Sam and Alice - Backdated to the Halloween party

[om_malice]

The saloon girl and the other cowboy dance for a bit, before he completely throws Alice off her game by just being Sam Guthrie.


Sam had spent a good portion of the party socializing and having chats with whoever wanted to have them. He'd been at the school for a little while now, but he was still getting to know everyone. It was one thing to know a name, an age or someone's powers, but it took time to really know people. Sam always made an effort to really do that, too.

After enjoying a quick drink, and watching some of the students dance, he noticed Alice on the other side of the room, and decided to approach her with a friendly smile.

"Hey girl," he greeted. "How's it going?"

"Hey, cowboy," Alice replied with a bright smile. She'd been meaning to go and talk to the other cowboy at the dance, Paige's brother, so she'd been delighted to see him headed her way. Made sense, really; she was a saloon girl. "It's going great - despite your lack of chaps." Because, come on, chaps, and of course she had to tease. "How about you?"

Sam laughed, and shook his head. No, chaps were a big no. He'd never wear those things!

"It's going pretty okay. You guys know how to throw a nice party," he complimented, and gestured to her outfit. "I like your costume---we kinda go together a bit, don't we?"

He made a soft laugh at that.

Oh, he was so cute, honestly, Alice smiled brightly at that comment, biting down on her bottom lip at his laugh. "We really do. I was briefly tempted to go cowgirl, actually, but then I saw this outfit and my choice was made." The clothes were so much more fun than the cowgirl stuff. Although she would so have gone with chaps, if she'd gone there.

"For what it's worth, I think you woulda made a real pretty cow girl," he told her honestly, and smiled. Not that she didn't look pretty in her costume right now, but still!

"So, you come to these parties a lot, do ya?"

Did he actually know how charming he was? Alice had no idea (for now), but she liked his smile. A lot. It was the kind of smile that made you smile back instinctively, before you even realized you wanted to. And then his question made her laugh. "Well, you know, any excuse to dance." Which, of course, made her want to ask him, and she tilted her head towards the dance floor, eyebrows raised inquisitively. "Wanna?"

"Dance with ya? Of course--how could I say no to that?" Sam replied, and held his hand out so he could take hers and lead her towards the dance floor. He wasn't trying to be charming on purpose--more like polite and friendly. Though, he did have to admit that Alice was a very beautiful girl, and he did enjoy talking to her. Not to mention, that costume looked really nice on her.

"I can see why you like dancing," he told he with another warm smile.. "You're pretty good at it, girl."

"You're pretty good at it yourself," Alice assured him with a smile. "You know, for a white boy." Clearly teasing, and playful, and her hand settled on his hip as they danced, assurance that she really was just teasing.

"I'll take that as a compliment bein' as I ain't been in any dancing classes before," he laughed, letting her guide him along as they moved across the floor. "You ever take lessons, or are your moves all learned by your bein' graceful?"

"I take dance here," Alice confirmed. Although it mostly wasn't this kind of dancing they learned, it still helped, a lot. "But dancing's mostly just about listening to the music. With your body. I swear, that makes sense," she laughed at her own words.

"It does make sense. Music's kinda funny like that," Sam reasoned. He liked the way Alice had worded that, really--it made the whole thing sound kind of neat. Maybe he'd have to dance a bit more and see if he could get what this listening to music with your body was about. "Is dancing something you've always been into?"

"This kind of dancing, yeah, sure," Alice agreed, by opposition to the kind they did in class. "Like most girls like dancing. Actually taking classes, though, that's new."

"That's cool. You interested in other kinds of dancing, too?" Sam questioned her as they moved across the floor. "Like the fancy stuff they do in competitions and stuff?"

"Well, who doesn't love a good tango, right?" Alice grinned. Tango was so. freaking. sexy, and she couldn't wait to see the boy-on-boy version getting prepared as a side project for dance class. "But even a waltz can be special. It's all about the partner, you know?"

"Yeah, it is, ain't it?" he asked with a returned grin. "Maybe that's a class I shoulda checked out!"

"Are you only here for a year?" Alice asked, honestly not sure how old he was. He looked like he might be a senior, but who knew.

"Yeah, I'm hoping for that. I'm eighteen now, but I dropped out of school awhile ago so I could work and support my family after my father died," Sam explained. "I just got a lot of catching up to do, and a lot of work to do when it comes to my powers. It'll just take a ton of effort to do both, I reckon."

He paused. "Are you in your senior year?"

"Junior," Alice replied with a quick purse of her lips. "I missed a few months of classes when I manifested." And besides, Jenna looked older than Alice was, so it wasn't the first time somebody asked her that.

She certainly didn't look her age at all, not that there was anything wrong with looking a bit older. "Yeah? Was it a big adjustment or somethin'?"

Alice laughed, surprised; it had been a while since she had had to tell that story. "Xavier's rumor mill has failed you," she congratulated him. "It kinda was, yeah. I lost my body. This isn't actually mine," she added, when he looked confused.

"Your---that's not your?" he frowned. "What happened to your real body?"

Alice pursed her lips, then answered, "'Poof'?" with a gesture of her hand that seemed to accompany the sound. "Or, if you want the Xavier version, it transmuted into psionic energy. But I like 'poof!' better."

"Poof is a way simpler way of puttin' it," Sam said, and managed a tiny chuckle. Some people had the weirdest abilities here, but he still thought Paige's were up there with the weirdest. The girl could rip her dang skin off! "So...then you just got a new body after that? How?"

"Jenna wasn't using hers," Alice replied, tilting her head to the side. "Bad car crash. It was empty, they were about to pull the plug, so I hitched a ride and made her parents very happy."

It was nice that Jenna's parents were happy, but that almost seemed unfair to people who cared about her. It was a very questionable situation, and there was no black or white to it. It didn't seem like anyone won here--who wanted to spend their life in someone else's body?

"Do you talk to 'em?" he asked curiously. "I mean...ah, do they still think you're their daughter?"

"Oh, yeah," Alice immediately answered. Even if she'd wanted to disabuse them of that notion (she hadn't), what could she have told them? 'So I hope you would've donated her organs after pulling the plug, because this is more like a full body donation.' "Some amnesia and behavioral changes are to be expected after the trauma, and the coma." A hint of sadness tinged her smile. "They're really nice people. They love their daughter."

Sam watched Alice for a moment, sympathy starting to overtake him. If there was one way to really tug at his heart, it was by family. And Alice had fallen into an unfortunate situation with one sad family. In the end, even if it was a bit of a grey area issue, Alice did save that family a lot of heartbreak. Sam knew that people had a very hard time grieving the loss of a child.

He couldn't say he wouldn't do the same in her shoes, honestly.

"That's...real nice of you, girl. To do that for 'em," he told her. "What about your life, and your family? Did ya hafta leave that all behind?"

"My family sucked," Alice replied simply, and bluntly. Sure, she missed Boston and her friends, but her family... Wow, and now just thinking of them was sucking the fun out of dancing. She tilted her head towards the buffet. "Wanna get a drink?"

Sam forced up a smile, feeling bad for even asking her that. "Yeah, come on. Don't worry none about your family--we can grab some food, too."

Alice smiled, as if nothing was the matter, and hooked her hand in his arm to walk over there. Once they were a little less close to the amps blasting the music, she relented with, "Sorry about that. It's not just real nice, I'm not just doing that for Jenna's parents," she explained. For some reason, right then, it mattered to explain. "I get something out of it, too." Loving parents. She smiled again, the same it's-all-fine smile, and let go of his arm to step towards the drinks. "What's your poison, cowboy?"

"I'll just have some punch," he told her. "And it's okay. I didn't mean to upset you none or anything. If you're happy, and they're happy, at least y'all are making the best of the situation. Not everyone woulda stuck around like you did and pretend for 'em. I dunno what I'd do in that situation--how I'd even handle it at all."

He smiled. "I think ya got some real strong character in your heart, girl."

Alice was the saloon wench; she turned to pour him his glass of punch, and herself one while she was at it. She listened to him as she busied herself with that, still not sure that there was anything but selfishness in sticking around. Whatever, she wasn't going to argue about it, especially not tonight.

His last words took her by surprise, and it clearly showed on her face as she looked up at him, both glasses ready in her hands. Raised eyebrows turned into a brief, confused frown, before the party girl shiny facade reasserted itself, and she smiled brightly at him, handing him his cup. "Thank you, Sam. You sure know how to sweet talk a girl."

"I try. I wouldn't want you walking away without feelin' nice," he told her fondly. "You got my respect, Alice. A lotta it, actually. I know that probably don't mean much, but it's true. I think you might be one of the strongest people at this whole dang school."

This time, it was less surprise and more ongoing confusion that fleeted, more briefly, across her features. "You barely know me," she pointed out, lips quirking into a half-smile a little too belatedly, and why had it become so hard to hold his gaze. Not that it stopped her from doing it, and she played up the joke. "Give it time. Wanna little extra in yours?" she offered, eyes cutting down to his cup for an instant.

The flask tucked away on the side of her bodice was still not empty, and honestly, she could use a little extra in hers, and she couldn't even really figure out why.

"I like to think I'm a good judge of character, even so. Faith in people--even strangers--is a good thing to have," Sam spoke. He liked to think the best of everyone he met, really. "Prove me wrong, if you wanna, but that might be hard to do."

He gave her a nod about the flask. "But sure. Top me off if you got some to spare, darlin'. I'm always up for a real drink."

Alice felt completely off balance, now, but she did her best not to let it show, just smirking at him as she pulled the flask out from against her breast, giving him her own glass so she had both hands free to open it. "Cowboy after my own heart," she stated as she topped off both of their drinks, then put the flask back where it belonged. "What are we drinking to?"

"Just to having some fun. Forget the serious stuff," he told her. "To fun."

"Now that I can get behind," Alice assured him as she reclaimed her glass, and tipped it against his. "Here's to fun."