ... You know." She made a wave motion with her hand to mimic the up and down portion of the road as she caught up along side him. "I've face planted there before a few times."

"He recibido peor." He said as he picked up speed. Recibido. Recibido. Peor? I have had. I have what? I have had worse?

"Tell you what." She offered, "Let's try something a little easier? A couple of blocks over, there's a.." Before she could protest again or re-offer him the helmet, he was off like a rocket.

Sam stood akimbo at the top of the hill, eyebrows raised while waiting for the inevitable. He does move like a surfer, Murph would be totally impressed. She thought. He knew to keep his weight forward, he knew how to use his arms for balancing, and just like surfing, his perfect ride lasted under 15 seconds. He underestimated the first sharp turn, the nose of the board clipping the curb, sending Diego onto the small grass median. She flinched a bit in sympathy before footdragging down to him. A smile was plastered on his face as he caught his breath.

"You spilled." She said with a nod, playing Captain Obvious while rail standing on the lawn to show off a bit. She had to smile at the grass stains on his knees and elbows. It was the first time she'd seen him less than immaculate, as if staying clean was his super power. Diego laughed and brushed himself off.

"He recibido peor" He replied with a wink. She chuckled and shook her head.

"Well, for what it's worth? It was a great run. This time, when you wash out, try and land here." She patted the side of his shoulder for emphasis, before demonstrating herself. "Tuck your elbow in close, let your body take the impact."

"When I wash out?" He kidded, raising his eyebrows in mock disbelief. "Ye of little faith, Samanta."

"Oh I have plenty of faith." She smiled with a nod. "In the hill. C'mon, let's give it another go. Unless of course..." She let her grin creep wider over her face. "You are es scared?"

"Ladies first." He replied, making another grand sweeping gesture with his hand.

"Try and keep up." She winked. "Standing up, that is. Oh, and one more thing." She pulled an easy frontside pop shove-it, and remembered back to when Diego first started school. Something a bunch of them had played in Atlas Park. She tapped him on the arm before taking off, calling back to him over her shoulder in an exaggerated accent. "Tag! You es it!"

[El Nuevo Diestro]

No hay sitio como su lugar

The chairs in the library are so uncomfortable. She thought, once again shifting her weight. They could have studied at Brunos or Shenanigans or even on the soft grass at the park, but for whatever reason, Diego seemed to prefer the library. Diego. She grinned at the sight of him sitting rigidly with his perfect posture. His back was straight, shoulders squared, his spine no where near touching the chair frame. He wore his school uniform, perfectly pressed, his creases just as sharp as they'd been first thing that morning. School had let out not 20 minutes ago, and Sam had changed into her jeans and an SJS pullover almost before the last bell stopped ringing. She sat slouched over the table, tapping a pencil against her notebook as once again Diego went over the rules of past participle something or other.

Still, it was sort of nice. Diego was an excellent teacher, he was very encouraging and he always flashed a perfect smile when something "clicked" and she was able to not only understand, but respond. Sister Mary Enrique certainly noticed an improvement. Sam couldn't always tell what she was saying by way of compliment, but she could tell it was something positive, and it no longer involved the words "Callarte." or "Madre de Dios."

"You think I'll ever just "get" it?" She asked aloud, not realizing she cut Diego off mid-sentence. She meant dual languages, like Diego and Tony and Dom and them. They each spoke two languages, fluently. Well, Tony maybe. She'd never really heard him say much, she basically knew if she repeated it in class, it was a surefire way to get Sister Mary Enrique to scowl, point to the door and say "Va a la officina, ahora!" And it nearly always lead to detencion. "I mean, when I talk to you, do you translate everything I say into Spanish to understand it? Like if you say "Samanta, donde esta?" I have to think in my head "Sam, where are you?" So if I say "Diego, I'd like a Coke" do you translate it to "Diego, quierro un Cola? Or do you just "know" what I mean?"

"Es depend, " Diego began. "If I es only en my own, sí, I es translate en my head y think of reply en español, then translate my response to english y say it. If I es use....eh, resourcefulness?" Diego couldn't help but grin, "bueno, then I just say what es responce with no think."

Sam smiled at the mention of resourcefulness, and shook her head slightly. "Trust me, bud, I know what you mean. I respond to stuff ALL the time without thinking." She rolled her eyes slightly at herself.

Diego kept grinning, but turned his face down at the book in front of him. "I like how you es so....ah, esspontaneous? Y honest. Everyone know if Sam say it, es worth listen to. That es what I think, anyway." He tried to fight a blush he could feel rising to his cheeks.

She scoffed at herself before answering, lowering her voice again after one of the librarians shushed in her direction, preempting her response. "I don't know. Sometimes, I think I talk to hear my own voice. That's what Sister Moltar's said a few times." She shrugged for emphasis.

"No listen to that. I es like sound of you voice. So...talk so I can hear it." Diego thought for a second, and seemed to realize what he said. "Ah...that es, ah, if you want to. Talk to me, I mean. Ah....I know I can no be alone. Everyone like when you summarize, I know." He clears his throat, desperately looking for where he had left off in the lesson.

Sam snickered, biting her bottom lip and giving her shoelaces a cursory glance. "I like talking to you a ton, Diego. And I really 'preciate you teaching me Spanish. It's sorta like... you make it interesting, you bring it to life, you know? Like when you speak it, it's sorta like I get a little picture of where you're from."

Diego sighed and continued staring at the book in front of him. "I....its like that for me. Es en small way like I es home, when talking about español." Diego knew he was utterly failing to keep from blushing. "I like it."

Sam rested her cheek against her knuckles with her elbow propped up on the desk. She studied his expression as he absently turned a page. "What's it like?" She asked without putting much thought into the question, or how prying it might sound. "Spain I mean? Where you're from? It's like.. I've seen it in movies and stuff, but you know movies. They lie to you. They kinda only show you what they want you to see. Do you miss it much?" It dawned on her that she'd never asked. Diego always seemed so driven, kind of as if nothing could phase him. Did he have family over there? Did he get homesick sometimes? All the time? Moving half way across the country was one thing. She couldn't imagine moving to another continent entirely.

Diego got a half-wistful smile and stared off into space. "It's...beautiful. I never thought of it, when I was there. But, there are hills rolling, with fields, and woods....creeks, animals. My family, they owned vineyards, and there's rows and rows of grapes. Old buildings no one remembers that we would run around in. Or going into town and the old old streets and buildings. Part of the town was built by Romans; my brothers and cousins would run around the walls and play Legionaires...." A deep seated melancholy suddenly washes over him, and he goes quiet.

Sam nodded, squeezing his arm sympathetically and smiling warmly before picking up her pencil. He was being "resourceful", speaking in perfect English, his accent left somewhere in the recesses of the memory. “I miss Memphis something fierce sometimes." She admitted, doodling in the margins of her notebook. “But it sounds real great. The ruins and stuff. Just like a ton of history, right there brought to life in your own town and everything.”

"History has always been very close. The old estates. The old town. Family stories, family heirlooms. And now....closer than ever." Diego looks up at Sam, searching her eyes for a moment, working up nerve. "I always miss home. Always. I did not want to leave. I can not wait till I can go back. Even for just a little while. But, sometimes," a deep breath, another moment to work up nerve, "there are things that let me forget that long enough to be happy here."

Sam felt her ears turn crimson as the pencil she was holding suddenly snapped, breaking her gaze from Diego's. It stunned her for a second but she quickly brushed the pieces away and found a fresh pencil in her backpack. "That happens sometimes." She blurted. "The pencil, I mean, they're real breakable." Another small paused followed, and she continued to trip over her next batch of words. "I mean, the other thing happens too, you know, stuff helping you to forget for a while, that happens. And I know it can't be easy for you. And I mean, if you ever get homesick, or you get here-sick, we can maybe talk, and stuff. You can even speak Spanish if it helps. I’ll understand maybe every third word or so, and I’ll respond by saying “claro, claro, claro” because it's the Spanish equivalent of nodding your head and saying 'I understand totally'." She lowered her voice a bit, and looked back to him. His eyes were expressive behind the mask he always wore, she felt like they spoke volumes, but just like Spanish, they were hard to interpret. "And Diego? thanks, for you know, sharing it with me. It means a lot."

Feeling like his whole face is burning and having spent his nerve, Diego looks down at the table, closing his book. "Ah, bueno...es ok. Es mean mucho to me too, Sam. En serio, gracias. Anyway, I es have give you lots of hard esstudy tonight. Maybe end with something easy?" Still looking down, a small, almost shy grin lights on Diego's face. "Conjugate the word.....gustar."

Sam tapped her new pencil against the notebook again, smiling at his regained accent. Back to business. "Gustar." Her eyes looked to the ceiling as if it would somehow help her with the answer. "Gusto, uh... Gustas, Gusta, uh.... Gustamos, Gustais, which I know, I know, not used in modern Spanish, but it's traditional and still used in Spain..." She pointed to Diego and winked dramatically to show she remembered. "And Gustan. Oh yeah, I am SO going to pass Spanish II!"

[Blitzen]

Mar y Magia


The night was clear with just enough of a crisp breeze to remind them that they were in New England and that summer had not yet arrived. Sam and Diego sat at the beach, recovering from dancing that night at Pocket D's, relaxing on the beach. Diego. Relaxing. She smiled, the two didn't go hand in hand often. He still sat with perfect posture; she slouched back with her toes entrenched in the sand. They'd been there for hours talking about anything and everything. The tragic accident that took his family, why he was training so hard, how he wanted to become a Knight of some order. Sam didn't even know they had knights anymore. Maybe things were different in Europe, that's what Dom usually said anyway. Things were much much different over in Europe. But still, there on the beach? He was just Diego. It was nice to see him taking it easy, sitting in the sand, watching the moon beams hit the ocean, even if he didn't take off his shoes and socks to dig his toes in the warm sand like she had. He was willing to open up a bit, and she was willing to listen, learn more about what made the masked boy tick.

Before the accident that claimed his family, he'd been eighth in line to be a Diestro. She made a mental note to check and see what the word "Diestro" meant. Disciples of La Verdadera Destreza, he'd said, but that didn't help much either. He thought highly of them, though, getting a faraway look in his eye as he overlooked the water and spoke of their memory. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she listened, making a mental note to call her father soon.

"Dad was always laugh, always joke. Mama, she was so pretty, y always there when you need. My older brothers, they pick on me alot, pero, always help if need it, y I always looked up to them..." His voice trailed off, and she rubbed his arm a bit in sympathy.

"Diego.... I'm really, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Es....es ok. Es en past." He replied, still looking wistful as he patted her hand. "I no talk about mucho....es nothing I can do. Pero, es part of why I es need train so much. Never espect would happen, y I was no train from young like most."

"So you gotta make up for lost time and all that. I guess I can totally understand that. Mostly. Sorta. I guess." She stammered.

"Es ok, Sam. Es no something normal, sí? Pero, you try...that es mean so much."

"Why wouldn't I try? Like I said, you're a great guy."

"I no so sure how many would agree."

"Well, you got that weird thing against magic." She said bluntly, with a nod of her head. "And we got lots of kids that use magic." He shook his head briefly before answering.

"Mi family es have many especiences with magic. Good magic. Esstrange magic. Y, mucho mucho bad magic. Es very hard tell which es which....y es dangerous assume magic es ok without knowing for sure."

"Yeah, but it's like people isn't it? Sorta like there's good people. There's strange people, and there's really, really bad people. And it's hard to tell which of them is which too. But I can't go around not giving anyone a chance just on account of they might not be good, otherwise, I don't get to know some good people." She smiled warmly at him and tapped his shoe with her bare foot. "I guess it's different. I'm just not afraid of magic is all." Almost instantly, Diego's mood darkened, his pride unfurling like a flag.

"No es fear!" He proclaimed, his sharp tone catching her off guard. "I no have to be afraid of fire to know no esstick hand en flame, sí?" Sam let a grin cross her face as she shrugged playfully.

"Maybe? I dunno. Nothin' would happen to my hand." She kidded, waggling her fingers at him. He grinned, letting his defenses back down.

"Es no so easy to protect against magic." He warned.

"There's just some stuff I'm not cut out for understanding." She said with a shrug. "And I'm sorry if it's a sore subject, I really didn't mean to spoil a good time."

"I no think es possible" He smiled. "Things es always better with you around." Their eyes caught for a moment. His shined brightly, a welcoming sight. Sometimes it was as if she could see the spirits lurking behind them. Eerie almost. But moments like this, when they were soft and expressive gave her butterflies in her stomach. He finally broke the gaze and stared off into the ocean.

"You know what, Sam?" He said in perfect, proper English, a wry grin crossing his face. "That wasn't very fair." She looked puzzled as she tried to figure out what warranted it.

"What I said?" She asked, knitting her brows together and tilting her head.

"No." He said, his grin spreading across his face, his eyes still shining behind the mask. "Where you sat." Sam looked behind her and shifted to see what he was talking about. "Ocean...the waves....the surf and foam." He continued. "It's so very pretty...I can stare at it forever. But, with you between me and the sea? I haven't given it a second look." Sam felt her skin turn beet red. Jules had said Diego like-liked her, but she'd written it off as Jules trying to play match maker. She frantically searched her brain for some sort of response.

"I'm... you... the whole... and... just.." She chuckled, finding part of her voice once again and whispering. "All my words kinda went away."

Diego laughed, finding his accent. "I no think I es have see that before."

"Pfft." She scoffed. "I no think *I* es have see that before."

"Bueno, Diestros have many weapons en arsenal to accomplish mission..." He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing into little slits as he scanned the beach. Sam twisted her head and let hers do the same, seeing nothing through the darkness.

"Diego?"

"How did....I no was pay attention..." His focus off Sam for the first time that night, all the senses with which Diego navigated the dangers of patrolling in Paragon City instantly jangled in warning. Out of the shadows of the pier a small team of Tsoo lept, coming at the two at a run, weapons drawn. One was already reaching into a pouch, undoubtedly grabbing a handful of caltrops to assure their prey didn't escape.

Seeing Sam had still not noticed them, he nodded at them and yelled "Tsoo!" while reaching out to grab his sword-case so he could get at his weapons. The motion did not go unnoticed by the oncoming attackers, and things clicked into place.

"You gotta be kidding me." Sam brooded as she climbed to her feet.

They sense the magic in the blades, Squire, came the voice of a Diestro. That is their real target. "They are after my swords..." Diego began, before a scolding voice cut in, causing him to clip the sentence short. And perhaps if you hadn't so absorbed yourself in the girl, they wouldn't already be in striking distance. Finally pulling his matching rapier and parrying dagger out of the case, Diego grit his teeth, trying to ignore the embarrassment starting to creep up and settle into a fighting stance.

"Me and Ves's been trying forever to get mugged, and they pick now to show up?" Sam let out a huff and held up both fists. "She is SO gonna be ticked off."

Diego fought back a grin this time, jumping up and over the Tsoo to get behind them as Sam caught their attention and they turned towards her. Your strong point to their weak point, Squire. It sometimes scared Diego how easy, how natural, the fighting had become. How ingrained the tenets of la Verdadera Destreza had become. This wasn't one of them.

[El Nuevo Diestro]

Combate Verdadero


The Tsoo had obviously been expecting, at most, a game of tug-of-war with two kids for the magical loot they were after before running back victorious to their masters. What they got was far different.

Unexpectedly caught between Diego's blades and Sam's powerful blows, the Tsoo minions seemed to forget their target and redoubled their efforts simply to hold their own. They began using delaying tactics, and it quickly become obvious they were expecting....

Beware, magical forces incoming, Squire! No sooner did Diego receive that warning than a sorceror appeared, instantly bolstering one of his allies. Active attack also incoming! We are maintaining the soul-shield; it is holding and the attack is deflected. It is apparent there is a Tsoo mind-brujo still back by the pier.

Submerging some of his individuality, Diego increased the strength of the soul-bond with the Diestros and felt the terrible rush of increased knowledge and awareness. Going past the superficial level he used when he merely wished to speak better English, he allowed his senses to expand. Seeing in all directions, he felt one set of eyes pick out the lurking Ink Man in the shadows of the pier. Feeling guilty, and still a little embarrassed, that he let his guard down enough for them to be ambushed, he sent another set of eyes to more closely observe Sam herself as she fought. Finishing off the first minion he'd engaged with a boot to the solar plexus he turned and leaped towards the Ink Man. Seeing him coming, the Ink Man let loose with another wave of mind magic, easily deflected again from Diego. As he lined up the Ink Man for a combination designed to penetrate his defenses, however, he nearly snapped back into full individuality unintentionally causing him to loose focus for the smallest of instants.

While the Tsoo minion's physical blows fell ineffectively on Sam's body, the wave of the Ink Man's mind magic had apparently managed to strike home. It appears invulnerable skin is only skin deep, Squire. The brain is another matter entirely. Focus! Swipe, side-step, beat his blade to create your gap, stab! Diego, however, could not entirely focus. He fell into the more basic patterns and moves of his style, keeping a part of his attention on watching Sam. Because of this, a realization almost as obvious as it was surprising to him became quickly apparent.

She es no have be train to fight! She es just swinging! No one could doubt the effectiveness of Sam's punches, as demonstrated by a wind-up leading to a particularly vicious punch which sent a Tsoo sprawling. But technique was wholly absent. She es just rely on esstrong; y, esperience she have pick up. Ayayay! Did she just close her eyes before that punch?! As the Ink Man finally succumbed to Diego's blades and Sam's "no-look" punch finished off the sorceror, Diego made up his mind, and strode purposefully towards Sam.

------------

"I es glad you agree let me show you some basics, Relampaga. You are so esstrong, but, you esstyle?" Diego's straight face wavered as he fought back a good-natured snicker. "Es puro comedia." Sam smiled and held up her fists in response.

"Hey! There's nothing the matter with how I fight." She teased back, taking a mock swing at the air. "I mean, c'mon! They hit, I hit harder, they fall down I'm still standing. It's a great system, really." Truth be told, she balked when he first brought up the idea. In Sam's mind, fighting wasn't rocket science. You swing, you connect, what's to know? But it never hurt to try new things, and besides, Spanish II didn't start up until the fall, meaning this was a good excuse to spend some more time with Diego. "But if you want, I can try the float like a butterfly thing." She danced on her toes for emphasis, bobbing and weaving like a boxer.

Diego chuckled, not able to keep a straight face anymore. "Bueno, you fight es work fine....as long as you es esstrong. Pero...what if you es get en mind fight? What if you es fight sapper? Also...there es Coach, sí? He es take away tough gene. How you know he es only one can do that? There es reasons know real way defend yourself, Sam." Diego shrugged and looked across the quad. This was his preferred spot to train, and it felt good to share it with Sam. Still, Diego was determined not to get distracted; it was a distraction that had started this all in the first place. "That es why I want show you some things, no power, just esskill y practice."

"I reckon." She replied with a shrug. It was one of those things she'd prefer not to think about. The split second of doubt that would creep in when jumping into a mob or in front of something that looked like it'd hit like a ton of bricks. What if there was someone else just like Coach? She felt it on the football field, what it was like to not be able to tank up. If that happened? She doubted any amount of self defense would help. But still, she tried to keep the doubt in the recesses of her mind, otherwise it'd be too easy to lose her nerve. Sappers were another story all together. She ran into them before. Come to think of it, they were better left in the recesses of her mind as well. "All right, all right. I guess I could give not getting hit a shot, but no powers? None at all?"

"Eventually, es be ok do this with you powers. Pero, to really learn it, you need to no rely on powers. That es the point, y that will no happen if you es power up." Diego flashed a quick grin. "Esstill, No Power es only Rule #2. Rule #1 es more important." Diego looked at Sam expectantly, waiting dramatically for the inevitable question.

"So what's rule #1?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip and half dreading the answer.

Getting the question he wanted, Diego's grin grew and he winked. "Rule #1: No closing eyes. Es make fighting easier, I promise. Bueno, you es ready, Sam?" Getting back to the matter at hand, Diego let a serious expression fall over his face like a curtain.

"All right, all right, I'll try. It's more a reflex thing, I think." She once again put up her hands in a fighting stance, and tried to look serious as well. "Wait, wait! Does that count for when they swing at me, too?"

Managing to keep from grinning, Diego nodded. "Es going to be until I say es ok use powers. Basics es very important, Sam. Es foundation; can no build if foundation no es solid. Otherwise, house come falling down. So...Rule #2. No Power."

Sam let out a slow breath and raised her eyebrows with uncertainty. "Claro, Claro. No power. Eyes open. Ojos abre and all. Build a solid foundation, which is sorta funny, on account of I usually am a solid foundation. But okay, okay, I'm good."

"No worry anyway. This es first lesson. You es no ready for swinging at you. We esstart with distance." Diego takes a step back, looking down at the ground for a second before looking back up to Sam. "Distance, for fighting hand-to-hand, is key. You have to get close enough to strike your opponent while trying not to let them strike you. Well.....or at least not at full force, if you're not that worried about the blows. So, we need to measure your distances. Take one step forward, and hold one arm straight forward at shoulder level."

"Well, if I'm not usin' powers, then shyeah, I'm sorta worried about the blows." Sam took a step forward, and dug her front foot into the grass holding her right arm straight out. "Something tells me that if I punch this slow? It's not gonna do a lotta good against the bad guys."

"Don't worry about punching just yet. You are not ready for that either." Diego walked behind Sam, leaving her standing with her arm raised. Marking the spot on the grass she had originally been standing with his shoe, he said in a stern tone, "Now, take a step back."

"A step back?" Sam looked down to where her foot was planted firmly in front of her. "Like a retreat? Fall back?" She shrugged with a disbelieving look and small smile, but complied, keeping her arm out and her weight now on her back foot.

Noting where she was, Diego again uses his shoe to mark the spot where she had stood when she stepped forward. He then moved back behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and moving her slightly until she was centered between the original spot and the spot she had been in when she stepped back. His hands, as well as his face, felt like they were burning up, but this was business, this was training, and he ignored it.

Leaning down, he picked up his rapier. He used it to draw a line in the grass between the spot Sam stood, and the spot she had been standing when she stepped forward. Then, he drew a circle around her, using that line as its radius. Finally, he marks a spot forward from the edge of the circle about the distance of Sam's arm. "You can put arm down. Welcome to the Circle." She'd been following him with her eyes, trying to keep as still as possible even though the butterflies in her stomach were back with a vengeance.

"The circle?" Sam looked down to examine the circle around her, then over at Diego's rapier with raised eyebrows. "All right. But if you start playing Jarts, I'm totally tanking back up."

[Blitzen]

Clase de Guiar

"Okay. what's the first thing you do when you get in a car, or Jeep, or whatever you'll be driving?" Jules asked as they sat side-by-side in her Jeep, giving Sam her first driving lesson. The seemingly unflappable DJ started took a moment to check the side view mirror and fix a barely uneven ponytail.

"Turn on the radio." Sam replied without skipping a beat, reaching for the dial in front of her.

"What? No. No." Jules replied slapping her hand away as she pressed the radio to the off switch. Sam pretended it hurt, rubbing her hand with a slight grimace.

"It's the first thing you do." She accused.

"I've been driving a lot longer."

"So how long before I can drive with the radio?"

"Until I say so. Now seatbelt, seatbelt is the first thing you do when you get in the car." Jules reminded her, belting herself in.

"But I'm a tank."

"Saaam!"

"Right right, seatbelt. Got it. Now radio?"

"No! Okay, wait, how does it go again?" Jules paused for a second, scanning her brain for memories of learning to drive. "Direction signal, check over your shoulder, then pull out into the road."

"We're in a parking lot."

"Pretend it's a road."

"Can I pretend it's a freeway?"

"Why would you be pulling out from a stop onto the freeway?"

"I'm pretending we had a flat. I was the jack."

"Saaam!"

"Right, right. Side street. Okay, blinker, look over shoulder, nothing is coming. Gun it?"

"No! There will be no gunning anything, under any circumstances. None. Press down gently, like stepping on an egg carton."

"Why would you wanna step on a...."

"Saaam!"

"On egg shells, got it."

"I hope E.T. is stocking the bar, because as soon as this is done? I'm raiding it." Jules stated, rubbing her forehead as if to ward off a headache. But thanks to Jules' patience, after a few more "encouraging" words, a few four letter expletives, and one Sam is pretty sure Jules made up on the spot, she was driving around the open lot pretty smoothly, or as smooth as could be expected, keeping her hands firmly at 10 and 2.

"Hey Jules?" She asked after the third time going in a big circle. It's a lot like Nascar. She figured. Only without the track and speed and other drivers and safety equipment and million dollar sponsors, but aside from all that? Just like Nascar.

"Curb!" Jules called out in warning, causing Sam to veer a harder left, the jeep jerking to the side with the motion. Sam had to smile, thinking it was a good thing Jules wasn't a tank. She white knuckled the dashboard, and for some reason kept slamming her right foot into the floor as if it'd actually help with the braking process. "What's up, darlin'?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"That depends. Does it involve 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 kids sleeping over at my place? Again?"

"Yeah! That was epic! I mean, no, no, no, nothing like that. Well, not right now, anyway. But that was epic, wasn't it? This... It's more of a ... you know... advice-ish girl boy sorta thing." From the corner of her eye she could see a smile creep across the face of her newly acquired driving instructor and she half wished she didn't ask.

"Zorro finally ask you on a date? Curb!" Sam steered hard again to the left.

"Yes, no. Maybe. Sorta? I don't know. We talked and we went skateboarding, and he was like really good!"

"Is that like your mating dance?" She teased. Sam let go of the wheel for a second causing the jeep to swerve, and Jules to once again stomp her foot into the ground in an effort to get the vehicle to slow down.

"No, jeez, no, I mean, I took Matt skateboarding and I took Ves skateboarding. I like to walk the plank is all. And he totally needs to loosen up some. And it's hard to be uptight on a skateboard. It's ... we hung out, and then there was Pocket D, and we went to the beach, and there were Tsoo, but we took care of them, and we talked, and then the whole circle thing, and like how to fight defense, and he's got those eyes that sometimes just, but then there's the anti-magic thing, but still, I like spending time with 'em, and it's like I dunno, you know?"

"I know." She smirked. "Don't forget to signal."

"Signal him?" What the hell sort of signal should she send to Diego?

"No, up ahead on the next left, that's where the pretend stop sign is."

"Oh, yeah, right right." Sam rolled the car to a stop, exerting a bit too much pressure at the end to slightly toss them both forward. After over exaggerating checking both ways, she made her pretend turn and was back to driving.

"And I think turnabout is fair play." Jules continued. "So I may as well go with it and set you up on a date."

"No! No, Jules, c'mon. I don't want stuff to go all weird, then he'll stop coming skating and stuff and he's a good guy, and I don't wanna mess stuff up." Jules smiled brightly in response, loosening her grip on the dashboard just a bit.

"Nothing is gonna get messed up! Besides, he likes you just as much. He says so." Sam's foot slipped off the accelerator causing the jeep to mimic the choke she let out.

"Serious? He does? Really?" Sam thought for a second, narrowing her eyes as she watched the "road" in front of her. "Or are you just saying that?" Jules grinned and shook her head defensively.

"Seriously! He said nearly the same thing as you did. "But everybody es Sam's friend, y I no want to mess es up." She said with a giggle.

"So he like-likes me?" Sam asked, pressing on the accelerator gently. Jules nodded emphatically.

"Trust me on this one." She replied, wiggling her eye-brows with mischief, before her face turned pale again, her hands grasping the dashboard. "Curb!"

"Hey Jules?" Sam asked again after narrowly missing the curb.

"Mmm-hmm?" The DJ replied.

"What happened with Mr. Carson anyway?" There was a short pause while Jules considered answering.

"All right, you know what?" She replied, rubbing her brow again while waving a dismissive hand to the dashboard to avoid the question. "Just turn on the radio."

"But you said..."

"I know what I said. You've been driving long enough for it."

"Long enough to drive on the freeway?" The tanker pressed, raising her eyebrows hopefully. The front tire of the jeep went up and over the small concrete median. "Ooops. Curb?"

"Saaam!"


((Mega thanks to Jules for letting me borrow her toon for this post, and for RPing with me in game that she's willing to let Sam drive her beloved jeep. Sam hasn't broken anything on it. Honest and swear.))

[El Nuevo Diestro]

Distraídos


Maybe there was some time control kid in the school who accidentally stopped the clock. That had to be what happened, Sam thought as she sat in the remedial English composition class and once again glanced at the minute hand on the wall. She let out a slow breath. One million hours to go. Mr. Carson called another student to the front of the room.

"Clarissa Yates?" He called, and a smallish girl with freckles and teal skin walked to the front of the classroom, composition in hand. Sam inwardly groaned at the thought of another essay being read aloud, but smiled as she stared at Diego's back. He was taking the same class, and their last names fell in alphabetical order. They should be out skating or walking on a beach somewhere, it was much too nice a day outside to be stuck inside a stuffy classroom. So nice in fact that Mr. Carson had pulled the shades because too many kids were staring out the window, lost in their own daydreams. She sighed and went to work finishing a doodle in her notebook. She started it back when she and Diego were studying a few days prior. Another grin crossed her face as she thought back to the time she'd spent with him. They had been seated at a picnic table in the park - her suggestion. He had been reading aloud to her at the time in Spanish, and she was to see if she could get the gist of the passages - his suggestion, and they'd been at it for quite some time.

"No, I'm totally paying attention." She remembered saying when he looked over from his reading to see what she was working on. "All right, maybe not so much. It's kinda like, I'm just enjoying listening, you know? If my brain works too hard at trying to figure out what's being said... I kinda miss out on how good it sounds." It sounded like poetry. It might well have been poetry, or like she'd said to him once before, he could be asking her to pick up her socks. He just made things sound better is all. She'd been drawing a crude lightning bolt, nothing special. It reminded her of how he'd call her Relampaga, Spanish for lightning, or "Blitzen", playing off her hero name.

"You no es paying attention." He replied with a smile, closing the text. "Perhaps we take break?"

"See? That's my language," she replied with a smirk. "I totally speak break taking. In fact? I'll teach it to you, okay? Name one thing you absolutely hate doing. Just one. Homework, studying, anything. "

"English writing," he said without hesitation and a wry grin.

"English writing. Okay. So you get an assignment. Write a composition on why you liked or disliked some boring book they made us read." She wrote in her note book for emphasis. "Why this book was boring, by Samantha Douglas." She let out a disgusted huff in an exaggerated manner, then crossed her arms on top of her open notebook, letting her head quickly drop unceremoniously on top of them. She chuckled softly before turning her head to the side to face Diego with a smile. "Like that. It's more of a sign language sort of thing, really. You try it." She sat up, and slid her notebook over to him.

Diego furrowed his brow in confusion, looking down at the notebook. "I no es sure I understand."

"You just take a break. You know. It's easy. Watch. Why I did not like this book, by Diego Fernando San Juan Compostelaro y Ortiz Tabuada de Leon. You're lucky, on account of that alone burns..." she tapped out the words with an eraser, counting them. "Eighteen words out of the 500. So yeah, you just drop your head on the notebook, and then sorta hope when you pick it back up the words appear, or that they'll somehow be easier to go from your head to the paper... and ... you just... " She took both of his hands in hers and awkwardly tried to cross his arms across the notebook. Instead, he smiled, lacing his fingers through hers and squeezed. "You know, you just want to, you get to take a y'know." Sam stammered a bit as her train of thought became completely derailed. His hands were warm and strong, and his scowl quickly faded into a smile, which she found herself involuntarily returning. He leaned over and kissed her softly and she returned the notion. She'd stared into his eyes after the kiss broke, enjoying the feeling of holding his hands, the afternoon sun warming their skin, and the gentle breeze that ruffled the pages of her notebook.

Sam opened her eyes and snapped back to reality. The pages of her notebook were ruffling, but not from the wind. Mr. Carson was standing in front of her desk, thumbing the corner of the pages to get her attention.

"Nice of you to rejoin us, Miss Douglas." The teacher said with a good nature smirk, tapping her notebook for emphasis. Sam felt her face flush and laughed a bit at herself with the rest of the class. "Since we finished up early, I'll give you a chance to start tonight's essay in class. The topic is description. I want you to describe something in essay format. A sunrise, your home town, how to fry an egg, anything." As Mr. Carson turned to walk back towards the blackboard, Sam went back to work on her doodle. "Five hundred words, and we'll be reading them outloud." The class groaned. Sam folded her arms on top of her open notebook and let her head drop to the page.


Too much trying to understand english, Diego thought. That has to be what makes those Lost live in the sewer and wear TVs. He allowed himself a quick smirk as the thought flitted through his mind. He knew better than to dwell on that, though; the Diestros had been on him about lack of progress in the language. It was the reason he had "enrolled himself" in this summer English Composition class.

Sam helped where she could, but it wasn't her strongest subject. Of course, he didn't understand how anyone could possibly understand it all anyway, and nothing was ever pronounced the way it was spelled or spelled how it was pronounced.

He made himself take a breath. The worst part would be the reading, not the writing. He'd forget something, or just falter into the thicker end of his accent at just the wrong word, and it would be over from there. He still shuddered at how he drove a class into gales of laughter and had almost earned a hefty amount of detention before one of his teachers realized he was just asking for a sheet of paper, and not something else that started with "sh" and ended in "t". Like he was supposed to know he was pronouncing it like a bad word.

He sighed absently, and wondered how much Sam would get done before she went to work later. Not much, he'd bet, but at least then if he took a couple of books and some paper when he stopped by to visit her there Jules would make the assistant manager lay off for a bit if it wasn't busy; after all, they would be "doing school work", and that was "important". Diego grinned; he could just see the frustrated expression that jerk would get when Jules made him back off. Ample pay-back for the Junior Mint Incident.

He hadn't meant to even stay that long. He knew Sam took work seriously, tried to do a good job. They may've slightly lost track of time, briefly....Diego still couldn't believe she had such a knack for absorbing his attention so completely. Still....

"Last I checked breaks don't last this long, and loitering was not allowed," came the shrill voice of E.T., Jules' rare gem of an assistant manager.

Diego instantly bristled. "I es no loitering!"

"You are standing around, distracting employees, and seem to have no intention of actually buying anything." E.T. rebuked with an accusatory raise of his eyebrows. "Our employee's jobs are to take care of customers, not spend all their time hanging around troublemakers."

"How es I trouble make? I es no make any trouble. I es just talk to Sam a little."

"A lot, in fact. Her break is quite over. She normally knows better, when there isn't a troublemaker taking up her time. A loitering troublemaker taking up the attention of employees away from actual paying customers."

Seeing the expression on Sam's face, Diego bit off his response. He glanced down at the candy counter and pointed, turning back to glare at the assistant manager. "I es take box of those."

"Oh yes. A box of candy. How will I ever see through your clever ploy to fool me into thinking you aren't loitering, not to mention disturbing real customers with that silly mask on your face."

Diego grit his teeth, feeling himself flush. "I es take 100 boxes of those. For friends."

"A hundred boxes? Seriously?" Sam asked, quickly adding, "I mean, on account of there's only like twenty-something boxes back here an' all."

"I es take twenty-something boxes." Sam shifted her eyes back and forth between Diego and the assistant manager. Neither one budged. Under careful watch of E.T., Sam carefully rang up all 24 boxes of Junior Mints, collecting sixty dollars from the boy on the other side of the counter, giving him three dollars in return.

The assistant manager rolled his eyes, but he turned away from Diego and towards Sam. "Remember, you're on theater clean-up later. And be sure to keep an eye out for theater hoppers." With a last dirty look at Diego, he walked off.

"I'm sorry 'bout that Diego. He gets a little... he means well, really. Sorta." She drummed her fingers against the countertop before looking back up at him. "So.... whatcha gonna do with twenty-four boxes of Junior Mints?"

Diego grimaced at the memory; he still had a horde of boxes sitting in his backpack.

"Is there something wrong with the assignment, Diego?" Mr. Carson's voice snapped Diego's head up. Diego winced, realizing Mr. Carson had noticed his expression.

"Eh, no Señor Carson."

"Good. You'd better get to it, then."