Another Try (Lexington)

"Ah, how are we going to do it this time?! Do I actually get to see some tits or is it another surprise choke.." Sarah gave him a look that said that wasn't going to happen, but it did put a smile on her face. He was really straight forward if nothing else and there was a lot to respect about that. He certainly didn't fuck around.

"Ahh I see, well it's no biggie really. Everybody has there bad and good days. Think about this as our way to clear the air and get to know each other.. By the way I noticed your arm seems a little weak, you okay?"

"Yeah, well no not really. I've got this problem where I keep having my ribs busted up by the people I fight." She tried to raise her elbow up and quickly had to pull it back down, breathing even left a slight twinge at this point. "That's about as far as I get right now. On the other hand I can take a hit without getting immediately knocked out so I mean hey, that's something right?"

She held out a hand, "I'm Sarah Crestwell, I thought I'd do an actual introduction rather than flirting with you and then going straight to the breathplay."

"I'll be right back, Ivy" She lowered her hand after the shake and gave a nod, watching him as he seemed to fix himself something with boiled water. Maybe tea, maybe instant coffee, it wasn't until he got closer that she was able to see the oatmeal in the cup. There was something so strange about seeing kids eating oatmeal, at least, she had felt that way about it. She always thought oatmeal had been a thing people ate because they felt they had to rather than wanting to, but then again that could have just been her own personal aversion to it speaking. "C'mon if you've got nothing goin on lets walk and talk. I'm a pillar, you wont get no heat ahaha"

"Yeah I'd like that," she said as she made her way into the hallway, turning to follow him along the way. She remembered that he was a Pillar, having written a short story about it. She remembered cutting the very short article out and putting it up on the fridge for herself. It was something she had done since she was a kid, a teacher once told her that her mom would like her art so much she might put it on the fridge and well, mom and step dad had been busy fighting so she went ahead and put it up herself because she was proud and that was what mattered.

"So you must be really strong then, huh? I mean like, a lot stronger than I thought when I went to go confront you about the tattoo... which obviously probably wasn't you given your reaction." She gave an apologetic smile and continued on, "So... what made you want to become a pillar?"

"I didn't get THAT good of a look at the tattoo only because you were all over me, but I think that's me ahaha. My guess, you probably were at a party with me and we went on a private trip somewhere along the night, who knows?"

"That theory would hold up but I woke up naked in a room with like, three or four other people.... all boys. So like, unless you were really persuasive to all of them too I'm really unsure," she shrugged. "I don't even remember anything from the night before, so maybe someone slipped something in my drink. I was safe and went to a hospital either way but they said everything checked out and stuff so who knows. As for the chest, don't press your luck though it feels as though quite a few have gotten a good look."

"But uhh I guess you could say I'm pretty strong, I usually workout everyday and fit in my MMA lessons at night or early morning with my father. Sports in their respective seasons. Fall is football and wrestling is in the winter, run and throw for track in the spring and practive heavy MMA in the summer. Keeps me tight, but honestly I love it. NFL here I come, right?"

"Nice, that sounds like it keeps you pretty busy," She added in, listening to him and talking to him was really quite informative. She was learning quite a bit and she liked that she was getting to know him. He did work with Macht afterall since they were both pillars, at least she thought that was how it worked here too. Unless it was just some sort of weird four way power struggle.

"What made me become pillar? Honestly, I feel like a regular guy in a weird school, I'm not trying to fit in, but I want to understand the way this place works, one day I decided to challenge the former pillar and he never showed up so now I'm the second Pillar. Everyone says it'd be difficult to try and take the title from me, but hey I invite all challenges. I love challenges. Being a Pillar does skyrocket your publicity around here though. So, tell me a little about you?"

"So I see," Sarah gave a nod to the girls who then shot her a nasty look. She shrugged and mouthed 'I'm with Macht!' and flipped them off before turning to face back at Lex. "Me? Well, uhh I'm actually seeing Macht. I'm guessing you know him since he's one of the pillars and all that. But that's not really something about me just, something new that I'm kind of... excited about?" She gave a nervous laugh and kept going. "I moved here from Kentucky, I live with my mom in a shitty apartment and mostly I'm just trying to soak up whatever fighting experience I can so that I don't have to get my ribs broken every week."

She raised up her shirt a bit to show the bandages and the signficant bruising on her side before lowering it back down. "That's as much as I'm gonna flash you today," She shot him a wink, "I wish I could get into MMA. I'd probably refine my form quite a bit. I learned some kickboxing from the Y and one of the instructors was way into WWE stuff and taught me some of the wrestling moves that don't require the other person throwing themselves into it. That and a few real wrestling moves that they use in it. I don't know too awful much about it but I want to learn more, you know?"

She shrugged gently so as not to hurt her sides from it. "So what do you even do as a pillar? Not implying anything with the question just, I never really got into school politics at my last school as it was, and I don't imagine it works the same here."

"Yea, I understand where you're coming from. I like learning this stuff, I learn Mixed Martial Arts just about everyday. It pulls me into a lifestyle, but sometimes you've gotten just be real with yourself. I'm a neutral kinda guy."

So it made a bit of sense to say the least. He was just trying to get by, no more, no less. That seemed like a really respectable stance if nothing else. She wondered if being a Pillar might be a bit too much attention for someone trying to do that, but then again also figured that he'd be a lot less toxic for the spot of being a pillar at the same time. It's not like he was about to go abusing power, after all.

"Err, as a Pillar as far as I know, they want you to be like the law. Be a good guy and keep everybody in line. Turn this broken school into something salvageable I guess. Personally, I roll how I want to. Speak softly, but walk with a big stick.. or something like that. Pillars don't necessarily have to be good however, take me for instance. I can lean towards bad or good if I wanted to. I couldn't care less. There's not many people around with the balls to just walk up to me, at least that's how it looks to me."

"Well yeah, I figured they didn't have to be good. I don't really have an idea of good, at least I don't have an example to go by. Kind of the product of some fucked up stuff you know?" She gave a small shrug and continued, "But I've seen plenty of bad and from the looks of it you aren't bad. At least, I don't peg you as bad and I tend to be a pretty fair judge of character so we will see you know?"

She remembered how he talked about martial arts, "Would you be willing to show me some of your martial arts sometimes? I mean, Macht is showing me the ropes too and stuff just, I like seeing different ways of doing things. If not, no worries, you seem like someone who is just cool to hang out with too." She thought about something that she had been holding onto in her bag, something that might be considered bad.

"Do you.... smoke pot by chance?" She asked, "I'm not implying anything or assuming anything, it's actually an offer. And it's a good way to get to know someone from my experience with it and this guy named Varus."

Lex agreed to give her some tips and stuff to help her get a bit better. She seemed to get a pretty positive response from the guy though and it relaxed her a bit that he did in fact smoke occasionally from the sounds of it. "Funny thing is I just smoked a little bit before I came in. I'm not that big into it, sometimes it really slows you down and impairs you, but before school or if I have a free spot in my schedule I may try it."

"I kinda need it I think. Not like an addiction thing cus duh not really a habit forming substance. But like, for anxiety." She grinned and felt kind of dumb, "If you already did no pressure but would you like to just hang with me while I excuse myself to the roof to do this before class? It also seems to help with some pain I'm experiencing in my ribs."

She wondered what Lex knew about everything that was going on with the school. She had talked to Vivi about it, the shit that happened with Mikey and all that and the stuff that went down with the computer lab. She had heard about other stuff happening at the school too. "So what's uh, what's the deal with everything happening here? Like the attacks and stuff? Do you know what any of that is about? This girl named Vivi told me about some guy named Mikey and a group but I'm still trying to figure out what the fuck is actually happening."