Username:shadowedfire_wolf
Character name: Nuvala Stormwulf aka Nuva
Personality: Cold, calm and reserved when not in battlemode. When fighting her personality does a 180 and she becomes a bloodthirsty gets the job done fighter. Can be sweet and warm to those she cares for or partners up with. Quick tempered and quick to enter a fight. Usually the winner but sometimes her temper gets the better of her.
Appearance:
One quick fix...her eyes are a blue that looks almost purple when the light hits them the right way.
History: Nuva's parents were both in the military. Her mother was a fighter jet pilot while her father was down in the lines. She lost her mother in her late teens when her mother's plane was shot down. She had always wanted to join the military but when her mother went down, her death planted the thought of being a fighter jet pilot firmly in Nuva's head. At 19 she enlisted in the military and has been doing better than most other rookies. She was always quick to temper and always quick to jump the ranks. She soon became known after joining the military, as someone to watch. Now, known as an upcoming and promising rookie, she joins the ranks of jet pilots.

Starting Post:
Nuva stood in the group of other rookies that were taking the grand tour of the grounds. She stared at all the planes and jets. At the people working, barely paying attention. Her black hair was tied up high and enough to where it looked short. Her body was framed nicely in the green slacks, gray tanktop and the green jacket she kept unbuttoned. Her tags clanged against her chest. She grabbed them with one hand and smiled as she continued looking around, her ears only picking up on the important information. She heard talk about the fighter jets and her attention was on the front. She was one of the few girls in the group...probably one out of four she thought to herself as she pushed her way to the front of the group to hear better. "And this is the barracks for most of our fighter jet pilots. Those of you training to be such a pilot will meet your partner and instructor today. Most of you won't make it through their rigorous training and they will break you. Those of you who do survive deserve the right to be called a fighter pilot!" Her eyes glimmered as she chewed on the corner of her lip. This was awesome...she couldn't wait to meet her instructor.

Username: ~Prototipo-Annette~
Character Name: Alessandro "Alessi" Vernen Jewell
Call Sign: Phantom
Age: 23
Personality: Quite the enigma, Alessi doesn't seem to get along with anyone, but not because of any severe personality problems. Actually, he can be a very kind and sweet guy- to his plane. The fighter jet that he uses to tear up the skies and bring down his enemies is really the only thing that he gives a hoot about and it shows. He's a coy and sly person, always ready with a witty retort but nothing that can be taken as more than him being slightly passive aggressive. The theory that Alessi is pretty much heartless is supported by his actions in battle. Shooting down other people is something he views as a hobby, and he can get quite into it when assigned a mission. A calculating person, he can't stand when people ask him what he's doing, or just what he thinks that he's doing. At heart, he really is a fun loving person with a gentleman's attitude, simply he doesn't have much room to show it and hasn't made use of those emotions in at least four years.
Appearance:

Yes, he wears his hair in a pony tail and yes he does dress somewhat elegantly when off duty, but that happens just about never.
History: Born to a couple who wrote picture books, Alessi was expected to be a peaceful child. His love for planes pushed him to enlist and he became the youngest pilot on record at 17 with skills to match up to those who'd enlisted at a later age. When he was 18, he fell in love with Christine, and pretty young girl who'd gone to the same high school as him, and the two began dating. About a year later, they started having some relationship problems, little things that would have most likely resolved themself, except things never were resolved- Christine died in a car wreck. The previously reserved and somewhat shy Alessi quickly changed to the coy and sneer self we now know. So far, every rookie sent to Alessi to be broken in has ended up going home in tears, vowing never to touch a plane again for fear of becoming "Just as crazy as the Phantom".
As a type of hobby, Alessi has learned millions of different card games and always has a deck on him somewhere. Also, he's learned the art of telling fortunes with those same black and red playing cards, making them even more special to him. As if fortune telling and card games weren't enough for him, he went ahead and learned all sorts of card tricks.
Alessi's call sign is actually a reference to the Phantom of the Opera. One fateful day, he and the other members of his squadron were snickering away and chattering in the locker rooms after a practice flight, Alessi mostly staying out of the conversation. Apparently, one of the guys had recently seen the Phantom of the Opera with his girlfriend as they were making snide comments about who would fit the role of each character the best. Alessi was almost labeled as Christine until one of them pointed out that Christine was the name of his girlfriend. Then came the comment about his moody nature, and how he stuck to the shadows. They quickly came to the conclusion that his role was the Phantom of the Opera and moved on to fill in the rest of the "cast" after a few more jokes on Alessi's behalf. The name stuck. After a few weeks, the squadron shortened it front the Phantom of the Opera to Phantom Boy and then to Phantom. By that point, it'd been permanently labeled as his call sign.


Teh Post
"Blah blah blah; No one cares--" Alessi thought to himself, silently rolling his eyes and picking at his nails while he stood, waiting to greet the next rookie to be sacrificed on the altar of the Crazy Phantom. That's all they were, offering in an attempt to have him keep his sanity through some sort of social link. It never worked, though. Every single rookie sent his way always crumbled and cringed when they found out just how heartless and mean Alessi could be, just how much of an ass he really was on the inside. He didn't care if they lived or died; he just wanted his plane to stay in one piece and to see the bright fireworks that were his enemies going down in flames, whether it be real time or a simulated practice battle. A dead enemy was a dead enemy, regardless of if they were alive to being with.

The batch of rookies he'd seen pass by early were no more special than the last batch, and he wasn't too interested in how they would turn out. His squadron had lost a man in their last run at actual combat so there was bound to be at least one rookie becoming a permanent part of his life- joy. There should have been a second person joining their team full time as Alessi's flight partner, but he didn't care. Why would he want to put up with any one of them for any longer than a month, and hopefully not even that long! Leaning against his plane, Alessi waited patiently for the new recruits to be lead to their tour of the hangers and- directly after that- to meet their instructor. He just couldn't wait; that was, if the comment was taken in a completely sarcastic way.

She was the last one left to be assigned an instructor. The recruiter that was walking her to meet the guy was talking fast. Something about how this one was called the phantom or some mess. How he went through a lot of rookies. Apparently they thought she would be best suited to him. Apparently she was also scary. She wasn't scary was she? She was just really cool...maybe almost cold to people. She was calm and complacent. That made her perfect for fighter pilot, at least her father said so. Because her temper flaired at the proper time. In the skies and in a fight. She sighed as she listened to the chains clink together as she walked. She felt the weight of her leather band that wrapped around her ankle. She really could careless who her instructor was. As long as the man taught her the proper way to fly the plane and a few awesome tricks. As long as she graduated to a plane of her own. She didn't care. She knew she was made for this and damn talented. It was in her blood. They finally slowed to a stop in front of a young man with his hair in a pony tail. Her first intial thought was he was a looker her next thought was if he was her instructor. "Phantom." The recruiter stood straight and saluted the man. When he was done he took in a deep breath. "I'd like you to meet you're new rookie partner. Her name is Nuvala Stormwulf. Try to behave. This one won't break as easy as the others." Her eyes grew dark at that comment and she darted her eyes from the recruiter to the man with this look of utter boredom and displeasure. Greeeeat...she thought...just what I need. An asshole for a teacher. She stared at the man, her chin tilting up. She'd rather die than let this man ruin her dreams. She offered a half smile and just watched him, listening intently on what the man would say as soon as the recruiter left them alone.

"Won't break as easily?" he thought to himself, the traces of a cruel sneer dancing on his lips, "We'll just have to see about that." Giving her a quick gazing over, he determined the girl to be somewhat defiant and surely the type that would cause him problems if he didn't go about getting rid of her really really carefully; but that was nothing more than a challenge in his eyes. How to Break a Promising Rookie 101. It would be a fun ride, that was for sure.

"Alright then, let's run you through the simulators and see just how good you are," Alessi informed the girl, already setting off at a brisk pace in the direction away from his plane and away from the hangers. He never liked to start new recruits off in the sky, and there was too much a chance of them trashing his plane. That was instant death in his book. Calling back over his shoulder, he addressed the girl once more, "Keep up."

She looked at the recruiter. "Seriously? You're setting me up....with him??" When she was given the tell-tall "i'm sorry" smile she just shook her head. And then he called after her like he was a child. She blinked and looked at her new instructor and just shut her eyes tightly as she bit her lower lip. "Yes sir." She called out to him as she set off after him. Walking was going to be just fine for her. He was in sight and as long as she never lost sight of that ponytail, she'd be fine. She was really going to hate this...there was definately going to be hell between the two of them. When she finally caught up to him she tilted her head as she studied his gate. "You've got a cocky walk." It came out too fast to really catch it. She didn't really care that she said it...it was true. He sauntered around like he was top shit. "So ... teach, you're the best of the best huh?" She asked as she let her gaze wander now. Everything was like a shiny new toy to her. She couldn't wait to just get started. Her eyes lingered on some jets coming in for a landing. The glittered with excitement and anticipation. Simulators were great and all but...flying the real thing was what it was all about. That's where her true colors would shine.

Ignoring all other comments from the girl, Alessi kept a sharp eye out for the second she let her gaze wander. The moment her eyes had settled on the jets, he took a sharp turn into a branching hallways with the intentions of leaving her behind. As the girl had been looking in the opposite direction, there was no way that she could have seen where he'd gone, and that was just as he hoped it to be. If she thought his gait was "cocky", he'd quickly show her just how much he cared about her or her walk. Besides, she looked like a total snot and obviously had zero respect for her superior commander. He hated people that couldn't at least pretend to be good little children that follow rules and took orders like they should.

"And my walk isn't cocky!" he thought to himself, somewhat miffed. He'd never really paid attention to the way that he walked, but that was quite a stunning observation; he had to admit that he'd been at least a little bit hurt by it. Leaning against a wall out of sight- unless, of course, she took a pace or two down the branching hallway- Alessi waited with one of his coy smiles to see if she'd walk right by or not. After all, the hall curved later on, so the most obvious assumption would have been that he'd simply strode on ahead and left her in the dust.

She had stopped to watch the jets land. When they rushed by and the air swept even to where she stood. She felt alive. She turned to see where her instructor had gone. Blinking she groaned. "Oh really and I'm suppose to be the kid out of the two of us. How childish is this?" She shook her head and looked around. Asking someone where the simulators were was the best option. The second was to just go walking ahead until she got in trouble. A sly smile spread from her eyes to her lips. Or she could get HIM in trouble. He was after all in charge of her now. He had to keep an eye on her or she would get in trouble. She giggled and looked up looking around her. If anything...if he pissed her off more she'd take it out in the gym or something. Somewhere she could think. She sighed and looked away from anyone who could catch her attention or eyes. "Guess this could be considered a bad mark on me instead of him. Should've been paying attention and what not." She crossed her arms over her chest and headed to the first soldier she saw.

She had gotten turn by turn directions to the simulators, all the while he had chuckled at her because she had gotten distracted. "Well now I know to be on my toes with this asshole." She was beginning to dislike this guy and she didn't know him by any other name than Phantom. She shut her eyes and walked down the hallway. She stopped when she got to a passage. She didn't look down it just yet. She was going over all the little details in her head first just in case she was left again. She finally turned the passage way and stopped as she saw him leaning against a doorway. Her eyes turned dull. "Sorry about that. Got distracted by the actual planes ya know."

"With that type of attitude, I think you'd come to like the simulators just fine," he replied in his usual coy tone that bordered closely on being passive aggressive. Taking to the skies alongside someone who didn't quite respect him as an authoritative figure wasn't his idea of a good time, so he decided that it would be best to keep her on the simulators for awhile. Who knew, maybe that'd make her so sick of him so fast that she'd just flutter off and go home. As a matter of fact, he really started wishing she'd do just that.

"Take your rookie somewhere else, Tinker Bell," Alessi scolded a fellow member of his squadron. The stout man he'd addressed looked as if he were giving the rookie in his care the run down of the controls, but that didn't matter to Alessi; he'd booked the simulator room the second he heard he was getting another cursed rookie, so it wasn't his problem if the man couldn't read a schedule. With a good natured nod, the man referred to as Tinker Bell- a call sign referencing to an incident in the past when he'd had to borrow his daughter's lunchbox- exited the room with his recruit in tow. Turning to Nuva, he addressed her, "Can you fly a Hornet, kid?"

((These two really don't get along, do they? XD Btw, a Hornet refers to an FA-18 Hornet; tis a type of fighter jet of course.))

(oh i know...that's what's going to make the attraction all the more fun and all the more strange-ish lol)

"A hornet? Once...during boot camp. They took us all up once to get us use to the idea of being up there. It ...was interesting to say the least, sir." She had actually enjoyed the polite nod the man nick-named Tinker Bell had given her instructor. Ok that was slightly impressive. He could talk shit and get people to listen. Alright maybe he wasn't all bad. She sighed and looked around the simulator room. She was observant. Always observant. She learned that as rule number one from her parents. She clucked her tongue as she rocked back on the heels of her boots, her hands slipping into her back pockets. She still stood straight. She was just kinda ready to get this over with. She figured he was going to keep her here until either she broke, which she wasn't about to let him do, he was ordered to, or they just came to the conclusion neither was backing down and they have to deal. "So which one boss?" Lets get this over with already.

(imma go research this plane so I know what I'm talking about)

Glimpsing quickly around the room, Alessi pointed to a simulator that was in a back corner, "That one will do just fine; I'll grab the one next to it incase you need any assistance."

Grabbing simulators side by side made perfect sense, but it was the back corner part that would have confused most. It wasn't that he was too intent on being in such a remote location with the rookie, simply he didn't want to have to speak to the pairs of teacher and student that would no doubt be poking their heads in from time to time to see if he was quite finished hogging the simulator room. No, Alessi much preferred to be where he could be seen but not disturbed. If they wanted the simulators, they could use them after the traditional round of Top Gun that would be held that afternoon among the rookies as a sort of way to rank them. After about a week or so, there would be another round to see how they'd progressed, but Alessi didn't intend to hold onto Nuva till then; he hadn't held onto a rookie that long ever and didn't want to start a trend.

Making his way across the room, he dropped himself into the mock cockpit before looking about it; thankfully, no one had thought to leave something behind in the seat when they used it, so his uncautious landing had been perfectly safe. All the buttons looked to be in working order, though the label for the switch that was used to deploy the hook for aircraft carrier landings was peeling. Making a mental note to tell someone to fix it later, he pressed the button to lower the "canopy" of the computer simulated ship, though these simulators weren't the kind that actually had a false canopy to lower. Turning his head, he watched Nuva's reaction to his order with mild curiosity.

She made her way towards the simulator next to him. She hesitated a bit. It was always hard to start trusting someone right away but in the military you needed to trust everyone around you automatically with your life. Especially the person who was now your instructor...no matter how much of an ass he was. She gave an inward sigh and sat down slowly. She looked at the simulator screen and then at his with the canopy dropped down. She pushed the sequence of buttons to get the same appearance and sat there for a moment. "If you don't mind me asking sir, why a hornet? Is it what you fly? Or am I going to be doing aerial assistance or reconnaissance as a rookie?" It was an honest question. Something she thought she should know. She slipped her arms through the fake safety belts of the simulator. It was more out of habit than it was to be sure she got good marks. She remembered going to her mother's base and doing this is exact thing with her mother looking over her shoulder. It was nostalgic and sometimes sickening to remember but she remembered it all the same. Now that she was actually in the military and not just visiting her father on base she felt better about the memories. She blinked out of her thoughts and looked at her instructor. The way he acted he really didn't want her around. So she'd have to fight for this...fight and fight hard. She belonged here just as much as he did. This was where her life was meant to start. She belonged in the skies. She took in a deep calming breath and her eyes refocused on him and she gave him a calm smile, ready for the next order in case he didn't answer her.

"Hm?" Alessi replied to the girl after a lengthy pause; to be blunt and honest, he hadn't been paying attention to what she'd said in the slightest. Well, he'd been paying attention and bit and that was the only reason that, after a bit of thought, he was able to recall the question he'd been asked, "It's just because that's what the simulators are. No special meaning behind it, really, unless you want to be on recon in which case I'd have no problem transferring you somewhere else."

It wasn't until he'd finished speaking that Alessi actually bothered to turn his head over too look at the girl in the simulator beside him. What met his eyes caused him to quickly face forward once more; the girl was looking at him with a smile. No other rookie had bothered to show any other sort of emotion towards him other than mindless obedience. Hating her was his intention, but with her cute little smile it was becoming increasingly difficult, not to mention the pain in his heart it brought at the memory of the only other woman who'd thought to smile at him in such a way.

"What are you grinning about?" he reprimanded the girl, though his words weren't as fierce as before. He really really wanted to get rid of the black haired girl now.

She watched his reaction and then blinked. Her smile almost seemed to curl up in the corners. "To be honest sir, I'm smiling because I'm waiting for the next thing you'll do to try and get me to quit." She was blunt at times. Kinda like him. She sighed as she leaned her arms foward on the simulator. She continued to watch him. She wasn't just some mindless stritctly obdient dog. That's how she got to where she was. One of the top rookies. She fought hard and she fought instinctively. True some of the stuff she did might have gotten her and her partners killed but they always came out on top. She chewed on the corner of her lip as she sat there in silence for a minute. He really was too good looking for the military. Shaking her head she sighed. "I'd rather not be on recon. I rather be up in the air fighting along side the best fighter pilots in ranking today. If that includes you than it includes you." She shrugged and leaned back in her seat before looking back and smiling calmly and naturally once more. "If that means that I have to take the hell you're going to dish out to me during this training period than so be it. But I'll be all the more better for it when its time to graduate."

"Hmph. Well, it does include me, so here's to hoping I won't be having to put up with flying alongside you as well," he replied sharply, masking his feelings with anger.

For about three hours straight, he ran her through all sorts of simulated protocols. After about the first thirty minutes, he'd fully dispersed any sort of emotion running through his mind and begun to go through the motions almost grudgingly. He didn't want to be sitting around in the simulators right then, but he did anyways; he had to do something with his rookie. Alessi would have much preferred to be sparring with someone at the moment- and beating the crap out of them, too- but for now he was stuck kicking around Nuva for the time being. After the three hours were up, Alessi clambered out of his simulator to stretch. Turning to the recruit, he signaled that she could abandon her simulator as well.

"We're going out for a walk," he announced, turning to leave the room, "Civilian clothes are required for this mission, so go get changed."

"Civilian clothes...for a walk?" She said as she unbuckled herself and almost hop, skipped and jumped out of her chair. She stretched as she followed after him. Wondering where they were going. SHe had just sat in the same place for the past 3 hours. THREE HOURS! She screamed in her head. She really didn't mind the walk, in fact she looked forward to it. She sighed and walked with him until they got to their barracks. Her room wasn't far from his seeing as he was her instructor and the fact that not many women were fighting tooth and nail to be a fighter pilot. She stretched again and turned to look at him. "Any civvie clothes are fine, just as long as they're civvie clothes??" It was an honest question directed towards a man who hated her guts, wasn't that much older than her and kept everything a goddamn secret. Now that she thought about it...she really wanted to put something else on besides her uniform as comfortable as it was...she was forgetting how it felt to wear girl clothes. Hopefully the walk won't be long she thought, I really want to hit the gym and take out some of this frustration on some other rookie.

"I don't care, really," he replied with a sigh, opening the door to his own room which he shared with a fellow member of his squadron, "Just something casual and conservative. No micro minis."

Alessi knew what he said made him sound more like her father, but he didn't care; being seen walking the streets with a scantily clad female wasn't his idea of a reputation booster. He wasn't too sure if she was that kind of person or not, but he really didn't fancy taking any chances. Other than that, he really could have cared less what she wore. Simply put, he just didn't want everyone giving them odd looks for still being in uniform, though there was no doubt they'd get odd looks regardless. Retiring to his room, Alessi proceeded to prep for their little walk expecting Nuva to head off and do the same.

"I would rather die in a fiery death." She said more to herself than him when he mentioned micro minis. Her best friend growing up had turned to dressing as scanitly as she could since they both grew up with military parents. She headed off without a backwards glance and tried to think of what she could wear. She really didn't have anything GIRLIE. Nor was anything really boy-ish. For all she knew, he just wanted a walk and could careless if she went out looking like a thug. Once inside her room, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She was ready within 20 minutes. It never really took her that long. It was just the unnecessary idling with her hair that she hated. She looked in the mirror at herself as the only other two female pilots squealed over the length as they brushed it for her. They had demanded it, said it was the only thing they wanted to do really. She shook her head and stood when they were done and just headed out the door. The simple light blue sundress was something her father had given her to math the sky blue crystle that hung from a simple chain her mother had given her. Half her hair was up in a half pony tail while the rest just rested against her back and shoulders. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she knocked on the door of her instructor's room. "I'm really going to have to learn his name. I can't continue to call him Phantom." She looked down at herself once more before he had a chance to open the door and wrinkled her nose. "I really hope this is good enough. I only brought two dressy type outfits with me."

"You brought two?" he commented sarcastically, swinging open the door and leaning against it's frame, "Most would only assume you needed one."

Alessi himself couldn't exactly say his clothing style was casual, though. But, like a Lolita wore frilly dresses day in and day out thinking it jut your average everyday outfit, so did he wear his somewhat fancy clothes like they weren't anything fancy. What he'd dressed himself in was nothing short of a cream colored dress shirt, fastened neatly at the cuffs. Over this was a maroon vest with a ruffly red tie tucked underneath. His pants were a darker shade of the color of his vest, and his shoes were sleek and brown. As always, his hair was held back in a neat ponytail which seemed to match better with his current attire than with his uniform.

"I'll take it that you're ready to go," he addressed her, moving around Nuva as to walk down the hall.

She stared at him for a moment and just closed her eyes slowly as she counted backwards from 10 in her head. "Yes I brought two. One for going out casually when I get leave and one for formal events." She was prolly one of the most hot tempered women he'd ever meet but she knew when to act like the lady her mother so desperately tried to raise her to be. She sighed as she opened her eyes finally and looked at him, her head tilting to the side slightly. "That shade of red looks good on you surprisingly."

She turned to fall in step beside him. Her hands folded neatly at her back in a relaxed Position. She was refocusing on a few strands of hair that had fallen out of place and in front of her eyes. She really didn't know what to do with her hair sometimes. She looked over at her instructor and sighed. "Do you mind if I know you're real name? Or should I call you Phantom the entire time I'm here." She said giving him a small honest smile.

At the compliment, Alessi did his best to ignore the girl. Setting his mouth in a firm line, he tromped on before her without saying a word. This rookie was really driving him batty. Sucking up was one thing- he could just hate a person for that- but being genuinely nice was way out of bounds. Incredibly out of bounds. So far out of bounds it made him want to get rid of her even more. Still, he took the time to answer her question with the same aloof attitude he always used.

"Phantom is my call sign, after all, so there's nothing wrong with calling me by it," he replied, "If it bothers you that much, my name is Alessandro; feel free to make whatever nickname you can out of it."

Why a nickname...Alessandro's perfectly alright." She was actually just making small talk now but, she liked his name. It was different compared the ordinary joe's and steve's and mike's she met during training. She ended up having to number 3 of the guys in her class when she first entered training camp because they all had the same name. It was weird for her. She watched him almost stomp ahead of her like an upset child. He must really hate me. She shook her head, not really caring. It wasn't like she was trying to marry the guy.

Her heart sank at the thought. She shut her eyes and began counting steps in her head. There had been a boy to propose to her when she was still indecisive of the whole military thing. What broke the deal of her ever caring for him was he told her when they got married he could finally keep her from all this silly military stuff. Silly wasn't the word and the fury she felt growing in the pit of her stomach was damn well real. She let her eyes flicker open as she stared at the back of Alessandro's head. She made a low growling sound in her throat and pinched her nails into her palms to keep her tongue still. 'Nice to meet you Phantom."

"Because Alessandro is a long name," he replied curtly, though in truth he could care less what she called him; Alex, Alessi, Phantom- whatever floated her boat. There was no need for him to worry about the girl picking the same pet name Christine had chosen for him, though, as his girl friend had been quite original when it came to those.

After a long, silent walk they arrive at the elevators. Instead of waiting for everyone to take their sweet time loading and unloading from the crowded box of space, he swung open the door to the stair well, turning to face Nuva with his steady blue eyed gaze. Still in the silent lull that had taken over while they walked, he didn't notice his blunder till it was already made, "Come on; we're taking the stairs, Chris."

Turning pale as death, he cut off the rest of his statement and instead hurried forward into the stair well, "Move it, Kid."

She blinked and tilted her head. Did he just call her Chris? She watched him move from the elevator to the stairwell rather quickly. His face extremely pale. She stood there for a moment. Apparently he had made an embarassing mistake. Now it couldn't have been just the fact he called her Chris...it probably was someone's name he truly cared for. Probably someone dead or someone who's not talking to him anymore she thought to herself. She blnked when she realized he was a few more steps ahead of her. Instinct took over and she pulled up her dress a little as she jogged over to walk behind him again. When she was near him, she dropped the tiny fold of dress she held in her hand and swept a few strands of hair out of her face. She wanted to ask who Chris was...but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her curiousity at bay. The way he turned pale, she figured it must have been a nickname for a girlfriend or something. She kept quiet unsure of what to say now. Apparently her asshole of an instructor could care for someone. Apparently they'd have to be damn well special. She sighed and brushed her hands over her dress as they walked the stairs. "So were you just too much in a rush to wait on the elevator to clear? Or do you just like walking the stairs?" It was a change of topic....he better appreciate that she wasn't prying into his business.

Silence. That was good. The rookie wasn't chattering at him for the time being. If it weren't for the sound of footsteps behind him, Alessi might have worried that she'd fallen behind. The silence could only last so long, however, before she sighed and began to speak. I hope she's not asking about Chris, he thought to himself grimly, kicking himself mentally for making such a slip-up. Having a young woman tailing him round was really going to do a number on his nerves, and not in any kind of good way.

"If you stick around long enough, you'll find that the elevator is too small for the load it carries," was his simply reply, only a touch of malice speckling his voice and even then fading into the jouncy coy tone he usually kept, "Not an enjoyable situation, unless you enjoy getting crammed up against other people that is. Besides, a little bit of light exercise never killed anyone."

With that, he exited the stairwell through the bottom most door, pausing beside it to hold it open. This was a product of the gentlemanly demeanor that was as naturally to him as deadly threats were to a mobster. Had he been thinking straight and not wound up in his own memories, he would have held open the door at the top of the stairs as well. But now, there was no need to apologize or dwell anymore on the forgotten courtesy; chances were Nuva wouldn't get why he was apologizing and he didn't exactly want to start off an involved conversation with the girl.

"Tiny cramped spaces I don't have a problem with. Being pushed against strangers...I do." And it came with being a girl and growing up in with military parents. She was taught what was and wasn't proper behaviour for a boy and a girl. She only shrugged at the light exercise comment but he didn't see it and he couldn't hear it so it went unnoticed. She walked down quietly through the stairs with him and when they reached the bottom she waited for him to let the door slam in her face. She was not expecting him to hold it open for her and that caught her off guard.

She stood there a minute with him holding the door before she urged herself through before he could let it go. Men were strange creatures that she didn't know if she wanted to understand. He apparently didn't want to understand her, let alone work with her but well...manners were manners. When she aws a few steps in front of him, she turned to him and gave him a genuine smile again. "Thank you." She turned completely and waited for him to lead the way again.