> "Maya, wait!"

She froze for a half second with her hand on the door knob, but did not turn around. This was embarrassing enough before eye contact got factored in.

> "You... You really weren't meant to find out like that..."

"No. I'm glad, really." She would have just gone along with him anywhere. She could have been ambushed by, heaven forbid, candle light. "I now know I've been careless with your feelings." Training wheels? What had she been thinking?

> "Can we... Can we talk about this? Over coffee? Dinner? I don't know..."

"We should." Sounded more like I don't want to than the actual words that were said. "I still owe you a hundred coffees." Maya turned and put her back to the door she'd been about to exit. Somewhere around chest-level, she found a point on Cafas' uniform worthy of intense scrutiny.

"Cafas, I don't... I can't be your person." She wrapped and tangled her fingers together and wished that she could sink right through the wood behind her. "You have a long life ahead of you and now you're free to find someone that can share that with you. You can find someone without baggage or a kid or who's lower profile. You have options and I..." don't. The word caught in her throat. "Uhm. I mean. You're on the rebound, right? You probably don't even want me." He just wanted somebody. Anybody. Right?

"No. I'm glad, really. I now know I've been careless with your feelings."

Cafas had never really taken the best care of those himself. He'd made some pretty massive mistakes with them. Feelings were tricky like that. He'd felt like this was coming though, so he was at least prepared this time. It had been a somewhat vain hope anyway, right?

"We should. I still owe you a hundred coffees."

"I've got time now..."

"Cafas, I don't... I can't be your person. You have a long life ahead of you and now you're free to find someone that can share that with you. You can find someone without baggage or a kid or who's lower profile. You have options and I... Uhm. I mean. You're on the rebound, right? You probably don't even want me."

Was that how he normally sounded? Wow. That was a lot of words. So many words. Cafas took a moment to think before speaking. Clearly things were real. He normally just went with whatever came out his mouth. It may still end that way, he was having trouble putting his thoughts into words. His hands were being mercilessly wrung behind his back. He was pretty damn nervous.

How do people do this?

"Maya... I'm pretty sure I want you specifically, and I'm willing to risk being wrong." Was that enough? He didn't know. Maybe he should add to it? It really summed up his feelings on the matter. Relationships were allowed to not work out, right? The risk of it shouldn't put them off the idea entirely. If there was even a slim chance he was right about it, he was going to pursue it.

Not to mention I nearly died today and that tends to put things in a very stark perspective...

There was a knot somewhere in his stomach. He wasn't breathing. He could feel that. He could feel his own nerves. He could feel DocProf watching. A subtle one finger salute was directed the old man's way.

He wanted her? Specifically? Well, DocProf had said he was concussed. And also, the not thinking things through thing. She'd presented her argument so all she had to do was let it sink in.


"Cancer patients don't go out on dating sites, do they?" Because she knew there was an end, she was now pretty sure there wasn't time for any more middle. She'd convinced herself that waiting around for Sebastian was a waste. And, yes, Cafas waiting for Calley was just as bad, but that didn't mean she was ready to replace him.


"Uhm Is it unfair to say that I'm not sure that's true?" The wanting her part. It just didn't make sense.


Maya untangled her fingers to swab her cheeks. It was terribly embarrassing to be caught crying. Again.


Should've just agreed to coffee.

"Cancer patients don't go out on dating sites, do they?"

He'd honestly never considered the dating habits of cancer patients. That was probably symptomatic of not being terminally ill. Cafas could see Maya welling up. He didn't know if now was really the time for the overwhelming instinct to hug her. Then again, he wasn't sure of a lot of things, such as his own decision making, in that moment.

"Uhm Is it unfair to say that I'm not sure that's true?"

Unfair? Hardly. Probably very fair. He wasn't entirely certain he knew for himself. Kealey could probably tell them. Without her on hand he was just going to have to hope he was right about his own emotions. A mirror may provide some insight too, but his eyes really only did surface emotions.

"Cancer patients may still date, I'm not sure. They still deserve to be happy. Terminal illness doesn't change that. And no it's not unfair." A few short, slow steps had carried him closer. He hadn't really done it on purpose, but the urge to try and comfort Maya was pretty strong, and hugging was all he had.

"Look, I'm gonna lay everything out here, so bear with me a second okay?" Cafas tried to make eye contact with her. "I haven't smiled so much as I did at that club in a very long time; I hadn't been able to just kind of... be myself around someone. Since then it's been a struggle not to smile when I think about it..." Cafas couldn't help smiling right then, either. Despite some of the drama and tears, that night had been amazing "...Or you. Well, except all the nerves I've had about this, and your response."

The nerves were seeming a whole lot more justified than he'd been trying to tell himself they were.

"Ultimately though, if you don't feel the same, that's fine." Cafas emphasized how fine it was with a shrug that really did a poor job of hiding quite how much he hoped she did feel the same. "It just seemed like you might when we got back, and that was a chance I didn't want to miss."

Look, we don't always get along, but my fingers are crossed dude.

NOW he could offer the hug.

He had to chase her eyes around a bit to capture them, but once he had Maya's attention there was no escaping it.

She felt a stab of guilt with every word he said. Did she feel that way? Did she feel anything? In her head, on some level, Cafas was still off limits. But she was the one that had convinced him to let go of those limits! She mopped her cheeks again and just felt more and more foolish.

Maya had inadvertently trapped herself here. She was pressed against the door. She had to move toward Cafas to get away. She could ghost, but after realizing that she'd been avoiding Cafas, she figured she could at least fess up to why.

"I like you happy." She tried to muddle out a smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

He was so sincere and so straightforward. She believed him. But she believed everybody. Maybe he even actually meant it.

Cafas offered a hug. A hug was harmless, right? She was cold, already hugging herself so she just sort of tipped into it.

"Can we maybe start with coffee?" That had been the original plan, right?

"I like you happy."

He chose to interpret the semi-grimace as a semi-smile. That certainly seemed like a promising start. The hope he'd been holding onto seemed to grow inside him. Some of the nerves dissipated. Maya leaned into the hug a little. Cafas wrapped her in a hug. He really didn't know how else to help. Her mutation was, by all accounts, going to kill her. Hopefully a hug would help.

"Can we maybe start with coffee?"

Cafas was going to count that as a win for now. It certainly wasn't a dead no for now. He could almost feel the colour shift in his eyes. Yellow eyes didn't go with his hair amazingly, but he didn't care at all. "Sure! Now? I mean, after a shower and change of course." His brain struggled to catch his mouth before it said something dumb. He broke the hug to indicate to the mess that was his uniform. He wasn't certain it even could be repaired.

See, now that time spent hitting your head against a wall seems a little dumb.

Speaking of changing, he'd need to stop by his locker to grab clothes. Not living at the Mansion as an X-man had some serious down sides. Also, what happened to his shield? That would certainly be something to look for eventually. Not a that moment though. Maya was far more important than the shield.

Had that thing for years though... Still, I can always make another.

He gathered her up in his arms and had enough enthusiasm for both of them. That did get an actual smile. But she only showed it to the holes in the front of his uniform. This was the first time she'd paid attention to how they fit. Her head fit just under his chin. Yeah they danced, but that was different. She hadn't been this close to him since... after. Her ears burned red right along with her cheeks. He was big enough that she felt like he could wrap her up and hide her away. That was an appealing thought.

"Shower. Definitely shower." But she released her arms from around herself and hazarded to slip her arms around him. She was absolutely frigid to the touch. He was like a furnace by comparison.

She could fall asleep standing up if she wasn't careful.

"Right. Give me 20." She cleared her throat and wished she had the juice to ghost again. Instead, she just extricated herself and ducked Cafas' gaze so she could squeeze out the door.

Her room was upstairs on the adult hall. She took the stairs two at a time and had her uniform kicked off before the bathroom door was shut, let alone her main door.

The shower temperature didn't matter. She cranked it to 100% hot, but jumped in before there was any steam.

She said twenty minutes because if she gave herself any more time, she would probably talk herself out of it. Soap, shampoo, conditioner, rinse. She looked at herself in the mirror as she dried off. Without makeup she looked tired, but there wasn't time for that. There was barely enough time to run a comb through her hair and pull it into two braids. No. A bun. No. Ponytail? She abandoned trying to do anything with it at all in favor of grabbing clothes. Somehow everything was a million times more complicated all of a sudden.

The Maya Special, then. She hooked a skirt up over her hips and found a shirt and, after a moment, added a hoodie.

Maya made it all the way back down the stairs before she realized that she'd forgotten shoes.

"Shower. Definitely shower."

Cafas wasn't sure how it was possible for Maya to be so cold. He tried not to flinch as her arms wrapped around him. He also tried not to smile like an idiot.

He didn't flinch.

From the brink of death a few hours previously to a coffee... Date? With Maya. He'd get whiplash if the day wasn't careful.

"Right. Give me 20."

"20, got it."

She was off like an awkward shot. Cafas shot a smile at DocProf. "I don't know if I'm mad or impressed, but I'm also grateful." the metal manipulator slipped out the door a few seconds behind Maya, headed for his locker. His clothes were balled up in the bottom of it. Jeans and a button up shirt. It was honestly just lucky he'd started the day looking for Maya, because he'd put a little bit of effort into dressing.

The clothes were just as crumpled looking as he'd expected. He didn't think twenty minutes would allow for an ironing.

His uniform, what was left of it, he binned in the bathroom. all except the boots and gloves. The gold wire in the gloves didn't come cheap. He jumped in the shower and made extra sure he got all the blood.

That's twice in a week I've ended up covered in blood with Maya...

He allowed himself two songs worth of shower. It left him enough time to dry off, dress, sigh at his unco-operative hair and be waiting at the base of the stairs trying to look casual and not at all like he was a nervous ball of "don't screw this up".

The distinct sound of bare feet on stairs caused him to look up. He'd clearly lost himself running through possible ways the "date?" could go, because Maya was pretty much right in front of him. Eyes. Pretty Eyes. That was pretty much Cafas' whole next three seconds, though the time dilation he was experiencing made it feel more like a minute before he came back to full consciousness.

"Ready? Or you want to put on shoes?"

There was something about the look on her face that made him suspect she did..

> "Ready? Or you want to put on shoes?"

For a brief moment, stubbornness swelled in Maya's chest for the sheer fact that he'd pointed out her lack of shoes. But. No. That was silly. There were pretty clear "no shirt, no shoes, no service" signs, right?

"Record time." She promised with a huff and dashed back up the stairs, this time 4 at a time. At least all the frantic-ness was helping her to thaw a little. Shoes. Why were there no shoes?

Maya grabbed some slipper boot things that were, in all reality house shoes, but they looked sort of street-worthy and warm so she stuffed her feet in them. Then she took the stairs down, more by jumping and holding the railing than actually touching any of the stair platforms.

She panted, heart hammering at the bottom of the stairs. It took her a moment to catch her breath, physical exercise were just not high on her priority list. "I don't know where to get coffee." Maya gathered her hoodie around herself. The sleeves were too short and the body too wide. Girl clothes were hard. "I always just grabbed some at work before. Can you drive or should we bus?" Logistics! That was definitely a safe topic.

"Record time."

Cafas was more than a little impressed by Maya's stair-running ability. He was also happy to see he wasn't the only one excited to go. Maybe it was more a matter of getting it over with? But then why take the stairs at breakneck speed?

He really was having trouble keeping a straight face. He'd managed to wrestle the smile into something a bit less dorky than it wanted to be. He used the brief moment to try and knock some of the creases out of his shirt by hand. It was ineffective at best.

Should have hung it.

Her return seemed even more dangerous. He could feel reflexive catch already in the sprinter's blocks. Maya kept her footing however. Well, she landed at the bottom of the stairs on her feet. that was probably more accurate. This all seemed like a good sign to him. So good.

At what point did the making out not tip you off?

"I don't know where to get coffee. I always just grabbed some at work before. Can you drive or should we bus?"

"There's a few places near central park that are good." Perhaps he aught to ask her if she had any particular problem with hipsters. He didn't know why it was that beards and man-buns seemed to grant the mutant power to make better coffee. They certainly seemed to though. "I'd rather not drive though. Feel like I've sobered up but I'm just not willing to risk it. Suppose that means bus or cab." Cafas really didn't have a preference.

He figured they could decide as they walked. Cafas set off for the gate. His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling.

Lack of practice.

"Okay." She tried not to huff and puff, but she'd probably just run more in the last 5 minutes than she had in the last year. Her head was swimming again in time with her heartbeat. "Sobe— oh." It was the same day. It was totally the same day.

Maya whapped Cafas on the arm through her hoodie sleeve. "I can't believe you were...!" She shut her mouth abruptly as they walked past what appeared to be a drama class with the door open, all heads had turned toward her raised voice.

Oh. Yeah. Maybe don't shout about an X-man being drunk on the job in front of children who aspired to be an X. Maya tugged on Cafas' arm so that he knew this conversation wasn't over. She waited until they were outside to continue.

"You are hereby no longer allowed to be miserable. I'm planting a flag in the ground. Today. Here. Now. No more, okay?" She fixed him with an "I mean business" look. Miserablness was now off limits. If she fixed that problem, the drinking was natural to follow, right?

It was nice out. The sun shone through the wispiest of clouds. The air tasted as fresh as any city ever had. Maybe she needed to plant a flag too for herself. No more miserable. It was a novel concept.

She typed in the gate code and pulled the door open for Cafas, gender stereotypes be damned. "So, we'll just pop our heads in to coffee places until we find a man-bun?" She'd never quite noticed the correlation between manbun and coffee deliciousness, but she was willing to believe it.

"Okay."

"Sobe— oh."

Oh... Here we go.

Maya was really getting violent. She hit him! He barely felt it, but that wasn't the point. The point was it was kind of cute. Also that he probably deserved worse.

"I can't believe you were...!"

Saved by the drama class! Temporarily if that arm tug was anything to go by. If he was honest, now he was sober he also couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd forgotten he was on call. Surely he'd forgotten? He couldn't remember. One way or another it was grievously irresponsible of him.

"You are hereby no longer allowed to be miserable. I'm planting a flag in the ground. Today. Here. Now. No more, okay?"

Cafas' smile wavered under the serious business look he was receiving. Not being miserable? Could he actually promise that? It happened to people didn't it? It was emotional. Maybe though. He'd give it a go for Maya. "I'll try. If this is anything to go by, coffee should help. Dancing too." Was the cheeky wink too far?

Having the door held for him was actually kind of nice. It felt silly to even think. "Thank you." He took a deep breath of surprisingly fresh air. He hadn't noticed the weather at all before that. When he did, it was just another happy thing to make the day that much better.

"So, we'll just pop our heads in to coffee places until we find a man-bun?"

"Pretty much! I know a couple, living there and all. You want to eat with it? That will narrow it down more." It pretty much wrote off any of the cart vendors. They didn't stock food. Unless you counted sugar packets. Plus then it was a matter of what she wanted to eat. Coffee was complicated. The company was worth it.

As if on cue the bus arrived. It was uncanny really, how often that happened. "Shall we?"

Dancing? "We can do that again?" She wasn't displeased at the thought, it just hadn't occurred to her to even ask. They could totally go dancing again. She folded her hands in front of herself as they walked and fairly glowed with pleasure. They could do whatever they wanted, babysitting and time permitting. That was what he'd been trying to tell her in the infirmary. It was only now starting to mean something with words like 'dancing' attached to the idea.

"There was a ballet class in town I went to once or twice. Uh. I'm not saying that you need to take ballet! I'm just saying... I like it. Dancing." She'd just never taken any time for it or anything else that was just for her.

The bus arrived. Maybe the Mansion had a weight sensor installed. Or maybe Sam had greased some wheels for something silly like keeping the bus stopping at the Mansion at more frequent intervals. Either way, Maya was glad not to have to walk any more than necessary. She took a window seat so she could watch the physical landmarks that she usually breezed past.

And now that Cafas had mentioned it, Maya was realizing that Cafas had reason to be irritated at her if they were going to be taking care of one another. "Eating would be a good idea." All that head throbbing and swimming was probably to do with a severe lack of food consumption. "Food might be more important than coffee, actually." She was almost certain that she'd had breakfast.

"We can do that again?"

Cafas was somewhat taken aback by how happy the idea seemed to make Maya. He was pretty sure the wink had been too subtle. Right? Yeah that made sense. He could do the actual dancing again though. It had been fun, and he really didn't get enough of that past all the alcohol. Before that it had been work. If it meant she'd keep smiling like that he'd have done it even if it weren't fun.

"There was a ballet class in town I went to once or twice. Uh. I'm not saying that you need to take ballet! I'm just saying... I like it. Dancing."

Ballet? He hadn't considered it before that. He had too much bulk, right? Ballet dancers were all lean and Maya-y. Still, he could try. He was actually thinking about it as they stepped on the bus. Maya took the window, Cafas sat next to her. "I'll dance with you any time. The other night was fun. I didn't actually know dancing couldbe fun." She still looked a little cold. Cafas put an arm around her shoulder to try and warm her up.

It's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

He knew it could be fun for other people, just not for him. He had always been more of a sit in the booth talking kind of guy. He now wasn't exactly sure why. He'd had some practice for the movies, but surely that wasn't enough to change his entire perspective on it?

"Eating would be a good idea. Food might be more important than coffee, actually."

Cafas had been thinking the same thing. He'd slept right through lunch time. "So wanna find a restaurant? Or just a cafe? I could certainly eat." Was he looking at her too much? Was it weird? Cafas' nerves wouldn't go away. "What sort of food you like anyway? Man, have we never gone out for food before?" He'd gone out for food or drinks with most everyone he was friends with.

Don't mess it up, don't mess it up, don't mess it up...

She watched out the window with serious studiousness. It was easier than people watching. Much, much easier than dealing with Cafas' expectations.

> "I'll dance with you any time."

That made her happy to hear. She didn't believe it, but the offer still made her happy. Someone else would come along and he'd be happy to dace with them. Maybe she could even help him find that somebody. While dancing! Yes. A most perfect plan was forming in her head.

"You said the dancing for work was terri-bad. Does that mean you aren't going to do any more movies?" She should probably watch those some day. Because the books had been silly, she'd never gotten around to it. Maybe Cafas would watch them with her. He would probably have all kinds of insight that would change how she saw the whole thing.

He put his arm around her. It was only natural to lean into someone, right? Again, she got that feeling that if she was still too long, she would just doze off. Probably because he was so nice and warm.

Must not yawn. Must not yawn. She didn't want him to think she was bored. Maya settled on scrubbing her eyes with her knuckles.

"Cafe! We should stay outside while we can. It'll be winter soon." She lazily noted that they were getting closer to Central Park and those little patio cafes were dotting their route already. She glanced up at Cafas from her comfortable leaning spot and shrugged. "Honestly, when we both moved out, there wasn't a whole lot of time for hanging out. It was get in, get the mission done, and go home." At least, that was what she had done while Sam had still been handing out missions to her. She was glad he'd gotten over their little misunderstanding.

"I like... light things. I'm kind of a casual vegetarian." Because Sebastian had been a vegetarian by necessity and Maya hadn't wanted to fix two meals. She supposed that was one more thing she could do to break out of the habit. "Maybe we should have steak."