Disclaimers in 1st chapter submission.

The words might be mashed up a little because every time I add one extra word, they get all jumbled up, so if u notice any, please forgive me.

The tray of food in her hand was teetering dangerously, but she managed to control the angry tremble in her hand before the food and drink topple over. Composing herself by muttering comfortingcurses under her breath, she straightened, and opened the door to the Lord Marshal's residence.

The lights were low, and the room looked empty. Sandra seized the opportunity, and quickly laid the tray down, and turned to go.

She found herself held back by a deadly blade—a shiv, she recognized--and glanced aside to see its wielder. There was the Lord Marshal, silently observing her behind those obscuring goggles. What that stunned her was that he was dripping wet, just out from a shower, she realized. Thank goodness for that towel around his waist, or I'll be blinded for life, she thought sarcastically, reverting her eyes away from him in silent respect. What would they think if I told them I saw the Lord Marshal dripping wet from his shower?

'You're naked,' she remarked.

'You're in my room,' he growled in return. 'How?' he demanded.

'It's my house,' Sandra reminded blatantly, holding up a finger and an access card dangled from it. 'And your dinner,' she added, nodding at the tray on the table. 'You forgot to attend dinner service.'

Socializing's not my thing.

Sandra thought herself dismissed, but before she could move, Riddick gestured at her with the shiv. 'Come on,' he took her over to one of the rooms, where the sliding window panel was open, allowing the wintery wind to air-condition the room. There, she saw, were rows and rows of blades of all sizes, laid out neatly on the carpeted floor.Beside it was a single yellowpolishing cloth.

'Your job,' he told her. Sandra shot him a hateful glare when he turned away. What am I now, your maid? She sat down sullenly, and started polishing them furiously, eager to finish the damned job fast. But seeing the vast field of blades and only one polishing cloth, she heart sank. This is gonna be a long night...

Riddick came in several minutes later, fully clothed (thank goodness, she thought). He laid on his stomach, made himself comfortable, and proceeded to read something on his portable PC. For a moment he glanced up at her without turning his head, observing her some more.

She looked mad, he thought to himself, chuckling. Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders and she furiously polished away. Grey eyes reflected passion in her spirit. Her face bore a striking resemblance to the thin Lord Woolworth. Pale cheeks conveyed...cold? he chuckled, and took a swig from the bottle he took along with him. Beautiful. Babe,if you could stand up, I'll have a look at that ass...

Sandra suddenly looked up, and for a second he wondered if he had said that too loud. Then she remarked, 'you know you shouldn't drink with an empty stomach.'

He cocked his head slightly in her direction, and smiled slightly. 'Yeah, I do.'

'And you're doing just that,' she persisted, furrowing her eyebrows.

'I'm doing that cuz' I know a certain lady so kind that would bring me my meal,' Riddick said, flashing a smirk. Sandra narrowed her eyes at him. But, to his amusement, she got up and went to get his tray of dinner, leaving a black cloud in her wake. He rolled onto his back, snickering to himself, ordered the lights low, and took off his goggles.

She came back in a moment, and plopped the tray down so forcefully that the wares clanked against each other noisily. 'Easy, girl,' he said, chuckling and rising to a sitting position. Sandra went back to polishing, rubbing away furiously.

'What am I now, some dog?' she asked, her voice low with quiet rage. Riddick paused in his meal.

'Nah, not dog, rather of... feline friend,' he replied, smirking. Yeah, my kitty. She glanced up heatedly,and paused when she saw his eyes. They shone luminously in the dark, like...like...jaguars. And glowing mushrooms, she thought. 'How you got those?' she asked, gesturing with her chin. That age old question... he focused on his food, playing with his fork as dark yet vivid memories flashed by. He remained silent for several moments before answering.

'First you gotta kill some people.'

'Really?' Sandra didn't expect that sort of reply. She glanced away. Her vigorous rubs on the blades toned down to merely wiping. She pondered over his words for a while, then asked softly, 'so you did?'

That was far toounexpected for Riddick. He almost choked on his meal. Fortunately he coughedout his half-chewed salmon in time.Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he said, 'how long have you lived on this fucking planet?'

'Ni-nineteen years,' she stammered, quite unnerved by his sudden change of tone. Riddick went back to attacking his meal, chewing thoughtfully. Nineteen years and she hasn't even heard of me? What the-? She's still naive, Rick, another voice said. He glanced at her again, then shook his head.

Naah, she can't be THAT naive!

Oh, but she can. Just that you've been surrounded by iron-willed, shiv-wielding women all your life in and out of the Slam and you've never came across such a...such a lady, he narrowed one eye at that last line. Then he disagreed with himself again, sighed, shook his head, and went back to his meal.

Sandra was bemused by his weird behaviour of looking at her, shaking his head and then looking away. She decided not to press the matter further. If he had killed people before, well...that was his problem, not hers. If he was a real murderer who murders without fail, well...that was HER problem.

'You gotta finish these by midnight,' he suddenly said, gesturing at the blades with his fork. Sandra rolled her eyes, then chided, 'yes, master,' sarcastically. Riddick gave her the you'd-better-watch-what-you're-saying look, and grunted in reply. A smirk found its way to his lips as he thought of a plan to mess around with her mind. Oh, yeah, Riddick, you bastard, he thought, chuckling.

Hi! I couldn't update much this hols cuz' I'm busy with my ochestra's performance(Me a clarinetist beams) and this might be delayed a little. Apologies in advance. I'll update ASAP. Meanwhile, thanks a lot for your reviews! Helped me with the INSPIRATION dilemma.