>>"Yeah, sure. We can play it cool."

His next smile, even though it was brief, was more natural this time. Ami was being Ami again - whatever was thrown her way she could take it without missing a beat. He knew it was going to be awkward, and he knew that she knew, but for some reason, he was glad he got the chance to warn her up front.

Walking back up the stairs to the front door, Gawain stopped. Twyla was smiling in an almost amused way which made him cringe; shy, confused, shocked, anything would have been better than seeing her smile for the first time at Ami and him. Ugh.

"Umm, Ami, this is Twyla. She used to live here and is moving back in. Twyla, this is my girlfriend Ami. She is a mutant too, but she doesn't live in the school."

Now just to step back and let the women handle the rest.

The girl looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary.

The bike's kickstand went down and the bike leaned as the girl changed positions. Amelia extended a friendly hand.

She could be nice to the ex-girlfriend (who had squashed her boyfriend's soul). Look, hand shaking! And the girl had once been important to him, so she was probably an okay person, to boot.

"Nice to meet you, Twyla." She said. And returned the smile. Then she added "Sounds like we've got a lot in common" with the tiniest of smirks.

I have issues. This was not a new idea to Twyla but she thought it needed to be reinforced. She didn’t think she was responding to the change in events in the correct manner. Was it appropriate to be obscenely happy that your ex had a new girlfriend? Yes/no/maybe/dear-God-what-is-wrong-with-you? This was the blonde’s only experiences with an ex-boyfriend so she really had no baseline to compare it to. He introduced the girl as ‘my girlfriend Ami’ and a weird bubble of relief and happiness popped inside of the girl, relaxing her shoulders and softening the smirk to a more usual-Twyla smile. She’d been right about the attachment level. It was cute.

Brown eyes quickly gave Ami the up-down. Yep, she was pretty and didn’t seem likely to attack Twyla in some kind of girlfriend-meets-ex-girlfriend-rage (was that to be expected?) so the twenty year old decided that her first impression of the shorter girl was a positive one.

This was good. However badly she’d decimated Gawain he’d managed to move on. There was hope that she herself could fully change, remake her life in New York into something new and balanced. Twyla wondered if she was supposed to feel jealous at all. A tiny part of her felt a pang of something green but it was quickly silenced by the rest of her. Sure, it always hurt to see your position change in someone’s life but that was part of the deal—it was better for both of them this way. Besides, she’d forced that change in status a long time ago; it was all her doing. She had no claim to the gender-shifting mirror-walker and she knew it. Meeting Ami was awkward but necessary. Maybe the universe wanted to get everything Important out of the way as soon as possible?

There were a couple of ways that the Trio of Awkward could play this and Twyla chose to direct it into an amicable route. If either of them weren’t comfortable with that she’d roll with the mood shift. The young woman couldn’t help it if it felt good to her to see Gawain and Ami together. Her hand shot out to meet the extended one. The shake Twyla gave the brunette was warm. She beamed at her, ignoring any hesitance she probably should have felt. “It’s good to meet you, Ami.” The tone she used was honest and her gaze was direct. She looked less in that moment like her old self than she had in a long time. This was Calm Twyla, the updated version of the shy girl.

”Sounds like we’ve got a lot in common.” The little smirk wasn’t missed. Twyla responded with a hesitant one of her own. Discomfort trickled back into her mood. Was she allowed to return the joke? Was it weird or rude to do so? Eh, so far she was pretty sure that her response to the situation couldn’t get any more inappropriate—maybe this would break some ice? She glanced at Gawain, then back to Ami. “I guess we do.” An awkward pause. “So, what’s a girl got to do to get a new bedroom around here?” She’d meant for her tone to be more easy-going but it sounded a bit flat, even to Twyla.

>>"Nice to meet you, Twyla. Sounds like we've got a lot in common"

Gawain tried to come up with a friendly smile and then decided against it. Way too awkward. The only thing they had in common was... well, him. He sure hoped they were not going to go into friendly girl-talk over that one. Ugh.

>>“It’s good to meet you, Ami. I guess we do. So, what’s a girl got to do to get a new bedroom around here?”

So, they were not killing each other. Yet. Good. As intriguing as a girl fight could get, Gawain would have been seriously worried for the safety of everyone involved. He cleared his throat again, no need to make the awkward last longer.

"Let's go to the office, I'll check you in, and look up a free room for you."

He waited for a moment, giving Ami a way out; if she did not want to tag along for this, she could just wander to another part of the school.

"I need to stash my bike in your office again, anyways. I'll tag along." Amelia stated.

The kickstand went up. Her hands were on the handlebars, ready to wheel.

Since the girl had lived at the mansion before, she doubted tours were required. That left being Gawain's backup and making small talk. Could probably help diffuse the awkwardness she sensed all around him.

"So, what're you into, Twyla?" She asked as they started moving. "Books, movies, sports?" Lovely weather we're having, too.

Gawain said they’d go to the office to get her settled in. “Sounds good to me. Thanks so much for this.” Twyla’s tone was vague but chipper. The sooner she could get out of this situation the better. She had nothing against either of her companions but some time to compose herself before meeting them again would not have been turned down. This whole coming back thing was like a surreal ambush of the emotional kind. Twyla needed tome to process in a bad way.

The young man’s girlfriend was going with them? Fine by Twyla. Secretly she was a little curious about the other girl—she wasn’t sure how many other people would have played meeting the ex as cool as Ami had. The blonde didn’t know any better but she was getting pretty calm vibes from the short brunette. Spending some more time with her (it’s not like she could get away from the Morris kid yet anyway) would be good for forming a more learned opinion.
"So, what're you into, Twyla?" Small talk. Yum. Twyla could do small talk; in fact, she could even do it while pretending that she wasn’t still uncomfortable. Oh yeah, she was going to be the master of blabber to fill the silent spaces in the little group. A pondering look came across the twenty year old’s face as she tried to decide how best to answer a vague ‘getting-to-know-you’ question. They crossed the foyer and headed towards the office area of the first floor.

“I’m into a few things I guess—most kinds of books, dance…” I like to travel. But she couldn’t say what she was thinking, the connotations of that phrase hit too close to some squishy places. Her tone brightened a bit as she added: “I’ve got my CNA license now, so if either of you know of anyone looking for a nursing assistant, heh.” She shook her head and shrugged. A laugh crept into her voice. “I sound really lame, I’m sorry.” Brown eyes rolled in her head. Pretending wasn’t so hard since she’d never met Ami before. All Twyla had to do was ignore the circumstances of their meeting and she was golden.

Uh. “What about you, Ami? So you don’t live at the Mansion?” She looked at the girl as she asked this, polite curiosity mixing with the smile on her face. Eyes flicked to Gawain. She was dying to ask how they met but…that seemed wrong or Off Limits so early in the ball game. Maybe she’d wait a few innings and try her luck later.

>>"So, what're you into, Twyla? Books, movies, sports?"

Okay, so Ami was taking this a lot more easily than him, which was not at all surprising. Even though Gawain was playing cool, Twyla's presence still had a strong effect on him. It was too unexpected to completely brush off. He found himself biting his lips. Gah.

>>“I’m into a few things I guess—most kinds of books, dance… I’ve got my CNA license now, so if either of you know of anyone looking for a nursing assistant, heh. I sound really lame, I’m sorry.”

"You could talk to DocProf about that" he suggested, just to join the conversation; he would have hated to leave Ami alone in it, no matter how awkward it was. "He would probably be glad for the help, I haven't seen the usual suspects around lately."

And it would give Twyla something to do. That thought just raised a whole series of memories of Twyla tending to his various wounds and injuries, and Gawain was suddenly glad he was a step ahead of the girls as they climbed the stairs.

>>"What about you, Ami? So you don’t live at the Mansion?”

Again, Ami took over. Girls could pretend much better than boys, even though Gawain was not entirely sure Maya would handle this any better. When they finally got to the office he opened the door, and busien himself with rustling around on the dest for paperwork.

Books. A topic Amelia approved of. Also, dance. She took note as they went, wheeling along. The girl could be a nurse, too. Amelia's eyes settled on Gawain's back approvingly. This girl had been a good catch for his first romance. Of course, she herself was WAY better, but... her eyes returned to Twyla and she chimed in after Gawain. "You don't sound lame, by the way. Nursing is a really cool field. One of my friends at school has a dad who's a doctor. I might be able to get you some contacts."

She could wrangle something up.

On the topic of her. It was Amelia's turn to share. "Nope," she said. "I live with my parents. Go to a different school, too. I really only come here to hang out. As for interests... let's see." She considered. "Books. Soccer. Basketball. I'm thinking about a career in forensic sciences or law enforcement. Maybe with the FBI."

Twyla hadn’t really considered getting a job at the Mansion—she’d have to make a note to talk to DocProf like Gawain suggested. Maybe she could get something part-time at the school, be on call or something, and then get something out in the city at a nursing home or hospital. The plan was to work all summer and then cut back on hours and start school at NYU for Fall term. If she was lucky she’d be able to make it into the school of nursing there in a year or so and have her RN degree by the time she was twenty five. Twyla had enjoyed her job at home before things fell apart and she really wanted to make a long-term career out of nursing.

The young woman ignored any and all thoughts concerning delaying a certain someone from visiting the school infirmary. She shut them out. This was neither the time nor the place and especially not the company.

“I hadn’t really thought of that, I’ll talk to him. I’ve got some experience from back in Wisconsin but not very much with kids.” Her tone was honest as she wondered what he’d say. Ami offered to get her in contact with someone she knew. Twyla had to admit that she was surprised—with circumstances the way they were and all that…It was a nice surprise though, especially because she’d pretty much been joking about the job thing anyway. “Don’t go out of your way but, that would be really great.” Some of the surprise crept into the blonde’s voice and she looked at the other girl curiously. Puzzle pieces started to fit together to form a picture of the brunette.

It was nice to see a teenaged mutant that actually lived at home. It seemed so rare to the blonde—then again her bias was created by her experiences. Sometimes she wondered how different her life would have turned out if she’d just told her parents that she was a mutant the moment that she found out but life wasn’t about what-ifs, it was about what-nows. Twyla didn’t really know much about soccer as her high school had been too small to support a team and she lived in a football oriented community but she did know that she was pretty awful at basketball. One of Twyla’s older sisters had been in basketball but beyond that she didn’t have much experience. Books however, were a very good place to start with common ground. Twyla wasn’t sure what the appropriate relationship between a current and former girlfriend of the same person was, but it was nice to know that they had an interest in common besides…her eyes glanced at Gawain’s back as he looked through paperwork.

The FBI? An eyebrow rose. That was cool, decidedly cool even. “Wow, that’s really cool. So why the FBI?” Genuine interest. It took a certain type of person to go into public service jobs like law enforcement and education and the medical field. Twyla decided in that moment that she officially liked Ami, so long as she ignored the awkwardness of their meeting. She seemed like the right kind of person and like she’d be good for Gawain. Speaking of the Mansion greeter…“Er, got any career plans, Gawain? Looking at college or anything?” Smalltalk…and curiosity.

Ami was making the most of all this, and Gawain felt a pang of pride through all the awkward. When your big ex meets your new girlfriend, the only thing you can hope for is that neither thinks the other is lame. Of course there was no way of telling that just now, girls were terribly good at pretending to like each other. He just knew both well enough to hope that was not the case.

In the meantime, small talk.

>>“I hadn’t really thought of that, I’ll talk to him. I’ve got some experience from back in Wisconsin but not very much with kids. Don’t go out of your way but, that would be really great.”

"We'll see" he nodded, clicking away at the computer "I know Doc would be thrilled to see you again."

Old man deserved some help. And he knew Twyla would be good with kids. Did not mention it though. They did not need that level of awkward.

He let the girls talk as the pulled up information on Twyla, and only looked up when a question was directed at him.

>>“Er, got any career plans, Gawain? Looking at college or anything?”

"Ah, um" he shrugged "No college, not really. I'm a full X-man now, and a team leader" he added, with another pang of pride, but no bragging "That takes up a lot of time with all the new people comin' in."

>>“Don’t go out of your way but, that would be really great.”

Amelia smiled honestly. "It'd be no problem." She said.

Because, really, there wasn't any problems with helping a friend of a friend out. Even if said friend was your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. She expected the girl would do the same for Gawain.

Twyla was surprised, and highly impressed, at her intent to join the FBI. She wasn't sure if she'd ever told Gawain that, truthfully. He must've really been reeling from seeing Twyla, since he hadn't reacted with surprise. But then again, he knew her. He knew she was a surprise a minute. He could only smirk so much before his face got tired.

"My old babysitter, Miri. She's a family friend. I sort of looked up to her when I was a kid. She's in the FBI. I guess I've always just felt drawn to it. Plus, if I got into investigative sciences, I could be pretty good there... and my brother's always shoveling mystery novels and TV shows down my throat." Amelia smiled wryly.

Twyla turned the conversation back to Gawain, and Ami blinked. Then, she got mad. She chuckled, smiling, laughing it off. "That's funny," she said. "Acting like you've even got a choice to not go to college. I'm going to make you." She crossed her arms. The bike was leaned against the wall, safe and away now, so she totally could give him to most serious arms-crossed look on the planet. With a 'don't-dare-argue-this' smile.