Welcome to Gaia! ::

Eliana eyed the hip flask appreciatively. She'd have to see about getting one of those for herself. She only half-listened to what the janitor was saying this time, which meant she probably misinterpretted his meaning.

Chuckling, she waved her hand dismissively with a shake of her head. "Yeah, well, I have a feeling I'm better prepared for these unforseen factors than most of these poor fools around here. Remember, I'm not completely clueless as to why we're here. I sought this place out; I wasn't drugged and dragged here like these buffoons."

Eliana was needing another drink by this point and Phil's hip flask wasn't providing any less temptation. She'd be getting pretty testy soon if she didn't keep the alcohol flowing.

"Haha, you sound like my kinda person Sam," Karen chuckled and bowed her head. "I never thought Sam was a boy's name, Sam is the shortening of Samantha, always has been for me... Would you rather I call you Sambo or something?" She laughed weakly at a really, really sad attempt at a joke.

Humor, not one of Karen's strong points no sir!

"Not much of a martial artist, but I know how to keep the guys off and I'm okay in a cat-fight, but that's really about it..." She scratched the back of her head then looked at her nails. "Though I'll have to let my nails grow out a bit more if I'm going to be getting into any of those in the near future... I got them all nice and short so I'd look at least half professional for this gig..."

Eliana's eyes were narrow, though her voice was calm. Perhaps she was only shielding her eyes from the sun...perhaps not. Only she could answer that question...and no one was asking. Not that she'd answer anyway, most likely.

"Not really. Nothing more than the fact that I need another cold one," she muttered, eying Phil's flask enviously once more. She had to get one of those.

"I don't feel like going back in yet to get one either," she continued, glancing up at the janitor with a smirk. "Any chance you can tell one of those good-for-nothing guards to go get me one instead? It's not like they're doing anything else right now."

"Hmph," Eliana scoffed, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. Her gaze shifted to the side before she finally rolled her eyes. "Didn't figure you'd be good for much either."

"And I never said I'd talk to you more. I said I wanted a cold one. Nowhere in that statement do I see a promise to converse with the 'help' in this dump." She practically sneered the last word before flashing Phil a devilish grin. "Though, I can assure you...there is a possibility in there of preventing violence if I'm kept happy. Why else do you think these chumps keep me in all the booze I want or ask for?"

"Cool." Samantha nodded once, quickly and business-like. "It'll be good for you, and plus...it gives me something to do rather than just sitting around here on my butt wasting time and brain cells."

She laughed a bit. It wasn't much, but it was more genuine than any laugh she'd had in a while now.

"I'm not sure if we want to start those lessons today, however," she commented once she'd reigned in her amusement. "I'm a little bushed from my earlier exercise, and the janitor has a point. It is getting a bit warm out here. Hottest part of the day, you know, and that's not the best time for exercise." She nodded at Karen before taking another drink from her almost-forgotten sports drink. She was feeling a bit warm all of a sudden. It was probably just her earlier frustration combined with the already-warm weather. Her workout hadn't helped matters.

"Just let me know when you want to start those lessons and we'll get started. Come by my room anytime. I'm in room #001 in the residence hall, if you can call it that." She smirked a bit before continuing. "I've stayed in hospitals with warmer, more welcoming atmospheres."

Samantha nodded slightly, then paused. Natural curiosity taking over, she couldn't resist asking. "Tonight? What's going on tonight?"

Maybe Karen was supposed to meet with her uncle again? If she was meeting with Dr. Hakan, then maybe she could ask some more pointed questions! See if they couldn't get to the bottom of the mystery of this place together. It was obvious that something was going on, but it would take some work and a lot of creative sleuthing to figure out what. CRONUS staff wasn't just going to out and tell them anything afterall. Now, how to ask questions without raising their suspicions...?

"Oh, okay!" Samantha put on a smile, hiding her disappointment. Ah well, she'd take the time to formulate her own plan for 'attack' before she worried about confronting any of the lab's staff.

She chuckled softly. "After all the secrets they're keeping from us? It's only fair we have some secrets from them, right? Trust me...your secret's safe with me."

'Wonder why she's meeting him tonight? We could use a connection on the inside...he'd be good for gathering information. Then again, I can't ask her to use him for that...not if she's genuinely interested in the guy. Well, best I can do for now is leave the situation in her hands...it's none of my business if this is a personal meeting. Though if it isn't...'

"Good luck with tonight. And despite the dreary surroundings, try to enjoy yourself, eh?" She laughed again, subconsciously pushing her private thoughts to the back of her mind for now. She might need them again in the future.

Samantha looked a little lost...and rightfully so. She couldn't say she'd ever had any serious relationships before that had ever amounted to anything. "Umm..." she hesitated, chuckling a bit at Karen's...frankness.

"I suppose that's something you'll have to decide for yourself. Your reasons, I mean. As for whether you're doing the right thing or not? I also don't know, but my personal opinion is that all you can do in life is trust your heart. When even that doesn't seem to help, you just have to make the best choice you can and hope it works out for the best. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fall. The point is that no matter what, you keep going. Even if that means you have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off first."

'Where in the world did that come from?' she puzzled silently.