They've got the stars for the gallant hearts

[confidentially]

Who| Jessica & Marius
What| Marius meets his crazy new mentor.
Where| Training facility
When| Some time during Week 6.
Warnings/Notes| Jessica is her own warning label.

She'd let Marius have his week to recover before sending him a note via Avox that read, in ornate and girlish handwriting that his presence was required in the training facility at 8am sharp. No wives allowed. No boyfriends either. It was signed with a simple J, with a postscript which warned him not to be late.

Jessica was allowed to be late, however. It was one of the luxuries of victory. She sashayed into the facility at 8:15, looking fit and stern and ready to get down to business. Unfortunately, she was less impressed by Marius in person than she had been while watching him on TV.

"Oh. You're short." Her disappointment was palpable.

Comments

[saisamour]

As commanded, Marius slowed into a halt, taking in deep breaths as he gave her look that was half-quizzical, half-chastised. He thought he had done all he could, to be quite honest, although it was not difficult to tell that she found it a disappointment.

After his breathing had evened, he wiped his arm across his brow and approached her. He blinked, once, waiting for further instructions in a manner reminiscent an eager dog.

[confidentially]

Crossing her arms, she circled around him slowly, like a scavenging bird over a rotting piece of meat. "Well that was a bust. But maybe there's a way to salvage this. Have you ever been to the orthodontist?"

[saisamour]

"I..."

Marius gulped and fidgeted under her gaze, but he was still far too polite to comment on how uneasy it made him. So instead, he focused on another dilemma, which was the definition of 'orthodontist.' Breaking it into base words gave him 'straight' and 'tooth,' but that only served to confuse him all the more.

His forehead creased. "I beg your pardon?"

[confidentially]

"For your teeth." It was blunt, but necessary. All those Frenchies could use some help in the dental department, as far as she was concerned. "They've made some major advancements in the field of dentistry. They can fix all that stuff you have going on in there."