Rocky First Impressions
Characters: Dominic and Susanna Setting: Early afternoon, just outside their rooms
Dominic had gone back to sleep after his arrival before dawn. He'd felt a little exhausted, and hadn't fought the lure of a bed ten times better than the one he'd had in his cell. He woke back up later, and taken a long shower, not really feeling the urge to go exploring yet. His reaction to being there was different than he imagined it to be. He'd thought he'd feel better, more elated, but he was in a state of near numbness, one he couldn't shake quite yet.
Maybe he was still having trouble believing he had gone from being on death row to here. It wasn't quite real yet. So he took his time. When he got around to checking the blinking computer, he didn't actually go look at the journals or anything, instead merely skimming the welcome message. Then he stretched, eyed the door critically for a good ten minutes, and eventually made himself get up, and leave the room.
Part of him was sort of certain that he was going to find the door locked, but it wasn't, and he let himself out onto a walkway that bordered a courtyard. Squinting slightly at the bright sunshine, he walked to the edge, as he looked down at the grass.
After indulging in that long, comparatively luxurious soak, Susanna had taken a more careful look through the clothing whoever the authority here was had provided, again finding them to be an acceptable quality after the hideous and uncomfortable prison wear she’d been forced to get used to since her arrest. She chose a lovely and soft summer dress that just brushed her knees and left her arms and shoulders bare. She was curious to explore the facility, and as she left her room, she found herself nearly frozen, her stomach twisting with anxiety that she didn’t fully understand or want.
Pushing it away, Susanna fought through the waves of emotions and thoughts in her mind and walked through the courtyard, pulling off her shoes after only a moment on the grass so that she could feel it beneath her feet. Even though she’d been born and raised in the City, there was something incredibly freeing about feeling the grass beneath her feet. She walked, exploring the outside, not really bothered by the fact that it was enclosed because it was a completely different kind of enclosed than the prison had been, smiling friendly at the people she passed, far too happy to pay them any closer attention. Perhaps once she was more settled she would give them all a closer look, find out who among them she might be able to tolerate.
The kitchen was a wonderful place, and though she was not all that adept at cooking, she decided then that she would learn, if only because she wanted to eat quality food after nearly two years of the disgusting crap she’d been served in prison. It was early afternoon by the time she was heading back toward her room, finally feeling the exhaustion pulling at her from the extremely early morning that had followed the travel to get here. She wanted a nap, and then, well, who knew? As she crossed the courtyard, she noticed a man coming out of the room next to hers. It would pay to be friendly with the neighbors, a lesson she’d learned the hard way over the years.
“Hello,” she said as she reached where the edge of the courtyard met the walkway in front of their rooms. “It looks like we’re neighbors. I’m Susanna,” she introduced herself.
It was the first female he'd seen in a hell of a long time. And while that didn't play in in the same way it might have for most people in his position, it was still something. Women had a presence about them, a tone of voice he instantly found he’d missed. He hadn't realized he'd missed it. But then he hadn't realized he hadn't seen a woman since his conviction til he saw one. He smiled at her introduction. "Hello." he responded. He glanced towards the doors behind him, and saw he was the lucky bastard in room 13. Awesome.
"Dominic." he introduced himself. He turned his attention towards her, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he faced her. He gave an easy sort of grin, glancing pointedly at the number on the outside of his door. “Sure you want to get to know the neighbors?” he asked, lightly teasing.
Being looked at like a woman was something Susanna had definitely missed while in prison, and even if she didn’t find the man particularly attractive, she did enjoy the way he looked at her. She filed the name away, knowing that it would be in her best interest in learn who was who. At his question, she glanced at his door, her smile dimming to a faint smirk at the thirteen there. “Didn’t you read the memo? We’re a community here.”
God, how long would she be able to keep up the smiling friendliness? The high and excitement of leaving prison for this facility, of the new freedoms couldn’t possibly last forever, and she truly wasn’t sure what to expect of this ‘community’ environment, but to start with, she was chooses to play nice. No point in making enemies right off the bat.
"Oh yeah, caught that bit." Dominic said, rolling his eyes a touch, still smiling. "Apparently we're meant to work together. Doing what, who the fuck knows." he said. "So, Susanna, what're you in for?" he asked, deciding to go with that route first. It was a question that he hadn't really asked previously. Most people making an appearance on death row weren't guilty of jaywalking.
Well, at least she wasn’t the only one who thought the whole community thing was a bit ridiculous, Susanna thought by the way he rolled his eyes a bit. “How nice of them to bring us here and not let us know everything we should expect, right?” She had no idea who the authority was or what they wanted out of them, but if it meant she would see her freedom far sooner than the twenty-five years she’d been sentenced for, she would play along.
Susanna’s eyebrows rose at the question. “I’m not sure that’s anyone’s business. I’m far more interested in learning just what is expected of us in order to graduate from this program.” She certainly did not care for anyone she’d just met asking what she’d been convicted of.
"Mostly what I'm concerned with is who we're being stuck in here with." Dominic said. Though in his own head, it was actually the other way around. Who was being stuck with him? He had a laundry list of shit he'd been convicted for. He'd been on death row. Who was going to take a look in his direction and wonder where the fuck the bars were? Who was going to wish there was at least one guard?
"Some people don't play as well with others, after all." he added, winking, little half smirk unreadable. "As for it not being anyone's business, it isn't. Doesn't mean I can't ask." he pointed out. "I'm sure it's going to be on most people's minds. Just who it is they're sharing space with."
“Touche, that is a valid concern,” Susanna agreed lightly. The people she was now living near weren’t as much of a concern for her. She just needed to get along with them long enough to get the hell out of here and into that new life they would be setting up for her. Freedom. That was her goal, her only focus, and she would do whatever it took to get it. “No, some don’t.” A lot of the time people didn’t seem to get along with her, but she always attributed that to the fact that most people were utter idiots. “You can ask, but there was nothing in the welcome memo about baring our souls to one another. My conviction may be what brought me here, but it is not all that defines me. I refuse to allow it to be.” Because she didn’t remember, and she would stick to that damn story to her grave.
Arching an eyebrow at her, Dominic laughed slightly. "Sort of abrasive, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically, tone not indicating that he was offended in any way. It was just an observation. "Okay, then, I'll play. What does define you?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he kept his focus centered on her. She was going to be either very interesting, or quickly dull, depending. He didn't mind a personality who was a bit of work--Meg had been. She'd been kind of a lot of work at the beginning. It would all depend on how well Susanna rolled with things. Right now she seemed fairly rigid, pretty 'it's my way', but he reserved judgment til he'd talked to her longer.
Tensing at the question, Susanna frowned at him. “For thinking it inappropriate for a man I’ve just met to ask after my conviction?” she retorted with the same rhetorical tone. Perhaps her reaction only proved his observation, but in this situation, it just couldn’t be helped. “Dance,” she answered simply. “I’ll be heading up to the activity center before too long to see if they have any kind of set up for it.” Even without ballet shoes, there were exercises that she could do. She would ask what defined him, but she really wasn’t interested at this point.
He laughed. "No, for being really kind of stiff and confrontational for asking a simple question." Dominic answered. "We're not in jail anymore, princess, but we're all convicts. Hundred bucks says I'm not the only one to ask, it's not 'inappropriate' it's common curiosity, and if you aren't wondering what the people around you did to get put here? You're not nearly curious enough." He told her conversationally, amused by her reaction. "Dance is a good place to start. What sort of dance?" He glanced her up and down, though it wasn't with a leering eye, more just an assessive one. He was going to guess something rather rigorous. She was toned.
She wasn’t doing very well at the being friendly thing, Susanna realized, and as he spoke, she forced herself to relax her stance a bit. “No, you probably won’t be the only to ask, and I can admit to being mildly curious about what everyone’s done, however it was the timing I considered inappropriate, not the question itself,” she explained, her lips curving in a deliberately bashful smile. “It’s just difficult for me to talk about.” She could play the sympathy card; just because it hadn’t worked on the jury didn’t mean it didn’t work at all. “Ballet, though I’ve trained in other styles as well.” Other styles hadn’t been her focus at Juilliard, but she did know enough of the other styles to get by.
Dominic noticed her subtle shift in body language, something he was always watching for. People said a lot that way if you paid attention. So he was always paying attention. "If it's difficult for you to talk about, no big deal. You don't actually have to tell me." he told her, since she didn't. Just know I'm curious. So, should you ever decide to let that slip, I'd be eager to hear about it." he told her.
Then he dropped the subject entirely and moved ahead with the ballet, which made sense to him. "Ballet. Interesting. Was that your main focus in life?" he asked. "I'm assuming you would have been part of a company?" Which gave away that he knew at least a bit about it.
Susanna relaxed further when Dominic let it go, and her smile turned warmer. “I appreciate that, and should I desire to let slip, I’ll be sure to knock on your door,” she replied with a lightly teasing tone. She was all too happy to let the topic focus on ballet. It was the one thing in this world that made complete sense to her. “It was, yes,” she answered, not at all ashamed that ballet had been her main focus. She could admit to herself that she was a little impressed that he even knew that ballets were grouped in companies. “I was! I was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet Company,” she said with more than a hint of pride.
Listening to her talk about ballet, it was clear that she had a passion for it, and so he was happy to remain on that topic. Which had him thinking back to all the ballets he'd been dragged to over the years. "Principal dancer, that's a nice feather in your cap." he observed. "And in New York...when were you dancing? I may have actually seen something you were a part of." he continued. "I saw Sleeping Beauty a few years back." His mother had insisted he take her since his old man was out of the country.
Susanna was clearly proud of her achievements and not afraid to let it show. “It is, one I worked hard for. I was recruited from Juilliard as a principal dancer.” Which was rare, and she refused to think it was due to anything other than her talent. “I started dancing with them the summer of 2008 and continued until October 2010.” Until she was arrested, but she wasn’t talking about that right now. Perhaps she ought to give a little, but she was curious to see if he would inadvertently push again about her crime.
"Juilliard, nicely prestigious." he observed, keeping the subject focused on her, which she seemed happy to do. "Though seems a shame, your career got cut short." he added. "So, I did happen to catch a performance of yours, then, I believe. I know my mother adored it. She was always a fan of the arts, particularly the ballet. The most...'interesting' one I ever saw was in Japan. Moscow had some beautiful performances as well."
“Of course. Where else would a girl raised in the City aspire to go? My parents ensured I had the best instruction in the art as a child, and it helped that I had an affinity for it.” Susanna’s expression turned dark for the briefest of moments at his comment, though she quickly recovered from it and sighed softly. “It is, though I do have hope that through this program I’ll be able to dance again.” She wasn’t sure, what with the new identity and life they’d mentioned in the welcome memo, but she wanted to dance again. It was the most important thing in her life. “I’m sure you did see at least one, then. Your mother must have excellent taste.” She found herself laughing lightly at his last words. “Japan does have some rather unique ballets, and Russia’s are really quite lovely.” She enjoyed dancing with partners from Russia; they had a different kind of discipline there.
Depends heavily on where in the city you came from. Went through Dominic's mind to her first statement, but he didn't share the thought. New York certainly had it's high society, but that wasn't all there was to see. He watched as her expression turned, even for just the brief second it did, and he made a mental note, even if he didn't react in any way. "She seems to think so." He offered about his mother. Which was the truth. His mother was of the opinion that every stray thought that wandered through her vapid head was brilliant. That everything she liked was clearly exquisite. "Did you ever travel?"
Susanna did not think it would be wise to comment further on his mother’s preferences, and the fact was that she simply wasn’t interested in doing so. His mother was not here, therefore she saw no point in discussing her further. “I have traveled, extensively actually. As interesting as this conversation has been, though, I would like a chance to become better acquainted with my room. I’m sure I will see you around later,” she said, not impolitely, and with a final nod of her head to him, she continued on the short distance to her door. If she locked it once she was inside, well, she was just being cautious. She didn’t know the people she was now living with, and she wasn’t going to assume that no one would intrude on her personal space here.
So, Susanna was a cold, disinterested bitch. Check. Dominic didn't react to that, however, choosing instead to say nothing, since she clearly was uninterested in the first place. If she was just going to cut out, mid-conversation, that was fine. He would merely know better than to try and engage her again. Even if her tone wasn't rude, her abrupt departure was, and that coupled with her earlier abrasive demeanor was solidifying his assessment. So, with her very clearly leaving, he opted to turn and head off exploring himself.