nextgenerationmarvel | Oh hey, it's pool time, eh? (Open)

It was a beautiful August afternoon. Almost disgustingly gorgeous, actually. The humidity had finally fallen to an acceptable level and it was showing up as a very lovely 80 Fahrenheit (27 Celsius to Kayla, it would always be 27 Celsius). It was beautiful and safe ... it'd probably be awhile before Kayla felt like going camping again. Nobody had been hurt too badly, but it'd still been an awful mess, and Rose hadn't really been the same after it.

It was perfect weather for a dip in the lake. Not too hot, not too cold, no real wind. And it was also an absolutely perfect opportunity to take her new swimsuit on a trial run.

Kayla had always loved water, since she was a little kid. She remembered her father always joking that she should have been born a dolphin or something. She'd never have made a swim team in any significant way, but swimming had come naturally to her- but even more so, just the feeling of being in cool water, floating, treading water, even just standing in it.

If other people joined her, that was awesome, but she didn't mind being alone either. Like a complete goon, she started running down the pier and jumped into the water.

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It was fortunate Kayla wasn't telepathic, because the thought 'Canadian beauty' would certainly have turned her redder than a Maple Leaf flag. She smiled broadly, happy to be close to her wonderful, gorgeous, awesome girlfriend.

"That's awesome." Kayla thought that, partly because she secretly thought Bri's mother was pretty awesome- she was Psylocke after all. Also because of the word 'row' to mean an argument. It was probably a sad, sad thing, but Kayla could listen to Brianna talk for ages. "Well, we'll just have to make some more time today." It was only light duty in the Mansion kitchen today, so she was free until around four in the afternoon and after about six.

"You should've seen the little swimming competition I had with some of the guys before." Kayla's smile broke into a broad grin. "I whupped their asses."

Brianna didn't hate her mother but Betsy Braddock was surprisingly overprotective of her daughter. The idea of a telepathic hovering ninja-mom sounded great to most. Most people hadn't lived with Betsy their entire lives. Brianna simply wished her mother would let her live her own life the way she got to. She didn't have a twin brother like her mother had Uncle Brian.

Her father was good at giving her space. She wished that her parents would trade parenting views sometimes.

"You're a champion swimmer so I expected that. Who did you compete against? Maybe I'll make a sign or two that says 'Kayla- Xavier School Swim Team Champion' and carry it around." Brianna said.

"And if you're /really/ good, maybe I'll carry that around for you later. In our room. With nothing else." Brianna teased.

Even an imperfect mother was so much better than no mother at all. Or father for that matter, or any of her passel of brothers, sisters, cousins and even some little nephews and nieces. Kayla had made a lot of very good friends since she'd come to the school- some very good friends, but there was undeniably a family-shaped hole in her life.

"You'd think I was an Olympian or something." Kayla laughed. "Topher and Dolemeck. Topher nearly caught up to me, though."

Kayla raised an eyebrow and then grinned. "Naughty. Naughty girls get splashed." Kayla grinned and gave Brianna a bit of a splash.

"Topher? Cool. I don't know Dolemeck but I haven't seen Topher around much. We probably just keep missing each other." Briana said.

Kayla splashed her and Brianna dove beneath the water and swam up behind her.

"Tease. Naughty girls deserve more than splashing. But that'll be later. There's something we need to talk about." she said.

Brianna paused a moment, hoping that Kayla wouldn't freak out.

"My dad wants to meet you."

"Nice guy. More than a little awkward, though." Kayla replied.

"Oooh, that sounds promising." Kayla didn't continue on that line, though, because it looked like Brianna had something serious to bring up. And then she paused.

"Cool." Kayla grinned, frankly relieved. She'd probably feel nervous later, but she'd worried it was something much more serious. She splashed Brianna again. "Don't worry me like that!"

Brianna grinned at the splashing. She didn't really think Kayla would freak out but she was glad her girlfriend didn't lose it at the thought of meeting her father. Things with Mom went well but Brianna sensed it was because Betsy did the English "stiff upper lip" default setting rather than express what she was really thinking.

"Well, I was worried that you'd worry. Trust me, it'll go okay. Bring your best poker face because he wants to play poker with us." Brianna said.

"You can play poker, right?"

Kayla had thought the conversation pretty frank, truth be told, though it had certainly been a little nerve-inducing.

"So ... he wants to fleece his daughter and her girlfriend." Kayla replied with a faint smirk. "Yeah, I can play poker all right. Though if you've got any hot tips, I'm all ears."

"Rule One is simple. If you're not cheating, you're not trying." Brianna said.

"Rule Two follows Rule One pretty closely: If you get caught, you aren't trying hard enough." she grinned.

"Well, damn. I'll have to be on my worst behaviour." Kayla grinned broadly. "I'll have to put on my devil horns, clearly."

"So when's he planning on having this friendly little get-together?" Kayla asked brightly.

"Maybe tomorrow night? How does that sound?"

"Tomorrow night? Well, hot damn, I'll put that on my social calendar then." Kayla grinned broadly. "Maybe I can make some of those beignets everyone loves so much. Their deliciousness might distract him from his A-game."

Because Kayla knew damn well she'd need every advantage she could get. They were talking about Gambit here. Poker was his thing. Or a big part of it at least.

"Do it. We'll need every advantage we can get." Brianna said, suddenly a little nervous at the prospect of this meeting. There was no reason to fear her dad not liking Kayla, but she wanted her whole family to get along with her girlfriend.

"Thank you for being so awesome about this. You don't have to and I appreciate it." she said, kissing her on the cheek.

"It's important to you." Kayla replied sincerely, brushing away a few loose strands of Brianna's hair. "And you're important to me. I mean, it'll probably be fun. I imagine your dad's pretty chill."

She laughed. "So tomorrow night, then." She raised her eyebrow with a bit of a puckish grin. "Tomorrow night is good." A bit of emphasis on the word "tomorrow".

Kayla's words made Brianna feel better about everything. She smiled brightly and nodded.

"Yeah, he's pretty chill...but he's always got an angle. Always." she said.

"Tomorrow night is booked, then. Tonight, however, is totally free. Did you have any plans?" she asked.

"Yeah." Kayla replied with a small grin. "Starts with some room service. I'm gonna make us some special treats. And we're not sharing any of it." She laughed. "And what happens after that, well, that's up for us to decide, yeah?"

"Any special requests?"

"I like the sound of that. I'd like rice krispy treats. I've been craving those all week but Mum's had me in training." Brianna said.

"I'm going to go batty if I don't get any."

Oh hey, it's pool time, eh? (Open)

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