“No Neena she isn’t married and she did call back.”

"Ah, see? There's two more points on the 'pleasant-meter'." However, from his hesitation, she could tell there was more to it, so she let him continue uninterrupted.

“We went out for a second date, well at least I called it a date. Met for coffee in the park and walked around. We needed up going to the zoo for the first time in my life, which was sweet. Well at the time I thought this would be a riot but I was super wrong.”

She quirked an eyebrow.

“I kinda stole a kiss from her.”

Neena winced.

“That made her cry and then the date went down hill from there.”

<"Made her cry? Kind of a drastic reaction for stealing a kiss...."> She kept that thought to herself for the time being, especially since she was truly clueless to the embarrassment factor of dating life.

"So then, all of this-" she motioned around the room, "-is you being mad at yourself. That's a lotta anger raging about inside, m'friend."

Her expression and voice softened just a tad. "Did you apologize?"

Sam smiled “well I needed to think and I think the best when I am physically active. Having a rough childhood doesn’t help either.” Sam laughed at his own joke that was a hundred percent true. “yea I apologized for a while, but she said it wasn’t fair to me and said that she was sorr but she had to cut the date off.” Sam then let out a long gasp, finally getting it off his chest. Sam took a long gulp of his water and then started talking again, “which brings us to here, normally this wouldn’t bug me at all, but every time I picture here crying, I just feel torn.” He laughed again, “Twice I met her twice and she had this much pull with my mind. A bit sad right?”

“well I needed to think and I think the best when I am physically active. Having a rough childhood doesn’t help either.”

<" 'Physically active'?"> Neena repressed a snort.

“yea I apologized for a while, but she said it wasn’t fair to me and said that she was sorry but she had to cut the date off. Which brings us to here, normally this wouldn’t bug me at all, but every time I picture her crying, I just feel torn. Twice. I met her twice and she had this much pull with my mind. A bit sad right?”

Neena shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. "I couldn't say, to be honest. Love is.... complicated. I think I remember someone likening it to a diamond. Simply beautiful, until you look at all of its facets."

She shifted her position on the robot and draped herself across its back, using its head for a chinrest. She tapped one finger rhythmically on the metal.

"I don't know if I'd take her reaction personally, though. I mean, unless you trying to really force yourself on her, I don't see how a kiss could provoke that kind of reaction. And you said she said 'it wasn't fair to you? That sounds more like she may have some outside issues she's dealing with."

She paused for a moment. Then, "Mind if I'm nosy and ask her name?"

Sam listened to Neena; she had some good insight on the subject. Sam got a little defensive “I am not the guy that forces himself on anyone.” Then he took into account the rest of what Neena had to say, she was right, just like a diamond.

Sam thought on the subject for a second, “not sure if she would like me giving out her name, but after the date I am pretty sure I will never see her again so, why not.” Sam was trying to think of her last name, then he laughed. “ I don’t even know her last name but her first name is Lee.”

“I am not the guy that forces himself on anyone.”

"Sorry, no offense meant." His defensiveness drew an amused smile onto her lips. She hadn't accused him of anything, merely stated a thought.

“Not sure if she would like me giving out her name, but after the date I am pretty sure I will never see her again so, why not. I don’t even know her last name but her first name is Lee.”

Absentmindedness, coupled with knowledge of several Lees, led Neena away from connecting this Lee with the girl she'd spoken with briefly in the camps. Had she stopped to consider it, she might have made the connection from a mutant who's touch-increased powers to a girl not wishing to be kissed. But it was a bit of a longshot even on its own, and as such totally bypassed the chocolate-skinned teacher's train of thought.

Instead she focused on the first part of his statement.

" 'Never see her again?' " she parroted. A slight frown passed over her dark features. "How badly was she crying for you to come to that conslusion?"

If this Lee had been that broken up, then there were two possiblities that Neena could come up with. Either Sam wasn't telling her something, or the girl definitely had other issues she was dealing with.

Sam laughed but it was a depressing laugh, “she was crying pretty bad, ended up kicking me in the ribs, and it hurt pretty bad. “She said I couldn’t believe that would kiss me after I told you about my siphoning.” Sam realized he just let something slip, he didn’t tell Neena about he siphoning ability at all. He turned his head still laying on the ground grinning at her.

He sounded really torn up. Neena wondered if things were really that bad, or he was just overly dramatic. Or perhaps the girl had been overly dramatic.

“she was crying pretty bad, ended up kicking me in the ribs, and it hurt pretty bad. She said 'I couldn’t believe that would kiss me after I told you about my siphoning.' ”

"Siphoning?"

<"Now why does that sound familiar?....">

Aloud, Neena chuckled. "What? Was she stealing gas from someone's car?" Even with Sam's little slip up, she still didn't quite make the connection.

Sam laughed at Neena she was really good at cheering him up. “No, not gas, she siphons energy from people and mutants.” Sam felt a lot better than the day of the date. Talking about it felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Sam felt so good he thought he would question Neena a little, “so what’s with the interest in my personal life” he smiled at her, “doing the teacher thing?”

“No, not gas, she siphons energy from people and mutants.”

"Siphon's energy?" Finally it clicked in Neena's mind. "You mean Lee, black hair, grey eyes, kinda on the short side? Seems to like wearing black a lot, kind of depressed acting, and always seems like something's going on in her head?" She rolled her eyes and slapped a hand to her face comically. "No wonder she went off on you. Did she tell you about the whole energy siphoning before or after you kissed her?"

For a moment Neena wondered if Sam was the reason Lee had been so gloomy in the Camps. But no, that had been several months ago now, and he said he'd just met her.

“so what’s with the interest in my personal life? Doing the teacher thing?”

"Teacher thing?" Neena glanced back at him, and chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess being nosy qualifies as a 'teacher thing'."

She shifted her position again, this time dropping off of the robot. Her feet touched the ground.

"Honestly though, when someone starts tearing into things like a tank through a maize field, I can't help but wonder why. And the only way to get answers is to ask questions." Her expression softened slightly, and she held out a hand to help him off of the floor. "Plus I'm of the mind talking accomplishes more than violence. Usually. Especially between friends."

Sam was taken aback he was surprised Neena knew exactly what Lee looked like, “that’s a good guess, have you guys met before?” Sam smiled at the next question he was fully aware of what she could do but the kiss was worth it. “Yea she told me but I couldn’t help myself.” He blushed a little bit kept smiling.

Sam grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, he was surprised she said they were friends; she was the first person to ever say that to him. Sam was grateful that Neena was there to talk to. “Thanks Neena, I already over it, the talk really helped, but if you don’t mind could you keep this on the down low, I got an image to uphold.” Sam smiled at her.

“that’s a good guess, have you guys met before?”

Neena nodded. "Yeah, during Registration. Having to wear those blasted bracelets, made all of our lives difficult. But that siphoning of hers just made things worse." She didn't mention the Camps, or how miserable Lee had been when Neena first met her. What she had said was general, yet truthful enough.

“Yea she told me but I couldn’t help myself.”

Neena snorted. "I'm surprised all she did was kick ya."

“Thanks Neena, I already over it, the talk really helped, but if you don’t mind could you keep this on the down low, I got an image to uphold.”

She snickered a bit and shook her head. "Right. You kiddos are hilarious." But she agreed anyway.

"So? Is the bashfest finished, or you want me to hit replay for ya?" She motioned toward the frozen scenario. She still wasn't keen on such a scenario, but people had different ways of venting their frustration. And she'd rather see him lose it here, rather than on the streets.

"Oh, and like I said," she added with a wink. "Don't give in so easily. Give her time to cool down, then see what happens. Ah, and no more steeling kisses. There's a reason she reacted that way." She smiled, to take the edge off of that mini lecture. "And next time you see her, tell her Neena says hi, and is still up for finishing our poker game."

With a soft laugh, she turned, and headed up the stairs toward the Observation Room.

Sam thought for a second, “no need for all this,” he threw up his hands and spun around, “to go to waste, believe me I have been in worse situations.” Sam thought for a second, “if I ever do meet her again I will Neena promise.”

Sam waited till Neena left and then started up the simulation, he was slowly getting over the girl that stole his heart only after two dates. Sam froze up, and then resorted back to his usual way of fighting, calm and effective.

Once she got to the Observation Room, Neena paused to look down on the resumed scenario. Sam's berserker behavior had calmed, and he was going about fighting in a more calculated way. It seemed that their short talk had been enough to restore most of his balance.

She began checking the equipment, preparing for her class with the younger ones later. They would be working on stealth, Neena's specialty, and an area most young mutants seemed to be severely lacking in. An off-hand thought popped into her head, and she reached over to hit 'Record'. Sam may want to watch it later, like many of those who used the Danger Room did.

With that accomplished, she returned to her prepping, whistling the theme song to 'The Pink Panther' under her breath.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed till she finished, though she guessed it was only ten, fifteen minutes at the most. She settled into her favorite chair, kicked her feet up on the console, and immediately dozed off.

After changing from a berserker to a calm fighter, Sam became way more efficient and started to dispatch of the robots quicker than ever. He also noticed since the first time he fought a live one in actual battle he had become greatly stronger.

Fifteen to twenty minutes after Neena left Sam was getting bored with this scenario. “Computer, run a save the civilian scenario, building on fire.” Sam watched as all the robots disappeared, and the area was replaced with a large twenty story on fire.

Sam’s powers were already active so this was fairly easy, he lifted himself to the top story and went in. he used his powers to dose the flames and he used it to support the beams so the building wouldn’t collapse. Happy he was saving people Sam got an idea.

“Hey Neena you sill here somewhere?”

“Hey Neena you sill here somewhere?”

"Hmmwha?" Neena blinked a bit, rousing from her doze. "Whaddasay?"

She blinked a bit out of habit, though her short nap hadn't been enough to scramble her vision. She realized Sam's voice was coming from downstairs still, so she scooted over the Godmike.

"Say what na--ah!!" A yawn cut off the last part of her inquiry.