[farothel]

"No, YOU need to talk.  Problem is I am done listening.  Look, I appreciate everything you are doing, but I gotta make my own way.  I will stay in school and do that stuff, but I am going to need you to give me some space to do my own thing too, that's all there is.  I'm done and I already ate."  He rolls over and puts his back to her.  "Kill the light on your way out."

She sat on the bed next to him.  She would talk, even if it was to his back.
"Look, I think I've given you quite some freedom the last year," she said, "the only thing I have asked is that you do well at school and that you don't hold parties in the appartment when I'm gone for work.  If you wanted to go to a party or a club, you could, at least in the week-ends.  I could have bound some spirit and have it report on everything you do, but I didn't because I trusted you.  Then I come home and I found you here instead of at school with some woman.  So how do you think that looks?"
She kept her voice reasonable, without shouting or anything.

[Mercy Merchant]

Snow wakes up the day after moving to find Andrew already awake and looking at her.  She stretches then cups his face to kiss him.  "You are amazing, Mr. Crenshaw.  I feel so very lucky.  I have never before wanted to wake up to the same face day after day, but I think I could get used to it.  The really good part is that you appear to want it as well.  And you just wait until I am not so sore, as I have lots of things to show you that need a healthy body."

Andrew blushes and groans playfully.  "You mean that wasn't your best stuff last night?  God in heaven, you might kill me if you can do more.  I will do my best to take anything you can give."

The two get up and take quick showers, as they have not had a chance to arrange for a larger hot water ration and do not want to use everything up.  Andrew still has a couple of days off before he has to start his job, but Tommy hustles off to work after breakfast.  Snow works through the routine provided to Andrew by the nurse to help her recover fully and the pair talk.  It takes much more than great sex to make a relationship work and Snow wants to see if this is something that is more than just sex.  She knows that only time will tell, but she is interested in seeing if this goes anywhere.  After the morning exercises, she sends a message to Clem.  >>Hey, Boss.  Snow here.  Finally out of the hospital and moving about.  Not 100%, but getting there.  I am sorry I let the team down and am glad you were able to finish the job.  I will be getting some training and some software upgrades that should improve my skills a little so give me a call if you need my services again.<<

After lunch and a short nap, Snow looks at Andrew and says, "So I gained some useful experience in Los Angeles and have identified some weaknesses in my skill set and in my hardware and software.  I would like to get some training in cyber combat and electronic warfare and then a slight improvement to my firewall and some software.  I think I will be reaching out to my EVO contact for that, unless you have a better idea?"

[HydroRaven]

A notice flashed in Clem's field of view, which distracted her long enough to lose her balance and stagger. Korblut, the Muay Thai instructor, noticed it and clicked his tongue at his student. Clem decided to keep going and wait until the next break for her to check on her messages.

With a towel on her head, beads of sweat rolling down her neck and soaking her shirt, the ork took her commlink and read Snow's message. She then quickly replied <Glad to hear it, Con was also discharged a few days ago. Take a few days more if you need and then we'll meet on Friday night at the Ice Pick, with the others, to talk business.>

The ork sent the coordinates with her message and copied Torley, O'Connor and Sammy in on her message. Once that was done, she took a big gulp of water and went back to her training.

[Necrogigas]

A few hours later the beer and booze were depleted and they decided to call it a day. O'Connor dumped the melted ice out of the cooler onto Torley to wake him up, "Well your first lesson went as well as can be expected. We'll call it a day since I have a meet to get to. Depending on how that goes, I might be unavailable for a bit. Oh, you shouldn't just spar with me for the melee training. If you stick with only one partner, you get attuned to only their fighting style. That can be just as dangerous as not having any training if you go up against someone with a radically different training. You should hit up Clem and see if she needs a punching bag." After gathering up his things, O'Connor went to find that homeless guy, Angus, that he'd strong armed into keeping tabs on the Azure Fists.

[Crossbow]

SAMMY

She sat on the bed next to him.  She would talk, even if it was to his back.
"Look, I think I've given you quite some freedom the last year," she said, "the only thing I have asked is that you do well at school and that you don't hold parties in the appartment when I'm gone for work.  If you wanted to go to a party or a club, you could, at least in the week-ends.  I could have bound some spirit and have it report on everything you do, but I didn't because I trusted you.  Then I come home and I found you here instead of at school with some woman.  So how do you think that looks?"
She kept her voice reasonable, without shouting or anything.

-----------

The silence stretches to an uncomfortable level, that stubborn streak in their Latin roots shining through....



SNOW

"Tommy is quite the hacker, he could probably teach you what you want to know, might even be able to help you do the coding you need.  If you don't mind me saying so though, if you are going to be running around with those other guys, you should get some decent protective gear." Andrew looks very embarrassed to be suggesting this.

[Mercy Merchant]

Snow looks at Andrew with a grim smile.  "You are absolutely correct, dear, but there is a problem."  She points to her midsection and flexes her arms.  "I need a bit of bulking up and some strength training.  I have tried better protective gear and it only drags me down.  Right now, my best defense is to not get in the way of the bullets.  Or the drones.  Or the fireballs.  Or some twelve year old punk kid with a stick.  I just have to face it; I can shoot, but that means probably getting shot at, so I need to be smarter about using cover and tactics to lessen my exposure.

"But I will ask Tommy if he can help me train.  By the way, are you sure he is OK with us?  I mean, you are his friend and now I am in your life.  Hopefully for a long time.  I do not want to come between you guys.""

She takes the text from Clem and returns one.  >>Friday night.  Ice Pick.  Got it, Boss.<<

She and Andrew spend the rest of the day getting to know each other better.  He takes her to see the building Super and they set up a larger hot water ration and let him know she will be moving in for a while.  The man makes her sign some documents indicating that she understands the dos and donts of the building and he gives her a key.  Next stop is some shopping at the Stuffer Shack just down the block for food and other necessities.  Snow makes sure that her footprint in the apartment is fairly small for now as she does not want to chase either man away by trying to remake them or their environment more than her presence already does.  She and Andrew share some small cooking skills and have a dinner ready when Tommy gets home.  While eating, Snow asks Tommy if he can help her with the training she would like to start and a couple of other things.

[farothel]

Sammy decided that for now she wouldn't make any progress, so she would wait a couple of days.  She went back to the living room, checking to see if she had a reply on her message to the Club.  She also chatted a bit with Melissa before going to bed.  She would check up on James the following day, she decided.

[Thvor]

Sam couldn't remember having ever been more sore. What made it worse was that he had asked for this--he knew Con well enough to know what to expect when asking to train with the guy. But he'd survived, which he took as a sign that the training was going well.

Lyra didn't have any magic healing spells, of course, but Sam felt much better after a night with her regardless. He was still sore, but he managed to make it to his sparring session with Paul. Thankfully, it was a much more "traditional" training, but after the abuse of the previous day, it was still grueling.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tommy considers the questions about training and nods.  His smile gets broader when Snow accepts the costs of the training as the extra money would certainly come in handy.  They make arrangements to begin on the weekend.  After dinner, Snow brings out the game controller she had picked up earlier at the Stuffer Shack and the three sit down to get some gaming in.  Tommy proves to be the master of the night and Snow the big loser.  Any awkwardness about the living arrangements seems to vanish over the next couple of days.  Snow makes contact with the Vory and gives them an update on her physical situation, telling them that her recovery is progressing well and she should be back to full capability in a few days.  She also tells Andrew about the meeting on Friday night.  "Clem called a meeting of the team for Friday at the Ice Pick.  Would you like to come down afterwards and perhaps try some dancing.  It would be good to get out and socialize and you can show me your signature dance floor moves."

[Necrogigas]

When Friday rolled around, O'Connor made his way to the Ice Pick for the meeting Clem called. The bar was just as dank and depressing as the last time Clem called him out here. The place was such a buzzkill, he wondered why Clem made this place her watering hole. Then again, from what he could tell fun seemed to be a foreign concept to ork. He gave a mental shrugged as he scanned the bar, looking for the rest of his team. It seemed he was the first to arrive, so he took a seat at a table visible from the entrance and ordered a pitcher of beer.

[Mercy Merchant]

Snow walks into the bar and looks around, spying Con at a table.  She waves at him and walks past the bar, ordering a beer before heading to the table.  She hooks a chair out and laughs as she sits down.  "Wow.  Cannot believe now many of these dives I have been in over the years.  So, how is your recovery going?  I still have some aches when I bend over wrong and my chest hurts a little when I take a deep breath."

[HydroRaven]

After a quick shower, Clem got dressed and went to the Ice Pick. Painful as it was to put on, her armour covered her bruises nicely, which the ork was thankful for.

Inside, Clem quickly spotted O'Connor and Snow sitting at a table, a pitcher of what she guessed was beer with them. Surprised to find them there so soon, the ork nodded to them before nodding to the bartender, showing three fingers. The bartender nodded at her and took out three shot glasses, filling them with some sort of strong liqueur.

The ork sat down at the table next to O'Connor at the same time as the bartender was bringing the shots. Raising her glass, she downed the drink in one go and let the glass rest on the table. "I won't lie to you" said the ork, "seeing you without your tattoos is kind of strange."

[Mercy Merchant]

Snow smiles at Clem.  "Hey, Boss.  Good to see you.  How is it going for you?  Sammy and Sam going to make it?"  She looks at the shot glass, not sure if it is meant for her or as a refill for Clem.

[farothel]

Sammy had agreed to the meeting, even though the situation with Marcus was still not completely as she wanted it.  She had given him some freedom, as long as he got good results at school and he let her know where he would be, just in case.  She hoped this was just a phase he was going through.  And she also had been at the Club today to get some more training in countering spells, so she arrived at the meeting a bit late.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, "But I had a training and that ran over a bit.  So, how are you guys doing?"

[HydroRaven]

"They haven't told me they weren't going to come" said Clem to Snow, right as Sammy was arriving. The ex-starlet took a seat and Clem nodded to her, answering her question with a simple "good."

She then turned to Snow and said "Glad to see you're feeling better. Are you still on meds?" the last question was said while Clementine was looking at the third shot glass, still full. "Is that guy from LA still here or did he go back already?"