In comes the beast [Syd]

[Sydney Emerson]

She almost smiled as he told her not to be mean - until her power told her that he was just faking his offense. She had only even said it to bother him after all. She didn't really pay much attention to appearances truth be told - beauty was subjective after all and she didn't have much of a concept of it. It was an intuitive thing, and that was what she lacked. Besides, it was much easier to appreciate someone when they weren't being a jackass which meant the odds were stacked against him.

Still, he said that he would hold up his end of the deal so... well as he put it, why not? She wasn't the kind of person who cared about the sentiment of the thing, so what did it matter? Gestures were only worth the importance each individual attributed to them, which meant to her this was nothing.

But even when she did what he asked, still he wasn't satisfied. However, unlike him, she was acutely aware of what attention his little tantrum was drawing. "Not here," she hissed, grabbing a handful of his shirt and pulling him behind one of the shelves of books, in the back where no one was and they wouldn't disturb anyone.

"What do you mean that wasn't a kiss?" she asked finally. Her tone was thick with frustration, but her expression held confusion. She really didn't understand. "What the hell do you mean it wasn't a 'real' kiss?" Sydney honestly didn't know what more he expected of her.

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod blinked in surprise as she grabbed his shirt, moving along with her like a puppy being pulled by a leash. Don't blame him! She just sort of had that power, besides, he didn't want to miss out on a real kiss and she WAS pulling him to a more secluded area. So he was getting something better! He grinned at the idea, but then frowned again at her reaction.

"You truly have never kissed anyone!" He exclaimed in surprise as answer to her question. He snorted, still in shock, and then he laughed. Mockingly too. At her. He almost pointed at her too, but she was still sort of close. "Oh wow! How old are ya? Like- Fourteen or something?" Wow. Had that really been her first kiss? That was so sad. "You make me sad, mami." He added with a big smile, proving he wasn't sad at all. She repeated her question and he chuckled before clearing his throat as he thought of her capable of hitting him. For some reason, he was starting to get scared of her.

"A kiss ain't just clashing lips, princesa. It's about passion, si?" She was not going to get it, he was sure, but he still tried explaining. "A peck is meant for family! But a kiss, a true kiss, that's just for-" He stopped talking as he realised he almost said 'lovers'. He grinned at her and licked his lips. "It's for fun." He corrected, still grinning, not wanting to make her think him not worthy of the kiss. Poor girl though. He sort of pitied her. He couldn't imagine a life without passion and without fun and that was exactly how he saw her. No wonder she was so uptight.

"Let me show you." He said, "Close yer eyes. Ye gotta concentrate on it, like one of yer assignments." He grinned, leaning closer to her, hovering in front of her face. "Ya lean in," He whispered his instruction, glad that he was teaching her something before she taught him her school stuff. It felt like he had the upper hand. "Kinda... feel the breath of yer partner, si?" He was still whispering, closing his own yes. His hands went to her arms and lightly caressed up and down, wanting to feel the skin. "Ye gotta get into it. If not, neither will feel nothing." He licked his lips, moving closer, lightly letting his lips touch hers just barely, feeling them tingle with the slight caress "and then... you just... sort of... kiss." He didn't move though. He hovered, expecting her to finish the job, wanting so much for her to be as into it as he was feeling. Hey, don't blame him! She was hot and he was sixteen! Besides, the deal was that she was the one who had to kiss him, not the way around. He grinned, eyes still closed, still hovering. "So?"

[Sydney Emerson]

The fact that his first reaction was to proclaim the truth and then laugh at it had her feeling an anger that for once had absolutely nothing to do with what she sensed from him. Especially once he commented on her age. "You know what, I don't need this. You can fail for all I care!" she said. Her hands curled tightly into fists, so much so that her knuckles began to turn white.

She should have left. She had every intention of storming away, but then he began to explain and her need to understand everything kept her there, even as angry as she was. Everything she had ever read had told her that was exactly what kissing was. His explanation so far was only confusing her more and that fact was etched on to her face. Why was this supposed to be fun again? She didn't really understand.

He told her to close her eyes, though she didn't. Instead she watched him as he moved closer, invading her personal space. Of course, he had done that earlier too. Seemed to be a habit of his. Her body was tense, but she felt frozen, too stunned to move even if a part of her just wanted to flee and forget all about this. Yet still another part of her was curious and wanted to learn. After all, she was always trying to understand people and social things. This seemed like knowledge that would prove irrelevant but she wasn't the sort who could pass up any sort of information. Finally she did close her eyes, trying to gather her thoughts and think of anything other than how close he was.

He spoke of feeling the breath of the other person and all she could think was that she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her eyes still closed, she could feel him leaning closer, even as he told her as much. His hands moved along her arms, raising goosebumps on her skin. She didn't understand the point of this. Why should she feel anything? His lips barely grazed her and he simply hovered there, waiting expectantly. She wanted to open her eyes, but she half thought she'd find him laughing at her again.

Sydney felt stupid suddenly and she hated that more than anything.

"I don't know what you're expecting of me," she whispered, acutely aware of the way her lips brushed his as she spoke.

[Rodrigo Santos]

He grinned as she got angrier, almost rolling his eyes at her. It was so easy to make her angry. "There, there, mami. You don't mean that. What happened to teaching and all that shit ye were sayin' before?" Wasn't she all savvy and using big words before? It was so much fun to make her mad and see exactly how she truly was. No fronts here, just a girl being honest. Good. He liked honest.

So now he had her just where he wanted her, though being so close to her was getting to him. If she didn't kiss him soon, he was going to lose his mind, especially when she spoke and her lips brushed against his with each word. "Oh, mami..." He whispered, letting out a warm breath, his hands still caressing her arms, eyes still closed, but he was smiling, enjoying that he'd managed to get her to whisper. Out of breath. If she'd been all cool with this she would be talking now instead of whispering. He thought of it as a battle won, so he wasn't about to give up on the war just now.

"Ye know exactly what I want, princesa." He smirked, eyes still closed, "Just... go for it. Kiss me"

[Sydney Emerson]

Even getting angry only seemed to make him grin even more. He was treating her like a child and she hated it. Worse of all was the realization that he was trying to make her mad and she was only giving him what she wanted. She just couldn't win.

She hated losing.

Then somehow she ended up in what could only be called an awkward and compromising position with him. Why was she doing this again? Because walking away was forfeit. She was too damn stubborn to prove him right yet again. Still, the way he whispered against her lips... It made her tremble a little. It made it seem like this meaningless little kiss was far from the nothing she thought it would be. That made her nervous and she wasn't even sure why.

His answer to her question was less than satisfying. Worse of all was the way she could feel his smirk as he spoke. She didn't know what he wanted. Or why that name was getting to her. She thought she already had kissed him and that hadn't been good enough. What was she supposed to do differently? She really didn't understand and that feeling was more frustrating than anything.

Sydney hesitated a moment, trying to figure out the puzzle and in the end she did something highly unusual - she hazarded a guess. She pressed her lips to his, but this time she held them there, though the kiss was tentative at best. She didn't think that this was what he had meant, but she hoped she had gotten it at least a little right. Still, she felt as though she was waiting for something more, the very something that seemed to elude her still.

[Rodrigo Santos]

And she did it. She kissed him, pressing her lips against his and his smirk widened against her. It was obvious to him that she didn't even know how to kiss, how to move, where to start. It was sort of exciting, being able to teach this girl, corrupting her in some way. Oh, he was bad, he was evil and he was loving it.

Rod had had some girls in his life, less that what he would tell, but still some. He had his first kiss before even coming to Hammel, so kissing was nothing to him. Some girls liked bad boys and that made it all easier for him to just go for it and get some pretty girls. But he'd never kissed such a pure girl before.

One hand made it to her cheek and he held her face there, pressing his lips back, kissing her upper lip properly, eyes still closed. Wow... This was... this was actually very nice. He grunted against her lips, placing his other hand on her waist, keeping her still as he grew more eager. For a moment there, he even forgot where he was. Ah... but this was that ice princess and he so didn't want her to have the upper hand.

Rod parted ways from her, eyes still closed and smiling widely. Wow. As far as first kisses went, that had been something else entirely. He opened his eyes and smirked at the girl. Now he would always have her first kiss. He felt he'd stolen something from her, an important part of her being, and he couldn't feel any prouder.

"And that's how you kiss." He whispered, still smirking, wondering if she was going to be ashamed of it now. Maybe it'd been just him who'd enjoyed it, but who cared? It had still been amazing and he thought it wouldn't be so bad making studying a regular thing if he got one of this every time he met with her.

[Sydney Emerson]

Part of her still couldn't believe she had actually done it. She had actually kissed him. Not well, but she had done it. She had met the challenge and honestly she didn't know how she felt about it. This whole situation was just confusing for her mostly.

It was a new experience. Sydney always focused on expanding her horizons and that's all this was, just a new experience. She didn't care about the sentiment of a kiss - first or no - so this meant nothing. Didn't it?

His hands shifted, one resting against her cheek, the other settling at her waist, both holding her close as he pressed his lips against hers. Her heart was racing and though a part of her understood why - it was basic biology after all - it still didn't quite click. Why was something that was supposed to mean nothing eliciting such a reaction from her? She could feel her face flushing and her pulse quickening, pounding in her head.

At first she was slow to react - mostly overwhelmed and shocked and confused by the whole experience. But slowly she felt herself relaxing, responding. For the first time in perhaps her whole life, the thoughts that constantly raced through her mind were silenced and she just... felt. Her lips parted slightly and she even leaned into the kiss slightly, her hands resting on his arms, steadying herself.

She wasn't sure how long it lasted, but finally he pulled back and when he did she felt... well... breathless. The logic part of her mind told it that was because the act of kissing did restrict breathing and yet... some whisper-soft voice in the back of her mind said perhaps it did mean something.

But she didn't focus on that as her eyes fluttered open, instead she stepped back, barely able to meet his eyes, though she did wince as she bumped into the shelves behind her. "O...kay..." replied softly, unsure what to really say or even think about the experience. Her hand almost lifted to her lips, but she stopped short, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. After all, he had proven this was all a game to him...

Still, she felt a level of satisfaction from him that made her wonder just what conclusion he had come to after that kiss. "I told you I wasn't scared," she said finally, her eyes finally meeting his.

[Rodrigo Santos]

She wasn't looking at him and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. So he'd gotten to her? She took a step too far and winced as she hit the shelved behind her. He reacted, taking a step towards her and pulling her by her arms. "Careful, tonta!" He scolded angrily, suddenly getting nervous, "Yer okay there, princesa?" Maybe he overdid it? He dropped his hands from her arms and raised an eyebrow. Why wasn't she looking at him?

Rod smirked slightly, though still worried that he'd somehow managed to break her or something. But then she looked up at him with the same determination she'd shown before and he raised his eyebrows in surprise again. He chuckled, finding it funny how she'd taken it all as a challenge. "That ya did, mami." He said with a smirk, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in amusement. What a strange girl.

"So, that was nice." He said, still smirking and taking a step back. "So... I paid already." He added a wink for good measure. "Ye can have that homework done by tomorrow. I'll just pass by and pay another kiss then, right?" He smiled, still walking backwards, hoping she would be far too nervous or gone to notice it. Probably not though. This girl was a tough one.

[Sydney Emerson]

She looked up in surprise as he scolded her, pulling her forward by the arms. Did he actually care? He seemed to be an endless source of confusion for her. She always struggled to understand other people it was true, but he seemed to be even more confusing than most. "Yeah, I'm okay," she answered softly, confused by the nervous feeling she was getting from him. Why did he care now all of a sudden?

He may have met her determination with a roll of his eyes, but that did nothing the halt the smug smile that had begun to form on her lips. She had proven her point and she was more than satisfied with that. He thought he had won, and perhaps in some ways he had, but she had showed him that she wasn't a coward and that was enough.

"Yeah, nice..." she agreed, her voice still soft. However what he said next stole the smile from her lips and turned her expression to anger. "Don't you dare!" she said, clearly outraged. She moved forward as he moved backwards. This time it was she who invaded his personal space. She wasn't about to let him get away with this. "That was not our deal and you damn well know it. You said you would follow through and you are going to do exactly that!"

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod grinned, turning slightly, thinking that he'd gotten away with it. But then she yelled at him and he turned quickly at her, raising his hands out. "Hey, this is a library. Ye better respect it. No screaming." He was mocking her previous warning against him but he walked backwards in fear as she approached him until he hit a shelf himself, making some books fall. How was it that someone so tiny could look that terrifying? He still smiled though, finding her anger extremely funny.

"Could be our new deal!" He proposed, still smiling, "Ye get one of those for each homework. Whatcha say, princesa? I can make ya real happy." He was sure she was going to turn down his offer, considering how she was... well, herself. But he didn't care much. In fact, he didn't mind studying at all either. It was all part of the game! Besides, it would mean spending more time near her, bugging her as much as he could and making her frown and yell like she was. God, he had issues, but he truly liked a screaming, angry woman.

Rod chuckled again, smirking at her as he stared at her angry face. She was so cute when she glared... "Fine." He said, finally giving up. "But I want another kiss afterwards." He had his papa's negotiating blood in his veins.

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney bit her lip as he turned her own words against her. It was infuriating, that's what it was, but he was right. She was getting too loud. Taking a deep breath, she forced her voice to go quiet when she finally began to speak once more. "Then don't give me a reason to," she said finally, through clenched teeth no less.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little pleased that despite his earlier remark about her being far too tiny to inflict any damage, he moved backwards until he backed into a shelf as well. Guess she wasn't so harmless after all. "You okay there?" she asked, mimicking his own words to her a moment ago.

"That is hardly a fair offer," she countered. "Besides, I told you, I'm not doing your work for you. No bribe is going to be enough to change my mind on that." She crossed her arms under her chest, fixing him with a stern glare. He could try to change her mind all he wanted, but as she had already proven, she was too stubborn to budge on the matter. "The old deal stands."

She didn't move away, but she did lean back slightly as he agreed. Though she rolled her eyes as he insisted on another kiss after. "If you want me to even consider that then you had better earn it and be the best student I've ever tutored," she shot back. She really didn't plan on kissing him again, but if it motivated him... well, no harm in letting him believe it was a possibility.

[Rodrigo Santos]

Don't give her a reason? His smile turned devious. "I can give ya plenty reasons to scream." He said with a wink, though he was sure miss precious wasn't going to get his innuendo. Meh, it was okay. If he played his cards right, he would show her later. Her little joke wasn't missed and he smirked in response, liking that she had it in him to snap back. "Just perfect, princesa."

And she wasn't backing down. He sighed in response, rolling his eyes once more. So he was going to have to work now? Great. The shit he did for hot girls...

"Now, what kinda motivation is that?" He replied in an annoyed voice, "I ain't no idiot. Yer just gonna play me for a fool!" Besides, he was more of a right now kind of guy. Thinking of future, as in WAY down the road future, reward was not appealing to him. He shook his head, returning her glare.

"You think yer all that, don'tcha?" He said with a grim smile, "You ain't that hot, mami. 'sides look at me. I can get plenty tail without having to do the work!" He was maybe playing himself up a little too much, but she didn't need to know that. "I betcha, after today it'll be you begging me for kisses." He threw her a kiss tauntingly and then smiled widely, wanting to make her angry again. "And I ain't no idiot. I can do the work and get good grades. It ain't that hard." He shrugged, "But only if I'm motivated enough, si? If there's no reason to do it then I won't do it. I'ma be a boxer anyway. No need for all this shit."

[Sydney Emerson]

She huffed softly as he responded with a wink. "Well you certainly are infuriating," she grumbled under her breath. Little did she know that wasn't at all what he was referring to. Innuendo was not her strong suit to say the least. The fact that he called her princess still confused her, but she had to admit that it was growing on her, even if she didn't really understand why. After all, she wasn't the sort of person who had played dress up and dreamed of being a princess - that was more her sister's territory. Still, he seemed to appreciate her little remark. Not that she understood why, but it still gave her a little jolt of smug satisfaction.

Wait, why did she care what he thought?

"Hey, it wasn't a part of our deal and you're the one who said no backing out. Well I followed through on my end, now it's time for you to follow through on yours." He was trying to get more for less and that was not how Sydney worked at all. If anything she was perhaps too shrewd of a negotiator.

She merely raised an eyebrow as he implied she was arrogant or some such. "If that's what you want you can feel free to pursue it elsewhere," she said calmly. "I am here to tutor you, nothing more." Still, she rolled her eyes when he blew her a kiss saying she'd beg him for more. "Hope you don't hold your breath waiting or you'll just end up turning blue."

Honestly, at this point she was about ready to walk away again - just go back to her table and see if he followed or not. But then he said what had to be perhaps the stupidest thing she ever heard. Nothing infuriated her more than someone who didn't value knowledge. Especially when they based their assessment on what could only be called an incomplete thought process. "A boxer?" she asked, skepticism in her voice. "Well first of all, you need to graduate so you have to at least finish the year. Second of all, if you seriously think that being a boxer means you'll never need an education then you are truly a fool. A career in athletics is a gamble from the start. If you even make it into any sort of professional level, that only increases the odds of a career ending injury. What happens when you can't compete anymore? You really think a few years worth of winnings at best is going to last you your entire life? Seriously? You cannot possibly be that deluded."

[Rodrigo Santos]

"But it's a better deal!" He replied back, still grinning. Besides, she'd seemed to like it as much as he had. Bah, who cared? He could always steal a kiss later or maybe just find someone more willing. But he doubted he'd ever encounter someone with her spunk. She was glaring and rolling her eyes and it only made him more amused. How cute was she? Like a little kitten pretending to have sharp nails. Though if they started comparing nails... the thought made him grin, though she was still talking and- Wait what?

Rod lost his smile and he glared at her with every word she said. The way she'd spat out the word after he'd told her his dream made him shake with anger. So what if it was a gamble? He was good at it. What did she know about backgrounds and culture and history? Where his father came from being a boxer was a big deal. What did she know anyway? He growled, feeling his nails grow out of his fingers, making him wince in pain. But he could only see red. He wasn't going to end in injury. He was the best. He trained, he worked hard. What did she even know about that? What it meant to run and hit and jump till your muscles felt like exploding. Had she ever experienced that? Being a nerd was easy, but being an athlete was true work. But she didn't know any of that, right? The thin little thing. She was probably one of those girls who only trained because they wanted to keep themselves slim, instead of truly loving the feel of burning skin, the feel of sweat dripping down every inch of your body and the relaxation that came when you stopped.

"Shut up!" He yelled at her, suddenly grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her until he slammed her against the self he'd been pressed against. "What do YOU know about it? About having a dream of any kind? You think you're all that 'cause you get a few good grades? Any parrot can learn to repeat whatever a teach says. You feel yer better than me just cause of that but you ain't have no idea what it's like. How much work it goes into it. Ya read yer little books and do yer little homeworks. What I do is real. So don'tcha dare judge me, princesa."

His breathing had gotten raged and he noticed his nails had grown and were now scratching the wooden shelf behind her, a hand on each side of her, keeping her from escaping. But he noticed it. She was a girl. A tiny girl. He couldn't get rough with her. So he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. And he'd wanted a kiss from this bitch. He snorted in disbelief. No thank you. He dropped his arms to his sides, but still glared at her angrily.

"Ye want to waste away yer life doin' a shitty job, be my guest. But dontcha try to ruin my dream for me. I ain't biting." How could such a pretty and small girl be so cruel? He wasn't good with words nor was he good at keeping his head cool enough. He took a step back, raising a hand to his face and rubbing it, noticing then that his nails were still grown, the skin around it red hot and bleeding. "I need a smoke." He said suddenly, moving quickly and walking briskly away from her and the library. He needed air... tobacco filled air.

[Sydney Emerson]

She flat out laughed at his proclamation that it was a better deal. He really made no sense whatsoever. At least not to her. Then again, she was usually the oddity so there was a chance the masses would think he was making perfect sense. Of course, she was used to such internal debates. She might be wildly intelligent but people baffled her on a daily basis.

The mood quickly changed though. She was frustrated with his short-sightedness and apparently he did not appreciate her feedback. What took her most by surprise though was the way he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the shelf. The impact stung, but she was too proud to react in pain. Instead she gave him a defiant stare as he yelled at her. He demeaned her intellect, writing her off as useless. Worse than that though was the pure rage she felt coursing through him and therefore through her. It was enough to give her the beginnings of a migraine which was only worsened by his voice.

Still, she forced herself to hear his words. He went to storm off and a part of her wanted to let him. But she was too stubborn for anyone's good. She had the say her piece. So as he turned away to leave she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face her - the force far exceeding what one would expect of someone of her stature, in part fueled by their mutual rage and the rest by her own training. Her fingers dug into his arm though, intent on not releasing him until she was through.

"No, you don't get to say things like that and just walk away. It wasn't about judging your dream - it was analyzing your view of achieving it. For your information, I'm quite familiar with athletics and involved on several teams. I'm not just about books." Why was she defending herself to him? Why did she care? Yet she didn't stop.

"Putting down everything other than what you love is a shitty way to look at life." Damn, he made her curse a lot. "It's not about judging you or thinking I'm better than you simply because my strengths are different. You sure as hell have no right to judge me when you know absolutely nothing about me. All I did was point out that no matter how amazing your athletic career, you have to have something to fall back on because there are real risks. That is just common sense."

Her brow was furrowed and she was frustrated beyond belief. Even her sister wasn't usually this bad. "And what kind of professional athlete smokes? That is stupid and you know it. You have to feel that every time you train."