Amber and Bray's room: Amber and Bray present

[_bray_]

Bray let himself be dragged upstairs, this wasn't going to be easy... but he had to go. How could he stay here, if only for a while he had to be away from this place

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[amber_warning]

"I have no idea how much you hate him? Try this for size Bray, he tested on me too, he wired me up to some machine and put me through all kinds of VR hell. If it hadn't been for the Mall Rats he would have had me killed too. Not only did I have to cope with the VR withdrawal from that but I had to cope with raising a son on my own and believing that you could be dead thanks to that man, so don't even try and tell me I don't understand!" Amber didn't mean to take her anger out on Bray, but he had certainly pushed the wrong buttons and Amber couldn't help herself.

"So you think running away from all this is going to help? If something has gone wrong and you go to the Ecos then something awful could happen to you, and I . . . " the end of that sentence would have been 'never see you again' but Amber stopped herself from saying it. "Surely, you need to stay here and we both need to talk to Ved and ask him exactly what he did."

[_bray_]

Bray groaned inwardly, he'd chose the wrong words. "sorry," he said... "I know it couldn't have been easy, or anywhere close,but what ahppened..." he couldn't finish that, for one he didn't want to try and belittle what she'd gone through, and he didn't want to relive it again.

"Ved's a techno, how can he be trusted?" Bray asked in reference to her question... "he's already betrayed the Mallrats by going to Ram. Who's to say he won't do it again? What if he's passing information onto Ram?"

[amber_warning]

Amber sighed. Bray's apology had softened her a little, she just couldn't understand his wanting to leave when surely the place to find answers was right in the Mall. "Ved's a former Techno. In case you didn't notice the stamp mark on his hand, he's a Mall Rat now. Siva and Jay are former Technos too, not to mention all the ex members of the Chosen, including our city leader Salene. You can't judge people on their past all the time Bray, you should know that. Look at Trudy, former supreme mother. Two years ago would you have trusted her looking after your son

[_bray_]

"I don't trust Jay or Ved... how do we know they're not upto something? Just because they won a publicity contest that means they get to call this place," he gestured the mall again, "home."

"I'm not leaving for good... but I don't feel I can stay here... I'm sorry for that. I doubt I'm welcome by most people anyway." He knew he was clutching at straws, but he had to go, and he had to make Amber see that it was for the best.

[amber_warning]

As Bray seemed to flinch in pain, Amber grew concerned. Clearly Bray hadn't completely recovered, and his confession that he might need a nap later wasn't a surprise to Amber. "Well, just don't push yourself, ok?" She reached up and gently massaged the place on his forhead where the pain seemed to be. The fact that Bray had refused to promise to Amber that he wouldn't leave had not gone unnoticed, however, Amber was not going to mention it. She hoped that what she said had not gone unheard and that it would make Bray think twice before he did anything rash.

"I better go and rescue Trudy from Bray soon, he'll be all smelly and in need of a change. The joys of motherhood." Amber said, smiling up at Bray.

[_bray_]

Bray let Amber take a step before he pulled her back in for a quick kiss, hugging her to him in an embrace. She was a mother, the mother of his child, his baby, one he had not had enough time with himself, he loved his son but he felt as if he hardly knew him. It saddened him, he wouldn't want his son to grow up without knowing his father, he deserved more than that. Bray had promised his own father he wouldn't make the same mistakes the adults had, and even in small ways that meant taking care of his child, in more than just providing. Bray released Amber from the kiss, running his thumb along her jawline, "You need to finish eating breakfast. I'll take care of the baby," he promised. He hadn't yet eaten breakfast, but he wasn't yet hungry, and he could eat once he'd cleaned up the baby, if he didn't lose his appetite first. It really was a good thing he'd had practice with Brady as a baby, that gave him the confidence he needed to know he could do the same for his baby.

[amber_warning]

Amber smiled in appreciation. "It would be so lovely to start the day without a smelly diaper." She kissed him, pulling him close to her. "There's a bag underneath my desk with all the baby stuff in it. And there's a drawer with some clean clothes in for him." Amber paused for a second, realising she was starting to sound like a scary mom frightening the life out of a new babysitter or something. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sure you'll cope, and if not, there are plenty of people around to help."

[_bray_]

"I did take care of Brady you know," he reminded her, but the mirth in his eyes shown through, the amusement on his lips evident. "Right I will get the supplies together, I'll come rescue him from Auntie Trudy soon," he said with a laugh, turning away and heading for the desk, pulling out the bag. He riffled through it, everything seemed to be in the bag, and he opened the drawer, searching for an outfit for his son, they sure did have a lot of different things for him to wear, which was good, but how did he know what to choose? He pulled out a Red, White, and Blue coverall with a teddy bear on it, and a pair of matching socks, shrugging. Bray guessed it didn't matter too much, he was just going to end up messing it up and needing to be changed before the end of the day anyway. Bray stood up, grabbing the bottle of baby shampoo from the changing table and tucking it into the bag, carrying it with him towards the Cafe.