Tamara and Shen - Backdated
Aug. 8th, 2017 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainThe day after the museum incident, Shen finds Tamara upset about more things than she'd expected. So then they make serious plans that have nothing to do with boys.
The next morning, Shen still wasn't feeling very zen about any of this, and she hadn't slept much beside. She talked a good game about fighting discrimination and hate in their many forms, but she'd never been confronted to the type of full-out mob-hatred her schoolmates had, and the treatment of the story in the press made her see red whenever she thought about it. There was a deep-seated anger in her that had led her to answer internet comments for part of the night - as if that was ever useful - and she was just getting this second-hand!
So she'd dropped her wings in the shower so they wouldn't get in the way of any workout equipment, then hit the gym with a vengeance. It was part of her usual routine, anyway - and she could already see some results in her muscle definition - but that morning she went all out, and didn't stop until the soreness had settled in nicely. And then she went for a flight. Growing her wings back only took a couple of minutes these days, and it would get better still.
She hit the showers to rinse off the sweat and got back to her room, wings still damp, right as her phone buzzed. Tamara, rec room. On my way, she swipe-typed. Stopping by the kitchen first. Any cravings?
Tamara thought for a minute before responding. Warren had taken off after the movie, definitely still acting weird, but there wasn't much she could do about that right now. Well, other than sit here, frustrated, which was exactly why she'd reached out to Shen for a distraction. No way Shen would pull the spoiled-rich-boy routine with her, after all.
None of which was immediately relevant. Right. What was she hungry for?
Popcorn? After weeks of being stuck on her belly, Tamara'd gotten used to friends bringing food, and why not? It was all free anyway.
Be there in a minute. Shen hit Send as she reached the kitchen. She microwaved a bag of vegan popcorn, grabbed a plate of fruits, added a tab of vegan chocolate on it, then headed over to the rec room. "Hey," she greeted her friend, and set the stuff down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Popcorn, as requested. How're you doing?"
Tamara waved as Shen came in, and eagerly grabbed the popcorn from her. She'd taken up her usual spot on her belly on the sectional, wings on either side of her. She didn't have to sit like this anymore, but it was still way better than trying to sit like a normal person and squishing her wings in weird ways. Plus, the stretch felt nice today.
"Thanks Shen," she said with a grateful smile. "I'm... I dunno. I'm all mixed up today I guess. How're you holding up?" Shen hadn't been at the protest, but she was super woke and likely to be feeling it all the same.
"Me? I'm good," Shen replied, surprised at the question. She hadn't been there, after all. "Keyed up and spoiling for a fight, but I figure that's pretty normal." She gave Tamara a smile as she grabbed a chair and dragged it over by the couch, turning it around to drape her arms on its back - and, mostly, to leave room for her wings. She grabbed a mandarine and started peeling it. "Mixed up, huh?"
"Yeah. There's just... a lot." Tamara frowned, tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth. "Some people think I'm a freaking terrorist, and it all happened so fast yesterday, and part of me's super proud but part of me is like, wow, we could've been really hurt, y'know?" She was rambling, but whatever, she felt entitled to that right now. "And then Warren and I had, I dunno, a fight? And now he's being really weird..."
Shen had been about to address the pride-slash-freakout thing when Tamara kept talking, and she frowned. "You had a fight?" Had the idiot criticized Tamara's actions at the protest or something? Oh, Shen was going to rip him a new one if he had.
"Yeah!" Honestly, Tamara was kind of glad to talk about something that wasn't her burgeoning career as a terrorist. Talking about boys was just so normal by comparison. "Okay, so, he and I have been getting close this summer, right? But then yesterday happens, I almost get run over by a mob of bigots and it's national news, and from him? Nothing! Not even a 'hey, r u ok' text." She paused to let Shen react, but was really just getting started on this story. And seriously, Shen had texted her yesterday - it wasn't like it was some huge ask or expectation!
Shen wrinkled her nose at the news, but hadn't meant to interrupt. When Tamara paused, though, she agreed, "That is pretty shitty." Boys were idiots.
"So this morning he texts, and I'm a little mad at him, but tell him to come over. And he's clueless, because it's Warren, of course he is. But whatever, I was kind of expecting the clueless, right?" She met Shen's eyes, dropping the real bomb of this story. "I was not expecting his neck to be friggin' covered in hickeys."
Shen's eyes widened, and when she spoke, her pitch had gone up in surprise. "From last night?"
"That's what I thought!" Seriously, what else was Tamara supposed to think? "I guess they're actually from the night before, but still!"
Right, okay. Shen nodded. "So he was an insensitive ass, and probably completely clueless." Boys. Of course Warren could get hickeys from whoever he liked, but covering them up when going to see an already freaked out Tamara would have been the decent thing to do.
"Exactly!" Tamara was so glad Shen understood. She'd been half afraid Shen would think she sounded crazy too, like Warren seemed to. "And then I'm there thinking 'oh my god, has he had a girlfriend this whole time we've been flirting' - I mean, I've been stuck on bed rest, how would I know? Flirting's great, but I don't want to be strung along by some pretty white boy!" Worse, a rich one. "I am not about that." Shit, she was starting to feel like crap all over again. She stuffed some popcorn in her mouth, squashing doubts about Warren seeing her as less than nothing.
"He's a boy," Shen stated, dropping the mandarine peel on the table. "He probably didn't realize the flirting meant something to you. Which really sucks," she added with a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry, Tam."
"It gets worse," Tamara said, huffing a little sigh and looking dejectedly into the bag of popcorn. "So I got mad, and he decides it's because I'm jealous, and basically tries to give me this 'we're not dating' talk, like I'm an idiot. Gave me this stupid line, like, 'I didn't know I mattered' - god, why are boys so dumb??"
"Well, they're boys," Shen replied, since it wasn't like Tamara actually wanted to have that conversation. "And Warren's got privileges coming out of his ass. He was bound to be an idiot in some ways." Shen hadn't quite expected him to be an idiot of that magnitude. He had to have been blind and deaf all summer not to realize that Tamara liked him.
Tamara rested her chin on one of her hands, giving Shen a grateful look (through her pout, anyway). "Should've know he was too good to be true. Dammit." Another little sigh. "So yeah, basically I'm a mutant terrorist with boy problems and sore wings. How's your life lately?"
"I only get sore when I really push myself by now, so you've got that to look forward to," Shen replied with a half smile. She'd done just that that morning, of course, and she could already feel the soreness in her back and wings. She paused, then admitted, "I feel like I should've been there. Which is insane, 'cause that wouldn't have helped anything. I'm just so pissed off, and I wasn't even there. I can't imagine what it must be like for you."
"God, I don't know what this says about me, but... I wasn't scared," Tamara said, glancing at Shen to see if she thought that was bad. "Like, I was when I first headed over, but then Tommy and Clarice came with, Terry too, and it was just like... powerful. And they're supposed to stay peaceful, so why not give them some of that abuse back, show their ignorant faces to the world?" That part had felt really good. "Then the rest is just a blur. And I mean, I knew they could hurt us, but I had all that adrenaline going, so I just focused on keeping them off us while Clare got us out."
"Sounds smart," Shen told her with a nod. "And it's good, that you feel this way standing with other mutants. It's really easy to feel doubt and vulnerability, instead. Especially being women." They were sort of conditioned that way from the start. It freaking sucked.
"Yeah, but if we feel that, then the patriarchy wins," Tamara replied, tongue in cheek (not because she disagreed, but because she knew she and Shen were on the same page there). "Can't have that."
Shen popped a piece of mandarine into her mouth, then held her fist out to Tamara. "Sing it, sister."
Tamara bumped her fist with a grin. "Okay, so in that case, I want your opinion on something." Not something Tamara often asked for from anyone, unless it was outfit related, but Shen would give her good advice. "I kind of want to put something up on YouTube. Y'know, tell our side of the story! Hell, maybe even make a whole youtube channel on mutant rights and stuff. Is that crazy?"
"I've been arguing with haters all night, I think it's a great idea, but be ready for some hardcore comments," Shen told her honestly. "Gar and I have been talking of setting up an activist club. Maybe that could be one of the projects? We need a way to make our voices heard." Though the Professor might not like it, what with wanting to keep this place secret. Shen frowned at that thought.
"Yesss, let's start that club! Way better than this fencing BS..." Finally, a club Tamara actually wanted to join. "And if I'm gonna be a symbol of the Mutant Menace, I should at least get a voice in it, right?"
"If you want to be," Shen agreed with a grin, and a decisive nod. It was way better than the fencing BS, especially since it wasn't led by a non-mutant here to study them, she still couldn't believe that bullshit, and the fact that there hadn't even been an announcement. The school just wasn't the safe space she'd thought it might be. Still, it was safer than most spaces. Done with the mandarine, she reached for the chocolate. "I need to bring it up with Gar, but I've been thinking about it - we should probably get one of the teachers to sponsor it, so we have an ally in the faculty. I was thinking of asking Stevie." But obviously, she wasn't going to go and ask her right now.
"I have no idea how clubs work," Tamara told her with a lopsided smile. "But Youtube I can handle."
Moving straight on from talk about setting up the club, though. "I don't want to take over your project if you just want it to be yours," Shen stated after chewing on a piece of sweet, vegan chocolate. "But it'd be neat to put different mutant voices out there. If you want to give that a thought." She chewed on her lip for a second. "And whatever you end up doing, you should talk to Kitty about making it untraceable to this place."
"Oooh, good idea! I was worrying about that!" Put that way, maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. Oh man, Tamara was going to need to start writing down ideas...
"Technically, I guess you, or we if you wanna end up going one channel for different mutant voices, should talk to the Professor before putting anything out there," Shen admitted. Because even if Kitty made things untraceable, she could go into town and be recognized as that girl from that YouTube channel. "So if you wanna skip that step, it's better you don't associate with the club. I'd still support you one hundred percent!" she hastened to add. "And I'd do so loudly. But if we ask a teacher to sponsor us, chances are they'll," keeping it neutral in case Stevie wasn't on board, "talk to Xavier about whatever we wanna do."
Tamara frowned, considering. "...yeah, might be better to ask forgiveness than permission in this case, huh?" Another thought... "You don't think Kitty would snitch if I talked to her, do you?"
"I'd definitely talk to her before doing anything whatsoever," Shen answered honestly. "Whether or not I thought she might snitch. Which I don't, for the record. But even if she does - there's a difference between doing something we think is right with measured risks and leading assholes right to our doorstep."
"Agreed." Come to think of it, she probably shouldn't even tell Kitty what she was up to. Kitty couldn't snitch if she didn't know (...which incidentally would avoid any questions of conscience for Kitty, but pragmatism first). "Okay, now I just need to figure out what to say..."
Shen assumed she meant 'just' as in 'beside talking to Kitty', and nodded. "If you want to go over material before filming stuff, I'm there."
"Awesome, thanks." Seriously, Tamara loved how Shen just got it. "And if I need a camera woman...?"
"Oh yeah, totally," Shen nodded without giving it a second's thought.
Tamara grinned. "Awesome."
Shen chuckled. "Okay, we have a plan."
"Or a plot, or a scheme or... something like that." 'Plan' sounded way too boring, Tamara thought with a little smirk. Having a way to hit back made her feel a lot better.
Shen shrugged with an amused smile. "I like plan better." The rest sounded too nefarious, and there was nothing nefarious about what they wanted to do.
Tamara rolled her eyes. "Plans are for dates or shopping, things like that. This is way cooler."
"There are plans and there plans," Shen retorted. "This is definitely a plan."
"Okay, fine," Tamara relented, tossing some popcorn in her mouth. Then she tried to suppress a little grin as another thought occurred to her. "But I might have to scheme a little where Warren's concerned. Fair?"
Shen laughed, taking that as a joke. "Totally."
The next morning, Shen still wasn't feeling very zen about any of this, and she hadn't slept much beside. She talked a good game about fighting discrimination and hate in their many forms, but she'd never been confronted to the type of full-out mob-hatred her schoolmates had, and the treatment of the story in the press made her see red whenever she thought about it. There was a deep-seated anger in her that had led her to answer internet comments for part of the night - as if that was ever useful - and she was just getting this second-hand!
So she'd dropped her wings in the shower so they wouldn't get in the way of any workout equipment, then hit the gym with a vengeance. It was part of her usual routine, anyway - and she could already see some results in her muscle definition - but that morning she went all out, and didn't stop until the soreness had settled in nicely. And then she went for a flight. Growing her wings back only took a couple of minutes these days, and it would get better still.
She hit the showers to rinse off the sweat and got back to her room, wings still damp, right as her phone buzzed. Tamara, rec room. On my way, she swipe-typed. Stopping by the kitchen first. Any cravings?
Tamara thought for a minute before responding. Warren had taken off after the movie, definitely still acting weird, but there wasn't much she could do about that right now. Well, other than sit here, frustrated, which was exactly why she'd reached out to Shen for a distraction. No way Shen would pull the spoiled-rich-boy routine with her, after all.
None of which was immediately relevant. Right. What was she hungry for?
Popcorn? After weeks of being stuck on her belly, Tamara'd gotten used to friends bringing food, and why not? It was all free anyway.
Be there in a minute. Shen hit Send as she reached the kitchen. She microwaved a bag of vegan popcorn, grabbed a plate of fruits, added a tab of vegan chocolate on it, then headed over to the rec room. "Hey," she greeted her friend, and set the stuff down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Popcorn, as requested. How're you doing?"
Tamara waved as Shen came in, and eagerly grabbed the popcorn from her. She'd taken up her usual spot on her belly on the sectional, wings on either side of her. She didn't have to sit like this anymore, but it was still way better than trying to sit like a normal person and squishing her wings in weird ways. Plus, the stretch felt nice today.
"Thanks Shen," she said with a grateful smile. "I'm... I dunno. I'm all mixed up today I guess. How're you holding up?" Shen hadn't been at the protest, but she was super woke and likely to be feeling it all the same.
"Me? I'm good," Shen replied, surprised at the question. She hadn't been there, after all. "Keyed up and spoiling for a fight, but I figure that's pretty normal." She gave Tamara a smile as she grabbed a chair and dragged it over by the couch, turning it around to drape her arms on its back - and, mostly, to leave room for her wings. She grabbed a mandarine and started peeling it. "Mixed up, huh?"
"Yeah. There's just... a lot." Tamara frowned, tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth. "Some people think I'm a freaking terrorist, and it all happened so fast yesterday, and part of me's super proud but part of me is like, wow, we could've been really hurt, y'know?" She was rambling, but whatever, she felt entitled to that right now. "And then Warren and I had, I dunno, a fight? And now he's being really weird..."
Shen had been about to address the pride-slash-freakout thing when Tamara kept talking, and she frowned. "You had a fight?" Had the idiot criticized Tamara's actions at the protest or something? Oh, Shen was going to rip him a new one if he had.
"Yeah!" Honestly, Tamara was kind of glad to talk about something that wasn't her burgeoning career as a terrorist. Talking about boys was just so normal by comparison. "Okay, so, he and I have been getting close this summer, right? But then yesterday happens, I almost get run over by a mob of bigots and it's national news, and from him? Nothing! Not even a 'hey, r u ok' text." She paused to let Shen react, but was really just getting started on this story. And seriously, Shen had texted her yesterday - it wasn't like it was some huge ask or expectation!
Shen wrinkled her nose at the news, but hadn't meant to interrupt. When Tamara paused, though, she agreed, "That is pretty shitty." Boys were idiots.
"So this morning he texts, and I'm a little mad at him, but tell him to come over. And he's clueless, because it's Warren, of course he is. But whatever, I was kind of expecting the clueless, right?" She met Shen's eyes, dropping the real bomb of this story. "I was not expecting his neck to be friggin' covered in hickeys."
Shen's eyes widened, and when she spoke, her pitch had gone up in surprise. "From last night?"
"That's what I thought!" Seriously, what else was Tamara supposed to think? "I guess they're actually from the night before, but still!"
Right, okay. Shen nodded. "So he was an insensitive ass, and probably completely clueless." Boys. Of course Warren could get hickeys from whoever he liked, but covering them up when going to see an already freaked out Tamara would have been the decent thing to do.
"Exactly!" Tamara was so glad Shen understood. She'd been half afraid Shen would think she sounded crazy too, like Warren seemed to. "And then I'm there thinking 'oh my god, has he had a girlfriend this whole time we've been flirting' - I mean, I've been stuck on bed rest, how would I know? Flirting's great, but I don't want to be strung along by some pretty white boy!" Worse, a rich one. "I am not about that." Shit, she was starting to feel like crap all over again. She stuffed some popcorn in her mouth, squashing doubts about Warren seeing her as less than nothing.
"He's a boy," Shen stated, dropping the mandarine peel on the table. "He probably didn't realize the flirting meant something to you. Which really sucks," she added with a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry, Tam."
"It gets worse," Tamara said, huffing a little sigh and looking dejectedly into the bag of popcorn. "So I got mad, and he decides it's because I'm jealous, and basically tries to give me this 'we're not dating' talk, like I'm an idiot. Gave me this stupid line, like, 'I didn't know I mattered' - god, why are boys so dumb??"
"Well, they're boys," Shen replied, since it wasn't like Tamara actually wanted to have that conversation. "And Warren's got privileges coming out of his ass. He was bound to be an idiot in some ways." Shen hadn't quite expected him to be an idiot of that magnitude. He had to have been blind and deaf all summer not to realize that Tamara liked him.
Tamara rested her chin on one of her hands, giving Shen a grateful look (through her pout, anyway). "Should've know he was too good to be true. Dammit." Another little sigh. "So yeah, basically I'm a mutant terrorist with boy problems and sore wings. How's your life lately?"
"I only get sore when I really push myself by now, so you've got that to look forward to," Shen replied with a half smile. She'd done just that that morning, of course, and she could already feel the soreness in her back and wings. She paused, then admitted, "I feel like I should've been there. Which is insane, 'cause that wouldn't have helped anything. I'm just so pissed off, and I wasn't even there. I can't imagine what it must be like for you."
"God, I don't know what this says about me, but... I wasn't scared," Tamara said, glancing at Shen to see if she thought that was bad. "Like, I was when I first headed over, but then Tommy and Clarice came with, Terry too, and it was just like... powerful. And they're supposed to stay peaceful, so why not give them some of that abuse back, show their ignorant faces to the world?" That part had felt really good. "Then the rest is just a blur. And I mean, I knew they could hurt us, but I had all that adrenaline going, so I just focused on keeping them off us while Clare got us out."
"Sounds smart," Shen told her with a nod. "And it's good, that you feel this way standing with other mutants. It's really easy to feel doubt and vulnerability, instead. Especially being women." They were sort of conditioned that way from the start. It freaking sucked.
"Yeah, but if we feel that, then the patriarchy wins," Tamara replied, tongue in cheek (not because she disagreed, but because she knew she and Shen were on the same page there). "Can't have that."
Shen popped a piece of mandarine into her mouth, then held her fist out to Tamara. "Sing it, sister."
Tamara bumped her fist with a grin. "Okay, so in that case, I want your opinion on something." Not something Tamara often asked for from anyone, unless it was outfit related, but Shen would give her good advice. "I kind of want to put something up on YouTube. Y'know, tell our side of the story! Hell, maybe even make a whole youtube channel on mutant rights and stuff. Is that crazy?"
"I've been arguing with haters all night, I think it's a great idea, but be ready for some hardcore comments," Shen told her honestly. "Gar and I have been talking of setting up an activist club. Maybe that could be one of the projects? We need a way to make our voices heard." Though the Professor might not like it, what with wanting to keep this place secret. Shen frowned at that thought.
"Yesss, let's start that club! Way better than this fencing BS..." Finally, a club Tamara actually wanted to join. "And if I'm gonna be a symbol of the Mutant Menace, I should at least get a voice in it, right?"
"If you want to be," Shen agreed with a grin, and a decisive nod. It was way better than the fencing BS, especially since it wasn't led by a non-mutant here to study them, she still couldn't believe that bullshit, and the fact that there hadn't even been an announcement. The school just wasn't the safe space she'd thought it might be. Still, it was safer than most spaces. Done with the mandarine, she reached for the chocolate. "I need to bring it up with Gar, but I've been thinking about it - we should probably get one of the teachers to sponsor it, so we have an ally in the faculty. I was thinking of asking Stevie." But obviously, she wasn't going to go and ask her right now.
"I have no idea how clubs work," Tamara told her with a lopsided smile. "But Youtube I can handle."
Moving straight on from talk about setting up the club, though. "I don't want to take over your project if you just want it to be yours," Shen stated after chewing on a piece of sweet, vegan chocolate. "But it'd be neat to put different mutant voices out there. If you want to give that a thought." She chewed on her lip for a second. "And whatever you end up doing, you should talk to Kitty about making it untraceable to this place."
"Oooh, good idea! I was worrying about that!" Put that way, maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. Oh man, Tamara was going to need to start writing down ideas...
"Technically, I guess you, or we if you wanna end up going one channel for different mutant voices, should talk to the Professor before putting anything out there," Shen admitted. Because even if Kitty made things untraceable, she could go into town and be recognized as that girl from that YouTube channel. "So if you wanna skip that step, it's better you don't associate with the club. I'd still support you one hundred percent!" she hastened to add. "And I'd do so loudly. But if we ask a teacher to sponsor us, chances are they'll," keeping it neutral in case Stevie wasn't on board, "talk to Xavier about whatever we wanna do."
Tamara frowned, considering. "...yeah, might be better to ask forgiveness than permission in this case, huh?" Another thought... "You don't think Kitty would snitch if I talked to her, do you?"
"I'd definitely talk to her before doing anything whatsoever," Shen answered honestly. "Whether or not I thought she might snitch. Which I don't, for the record. But even if she does - there's a difference between doing something we think is right with measured risks and leading assholes right to our doorstep."
"Agreed." Come to think of it, she probably shouldn't even tell Kitty what she was up to. Kitty couldn't snitch if she didn't know (...which incidentally would avoid any questions of conscience for Kitty, but pragmatism first). "Okay, now I just need to figure out what to say..."
Shen assumed she meant 'just' as in 'beside talking to Kitty', and nodded. "If you want to go over material before filming stuff, I'm there."
"Awesome, thanks." Seriously, Tamara loved how Shen just got it. "And if I need a camera woman...?"
"Oh yeah, totally," Shen nodded without giving it a second's thought.
Tamara grinned. "Awesome."
Shen chuckled. "Okay, we have a plan."
"Or a plot, or a scheme or... something like that." 'Plan' sounded way too boring, Tamara thought with a little smirk. Having a way to hit back made her feel a lot better.
Shen shrugged with an amused smile. "I like plan better." The rest sounded too nefarious, and there was nothing nefarious about what they wanted to do.
Tamara rolled her eyes. "Plans are for dates or shopping, things like that. This is way cooler."
"There are plans and there plans," Shen retorted. "This is definitely a plan."
"Okay, fine," Tamara relented, tossing some popcorn in her mouth. Then she tried to suppress a little grin as another thought occurred to her. "But I might have to scheme a little where Warren's concerned. Fair?"
Shen laughed, taking that as a joke. "Totally."
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Date: 2017-09-05 10:28 am (UTC)Also she would NOT snitch, omg.
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Date: 2017-09-05 10:42 am (UTC)And totally unsurprised by that second. :D
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Date: 2017-09-05 02:25 pm (UTC)(And Tamara's read is that this school is full of do-gooders, a population she has historically never gotten along with. It's nothing personal! XD)
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Date: 2017-09-05 06:22 pm (UTC)(Warren says the only thing he loves about this log is the subject change...)
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Date: 2017-09-05 10:29 pm (UTC)