Sam is prone to “softness”
You could say that Sam is a rough and brash person. Just like how you could also say that Sam hates vampires.
She doesn’t back down from confrontations out of fear, only out of practicality (when she hasn’t been angered.) She’ll argue with someone very easily. She’s also gotten into fist fights with people. Sam ends up saying junk and will bristle back instead of letting small aggressive acts slide past.
At the end of the day though, she doesn’t enjoy any of that. She doesn’t enjoy fighting vampires. She doesn’t like arguing with someone or pushing roughly at something or someone. Yeah, she’ll get satisfaction from “winning” sometimes, but ultimately it’s her just acting on her anger instead of holding back.
By the current point, in practically all verses, she’s gotten into plenty of fights of some kind or another.
My point though, is that, she’s prone to “softness.” I realize that’s pretty vague, but that’s the best word I can use to sum it all up.
She’ll become defensive and protective over “soft” people which she aligns with the same as being innocent. Her heart just automatically feels for them when they get hurt or feel bad.
The other thing is when people are soft TO HER.
Soft-spoken words, gently speaking about sensitive matters - Even politeness works. Then there’s soft touches of course. It affects her when it’s not done out of pity (although even then it will still do so to a degree). It’s hard to describe how it affects her, but it makes HER much more soft to them.
Ultimately, I think it’s that she feels cared for. Like someone is not doing this out of necessity that she NEEDS a gentle touch, but because they care about her feelings rather than just her stability. (Think how you feel when you get an unexpected present “just cause” - like someone GENUINELY WANTS to be nice to you because they care about you.)
Although, you could say part of it is that it makes her feel grateful. Because she doesn’t really deserve such kind treatment. (Which although she’s really self-confident, that doesn’t change the fact that Sam views herself as someone “tainted”/adult/grim. That’s a whole other post though.)
It just warms her heart right up. “Softness” is such a pure thing to her, regardless if she realizes that herself or not. It makes her happy and content. Like the world has good, despite everything else. No matter what else she’s seen or done, she’ll feel the world has good and nothing can erase that.
One of Sam’s things, at the heart of her, is that she has infinite hope in the world. It’s why she’s just as infinitely determined.
Endless hope that there IS good in the world, and that no matter what it’s there. The world isn’t all bad and no matter how bad everything gets, there’ll still be good. It doesn’t matter how small or short it is. One second of it is worth all her life and is more than if the rest of the world was bad.
This hope is why she’s just as endlessly determined. She can make it better. She can keep some of this good safe, keep it from getting destroyed by tragedy. It might not seem much, but when even the shortest second of good is worth more than an entire world of bad... well keeping someone alive long enough to have one of those seconds is worth all her effort.