Tiny Dancer

2.02 Beck Falls for Tori

Sikowitz' class for the day comes with a classic 'good cop, bad cop' routine. Beck is on stage to play the suspect while Cat beats the answers out of him and Andre watches from the side.

"She's in my basement!" Beck finally confesses. "She's in my basement!"

The scene seems to have gone well which is why they're all a bit surprised to hear Sikowitz' voice from the back of the room.

"Boring!"

"That was boring?" Andre asks, slightly offended.

"Yes," Sikowitz declares like it should be obvious. "It was all too predictable. There were no," he mimics a scream, "surprises."

"I enjoyed the slapping," Jade chimes in.

Jesse sighs, unsurprised but still feeling the need to say something. "Jade..."

She shrugs. "What? I did."

Sikowitz ignores the side conversation. "See, entertainment is so much more entertaining when the characters do things the audience doesn't expect."

Robbie frowns in confusion. "I don't get what you're trying to say here."

"You've bewildered everybody," Rex adds.

Various sounds of agreement and confusion fill the room before Sikowitz claps his hands to put a stop to it.

"Alright. Okay. Maybe I'm wrong. Let's move on to something else."

Jesse narrows his eyes as Sikowitz climbs on the stage instead, taking his students' place. He knows the man is up to something; he's just not entirely sure what it is yet.

Beck sees his look and smiles as he takes the empty seat beside him, more than ready for whatever Sikowitz has come up with now. As he sits down, he automatically drapes his arm across the back of Jesse's chair while Jesse's hand moves to rest on his leg.

It's an easy and comfortable habit of sharing space they're both more than happy to have back.

"Let's talk about our hopes and dreams," Sikowitz tells them. He points excitedly at Tori in the front row. "Tori!"

Her eyes widen in surprise before she points back at him. "Sikowitz!"

He sits down on the stage in front of her. "What's your biggest hope and/or dream?" he asks.

Jesse straightens up as he abruptly realizes what Sikowitz' plan is. "Sikowitz, no," he tells him, interrupting Tori before she can do anything more than open her mouth.

Sikowitz gives him a look. "Let her answer the question," he says through a strained smile.

Jesse sighs and gestures with his free hand in reluctant acceptance while he leans comfortably into Beck's side, drumming his fingers lightly against his knee.

Sikowitz nods happily then turns his attention back to Tori. "Hopes and/or dreams. Let's go."

"Uh, probably to be a popstar," she says optimistically. "A really successful singer."

Surprising everyone but Jesse, Sikowitz bursts into hysterical laughter.

Tori laughs along weakly for a second. "What?" she asks in confusion.

His laughter slowly trails off. "Well, maybe you could sing at weddings. For the hearing impaired," he adds with another laugh.

"Okay. This is the most fun class ever," Jade decides.

Jesse gives her a look for it but doesn't actually say anything as he waits for Sikowitz to reach his point.

"You really don't think I can make it as a singer?" Tori asks with kicked puppy eyes and a frown.