Sam/Gregor: on Jo and the Temptation of Power

[15:35]	Sam	Three days after the party, later in the evening. . .
[15:35]	Sam	knocks on the door to Gregor's room, seeing if the German is within.
[15:38]	Gregor	You don't hear an answer from Gregor, but there's noise from the inside - he's in, but probably hasn't heard you.
[15:38]	Sam	knocks again. "Gregor? It's Sam, I wanted to talk to you if you have the time."
[15:39]	Gregor	No answer - do you poke your head in?
[15:39]	Sam	puts his ear against the door trying to see if he can hear anything within
[15:42]	Gregor	Gregor is humming a somewhat cheery tune.
[15:43]	[ERROR]	The command “me,” is not known to the server.
[15:43]	Sam	, now knowing Gregor is both awake and *not* doing something /intimate/ cracks open the door . "Gregor, you busy? I wanted to talk to you." Sam says, poking his head through the door.
[15:43]	Gregor	Gregor is sitting in his wheelchair by the table facing the window. You can see cables snake away from his ears- earplugs, clearly. He appears to be writing something.
[15:44]	Sam	walks into the room and taps Gregor on the shoulder. "Hey, you got a moment to talk?"
[15:45]	Gregor	starts, then turns his neck towards you, and suddenly smiles. He pops his headphones out of his ears. "Ah-ha! Doesn't hurt to turn my neck any more."
[15:45]	Gregor	"What can I do for you?"
[15:46]	Sam	has his sketchbook folded under one arm. "I wanted to talk, about something you said to me when we woke up."
[15:47]	Gregor	exhales softly through his nose. "Perhaps."
[15:51]	Sam	goes and shuts the door. "You said that at your worst, you were a fascist, a murder, and a borderline rapist, whereas I am merely hollow. I. . Just as you had your pit and chains, I have my basement and drawings. I wanted to show you one of them, I don't know if it will help, but" Sam holds out his sketchbook, a bookmark peaking out of it "if it might, then I'd like you to see it, if you want."
[15:53]	Gregor	turns the wheelchair around, gesturing at the chair nearby. "Sit down, Sam." That said, he reaches out for the sketchbook. "May I?"
[15:54]	Sam	takes a seat and passes it to Gregor. You can see the bookmark Sam put in place, the picture he wants to show you.
[15:54]	Gregor	opens it?
[15:54]	Sam	It's a picture of Shula,a full body portrait. Her hair is free, without a covering. She is dressed in a short skirt, and revealing tank-top that hugs her figure. A tight necklace is laced around your neck, almost a choker, and her eyes. . . They look up at the viewer in absolute adoration and obedience. Subservience.
[15:55]	Gregor	Gregor stiffens suddenly, knuckles white from how hard he is gripping that sketchbook.
[15:57]	Sam	"I will not presume to say that this is identacle with you and your fears on Jo but. . . I want you to know that you are not alone in having this temptation."
[15:57]	Sam	*identical
[15:57]	Gregor	"I am more of a pants man," Gregor says.
[15:58]	Sam	snorts
[15:59]	Gregor	shrugs. "And the worst thing is that both of them would probably have said yes." Gregor closes his eyes. "Would probably say yes."
[15:59]	Gregor	"How do you deal with it?"
[16:01]	Sam	"By understamding that /this/ " Sam motions to the portrait "Is a desire, and if I take it, then I would destroy the Shula I love with something else. Much of what I most admire and respect would be lost if I fell to that temptation. What I /want/ Greogor, and what I /desire/ are not the same."
[16:07]	Gregor	"Yes. I 0x1dknow0x1d that, Sam." Gregor shakes his head. "But that it is there, at all, this temptation, it is..." Gregor struggles for words.
[16:08]	Sam	pats Gregor on the shoulder, but doesn't say anything, just listening
[16:09]	Gregor	"It is vexing. Disturbing. Wrong."
[16:11]	Sam	"Yes, it is, it would be wrong to give into this, but. . . It is human nature to find power appealing. To have the /opertunity/ to have someone submit themselves to you, to know you could, if you choose, utterly dominate them. It's a heady idea Gregor, much like when we pilot. It is our nature, as flawed beings, to be tempted by that. Please, do not think so poorly of yourself for having...
[16:11]	Sam	...this, it is a human fault, but that doesn't mean we cannot, will not, fall to it."
[16:12]	Gregor	nods. "Yes. Being human is quite hard, sometimes."
[16:15]	Sam	"Few things worth doing are easy Gregor. We both know that."
[16:16]	Gregor	"Yes." Gregor rubs his face with one hand. "There are parts of me that want nothing more than to give in to the temptation of the mighty - to impose order, and myself, upon others."
[16:16]	Gregor	"Why did you draw this, Sam?" He shakes the sketchpad.
[16:18]	Sam	"I wanted to show you that you were not alone in this, that there is someone who, at least in part, understands this. I had hope that it may even help."
[16:19]	Gregor	looks at the drawing again and shudders.
[16:20]	Gregor	"Then I have a request of you, Sam."
[16:20]	Sam	nods
[16:24]	Gregor	waggles the sketchbook at Sam. "Two, like that. One of Josephine. And one," Gregor closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "of Asuka."
[16:25]	Sam	"Do you mean just portraits, or. . like this one in particular?"
[16:26]	Gregor	"Like this one in particular."
[16:26]	Gregor	hands Sam the sketchpad. "I need to do some... soul searching. And it is a ... reminder, if you will, of the worst."
[16:27]	Sam	"That's what I though, I just needed to make sure. I would have hated to have misunderstood." Sam glances at the portrait and nods "Give me a few days here. I'm going to make sure I do them right."
[16:29]	Gregor	nods, once.
[16:29]	Gregor	"And if in turn there is something I can do for you..."
[16:29]	Sam	"Yeah actually."
[16:30]	Gregor	"Shoot."
[16:32]	Sam	"Me and Shula we're planning on having the wedding soon, we were talking the 25th of this month. I'd like to make sure that some traditional Persian cooking is included, we want to include stuff from both of our backgrounds."
[16:33]	Gregor	nods.
[16:33]	Gregor	"That is... much sooner than I had expected."
[16:34]	Sam	"I know. I. . . Just that things aren't going to slow down here either. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find time, and . . . the more likely it will be that one or both of us dies."
[16:36]	Gregor	"What then would you have me do?" Gregor raises an eyebrow and smiles impishly. "I would hate to have misunderstood."
[16:38]	Sam	"I would have you speak your mind Gregor."
[16:39]	Gregor	"The food, I mean. What is it that I can do for you?"
[16:42]	Sam	"A cake for one, as for the non-dessert food. . . I was thinking of leaving it to you and Irune mostly, some traditional western food and some Persian wedding foods and the like. Halal of course. Other than that I trust you, Irune, and Jane to come up with a good set of food."
[17:35]	Gregor	(( omg I completely missed your reply I feel awful))
[17:36]	Sam	(No worries, I figured your thing with Ark got kinda intense.)
[17:36]	Gregor	(No I just missed it)
[17:36]	Sam	(I'm not in any rush here, so don't sweat it.)
[17:36]	Gregor	mmhs. "I would respectfully ask that you, no matter how little you like the man, involve Akram. He is probably mlready making contacts in the city."
[17:37]	Sam	"I will, and we actually . . I think we've reached a understanding  I think."
[17:39]	Gregor	grunts and nods
[17:39]	Gregor	"Good."
[17:40]	Sam	"But I don't think it's a good idea to involve outsiders. Black Lilith managed to sneak a bomb into your locker, and that was in Thalassa. I shrudder to think of what she could do /here/ and that doesn't cover the Worm, or any of Ya-Chings enemies either."
[17:41]	Gregor	"By that logic nowhere is safe."
[17:41]	Sam	"No where really is anymore, but there is something to be said about prudence. No outsiders."
[17:43]	Gregor	"Very well, then. Gods willinbg I should be healed by that time."
[17:43]	Sam	"God willing and the creek don't rise."
[17:47]	Gregor	"... wot?"
[17:48]	Sam	"Just a saying from back home."