It turned out Sam was misinformed most of his life, while some of his favorite books he managed to squirrel away included information about Atlantis the place was apparently real and he indeed had met the princess. Still, he doubted she acted like one only because his brief interaction with her but he was there to make up for it. Sam knocked loudly on the door where he was pretty sure the princess was staying it took some smiles but he managed to get some information from a few of the girls on the floor. Sam also managed to dodge the gray haired woman wielding the baseball bat that seemed to always be waiting for him whenever he entered the woman’s hallway. (It helped he climbed in from the window).

”Yo! Duchess.” he got the official title wrong on purpose. She he was hoping would find the humor. Normally he wouldn’t make a room call to a stranger but seeing as she was an ambassador he should at least apologize. Yes, he considered the mansion his home for now, Yes he wanted to make sure it wasn’t his fault there was a war between nations and yes, she was from what he remembered and the brief research he did, very attractive.

So there might have been some selfish reasons for him to be there but he was feeling the gesture would have been appreciated by the pseudo-home leaders. Last thing he wanted was to be kicked out of the mansion.

The Mansion heating was broken. Again. For people who lived in a world of comfort, things seemed to break around the school all the time, either because of someone's powers, or for completely mysterious reasons. Either way, the rooms were suffocating, and Amethyst woke up in a bed crunching with low quality opals. She had to sweep like two pounds of them into the trash can, and then she took a showed just for good measure. She was putting on her dress for the day, a frilly light blue piece with silver-and-turquoise jewelry, when someone knocked - no, banged - on her door.

>>”Yo! Duchess.”

She knew that voice. What on earth was he doing in the girl's dorm wing? Was he just here to annoy here? A distinct possibility.

"It's princess." she corrected as she opened the door, hair still wet from her shower "What do you want, shark food?"

”Hey!” Sam waved to a group of girls passing by while he waited, when she opened the door Sam smirked and waved to her, ”Shark food?” Sam waved his hand a bit trying to get a feel for it. ”No, I’ll need a better nickname. I beat that session, lot easier when you don’t get pushed from behind.”

Sam pulled up a newspaper article he printed off of herself and offered it up. ”But yes it is, princess.” he added pointing to her then the photo of her. ”Turns out you weren’t ****ing with me.” Sam smirked, ”took me a week to hear someone else mentioned living in the hallway with an actual princess. After that I had to see what the big deal was.” Sam leaned on the door frame. ”I was disappointed to see it was you.” he smirked again.

”So what are you doing today?” he asked, ”You up for a drink in town? Coffee or I can make some here and you can tell me all about yourse- Atlantis.” he said correcting himself. Yes she was attractive. However she did feed him to some sharks so he had to keep that in mind when talking with her.

What was he even doing in the girls' dorm? Some other girls walked by giggling, and waved at him. This guy was popular.

>>”Shark food? No, I’ll need a better nickname. I beat that session, lot easier when you don’t get pushed from behind.”

"I really don't care." Amethyst deadpanned. The whole Danger Room thing was stupid, and anyone who took it seriously to play around in there with terrifying monsters had a gear loose, or two. "What do you want?"

>>”But yes it is, princess. Turns out you weren’t ****ing with me. Took me a week to hear someone else mentioned living in the hallway with an actual princess. After that I had to see what the big deal was... I was disappointed to see it was you.”

Touché. Amethyst huffed. Of course now that he knew she was royalty, he came back to talk. He was not the first person at the school to try to make friends with an Atlantean princess. None of them were particularly good at it, and Amethyst only liked suck-ups who were good at their job.

She glanced at the paper. It was some kind of a colorful publication that was writing something about her fashion choices.

>>”So what are you doing today? You up for a drink in town? Coffee or I can make some here and you can tell me all about yourse- Atlantis.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "I doubt they allow you to make cocktails in the school." She was not just going to go out into the city with this guy. "You really don't know anything about Atlantis?"

Clearly she was a diplomat, her curt response to everything made Sam think she was sent her more for looks instead of someone who interacted with the public. Then again she could constantly be hounded by people, and maybe Sam was just another person asking her questions in a long line that never seemed to end. Must be exhausting. The icemancer gave her the benefit of the doubt and smiled. ”Right, then.”

”Duchess,” he said on purpose, ”Duchess, I think you should know that people don’t allow me to do anything. I do what I want when I want.” he nodded his head, ”I mean, I meant go make a cup of coffee. I make a strong cup, but if you want something alcoholic in nature keep in mind I am a teacher here. So I know where to go and where the good stuff is at.” he lied, technically he was on a sabbatical according to Aly but he didn’t want to argue with anyone so he just didn’t.

”Not a thing, hence the reason I decided to come get the information from the horses mouth so to speak.” Sam pointed at her, ”You being the horse in all of this.” he smiled, ”I know, super annoying when someone wants to learn about you and where you’re from.”

>> ”Duchess, I think you should know that people don’t allow me to do anything. I do what I want when I want.”

He was getting her title wrong on purpose. What an ass. Amethyst was wildly annoyed by his attitude; the man acted as if he ran the place, even though he'd just admitted to losing most of his memories, and his experience with them. And for some reason he was here, talking to her. Did he see her picture in the paper and realize she was important?...

>>”I mean, I meant go make a cup of coffee. I make a strong cup, but if you want something alcoholic in nature keep in mind I am a teacher here. So I know where to go and where the good stuff is at.”

"You were a teacher." Amethyst deadpanned. He was certainly not in charge of anything now that he was seventeen years old again. Especially since he did not even know Atlantis was a real place, let alone knowing anything about its inhabitants.

>>”Not a thing, hence the reason I decided to come get the information from the horses mouth so to speak."

"Are you calling me a..."

>>"You being the horse in all of this. I know, super annoying when someone wants to learn about you and where you’re from.”

Amethyst's eyes narrowed. Did he want a lesson on Atlantean culture? He would get one. Sam needed a reality check about the people he was messing with, to see how disrespectful his... entire being... was. The princess huffed, brushing past him as she headed to the kitchen. Coffee was the one good thing in this entire building.

"If you make coffee as well as you say, I might answer your questions."

”Oh lucky me!” Sam said sarcastically as his eyebrows raised watching her walk away before throwing his hands behind his head and following. He did want to know more about her so guess that meant dealing with a lot of attitude, which Sam found both interesting and annoying.

After he entered the kitchen he gestured for her to take a seat. Sam walked over to the cupboards and started to prepare the coffee dishing out way more into the filter than one would expect to. The coffee here was good and if you were like him only needed one cup meaning said cup would be strong as hell.

”So any freebies while we wait or should I fill the gap with personal questions?” Sam smirked as he removed some mugs from the cupboard. One of the mugs said princess, Sam smirked as he set it front of her and gestured a mock bow setting his ‘the boss’ across from her. ”So do you prefer to go by princess or Amethyst… you only get one.” Sam added as the coffee started to fill the pot.

>>”So any freebies while we wait or should I fill the gap with personal questions?”

Amethyst took a seat while Sam busied himself with making the legendary coffee he'd offered. She was curious if he could live up to the expectation. She was also curious if he actually wanted to know things about Atlantis, or if he was playing with her, or if he had some kind of a weird American idea of what Atlantis was, filled with attractive mermaids and golden statues.

>>”So do you prefer to go by princess or Amethyst… you only get one.”

Amethyst wrinkled her nose at the mug. Princess was her official title, but every time Sam said it, it sounded like mockery, and she knew he'd make a habit of that if she let him. "Amethyst is fine. So, what do you want to know?"

”Amethyst it is.” Sam sad nodding bummed it wasn’t going to be ‘princess’ he’d still probably throw in a mock princess every now and then it he kept running into her. Either by chance or intentional. He wasn’t sure yet, but he wanted to see how this hang turned out.

”Everything?” Sam asked, shrugging. ”Honestly I can read about the place but never been there. Been everywhere. Never Atlantis. What’s it like? Green, blue? Mermaids? Statues of bronze?” the icemancer looked back to the coffee. It was just about finished. Grabbing both mugs and spinning on his heels he walked over to the pot and started to pour.

Walking back he blew on his coffee and started drinking it almost immediately the heat didn’t bother him. ”I mean, most of the time when stories get out about the place it’s usually doctored up to make the place seem like a vacation spot. Half the time it isn’t. Let’s start with you? What was it like growing up as a princess?” Sam said adding a mocking tone to it before remembering she was answering his questions about the place.

Amethyst was intrigued to hear what kinds of questions he had for her. Was it about the place itself? The people? The women? Probably the women. Some people also asked about mutant rights, which always got annoying really fast. What did he want to know?

>>”Everything? Honestly I can read about the place but never been there. Been everywhere. Never Atlantis. What’s it like? Green, blue? Mermaids? Statues of bronze?”

Amethyst leveled a glare at Sam. "Mermaids? Really?" That was such a cliché.

The coffee did smell good, though.

>>”I mean, most of the time when stories get out about the place it’s usually doctored up to make the place seem like a vacation spot. Half the time it isn’t. Let’s start with you? What was it like growing up as a princess?”

Vacation spot? Most people she'd met did not have an opinion like that of Atlantis. It was mostly because of the X-men spreading all kinds of stories about the gorgons, she was sure of that. As if other countries did not have their social problems.

"Let's see... I had bigger rooms, servants, bodyguards, good food, and lots of fun" she noted, sitting back "King Atlan personally oversaw our education, but there were also grand balls, and feasts and..." she sighed wistfully "Why, what was it like growing up... whatever it is you are?"

Well he got what he wanted when she described the balls, feasts, bodyguards and servants Sam immediately understood why she was the way she was. Sam did want to know more about the woman and her culture he just didn’t expect it to… he didn’t know what to expect.

Sam smirked and sipped his drink, ”Nothing like that.” Sam said with a shrug, he doubted she really wanted to hear about his up bringing anyways. Most people around the mansion knew or had some idea he determined. Clearly it was hard to hide your past here. ”More, concrete cells and training.” Sam said with a shrug trying to keep it vague as possible. Most people were put off by killing targets.

”My education was more need to know.” Sam said shrugging more, ”Most of the stuff I know I had to discover on my own.” he said truthfully. ”Life sounds fancy.” he raised his mug, ”Sure this place is a lot different.” he too know the feeling but for different reasons.

Amethyst only had a vague idea of what growing up was like for Americans. People at the school seemed to come from vastly different backgrounds, everything from foreign nobility to... kids from the streets. She doubted any of them had a royal upbringing quite like hers, though.

>>”Nothing like that. More, concrete cells and training. My education was more need to know. Most of the stuff I know I had to discover on my own.”

Well, that was a whole lot of nothing. Trained as what? Sure they did not raise him here to be some kind of a soldier... because if they did, this school was even more messed up than she'd thought. Concrete cells? Did they have those in the basement too? Back home, those were for gorgons only.

>>”Life sounds fancy. Sure this place is a lot different.”

Finally, something they could agree on.

"A whole lot" she sighed, sipping her own coffee, which was, in the end, not bad. "So... what are you, anyway? Some kind of a soldier?"

”I’m a Sam.” he said hefting his coffee mug in a cheers motion. Sam took a casual sip for dramatic effect then added, ”I was a mercenary.” Sam said starting to sum it up. In short he was. ”Kidnapped, trained and held on a leash.” he shrugged. ”It got boring quick though.”

Old Sam would have probably kept it quite but he was again time displaced so if she wanted to, the princess could have found out from anyone she asked. Not that she would have. Sam was getting the impression this conversation was getting stale.

The icemancer smirked, ”I arrived at the mansion a decade before I better looking.” Sam said stroking his chin in a joking manor. ”So the place must have been some kind of step up for me.” he said sipping his drink again.

”What do your people eat?” he asked debating if he should keep referring to them as hers. Only because he was trying to tease her not encourage her ego.

>>”I’m a Sam. I was a mercenary. Kidnapped, trained and held on a leash. It got boring quick though.”

Amethyst arched an eyebrow. So, he was a soldier. Someone who had been trained as one, even if against her will. That explained his build, and the way he handled his powers. Back in Atlantis, he could have been royal guard. He certainly had the looks.

>>”I arrived at the mansion a decade before I better looking. So the place must have been some kind of step up for me.”

"Well that makes one of us" Amethyst noted. It was definitely a step down for her. Which meant she was halfway to whatever hellhole Sam had crawled out of.

>>”What do your people eat?”

Decent food.

"Lots of... what you call seafood. We just call it food." she chuckled "Sea creatures. Also, lots of fruit and vegetables... I hear it is similar to what you call Mediterranean. Why, what do you like to feast on?"

The icemancer smirked at her curt response again into his coffee mug. He didn’t know if he should have been offended or not so he just did what he normally did when he didn’t know what to say. Kept his mouth shut.

He however almost choked onto his next sip when she made a joke not expecting her to have a sense of humor from what he seen. Sam was funny and she wasn’t giving him much. ”Seafood and fruits and veggies.” Sam nodded his head committing that to memory if it was their only source of protein they must have been awesome at cooking it. Though he doubted the princess would know any recipes. He might ask anyways.

”Everything?” Sam said shrugging, ”Pizza, is pretty good here. Seafood isn’t bad.” he then added, ”I’ll have to look into Mediterranean maybe take you out some time.” he grinned, ”I mean, it probably wouldn’t be your highness’s usual,” Sam mocked a bow ”New Yorkers put a good spin on it though.” he said.

”Beats French food though.” he shook his head, ”Not a fan of the snails.” he mocked a shiver. ”Currency?” he asked, ”You take dollars? Or is it more a barter system in that case I'm sure your powers come in handy?”