“Ah, so I have been playing into your devious plot all...” A shiver as her hair was tucked behind her ear that she wasn’t sure was from being cold rocked through Twyla. “..along.” The girl added a second later as a blush barely visible through the cold flush on her face burned through her frozen cheeks. Right... The girl blinked a few times and then suddenly she was sitting up again and soon from her sitting position she was standing.

“It really is much too cold for cloud watching...” Twyla explained away her sudden altitude. “I’m only going to help you up if you promise that now we can go inside and get warm–no funny business.” Her grin was only the ghost of what it normally would be and her eyes were somewhere far away, lost in the whirlwind of sudden emotion stirred by something innocent. The hand she extended was half the distance between herself and where it needed to be for Maya to grasp it–she wanted the promise of safety first after all.

Well isn’t this just a...fun something or other? The logic based center of her brain was laughing at the excited part of her psyche. Something. Something. Something. It was always something. Something excited, confused, weirded out, happy, sad and unbelieving at the same time was crawling inside her stomach. It made her want to run, dance, hide, and make out with someone all at the same time. None of these things were very appropriate, so the girl forced herself out of her head and back into the cold winter air.

The grin became more heartfelt and Twyla stuck her tongue out at the girl, waiting for a response. I am really lucky her mutation doesn’t give her telepathic abilities...That would make life SO much more complicated...

>>“Ah, so I have been playing into your devious plot all... along.”

Oops. Neither the shiver nor the blush went unnoticed, and Maya wondered if she'd done anything too bad or too good. Bad was more likely, because in the next minute Bubblegum was on her feet, complaining about the cold, and she had to agree, the girl had a point.

>>“I’m only going to help you up if you promise that now we can go inside and get warm–no funny business.”

"No funny business." Maya nodded with a serious face, although the Gawain part of her brain kept sorting through images and ideas connected to 'getting warm', and some age-old techniques against freezing that had 'body heat' in them. Maya shook her head to clear it, and returned Bubblegum's friendly gesture (sticking out her tongue) before she was pulled to her feet.

"All right, let's go get warm." she grinned, linking one soaked glove into another, and pulling Twyla back to the Mansion through the snow. "Have you had breakfast yet?..."

'No funny business' was promised and Twyla helped Maya off the ground. Soon they were walking across the grounds towards the Mansion, gloves linked. "Yeah, but I think I could go for some coffee or something." This question and answer got them to the door and soon Twyla was bathed in the heat from the building. Warmth, glorious warmth. When she made it into door, the blond immediately kicked off her boots and began the long stripping process.

A few minutes and four layers later...

Once her coat, jacket, sweatshirt, and thermal along with her snow bibs, boots, sweatpants, and thermal socks Twyla was standing in the foyer next to a sopping pile of her clothing wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a tank top. "It is really cold by this door." She hugged herself and carefully scooped up as much of the wet pile as she could. "I'm gonna find a place to stash this so it can dry." The girl didn't wait for a response from her friend, she just scuttled down the hallway barefoot. I am not running away. She told herself firmly as she found an empty hallway that had a vent that looked promising for her purposes. The articles of clothing were soon arranged around the warm vent in a way that they weren't blocking the hallway but they'd still get dry. But what is it that I'm not running away from? This thought caused the girl to pause on her way back for a second armful of sopping pants.

Something all too familiar was bouncing happily in her stomach upon seeing the other girl, which she ignored (along with Maya) as she took the rest of her pile to another vent in the same hallway. When she came back she had control of herself again and she stood in the foyer with a natural smile on her face.


((let me know if this doesn't work ))

The strip act was definitely a bonus. Even though it was not meant like one. Maya stopped halfway through taking off her jacket, and stared, half amused and half butterflied, wondering how many layers would come off unnoticed before she got punched in the face.

>>"I'm gonna find a place to stash this so it can dry."

Everyone has their own way of dealing with awkward situations. For Twyla it was running away and hanging stuff out to dry; for Maya it was wriggling out of her own soaked layers of winter outfit until she was down to tank top and pants. Glancing down at the pile of clothes she considered her options for a moment; kicking it out of the way and leaving it there really felt tempting. After some hesitation she gave up with a sigh and grabbed the pile, just to dump it half a minute later in her own room. Almost as an afterthought she grabbed two clean towels before going back into the mirror, and returning to the corridor where Bubblegum was still busy arranging her wardrobe in decorative patterns around the vents.

Leaning against the wall a few steps away Maya smiled to herself as she dried her hair with one of the towels. When she saw Twyla approach, she tossed the other one at her. "Catch. Your hair's drippin' snow."
Onto your tank top, not that I mind.

"C'mon Bubblegum, I think we deserve to drink somethin' hot."

Which, of course, would be found in the kitchen. Maya knew where to find the chocolate, she'd been rummaging around in the cupboards ever since she moved into the Mansion.

A slight scream emanated from the girl as something was thrown at her. A second before the scream became full blown she realized it was a towel and the squeaking noise stopped immediately. “Thanks.” Twyla recovered from the towel shock and smiled as she roughly rubbed her soaked hair, causing what wasn’t curled to become wavy and slightly frizzy. Deciding it would be best to keep the towel around her hair for a while, the girl bent over and wrapped it turban style around her head and the wet locks. It didn’t really matter if she looked ridiculous, there weren’t many Mansion kids up yet and even if some were...there were few people at the Mansion that Twyla cared for their opinion.

“Indubitably.” She replied, rolling her eyes at the highly inappropriate word choice. It was fun, throwing a funny word out like it worked in a normal situation. Not that a half fight half date with a girl who was sometimes a boy was normal...Normal for mutant teenagers maybe...or a normal situation for Twyla Ashby.

In her bare feet Twyla skipped down the hall towards the kitchen, stopping only to laugh and readjust the towel on her head. When she made it into the kitchen she turned around and leaned with her back against the counter, finally looking back at Maya. “So now the question is: What kind of hot drinks do we deserve?”

>>“So now the question is: What kind of hot drinks do we deserve?”

Maya grinned at Bubbegum, she did look funny with all the blonde and pink everywhere. The fact that her short hair was a mess, sticking out in every possible direction, did not matter. She was the Mirror, not the one looking at it.

"Well, Bubblegum, to tell the truth, I am not sure if ya deserve anythin'. Y'see, usin' powers in a snow ball fight in some cultures is considered cheatin'."

With that, Maya climbed up onto the counter to reach the upper shelves of the cupboard, fishing around for the chocolate. She was not sure why the heck they needed to keep it that high, but it probably had to do something with a number of kids running around in the school, and the effects of a sugar rush on mutant minors.

"I, on the other hand" she grinned, finally finding what she'd been looking for "Deserve hot chocolate."

Because that's the only hot thing in this room that I do deserve.

Slipping off the counter with a triumphant look on her face, she nodded. "Now all we need is some milk..."

Milk was much easier to locate, and there was plenty of it. It looked like they managed to get to the magically refilling fridge before the morning rush of mansion students.

A few minutes later the scent of hot chocolate started to fill the kitchen.

Cheating? Twyla stood up and cocked her hip, her right hand resting on the jutting ledge. "I like to think of it as using my 'natural gifts'." She smirked and watched Maya reach up in the cupboards to find something--Twyla assumed ingredients for hot chocolate. She was proved right when the other girl not only turned around with chocolate in her hand but said she said that she deserved the drink. When she made her way over to the fridge Twyla noted Maya's hair, it was sticking up all around her head in differing states of drying. The image made her smile--Maya looked kinda like a duck.

As the other girl prepared her deserved hot chocolate the blond near the counter pulled the towel from her hair and began to braid it into twin pigtails on either side of her head. She didn't have any hair ties with her (having lost her only one earlier that morning in the snow) so the ends were left free and jagged. Wet, her hair came to about her shoulders and some of the moisture from the braids steadily dripped onto her blue tank top, making dark blue circles on her shoulders that were ignored. When this was done she had nothing to distract herself with and soon the butterflies she'd been so good at suppressing a few moments ago were jumping around again. "What is up with me..?" She muttered, not realizing aloud, as she patted her stomach as if that would quell the anxious feelings.

Hot chocolate smells really good when you've been running around in the snow and Twyla was not immune to the smell. Moving closer to Maya she asked in the nicest voice she could summon: "If I say I'm really sorry for...'cheating' can I deserve hot chocolate too?" She put her hands behind her back and smiled that was half shy and have smirk. A second later she laughed, ruining the effect, because she was unable to keep up the silly facade.

>>"What is up with me..?"

Maya glanced at Twyla while preparing the chocolate, and arched an eyebrow. "Dunno, Bubblegum. What is up with you?..."

>>"If I say I'm really sorry for...'cheating' can I deserve hot chocolate too?"

Oooh, there were the puppy dog eyes again. Maya smirked as she poured two mugs of chocolate an set them down on the counter before turning around and leaning against it. Now she was standing between Bubblegum and whatever she did or did not deserve.
She hated to admit it, but the puppy dog eyes did work. A bit.

"Maaaybe." she smirked, tilting her head "I don't know if I can trust you or not. But since the chocolate's already there, so..." she shrugged and was silent for a moment before a wicked smile lit up her eyes "... what do ya have to offer?"

Thinking something in the safety of your mind and thinking something aloud are two totally different things. A slight blush at the question in response to her question flashed across her face and she replied a bit too quickly: "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Liar. Things were not going according to Plan. Plan stated that Twyla would hang out with Maya, realize things would not work out between them and then let Maya/Gawain down easy--which she would be able to do because they'd promised to each other that things wouldn't get weird. Plan was very unhappy with the sudden butterflies. Butterflies did not make for good letting down. Butterflies meant Something Else entirely. Something Else that made things more complicated...at least to a point.

Inside Twyla's head Plan was having a fit: 'Curses! Foiled again by Emotion!' It raged about as it tried to pick up the pieces of itself broken by that fickle child Emotion.

When Maya stood in front of the mugs of hot chocolate and asked her what 'she had to offer' two thoughts crossed her mind. Um...? and Well... She didn't finish the first thought, and was embarrassed to even attempt finishing the second one.Ohmygod, you have problems.

"Um...how about I offer you victory on the snowy field today? I'll admit it that you won and everything..." She smiled at Maya but her eyes were strangely shy. She was scared of herself at the moment and a little scared of the girl in front of her.

La la la la la la la la... It took quite a bit of concentration to focus on something else. It was weird, Twyla had never had a real 'crush' before--was that was this was? It seemed like it...it also smelled suspiciously like that 'crush' didn't go away on a daily basis. LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA...

>>"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Yeah, right. Maya shrugged, and left it at that; whatever Bubblegum was muttring about was her own business, and Maya knew better than to start imagining things, like the stupid idea that the thoughts that were distracting Twyla had anything to do with her. Or him. Yeah, as if.

>>"Um...how about I offer you victory on the snowy field today? I'll admit it that you won and everything..."

The sentence was playful, but the smile was shy. What the heck. Maya's hands moved on their own to end the game and hand one of the mugs over to her; she looked almost like a lost puppy. Twyla had that shyness to herself that she managed to camouflage with some pink and a smile. Most of the time.
Then again, the offer was a chance that was just asking for a different answer.
Instead of handing over the mug, Maya's hands stopped halfway, resting on her hips, mirroring Bubblegum's stance from just minutes before. She took a step closer. Staying between chocolate and Bubblegum, just in case the puppy dog act was just an act.

"Depends" she shrugged, the corners of her lips curling up into a smile "What did I win?..."

Well... When Maya took a step closer and smiled at her Twyla’s brain went spinning in two different directions. One was a new part of her brain that was apparently a bit more...outgoing than the blond usually was and the other was the rest of her, which was freaking out at the new part. The rest of her won the internal struggle although the new part was smug when her voice came out a bit breathy. “...The snowball fight, duh...” Twyla rolled her eyes, gave a small laugh and leaned across Maya to reach for the mug of hot chocolate. The shy eyes were back, and this time her smile was just as hesitant and nervous as them.

I need to call Nate... Because that was not running away from her...confusion. That was just asking for council. Advice was legitimate...even if she’d already gotten that advice.

“...this Morris kid, heshe is your best friend for a reason. There’s a reason that you clicked right away. Now wether that’s because you were meant to be amazing friends or...something else, that can only be determined one way–you gotta jump.”

Thank you Nate for your simple logic that doesn’t sit well with your younger sister’s tendency to over think things. Finally finding something in his words to question she mulled over the implications of the word ‘jump’. Did he mean jumping as in exploring the new part of her that had all these strange thoughts about Maya and Gawain or did he mean jumping as in being willing to talk about things? She’d figure that out and then...and then maybe she’d jump...or talk to Nate.

Flighty.As.A.Deer.

>>“...The snowball fight, duh...”

Something was going on, Maya had no idea what, and it was annoying the heck out of her. What's the use of being a girl half of your time when you can't even begin to understand the female mind?... Twyla was really good at avoiding... whatever she was avoiding, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.
Also. Reaching around her to get to the chocolate, she was in her personal space. Again. She seemed to spend a lot of time there lately. She might as well just bring her toothbrush and move in.
But since she was already there...
The Trickster wanted to know how far she can push it before... whatever happens. It could be a slap. Or maybe a kick. But the game was fun, and she was willing to take the risk.

"Uh-uh" she chuckled, catching Bubblegum's hand before it reached the mugs on the counter "Not good enough." Looking down at the other girl, she tilted her head and whispered, as if sharing a secret "Ya're blushing, y'know."

The internal debate was quickly silenced when Maya caught her sneaking hand and whispered something to her. Part of her really wanted to reply with something kinda flirty back, just to see what the butterflies would do then. Another part of her wanted to back out of the kitchen and lock herself in her room for the rest of the day. And then the realization struck her: jumping meant something similar to a Nike slogan: just do it. Duh. It was simple, easy even. If you want something you go for it. Easy.

Or not.

What if you didn't know if what you wanted was what you really wanted? That was the issue. Giving Maya the reply that she wanted to meant admitting to a whole bunch of stuff she wasn't sure she was ready to admit to. What's a girl to do?

Apparently what a Twyla-girl was to do was to jump (in her hesitant, shy way) because before she thought it through, the blond was looking up at the other girl through her lashes and saying: "I know. I do that a lot." in a whisper that matched Maya's tone. She didn't pull away or walk out of the kitchen or any of the things part of her wanted to do. Her blush increased when she added:"Especially when I'm nervous."

All thoughts were silenced, all Twyla could hear inside her head was the pounding of her heart.

>>"I know. I do that a lot. Especially when I'm nervous."

Nervous. Yeah. Maya could relate to that. One part of her brain was wondering why they couldn't just have a nice simple morning with some breakfast and hot chocolate. This whole situation was starting to get dangerously familiar. One would think one would learn, and not make the same mistake twice in a row. One doesn't realize how tempting it can get to do so.
Hormones are a powerful, powerful thing.

Her free hand lifted itslef all on its own to Twyla's face, brushing her thumb lightly across her cheek. It was like polishing an apple, the blush got deeper red with every touch.
Maya wondered whose heart was drumming so damn loud.

Ya're makin' a mistake here, gal.
F***, ya're makin' the same friggin' mistake all over again.

"Nervous about what?" she asked, tilting her head to see Bubblegum's eyes. The whisper was barely audible at the end "Would it really be so bad...?"

It was like the game Twyla used to play in Middle School: 'Are you nervous yet?'. It involved putting your hand higher and higher on someone else's leg until they twitched, pulled away, or made a noise. Twyla had been terrible at this game--she always giggled as soon as someone touched her knee. She didn't giggle this time when Maya's hand went to her cheek but her heart did start beating faster (if that was possible) and more blush flooded her cheeks.

Nervous yet?

Yes, yes she was. Cue giggle and twitching away.

Or not. There are other options... "This..." 5 4 3 2 1 Jump. Twyla ignored the other girl's second question, just moved up on her tipe-toes to plant her lips hesitantly on Maya's. The butterflies exploded like they had when she kissed Gawain. This was new. Initiating a kiss was new and Twyla had no idea what she was doing. In response to this her blush intensified and her hand that was tangled in Maya's was dangling awkwardly at her side, unsure of where it was supposed to go this time.

She was kissing a girl. Twyla Ashby was kissing a girl. Twyla Ashby had initiated a kiss with a girl. Normally her head would be spinning with this thought but it was focused on a single question: What am I doing?