[ that doesn't really help matters, when it comes to sam feeling off about this whole experience. after talking to mal, after being down here and seeing this and feeling all of the injustice hit a little too close to home, sam is just starting to feel. a bit more than just frustrated. and seeing this girl reaching out, looking thin and dirty and unkempt, has sam working pretty hard to keep the unhappy tension out of his jaw.

the spark of recognition in her face has sam pausing, though. blinking once. ] Mal mentioned...me? [ he needs a second, maybe a second, before it clicks and sam has his own spark of recognition mirrored back to her. ] Oh, oh, you're Alina. [ there's a hint of a smile, if only because he can see it - why mal had called her pretty, how she could be the one who gets him to make rash decisions.

( sam is also struck with how young she is. how young they both are. there is a curling in his stomach, again, but he swallows it back. )

at her questions, sam lifts his hands in a semi-defensive manner at her insistence, trying to calm her. ] Hey, hey- breathe. He's okay. He's got that nasty bruise, but he was all together, and didn't seem to have any head trauma. Alina- [ he lifts his brows, waiting for her to pause, to take a breath. when she finally does, he lets a little of that smile peek through again. ]

He's alright, I promise. You don't know me, but believe me when I say that if he wasn't, I wouldn't be standing here. You can trust me on that. [ sam would be raising hell to get him out. but alina doesn't know sam yet, so it's possible she doesn't know that much either. still, sam lets out a breath and shakes his head. he would ask how two teenagers got themselves into so much trouble, but he doesn't need to ask. he can guess.

and then, after a short pause where he lets that sink in and for alina to hopefully relax a bit, sam lifts a brow. ] He told me it was your idea.