Past the Walls [Thorn]

In the time between when Jacob first started working at the Academy and the present, he had made a lot of additions to his office. What started as a spartan affair with mostly just the necessities of an office slowly became a reflection of Jacob, and everything he had experienced during his time at the Academy and living in Manta Carlos.

The office had started plainly because Jacob thought he needed nothing more in his office beyond his desk and his cabinets. It was just an office, after all. But as he grew comfortable with his place in the Academy, he started adding personal touches. He brought in a few framed pictures of his daughter Chiru, as was mandatory as a father. Joining her on his desk was an unframed picture of him and Lenn. It was a print of a selfie they had taken together. One his wall, as his sword became a bigger part of his life, he had a sword rack installed. It was a carved wood affair that he thought added some class to his office, as well as gave him a place to put his sword. Then he topped his cabinets with a few of his old personal and team swimming trophies, and had a cozy couch moved-in after it became apparent that students often came to him for personal talks.

But for as welcoming and cozy his office was, for the past week it had done little in easing mind regarding his current concerns for Thorn. It had been over a week since they had last spoken to each other, and the last talk had not been an easy one.

He wondered if she was okay and taking care of herself like he had pleaded for her to do. As he looked out of his window and down to the school grounds below, Jacob hoped that his words had reached far enough down, past her defences, to get to the core of who she was. She was not the first damaged young woman with metaphorically and literally tortured past that he had encountered. After all, he was dating one with a similar background. He had an idea of what kind of trauma she had been through and what it did to her, and he knew that she would have a lot of walls up to protect herself. She just needed to accept him in.

@"Poptart"

As Jacob looked out the window from his office, he wondered what Thorn had been up to during the last week. Whatever fears he had about Thorn running away or disappearing felt unfounded. Thorn did not seem like the kind of woman to run off because of her feelings. She did seem like the kind to withdraw from the world, though, and perhaps drown her feelings in illicit activities. That possibility seemed more reasonable, if stereotypical, and his worries about that felt more grounded. Again, he was just hoping that she was taking care of herself well.

The knock on his door came as a bit of surprise to him. No students had scheduled any meetings with him all day, and he had been in a bit of a lull with regards to walk-ins. He never even considered that it might have been Thorn, even though his thoughts had been preoccupied with her only moments earlier.

He was prompt and opened the door, his expression warm and welcoming as always.

"Yes? What can I help you w--"

Seeing Thorn at his doorway caught him off guard and he stared at her for a moment. She had come to him. That was big and Jacob knew it. His smile faded, but he did not look unhappy. If anything, he looked concerned.

"Thorn... H-How are you? Actually, why don't you come on in first."

He stood aside and held the door open for her.

"Is something the matter?"

He avoided bringing up the week that had passed since their last meeting. That was not time that was worth dredging up, as it was Thorn's time to process her own feelings. What mattered was that she was with him again now.

The door was closed softly behind Thorn as she stepped into the room. He seemed to make a show of it actually, demonstrating that the door was closed but not locked. Thorn could up and leave at any point if she so chose, and Jacob was not going to stop her in any way. Now was an important time for the two of them, and Thorn needed to dictate the speed at which they went.

Thorn looked and felt like a completely different person from the woman that had tattooed him and shared a smoke with him out by the pond. She seemd more like a girl, both in demeanor and size. She was not physically smaller, of course, but she carried herself with less confidence and attitude than before.

Again, Jacob gave her all the space he could. He waited while she took a seat at his couch, and only then did he join her on it. He took the other end, putting a buffer between the two of them on the relatively small couch. Unlike her, his posture was about openness. His arms were spread across the back and arm rest, and his legs were a little more splayed. It was almost welcoming.

He nodded when she finally started talking.

"You're right. I was too eager to try and help you, and I apologize. But I only did it because I was worried about you. I hope that intention was evident despite my rather aggressive actions."

Even then, as he apologized for pushing too much of himself on Thorn back at the pond, he wanted to scoot over to her side and give her a hug. It was in his nature to show affection and care like that.

"You're in control now, Thorn. This may be my office, but this is your time. Whatever you want to say or do, stays in here. Total confidentiality."

It was a personal policy of his given how often students went to him to talk, seek advice or get something off their chest. Although he had no offcial authority to enforce the policy, he kept to it as much as he can.

"You're safe in here."

Jacob was ready. The moment he laid out his confidentiality promise to Thorn, he knew that there was a chance that she would take that as an opportunity to pursue him. He knew enough about Thorn, had been around her enough and could extrapolate enough about her personality to predict that she would try and take their private moment and make it into something more intimate. But being prepared for it was different from experiencing it for real.

Temptation was a real thing, even for someone whom had dedicated quite a lot of himself to fighting it. Jacob was opening himself up to a lot of trouble and a lot of heartbreak by willingly putting himself in a position to give into temptation. Thorn was a beautiful, exotic young woman that was flagrantly throwing herself at him. Experience provided the right defenses, but the feeling still existed. Thorn (un)lucky in her choice of thigh to put her hand on. If she had chosen the other one, she might have felt that tiny bit of temptation working on Jacob.

However, he was deadly serious, and his eyes showed it. He looked directly into Thorn's eyes with resolve and placed his hand on top of her's. The touch was only to momentarily stop whatever advance she was trying to make, and not strong enough to hold her if she chose to pull away.

He swallowed, his nerves showing visibly for a moment, then spoke in a clear and even tone.

"Consider your actions, Thorn. If this really what you want?"

The reason Jacob was putting himself in such a pereilous position was because he needed Thorn to understand something, about herself and their relationship.

"I'm offering my heart and my ears to you. I'm offering you utter trust. But there's more than one way to lose that trust, both from me and you. Would sleeping with me really bring me closer to you, or would it actually put something between us?"

Thorn needed to be the one to make the decisions. She needed to be the one to come out from behind her doors, or invite him in. By that same token, it would also be her own doing if she did something that drove something between them. She needed to figure that out on her own, and Jacob held out hope that she would come to that conclusion.

"... Trust in me, Thorn. You don't need to be afraid..."

The gambit paid off. Jacob had put himself right in harm's way, and walked away unscathed. He was a little shaken, however. The temptation had been great, and Thorn's openness was a definite force multiplier. He needed a moment to breath and compose himself before he began talking again, and he needed to shift his legs so that a certain lump wasn't very prominent.

An immature little kick to his arm shook him from his thoughts, and did a much better job of taking his mind off certain things as well. He didn't say anything about it, and just quietly rubbed his shoulder as he listened to Thorn some more.

"I don't want anything in the sense that you might be thinking. I'm not trying to get anything out of you, or extort any favors, if that's what you're saying."

Finally, a smile out of Jacob, albeit a small one. After everything, he was finally getting the sense that Thorn was getting on the same wavelength as him. She was still trying to justify his actions based on her previous bad experiences, but there was doubt now. Hopefully soon she would realize that Jacob's intentions were pure.

"And I've already spelled-out what I quote-unquote want from you. I want to get to know the real you, and such.

Jacob sat up more and scooted a little closer to Thorn.

"When I met you, I saw a young woman with a lot potential and promise, even if you didn't agree. Your skills with an ink needles are amazing, and a great demonstration of your artisitc ability. You're writing a novel, and that's a grand feat worth pursuing. You might have looked rough-around-the-edges, to some point, but you were still a good person.

But I also sensed a barrier. Between yourself and others. Maybe I'm being presumptiuous, but it felt like that barrier might be holding you back from achieving your fullest potential, or just having a happier life.

I want to help you do just that. I want nothing in return besides seeing you succeed. That is my job as both your teacher, and your friend."