RP Log: SERIOUS BUSINESS

[wildmildchild]

Who: Allenby, Taiki, Jamie, Wild Eagle
Where: Hut 4
When: yesterday afternoon
Warnings: Wild Eagle
Summary: Jamie and Allenby head over to Taiki's to discuss the fallout of Taiki's breakdown; Allenby learns about Eagle's separation from Jamie; and things go downhill from there.



With Allenby in tow, Jamie headed over to Taiki's hut. He wasn't exactly looking forward to this encounter, but he supposed he couldn't avoid Taiki forever... Casting a glance at Allenby, he stepped up to the front door.

Allenby smiled at Jamie reassuringly, nodding for him to knock.

Having spread her work out all over the table in the kitchen, Taiki sipped her tea. She picked up an essay and started to read it.

Jamie offered a half-hearted grin in return and turned to the door. Raising one hand, he knocked, tentatively.

Looking towards the door, Taiki stood up and went to answer it. She faultered just a moment at the couple standing in her doorway. "Jamie, Allenby, come in." She stepped to the side to allow them in.

Allenby gave Taiki a small smile, and then poked Jamie in the back to make him walk forward.

Flinching just a bit, Jamie all but slunk into the hut, standing stiffly in the common room near the door. "...hi," he said softly, staring at the floor.

Allenby followed him. "Thanks, Taiki," she said.

"Sorry about the mess, I was getting around to doing some work." She said shutting the door. "I can make space on the couch for you two." She set her tea down and went to clear some of her papers off the couch.

"It's okay," Allenby said. "Do you need help?"

Jamie watched Taiki uneasily, glancing between her and Allenby.

"No, no... I'm fine. I've been distracted the past day." Taiki said as she cleared the space. "There's some tea on the stove if you two would like any."

"Okay... thank you." Allenby glanced at Jamie. "Do you want some?"

The teen glanced up. "Uh - no, thanks."

"I'm going to take these to my room, one moment." Taiki motioned to the stack of papers in her arms.

Allenby nodded. She poked Jamie lightly to make him sit, and then headed to get herself some tea.

With another flinch, Jamie moved to the sofa, where he perched on the edge of one cushion, hands braced against his knees. He watched Allenby out of the corner of his eye, waiting in apprehensive silence.

Allenby came back to the couch with a cup of tea and sat down next to Jamie.

Taiki walked back to her room and nudged the door open. She kicked the clothes on the floor out of the way and set the papers on her desk.

Still sprawled on his back in Taiki's bed, Eagle, working his way toward wakefulness now, snorted a bit as the Guardian came in. "Mn. Wha's goin' on?" he asked her groggily.

"Jamie and Allenby are over." She replied kicking more clothes out of the way. "I should really clean this room up." She wrinkled her nose and then headed out the door again.

"Pff. The hell do they want?" Eagle raised his head; Taiki had left by the time he'd said anything. Heaving a sigh, he debated getting up, decided he had to take a piss anyway and threw back the covers.

Taiki walked back out into the living room. She smiled at Allenby and Jamie and then sat in the chair. "What can I do for you two?"

Allenby smiled at Taiki. "I heard you were out of the first-aid station," she said. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm doing much better now. I realized quite a few things during my stay there."

Allenby nodded. "I'm glad to hear you're doing better," she said.

"Is it safe to assume, there's another reason for this visit?" Taiki asked softly.

"I thought... maybe you and Jamie should try to talk a bit," the Gundam fighter said quietly. "I don't think there should be any bad blood here..." Allenby still didn't know that Eagle and Jamie had been given separate bodies.

"I do agree that's a good idea."

Jamie chewed his lip and peered at Taiki. "Um - are you, y'know...okay?" he asked her in a low tone.

"I am and it was nothing you did. At the time I felt I needed someone to blame other than myself."

The teen's brow furrowed. "No. I...shouldn't have said anything. I'm really sorry for...everything I said," he told her hoarsely, averting his eyes again.

"Jamie, it's not your fault. I was being childish about the whole situation and not respecting your wishes. For that and everything, I apologize. I know it will never fully make you trust me again, but I hope it helps."

Taiki's bedroom door opened then and Eagle emerged, clad only in his boxers. He glanced out into the common room, raised one hand in a wave at Allenby and proceeded into the bathroom.

Allenby gaped, nearly dropping her tea cup.

Taiki raised an eyebrow at Allenby. "What is it?"

"Who... Who was that?" she asked, pointing at the person who looked a lot like Jamie and was now wandering around the hut in his boxers.

"Eagle." Taiki replied calmly sipping her tea.

Jamie'd glanced up at the sound of the bedroom door opening and watched his alter with a sort of bland, apathetic expression. He glanced over at Allenby, blinking at her surprise. "Did I...forget to tell you?" he asked.

"E-... Eagle..." Allenby turned and looked at Jamie. "Tell me what?" she asked, her eyes still wide.

"Oh. Well, he...has his own body now, I guess." Jamie shrugged, looking rather astonishingly nonplussed by this development.

Allenby sat there in stunned silence for another moment before squealing. "That solves so much stuff!" she said suddenly.

Taiki nearly dropped her cup of tea at Allenby's outburst.

Jamie jerked a little, having never heard Allenby actually squeal before. "Uh...yeah, I guess it does..."

Eagle emerged from the bathroom and proceeded to the kitchen, where he hauled open the refrigerator door. "'s there anything t'eat?" he called, scanning the contents of the fridge.

"There's some soup that can be reheated. Everything else has to be made. Pluto and I don't stock a lot of instant food." Taiki said.

"Well, think about it!" she said, ignoring Eagle for the moment. "I mean... you don't have to share... we don't have to split time... you don't have to worry about... you know..." The fighter squirmed.

Taiki looked down at her lap.

"About...?" Jamie eyed Allenby with something akin to alarm. She seemed positively giddy.

"Well, all the problems from before stemmed from the whole shared body thing..." she said.

The Guardian continued to stare at her lap.

"Eh...yeah..." Jamie shrugged a little, staring at the floor again.

In the kitchen, Wild Eagle chuffed and pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge, popping it open to drink from it. "Y'know what I think the problems stemmed from? Your boyfriend's gay or somethin'. Hate to break it to ya," he told Allenby.

Taiki glancd over towards the kitchen. "Use a glass."

Allenby glared at Eagle. "You know... now that you don't share a body with him, I have no problem kicking your ass if you piss me off."

"Go ahead, I'm still waiting for the day when he makes Treize angry." Taiki set her empty tea cup on the coffee table.

Eagle arched a brow at her. "Hey, he don't like women touchin' him. Where I come from that usually means you like men. I never said it was a bad thing." He shot a look at Taiki. "An' what the hell's that s'posed to mean?"

"Nothing." She replied calmly.

"He's never had a problem with me touching him," Allenby said defensively.

"Y'ever touched him with his shirt off?" Eagle asked her, arching a brow. "Try it sometime. Betcha he takes off screamin'."

Allenby glared at Eagle. "Just shut up," she snapped at him.

"Everyone likes different things." Taiki said standing up. "Allenby, more tea?"

Allenby blinked. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Taiki," she said.

"For what?"

"For getting all angry like that in your house..."

"It's best if everyone gets their feelings out in the open. Like you said Allenby, no bad blood."

The fighter nodded. "Yeah... I did say that..."

Eagle shrugged and put the milk carton back in the refrigerator, unperturbed by Allenby's outburst. "I'm just sayin'," he muttered under his breath.

Taiki took her cup and went into the kitchen to get some more tea. "Play nice Eagle."

"Wasn't tryin' to not play nice," Eagle said. "Didn't think she was so goddamn touchy."

"Just be nice." she said pouring herself a cup of tea.

Allenby sighed again and leaned a bit against Jamie.

Jamie, looking as though he wanted to disappear, glanced at Allenby out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry," he said softly.

"For what?" she asked him quietly.

"This," he replied, shifting a little on the couch. "Maybe I should've just come alone instead of making you come with me."

"You weren't going to come alone," Allenby said.

"I would've," he said, a little defensively.

"Really?"

Jamie nodded a little, feigning fascination with a spot on the floor.

Taiki walked back into the living room and sat down. She sipped her tea, waiting.

Jamie glanced up at Taiki and shifted a bit, still feeling uneasy. In the kitchen, his alter was rooting around in a cupboard in search of something edible, muttering under his breath.

Allenby sighed. "Are ya gonna talk to her?"

The teen ducked his head nervously. "I...guess," he said lamely, and fell silent, trying to come up with something intelligent to say.

"Jamie... I'm..." Taiki started.

Jamie peered at her tentatively.

"I know you might never forgive me for what happened, but I would like to start attempting to fix things between us."

He averted his eyes again and shook his head a little frantically. "Nonono, it's fine. Really. I was...just...overreacting again," he finished in a low voice. "I'm really sorry. Really."

"No Jamie, I wasn't being an adult about the whole situation. I kept ignoring your wishes."

Jamie shrugged, still looking cowed and uneasy. "You were probably just...doing whatever was normal. Eagle was probably right. I should've just..." He twitched a shoulder again. "...y'know."

Eagle perked suddenly. "HA. See? I WAS RIGHT," he said, flinging an arm at the living room in general.

Allenby sighed. "No, you weren't," she said. "It was Jamie's body, too... he has every right to have some say in what goes on with it."

Taiki looked down.

Jamie noted Taiki's suddenly dejected air and felt an irrational surge of alarm. "It's okay! Really. Like I said, I was just making a big deal out of nothing. Everything's fine now, so...don't feel bad."

Taiki looked up at Jamie. "I should have listened to you at first, but... I didn't."

"Just - " Jamie cut himself off, feeling suddenly leery of discussing this around Allenby. And now that he had a choice, he would've preferred to not have Eagle hanging around, either... "Don't worry about it. It's fine," he finished, a little feebly.

Allenby frowned. "Jamie..."

"It's not." Taiki said softly.

"Look, junior says it's fine, so - leave it," Eagle said, coming into the common room with a bag of potato chips. He flopped down in a chair next to Taiki, eyeing Jamie with obvious disdain. "You done here, kid? Good. Leave."

Allenby narrowed her eyes at Eagle.

Taiki glared at Eagle.

Eagle shrugged and dug into the bag of chips, unaffected by the twin glares. "Y'ain't gonna get him to say otherwise at this point," he told them. "Trust me."

"Well..." Allenby stood and grabbed Eagle by the arm. She pulled him up out of the chair. "Maybe we should give them the chance to." She then proceeded to drag him out of the room.

Taiki looked at Jamie a bit nervously.

Jamie gaped a little as Allenby and the protesting Eagle made their exit. After a moment or two, he glanced over at Taiki. She looked almost as uneasy as he felt.

"Jamie, I apologize. I know it will never fix things, but I hope it can start to fix things between us."

"It's okay," he murmured mechanically, staring at his hands, clasped in his lap. "Don't...get upset about it. Please."

"I'm not upset Jamie... I just don't like the way things are between us right now. It's not right."

"It's fine. Really. I'm over it."

Taiki sighed softly. "Well, if you insist Jamie."

He shrugged a little and sighed. "I'm sorry that I...I got you so upset. I shouldn't've said what I did," he told her quietly.

"But I shouldn't have done what I did."

"It's fine," he said again, staring at the floor.

"I...."

He glanced at her.

Taiki sighed.

Jamie frowned and ducked his head. "Sorry." What for, he didn't know, but as the previous night with Allenby, apologizing seemed like the proper thing to do.

"It's not your fault. I'm to blame here."

A few weeks ago he would've welcomed her admission, but now he felt guilty accepting it. "You didn't do anything a normal person wouldn't've done," he said.

"But I ignored your wishes!"

"They were probably stupid to begin with," he countered, still not meeting her eyes. "You probably should've ignored 'em. And I should've just...shut up."

"No... Jamie..." Taiki sighed.

He twitched a little but didn't look up.

"I know I can't fix this, but I want to try."

"There's nothing to fix. If you're all right, I'm all right. Don't worry about it." He finally glanced up at her, offering a strained, short-lived smile.

Taiki sighed.

Jamie bridled a bit but tried to ignore the sigh. "So...are you okay?" he asked her tentatively.

"I... Guess..."

He gave her another unconvincing grin and nodded listlessly. "Well...good. I um...guess I'll be going now." He paused. "Unless...there was anything else you wanted from me."

Taiki shook her head.

He bobbed his head again and pushed himself up off the couch. "I'm glad you're doing better," he told Taiki, and fidgeted again. "...I'm really sorry for everything. I didn't - " He broke off and sighed. "...just...sorry."

Eagle flailed as Allenby dragged him into the bedroom. "The hell you doin', girlie? Look, I know junior probably ain't puttin' out, but I ain't gonna pick up his slack with you." He paused and smirked. "Unless you're gonna force me to."

"That has nothing to do with it," Allenby said, shoving Eagle onto the bed. "They need to talk to each other, and you bein' a smart ass isn't helping."

"Me bein' a smartass wouldn't matter if he just had some balls," Eagle snorted, rummaging around in his bag of chips again. "If he ain't gonna say what's on his mind, nothin' you or me or anybody else can do about it."

"And you constantly insulting him and making him feel bad about himself doesn't help him overcome that!" she snapped at him.

"Hey, I don't make him feel bad about himself," Eagle snapped back, glaring at her. "He manages to do that even without me sayin' anything."

"Which is what I've been trying to help him with... and you're just being stubborn," she said. "I thought you wanted to help out... to figure things out... and now you're going back on your word."

"Like it matters now," he snorted, indicating his body. "You forget about this little development? Long's I don't hafta put up with him anymore, I couldn't care less about workin' things out with him."

"And that's why I pulled you away from them... because they still have things they need to work out," Allenby said. "After all, not everyone is a callous, selfish, bastard like you."

Eagle smirked. "You're cute when you're all pissed off."

Allenby didn't even flinch. "And you get stupid when you're trying to be funny."

"Who said I was tryin' to be funny?" Eagle asked, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth. He held out the bag. "Wan'some?"

"No."

He shrugged again and devoured another handful. "So he spill his guts to you about all this shit after he showed up again?"

"Yeah.

"And?" he asked in between mouthfuls.

Allenby raised an eyebrow at him. "And what?"

Eagle swallowed the last few crumbs, balled up the empty bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "And what'dja think about it?" he asked, standing up and glancing around for his shorts.

"Why do you care?" Allenby said. "You got what you wanted... you're free of him... what difference does it make now?"

"'m just askin'." He shrugged, spotted the desired article of clothing behind her and moved to retrieve them. "C'mon. Don't tell me you don't think he's just spazzin' out about nothin' again."

"He needs Taiki to reassure him that she doesn't hold him responsible for what she did to herself."

Eagle made a face, pulling his shorts on. "Pff...yeah. I don't get that shit either. Thought she was stronger'n that."

"She cares for you a lot, Eagle," Allenby said. "The situation's been hard on her because all of your actions ended up hurting Jamie..."

"All my actions?" He turned to glare at her. "What, the makin' out and shit? I wasn't exactly actin' alone there, princess."

"You knew Jamie was uncomfortable, and you didn't act with any regard for his feelings," Allenby said. "That's my point. You were being a jerk and selfish about the whole thing."

"How come I'm the selfish one here?" Eagle demanded, snatching up his shirt. "How come he ain't bein' selfish for insistin' on havin' his way all the time?"

"You guys need to compromise! That's been my point all along! I was trying to tell him the same thing, so don't even think like that."

Eagle snorted, shrugging into his shirt. "Yeah, get him to compromise with anything I wanna do. Be a sunny day on Nyx when that happens."

Allenby huffed. "What do you think I've been doing?"

"Tryin' to talk sense into a brick wall, knowin' him," Eagle snorted.

"Gee... sounds like someone else I've been trying to talk to," Allenby said, levelling a knowing glare at Eagle.

The alter curled a lip at her, unamused. "Like I said before: it don't matter now. He can do whatever the hell he wants 's far as I'm concerned. Or...not do whatever he wants." He shook his head and arched a brow at Allenby. "I'm tellin' ya, kid's so far in the closet it's gonna take a search party to get him out."

"Just leave him alone," she said. "You can now... so stay away from him."

"I ain't plannin' on goin' anywhere near the little shit 'f I don't have to," he shot back. "He was the one that came over here, in case you forgot."

"And you don't live here, either... we came to see Taiki."

"Well where the hell'd he think I was gonna be, now I finally got a chance to score? Sittin' around somewhere twiddlin' my thumbs?" He snorted. "Pff. An' people say he's the smart one."

"It didn't matter where you were..."

Eagle waved dismissively. "Whatever. You plannin' on keepin' me in here all day? 'Cause I got stuff to do with my woman."

"We're staying here until they're done talking."

Eagle sighed and flopped down on the bed again. "Christ. You know they're just gonna keep goin' around in circles 'cause nerdboy ain't gonna admit to anything."

"We still need to give them the time they need without interruption," Allenby said. "And without you being a bastard smartass."

He rolled his eyes. "Even'f she tells him everything's all hunky-dory with her, he's still gonna keep blamin' himself for what happened. 's why he took off hidin' in the first place."

"So?"

"Whaddya mean, so? Lettin' 'em sit out there and yak at each other ain't gonna solve anything, 's what I'm sayin'. He's gonna keep tellin' her everything's fine just 'cause he's scared she's gonna have some kinda fit otherwise."

Allenby crossed her arms, ignoring him. "At least they'll have tried."

Eagle shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Hmph."

"Don't say I didn't try to warn you."

Allenby sighed. "I know it's not gonna happen overnight."

"It ain't gonna happen period. He's too much of a little chickenshit to stand up for himself or do anything he thinks is gonna hurt anyone's precious little feelings."

Allenby glared at him.

Eagle rolled his eyes again. "Oh, c'mon. It ain't like I'm lyin' here. You noticed it too."

"You're not giving him a chance to try changing," Allenby said.

"He wouldn't even if he had the chance," the alter snorted.

Allenby frowned.

"You got somethin' t'say?" Eagle asked her, arching a brow.

She shrugged. "At least I'm trying to help instead of being sarcastic and callous."

"Well, what can I say. I've had my fill of helpin' that whinin' little shit." Eagle smirked unpleasantly.

"Then shut up and butt out."

"You gonna make me?" he asked, grinning.

Allenby gave him a flatstare.

Eagle only grinned more broadly. "Well, junior's got decent taste in chicks. I'll give 'im that."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the door.

Feeling relieved for the chance to escape, Jamie headed toward the bedrooms, where he'd seen Allenby disappear with Eagle. "Allenby?" he called down the hall.

"In Taiki's room!" she called back.

Taiki looked up and sighed.

"Um...which one's that...?" he said. He hadn't really paid attention last time he'd been here.

"First door on the right."

"Oh...right, thanks." He moved to the appropriate door and cracked it, peering in. His gaze landed on Eagle and flattened a bit. "Are you ready to go?" he asked Allenby, peering around for her.

Allenby was standing there looking flustered with her arms crossed. "If you are," she said.

Taiki stood at the edge of the hallway, watching them. She frowned a bit.

Jamie's brow furrowed "You okay?" he asked Allenby, as he cast another, more suspicious glance at his alter, who ignored it.

"Just annoyed."

Jamie supposed he couldn't blame her, considering who she'd been sharing the room with. "Well, I think we're done, so..." He shrugged a little and jerked his head toward the front of the hut.

Taiki had her hands on her hips, glaring at Eagle.

Eagle arched a brow at her and shoved past Jamie into the hallway. "What?"

"You keep pissing people off."

"Seems to be his lot in life..." She walked out into the hallway.

"Ain't my fault people can't handle the truth," Eagle muttered, curling his lip at Jamie as the teen regarded Allenby with chagrin.

The Guardian rubbed her forehead.

Allenby shook her head.

"Allenby, Jamie, thank you for coming by, but I think it's time for you two to leave."

Jamie nodded hurriedly. "...sorry," he muttered, starting down the hall toward the common room.

Allenby facepalmed and headed after him.

Taiki shook her head at Eagle.

Eagle stared at her, flatly. "What?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing. We should get you more clothes."

Jamie stood at the front door, watching Allenby worriedly as she approached.

Allenby walked past Jamie without a word and headed outside.

With an expression of extreme dismay, Jamie hurried after her. "...Allenby?" he asked, hesitantly.

"You and Eagle can be so different, yet so much the same!" she snapped at him.

He actually flinched at her tone of voice. "...what'd he do? What'd I do?"

"You're both so damn stubborn!"

Jamie stared at her, looking bewildered and a little hurt. "I...look, what'd I do?" he asked her again.

"Neither of you will listen to people and insist on staying stuck in your own ways. That's why, if you end up back in the same body, you'll just never get along with him!" She crossed her arms, looking away.

He continued to gape at her. He'd thought he was trying to listen to people - it seemed that was all he ever did, kowtow to other people's whims - but apparently he couldn't even do that right. He slumped in defeat. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No... not sorry," Allenby said. "I'm trying to help you stand up for yourself, yet all you do is stubbornly insist on being a doormat all the time."

Jamie bristled, though he tried not to let it show. "Because standing up for myself never works," he told her. "I tried standing up to Taiki. Yeah, that turned out real well," he muttered.

That made Allenby tense visibly. "So you didn't even talk to her after I made Eagle leave?" she said. "This whole thing was a waste!" Exasperated, she turned and started walking off again.

"I talked to her!" he insisted, trailing after Allenby.

"Then you would have realized that she doesn't blame you and that incident wasn't your fault."

"What, did she tell you that?" Jamie demanded, eyeing her.

"Yes." Allenby turned to face. "She did." She put her hands on her hips.

"When?"

"When we were just sitting in her living room!"

"Yeah, well - maybe she was just saying it to save face or something," Jamie said. "She was never that composed when I tried talking to her about it before. She always - fell apart whenever I said anything."

"Because she's had time to work things out now," Allenby said. "Sometimes, talking about things too soon is too emotional for people."

That'd never seemed to stop people from badgering Jamie into talking about things he didn't want to discuss, but he said nothing, heaving a quiet sigh.

"There's a balance," Allenby continued. "Things can't be bottled up all the time, but sometimes, people need a little time to think about things before they're able to express what's bothering them."

"I guess," Jamie said, dully.

Allenby frowned a bit. "You're not even listening, are you?"

"I'm listening," Jamie said with sudden ferocity. "At least I try to listen when people tell me something, even if - " He cut himself off suddenly and took a deep breath. "...forget it. Sorry."

"No... say it."

"It's nothing. Really. I'm just on edge. I shouldn't've snapped at you. I'm sorry."

Allenby frowned. "Don't hold back on my account," she said, and stood there with her arms crossed.

Jamie sighed again, more quietly this time. "I just...get frustrated, 's all. It's not important."

"If it wasn't important, then it wouldn't bother you enough to start saying it."

"Considering how I freak out over everything?" Jamie arched a brow at her, looking rather defeated.

"That doesn't mean it's not important," Allenby said. She sighed. "Whatever." She turned and started walking again.

Jamie wandered a few steps behind her in silence.

"You don't have to follow me if you don't want to," Allenby told him. "I just... I need a break."

Jamie stopped in his tracks at that. "Um...okay." Sounded like a 'take-a-hike' to him. He started to apologize again, realized that would probably only make her more exasperated and slunk off in the opposite direction.

Allenby disappeared into her hut, tired and worn out.

Eagle arched a brow at Taiki. "So you and nerdboy get all your shit settled?" he asked her.

Taiki nodded and leaned against the wall.

Eagle sighed, glancing at Taiki. "You ain't gonna get all mopey again, are you?"

"No, just thinking." Taiki looked at Eagle, "I promise."

Eagle grinned. "Good."

Taiki smiled back at Eagle and poked him in his chest. "Go get dressed and clean up the potatoe chips. Why are they even in this hut anyways?"

Eagle shrugged. "You're the one that buys the food, not me. And what's wrong with what I'm wearin'?"

"You wore it yesterday. God we need to get you more clothes."

Eagle wrinkled his nose, eyeing his outfit. "Yeah...this is the same shit junior wore all the time. Christ, I hate these shoes."

Taiki sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Never did ask you... What do you think of my haircut?"

"T'be honest, I wasn't really payin' attention to your hair last time I saw you," Eagle said with a smirk.

"Is sex all you care about? Jesus christ, at least Treize noticed, at least with him I get a conversation."

Eagle's brow lowered. "I didn't hear you complainin' last night."

Taiki sighed and punched the wall, her anger getting the better of her. "Is that all you want now? Sex? Do I not mean anything anymore?"

Eagle threw up his hands. "Christ, not this again..."

"I just want to know where we stand! Now that we've slept with each other!" Taiki snapped angrily.

"What, you think I'm gonna dump you or something, 's that what your problem is?"

"Actually, yeah I do!"

"Well I ain't, so calm the fuck down."

Taiki sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She sighed.

Eagle watched her, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall.

"Last night and this is uncharted territory for me. I've never been with someone like I have with you."

Eagle shrugged. "Me neither. I ain't worryin' about it."

"I'm just nervous I guess."

"'Bout what?"

"Us, what can happen."

"Whaddya mean?"

"If I was a normal human, there'd be a chance I'd get pregnant."

Had Eagle not been leaning against the opposite wall, he may well have fallen over. "Wha - pregnant? Like with a fuckin' kid?" Christ, he'd never even considered that.

Taiki nodded. "Yeah, but because I'm not a normal human, I won't get pregnant."

"Oh." Eagle tried not to look as though he'd been too freaked out by the possibility. "Geez. Well, thank god for that."

Taiki nodded.

"So's that all you're worried about?" Eagle shrugged. "Y'said it can't happen, so...stop worryin' about it."

"Alright."

Eagle leaned back again, watching her blandly.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Nothin'."

Taiki pushed off the wall and headed into the living room to finish her work.