You must hold on to anyone who wants you. || TEMPY

Walking out to one of the docks near the village, Martina paced herself as she was making her way toward the boats. She wasn't really sure what she wanted to do today, since she finally had the day off - but she knew that the one thing she really really wanted to do, was of course something she couldn't do - which in itself sounded terribly contradictory.

Yawning as she walked, it was early in the morning and she had just gotten her cast taken off at the doctor's. The silly thing was after she had it taken off, she had gone to a healer to fix anything that might not have been fixed other wise. The point though, was that Martina was finally excited that she had two fully functioning wrists. She realized that she could finally get back messing around with some of her swords and daggers, but the only thing that she had brought with her today were two small knives - only effective in the hands of a true master.

Plus, the woman needed something to relieve her mind any how - she was still shaken by her encounter with the janitor - of course refusing most of the time to use his actual name.

Sniffing lightly, her cold having ultimately gone off to some other poor being - Martina whipped out one of her knives - twirling the dangerous object in between her fingers as she walked down a deserted dock. The sun was beginning to rise, so she figured she would have a little bit of time alone in the area before people started to come along - and that was perfectly fine with her. She needed some time to think, and Martina found that she thought best when she was handling some sort of sharp object.

Finally reaching the end of the dock, the older woman stopped and turned around - finally wielding the knife in her hand. She pretended that there was an attacker in front of her, the woman quickly starting her practice. It was little strange though, since she actually did pretend that there was some one else there to block her moves when she did something wrong. Dipping and weaving to avoid any make-believe injuries, Martina was a picture of speed and quick thinking. She was a remarkably intelligent woman when it came to predicting certain kinds of people, and it was that trait along with family inheritance that had made her the headmistress.

Stopping with her practice about 10 minutes in, Martina sat down and then stretched out on her back - looking up at the sky. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? She rolled back and forth for a moment, realizing that she was acting like a teenager again - but she couldn't shake the giddy feeling she got when his image paused for a moment in her mind. It wasn't like though that he would ever know... her stubborn side being perfectly content with leaving things the way they were. The other side of her though - the more romantic side... wondered for a moment what would have happened if she had let things go a different way. How could she though? Her mind was unable to get past the fact that he did work for her, and she knew that in itself was trouble.

Letting out a long hefty sigh, she sat up and buried her face in her hands for a moment. She had problems, way too many to count.

"What do you think that is, Wyatt?"

"I dunno, Jimmy. It might be one of them exercise fanatics. Up early for a townie."

Nikolai came to stand next to the two other men, leaning on the rail nonchalantly. His eyes trained on the lone figure on the dock as the other two continued to talk.

"Mebbe practicing martial arts?"

"Yeah," Wyatt said, stretching his arms and heading away from the railing of the boat. "Let's hope she keeps outta the way when we're unloading."
Nikolai smiled, recognizing the woman now. Martina. She stopped her expert maneuvers and sat on the dock. Wasn't it just his luck to be on a boat that was supposed to moor there. He was forced to draw his eyes away from the now prone Headmistress when his temporary boss called him over.

"Dawes, you're gonna tackle the boxes in section 4. All you have to do is take them down the to the end of the dock and load the trucks when they arrive."

Nikolai nodded. When in doubt, he had always found, the less said the better. He didn't like trying to explain his accent or mannerisms. Besides, he looked enough like a young person to pull it off. He was pretty sure that most of the men on this boat thought him a tad slow, but didn't bother him too much since he was a steady worker.

He had needed something to do other than lurk through the forest, so he had gotten this job after spending the night at the apartment of another teacher. Caroline had not heeded his insistence that he could easily just camp out in the forest (he usually slept in a closet in the school) until his suspension was over. She set him up to stay at her half-brother's place for the time being. Fortunately, he had gotten a short-term job for a boat running out to the continent to pick up a shipment of fruit for the marketplace.

He could hear the other men tying the boat to the dock as he finished bringing the last of his crates to the deck. He could only take about four at a time on the dolly provided, and even then the top of the uppermost crate was level with the top of his head.

He wheeled it down the ramp and, careful not to run into Martina. Nikolai's mouth curved into a smile as an idea blossomed. He deepened his voice to a low rumble, added a bit of brogue, and tried as hard as he could not to sound like himself as he said, "Pardon me, ma'am. Don' wanna roll over ye." He paused and added, "Me and the chaps were wonderin' if ye were alright." Behind the cover of the crate-laden dolly, he wondered if she would recognize him regardless of his ploy and how long he could keep up the charade.

He didn't want her to run off or spend the entire time trying to avoid him. If this was what it took to be near her, so be it.

At the sound of a deep voice, Martina hesitated for a moment with her face still buried in her palms. "I'm fine," she mumbled - before pausing for a moment and looking up. Whoever was behind those crates had quite the accent, she stood up - quite curious as to whom the person was - stepping around the crates though she paused as she recognized the person - a frown gracing her face.

"I wasn't aware that you had an accent," she said to him, with a slight pout on her face - annoyed at the fact that the man she had been constantly dreaming about was right in front of her.

Looking down and then back up at Nikolai, the older woman actually fidgeted for a moment - she was out of her element since she wasn't at her school. When they were at school, she had the home field advantage, now - being out and away from the place made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Folding her arms across her chest, she looked Nikolai in the eye as she spoke - "You're not planning on stalking me are you?"

Nikolai sighed as she stepped around the crates. So much for that ploy. At least she wasn't retreating or trying to push him away... yet. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked uneasy. "I suppose my natural accent is hard to trace. That last one, however, is not mine. I merely wondered if you would recognize me regardless."

He glanced at the ship, then back at Martina. She was pouting at him. He only offered a pleasant smile in return. What else could he do? Get annoyed? Try getting through to her with high-handed moves? He'd done both of those already and they had just made things worse.

He held up his hands in defense as she accused him of stalking, or having intentions to stalk her. "I left the campus as you asked."

"Dawes, quit flirting and get a move on!"

He nodded and tilted the dolly once again. "I even got a job outside of the school for the time being." He did shoot a mischievous look over his shoulder, though, as he started moving slowly towards the drop-off area. "Trust me, though, when I say that I can be very patient. I can survive with the hopes that someday you'll come around. The way you kissed me...." He trailed off with a nonchalant shrug.

Nikolai hoped that his newly-awakened libido wouldn't kill him before Martina decided he wasn't a threat to her little world here. It was ridiculous. A man his age having trouble in that area? Unheard of.