"You said the dancing for work was terri-bad. Does that mean you aren't going to do any more movies?"

"Probably, yeah. It's not as easy as it seems. You're away for months, sleeping schedules are a thing of the past, as is privacy. I could be convinced though." It would probably take something pretty special. Either a part he couldn't let himself miss or a really spectacular offer. Maybe something filmed in NYC, but LA was really the place to be for acting. He wasn't going to move for any amount of money.

"Cafe! We should stay outside while we can. It'll be winter soon."

Cafas nodded. That seemed sensible enough. Enjoy the weather while it was with them. Winter tended to be a miserable time in NYC. Nice and festive, but bitter cold, windy, and brown snow slush everywhere. Certainly not quite as idyllic as they made out on TV. Just thinking about the cold made him hold Maya just a little tighter.

"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."

Cafas hadn't really done a whole heap of missions since he'd been doing the movies. Still, he was the same way with training. It was really only the lack of a Nine to Five, and the lack of a need for one, that was giving him the time he did have. "Yeah, still..." Delivered vaguely as he watched Cafes go past. Had he been a bad friend? He hoped not.

"I like... light things. I'm kind of a casual vegetarian. Maybe we should have steak."

"Casual indeed. Alright, steak outside! Light sides. Next stop is ours in that case. I know of a place that should fit that bill. Come on!" The idea of proper food returned a pep to his step that had been waning thinking about acting. He grabbed Maya's hand and started moving. The bus was getting a little more crowded this close to the middle of the city. It wouldn't do to lose her in the crowd.

Also it's super nice.

He hopped of the bus. More of a skip really. Central park was visible a block away. Their destination was just a few buildings away. Should he maintain the skipping? Maya didn't seem like she had the best cardio fitness. "Fair warning, this will probably end up in some silly magazine. They love to speculate about my relationships, if it's a slow day for bigger celebrity news. Hey, so if we're going to do this 99 times after this I should probably know, how do you have your coffee? Do you prefer tea? Cocoa? It is coming into winter. I won't judge if you say pumpkin spice." Was he talking too fast? He felt like he was talking too fast. He pointed up ahead to a grouping of tables and chairs. "That's the place!"

Maya laughed. "No privacy and messed up sleep schedules? Sounds a little like an exacerbated X-men schedule meets having an infant." Cafas, no matter how much he protested, always seemed to like acting at the very least. Maybe he'd fallen into the fairy prince thing, but it felt like something that made him happy. Watching the movies with him was definitely on her to-do list now.

His enthusiasm was catching and the symptoms were smiling, fast paced semi-skipping, and hand holding. Her cheeks pinked just from the walking. It was totally the walking.

"Uhm. Just a little steak! Last time I tried meat it made my tummy hurt." But steak was quite the deviation from her norm. It was worth a shot.

> "Fair warning, this will probably end up in some silly magazine."

Oh was now the time for confessions? "Fair warning, yourself. I'm still under investigation by the FBI. You hang out with me and your reputation is guaranteed to be trashed. Heck. You may not ever have to worry about making another movie." For delivering that kind of news, she sure sounded chipper. Still, maybe she should pull up her hood for his sake?

"Seriously, though." She tugged his hand to get Cafas to slow down now that their target was in sight. He needed to have a moment to think on it before someone popped in with a camera. "Should I put on a hat or a sassy wig or something? My PR problems don't have to be your PR problems."

> "Hey, so if we're going to do this 99 times after this I should probably know, how do you have your coffee? Do you prefer tea? Cocoa? It is coming into winter. I won't judge if you say pumpkin spice."

"I like coffee and tea both. Herbal tea. Peppermint or fruits, but not together. I like my coffee with coconut milk instead of cow milk, no sugar. If it's too bitter, I'll just hold it and smell it. If they made coffee scented blankets, I would own one. I don't like caramel. Cocoa is not really my thing either." By the time she'd finished they had reached their destination.

"No privacy and messed up sleep schedules? Sounds a little like an exacerbated X-men schedule meets having an infant."

Cafas could only really relate to one part of that. He'd take her word on the infant. She wasn't wrong about the X-men though. Being on call was never fun. Turns out crime doesn't sleep, at least not like a normal person. He certainly wouldn't miss the midnight call outs if he ever quit. Not that he really could quit. Who would get beaten half to death if not him?

"Uhm. Just a little steak! Last time I tried meat it made my tummy hurt."

A little steak? Was that possible? Cafas hadn't seen one in the states outside of fancy restaurants with their small portions. Still, he was pretty sure they'd do their best if she ordered it. Maybe Maya shouldn't be getting meat if it made her ill?

She's an adult dude, she gets to make her own decisions

"Fair warning, yourself. I'm still under investigation by the FBI. You hang out with me and your reputation is guaranteed to be trashed. Heck. You may not ever have to worry about making another movie."

"Seriously, though. Should I put on a hat or a sassy wig or something? My PR problems don't have to be your PR problems."

Cafas slowed at the tugging. Nearly stopped, in fact. Walking backwards on a New York street wasn't an advisable practice. His smile didn't fade. The news was hardly that worrying. What was an FBI investigation to him? He only had a few dozen deaths to his name. Petty crimes beyond count in Australia. The biggest worry was his foreign-ness.

"If it makes you feel better you can. Still, our dancing made it to print so my reputation may already be trashed. I'll take you over a reputation though." Which had been true for years. The X-men had been everything he'd had for years. What was a reputation compared to the life he was willing to give? "Should I worry about getting arrested? Deported? Bumped off? Surely all the X-men are already so closely tied to you that they would have acted by now." It sounded convincing enough to him. Anyway, they wouldn't be the first to try any of those.

"I like coffee and tea both. Herbal tea. Peppermint or fruits, but not together. I like my coffee with coconut milk instead of cow milk, no sugar. If it's too bitter, I'll just hold it and smell it. If they made coffee scented blankets, I would own one. I don't like caramel. Cocoa is not really my thing either."

Herbal, coconut milk in coffee. No caramel or cocoa. Dang, how do PAs remember all that stuff?

He tried to remember all of it. He did his best. "You want a coffee scented blanket just come sleep with me on a shoot..." Cafas' eyes widened as he realised exactly what he'd said, and he scrambled to correct. "Not like that, you know what I mean!" Swish. "It's amazing how much coffee you can drink when it's free and someone just brings it to you. You need it too. Two hours of hair and make-up, up to twelve of shooting, then rehearsals, stunt training, then you get four hours to eat, work out, wind down, sleep, then you start again."

He'd personally only had a couple of weeks of that. Some of the other actors spoke of months and months like that. Apparently action movies were some of the worst. One of the guys had been on Lord of the Rings. The guy could fall asleep upright in costume under a spotlight if he thought he had twenty minutes.

Cafas pulled a chair out for Maya. It was only fair, she'd gotten the door for him before. He was also paying, if she liked it or not. What else was he meant to do with his money? Plus the place was a little pricey.

If their dancing made it to print then... Maya's eyes got big. "Only... the dancing?" Because that was by no means the only thing they had done out in the open, possibly in front of cameras. She hadn't really been giving it any thought. Cafas was her friend and teammate and now... now they were extra good friends with hypothetical benefits and she was going to find him a better friend, but he'd never been that guy to her. He wasn't a fairy prince. He was X-man Cafas. It was still weird to think of him as the face on the billboard.

She took her seat and pulled up her hood. Maya's white hair was her biggest tell. Plus, it was still wet. No point in getting sick. She also pulled her feet up into her chair to sit tailor fashion and stuffed her skirt into something more properly laying even if it did flash thigh.

> "Should I worry about getting arrested? Deported? Bumped off? Surely all the X-men are already so closely tied to you that they would have acted by now."

Deported? Maya flushed. "You're not a citizen? You've been here how many years? Please, please tell me your green card is up to date." There were menus to be passed around. Glasses of water and ice and lemon. Cloth napkins? She wasn't dressed for cloth napkins. Maya rearranged herself to sit only on one leg and put the other on the ground. At least she hadn't sat and hugged her knees to her chest as she most preferred. That was somehow more rude to people's sensibilities.

> "You want a coffee scented blanket just come sleep with me on a shoot..."

Snort.

Maya coughed her water back into her cup and maybe a little onto her hoodie too. She coughed through his denial and dabbed at her shirt with her cloth napkin. "I thought you weren't shooting any more...?" No, of course, not like that. That was... not exactly an option. But it could be. Maybe. Was that an option?

"I didn't even really like coffee beyond the smell until we put the mini-cafe in Full Circle. Availability can go a long way... in certain cases." And somehow she was back to her original argument of 'Cafas doesn't want Maya. He just wants someone available.'

"Have you had a moment to look over our menu?"

Panic. The answer was no.

"Let me go over the day's specials..." Maya was lost on the day's specials as she looked fervently for steak. Small, small portions of steak.

"And you, ma'am?"

"This one!" In trying to make the menu available for the waiter to read what she pointed to, Maya knocked over her glass and dumped ice water into her lap, the menu, and the waiter's shoes.

"Only... the dancing?"

Cafas sat himself down across from Maya. "That I know of. I think they'd have led with the other stuff if they had it." It would have been a pretty attention grabbing photo. Them making out in an alley, him covered in blood. Yeah, if they'd had that one they'd have used it.

"You're not a citizen? You've been here how many years? Please, please tell me your green card is up to date."

Cafas thanked the waiter for his menu. Water was brought and poured. He was busy pretending to read. The waiter didn't need to know his citizenship status. As the waiter walked away Cafas looked back up. "'Course it is. Got a new one before we did the publicity tour just to be extra sure it wasn't about to expire. I really should naturalize at some point, but that test is a hassle." He had no real desire to study for it. It just seemed like a lot of work, and he wasn't exactly lousy with time.

"I thought you weren't shooting any more...?"

Maya's water situation was just embarrassing enough for her that he felt they were even for his Freudian slip. He took a long sip of his drink to hide his face anyway. Just for good measure. His cheeks weren't colouring at all, that was everyone's imagination. He brought the glass down to respond.

"I'm not planning to, it just seemed like a good lead in to the rest..." If he did though, she was totally welcome. He'd pay for her. Sadly he felt it would disrupt her life a bit much. That was most of the reason why other actors didn't take their families or friends along. Better to simply burden themselves with a bit of loneliness than everyone else with the constant travel and stupid schedules.

"I didn't even really like coffee beyond the smell until we put the mini-cafe in Full Circle. Availability can go a long way... in certain cases."

Cafas opened his mouth to rebut right as the waiter arrived.

"Have you had a moment to look over our menu?"

Fine, he'd just leave it be. It didn't really bother him that much, after all, she may have been correct for all he knew. Emotions were stupid like that. Changing and stuff, and with no way to tell when they would.

"Let me go over the day's specials..."

Cafas ended up ordering a steak. Maya mentioning it had really given him a hankering for one.

"And you, ma'am?"

"This one!"

Cafas fought very hard not to laugh. The shocked looks on both faces were absolutely priceless. He managed to control himself, but it was a near thing. Still, he couldn't hide his amusement from showing on his face. He grabbed his napkin and stood up. "Here Maya, let me help." He started to dab the water off her thigh and skirt as best he could.

The waiter had recovered his poise in the mean time.

"I'll fetch you another napkin. Don't worry it happens all the time."

At least Cafas was amused. The waiter certainly was not, but for the sake of a tip they marshalled a cheery response and rallied. Maya ended up having to just stand up and dump the ice out of her lap.

"No. Really. It's fine." Now they were both standing. And Maya realized that one of her boots was worth dumping out as well. "Don't let me tip over, 'kay?" There was enough ridiculousness today. She wasn't about to end up flat on her butt in a fancy cloth-napkin restaurant. Balance was easy. She still wasn't taking the risk.

One foot up, she dumped her boot out into a ficas. It went back on with a squish. Please, please no tabloids. Maya pulled the strings on her hoodie so the view port shrank around her face. She was just flustered.

And since her seat was soaked, Maya moved over into a seat next to Cafas rather than her original position across the table.

The waiter was back with napkins. She smiled and said many 'Thank You's and 'I'm Sorry's as she could slip in easily. And, armed with a small pile of napkins, she was ready once their steaks arrived.

Maya's steak was easily twice the size of Cafas'.

"Not. A. Word." She threatened Cafas with her eyebrows, but the whole thing was starting to seem funnier now that it was mostly over. She attempted to tackle the mammoth piece of cow with her knife and fork.

"No. Really. It's fine."

Fine was one way to put it. Covered in ice water on a fall afternoon was another. Maya might not feel much, but he wasn't about to let her get sick. Still, he relented for her comfort.

"Don't let me tip over, 'kay?"

He obliged. She didn't end up needing his help, but he held her anyway. He made sure she had squelched back into her boot before he let go. That boot sounded horrible to wear. Maya's face disappeared as much as her hoodie seemed capable of allowing. Cafas chuckled and lifted the edge of the hood to find Maya's eyes. "You okay there Kenny? It's not that bad, really."

It's pretty funny though.

Cafas made very sure not to knock his own glass over as they sat down. He didn't need that sort of instant karma for laughing. Poetic justice was not at all what he was after.

The waiter was very polite delivering the napkins. Maya was apologetic receiving them. Cafas was trying to look sorry for laughing before. He did a quick scan of the area as Maya cleaned herself up. Didn't look like there were any cameras pointed at them, but who could tell? Phone cameras had more than enough definition for a magazine page.

I really hope not, I very much doubt they'll be nice to Maya... She deserves a lot better than the treatment the world's giving her right now...

The disparity in steak size did not help Cafas to stop laughing. He contained it to silently shaking in his seat with a stupid smile on his face.

"Not. A. Word."

He held his hands up in surrender. The eyebrows meant business. Maya set to making an earnest effort at her steak. Cafas set to his own. It was a little hard to eat past the continued chuckling. The embarrassment was cute on her, the size of the steak compared to her only served to make her look cuter.

Kind of just impressed she's making that much of an effort.

"So you wanna go back to my place to dry off? I must warn you, the last person that went in there to wash up ended up my security detail."

This was one of those moments where a trying-to-not-laugh-face from Cafas made things funnier. And then Maya was the one trying not to laugh. And then someone chuckled. It could have been either of them, but it was the leak that broke the dam. Eheheh's quickly turned into guffaws that meant Maya was wiping her eyes as much as she was hiding behind her hand as she laughed. It was hard to hide inside her hood while doubled over.

It wasn't worth making a big deal out of it, really. But it was funny.

It was easier, after that, to avoid the steak and just eat what she wanted.

> "So you wanna go back to my place to dry off? I must warn you, the last person that went in there to wash up ended up my security detail."

"Let's just pretend that I know you can take care of yourself for a second and think like a PR exec." Maya speared some of the spinach on her plate. "Do you need security? Somebody to throw the punches for you so you don't have to?" It was a mite unseemly for a celeb to throw punches, after all. "And what about today? You were... that was a bad situation all around, but you were ragged." Fine now, but her eyes raked across his face and chest placing where his hurts had been.

He probably should have security, now that she thought about it. Maya couldn't imagine that once people realized who he was that he wouldn't be mobbed at all times with women desperately throwing themselves at him. She definitely had her work cut out for her if she was going to find The One for him among all that.

"Well, I'm curious about your place so I'll definitely say yes to that." Maya polished off more food than she thought was possible. "We'll just have to wait and see about that bodyguard position." It was easy to tease now. To laugh. Because they'd both gotten out alive.

"To be fair, that big guy hit like a freight train, and those bots don't mess around. I don't actually end up like that most of the time." Cafas put the last bite of steak in his mouth, eyeing Maya's. "The PR guys do tend to ask that I don't go throwing punches out of uniform though. My security tends to be a lot of crowd control though. Not too many people looking to pick a fight." Possibly a few that thought throwing things at him was funny. Security tended to deal with them too.

That reminds me, Phil was a bit overzealous with that one guy... Might need to talk to him about it.

Cafas had to think what sort of state his place was in. He'd left it alright. Hardly ever being there helped. Calley did have to take a few things still, but he thought that would be fine. Overall no rooms he really needed to make sure were avoided. "Well, your curiosity will need to be satisfied!" He certainly wasn't taking her on as a bodyguard. Talk about an inappropriate workplace relationship. Also Maya was like, eighty pounds.

He decided Maya was clearly not eating the rest of that steak. He could use the protein, his body needed to refuel after that morning. "So uh, you going to eat that steak or can I steal it?" He offered a hopeful and somewhat sheepish grin.

Cafas sincerely tried his best not to get onto any wishful thinking. He couldn't help it in the end. All around, if dates with Maya promised to be like that one he looked forward to the remaining ninety nine. Intersperse some dance dates in there... It did not at all hurt that she was beautiful.

Setting yourself up for a fall... Shut up, it's called hope. Jaded jerk.

"Also the drinking." They had both toed around that for a while now. Maya helped her steak onto Cafas' plate. She had made a dent into it. Now, it was free to find it's final resting place in Cafas' belly. "I've never seen you get clobbered like that before and that's the only difference that jumps out at me between those times and this one." Well, and the robot. It had been scary fast.

She moved the last little bits of food around on her plate until it was like a Starry Night impressionistic painting of swirls. "Do we need to talk about the why or can we skip right on to the part where you promise to try to move past it?" Because, truth be told, she'd rather they just move past it. This was not exactly happy-inducing.

It was relieving that not too many people picked fights. But then, when you looked like Cafas, a guy would have to be crazy to pick a fight. Crazy, or crazy prepared.

Maya rubbed eyes and squished her shoe. She didn't like that line of thinking.

"It is a long walk? Or a bus?" Had Cafas ever visited her at the Iris apartments? It was weird that the place would never be in her custody again. She might have to sneak in to say goodbye at some point. It felt so unresolved to simply come home one day and not be allowed inside.

"Also the drinking. I've never seen you get clobbered like that before and that's the only difference that jumps out at me between those times and this one."

Cafas began working on Maya's steak. It helped him keep his mouth shut. Prevented him from making excuses. They both knew full well there wasn't a good one. So it was no good making them, it wouldn't change the past or fix his mistake. He'd just have to live with the drop in Maya's esteem he had just taken. She'd at least saved him from saying anything stupid publicly.

"Do we need to talk about the why or can we skip right on to the part where you promise to try to move past it?"

"The why is a long story for another time, so yeah, we can skip it." Cafas raced to find the right words before she could level a mom look at him. "I promise I'll do my best to stop drinking, and I promise I'll never again be drunk on call." The sense of shame and failure kept his gaze firmly down at his plate. "It's one thing to be reckless with my own life, but I'd never forgive myself if I let any of you get hurt or die because of my drinking. I owe you guys better than that." Food in mouth to stop it moving.

Shush your face before you say something silly.

"It is a long walk? Or a bus?"

"My place? Nah it's on Central Park West. Better off walking from this close. The view's great, the traffic is terrible." The sound proofing was passable. It wasn't nearly as quiet as the Mansion. Well, the Mansion when someone wasn't up to night time shenanigans. Cafas finished off the steak, leaving himself perhaps over-full but certainly satisfied.

"So do you want to actually take that dance class? Gotta say you're far more than ballet figure than I am, but I could be convinced to tag along." His face suggested it wouldn't take much convincing. Really, any excuse to hang out was fine by Cafas. Plus, he imagined he'd look pretty dumb trying to be dainty, and that thought amused him.

The drinking thing did not feel settled, but she decided to let it go. He felt bad. She could see it on his face as he studiously avoided her. Fine. That was a good first step. He had to want it for it to be a priority for him.

"I'm not terribly excited about squishing the whole way to your place, but that's my own fault." Really, what was amazing at this point was that none of her lunch had ended up on her clothes. Maybe it was just easier eating without also managing a toddler's ever changing expectations.

"Full Circle is south of here." It'd be a bit of a walk to go between the two, not that she was planning to ever. It would be a walk from here to the Full Circle, even. But it was interesting to note that Cafas' place was closer than the Mansion. Should something happen, she would keep him in mind, now.

> "So do you want to actually take that dance class?"

It took a moment for her to track back to the dance thing. She'd already dismissed it fully as wishful thinking. "When am I gonna have time for a dance class? When are we, collectively, going to have time for a dance class?" Even just thinking about Cafas Johnson practicing fifth arabesque had her smiling again. "Doesn't exactly fit in the training schedule, though I guess with the Full Circle out of my hands now I have more time than I'll ever have again." It was worth sparing a thought for that before the mommy guilt set in.

The waiter provided the check with the usual promise that they could take their time, but also non-verbally stating that they should hurry up. Maya dug into her hoodie for her pocketbook. She was broker than broke with all her assets frozen, but maybe he would let her cover tip?

"I'm not terribly excited about squishing the whole way to your place, but that's my own fault."

Right, her boot was full of water. Cafas responded without thinking. "I could carry you? Piggy back?" It seemed a logical solution. Also a fun solution. He was certain he could carry Maya that distance. He'd maybe have to put her down to go inside to avoid hitting her face on doorways.

"Full Circle is south of here."

"Yeah down on West 57th right? We were what, a block away from it this morning?" Manhattan really seemed a lot larger than it ended up being. Cafas had lived in cities his whole life, but Sydney had never felt half so large as New York. Despite the time he'd lived there, that still somehow surprised him.

"When am I gonna have time for a dance class? When are we, collectively, going to have time for a dance class? Doesn't exactly fit in the training schedule, though I guess with the Full Circle out of my hands now I have more time than I'll ever have again."

"I'm not exactly lacking for time these days. The blacksmithing takes no time at all really. Verdegris runs the store, I fill orders as they come in. it's hardly a high volume business, so the shelf stock doesn't need replenishing too often. I train, I X-man, is that a verb? I'm gonna make it a verb. That's pretty much my time commitments in a nutshell now I'm not on publicity duty."

"Actually, all my free time is a fair point. Not that I know anything about kids at all, but I'll look after Rowan if there's anything you want to go do by yourself." He really didn't know what he was getting himself in for. He'd never had to look after a kid before. He knew that, and he figured Maya probably knew too, but he was willing to give it his best. He could see one major flaw in that idea though. "You know... If you wanna leave your kid with an alcoholic... Probably better to just forget I said anything."

The cheque had been brought to them in the time he'd been speaking. Cafas knew the waiter would be happy to be rid of them. They were hardly the best dressed people in the city, and Cafas doubted he was particularly fond of Maya after her moment of klutziness, the uptight jerk. He fished for his wallet in his pocket.

"Also I see you reaching for your money. Don't you dare, I have more of it than I know what to do with, this is my treat. Call it a poor start at recompense for this morning." Really poor, but he had to start somewhere. Especially since Maya had already pulled him out of a steep spiral just that week. Maybe not completely out, but she was making her best effort to level him out, if not to gain some altitude.

Cafas drew his credit card, scribbled a tip that he felt more than accounted for the incident, and handed it off to the waiter. "Seriously though, I'm gonna carry you back to my place. Let them take a photo of that and print it. Uh, probably best not to go looking for the previous publication too. They were less than kind."

> "I could carry you? Piggy back?"

"I don't doubt that you could." She teased. "I'm not sure my pride would allow it." But if he gave her no choice... Well, then she would have no choice.

She was, however, quite pleased that Cafas knew where the Full Circle was. ”Yeah, I’m not allowed to poke around a lot so just to be safe I've been avoiding it. It’s weird. I miss it and I don’t. I guess the dream of every business owner is to get to the point where you have other people doing the work and you just reap the benefit? But half the benefit was making and enforcing that safe place. So, when I’m not there... I dunno. There's no guarantee what I want is even a consideration anymore, you know?” or maybe he didn't. He was still very much a part of his own business venture.

She also had a few mutants who had backed her financially, who'd believed in her. Where did that leave them? She was lucky her investors hadn't demanded a lot of her by way of reporting.

"Cafas, I'm a firm believer in trust." Some people wouldn't step up without someone to ask it of them. "I won't let just anybody watch the kiddo, but you're on that list." If Sam was on that list, Cafas sure as heck was. Though Rowan tended to prefer Sam over just about everyone else at the Mansion so far.

> "Also I see you reaching for your money. Don't you dare."

She chewed her lip and fidgeted with her hood, again pulling it up and tight. She might argue more of she had any.

>"Seriously though, I'm gonna carry you back to my place."

"You will have to fight me for my shoes. Even then I may still walk." She grinned a challenge at him. Game on. Because she didn't want to think about what 'less than kind' meant.

"I don't doubt that you could. I'm not sure my pride would allow it."

Bah, her pride wasn't his main concern. Fun, fun was the main concern.

”Yeah, I’m not allowed to poke around a lot so just to be safe I've been avoiding it..."

"I dunno about that dream. My shop's a business sure, but what makes it are the happy and excited photos from conventions and LARP games, or from people at their HEMA clubs. Money's nice and all but it's never been a focus of my life except when I had none. I guess I identify far more with the missing it part." He had Verdy put them up in the shop. They were starting to run out of room. With all the work Verdy was putting in to learning wood and leather work so she could make the scabbards and handles she desrved those photos too.

"Cafas, I'm a firm believer in trust. I won't let just anybody watch the kiddo, but you're on that list."

Cafas' cheeks coloured some. He didn't have a kid, but the level of trust he'd need to let someone watch them was unthinkably high. Certainly not himself. He muttered something that sounded like a very touched "Thanks." and avoided eye contact just so she wouldn't see the surprise there. If Maya ever actually got him to sit, he was determined to earn that trust.

Cafas received his card back. He had it securely back in his pocket when fightin' words were uttered.

"You will have to fight me for my shoes. Even then I may still walk."

"Oh really? Remind me how the last time we fought ended?"

He went for her shoes like a snake that was very conscious that it may get kicked in the face. Her shoes would be his! He was not letting her squelch all the way to his place. He wasn't going to let her walk barefoot through NYC either. Even Cafas wasn't that self destructive.