It was all fixed, he promised. Goooood. Twyla released the breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. Sam had dealt with things--thank goodness. There, now she was appeased. The weird feeling was gone since there was no room for it inside her with all the flooding relief. She smiled and her grip on his arms and the pressure on the boy’s chest were both lessened. “Good.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad.” His reassurance was all she needed, she was happier in the moment now (not that it was easy to be super-duper happy with her current knowledge). At least it was taken care of--besides, there wasn’t much she could do and it was his record to live with. It could have been worse--he could still be in trouble, bigger trouble even.

Twyla rolled off of the boy and landed next to him in the grass, looking up at the sparse clouds chasing each other across the sky. “If I got in a bar fight, what would you be telling me right now?” She left off the sandwich part, it was much more epic this way. Twyla propped herself up to look at Gawain’s face when he answered, curious as to his response.

Now that both humans were on her level Angua was more interested in the pair and she trotted over to drop her partially destroyed chew toy on her owner’s chest. Pawing at him a little bit, she made her interests clear. He needed to throw it if she wasn’t allowed to play tug with him.

>>“If I got in a bar fight, what would you be telling me right now?”

Gawain's lips curled into a grin as he looked up at her. Was she serious? there was only one answer to that question.

"Well, I'd be saying 'way to go, girl'" he chuckled, scratching Angua behind the ears before he picked the chewtoy up from his chest and tossed it away across the lawn. Then he turned back to Twyla.

"Seriously, I'd say it was probably not your fault. People pick on mutants all the time, and believe me, if there was a way to talk ourselves out of the situation, we would have done it. I don't fight in sandwich bars just for kicks."

Reaching up he smoothed some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "And I also know you're careful enough to stay out of trouble. Right?"

Please say yes.

Twyla’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment when Gawain told her that he’d understand what happened--that he’d know the fight wasnt her fault because of anti-mutant sentiment. That was the reasonable response but of course she couldn’t have thought of that--her worry and everything got the best of her as usual. Freaking out and then dealing with things reasonably was so typical Twyla it was almost a cliche.

Before she could summon the appropriate form of an apology there was hair moving behind her ear and a question. “Most of the time.” She smiled, smirked, then maneuvered her way up to his cheek to kiss it again. “You don’t have to worry about me--I run away first, ask questions later.” The girl smiled down at the boy for another moment before returning to her cloud watching position.

“I’m sorry for flying off the handle...again.” Her hand found his and she squeezed it. “I just get worried, you know, because I care about you so much and all that.” Cue more blushing, this time the kind that made her toes camouflage. “It’s good that you’re okay and that everything is taken care off. I just...you getting hurt or in trouble...and....people are scary and...it wasn’t you that made me angry or whatever...I’m sorry for freaking out--it probably wasn’t your fault.” She nestled closer as she could hear the pounding of puppy paws as Angua came galumphing back to them.

>>“You don’t have to worry about me--I run away first, ask questions later.”

He was getting kissed on the cheek a lot. Gawain smirked and let her; it was nice, after all the time she'd spent in that stupid camp.

"That is a very reasonable thing to do." he agreed. No matter how worried he was about Twyla even since their dark adventure with the werewolf, he could always trust her to run away. At least.

>>“I just get worried, you know, because I care about you so much and all that.”

Whoa. Gawain turned his head to look at her. He half expected Twyla to be completely camouflaged by then. She was blushing all right.

>>“It’s good that you’re okay and that everything is taken care off. I just...you getting hurt or in trouble...and....people are scary and...it wasn’t you that made me angry or whatever...I’m sorry for freaking out--it probably wasn’t your fault.”

"It's okay" he smiled, rolling onto his side and propping himself up to look at her "I get into all kinds of mess when ya're not around. Good thing I've got people to drag me out of it."

Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips. The PDA was interrupted by Angua, who decided it was time to show her own affection towards the humans who'd been ignoring her in the past ten minutes, and ended up with her front paws on Gawain's back, licking his hair. Gawain winced and groaned.

"Remind me why the heck I got myself a hellhound..."

He said it was reasonable to run away. She didn’t agree. “No, sometimes it’s ridiculous to run away--sometimes you have to face things or they just get worse.” It all came back to being safe and being cowardly--thus far Twyla had barely learned the difference. She was getting better at sensing her own cowardice but she still had a long way to go before she’d be brave enough to handle some of the things she’d need to deal with if she ever wanted to become a full fledged X-(wo)man.

When he rolled over she smirked. “Why do you think that is? That you always get into trouble when I’m not alone, I mean.” She asked before any other words were silenced with a kiss...that ended too soon because of a puppy. Twyla frowned when he pulled away, looking like she was almost pouting for a moment. Angua was lucky she was so freaking cute.

“Um, I don’t know, chicks love dogs?” The girl laughed before sitting up and scooping up the puppy so she could hold her in her lap (or attempt to hold her, Angua wanted to lick the female human too). She giggled when the hellhound started climbing up her chest so she could get her tongue at her face. “Oh, hi puppy, yeah, kisses.” Her baby talk was back as she alternated petting the puppy and laughing. “She’s such a cutie.” And then Twyla plopped the dog on the ground near Gawain, whom she started attacking with her tongue once more. “Sorry.” Twyla said, not looking it.

>>“Um, I don’t know, chicks love dogs? She’s such a cutie.”

Gawain sat up and frowned.

"Yeeeah, I'll see how much they'll like her when she's as big as a horse." muttered. Gawain, for one, liked huge dogs; they were much less annoying than poodles, for example. But he really hoped Angua would learn to behave by the time she lost the puppy charm...

"Hey! Angua!" he protested, pushing the little pink tongue away from his face "Sorry girl, ya're not the lady I wanna be kissin' right now. There you go."

Angua finally settled down on Gawain's lap, tail drumming against the ground as she was content with her ears being scratched. The young knight sighed, and turned to Twyla with an apologetic look.

"So. How was dance camp, really?"

“There’s nothing wrong with big dogs--they’ve got the ‘I’m super duper cuddly’ angle all worked out.” Twyla winked at Angua. All of her dogs had been decently sized humane society or free puppies and by decently sized she meant not lap dogs. To Twyla, anything that stayed smaller than your typical cat was nothing more than a yipping clump of lint--especially the really really tiny ones. She would never ever own a dog that she could fit in a purse...ever. Tiny dogs weren’t real dogs, plain and simple. Her sisters didn’t agree, but that was another matter entirely.

The girl laughed a bit at the ‘not the lady I wanna be kissin’ right now’ comment and then frowned again, wondering if the puppy would be getting in the way of anymore such moments. Girl, that was an awkward thought--you’ve been gone for too long or...something. Twyla was officially weirded out by herself and was glad when the subject changed to camp.

“It was good--tiring and tense sometimes, but good. There were a ton of different girls there--lots of different ages and a few with mutations. I was the only openly mutant counselor--did I tell you that? Everyone usually treated me the same but there were moments it got weird--like I was only counselor who could deal with the mutant girls’ problems, even if they had nothing to do with their mutations. That got frustrating sometimes but I’m just glad that I could be there for the girls who needed me when they needed me for bigger things, you know? I think it was easier to talk to someone who understands exactly what’s going on with a new mutation and all that...” She trailed off, thinking of some of her late-night chats with the girls that crept into her cabin at night.

“Oh and,” Her voice picked up with some fake enthusiasm, as if she was remembering something exciting. “there was a football camp just down the road and across the lake. Everyone loved that...” She gave Gawain a smirk-y look for a moment. “except me--all anyone ever wanted to do during free time was swim and absolutely all of those boys were decidedly lamesauce compared to this one guy I know.” Twyla left it at that, it was time to give some more attention to the puppy that was at least pretending to settle down.

Gawain smiled, and the smile was equally meant for Angua, and Twyla.

"I'm sure you were a great counselor. I think every camp should have one of, you." he chuckled "Especially for the mutant kids."

Angua kept the cute and cuddly angle working, and she licked Gawain's fingers, and everything else that came close to her.

The young knight arched an eyebrow at the football camp story.

"Is someone trying to make me jealous here?" he smirked "At football players?..." he rolled his eyes in an overly theatrical manner "Try again whe ya find someone who's a hot guy and a cool girl, in one." he grinned, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.

"Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time. You deserved some fun, after all the hard schoolwork here."

“I was an okay counselor, there were other girls who actually knew what the right thing to say was all the time. I just kinda muddled my way through it and told the girls what I thought.” The girl half rolled her eyes at herself. It had been a good experience and further solidified her aspirations for becoming a full fledged X-man...it had also taught Twyla that she’d never make it as a teacher--sometimes she had a hard time finding the line between friend and disciplinarian with the kids and that had been a problem a few times. Also, dealing with twenty of them at a time was...daunting, to say the least.

Angua attempted to lick her hand when it got close enough to pet but she got distracted by the easier to get to male ones so Twyla managed to avoid getting puppy slobber all over herself as she patted and scratched the cuddly mass of fur.

“No, I’m trying to let you know how incredibly awesome you are--I was surrounded by a bunch of mildly to decidedly attractive guys and all I could think about was you.” The last six words were said in a fake gooey accent even thought she was totally serious. The cheek kiss was accepted with a soft smile--it was legit since he hadn’t just told her that he’d been arrested while she was gone.

“It was pretty good...I actually got a decent tan and muscles I thought I lost came back.” She laughed and pulled up the bottom of her tank top a bit to admire the lack of burn on her stomach and the slight tone that had been almost non-existent at the beginning of the summer. “I would have rather been here though, you know?” All the vowels were making her accent stick through. “This is home now and I was getting homesick.” Twyla leaned back on her arms and looked at the brick building for a long moment before throwing a smile Gawain’s way. “Speaking of school--I feel like something fun needs to be done before it starts up again. Not that the dance wasn’t fun...but I mean something summery--I just don’t know what.” A giggle and then a thoughtful expression covered the girl’s features.

>>“No, I’m trying to let you know how incredibly awesome you are--I was surrounded by a bunch of mildly to decidedly attractive guys and all I could think about was you.”

Gawain grinned proudly at that; it was a big compliment, especially from a girlfriend who had been pissed at him not a full ten minutes before. The camp really had a great effect on her - she'd admitted more about her feelings towards him in this one converstaion than she did altogether before.

>>“It was pretty good...I actually got a decent tan and muscles I thought I lost came back.”

There, that's exactly what I was talkin' about.

Gawain arched an eyebrow as she flashed her stomach, and tried to keep the stream of thoughts that followed in check. She really did look good. Dance camp, the young knight decided, should be mandatory for everyone. Or at least, Twyla. Strictly only once a year.

>>“This is home now and I was getting homesick. Speaking of school--I feel like something fun needs to be done before it starts up again. Not that the dance wasn’t fun...but I mean something summery--I just don’t know what.”

"It's good to have you back." he agreed with a smile "And yeah, we should enjoy what's left of the summer. Maybe we could, dunno, gather our friends and go on a trip or something?" he mused. That actually sounded like a lot of fun. Go to the beach, and the like.

"Also, did you realize we've never been on a proper date before?" he asked her with a grin. Angua wiggled out of his grasp; he tossed the spider away and the puppy skittered after it. Gawain lay back on the grass, looking at the clouds with a smile. "One of these days I'm gonna ask you out."

A trip with friends? Now that was an idea. A very summery idea indeed if they went to the right place like a campground or the ocean. Twyla wouldn’t be opposed to either option or a different one entirely but she did so looove the beach from her brief encounters with it. The sand, the ocean, the hot--what wasn’t to looove? “That’s perfect...we’ll just have to figure out where to go.” She twisted up and smiled at the boy before returning to her lounging position.

Proper date? Oh, they really hadn’t. Twyla thought about all the times they’d hung out alone--the club, the snowball fight, her (blush blush blush) room, the library, various functions that required dancing...none of that was a proper date, technically. “I just realized that now, actually. Huh...” The girl had no idea what that meant about their relationship or if it meant anything other than they were both just busy people with different agendas that ate up all the free time they could be spending with each other alone.

“Well,” She propped herself up a bit so she could scoot on her butt to the side. “thanks for warning me,now I have time to worry about important things. What ever shall I do with my hair!?” Her voice got girly and she mimicked the southern accent she’d grown accustomed to while at camp. With some wiggling she managed to get herself in a position where she could rest her head on Gawain’s chest. After grabbing one of his hands to examine she asked: “Is it weird that we haven’t gone on an actual date before or are we still legit?”

Gawain laughed at Twyla's sudden mock panic about the date issue. Most girls would have seriously reacted like that, and he was glad Twyla was not one of them. With all the gender shifting, haunted houses and winter snowfights they were past the point when one goes into panic attacks before going out to a dinner.

"Damn right we are legit" he smiled, kissing the top of her head "But that won't stop me from takin' you out. Whenever I can think of somethin' that's more fun than a haunted house and at least as fun as a snowball fight." he grinned "And maybe I'll just ambush you in the middle of the night and take you out without warning, so you don' have to worry about your hair."

Angua returned, spider sqeaking loudly, and lay down next to them in the grass.

“Good.” She smiled when she saw Gawain’s smile before he kissed her forehead. Twyla hadn’t been particularly worried about not being real or whatever but she wanted a second opinion on the matter. Maybe both parties were a little biased but did she particularity care? Nope. Not at all. Sure, some of the things that they’d done thus far in their relationship were unconventional but she figured they weren’t your conventional people anyway--what was normal for them (training, fights with evil thingys, concussions, worry, planning for all nighters...) wasn’t necessarily what other couples dealt with and the blond was fine with that since she was happy...and it’s not like she had anything normal to compare them to.

“Almost anything is more fun than a haunted house.” Twyla laughed a bit and then pushed her mind to a lighter place...they were the only good thing to come out of the twins’ home. “I miss snow...” She murmured dreamily. Summer was great but nothing could compare to fluffy white glitter covering everything.

Something that sounded almost like a startled snort came from the girl when the boy suggested that he was just going to ambush her in the middle of the night and take her out. It would have been funny if she didn’t know that the Morris kid would totally do something like that. “I hear bedhead is in.” A laugh was allowed to escape but Twyla hoped that if ever that day, er, night came that she wasn’t wearing anything embarrassing to bed and that her hair wasn’t too much of a mess. A mental note was made to take special care of herself around bedtime.

The hand she’d been looking at had been momentarily forgotten while she spoke and she lifted it again with renewed interest--you could always tell so much about a person by their hands.

"Yeah, snow's great" Gawain murmured, closing his eyes "Even though ya can't lie around in the snow like this. Not without freezin' your everythin' off..."

Twyla giggled about his promise to sweep her up at night, and the giggle suddenly made him want to actually do it. It would be quite the adventure. Very much Peter Pan - like, but decidedly fun. He stored the idea for later.

The sunshine and the peaceful summer morning was making him all drowsy; he used one arm to pull Twyla closer, why she was occupied with his hand. Gawain's hand showed signs of his training sessions and his habit of climbing up trees and everything else that can be climbed; the three fingers in the middle had a red line across them, the mark of the bowstring. He let her play around for a while before he weaved his fingers into hers, and sighed.

"Imma fall asleep like this." he murmured, with his eyes still closed. Angua huffed, and rested her head on his knee.

Some people’s hands were too blank but Gawain’s hands didn’t leave her wanting. They were a bit callused and there were obvious string marks in a few of his fingers. It was a nice hand, a real hand, not too unblemished--it showed that he actually did things as opposed to sitting around. Decidedly Twyla approved, He pulled her closer and she let him, moving herself with him so that her head was somewhere between his shoulder and chest. She examined his hand until he wiggled it from her grasp to weave their fingers together.

His breath tickled her ear when he sighed and she yawned despite herself. “No, don’t say that--you’ll make me...” Another yawn. “sleepy too.” The girl wiggled until she found a more comfortable spot cuddled against him. It was nice, and comfy, and warm, and there was a summer breeze brushing across her feet and bare legs.

It seemed that as she got older Twyla gained the ability not only to camouflage her body but to sleep in random places--like the lawn outside her school. She tried her best not to close her eyes and to keep watching the clouds...but...it was hard not to and soon Twyla Ashby was asleep, curled up next to Gawain in the grass.