Ride stops here (Tag: Barricade)

[Gambit]

After they left the brotherhood lair, true to his word, he gave her a ride around New York. They rode around the city for a good hour before Gambit decided it was time for a little pit stop. He found a nice little diner a few blocks along the route back to the liar and parked his bike there. Gambit slowly pulled out his helmet from his head and gazed at the sign. He silently thank the heavens for 24 hour ran establishments.

"Well, hope you don' mind us having a lil' pitstop after de ride." Gambit informed Azumi as he slowly disembarked from the motorcycle. True to his nature, he helped the girl get off his bike and had escorted her into the establishment. Once they entered, Gambit eyed around the area. It was practically empty barring 2 tables that were occupied by a couple of people, truckers mostly.

He found a good seat to sit on and he said to Azumi in an assuring tone, "Found somewhere good to sit down, just follow Gambit." Gambit made his way to the table that had a comfortable chair to go along with it. He would escort Azumi towards the table but he had a hunch she didn't want to be babied that much by the cajun. So he let her follow him. Besides, the table wasn't on the other side. It was, to be honest, a few feet near them from the entrance. Once he sat down, the waiter pulled out two menus for them to look at.

"So, what'll you be havin? Anythin you wanna eat? Drink? Gambit's treat." Gambit asked her, and also vouched for any purchase she may have for this visit here. Besides, with his small business venture (pick pocketing), he had plenty of spare cash to spend around his fellow brotherhood team members.

[Azumi Matsuura]

Everything might have been blacker than pitch to her but that didn't mean that the ride was any less exciting. The wind rushing by, the knowledge of the road being that close and moving that fast beneath them, the sounds and scents they passed as they traveled at decent speeds down the streets. Her brother and her parents would have thrown a fit. Her mother would have more than likely fainted at the "danger" Azumi was putting herself into. But then again, the whole family would have fainted in knowing about the group she was involved with.

As the motorcycle came to a stop and the engine cut off, Azumi lessened her hold on Gambit's sides and an expression of curiosity crossed her face. That was before the scent of the nearby restaurant came to her nose and his comment about a pitstop reached her ears.

"I don't mind, I like surprises sometimes." She told him even as she got off of the bike with his assistance.

She felt a little awkward accepting help like this but knew at the same time that she might just be a little sensitive about it due to wanting to be independant and all that jazz. He didn't baby her though, which she was grateful for. And he didn't hold her hand on the way into the restaurant, him just telling her that he found a spot for them to sit and to follow him. Azumi followed him by the sound of his footsteps and the smell of his after shave. Yeah, not stalkerish at all that she knew to recognize those things.

On hearing his steps stop, and slight groaning of fake leather being pressed down on. There wasn't much effort needed to estimate where she'd be needing to go from there and soon she was taking a seat as well and taking in a slow breath to sort out which meals were served in which way.

"I'll probably just get a sprite for a drink."

She liked the texture and it was usually on a menu somewhere as it was one of the "usual" beverages in places like this.

"If you're covering for the meal too, then I've got an idea of what I want already. It's what the people two tables to the left of us are having." She said with a slight smirk.

[Gambit]

"Sprite it is....and dat thing dey got on de other table." Gambit said to Azumi, hearing what she wanted for tonight. He slowly peered over to see what it was. The cajun somewhat had an amused look on his face. He wondered if she had a better sense of smell than a dog. Gambit knew that when one sense fades out, some just get heightened, maybe that was really the case for her.

Slowly, he raised his hand to signal someone from the place to take their order. He would get his service a few seconds later and he told the one taking their orders, "One can of sprite, two orders of bacon and eggs, and a cup of coffee." The waiter left their table while Gambit still had a smirk of his own.

"Hmm...seems like someone aside from Gambit got hungry during de ride." Gambit said to Azumi with a chuckle. He leaned back on his chair and placed both hands behind his head. The cajun's usual relaxed stance was there, well, everything except putting his feet on the table. "So...is it just Gambit or there be things in your mind dat be keepin you up tonight?"

[Azumi Matsuura]

It might have been the middle of the night, or some ungodly hour of the morning, but that breakfast food had smelled pretty good and given her a bit of a craving for it. It had been a while since she had bacon and eggs anyways. Usually she tended to eat left overs for breakfast, or to just fix up what was handy. Not that she wasn't a decent cook, she just tended to lack some of her creativity in the kitchen in the morning.

As Gambit commented on not being the only one to have gotten hungry on the ride here, Azumi smirked a little in amusement then tucked some of her hair behind her ear out of slight embarrassment. Yes, she did get embarrassed a little easily. She also became shy decently quick. One of the Brotherhood members had asked once what she was even doing with them with her too soft personality and all. They hadn't been talking to her when they said it, but she'd heard it all the same. She had her reasons. Even if she had her second thoughts at the same time.

"So...is it just Gambit or there be things in your mind dat be keepin you up tonight?"

Azumi's eyes were directed towards where she guessed his face was. It was almost as if he had just read her mind. If she hadn't known any better, she might have accused him as having done as such. She couldn't help but to chuckle even if softly at the part of him being a reason she was being kept up. With him, it could mean a lot of things.

"It's just hard sometimes. You know, sometimes the mind just won't slow down or quit and you've got like a million thoughts just running through there at a hundred miles an hour." She commented.

Especially when those thoughts involved affiliation and ex boyfriends. But, she wasn't going to tell him that.

[Gambit]

Gambit gave a slow but thoughtful nod to Azumi's insights on her own mind. He felt those mile a minute thoughts that just can't help but run around your thoughts. However, the thing he felt from her right now was something different. Gambit just figured it would be best to just sway the conversation to another topic. If she didn't want to discuss it now, it was no use trying to pull it out.

"So tell me...," Gambit started to ask Azumi in sheer curiousity, "What is making you stay with us in de brotherhood? Not dat Gambit want you out and all, it just something to ask outta curiosity you see. Is it something out of a life debt? Or just your preference to keep yourself with our own kind?"

Gambit did know how she landed into the brotherhood. One of the old members brought her there. For him, the bigger question was why was she still with them. To him, she didn't fit it in terms of being ruthless. He knew why he was with the brotherhood, it was a simple case of owing Magneto his life. Had the master of magnetism intervened in his dire situation, he wouldn't have existed right now.

"Dat is if you don' mind answerin' dat question," Gambit said as an addendum. She had every right to refuse such a question in the first place. If she did, he had a handful of topics to go through while they were in the place. In fact he can even ask what her view was on what type of wine tastes better, white or red? Questions such as that but wasn't as intriguing as the one he just asked now. Gambit looked at her and awaited her answer.

[Azumi Matsuura]

Maybe he really was a telepath and just had kept it under wraps. Either that or he had some serious and very unsettling timing. It made the hairs on the back of her neck lift up but Azumi tried to hide the fact that she had become somewhat unsettled, from him. She tried to keep it from showing on her face. He might have just had the question of why she was here, on his mind for a while and this might have been his first chance to actually ask her.

"Why would you ask that?"

She wasn't snapping and her words hadn't come out strained, it had just sounded like she was curious. Which, she was. Why ash her something like that? Or had he asked som eof the others already and she happen to just not learn of it.

"It's... it's not a debt exactly. I... I just... Well, I don't know how to really answer this without it coming out the wrong way I don't think. I'm not trying to skirt your question, I just really don't know how to word it smoothly. Not everyone can be suave like you, Remy." Azumi stated, unintentionally slipping in a compliment.

"So how about you? Is it because of what happened, or is there more to it?"

[Gambit]

Gambit just gave a nod after she had a hard time to answer his question. He should have known it won't come out that easily. Either that or she really wasn't so good in words on how exactly to describe such story. He just had to chuckle when she gave him a compliment on how the cajun was all 'suave' in his speaking. Gambit gave her a short but friendly, "Thank you" for that.

When the question turned its tables, it turned out to be quite interesting for him. Most of them know how the cajun landed with the brotherhood, he was saved by Magneto himself. There he was at the water, almost drowning like a rat when he was picked up. He let out a soft sigh before he said, "Yeah, dats about it..." There was an air of awkwardness around their table until the orders came about. Gambit thanked the high heavens.

"Well time to eat," he said to Azumi as the waiter laid out their orders for them. He started to get into his meal while he recalled why he was with the brotherhood as well. It was a life debt, but then again he could have went back to New Orleans anytime he wanted. For the cajun, however, things were complicated. First, they thought he was dead and maybe it would have been for the best. Second, he was not too sure if going back was a good idea for him. Gambit was contented with his own new place in New York.

The cajun glanced back at Azumi and asked, "So..how are dem bacon and eggs doin for ya? Hope they be tasty."

[Azumi Matsuura]

"Better than I thought. It's been a while since I had anything this good." She replied, glad that his question was about he food rather than herself.

She was still a little wary of him, still kind of wondering if he was a telepath or not. She was hiding it as best she could for the time being, hoping that he wouldn't ask her any more uncomfortable questions because she really didn't need that right now. She wondered if now was a good time to maybe turn the tables a little bit due to how unwilling he had been to go in to much detail himself. She gave a small smile, trying to seem calm.

She did have concerns herself about staying in the Brotherhood. She wouldn't say it out loud as that would only make her look bad, and for all she knew Gambit himself could have been trying to figure her out. She couldn't let that happen. She did want to stay with the Brotherhood anyway, didn't she? Her uncertainty stuck with her, and even though she wanted to drop the subject altogether, she decided instead to see what would happen if she got someone else's input.

"Have you ever thought about it?... Going home, that is..?" She asking, smiling still to make it seem like a casual question.

[Gambit]

He was glad she appreciated the food they were eating. Most of the women folk Gambit had would rather like a less greasy type of meal. Thankfully Azumi wasn't one of those ladies. Looking back at her, it was clear she was different, she had mutant powers and most of her dates didn't have any. The cajun stopped thinking of that momentarily and drew his focus on the meal at hand.

He started to eat his own order. The bacon was as good as it can get, which was a nice welcome for the taste buds of Gambit. The man scarffed down on his food a good few seconds before she asked him a question. Gambit slowly glanced back at Azumi when she asked him about home. He made a small 'hmmm-ing' sound from his lips before he answered that for her.

"Of course Gambit want to go home sometimes," he said confidently before he took a couple of bites. Once he swallowed them down, he added, "Nothin beats home cookin, y'know what Gambit means? Dem cajun places in dis town aint no match for de real ones back at home. Dey got it all. Gumbo, chili, you name it." The cajun was honest in that regard. However, there were also reasons why he choose NOT to go home right now. For him, it was better to give a cheerful response regarding New Orleans cuisine than family matters.

[Azumi Matsuura]

Well, he didn't deny it. But, with how smooth of a talker he was, would she have picked it up if he had? Azumi would have liked to believe so. She was pretty good with picking those kinds of things up due to how people's voice pitch and tension seemed to change when they were straying from the truth about something. Most people, not all.

"Do you make any of those things yourself? There's a kitchen and thanks to a couple of the people we live with going on food runs, it's usually pretty stocked up." She commented, trying to keep the conversation going.

But, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep it going for too long. There was too much on her mind and his earlier question of why she stayed, had her thinking on things more. Azumi took a slow breath after eating a little more of her food. Then finally spoke up.

"Do you consider us friends, Gambit, or just co-workers?"

[Gambit]

"Why of course Gambit can cook himself some dishes like dey do back at home," the Cajun said to Azumi. He did like to cook up a storm every once in a while at the brotherhood kitchen. Outside of his usual thievery, he still had the penchant to cook something good. Of course, he doubted Azumi would know that seeing he would cook them all late at night. When there was another brief moment of silence, Gambit made use of it to take a sip of his coffee.

What she said almost made him spit his coffee back to the cup. Gambit wondered why she would ask such a question. He slowly set his cup down while he looked back at Azumi. "Now why would you ask such questions?" Gambit had a very uneasy time hearing her ask it, but the tone of his question was still the same calm as his previous statements were. "Well, let Gambit ask something first. How many times have we hung out together barrin tonight?"

The obvious answer was zero. It was the first time he and Azumi went out for a night of food, or for anything for that matter. He let her think about that question for a good few seconds before he let out a chuckle to relieve them of the tension. He then told her, "If it were up to Gambit, we can be friends. But what say you? Can you be friends with dis suave cajun man?" The last question was an obvious ploy at humor for the situation to ease up. But he can admit to this, her question did make him feel a little uncomfortable.

[Azumi Matsuura]

As he commented on being able to cook like they did back at his home, Azumi smiled a little and finished her plate before taking a sip of her drink.

"I've never had any Cajun myself." She commented after she'd finished.

But then again, she hadn't had much in the way of spicy foods either and she'd heard that Cajun food revolved around being spicy. With how sensitive her tongue was, she would more than likely taste the burning for hours if not all day and she wasn't sure on if that would be a good thing or a bad thing as there were different types of burns.

"But then again, there's a lot of things I haven't had. Whether I'm brave enough to try or not is another story though." She added.

Azumi closed her eyes for a moment when she heard a change in his eating pattern. Well, eating and drinking. And no, that wasn't stalkerish at all. It made up for the fact that she couldn't just glance at him once in a while. She heard a slight choke, probably from shock or something. Then, as he finally spoke, she opened her eyes as the uneasiness in his tone was there if only extremely slight.

"I know... I know we've never really hung out, or hung out at all. But we've known each other for years, and we're comfortable enough to not avoid each other or be at each other's throats, which is more than could be said for some of the other members. I wasn't trying to make anything of this, so don't worry." She said, rubbing her arms slightly.

"I'd consider you a friend, yes. But I wouldn't force you into it. I just... I guess that I...."

Azumi shook her head a little then lowered her face a little so it would seem as if she was looking at the top edge of her plate.

"Never mind... it's nothing really... I guess it's just a produce of a couple of those background thoughts, you know? It made me have the question of where I stand with people as far as friendships go."

[Gambit]

Gambit let out a small chuckle and assured her, "You ain't forcin anything on Gambit. Don't worry chere." She was right, they've known each other for years as part of the brotherhood. She was one of those people he can actually stand. But as a friend, maybe she can be one for Gambit. Right now, however, good co-workers was a more apt title.

"It's alright. It happens a lot, havin' too many thoughts that cloud around you. It does get you thinkin of things..yeah?" Gambit tried to help her dismiss that thought. For him, the issue of trust, friendship, and loyalty are things he'd rather not talk about in the open. Soon enough, he caught the attention of the waiter. Once the man neared their table, the cajun said,"give us de check."

It was time to get the bill out, that's what was on his mind. Slowly, he turned his attention back to Azumi and asked, "Haven't tried anythin cajun eh? Well let Gambit fix dat when we return to de lair. For de next day, maybe he fix you somethin good non?" He had that confident grin across his lips at the mention of cooking something up for her. He prided himself with not only his work on theivery, but also in terms of food.

[Azumi Matsuura]

As he told her that she wasn't forcing anything, Azumi gave a small smile even if she might have still seemed a little embarrassed. She wondered to herself why she had been acting like she had been tonight.. Well, this morning.... Well, whatever time of day it might have been considered right now. It wasn't really like her. But then again, she had a lot on her mind lately. Things that had been keeping her up at night and listening for anyone coming up behind her.

Thankfully, Gambit went to speaking again to pull her out of that dark spiral she was falling into even if the topic wasn't completely changed... considering he was speaking about thoughts and how too many of them could cloud things around a person. Azumi nodded a little even if she remained silent. A small smile was sent in the waiter's direction when she heard him approaching and as promised, the Cajun took the check.

The question of her not having tried any of his home's style of food surfaced, causing her to smile more genuinely and Azumi gave a soft chuckle at the mention of him fixing her some, some time.

"Only if you're trying to help me discover the ability to shoot flames out of my mouth and run at mach speed to the fridge for a quick drink." She chuckled out before almost grinning at him.

"Seriously though, if I can have some milk on the side or some bread or something to soak up the spice some, I wouldn't mind trying it out."

[Gambit]

"Naw, Gambit won't cook you stuff dat be too spicy for you. If you want, just tell him how spicy you can take it so he can make it slightly mild to your tastes." Gambit knew most of his cajun cuisine came with a little kick in the flavor. But if Azumi wasn't used to such, he can tame it down a little for her tongue. On the corner of his eye he could spot the bill coming his way. Within a few seconds, he whipped out his wallet and ran through it.

Once the bill was placed on his table, he looked at it and grinned. Cheaper than he thought. The cajun placed the bills on the platter given to him by the waiter. Once the guy left the table with the payment, Gambit looked back at Azumi. "So," the cajun said, "time to blow dis pop stand eh?" With that said he stood up from his seat and went over to her's. He helped Azumi up from her seat, just like a gentleman would do. He didn't lift her up from the chair or anything, he just pulled it back once she got up from it to give her room to move out of the table.

Soon enough, the two left the diner and rode off into the night. The two would have to head back to the lair now before the sun rises

[END THREAD]