A hotel as a place to hide

[Gambit]

"I can imagine," Gambit said. "How much time it took ya?" he dropped the bag with the groceries to the bed.

[Shade]

Shade closed an eye, thinking. "Don´t know exactly." she said. "An hour roughly, maybe a little less."

[Gambit]

"Better dan most fare at deir first," Gambit nodded. "Provided it was your first, of course." He kicked his shoes off and took his shirt off as well, sitting down on the bed.

[Shade]

"It was" Shade said with a nod, before she discarded the towel an joined him on the bed, crossing her legs. "With some help from the Great Google." She leaned forward slightly to see what he had bought.

[Gambit]

Gambit took out three plastic boxes with salads, putting them on the bed between himself and Shade and opening each of them. "Choose what you want," he said, offering her a set of plastic utensils.

[Shade]

Shade picked a fork, had a look at the boxes and then, unable to decide what to pick, simply started to eat a bit of everything in turn, not bothering to make much of a fuss. After a moment of silence, she looked at Gambit. She had been thinking about which of her questions to ask first, and decided to go for something that would not need too much revealing on his part, or at least she thought so. "Not that I would mind a hotel room, because I don´t really mind where we meet..." she said, meaning it. His presence was more important than a place. "but ... you not staying at your apartment any more?"

[Gambit]

"Not now," Gambit replied. He decided not to mention that he hadn't set a foot there since he had left for New Orleans. "I'll be movin' out soon." He took one of the boxes and started to eat. The bottles with drinks were right there next to them, so Shade would notice them and take some if she wanted.

[Shade]

Shade nodded, content that he decided to give a slightly more lengthy answer than a simple ´no´. Still, his answer raised more questions that prompted to be asked all at the same time. She forced herself to bring them into an order. "Where will you be staying then?" she asked. "Once you´ve moved out? You´ve been looking for another place already?"

[Gambit]

"I came back today a few hours ago," Gambit replied. "I bought a bike an' den sent ya a message." It was supposed to answer her last question as a 'no, I haven't'. He ate a spoonful of his salad and added, "I got a real estate agent who'll take care of it."

[Shade]

His reply somewhat reminded her of her earlier remark, where he had told her he just wanted to be with her now, not ease his mind. Shade nodded, taking one of the drinks. "I was just wondering." she said. "It´s just that I´ve got a whole lot of questions spinning through my head like now and some of them are nagging to be asked."

[Gambit]

"Shoot," Gambit agreed.

[Shade]

Why did you stay away so long? Were there troubles back home? Cause I was starting to get worried... what was on your mind earlier that made you so distant and gloomy? Her thoughts were intertwined with each other, but all of these questions seemed to delve too deep and head back to prompting him to talk about what was troubling him which he had stated already he did not want to.

She looked at Gambit and found another question resurfacing, one that seemed somewhat more dominant. "Those cuts." she said looking at his neck, feeling a mix of slight anger and concern. She knew he could very well defend himself, but still it was a cut near the throat and she at least guessed that matters in New Orleans were somewhat dangerous. "Who did that?"

[Gambit]

Gambit gave a wide smile that bordered on gratification. "My wife," he said.

[Shade]

The answer was unexpected. Gambit had mentioned his wife several times during their relationship already and just as she had done with his open comment about other women after their conversation on that boat on Hudson, Shade had come around to deal with that fact - mostly by not really giving it much thought. It had become a great deal easier in the last weeks, after he had told her he needed her, after he was showing more affection and was allowing himself to be emotional with her which had given Shade the proud viewpoint that the others were just ... others. Challenge, sex. Whereas he needed her, confessed that he thought he was in love with her. That made her special. His wife was sort of a different matter as although they obviously did not see each other often, it was more strange for her to think about the fact that he was married, however that marriage looked like with guild matters and sporadic visits.

Obviously, she thought, that last encounter had not been a too pleasant one. As she had thought before, Gambit knew how to defend himself and he was far too keen on not sticking out from the crowd, thief that he was, to willingly let those cuts happen. So maybe that was part of what had caused his earlier anxiety. Which again prompted the question about what had pissed off the other woman to an extent that she would want to injure Gambit. She wondered whether his wife knew about her relationship with Gambit, or whether she guessed it.

She put the fork down, giving him a sceptical look, one eyebrow raised, being somewhat astounded at herself for the fact that his words did not affect her ... much and that she was actually smirking a little. "So she either has a temper or she must´ve been majorly pissed." she said.

[Gambit]

"Make it both," Gambit said, pleased that she was taking his answer rather calmly.