"I'm emotionally invested in you too... You know. In a love kind of way."

Ooooh that had hurt momentarily. His silly jaw had betrayed the brief shock he had tried to hide, by falling just a little open. The roguish look in her eyes tipped him off just before she continued speaking. That had been oh so slightly mean. It did leave him smiling like an idiot the whole rest of the meal, with a warmth inside that could not be attributed solely to the spicy food.

Said meal left Cafas with a real doubt his jacket would zip up. Damn thing fit too well for him to be eating as much as he had. It felt so good to be that full though, and of such yummy foods. Contentedness was written across his face like a neon sign. The very full mutant leaned back in his chair and sighed happily as he waited for Maya to finish her guacamole.

"Okay, so maybe we fast rides should be off the table for a bit. I think I saw games. Beanbags and stuff. I also think there's a train. Rowan would love that."

"I suppose it wouldn't be an American theme park date if I didn't win you something stuffed and over-sized. Right now I could just win myself, by that description. We should bring Rowan some time, if you'd like to." Cafas eyed his own water dubiously as Maya drained hers. He didn't like its odds of not tipping him past the point of happy overfull into painful overfull.

"Potty break?"

Apparently she needs permission now.

"Don't forget your hallpass. I'll be here." Well, he'd still be in the restaurant. Cafas smiled after Maya's retreating form, stood carefully, and went to deal with the cheque. The incredulity of the server upon seeing the clear plates was priceless, and it was a pity Maya had to miss it. They managed to shake the look swiftly. This was not their first over-eating rodeo.

"How Was everything?"

"Great, Thanks!"

A few more pleasantries were exchanged, as was money. Standing was really helping with the slight discomfort of having eaten so much, and Cafas was starting to feel a little better. He walked back to the table and considered what to do next while he awaited Maya's return from the restroom.

Nothing too stomach turning.

Today was shaping up. Maya washed her hands at the sink, anxious to get back to the table. She was pleased and overfull with her mind buzzing over the evening's past and hypothetical events. She didn't pay any mind to the woman who'd entered the restroom. It was a general courtesy not to, for whatever reason.

"You make me sick."

A gurggly giggle made Maya pause at the paper towel dispenser and turn slowly to look. The woman wasn't the ring leader, but one of the flanking cronies from the trio that had bothered Maya previously. The woman was standing hip jutted to the side and margarita in hand. By the smell of her, this was not her first margarita. Maybe not even her third.

"Whaddo you have that the rest of us doesn't?"

The question seemed to be rhetorical, but Maya answered anyway as she dried her hands. "Just the luck of the draw, I guess."

"Lucky. Pah. C'mere."

The woman took a step forward and Maya took one backward and bumped into the sink.

"I jus' want to lookit you. Stop squirming."

When she stepped forward again, Maya stood her ground. She had no choice. The bathroom wasn't that big.

Maya was perhaps a hair taller, though she felt as if she was looking up at the other woman.

"Pretty eyes. Could cover up those homely freckles, though." She rolled her eyes. "I jus' don't see it."

"Thank you. For your unsolicited opinion." Maya turned her body to scoot on past and felt a shock of wet hit her face. Gah! It burned her eyes! The slush of the margarita plopped down onto Maya's scarf and shoulders as she scrabbled at her eyes.

"You make your own luck."

Maya heard the restroom door open and shut as she clawed the sink water on and splashed her face trying to flush out the sting from her eyes. Her makeup was done for. Her eyes screamed at her, red and bloodshot. The scarf had taken the worst of it, but her cardigan and shirt weren't wholly unscathed.

Worst of all, Maya was mad.

Make your own luck? She flexed the air in the room and held her breath for a moment as the elemental tried to form a coherent thought.

Should she try to towel off her things? The pressure in the restroom dropped when Maya breathed again and unwound her scarf from her neck. There was no hiding the wet splotches. She tried to shake the last bits of slushy out of her shirt and scarf and into the sink.

You make your own luck.

Maya looked at herself in the mirror and tugged the elastics out of her hair so the white strands hung limp and free.

"I'll show you homely freckles." She shook out her hair and peeled off the cardigan exposing her plain cream colored shirt. She didn't really want to draw attention to herself so no power. She had to talk herself out of a display like she'd managed at the club when they'd gone dancing.

The elemental peeked out the restroom door. Finding no tequila ambush waiting for her, Maya stalked out to find Cafas with her damp clothes in hand. She was still mad, but now she was somewhere between embarrassed tears and the urge to throttle.

"Hi."

Cafas had been standing by the table, leaning on the back of his chair lazily. Its support was both uncomfortable, and minimal. He stood fully under his own weight and turned to face the friendly voice.

Lot of fans tonight...

He found himself within a foot of a woman barely a few inches shorter than him. She smiled shyly, head down, glancing up almost through her lashes. "Hey." Cafas offered his reply with only a slight hesitance. The woman's posture and proximity were making him uncomfortable, they he couldn't quite identify why.

"I'm Jessica. Do you like Mexican food?"

Cafas blinked, confused by the question. Were they, or were they not, standing in a Mexican restaurant. That felt like a rude thing to point out though, somehow. "I'm Cafas and, yeah, love it! You?" Perhaps she was nervous, the way she stood not quite facing him, though the rest of her posture suggested...

"Oh I'm mostly just here for the drinks." Jessica brushed some hair back behind her ear that didn't actually need brushing back. She'd spoken just in time to cut off Cafas' thought process, though he still found something uncomfortable about the interaction. "Speaking of," Her hand found his chest with a light, and most certainly flirtatious touch, "Can I buy you one while we get to know each other?"[/b]

There it was, alarm bells. Flirting, this was one hundred percent flirting. Why must he be so blind, of course it was flirting. "Hey, look, I'm kind of here with someone, so..."

"Well she doesn't have to know, you tell her you went home, you're feeling unwell, we hide somewhere nice and private with our drin..."

"Jessica! I can't believe you!"

You and me both...

Cafas spun. A woman holding an empty margarita glass stood three feet away, looking shocked and betrayed. Hadn't he seen her go in the bathroom with a full drink and smug expression? He could have sword so. Weren't these two some of those that had waved to Maya earlier? Cafas was not feeling good at all about the situation, although at least the flirting had stopped.

"Kimberly, I'm trying to talk to Cafas here, we can talk..."

"You *****, you knew I was going to talk to him!"

"Were you? I'm so sorry Kim, I didn..."

"You were the one that said I should distract that charity case! This drink cost twenty dollars!"

"Well, you make your own luck, Kim." The smile that followed was entirely antagonistic.

Cafas felt like he was watching a tennis match, head swiveling between the two women, a look of growing frustration and incredulity colouring his features. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to believe it, because it sounded like Kim had just thrown a drink on Maya.

Kim had clearly had enough. With a cry that was not fit for civilised ears she threw herself at Jessica, grabbing her by the hair and giving it a hard tug. Cafas allowed Jessica a retaliatory punch, limp-wristed as it was, before intervening.

Okay that was petty Cafas.

"No! Enough, the both of you!" Cafas grabbed each woman by the back of their tops and pulled them apart. They could barely struggle against him, which was kind of the point of being so muscular in the first place. "Oh my god, look at yourselves. Fighting over the chance to try and make a man cheat on his girlfriend with you!" Cafas turned his withering gaze to the woman known as Kim. "You, what did you do to Maya? And how dare you refer to her as a charity case, as if you have the faintest idea what is going on in her life!"

The woman eyed the empty glass in her hand and it confirmed Cafas' suspicion. She was lucky he held his temper. As if Maya didn't have enough to worry about without being covered in an icy, alcoholic slush.

What a B...

"But what's she got that w..."

"Well for one, she's not trying to flirt with a man on a date! Aside from that? Where the hell to begin. She's devoted her life, risked life and limb, to keep the people of this city safe for years." And the world, though that was a bit less on the public side, as far as Cafas knew.

"She'll always look for a non-violent solution, even to a violent problem." Which was something Cafas admired deeply enough that he was making a conscious effort to move towards himself. "That she's raising a child, alone, while doing those. That she would drop everything to come help you when you need her. That she's honest, and genuine, and kind, and brave, even when it would be easier not to be."

Both women had shut up, though whether is was a genuine realisation of their shameful behavior, or simply being intimidate by him, was impossible to know. The fight seemed to have left them under the chastisation of Cafas, made at somewhat less than a yell. Cafas released their shirts and fixed them both with a scowl. "Now leave her alone! Go home, think about how you care to this point in your life, and find some way to get over that a guy you don't know loves a woman that isn't you."

Cafas didn't notice the presence or movement behind him, having turned away from the restroom doors.

Well, Maya wasn't mad anymore.

She also could not seem to avoid attention whenever they were together. She'd been stomping up when the tone of Cafas' voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

She hadn't expected him to be mad. She'd been even more surprised once the content of his words hit her. That was... he was talking about her.

Just being there in proximity to where Cafas was shouting her merits at two women meant that, as soon as the X-man had let the the harpies go, the interested occupants of the Mexican restaurant all seemed to collectively look between her and Cafas. She felt their eyes and was so very glad that Cafas' back was broad enough to block her view of the women he'd been berating.

Jessica jerked her shoulder away as if she'd been the one to free herself. Kimberly was not so quick to recover her jaw.

"Jesus." The ringleader flicked her hair over her shoulder dismissing Cafas as she gathered her personality back together and went to her friend.

"Ohmigoshohmigosh. That just happened."

"Are you okay, Kimbo?"

"You still owe me 20 dollars, ****."

Maya rolled her lips in on each other and took a couple steps so that she could reach out and catch the back of Cafas' leather jacket. The elemental gave it a gentle tug to let Cafas know she was there.

"Uuuugh. Fiiiine." Just like that, the two seemed to be friends again. They had either already forgotten about Cafas or were embarrassed enough that they were pretending he no longer existed. They chattered away as they retreated. "Where's Jen?"

"Her roommie called her to tell her there's a totally hot villain trying to hold up the bar she's at."

Tugging wasn't enough for Maya. She took those last few steps and threw her arms around her boyfriend in a sudden hug him from behind. Her damp clothes were still in hand, now in front of Cafas. "Thank you." She'd been ready to do something drastic.

"Oooh. Like, actual fire?"

"Nah. I hear that guy got arrested by robots."

"Aww seriously?"

"Can we just go home?" Wherever that was, Mansion or apartment, at least it'd be out of the public eye.

Arms wrapped around Cafas, accompanied by a sudden, gentle impact on his back. The clothes that popped up in front of him were easily recognisable. Though if they were in Maya's hands... No, surely she had an undershirt or something.

"Thank you."

"Any time Sweetheart, they were way out of line. You okay?" Cafas squiggled until he was facing Maya, so that he could wrap her up and keep her safe and make sure no more sadness came upon her. Speaking of wrapping up, that shirt would not do. Even if she didn't feel it, Cafas wasn't going to risk Maya becoming hypothermic. He would deal with that post hug.

"Can we just go home?"

The idea didn't sit well with Cafas. It set a precedent within their relationship that they would let the bastards and the idiots dictate their joy and actions. "If you really want to, we can. I don't think we should let them ruin our date though. It kind of feels like they win if we do, you know? I know it sucks, believe me I do, but like I said before, think of Brittney, and suddenly those two seem insignificant. At least to me."

Though it still hurts that they can't see what I see in Maya... Oh man is that... That's totally how Maya feels with me.

The metal manipulator pulled away from the hug gently, and proceeded to shrug off his jacket. With it off he pulled his sweater over his head. Without hesitation he slipped the garment onto Maya. It was thin, but it was warm, and better than just a shirt, to be sure. He shimmied the motorcycle jacket back on and offered Maya his arm.

"Come on, either way, let's blow this popsicle stand."

He squirmed around and with how tight she'd been holding on, Maya was frankly impressed. Well, she wasn't exactly strong. So maybe not that impressed. His facing her made it easier to bury her face in his soft sweater to hide the flush of mixed emotion on her cheeks.

Yeah. She'd told him what she'd thought about him in a similar way earlier tonight. She had by no means shouted it to a building full of people.

> "I know it sucks, believe me I do..."

While Brittney had been a breath of fresh air, it was hard to dismiss her stinging eyes and embarrassment since that was very much happening now. Still, when she tried to focus on the positive like he suggested, she could only come to one conclusion.

"We can stay. We should stay. You're right." But she still felt a bit like a kicked puppy. "If we could just— just for a minute, can we find some place quiet?"

She squeezed him and then they had to shuffle clothes. Maya very studiously worked to wrap up her damp clothes in her scarf tying it up so that it was all contained with a furoshiki style handle made of the twist of scarf cloth and clever knotting. Tying up her things made it easier to pretend that no one was looking. And somehow, again, Maya was swamped into some of Cafas' clothes. She looped her scarf packet onto her wrist and then looped her sleeve covered hand into Cafas' offered arm.

> "...let's blow this popsicle stand."

She smiled despite everything. He just had the effect on her.

"Would it be presumptuous to leave some clothes at your place? Unless, I mean, you like the kraken look?" Maya waved her free arm around, hand hidden and the extra fabric flopping true to tentacle fashion.

She didn't have a whole lot of clothes to spare at the moment, but she had recovered some things from the room that she and Sebastian had shared. The FBI hadn't bothered to co-opt that stuff. It only made sense if they kept running into these situations and if she was going to stay over more often like she'd offered to.

The boardwalk was well lit but now that the sun had truly set, the night had an air of privacy. Gone were the crowds of children, though the occasional groups of teens lingered. Mostly the evening was full of couples and small groups. No more gawkers. Or fans. Or haters.

The cheery strings of multicolored lights and far off amusement park screams weren't as soothing as Cafas being there with her. Walking was all the privacy they needed. Outside provided all the space she needed. Just taking a moment to process was what she'd wanted.

"I don't know what I was going to do. I was mad. Really, really throw a laptop mad." It wasn't easy to admit that into what had felt like an amicable silence. She squeezed his arm under hers. "But I didn't have to act on that anger because you got mad for me. It's been kind of a long time since anybody's been on my side like that. So thanks."

She stopped him by stopping herself, turned on tippy toe, and offered up a kiss that was just a brush of lips. "Thank you. Again." She said the words against his lips and kissed him again on the tail end of that.

Yeah, Sam might had said those things had he been there, but he would have meant them like Maya would have meant them: an ideal she strove toward. Cafas said it, not only like he believed she'd already gotten there, but like it was a place he wanted to be too.

It was hitting her hard that moments like these were precious. She wouldn't have too many more. Maya had assumed she'd come to peace with the idea of fading away. "We should throw some beanbags." Everything. They had to do everything right away. Maya tugged at his arm again to pull Cafas back toward the games they'd passed.

It was settled, they were staying. They were staying and Maya looked ridiculously tiny in his sweater. She needed a ridiculously big stuffed animal to complete the look though. Arms looped they stepped back into the night air, in search of a private space and the fun some people didn't want them to have.

"Would it be presumptuous to leave some clothes at your place? Unless, I mean, you like the kraken look?"

"If you want presumptuous, I could turn one of the spare rooms into a walk in wardrobe. I don't mind though, if you want to leave some stuff at my place. A toothbrush wouldn't be a bad idea either, but I draw the line at a bed; you'll just have to use mine." The kraken look was kind of cute though. Maybe it was just that it reminded him of their soapy wrestling in the club. Still, if she was going to stay over any more frequently, it wouldn't hurt to have some things there.

I'll need to clear a drawer or something.

They strolled in comfortable silence back into the park proper, arm in arm, neither actually leading. The park was not so densely populated as it had been, and the average age had risen considerably. Here and there on the boardwalk other couples, and groups of friends laughed and chattered excitedly. The atmosphere it lent the evening helped bring Cafas back from his earlier anger.

"I don't know what I was going to do..."

Cafas had been ready to respond. He'd thought they'd been stopping because the conversation was super important, and not at all a walking around conversation. The brush of lips was a pleasant surprise. Maya breathed another thanks against his lips and kissed him again, and Cafas didn't let her get away with quite so soft a brushing on the second pass. "It's my side too now. I'm glad you didn't hurt them though, I know you'd regret it after."

"We should throw some beanbags."

They moved off again, and Maya was most certainly leading, with a determined gait Cafas had not been expecting. Apparently that had been a statement of intent, rather than a suggestion. It seemed, perhaps, the incident had not left Maya with less confidence.

As it turned out, Cafas was alright at throwing bean bags, but Maya had him beat. Some of her shots he could have sworn were going to miss, but curved back in just in time to hit their mark. Cafas suspected shenanigans, though perhaps pitching bean bags was just a hidden talent Maya had. It turned out that throwing beanbags was not where Cafas would win Maya an over-sized prize.

I shall take this bear as my loyal squire in my chivalric journey to win an over-sized stuffed toy for Maya. It must be done.

Goblet toss was a similar affair. Somehow throwing light objects with accuracy was more the domain of the air elemental than her boyfriend. Cafas did not comment as to the slight ruffling of stuffed prizes that resulted in a lucky bounce, though he did provide a gently elbow into the ribs. Terrible example for X-men to be setting, said the elbow. Cafas' face remained a mask of innocence.

Clearly he had lost because of the stuffed prize we was already holding from the beanbags.

He couldn't even fool himself with that one.

Cafas made his comeback with Whack-a-mole. Years of training, thousands of hours of weapon drills, sparring with people and danger room, more fights than he could remember, all had led him to that moment, when he found his stuffed toy winning calling. Cafas emerged competitive whack-a-mole champion of their group, and selected an appropriately over-sized fluffy toy to be his championship belt. It was presented with much ceremony to Maya.

Cafas looked around for where they should go next.

A barker tried to guess Maya's weight and nearly doubled her actual weight once she stepped on the scale. He tried to guess for Cafas and undersold it. She begged out of accepting a prize by letting the man know they were both mutants, though Cafas' was more likely attributed to his physique and a hefty portion of Mexican food.

There was a frog pond whacker which was perhaps the strangest game Maya had ever witnessed. Little rubber frogs jiggled through the air after patrons hammered the end of a catapult. The prizes were marked lily pads floating in a fountain. There was no way she could cheat at that. It was ridiculously complex with the rubbery, awkward flopping and the floating pieces. It did lead to many giggles, though.

Oh! And some kind of silly fishing type game where they were both supplied with fishing poles tipped with plastic hoops instead of hooks. The goal was to tip a bottle up onto its base before the timer buzzed. She was concentrating so hard on tipping the bottle gently with juuuuuust the right amount of tension on her pole's string that when the buzzer finally sounded that it made her jump.

Frisbee slots where an air elemental had a definite unfair natural and not even cheating advantage in getting the disks to slide through barely big enough slats. Maya won a floppy dragon for that one. "For Rowan." She dodged another elbow.

They shot water muskets at targets in order to push little racers down a mechanical path. Maya was absolutely terrible and loved every moment.

Through it all Maya carried her most precious prize under arm. It wasn't comically overlarge. It wasn't too small. Her fox was perfect.

"Mmm. Will they let us take the stuffies on rides, y'think?" Maya rubbed at her eyes which were more red from tiredness than alcohol at this point. It also seemed that most of the rides had turned their lights off and shut down the power. One ride was definitely still chugging, though.

"Ferris wheel?"

"Mmm. Will they let us take the stuffies on rides, y'think?"

"I mean, they're not exactly going to hurt anyone if they go flying, so why not?" Though exactly what rides were open was a mystery. Cafas looked around as his non-bear arm found Maya's waist and pulled her closer. Really he was just squishing the dragon against himself, but that was fine.

"Ferris wheel?"

He could hear the sleepy creeping into her voice. He'd need to take her home soon, but he figured they could afford the time of a Ferris wheel ride. "Okay, but that's our last ride, okay?" They still needed to figure out how to get two adults and three stuffed animals on a motorcycle.

I'll figure something out.

His steps were slow, just drinking in the happy atmosphere and Maya's company. He didn't want the night to end, but he never did with Maya. Barely anyone was left in the park, just the last few stragglers, in the same place as Cafas, not wanting to return to the real world. "This was fun, all in all. I hope those... Women," His tone did not say women, "didn't ruin it for you."

That was the point of continuing after all.

The line was non-existent. The attendant smiled a tired smile as he let them on, stuffies and all. The car swayed softly as they entered, mostly for Cafas. The stuffies were arranged opposite their new owners. Cafas put one arm around Maya's shoulders, the hand of the other holding her's. They moved off gently, in their own private little world.

Ocean view, nice.

"So. How much do you think we could freak him out of you ghosted us out of here?" Cafas smiled at the thought, though it all felt like he should have something more poignant or romantic to say.

Last ride? Pah! That earned Cafas a wrinkled nose. It was late. Later than she'd thought she'd be out tonight, all things considered.

> "I hope those... women didn't ruin it for you."

"Nah." She yawned into her fox. "Somebody convinced me that it wasn't as big a deal as I was making it out to be. Besides. That's good, new, better Maya thinking. I don't want to waste a single minute." She especially didn't want to waste it moping.

They hopped on to the seat and spread the stuffing around appropriately. Soon, the pair rolled through the air at a lazy pace. The ride stopped every great once in a while to let someone on or off. Maya snuggled in close and lay her head down. Ocean view, schmocean view. That was not the top of her list for why this was the best seat in the house.

> "So. How much do you think we could freak him out of you ghosted us out of here?"

"I don't think he was making a count of it." Maya waved at the carnie as they slow rolled by, though. "I wouldn't risk it either. I'm too tired and there's no way I could take your motorcycle." Maybe not even the stuffed animals without consequence. Had she tried taking a whole lot of small items before? The memory was not in easy reach so either she hadn't or it was inconsequential.

"I'd rather just end our day on perfect." Because ups and downs and roller coasters were perfect given the context.

"Happy divorce day." She sealed it with a kiss.