She reached and Carrick found himself closer to her before she started going anywhere. He started to purr at once as she lead him to her bathroom. Carrick’s wings folded up behind him while his tail flicked mischievously. He hadn’t planned on joining her in the bathroom but he defiantly didn’t fight it.

His shirt came off easily enough seeing as it was already in a few pieces all one had to do was just give it a little tug and it fell apart. One day he’d have clothes that would last through a shift until then he thought it best to keep buying cheap clothes ones that fell apart easily enough. ”All ya had to do is tell me to lose the clothes.” he said trying to be difficult and smirking at her.

His tail flicked behind him, ”Wings will be alright.” he sad opening them slightly now that he was shirtless. He eyed the spots that had burns and shrugged causing the wings to wave at her. ”I’m sure there is a lesson in this somewhere. Not gonna learn it though if you keep taking me clothes off though.” he said grinning taking his time with his pants.

”You just like seeing me naked.” he said still purring trying to act like he was in control of the situation.

The shirt came off pretty easily, given that it was in tatters. They could toss it in the trash later. Amethyst looked up at Carrick as he spread his wings again. He was in need of preening.

>>”All ya had to do is tell me to lose the clothes.”

"Lose the clothes." the princess nodded, stepping back to kick off her shoes and work on the straps of her own dress. At least he was not resisting this time.

>>”Wings will be alright. I’m sure there is a lesson in this somewhere. Not gonna learn it though if you keep taking me clothes off though. You just like seeing me naked.”

"I do" she agreed unironically. He was good looking, after all. It was not something she would have ever noted about a gorgon before... but a lot had changed in the past months. She knew he got all kinds of awkward the last time, so she was not going to push him. "I'm going to shower, anyway, I'm covered in dirt. You can join me if you want... Or you can wait your turn." He was allowed to make up his own mind.

>>> "Lose the clothes."

The shifter’s face reddened when she told him to lose them. Regretting his attitude seconds before at least his beast form wasn’t yelling at him for the moment he was just alone with his own thoughts. Carrick did as he was told. Unbuttoning his wondering if they counted as tear-aways at this point he looked to the holes wondering if he had the strength to rip them off. That would have been impressive right?

A shoe hit the ground and he looked up getting out of his head to see the princess disrobing. His mismatched colored eyes gave her a once over then forced an awkward smirk at her liking to see him naked. Well it was good for her with his abilities and lack of control when it came to keeping his clothing in one piece though. He often found himself naked. Just not in these situations.`

His pants dropped and his wings folded over himself a bit trying to give himself some cover. His voice cracked ”...T-There enough room for both of us and the wings?” he asked looking to the shower. He barely fit in her tub with his wings. For the first time since he first got them Carrick wasn’t sure he was happy with his wings.

Staring at the entrance to the shower he started to overthink everything again, the spacing of the shower, his wings and her. Luckily for Carrick he didn’t stay there long his shifted form yelling again distracted him. ”Good way to save water...” and stepped in after her.

Carrick managed to get rid of the rest of the clothes, although he still looked very bashful about being naked. He even moved his wings to cover himself up as much as possible, which was endearing, in a way. The princess smiled a little as she discarded her dress and moved to start the water in the shower. It was fairly spacious, but not as much as the bathtub. Still, easier when one was dealing with a lot of dirt.

>> ”...T-There enough room for both of us and the wings?”

"I think so?" she stepped in first, after making sue the water was warm enough. It was refreshing to feel water on her skin, it seemed to wash away the stress of the day they had. Carrick hesitated for a moment, then stepped in too. She turned around to look up at him (there really was not much space in the shower), wiping the wet hair out of her face.

"You can use the soaps and the shampoo." she offered. She knew some of those were probably too strongly scented for his nose, but she didn't really have an alternative. "I'll... take a look at your wings later."

She wasn’t sure. Neither was he, it was a small enclosed space. The shifter didn’t think about that though he was more focused on both of them being naked in said small enclosed space. The shower curtain stuck to one of his wings as he stepped in causing him to turn a little when he entered. Eventually the curtain let go and he was staring down at the Princess.

The purring seemed to echo in the shower while his hands covered below his waste no longer having the option to use his wings seeing as one of them kept disappearing on the other side of the curtain. The lack of space wasn’t even a thought. He was just trying to figure out how he got into this situation. ”Damn, I’m lucky.” it was a statement. Though he’d deny it if anyone asked.

>>> "You can use the soaps and the shampoo."

He didn’t break his gaze with her but reached up and grabbed at the nearest bottle with one of his hands the other still giving him the comfort of being protected. He missed the bottle, causing him to fumble with it in the air with both hands. One wing vanished from the shower onto the other side of the curtain while his tail smacked some more stuff off one of the ledges. He caught the bottle in one hand and then went back to covering himself with the other.

”What’s wrong with me wings?” he asked trying to play off the situation.

Alright, so maybe the shower was not designed for two people, not when one had wings and a tail. Not when said person was still trying to cover himself. Eventually, after some shuffling around, Amethyst gave him a look and turned her back on him, focusing her attention on washing her own hair. They would work on the looking issue later.

>>”What’s wrong with me wings?”

"They are singed" she pointed out, glancing over her shoulder. He'd have to be preened later. For now, he needed to get clean, and stop trying to keel over from embarrassment. Ducking under his wing, she got out of the shower, finding a fluffy towel to wrap herself in. The shower idea was decidedly less smooth than she'd intended. "So, what is up with the whole modesty thing?" she ventured, holding a towel out for Carrick once he managed to extract himself from the shower "I mean, I understand that you don't like being naked around people, but why?"

”Are they?” he asked lifting his wing a little to move out of the way. His eyes occasionally wandered until she exited the shower leaving him in there alone. The shower seemed roomier but he enjoyed it more with her in there. He could deal with the lack of space.

>>>"So, what is up with the whole modesty thing?

Carrick scrubbed his face with the lavender soap she had offered him and shrugged, quickly cleaning himself now that there was room and motivation to get out quicker now. ”Couldn’t tell ya.” mainly because he didn’t know. He never had a problem being naked before having shifted himself out of clothing multiple times it was never even an issue before. In fact, it was a good way to get peoples attention. ”I think it’s just around you. Ya make me nervous he finally summed up.

Carrick reached out and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his head like he had a bunch of hair to dry off. ”I’m working on it though.” he said face red trying to make light of the subject. This time only one hand was covering. He turned and flicked each wing and then his tail in the shower trying to get any extra water off so he wasn’t standing in a pool of water. The wings were still pretty water logged.

”Even managed to hop in the shower with ya.” he said trying to sound confident.

>>”Couldn’t tell ya. I think it’s just around you. You make me nervous."

She was still not sure she understood. If someone liked someone else, seeing them naked should have been easier, not more awkward. Like, Carrick was pretty nice to look at. Which she did, as he clambered out of the shower.

>>”I’m working on it though. Even managed to hop in the shower with ya.”

"Very well done" the princess smiled a little as he shook the water off his wings and tail. She'd already noted the purring earlier. It felt nice to be clean again. "Come on." She led the way back to her room, sitting down on the bed. They had been there before, and it had not gone great. But for now, she had other plans. Maybe not all of this had to be about one thing. As strange as it sounded. "Let me take a look at your wings."

>>> "Very well done"

Carrick stuck his tongue out at her briefly at the comment then went into his mock bow. It sounded more sarcastic to him than anything but he thought he was making good strides. He was at least confident enough to step in the shower and now be pretty much naked in her room. Grabbing the towel from his head and wrapping it around him he followed her out.

”Where we going?” he asked smirking knowing that there were only so many places he could go with nothing but a towel on. The mansion had pretty strict rules about being naked. He didn’t need another talking to. Especially after tonight.

She sat on the bed he remained standing but puffed out his chest when the wings opened hard to show them off when he was sitting, ”Only cause ya asked nicely. They don’t look too bad.” he said looking at a few spots that needed a little TLC. While normally he thought he was the best one for the job he knew that the Princess was more than capable of taking care of them.

Carrick spread his wings with obvious pride, and the princess smiled a little. Now she was getting somewhere. Not that she had ulterior motives, not really, but at least when he was showing off he was more comfortable around her. As he sat down she shifted to sit behind him, careful not to sit on the tail.

>>”Only cause ya asked nicely. They don’t look too bad.”

"They really don't. But the fire was not nice." she noted, running her fingers along his shoulders. She ran her hands along the top of one wing, dipping her fingers under the feathers occasionally. She was not sure what to say, so she just tucked the singed feathers here and there, but this time there was a little more to it than just preening. She clearly enjoyed what she was doing. Half her Atlantean family would have died of shame to see her like this. "You could have been more seriously hurt" she noted as she reached another burned feather. "They said you were reckless."

The irishman finally sat after showing off and he looked over his shoulder and wings as she got to work on them. His tail flicked behind him glad to be there. ”Not the first time they got a little heat.” he said with a shrug. They saw the mansion healer and all of them were going to be fine, he was happy about that. More so that the Princess was alright, if it was his fault anything worse happened to her...

His eyes shut as she adjusted some feathers the purring continuing since she started. ”Could have,” he agreed and gave a half-hearted shrug. The pain of shifting was sometimes more than anyone else could inflict on at least he hadn’t come across it yet. Especially when he was stuck between forms.

”Been in worse situations,” he paused, ”Know how to handle meself.” he said trying to downplay the danger they were in. ”Didn’t have time not to be.” he looked back over his shoulder, ”Every second I wasted with them was another second you were in danger.” she was in danger because of him in the first place.

Puffing out his chest again, ”Sides, I got to ya first.” he thumbed his nose.

>>”Could have. Been in worse situations. Know how to handle meself.”

Amethyst knew he had been through many fights, and situations that had been much worse. The cloaked figures throwing powers around was a disturbing memory, but they got through it with minor injuries, therefore it could have been a lot worse. Still, she did not like thinking about it, or about how Carrick was hurt. She moved on to his other wing, enjoying the purring as she pointed out he had been reckless.

>>”Didn’t have time not to be. Every second I wasted with them was another second you were in danger... Sides, I got to ya first.”

Being royalty, Amethyst was used to being protected. Even though her cousin deemed she would be safe enough at Xavier's without guards, back home in Atlantis she had always been guarded. The difference was, even the most loyal guards did not protect her the way Carrick did. Their motivations were different.

"I wasn't complaining" she grinned at him as he looked back, running her hands down his back.

”Oh that’s good because...” Carrick arched his back and started to purr louder when she surprised him with her hands down his back. His tail arching upwards the way a cats did.”Thought only the big guy liked that.” chuckling he added, ”I’m not taking ya back there. It be very... un-hero like.” Carrick said finding the word hero to describe him odd. He never thought of himself as one before. Nor did he like to.

”Still gonna have to be smarter when we go out next though...” he said hesitating, ”Flying only, that way no one can stop ya on the road and tell ya to get in to their vehicle. No traffic stops in the air.” he smirked.

Feeling himself ramble, ”Disguises too maybe. Fer you not me... kinda hard to hide what I am or who I am.” he said in thought trying to imagine him wearing a poncho or a trench coat.

Carrick clearly liked her hands touching his wings and his back. She was pleased with his reaction. Maybe in time he would feel relaxed enough that he would not act awkward about it.

>>”Oh that’s good because... Thought only the big guy liked that. I’m not taking ya back there. It be very... un-hero like.”

This was not that time.

>>”Still gonna have to be smarter when we go out next though... Flying only, that way no one can stop ya on the road and tell ya to get in to their vehicle. No traffic stops in the air. Disguises too maybe. Fer you not me... kinda hard to hide what I am or who I am.”

He was rambling again. Last time he'd rambled things did not turn out great. Amethyst was still not sure what prompted him to act this way; it was not like she was trying to push him. She was not used to being the... caretaking half of a relationship. Risking another mistake by trying to get the conversation back on track, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"You're talking too much." she noted "There was something you wanted to talk to me about. Earlier. What was it?"

He was rambling. Carrick didn’t normally like when people told him to stop talking however the Princess had a certain method that seemed to work well on him. His lips met hers and he shut up. Mismatched colored eyes opened back up and he started grinning not sure what he was talking about seconds before. ”Best keep that method a secret love. Lots of people try to get me to stop talking.” his tail flicked.

>>> "There was something you wanted to talk to me about. Earlier. What was it?"

It took him a few seconds to think about it. What did he want to ask her earlier? Was it before she got kidnapped or after? He went through a list in his head of all the questions he asked her then had a ‘oh ****!’ look on his. He knew the question but didn’t ask it. Not yet, not while they were naked. Time and place right? Was it supposed to be romantic? He thought it should be romantic.

”Hard to remember which question I wanted ta ask ya.” he lied his tail revealing as much as his bright red face.”[/color] he paused, ”I mean it doesn’t matter right now.” he said gesturing to his towel then to her.

”Mind if I sleep here tonight?” he asked changing the subject then realized how it sounded. He backtracked almost instantly. ”I mean, ya can say no. Just want to make sure yer okay. Crazy day.” he smirked awkwardly.