"Hey, it's Ami. Meet me in the Danger Room in thirty."

She hung up.

Thirty minutes later in the danger room, she checked her watch.

Man, this was going to be an awkward talk. So she checked her watch again and was glad she'd scheduled it for somewhere they were unlikely to be disturbed.

Once more, she checked that watch. "Late."

>>"Hey, it's Ami. Meet me in the Danger Room in thirty."

Gawain did not even ask how she made it into the Danger Room before he could roll out of bed (shut up! late night! one cannot simply expect him to go to sleep after all that happened). He also had no idea if she was there for training, or talking, or simply just to kick the crap out of him. Prepared for all the options he walked in thirty-two minutes later, carrying his training gear that he promptly dropped to the floor once the door was closed behind him.

Smiling, he walked over to Ami.

"Hey. What's up?..."

"Sorry," she said frankly. "About last night. That was messed up."

And the awkward ride home with Kealey hadn't been any better. Apparently, they were cool. She understood. But... Amelia hated herself for having put Kealey in that position. Where she'd had to be the adult, not just the friend.

He'd brought gear. Funny. She supposed maybe they could train too, if he wanted. She had been training on her own. Hadn't shown any of it to him, either. Could be fun.

>>"Sorry. About last night. That was messed up."

He sighed and pulled on the front of her shirt, tugging her closer to plant a kiss on her forehead. "'tis okay nothing to be sorry about. I'm sorry I got carried away."

Sure, Kealey showing up was not ideal, but a little embarrassement has never killed anyone. A few more days and they will be laughing about the whole thing. Maybe even Kealey will.

Damn. Forehead kiss. She couldn't be all apologetic if she was blushing. But she could sure try.

"Still. That sucked."

And she hadn't even got to hear the answer to her question...

"If anyone got carried away..." She trailed. She let him fill in blanks.

>>"Still. That sucked. If anyone got carried away..."

Gawain tilted his head to look at her, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She was cute when she was blushing. The blush also filled in the blanks. Gawain chuckled and kissed her on the nose.

"Hey, gimme some credit, I might be a guy but I ain't that dumb." he grinned at her, brushing her cheek with a thumb "In case you were wondering, yes, I'm prepared. With that said, you are still the boss. You know that."

Ami was always the boss. Even on Maya days.

"Oh."

More blushing.

So he just carried that around all the time? Like a boy scout or something? She didn't know what to think about that... except that it was... good? She supposed. She confirmed that out loud. "Good." Because. "I don't really want any kids before I'm ready..."

Hey! This was awkward! Cool. How could she make it less awkward?

"Or before we're ready..." She added. "We both need to get through college and get jobs..." And there was more stuff to list, but she left it unlisted. She just looked him in the eye.

Okay, so Gawain might have been a very mature, smart and caring guy for his age...
... but he was still a guy.
Talk about kids freaks a guy out.

>>"Oh. Good. I don't really want any kids before I'm ready... Or before we're ready... We both need to get through college and get jobs..."

"Whoa! Whoa whoa..."

Long term plans. Scary.

"Hey!" he blinked, holding her by the shoulders "No one's talking about kids! Geez. I told ya I'm not dumb. I'm also a girl half the time. I get it. Ya're not getting teen pregnant. You don't even have to... um. I mean, it's okay."

Look who was blushing now.

He reacted like she'd suddenly told him 'I want to have your babies'. Wait. Had she? She hadn't even been thinking those thoughts. Or humming that tune.

Amelia dropped her attention to her shoulders. Which he was pretty much shaking her by. She tapped a hand with a finger and frowned.

"Calm down. I didn't just say "I want to have your babies", did I?" She asked to tell him she hadn't, but also for confirmation. Her tone sort of showed it. "... I meant that I have stuff to do before I even consider it... and I want to be safe. Which you get. So thank you." Unless you're carrying that stuff around for ladies like Maxine...

>>"Calm down. I didn't just say "I want to have your babies", did I?... I meant that I have stuff to do before I even consider it... and I want to be safe. Which you get. So thank you."

"Umm..." Gawain sighed and let her go, scratching the back of his neck. Awkward. For both of them, apparently. But they eventually had to have that talk. Might as well have it... in the Danger Room?...

"Ya're welcome." he sighed, the blush slowly fading "So, I think we've sufficiently killed the mood. It's dead." he smirked. He was obviously teasing her now. Probably to break the awkwardness...

Amelia rubbed the back of her neck too. "I, uh, kind of wasn't aiming for a mood." She confessed. "I just wanted to finish all this awkward dialogue in a place where nobody could interrupt it or escape."

Because she knew that she wanted to run for the hills.

"I guess 'future talk' is off limits, then," she noted with a half shrug.

>> "I, uh, kind of wasn't aiming for a mood. I just wanted to finish all this awkward dialogue in a place where nobody could interrupt it or escape... I guess 'future talk' is off limits, then,"

Gawain sighed and looked around. Yeah, the Danger Room was kind of a good place for that. Locked out, locked in.
He turned back to her, considering her question. It was one of those girly trick questions Maya had never learned to ask. If he said yes, that made him sound like a jerk; if he said no, there would be more awkward talk.

"For now." he agreed, and he did the only thing to avoid the trick question and its consequences, he leaned in and kissed her. "Minx."

She pulled back from the kiss.

Amelia frowned. "There's a time and a place, you know. It's kind of hard to be serious if you're sneaking kisses left and right."

She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but it was true.

"And also... we never really did talk about that whole 'college' topic when we were showing Twyla around."

>>"There's a time and a place, you know. It's kind of hard to be serious if you're sneaking kisses left and right."

"That's exactly what I was aiming for" he nodded cheerfully, planting another kiss on her cheek. She was still blushing a bit. Very cute.

>>"And also... we never really did talk about that whole 'college' topic when we were showing Twyla around."

... annnnd she killed the mood again. Gawain winced at the words 'college' and 'Twyla' in one sentence.

"Erhm..." he wrinkled his nose "There's not much to talk about, really..."

She wanted to stomp her foot and pout, but she settled for letting him kiss her cheek again. Fine. She could deal with it. Damn charmer.

It wasn't her fault she was a mood-killer. Serious stuff was serious. And this was an important topic for her.

He was trying to evade. She frowned.

"I know you think you have a future career being an X-men and a greeter and all of that, but... what if you get hurt? And can't help them any more? I want to be an X too, but... I also want to get an education, so I've got some way to get a job that pays well. And doesn't involve fighting crime." She flushed and added. "... Unless it's justice stuff like working for the police or the FBI." Those two were okay. "Have you considered that?" She asked. "Shin's doing it, and Kealey says he's okay with it all." Conspiratorially, she noted an additional fact. "I've heard some women like a man in uniform, too..."