He actually took the bait. Why was she shocked when he did? He did the first time. He did this time as well.

He surprised the laugh out of her. This was the fun part. The hands around one foot tugged out the leg that she wasn't sitting on and nearly unseated her. She had to grab onto the armrest of the chair. Her hood shoved up by the back of the seat when she was tugged down and it covered her face all the way down to the tip of her nose.

"We weren't fighting!" She protested and slapped ineffectually at his hands.

She squealed an ACK when he managed to wrest a shoe from her! She also tried to blindly fend off the offending arms with her one free arm, but her hood was really putting a damper on the whole seeing thing.

"That was a Kraken and a... sea sponge!" What had he been? She couldn't quite remember while besieged.

But if she could keep that other foot beneath her skirt, he would have to bodily pick her up to claim her last shoe! This was her plan and this was also why Maya gripped a mighty hold of her chair with the arm that was not flailing in a feeble Cafas defense.

"We weren't fighting!"

Cafas had a shoe! His victory was in sight! Cafas moved the shoe away from Maya and dropped it to free his hand. Her ineffectual defenses posed no threat of stopping him. He glared at Maya's leg, tucked in under her. That would not do at all!

"That was a Kraken and a... sea sponge!"

How very dare she! A Sea sponge!?! Cafas had never been so mock insulted in his life. "The might leviathan is no sea sponge!" He'd considered letting her keep that shoe, and both of them some small amount of dignity. That thought was gone. He was no longer going to hold back, except to avoid hurting Maya. No now he was going to use his size and weight to his full advantage. Cafas wrapped both arms around Maya's waist, twisting out of his seat to do so. He drove through his heels.

"That chair wont save you now!" The energy made is sound like he was yelling, the volume was barely above conversational.

Even with the chair added to her weight, Maya was less than a warm up weight for Cafas. He let go with one arm and hoicked her upwards, so his arm wrapped around her upper thighs. With the other, free hand he groped for her remaining shoe. Cafas hadn't laughed so hard in days. Always around Maya recently. "Surrender and I might still piggyback you. Struggle, and I'm carrying you over a shoulder!" Which was of course not going to attract all sorts of weird attention.

Whu-? No!

She ended up letting go of the chair when she was slung over a shoulder. With the way she was holding it and the way her arm was going, it was headed toward the table and she didn't want the two pieces of outdoor furniature to attract even more attention than they were already.

"Skirt!" Maya squeaked and made extremely, very sure the wind started blowing the opposite way. She reached up with her chair-hand to try to make sure she was at least a little modest. Her other was gripping Cafas' shirt for dear life.

Uhg. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten so much?

And then he had her other shoe! This false victory gave him some sense of lordship. "You wouldn't dare!" She kicked her legs and hissed the words, but even without being able to see her face, her tone made it clear that while embarrassed she was still playing. And it wasn't like they had attracted any attention, right?

She tried to scope out the rest of the patio patrons, but her viewport was tiny and now that she was also inverted, her hair started slipping through.

Nearby, a cabbie swerved while the driver fumbled his phone. There was honking from no less than 3 cars, including the cabbie, but no actual impact.

"Skirt!"

The sudden gust of wind and the outcry were funny. Cafas laughed and did his best to assist Maya in keeping her modesty. With a boot in one hand and a Maya in the other, he wasn't really much help. Eyes were turned to them all around, because frankly they were being ridiculous. Though if two X-men couldn't be ridiculous in a restaurant in NYC, he didn't know What they were even fighting to protect.

Aside from the people.

"You wouldn't dare."

Her feeble struggling would do Maya no good. Now she had issued a direct challenge. He could not back down. "Watch me, you big calamari." Cafas squatted down to grab the first boot. With it and its partner in hand, Cafas set off walking. A nearby near miss caught his attention, but there was no crash. No need to render aid. No need to drop the elemental on his shoulder.

Wonder what that was about...

He'd find out later. Twitter would find out right then.

"You should surrender. I will even let you choose how you are carried." He swung the gross boots between his arm and chest to free a hand. "Or else I may be forced to take drastic measures." Cafas gave her a short tickle behind the knee, with the lingering promise of more.

Calamari? She felt more like a caterpillar with her hood up. Or maybe a chrysalis. She liked the idea of blossoming into a butterfly someday.

> "You should surrender."

"NEVAR!" Was her battle cry. She tried to whack him on the butt in retaliation but it was too far down. Oh. If she stretched could she reach his wallet? His phone? What could she possibly use as leverage here? And WHY WEREN'T THEY MOVING YET? Maya couldn't really see anyone looking at them, but she sure did feel it. She was thoroughly embarrassed already.

"Cafas! Please don't carry me like a sack of potatoes!" She flailed when she was tickled, a mighty calamari flailing of arms and legs and desperation not to flash anyone. "Please! Don't make me ghost us!" Because she would and it probably wasn't the best idea until after she'd had a longer rest. Also, she didn't yet know where they were going exactly.

"NEVAR!"

Well, she would receive the promised punishment for her refusal, even as she whacked at his back. Tickling, right behind the knee. He had to hold her a little tighter due to all the flailing. It was awfully hard to walk with a squirming Maya on his shoulder.

"Cafas! Please don't carry me like a sack of potatoes! Please! Don't make me ghost us!"

Oh fine. Cafas Did his best to co-ordinate Maya into a bridal carry. He grinned at her, the self satisfied smile of a man who had won. His smile accepted her surrender, and as a reward, no potatoes for her. "Better? You are no longer a cute bag of potatoes..." Cafas' mouth shut very suddenly. His eyes went straight ahead of him.

Did I just say cute? Did I just actually say any of that?

Cafas began walking again, like he'd never said anything. Maybe if he pretended enough, it wouldn't be awkward? Maybe she'd appreciate the cute part? Why was he so nervous about the whole date thingy? Probably because he literally called Maya a cute sack of potatoes. As if Calamari wasn't bad enough. "So, Piggy back?"

That was sure to work. Change the subject.

Why was his heart beating like that?

Why was he so scared he'd messed up?

Calley would have freaked...

Oh, right.

"Yes, I—" She stopped talking when he stopped walking. What? Was there danger? Cafas tensed. He was waiting for something horrible. Maya ripped her hood off and tried to look where he was looking, free hand at the ready to help guide her power. She had his back, but... there was hardly even anyone bothering with them. They were like a rock in a river with a trickle of people making irritated faces for having to go around.

"Hey." Maya tugged at the front of Cafas' shirt. He started walking again.

> "So, Piggy back?"

Why did she feel like she'd done something wrong? Maya tried to search his face. She was tempted to put her hand on his cheek and make him look at her, but she was all out of gumption for now. At least it hadn't been a physical threat.

"Uhm. Is it okay that maybe this is better?" There wasn't exactly a place to duck or hide, but that was a two-way street. Face-to-face she could get a better idea of what was actually happening here. Also, skirts and all. There was no elegant solution to be carried in a short skirt. "I don't really want to be a backpack either."

He had been listening to the part where she'd said she would prefer to walk, right?

The startled unhooding and tug on his shirt... He felt bad for worrying her, especially when she was apparently entirely okay with what he'd said. He tried to think of a way to explain it. There were limited nice way to say "Hey, my ex-boyfriend an I had a kinda messed up start to our relationship that kinda damaged me more than I like to admit".

"Uhm. Is it okay that maybe this is better? I don't really want to be a backpack either."

Cafas nodded and rounded the block corner onto Central Park West. He settled on a return to the cheery grin and a tone that implied a lot more humour than was actually present.

"Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. Old habits die hard," The laugh he inserted didn't sound believable to Cafas, "Early days with Calley, he would have totally freaked if I'd called him cute." He'd have shifted on the spot and run, to be more precise. Maybe even with a parting barb. Cafas loved a lot about Calley, but never that.

"We should do this all the time, you really have a way of making my days better no matter where they begin." Like ditched by his boyfriend when he was just back in town after months away, or drunk and beaten within an inch of his life. He hadn't even felt like a drink since they'd been hanging out.

She didn't have to believe it to not flip out over being called cute. "Calley doesn't like to be called cute?" She must have scritched his chin and said it a hundred times. Had she engendered ill will there a hundred times over and not known?

Silly to worry about that now when Calley very probably hated her now. He had been her only friend when she was pregnant. Heck! He had been there when her kids were born.

And really, it was feeling a little silly to be carried while talking about an ex. An ex they both knew and loved and whom Maya had kind of convinced Cafas to not spend time with anymore and now here they were spending time together instead. Maya fidgeted.

Cafas must have picked up on that too because that was a heck of a topic change.

"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for lunch. Steak was kind of a break from Sebastian habits for me. He couldn't eat meat. So." She would have stopped at formalities, but Cafas had shared something of his last relationship with her so she felt obliged to return the favor. "You call me when you're down. I will gladly pick you up. Metaphorically speaking." Maya was pretty convinced that she could when she wasn't worried about the whys and the whats about the meaning of it all anyway.

"Calley doesn't like to be called cute?"

"It was just me and the circumstances."

"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for lunch. Steak was kind of a break from Sebastian habits for me. He couldn't eat meat. So."

If Cafas recalled correctly Maya was on a mission to break her old habits. Therefore breaking Sebastian habits was good. Therefore Cafas was good for her. Cafas was now also on a mission to break his habits, though his were more recent and far more destructive than a vegetarian diet. Maya was the root cause of his trying to break those habits, therefore Maya was good for him. They were good for each other's habit breaking at least.

"You call me when you're down. I will gladly pick you up. Metaphorically speaking."

"Thanks Maya. I'll gladly pick you up too. It's putting you down I'll have trouble with." He did his best to give her an appreciative squeeze with the stupid wink. Then he fake dropped her. Just an inch to get a reaction.

One crossed street later they had arrived outside his building. The doorman gave him them an amused, if somewhat disapproving glance. That was as much commentary as he made on the subject. "Hey Jack, how's Alice?"

"Well, thank you."

Once inside Cafas finally lowered Maya to her feet, knowing she would not step on any needles, or glass, or trash. He did take her hand though. Strictly so she wouldn't get lost.

Pretty sure her shoes have soaked through my shirt...

A short elevator trip later they made it to his level. He fished his keys out of his pocket, opened the door, and led Maya in. "Welcome to my humble abode." If a park view upper west side apartment could be called humble. In a way Cafas wished it didn't look quite as classy as it did. It did go better with his antique furniture that way though.

He let Maya's shoes drop unceremoniously to the floor just the other side of the door as he closed it behind them. The metal manipulator turned and smiled, which felt like it was becoming his default facial setting. "So, coffee? Dry clothes? I think I have a shirt or hoodie you could use as a dress."

She would probably never understand the Calley and Cafas relationship. It seemed that Cafas only tangentially understood it himself.

Yeah he definitely already had trouble putting her down. "Psh. You can't quit thIS!" She had been so cool and hip with the knowledges and the joke retort and then he had to go and start to drop her! Maya clung to Cafas' clothes like a gecko on a screen door. She was sticking her tongue out at him when he greeted his doorman. Ah. She put that tongue back where it belonged.

"Nice to meet you, Mister Jack!" She waved over Cafas' shoulder since they were already past. This was really silly at this point.

> "Welcome to my humble abode."

Oh but there was no time to pout. Once Maya had her feet she was busy flitting from discovery to discovery. "The furniture is all so heavy looking!" She commented as she poked around. There was a smallish cabinet she started prying into until she realized it was a liquor chest or holder or whatever those were called. She left it in favor of bouncing onto a couch cushion. "I like this." Since her feet were clean she swung them up onto the cushions and stretched out.

"Yes coffee. Would this even count without any?" Maya swung herself around again to exit couch left. She frowned at the dark splotch she left behind on the cushion. Her skirt was soaked. "Yes clothes too, I guess." She worried at the cushion for a bit. It wasn't ruined. It wasn't even that wet.

Oh a table! "Why do you have a table so big?" Did it have eaves? Like a full-sized family table? Maya dipped down underneath to check out the underside.

Ah. She should help with the coffee. Maya popped back out and went to poke her nose around the kitchen. She could probably figure out the coffee situation while Cafas got clothes.

Maya set off exploring his apartment. A curious butterfly.

"The furniture is all so heavy looking!"

"You didn't have to move it up here." Cafas laughed. A lot of it hadn't fit in the elevator. The table in particular had been a real pain to get up the stairs, even with help. So many stairs.

How did she sniff out the alcohol so fast?

"I like this."

Cafas watched her bounce onto the couch, and bounce some more. Her feet went up and she seemed right at home. It hadn't taken long at all. The metal manipulator walked over and closed the liquor cabinet door.

"Yes coffee. Would this even count without any?"

"Yes clothes too, I guess."

"Cool, I'll grab you something. And it would totally not count, but I might just want to spend more time with you."

Cafas set off to grab Maya something to wear. Coffee could be dealt with once she was dry. The rate Maya was exploring at, he figured he should probably be quick, lest she sit on something that couldn't take the water. He'd barely made it out of the room when she called a question after him.

"Why do you have a table so big?"

"For my constant string of dinner parties? Really I just saw it and liked it." Cafas swung into the master bedroom, pulled out a drawer, and began searching for something for Maya to wear. He grabbed a hoodie that managed to be long on him, a tee for her to wear under, and a pair of gym shorts (with a drawstring so they might actually stay on). He changed his own shirt while he was at it. Button-down got downgraded to a tightish tee.

Maya was not in the main room when Cafas got back with the bundle of clothes. He heard cupboards in the kitchen. When he entered Maya had found the mugs, french press and coffee. A load click announced that the kettle had boiled. "Here, you're under no obligation to wear any individual piece. Heck, you're under no obligation to wear any of it." He set the clothes down on the bench and began digging through his pantry. He was relatively certain he had coconut milk back there somewhere.

AHA! I knew it!

Milk get.

He withdrew the coconut milk triumphantly and held it aloft.

They worked seamlessly. Cafas came in with the clothes and Maya gladly switched off with him. He knew where everything was anyway.

> "Heck, you're under no obligation to wear any of it."

He didn't mean that. Not the way she heard it, surely. It took her a mental beat to process the fact that he was not asking her parade around naked as a jaybird and then she moved on like it was no big thing. Because it wasn't. She wasn't about to make it a thing. So it wasn't a thing. "Thanks. I'll see what I can manage."

She helped herself to a water closet and closed the door.

Was this a bad position to put herself in? Or could she manage his expectations and her own?

Maya shimmied out of her skirt. Her shirt was fine, but his smelled like him. Cafas and detergent was a heady mix. She swapped out her shirt for his, but even Maya, purveyor of short skirts, could not talk herself into it. It was too short. She tugged at it in the front and then it was too short in the back.

She took the time to lay her wet things out so that they would dry and not hurt anything and then she pulled on the hoodie.

The sweat jacket was made of sunshine and magic. The sleeves were not only long enough, but they enveloped her hands. The neck opening drooped down so she wasn't choked if she wanted to pull the strings tighter on the hood. The pocket was spacious and swallowed her hands and phone and she could probably fit a whole puppy in there if she tried. The hem hit almost as low as her skirt had.

She was so incredibly pleased that she left the gym shorts behind. They were not needed.

"Whoa. The good kind." Maya commented on the now open can of coconut milk. "They make some you can keep in the fridge like cow milk and it's a little less like cream. This is like a special treat." She was now having her own smile over abundance issues.

"Thanks. I'll see what I can manage."

With the coffee brewing and Maya out of the room Cafas was left at a loss for what to do. He always had that problem at home. He checked the dishwasher, but it was empty. The kitchen was, for the most part, tidy. Everything in the cupboards was label side out. In the end he gave up and just lent against the bench watching the coffee.

Cafas plunged the coffee, poured it into the mugs.

He didn't hear Maya re-enter, so caught up in trying to think of something to do.

"Whoa. The good kind. They make some you can keep in the fridge like cow milk and it's a little less like cream. This is like a special treat."

Cafas flinched. He'd just avoided jumping. The shock of the minor start fled his face as his smile returned. A mug in each hand, he spun to face Maya, nearly sloshing hot coffee out of the cup onto himself in his enthusiasm. "I didn't know that, I just have it there for curries." He handed a mug to Maya, who was pretty much swimming in his sweater. "I didn't know how much you wanted so you'll need to add your own milk."

"So, breakfast bar, table or patio?" He'd have gone with the couch, but he also hadn't spilled water all over himself earlier. Maya would need to re-earn her drinking on the couch trust.

Could do with some music.

He opened the app for his stereo on his phone and turned it on. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd been playing last. As it turned out, his Disney playlist. The circle of life blasted from his lounge room.

Could have been worse. It wasn't the Taylor Swift playlist.

With gusto, he handed her a mug and she accepted it with sleeve covered hands. She gave it a good sniff. She was no expert despite what Aurum had tried to teach her, but it smelled like comfort. When she tapped her tongue to it, it didn't even taste burned.

>"So, breakfast bar, table or patio?"

"Something wrong with the kitchen?"

Maya helped herself onto the counter with a bit of a stretch with her legs and, once seated, she reached over for the open can.

She added juuuust a little until the coffee turned a toasted color instead of pale ‘would you like some coffee with that milk?’ like she used to. She wasn't flustered or nervous so she had no spilling issues. And she didn't bother searching for any spoon, her finger did just fine. Of course she had to un-swamp her hand for that, but it was worth it.

"Chairs are too formal," she explained as she seated her cup firmly into a sleeved hand, "and I would probably get distracted outside. C'mere. This way I'm as tall as you are " Maya steered Cafas so that he was in front of her so she could illustrate her point. See? Eye contact. And sudden intimacy set to the tune of the Lion King.

She snickered and all but hugged her cup while she sipped.

”AND IT MOVES US ALLLLLLLLL!” And of course she couldn’t help but join in the powerful chorus.