the gauntlet discussion

You can sit along its side, or throw in some change and wish you don't die in the Gauntlet.

Mitch was having a pretty good day, other than some chick staring at him really harshly in the cafeteria earlier this morning cough Juliet cough. Everyone was dead tired, but he was energized for what was to come. That, of course, was because he was one of the lucky ones. Well, he would call it something more than luck (skill), but he was pretty sure that his drive came mostly from not wanting to see his brothers ass as he ran ahead of him ... straight into the arms of triumph. Since he hadn't, Mitch was more exuberant than he was exhausted. All except for the aching that was coming from all the bruises he'd gotten during the competition: victory was painful. And damn, his feet were officially a mess. He reeeeally wished he'd worn socks that morning, maybe it wouldn't feel like he was walking on a pile of rocks right about now.

He flopped onto the edge of the fountain and tore off both of his shoes, which he abandoned on the ground. Mitch twisted around and plunged his feet into the chilly fountain water. That felt like a mixture of better and worse all at once. He really wished his element was water right about now, then maybe he wouldn't be feeling the irritable sting as it sunk into his open wound. He was 90% sure that some dumbass had dropped their knife in the wave pool during the competition, and he'd taken one to many steps right into the edge of its blade. The little piece of shit was nowhere to be seen, so he could've imagined it, but Mitch was pretty sure that he knew was a blade felt like.

After tracking down some food, Dan was feeling significantly more awake. His body was tired and he knew that he’d sleep like a rock that night, but at least he would be able to make it through the rest of the day without feeling like a walking zombie. But now that he’d spent the morning recovering from last night, he knew he had to get in some training, if for no other reason than to make it look like he was actually doing something, instead of just bumming around. Personal training would start soon for him, so he had to at least keep up the look of caring, or something like that. So Dan took a shortcut through the fountain to head back to his dorms to gather up his workout gear. But as he cut through, he saw…shit, was it Micah or Mitch? they both looked the exact same…one of them, with his feet in the fountain. From the look on his face, Dan guessed that he was soaking his feet. Dan considered his options for about a milisecond, before changing course and walking over to the fountain and sitting down about a foot or so away from Raemer. (He wasn’t going to tell them apart, so might as well play it safe.)

“Rough night?” Dan asked, pulling off his own shoes and examining his own feet before sticking his feet in the water. His years of running around in the woods had given some decent callouses, but he’d still gotten a few blisters and bruises of his own, he’d whacked his foot solidly against something in the wave pool at one point, and he’d probably stepped in a few sharp things as well, since his feet were also covered in a fair number of scratches. Dan mimicked Raemer and stuck his left foot in the water as he moved his right foot around in circles, trying to stretch it out. “Hey, congrats on the competition too.” Whichever twin he was, they’d both finished top ten, so Dan knew he’d be seeing them in training and around.

Mitch found out pretty quickly that he was something of a magnet. First that Seth guy plopped down next to him, and now this. He knew he was attractive, but he had always expected that the girls would be more into than the guys. Joking, joking. Kind of. He recognized this guy. Yeah... Oh shit! Yeah, no wonder! This guy was in the top five with him. Mitch saw him speeding ahead during the chaos. This kid was wicked fast. "Hey, buddy," he gave him a good-natured punch in the arm, "No rougher than anybody else's." He grinned, forgetting about the wound on his foot. "You're that Moss kid, aren't you?" Mitch inferred, already nodding his head, totally convinced. This had to be him. The only other male in the top five was that Hartley kid, who looked like he couldn't win even if he tried (surprise surprise). Plus, this guy wasn't wearing glasses. So Mitch was pretty sure that he was on the right track. "Man, dude, you're awesome. That Pierce kid almost beat me." --consider it big of him to admit it-- "I'm Mitch. Since you're probably trying to figure out what to should call me." There was humor in his tone, as there always was, but also a soft undercurrent of something less than excited. He'd beat Micah out, at least there was that, but he was not a happy camper whenever someone thought he was his brother. I mean ya we're twins, but come on. Don't I give off some cool glow or something? Do I have to wear a sign on my back?

Dan let his other foot drop into the water and just grinned at Raemer’s greeting. True, everyone’s night had been rough, but some more than others. Dan accepted the punch to the arm. This guy had finished pretty high too, so if he wasn’t out for blood within the first few seconds of interacting, Dan took it as a good sign. “The one and only,” Dan said sarcastically. Not technically true, but whatever, this kid wouldn’t know the difference. Pierce had almost beaten this guy…so he was the one who finished higher. Good to know. “Dan. Nice to meet you, Mitch.” He said in response to Mitch’s confirmation of his name. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re a twin? Because I’ve only seen double once when I was really drunk, which was not the case last night.” That had really thrown him for a loop last night, before the start of the race, he’d seen two faces that looked identical but were wearing different clothes. He hadn’t thought much of it, but with one of the faces in front of him right now, he might as well confirm it. As for the subject of Pierce, “Yeah, I saw that.” He said. When he’d gone up to see the results in the gallery, there’d only a seven-second difference between Mitch and Pierce. Ouch. Pierce was going to hate that. “You might want to consider sleeping with one eye open for the next couple nights,” Dan said, only half-joking.

Mitch snorted - an annoying byproduct of scoffing and laughing at the same time. "Unfortunately," he confirmed. He didn't give any explanation as to why exactly this was unfortunate, but his smile reappeared. "Maybe we can get our hands on some alcohol somehow, sneak it in and see triple or quadruple." He suggested through his grin. His pops wasn't a big fan of ale, so Mitch hadn't had it for ages. Then he got his own place and, well, the pub was something of a third, no fourth, home to him now; right behind his old man's place, his place, and work. The forest and dirt trails were also pretty homey, though, great for sparring with trees and other inanimate opponents. Maybe he should've focused on his speed a little more, then he could brag about more than a seven second win; talk about cutting it close. Mitch chuckled. "Don't worry, I've already got it covered. If I pretend to be my brother, than that's who he'll go after." He crossed his arms, looking convinced. "Completely full proof. While he's busy trying to put a knife in Micah's back, I'll be training. I'm beating him by a mile next time, not a few feet."

Mitch offered no explanation of why being a twin was unfortunate, and Dan could imagine why. Not everyone got along with their siblings as well as he had, and if Lyca and Nate were any example, things could get nasty fast. Which was unfortunate, because brothers were the best, if they were on your side. “Now there’s an idea” Dan said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Mitch. “If you find a way to get some in, let me know.” Not that Dan was a huge drinker himself, but sometimes there were things that you saw or heard here that needed to be processed with something stronger than water. You know? Also, alcohol was the fastest way to loosen people up, then maybe they wouldn’t all walk around with sticks up their asses. That look got really old, real fast around here.

So Mitch’s idea of escaping Pierce was to pin it on his brother? That was a new and exciting idea. “Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side.” Dan said, impressed by the ease and nonchalantness with which Mitch was able to say that. So bad relationship with brother it was then, Dan said to himself. But if it worked, and it got him a win, Dan could see why it was a good plan. Mitch could slip out of trouble simply by saying that he was the twin that a person did not have a problem with. How conveniently maniacal. “Is this what you two do? Just prank each other?” Dan asked on a limb, unsure if Mitch would even answer, but it was worth a try anyway.

"Long story," Mitch anwsered thoughtfully. He figured it was pretty obvious by now that he and Micah weren't on the greatest of terms, but Dan hadn't asked why. What a stand up guy, Mitch decided. That being said, it was exhausting to have that shit looming over him, so... "My brother and I haven't seen each other for years, and that's not an over-exaggeration. I think the last time I saw him was when we were ... ten, maybe? I lived with my Dad all my life, and Mic was with our Mom." he paused, glancing over at Dan. There was a bunch of other shit he could whine about, but it seemed unnecessary. So what, right? Short and sweet was the way to play the game.

"Oh man, I wish. He didn't live close enough by to do anything that fun. If he did, he would've gotten a lot of very-angry-at-Mitch chicks slapping him in the face." There was a very long pause where Mitch narrowed his eyes in thought. Then his features relaxed into a smirk, and he leaned back against his palms. "I could use a partner in crime, since, in this case, there's only one of me. Wanna have some fun pranking my twin?" Dan seemed like a pretty cool dude, as far as he'd been able to tell. Conversation with him was easy-- the real typa friendly that Mitch was liking over all the tenseness the academy offered.

Most stories were long, Dan thought to himself. So Mitch’s story would probably stay secret for a while. Which was fine by him, everyone deserved the rights to their own secrets, despite what he’d said to Kara earlier. Sometimes there were just things you didn’t tell people. But then again…Dan had been wrong before, as Mitch started talking about him and his brother. Dan listened, his expression becoming more and more sympathetic. “Damn. I’m sorry man, that sucks.” He said when Mitch had finished. Separated from a sibling by something out of your control? Dan understood that pain. He totally understood that. Growing up without a brother? Dan couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. To know you might have had a best friend, but they weren’t there? Ouch. Major suckiness. Dan smirked at Mitch’s hypothetical situation. He would have responded, except that Dan knew that if he had a twin, he would totally do the same thing. The “I didn’t do anything, you’ve got the wrong one!” mentality. Way to easy to picture himself doing the same thing.

Dan opened his mouth to say something in response, but Mitch beat him to it. Partner in crime. Dan paused, and leaned back slightly, sizing Mitch up. He hadn’t done anything that made Dan think he was being malicious, and he seemed friendly enough. There was no underlying, secret agenda in the way he asked, or in the way he was currently sitting, leaning back and probably planning a wide variety of possible pranks. Was there the possibility that this was a trap he was luring Dan into? Potentially. But, if he was being honest and wanted to pull a good prank, and Dan wasn’t in on it? He could never forgive himself. “Prank someone unexpectedly when they totally deserve it? Yes. 100% yes, count me in.” Dan said, pulling one foot out of the fountain so he could set it on the fountain edge and turn to face Mitch properly. “What did you have in mind?” Because had a few ideas, but as Dan knew from experience, it was always better to let the initiator take the lead.

Satisfied that Dan was of the opinion that Micah "...totally deserved it...," Mitch grinned from ear-to-ear. He waited a long time to hear those words come out of somebodies mouth. Since he and Micah didn't really grow up together, it never happened. Dad was too lenient stupid parent stuff about not talking shit about your kids and the other kids didn't really know his brother. Only some of his older friends that saw or met him when they were little. "Okay," he began, scooting closer. "Here's the plan." he shielded his words with his hand, leaning over so that Dan didn't have to strain. He laid it all out end to end, telling Dan exactly what he had in mind. He'd been scheming for years, though, admittedly, it was mostly because it was his default 'have nothing else to do but daydream' setting, and he hadn't actually expecting to come to a point where it would come in handy. But life had a funny way of bringing you to a point where you could just mess with your brother. As it should. Mitch pulled away, eyebrows risen, ready for his plans approval. He crossed his arms, looking pretty proud of himself. "In?"

Dan saw the mischievous spark in Mitch's eye, and he knew even before Mitch leaned over that it was going to be good. He listened intently as Mitch laid out his plan. It was fairly straight forward, with two equally important and hilarious parts. Dan would do one part, Mitch would do the other. Mitch's part requires a bit of a lighter touch, and seeing as this was his idea, made perfect sense. Dan was light and fast on his feet, so his part wouldn't be too complicated. When Mitch finished laying out his prank idea, Dan leaned back and nodded. Was he in? "All in." Dan said with a smirk and a nod. Ooh Micah, you were in for it.

Dan pulled his feet out of the water and shook off the water droplets. It wasn't worth putting on his shoes, they'd just get wet, and this would be better barefoot anyway. Dan glanced at his shoes, debating whether or not to take them with him, but nah, he'd be back here soon enough. "Alright, I'll go check, if he's not in there, I'll keep checking until he is." Dan said to Mitch. "Good luck!" He said, and took off towards the dorms.

Once he was in the dorms, Dan padded down the hall towards the bathroom. As luck would have it, just as he turned the corner, he saw the other Raemer twin walk into the bathroom with a towel. Perfect. Dan waited outside the bathroom for a few moments before he heard a second shower turn on. Then, in his bare feet, Dan opened the door and walked through the bathroom as if he was just passing through. There were a couple people in there, a guy in a towel standing outside what seemed to be a girl showering. That was kinky, but whatever. Dan padded down the line of showers to where Micah was, and reaches in around the first shower curtian (Micah was in the shower behind the second curtian, otherwise this would've gotten realllll awkward), and grabbed Micah's clothes and towel. Satisfied in his reconnisance mission, Dan bolted. It wouldn't take Micah long to figure out what happened, and Dan had somewhere to be.

Dan sprinted as fast as he could with the huddle of clothes back toward the fountain. True to the plan, Mitch was gone. "Enjoy, Micah", Dan said, and tosses the bundle of clothes into the fountain. Satisfied, and not wanting to be caught in the act, Dan grabbed his shoes and took off running again, away from the way he'd come.

After he'd finished everything up at the climbing wall, granted feeling a little guilty about what he said to Dan, Jamie found himself at the fountain. His thumb rubbed over the coin in his hand and he frowned, pursing his lips before casting a glance around the area. He didn't see anyone....so for a moment he shut his eyes. He'd never admit his little wish to anyone, but he was quick to toss it into the fountain, scowling slightly as he did so before running an aggressive hand through his hair. Which is about when he heard the rustling behind him, and found himself quickly whirling around to see who had just shown up.

"Geez....a little more warning next time, I thought you were some psycho competitor shown up to off me while my guard was down. Unless that's your plan....in which case, I'm not going down without a lot of begging and pleading for you to spare me,"

"When have I ever spared you?" Lyca asked, sitting down on the fountain's edge and kicking her feet out -- she leaned backwards and dipped her hand into the fountain, picking up a couple of coins. "None of these are your coins, are they Jamie-baby?" Anyone who had thrown a coin in this fountain needed a lesson on how the universe worked, and how luck played no legitimate part in it. She looked at the coins, before tossing them back in the water with an uninterested expression. She looked back to him, raising her eyebrows, "What? Why are you staring? Do I have something on my face?"

Truer words had never been spoken. It had long since been decided that Lyca was an ally of Dan, which meant that she naturally clashed with Jamie. Which was fine with him, it's not like he'd ever been interested in becoming best friends with the Delacroix girl anyway, he was fine to keep things civil though. "Me? Relying on a coin to win? As if, I'm gonna become a Guardian on pure talent, babe." He winked at her then, a grin tugging at his lips. Ride or die, right? And besides, he wasn't lying. None of those coins were his, in the manner that he made the wish for himself. No. For once he had been kind of selfless and made a wish for someone else. So it was bound to come true now, right? Maybe. He hoped so anyway. But in his thinking he'd kind of zoned out on Lyca.

Which left her raising her eyebrows with that level of snark only her face could convey- it really was a gift. "Maybe I'm just enchanted by your beauty, Delacroix. I mean you, with the fountain, water reflecting on your skin and making you glow. It's all very romantic." What, he could tease. Besides, since Dan wasn't around, he might as well try to have a little fun.

It was true that Lyca had always liked Dan better, but she had always had an appreciation for Jamie back in the good old days. The two boys had bickered incessantly, since Jamison thought he was too good to hang out with the Moss boys, but Lyca had always stayed outside of their rivalry, choosing to eat popcorn from the sidelines instead of being directly involved. Benefits of that, she never had to choose a side, and she could still be civil with both of them. Now that the Gauntlet was on though, she wasn't really sure how that would change. If she was getting closer with Dan, did that mean she was distancing herself from her and Jamie's easy banter?

"What talent?" she teased, matching his grin with a smirk of her own. Lyca laughed at his words, adding a flip of her hair for good measure -- she stretched out her legs and straightened her posture, striking an attractive pose for his benefit. As if. "I know this isn't a beauty contest, but if it was, I would win." she fell back into her own form, throwing her hair back over her shoulders where it belonged. "And you're not so bad yourself, I guess. I wouldn't call it romantic though, you have more of a too-spiky-of-hair, sweaty morning-mist kind of glow. Wait... don't tell me... are you pregnant?"

Ooooh. Ouch. He pressed a hand to his chest, lips parted in a surprised look of pain and brows furrowed together. "You wanna take another shot at my ego? I don't think you hit the heart yet. First insulting my skills, then my looks?" He shook his head in disappointment then, as though he expected better of her. His tone taking on a more feminine nasal quality. "Lyca Delacroix how will you ever find a suitable husband if you're flaunting around like that? It's downright scandalous." He thought it was a pretty good imitation of Mrs. Delacroix, if he did say so himself.

"Dammit, Delacroix......That was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to announce it at the next big dinner party your parents held and now you know and it's not going to be nearly as shocking," Jamie sighed, shaking his head as though thoroughly disappointed, "And here I thought I was concealing it really well. I mean I'm hardly even showing," He pulled up the hem of his shirt then, revealing his stomach to the brunette girl as he looked down with a scrutinizing look as if behind those abs there really was a baby.

As if any shots to his ego would actually do him any damage, they both knew that he was basically flawless, so anything that she said would not be taken seriously by either of them. She could say he looked sweaty and his hair was too spiky, but it was working for him. His skin was tan enough that the sweat didn't look entirely bad with over-red face or something, and his hair looked like a girl's fingers would still run through it without much resistance, and those were the literal two things she had found to tease him for so, he wasn't doing so bad.

"You disgust me. And who said I planned on finding a suitable one? I was thinking of getting myself a nice little farmer boy, or maybe those guys that dig the latrines in the prison yards? What do you call those?" she replied, not impressed by the mocking of her mom. Not that she cared for her mom, he just didn't have her accent quite mastered -- or her personality, since she couldn't care less who Lyca was married off to. She cared enough to make it look like she cared, but really, Lyca could marry any guy she wanted.

Lyca watched him lift up his shit, and she fanned herself mockingly as her eyebrows lifted as well as her lips in a smile. Jesus. "Damn, Jamie, been hitting the gym lately? Wait, can I get pregnant from this?"

It was such a smart move that Lyca kept those thoughts to herself, because she was absolutely correct in the notion that Jamison did not need anyone to boost his ego but himself. He was just that into himself. It was a gift really. The ability to have so much confidence in yourself that no one can really tear you down. "A farmer boy? Lyca, babes, please. I thought you did good in the race so you wouldn't have to shovel pig shit. Now you want to marry a farm boy and spend your whole life shoveling pig shit?" Did her and Moss switch brains last night or something?

Moss had seemed uncharacteristically more charming and witty today.

"If your standards are lowering that far then I at least gotta be in the running by now?" After all a couple years ago he'd proposed to Lyca when drunk off his ass, saying they were probably going to end up paired up anyway so why not just kiss him now and cut all the waiting around. She'd responded by dousing him with whatever drink she'd had in her hand and laughing as she told him to sober up because even drunk she wasn't going to marry him. It'd been a good time with a bunch of people, back when the gauntlet was just a distant objective of the future.

But now she was fanning herself and Jamie was laughing as he dropped his shirt, "you know you probably could've been at risk.....but with all that tom foolery between you and Daniel last night I'm sure he's beat me to the punch. Are you craving bananas? Or do you feel like you have to go live at the top of a tree now? Those are all sure signs of a Moss pregnancy."

"Okay, I'm not actually interested in marrying anyone. I think I'm going to stay single for ever, that way I'm a long-lasting disappointment, just to be spiteful." she decided, feigning to him like she had actually put thought into it. As it was, she really didn't have any kind of idea of what she wanted from her life... if she would ever get married. To be honest, having kids and a ring on her finger was at the bottom of her priority list, if it was even present. She wanted to be a Guardian, and a girl like Lyca would settle for nothing less.

Lyca rose her eyebrows in a sassy fashion at his next question, unsure how best to answer. "We could never make each other happy, Jamison, I've told you this before. No one can love you more than I do... oh wait, nope, you can do that. You love yourself so much, that it doesn't really leave room in the universe for anyone else. Therefore, I have said it before and I'll say it again if you keep proposing to me this way -- I will never marry you."

She reached for the bottom of her pant leg without thinking about it, plucking out the small throwing knife she had in her ankle-stirrup. What? She had to protect herself, who knew what nasty boys were around here? She played with it, twiddling with it in between her fingers. If she wasn't incredibly practice with knives, she probably would have cut herself when he mentioned Dan. "What? He told you? We were just wrestling around, literally nothing happened. Did he say something did?" she asked, not thinking he was the type to do something like that. But how else would Jamison know? "And fuck off you know I would never fuck up my life by getting pregnant."

Oooh. Someone was not keen on the marriage life. But that wasn't really that surprising to Jamie. After all, this was Lyca. She was the baby of the Delacroix family, and he'd never really seen a maternal instinct in her. He doubted that she would ever really want to have kids. She seemed more the type to just want to live life. As a Guardian apparently. Funny how one girl could win and suddenly girls all over the world were thinking they could win too and be the next Guardian- if anyone could though it was Lyca. She was tough as nails.

"Are you saying if I propose in a different manner you might accept? Well now I should really start planning, after all we all know how I'm going to be a sugar baby to whoever wins this year." He grinned then- glad that Lyca wasn't close enough of a friend to tell when he was faking a smile. After all, it's not like he had a lot of choices. His parents had been pretty clear about their expectations....bring home the Guardian status or be disowned. Funny thing about being raised with a silver spoon was that once it was taken away you realized just how little in the world you could actually do. Even Moss could do more than him.

He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair and pushing those thoughts away as he focused on Lyca once again. Easier to focus on Delacroix drama than his own issues.

Oh now wasn't this interesting. Not the knife thing. Lyca had always had this weird fascination with knives that Jamie never understood, and he figured that if she really wanted to hurt him or kill him she probably would have done it in the past decade that they'd known each other. So he wasn't nervous about her trying to hurt him. Instead he walked over to the fountain, sitting down next to her on the edge with a grin. "Oh? Are you worried what Daniel might be saying about how last night went?" He only kept up the tease for a moment though, knowing full well Lyca would easily push him backwards into the cold fountain if she felt like it. "Relax, Daniel's not saying anything to anyone. I went to the gym last night, saw your little 'wrestling match' and decided to go back to bed instead. Didn't want to interrupt what looked like a hot and steamy scene from a trashy romance novel,"

"No, it doesn't matter how you ask, don't go looking for loopholes, you'll only end up disappointing yourself in the end." she replied, rolling her eyes at his persistence. Sometimes Lyca wondered how she could be friends with both Jamison and Dan, two guys who were so entirely different -- what did that say about her? They both hated each other, yet liked her? Sometimes it didn't make sense, especially in moments like these where they were discussing marriage. Well, not seriously. Not as serious is Mrs. Moss' discussions were, at least. Because in reality, there was a chance if Lyca's mother got her way, she would have ended up marrying one of the two boys. Sucks to suck, Momma Delacroix.

Lyca shifted away from him slightly, not wanting to be too close to him when she had a knife in her hand. She wasn't afraid that the knife would slip and fall into him, she was just being safe. Not to mention being close to Jamison wasn't at the top of her priority list, with a knife or without. She didn't have anything against him, he just liked to sit a little too close than their friendship permitted. "I'm not worried he would say anything about how anything went, because nothing went?" she replied, not exactly what he thought he had seen.

She wasn't worried that Dan had confided to Jamison their almost(?) whatever it was, she was afraid Dan had told someone about the secret she had confided in him. But obviously if Jamison knew about that, he would have rubbed it in her face already -- it was just his personality. "Trash romance novel?" she scoffed, not appreciating his evaluation. "I whopped his ass, and there was nothing else to it. If you want to keep teasing me for what you think you saw, I'll do the same to you. Licking and all -- that's how I assert my dominance. Don't test me, Jamie-baby."

Jamie held up his hands then, noticing how Lyca had scooted away from him. "Alright, alright, I'll stop with the proposals." After all he didn't want to be the next Mrs. Moss. Pressing marriage at every event like she was pushing drugs- it was sweet....but overbearing to most people. Jamie usually didn't mind it though, which was probably why she adored when he came over and probably why he kept getting invited to Moss events. He was the most willing to tolerate all her questions about what he planned to do in the future. "Although I do think you'll come to regret turning me down one day, I'm quite the catch. And you have to admit, our kids would've been genetic blessings to the world." A simple truth, even if he was teasing her about it. Honestly? Jamie didn't even really think he wanted kids.

"Oh please, spare us both. For one thing, I don't need Dan's germs transferred from your tongue to my physique," He gestured down his body with a grin then, before his eyes met hers with a wink, "And for another once you get a taste you'd never be able to refuse my proposal. I'm irresistible, Baby Cakes." Hey, she wanted to use 'jamie-baby' then he could be just as sickeningly sweet too. In fact he was pretty sure he could beat her out in bugging her with nicknames. He had quite the heavy arsenal of them. "So what's bugging you, Delacroix? I mean here you are having trudged all the way out here, probably to be alone, and you're fiddling with your knives." Something he knew for a fact she did when she was worrying something over in her mind. "I mean you don't have to tell me, but if you want to talk, I can keep a secret," You know. When he knew that it was a secret meant to be kept.

Besides- once a year he had to be a decent person. So why not this moment right here?

"Genetic blessings, my ass." she snorted, not at all buying it. Sure their kids might look cute, but they'd be trash for people on the inside, that was for sure. Neither Lyca or Jamison had a parental instinct to save their life -- hopefully none of the Guardian competitions were concerned around raising or taking care of children, because they would both probably fail miserably.

Lyca grinned at him, appreciating the wink because he did have a nice body. "You know, you are pretty irresistible, come to think of it." She wasn't being serious -- I mean, no one could deny that he had a lot of attractive qualities, but there was just something off about Jamie that she couldn't put her finger on, and it had always left her distancing herself when he tried to get close. Like this offer right here to confide in him, she just wasn't interested. Besides, he was way too into himself to be trusted to put anyone but himself first if the opportunity presented itself.

"I don't have any secrets to share, Jamie. I'm an open book, didn't you know?" she teased, still playing with her knife. If he wanted to see her twiddling with metal as a nervous tick, he could, but she mostly played with her throwing knives because she liked them so much. Lyca stared at him, making it clear she wasn't trying to hide anything with a pretty convincing honest expression. "I'm just out here wasting time before my training session with Dan, where we will be training, and nothing else, if you were wondering."

Lyca could say all she wanted, but Jamie had known her since they were practically in diapers. Just the same way he knew Daniel. He might think the guy was the most annoying person to walk the planet, but he knew plenty about him. So he could tell when she was blowing smoke- like right now. "Alright. Alright," He held his hands up then with a grin already clambering to his feet. "keep your secrets Delacroix." After all, it's not like he actually expected her to say anything, more of a 'hey if you've ever wanted to complain about something now is your chance' kind of offer.

Keeping his hands in that gesture of surrender he clucked his tongue at her, "Up, up, up. I don't want to hear about it Delacroix. I mean maybe you think it was training, maybe Dan thinks it was training, but I saw you two sparring. You don't hesitate before licking a person unless you were debating putting your tongue down their throat instead." Please, he had that same moment himself way too many times. The 'should I really kiss them?' moment, the difference was he pushed himself to do it and didn't chicken out like Lyca had. "But yeah, just training. You and Daniel are just friends. Good luck in the next competition. Maybe with training you'll be top ten with Moss." Shrugging his shoulders he gave a half wave before heading off and letting her sit by the fountain to relax with her thoughts before her little training session.

That was just like Jamie, as soon as the conversation wasn't interesting to him anymore, he started to end it. Not that Lyca really minded, it would be stupid of herself if she didn't admit she was the same kind of way. It was just a little annoying when other people do it to her -- either way, she didn't mind too much that Jamie had to go, since she should be getting ready for her training session with Dan anyways. Was he going to bring up what had happened in the training center before? She most certainly would not be. "I'll put my tongue somewhere on you if you don't drop it, Jamie, and I promise that you're not going to like it." she quipped back, annoyed with how much he thought he knew about her. It didn't matter if it he was right, he didn't have to boast about it all of the time.

"I will be in the top ten, regardless of Daniel." she called after him, not entirely sure if he had heard her with his quickly retreating back. Lyca sighed loudly, throwing her knife into the ground a few centimeters away from her foot. Stupid know-it-all-boys. She pulled the knife out of the ground after a few minutes of mindlessly staring at it, then headed back to her dorm to change into gym clothes -- hopefully Joelle wasn't there... or hopefully she was.