Mi Hermana y Yo

Carmen wasn't sure what to make of Amy.

She was a cute little thing, which made her raise an eyebrow. Army typically didn't go for cute little things. He wasn't exactly picky with the girls he brought home, but most of them were close to his own height, rough bitches who hung around the neighborhood. Amy didn't fit the usual profile. She looked like she hadn't been within a fifty mile radius of the sort of place they grew up in. Ever.

But she was polite, she was kind, and she was offering to help with her groceries. Carmen saw it as a change for Army, but not a bad change.

Her look softened at Amy's smile and she sighed, casting a quick glare at Army before she relaxed all the way. "Has he?" Carmen handed her two of the bags and moved past her into the kitchen, setting the others on the table. "He hasn't mentioned you, but it's not like things don't slip his mind all the time. Like certain rules..." She put some edge back into her voice as Army eased his way into the kitchen to get a few snacks out of the fridge.

She fished a banana out of the bags and plucked it off, then started to peel it open. "How did you two meet?" She held up her hand, fast and quick. "The PG version."

Amy followed her into the kitchen, placed her bags on the table beside the others, and began to put away groceries. She was finding Carmen to be fairly motherly; she’d have to work hard to not accidentally call her “Mrs. Rodriguez.”

“We-” Amy had started in response to Carmen's question, but Carmen hastily amended it to request propriety. Amy laughed good-naturedly. “Army gets into a lot of trouble, does he? He and I met at a baseball game a couple of days ago. I caught a homerun ball, and we bonded over that.”

Amy was making Carmen feel a bit old, but that wasn't her fault. It was weird talking with another generation like this, and it didn't help that she'd practically raised Army by herself growing up, taking over often while their parents were busy. In some ways, she was his mom, as creepy a thought as that was.

There was a snarky remark she could have made over 'bonding', but she kept it to herself and just nibbled at the banana. "Yes, yes he does. But I hope you'll keep him out of it." She reached over and gave Amy's shirt a playful tug on the tail. Well, Army's shirt that Amy was wearing. She doubted they were playing Checkers before she came in. "Or try to."

Carmen didn't want Amy to put up anything - she had her own system with things, knew where they should be. But she wasn't going to stop her. She wanted to help, and it wouldn't be a big deal to rearrange things once they left. Speaking of...

"I'm not getting in your way, am I?" She finished off the banana and tossed it into the trash. "Where were you two off to?"

Amy closed the fridge, finished with the bag that she was assigned, and turned around. She leaned against the refrigerator and gave a broad wink to Army. "I'll do my best, but no promises, Carmen. Trouble has always seemed to follow me around, even before I came to the AFW."

Amy went over to stand by Army and shook her head. "Not in the least. We were just on our way to meet a friend of mine for lunch. He's Tension, and he's been having some trouble with- that's putting it lightly. He won't hit girls, even though he's a boxer and he's absolute shit at everything else, so I'm hoping that Army here-" Amy reached way up so that she could pat Army on the shoulder. "will be able to talk some sense into him."

"Have you eaten? I don’t suppose you’d care to join us?”

Army put his hand in Amy's hair and mussed it up a bit, then moved back behind the refridgerator door for cover. "Yeah, can't imagine how that happened. Because you're so innocent and all."

Carmen considered the proposal for a second, looking over her shoulder as Army and his new playmate got along. She wasn't crazy about the idea of her younger brother swinging, but it was his life, and she wasn't in any spot to judge. It wasn't like her sex life hadn't sparked up since she joined the company, too.

Aside from her poor taste in men, Amy looked like a good girl, and she seemed to really want her approval. Plus, Carmen was always interested in meeting a fellow boxer, especially one she might be facing one day. Couldn't hurt.

Well, it could hurt, but after her last match, she was in the mood for that.

"Sure, I'll come." She nodded and stuffed her keys back into her pocket.

"Great!" Amy was a little surprised that Carmen agreed to join them, but she couldn't have been happier. While she was grateful that Army had agreed to meet with Nathan, she somehow sensed that Army lacked the sort of finesse that might be needed to peel away Nathan's defenses- or any sort of delicacy, really, but especially that kind. No, when Nathan gave up his misguided and unnecessary sense of chivalry, it would be because a woman made him do it.

Amy pulled out her phone. "Carmen, are you good to leave right now? I can have Nathan meet us outside here if you want to shower first. Army, I will need help sending him directions from the station, though."

Carmen shrugged and sniffed her shoulder - she was still a tad crusty from the workout, and unlike Army and the 'smell test' he used to determine what wearable or not, she liked to stay fresh at all time. If she was going to meet new people, she'd make sure her first impression was a clean one.

"Sure, just give me a little time to clean up and I'll be good. Un momento." She finished putting away the groceries and stepped out of the kitchen, making her way towards the bathroom in the back of their house.

Army waited until she was out of earshot to look back at Amy and give her a little punch in the shoulder, snickering all the way. "You are extremely good at sucking up. That was golden."

Amy watched as Carmen left. "Your sister’s nice. I like her." Then she turned to Army.

She averted her eyes innocently, but she had a small smile on her face. "I don’t know what you're talking about. This is how I usually am; you just bring out the worst in me."

Then she punched him back in the stomach playfully. "But yes, thank you, I am extremely good at sucking up. If you ever find yourself with something I want that you didn’t already want to give me, I’ll let you have the full experience." She passed Army her phone. "Tell Nathan how to get here."

Army tried to think up a good comeback to that, but Amy was right. She was just so unbearably cute and yet ridiculously sexy, that if she put her mind to it there probably wasn't too much she couldn't get out of him. He pitied her parents. The bills they wracked up during Christmas must have been insane.

"Yes ma'am, right away ma'am, since you asked so nicely." He stuck his tongue out her way and talked to Nathan, letting him know what was up.

It wasn't long before they were at the station - Carmen cleaned up fast and the walk wasn't too long for the three of them. Army found a nice wall to lean against and play some Angry Birds, while they waited on Nathan to show.

"So, tell me a little more about Nathan." Carmen broke the silence as she looked down at Amy from the shadows of her red hoodie. "How well does he fight against other men?"

Amy scanned the station a third time. It wasn't like Nathan to be late. Did he sense that she was springing another intervention? But he'd spoken to Army, proof positive that she did, in fact, have at least one body on this end for him to meet. And, if that body was a dude, he was most likely not getting suckered into another surprise match with a sex-crazy maneater. Probably.

Carmen's question broke into her thoughts. Amy turned, thought for a second, and then shook her head. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I kind of remember him telling me that he won a few regional tournaments in high school, but I think he boxed mostly to keep in shape, and not as part of anything competitive. Oh, actually, he wrecked in this one open boxing tournament the Boxing Club held back in college, so I guess he's decent enough when he's not holding back." Amy sighed. "But that was years ago. I sparred with him when we first saw each other here in Japan, and he was a total pushover. I don't think he's been keeping up with his training, and I'm a little afraid for how he'll make out out here."

"Hey." Amy yelped and spun around. Nathan had arrived; he wore a navy scarf over a black pea coat over black slacks, and he was slightly out of breath. "Sorry. I took the wrong station exit. I was waiting over on the other side." Before Amy could wonder whether or not he had heard her, Nathan introduced himself, sticking out a cordial hand. "Hello. I'm Nathan. I'm Amy's pushover friend. It's nice to meet you both."