New Country, New Life

Salone shut the cupboards, her curiosity satisfied. It was an odd habit to have but if she was going to be over here, she might as well figure out where everything was.
Salone turned pink at the thought of Sam getting her a new surf board.

“You don’t need to do that,” She said, turning back around and leaning against the bar across the kitchen facing Sam. “I can get a new one myself. Yeah, I surfed back in my teens… before I got sick. Riley and I used to spend hours on that beach, Mom used to get so mad when I went midnight surfing.” She let out a half laugh half sigh, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling. “I’m rambling, sorry. I seem to be doing that more and more often. “
She looked back at Sam offering him a crooked grin.

Sam curiously watched Salone close the last cupboard and turned around swiftly at the mention of Sam purchasing her a surf board. "Huh, first full day in America and I have already met a surfer, you would have to search for years for a surfer in England, then again surfing the flooded straights after it has rained a lot does not count" he laughed, Sam had always bashed the country he used to live in, sure it was his home, but it was a miserable place, both weather-wise and because of the type of people in it, the people of London were all just pawns working for bigger societies, they would just go to work, do work and then go home, where was the fun in that life? That is why Sam enjoyed what he was doing, he had complete freedom over what he wanted to do, and now that he had no strings attached to the UK, he would gladly get rid of it and move on to a better, more relaxing and more beautiful place like California.

Salone apologized for rambling on about her previous life, but Sam did not mind it, he liked to know more about the people he hung around with. "Seems we are telling histories, I was a regular student in my secondary school and college, got good grades, had good friends" Sam slid off of the counter as he continued his story whilst walking over to his couch, "One day me and my friends plucked up enough courage to venture into the local forest, why? I do not really know, we thought it would be cool, long story short... I was attacked by some kind of spirit and given these powers of mine and my friends did not make it out alive" he said cheerily, it was an act though, of course it still haunted him to this day, but if he tried to seem cheery about it, he wouldn't feel so sad about it. "But you know, it's in the past now, and look at me, I'm happy, I have money, a cat and I have you to make these amazing cupcakes, what else do i need?" he asked as he stuffed some more cupcakes into his mouth.

Salone snorted a not so ladylike snort, “Not a surfer. I used to be, not any more. Anyway if I tried surfing again I would wipeout so many times, I would be so stiff and sore…” She trailed off as Sam started talking again.

“Spirits are dangerous beings, I should know considering I am a bounty hunter on the side. They can warp realities and other such things. Its dangerous dealing with them untrained.” Her voice was touched with a shade of sympathy, she wasn’t scolding him but she had moved herself down to an understanding level. Then she adopted an offended face, “You want me around just for cupcakes?!”

Jokingly she stood and retrieved the cupcakes and made her way towards the door. When Sam moved to intercept her, Salone lightly mashed the cupcake into his nose, “You have something on your face.” She stated innocently, a bit of old Salone coloring through. Then she hid the plate of cupcakes behind her back so Sam couldn’t reach them.

"You want me around just for cupcakes?!" she said, at that point, Sam knew he did not exactly make his point clear, but it was also tough because he could not tell if she was joking or not. She stood up and grabbed her plate of cupcakes "Not the cupcakes!!" he thought loudly in his mind. She turned and made her way towards the door when Sam teleported in front of her blocking the exit, Sam then tried to explain himself "The cupcakes are just one of the many benefits to having you around." she replied by grabbing a cupcake and wiping icing onto his nose, "Very mature of you" he said, half laughing, she then hid the plate behind her back, Sam watched and smiled, did she completely forget about what Sam could do? He vanished into black smoke and reappeared behind her, sliding the plate out of her fingers before she realised what was happening, Sam could feel the warmth of the icing on his nose, reminding him that it was still there, but he decided to keep it there for fun. He threw another cupcake into his mouth as Amber leapt onto his shoulder, she then leaned across his face and began licking the strange coloured substance stuck to his nose, "Well this is hygienic..." he said barely even see Salone behind the body of Amber who was directly in his face, Sam had his hands full so he tried to blow on Amber to get her to move, but she decided to continue eating the icing off of his nose. "When you are finished laughing, could you give me a hand here?" he asked as he could hear Salone's giggles from somewhere in his apartment.

Salone stifled a shriek as Sam teleported behind her and stole the plate of cupcakes. His whole teleporting power was really unnerving.

“I am a very mature person,” She retorted, just as Sam popped another cupcake in his mouth. When the cat joined the fray Salone started laughing. She pulled out her phone and took a picture, planning on blackmailing him later.

“What if I don’t help you?” She teased, poking him in the side before taking the platter so the poor guy could remove the cat from his face. It was a rather amusing sight.
She placed the tray on a side table.

Sam could not see anything in front of him other than black and white fur. The room fell silent when he felt a jab in the ribs, causing him to flinch slightly, he then felt the weight of the tray in his hand lift, not quite the help he was looking for, but it was better than nothing he supposed. He reached up grabbed Amber by the sides, slowly pulling her away as she continued trying to edge forward and taste the icing still left on his nose. He pulled her away and dropped Amber to the ground, when she landed on the ground she ran to her pillow and stood by it, thinking that what she did was wrong and that she would probably be punished. Sam rubbed his nose and cleaned the icing off onto his hand, he then rubbed his hands together to get rid of the rest of, he probably would have licked it off if Salone was not standing right in front of him.

She giggled again as he was finished with cleaning the icing that she placed onto his nose. Sam looked down to the tray and noticed it was on the table, clearly she must have been joking all along otherwise she would already be out of the door. After the events that just transpired, Sam had one thing he wanted to do on his mind, he wanted to do it the second night he had been with Salone in England when he had a lot of great things set up, fireworks, sweet treats and a bonfire. Another strand of her blonde hair slipped down in front of her face and watching it pushed Sam into doing what he wanted to do. He stepped forward and was quite close to Salone, he brushed the strand of hair out of her face as she was looking up at him with a face that said "What is he doing?..." Sam then leaned down slightly and kissed her lightly on the lips, he had wanted to do it for so long and he was glad that he finally had it out of the way, he only did it for a second and pulled back slowly as if he wondered if he had made a mistake, he took a step back and looked to the ground thinking that he should not have done it and it was a bad idea all along, he continued looking down until he had a reaction from Salone, he hoped that what he just did would not ruin their friendship, but he could understand if it did, he took a risk.

Salone turned back around to see Sam watching her with a curious look on his face. Salone pushed the strand of hair out of her face and no sooner as she had done this Sam was standing in front of her.

“Sam?” She questioned and was about to question further when he kissed her. The poor girl was now in the situation she had wanted to avoid; Salone inhaled sharply in shock after he had pulled away. Well… she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t noticed that he liked her. Jake’s face flashed vividly in her mind and Salone sat there rooted to the spot. Boys… why do they cause so much pain? Maybe Salone should be a nun; thus sparing the pain of her liking two different guys.
This was bad… very, very bad.

“What-what was that for?” She asked, feeling very conflicted. If Sam was looking for a relationship then he was barking up the wrong tree. Salone had veered off and away from them for the time being… after Stonehenge… She really didn’t want to hurt him… but at the same time… she didn’t want to hurt herself. Salone’s brown eyes searched his face, trying to think.

She didn't say "Wow that was amazing" like he really wished she would say, he immediately regretted his decision. He looked up and sighed before grabbing two cupcakes off of the tray and walked slowly away from Salone. Another sigh released his body as he took a bite out of a cupcake "Since the second night we were together when I had that whole night planned out, I planned to do what I just did now, back then, but I didn't get the chance when you flew away... There's just something about you being around that I really like, sure you have your own things going on with being a spirit hunter and what not, but I just really like you... plain and simple, and I took a risk and now I'm beginning to regret it" he said as he was holding the second cupcake as if he was going to throw it onto the ground in anger. Sam span around as if he just thought of something, Amber was perched on the edge of Sam's couch with her eyes wide open, wider than usual, she actually looked pretty shocked as to what had just happened, it was almost as if she could understand everything that was going on, "But the thing is, sure I look like and feel like a complete idiot and you probably like me less for doing what I just did, but I've wanted to get this off of my chest for a while now, and I just feel a lot better for doing... You can just go if you feel too embarrassed by all of this, I can understand if you want to take a day and then come back when I'm not acting like a lunatic" Sam tried to make himself feel better by thinking that he just had a lack of judgement for a moment and he made a stupid decision.

Salone stood there and bit her lip, her brain working furiously.

“Sam- I- sam,” She said softly, coming over to stand in front of him. “You were there when we came out of Stonehenge correct? I am not the same… generally I’d be thrilled but… “ Salone waved her hands, apparently having issues and now her decision about not telling him about her condition was coming back to bite her. “When I first met you, I didn’t tell you I had four years to live. I didn’t tell you I was in pain every second. I didn’t tell you that my powers were killing me… I didn’t want you to look at me with pity… and now- Sam… I am not really human… not after the Stonehenge incident and technically I am not going to age at all…”

Salone winced and then covered her face, “There was also emotional damage done and I can’t get past it. I saw horrible things and right now I don’t want to be involved with anyone. I like you, I really do like you- it’s just… “

The woman was flailing with words trying to explain her situation… and the dragon… or rather dragons, mainly the one that had imprinted on her soul and leaving her mark on Salone’s flesh… well… when did life get this complicated?
“Sam… I just can’t.” Her voice broke on her last syllable.

Sam did not look very surprised, and yet he was still upset inside. She talked about how whatever happened in Stonehenge changed her completely and the fact that when they met, she only had four years to live. "Don't call me crazy, but I can talk to a princess of imagination through that crystal" he pointed to a table that had a small cushion on it, resting on top of that was a multi-coloured shard, "She told me that she was going to try and get me to become ageless as well" he said, if they was to be together, they could literally be together forever as long as nothing fatal happened to them.

Salone then went on about how whatever happened at Stonehenge scarred her, possibly for life. "Obviously it was hitting you hard yesterday, and then I visit you for a day and look at you, you are back to your old self now... Whatever I am to you, apparently I make you feel better and make you forget all of this emotional damage stuff, is that not what you want?"

And then she said she simply can't. Sam needed something else to look at right now to save himself from his embarrassment, he looked left to his cat who was still perched on his couch, this time with a slightly happier expression than she had a short while ago, he could still see Salone looking at him in the corner of his eye, but he could not bring himself to look back. After a few moments of silence, Sam began to nod his head slightly as he began to understand the situation and understand what he had to do. "It will probably be tough for you as it will be for me, but just try to forget I did anything then, it was a stupid idea anyway, if you're gonna leave you can take the cupcakes too..." he said with a low toned voice, as if all of his quirkiness had been sucked from him by what just happened. Sam turned right and took of his shirt again, he had only been wearing it for a short while but he had been sweating more than usual and it was understandable. He tossed his shirt into his kitchen as he walked to his bathroom, planning on having a shower and washing away what had just transpired.

Salone shook her head from side to side, he still didn’t understand. It wasn’t that easy… or simple…
The dragon raised her head and growled slightly and Salone flinched as the noise rocketed around inside her head.

“Sam,” She caught up to him right before he entered the bathroom. Salone wrapped her arms around his middle from behind and hugged him tight. “I am so sorry.”

Then she left, the tray of cupcakes still sitting on the counter.
Salone didn’t run away from the apartment, rather she walked calmly. Her eyes glazed over with pain and sorrow. Then she shifted as soon as she was out of sight and a large grey dog, trotted away from the apartment.

Sam was about to open his bathroom door and enter for a shower, expecting Salone to be gone by the time he was finished. He heard Salone call his name once more but did not react to it, he continued opening the door until he stopped when a pair of arms wrapped around his body and she was pressed tight against his back "I am so sorry." she said, what was she so sorry about? Sam was the one who should be sorry, he never should have brought it up in the first place and he doubted he would ever bring it up again, if it went this badly the first time, it would be a long time before he would do it again.

Sam removed his clothes and had a warm shower, he had already had one earlier and he was clean, but he just wanted something to do to get his mind off of what had just happened. He spent several minutes in the shower, longer than he usual does, at one point he was just standing still with the water falling down his back, lightly banging his head against the window of his shower "What...an...idiot..." he would see, one word with each bang of the head. When he was done, he exited the shower the approached the window, he wiped his hand across to remove the condensation and showing his face, he needed a pep talk "This is not something you need to dwell on Sam, you either don't take no for an answer or you just move on... And judging by what she said, I think moving on is the best idea..." moving on was the last thing he wanted to do, but it was also the smartest. Sam exited the bathroom with just a towel around his waste, he figured Salone would be gone, but checked the living area just in case. He took a step in to see no one around, something shiny then caught his eye, it was the plate of Salone's cupcakes that he asked her to take, he sighed and looked down "Moving past her is going to be harder than I thought..."

Salone was at her door step when she realized she had forgotten the cupcakes. She pressed her palm against her forehead, stupid… stupid… She sighed before walking into her house. Salone would just go get it when she knew he wasn’t home.

She flopped down onto her couch but started moving again within seconds of sitting down. She stood and went down stairs to the basement, spotting Penny’s punching bags. Perfect. Salone dashed upstairs and changed into her work out tank top and shorts. Bare foot she moved the punching bags outside and began to pound them with a series on intricate kicks and then ran back inside for her target. Salone tightened her weapons belt around her hips and picked up a black bladed knife and threw it, hitting the target dead center and buried itself up to the hilt in the block of wood.

Salone moved over and pulled it out with ease, the muscles not even twitching on her arms. She was as buff as females came without looking like a scary body builder. She backed away and turned her back and threw the knife, once again hitting dead center in the target.

Sam through on some new clothes and stood staring at the tray of cupcakes with a tilted look. "Why?... Why did she have to leave this here?... Now I have to go back..." Sam sighed again, he had a habit of doing that now, his whole outlook on life changed in a matter of minutes and every thought of something he did not want to do made him sigh. He looked to the side and saw Amber staring at him, flipping her tail around, "Can you take this for me?", it then slowly shook its head from side to side sending a shiver down Sam's spine, what a co-incidence that she shook her head to a question... Anyway, Sam sucked it up and grabbed the tray.

Sam was walking down the street with a tray of cupcakes, he felt ridiculous as he watched people stare at him as they walked by. Sam used his memory to remember where Salone lived, when he found the place, he stood by the front door and did not knock. He could just teleport in and leave the tray inside without her knowing he was even there, but that was too cowardly, if he wanted to move on from her, he would need to be able to see her on a regular basis. There was three cupcakes left on the tray, he munched down two and then plucked up enough courage to knock on the door. A few seconds later, the door swung open and Salone was there, this time in a different outfit, a tank top and shorts, she was sweating slightly, she was possibly venting out her frustrations just like he had been. She was quite surprised to see him until she saw the tray, he gave a friendly smile as he grabbed the last cupcake and tossed it in his mouth, he then passed the tray out slightly as he swallowed it.

Salone was inside getting a drink of water when she heard a light rapping at the door. She had pulled her long blonde hair up into a ponytail, she was sweating slightly, and her knife belt was still wrapped around her hips.
To her surprise it was Sam, slightly damp from his shower. Her lips twitched upwards in amusement as he ate the last one.

“You’re wet,” She stated, taking the tray and stepping inside, leaving the door open if he wished to come in. “And was it you or the cat that ate the cupcakes?”
Salone paid the floating plate no mind as it wandered over to the sink on its own. Having telekinesis did have its perks. She leaned against the counter, behaving like what had happened earlier never happened. Salone did wince however as her shoulder twinged from being over exerted in knife throwing, she had been practicing with her left hand.

He was indeed still slightly wet, he never did give himself a lot of time to dry off, all you could is stand still and wait and he hard far better things to do. "Oh Amber was all over these yeah" he spoke sarcastically, "The cheek that she had to only leave me one..." he walked into Salone's house, it would be rude not to after she offered. He walked through the door and found himself around the kitchen area. Jokingly, he began opening all of the cabinets around him, inspecting several tins of canned goods in the process, he looked around to see Salone smiling at his immaturity, "You have some really good storage here" he said with a smile, it was a silly joke but he found it funny, he had to stop himself from laughing out loud and ruining the joke altogether.

He closed the final cabinet and turned back around who was not looking very impressed by his joke, Sam then noticed sharp knives attached to her belt, he pointed to them as he said "Are you about to chop up a salad or?..." Unfortunately Sam could not look at Salone for too long without remembering the actions that transpired an hour or so later, he had to keep looking around her house several times to stop himself from feeling the way he did before..... you know... But no matter how hard he tried, he would always remember how he liked everything about her, he almost wanted to excuse himself so he could slap himself around the face and pull himself together, she was literally driving him crazy.