ax_main | Teddy and Shen | Shinobi's Party

Shen thinks Billy and Teddy are adorable, and Teddy's not entirely used to being the center of positive attention.

Shen was just looking away, yet again, from how hot Tamara looked tonight, when her gaze landed on Teddy - and this time, he wasn't with Billy. Not that she minded him with Billy, on the contrary! It was awesome on so many levels. But she hadn't wanted to intrude on their 'them' time, and now he was on his own!

So she headed over, grinning like an idiot. "So things worked out, huh?"

Billy was a social butterfly, but Teddy needed a little bit of a chance to catch his breath once in a while. He'd made it to the drinks and was turning around to survey the room from a safer distance when Shen practically floated up beside him. Her smile was knowing and bright, and he ducked his head, laughing a little at himself, at the obvious question. "Yeah. Pretty well, actually. I hear I have you to thank for more of it than I knew. You and Tamara make a pretty effective tag-team."

Shen was in no state to manage to hold in the very brief, very slight, but very real wince at those last words, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. Micro-expressions were hard to control even at the most sober of times, okay? "Yeah, I didn't yell at him." Not what mattered, Shen. "But that's not what matters! You guys! That's what matters!"

Oh boy, She was blinking up at him and looking a little wobbly, but she seemed to be in the happy-shiny phase of things rather than the watch-out-for-shoes stage, so that was all good. And maybe reminding her about the pile-on on Billy hadn't been a good plan, because she'd made a face, but that too seemed to have passed quickly. Teddy couldn't help the smile that tugged on his lips. "No, I'm pretty sure Tamara did the yelling. But either way, I owe you one. Two, probably. You were - are - a really good friend to me, when I really needed it. So, um. Thank you. I mean it."

Awww. All she'd wanted was to gush about him and Billy, but here he was, making her feel all warm and fuzzy. "You're welcome," she told him, and then, "Hug?" She really wanted to hug him. Like, a lot.

"Yeah, absolutely." Teddy set his drink down and offered his hand to her. He'd gone from feeling so alone in the world only weeks ago to being surrounded by more support and affection than he'd ever seriously imagined he'd deserve, and it seemed to have happened all at once. It was still a bit surreal.

Shen wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him with all of the affection of a drunk friend. "You don't owe me anything," she told his shoulder. "Just - pay it forward?" She squeezed him again, then pulled back to grin up at him. "And, you know, enjoy, apparently."

His arms settled around her easily and he squeezed back, careful not to squish too hard. She was warm against his side and there was that rush of elation again that apparently, this was his life now, with huggy friends who cared. "Will do," he promised then ducked his head, grinning sheepishly at her knowing smile. "And... yeah. He's pretty great. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that this is actually all happening."

"How did it happen? I want to know everything!" Shen stated with a happy grin. "Well, okay, everything you want to tell me, no pressure." She meant that, even drunk.

"Yeah, I'm not telling you everything," Teddy laughed, shaking his head at her. "Um. He apologized, mostly. He fried my DS when he set off the blackout, so he found me a new one - new used, anyway - to replace it. I'm still not sure how he did that. And he dropped it off at Nick's room with a milkshake and an apology note. And..." he trailed off, the top of his cheeks flushing warm. "I missed him. It's not like I haven't said really dumb things in the past either. So I texted him, we talked some of it out.

"I probably would have just left it at that, except that's when I found out he wasn't actually dating Kurt after all. This all sounds so dumb when I say it out loud," Teddy groaned and shook his head at himself. "Like some dumb teen soap. But yeah. There was no way I was ever going to make a move on him if he was seeing someone, but since he isn't- wasn't- yeah." He flashed Shen a pleased grin. "I 'fessed up, he asked me out, I said yes, and that's where I'm going to stop talking."

Shen clapped her hands excitedly. "That's amazing! I'm so glad it all worked out. But - wait. You thought he was dating Kurt?"

Teddy's hands found his pockets and he jammed them in there, shrugging uncomfortably. "Yeah. The way they were dancing at the last party, some things I heard. I just got the wrong idea. And Kurt's a great guy, I didn't want to do or say anything that would cause problems -- on top of all my own issues."

"Dude, ask someone, next time," Shen told him with raised eyebrows. "Preferably one of the people involved." She grinned again. "Not that there will be a next time! Because you and Billy!" She kind of wanted to draw hearts all around their names; that was how she knew that she really was hammered.

"I didn't think it would matter because I wasn't planning on coming out, remember?" He nudged her teasingly, the sting inside at his own words a little duller than it would have been yesterday, and the day before that. Apparently he could forgive himself for being dumber than dirt when everyone else seemed to have already done the same. "'Billy-and-Teddy' - it's got a good ring to it." And Teddy was apparently back to grinning like a moron, and thankfully Shen seemed more than willing to put up with it.

Shen was grinning like a moron right back. "It has! And you guys are so cute."

"Okay, you can stop now," Teddy laughed, hands up. "I'm starting to feel on display here. Your turn," he changed the subject, nudging her again. "Who have you got your eye on?"

Shen made a grimace. "Ugh, no one. Last time I made out with someone resulted in way too much drama. I'm taking a break from my sex drive, or something. It's probably for the best, or I'd have hit on you at the Brotherhood party, I'm pretty sure." She was saying so because it was true! He was hot, and he was cool for a white guy.

Teddy winced, his smile rueful. "That would have been awkward," he agreed. "I'm glad you didn't, because I would have hated to have hurt your feelings."

Shen waved that aside. "I can deal with someone not wanting to make out with me. But it would've sucked if things had been awkward between us afterwards." Like, what if that would have stopped him from opening up to her when she'd found him after his fight with Billy? Major sucking, way worse than a rejection.

"But it didn't, and we're good." Shen was sweet when she was tipsy, Teddy decided. A lot more relaxed than when she was sober - which was, he supposed, most of the point.

"We're great," Shen stated, and meant it 100%. "I'm really glad we're friends."

"And teammates, assuming the Professor ever gets this X-Men thing off the ground." Teddy glanced at her drink, trying to figure out what it was she had in there, but there was no hope. "It'll be good to go in knowing we've got each other's backs."

"Well, we could also stop waiting around on his old white ass," Shen replied with raised eyebrows, and then laughed. "I mean, we're supposed to be a team. Let's show initiative! Kitty was talking about getting us started on training together, at least. We just need the list of members from him."

"Or set a date for a meeting and spread the word," Teddy suggested. "I'm sure there are people still on the fence who might not have signed on the dotted line officially yet." Gar came to mind, and a few of the other buzzing conversations that seemed to still be swirling around the cafeteria and lounge. "I'm in, so's Billy. Jack said he was interested, but I don't know if he's spoken to the Professor about it yet."

"That's a good idea," Shen said after a beat spent contemplating it. It was what the forums were for, wasn't it! "I'll talk to Kitty!"

Teddy nodded along. "I'll keep an eye out for the announcement. What sort of training were you guys thinking about?"

"Danger Room stuff, I guess?" Shen answered, wings shifting slightly behind her. "For team purposes. To work as a team. If we're going to be one!"

"That thing is amazing," Teddy replied, entirely sincerely. "I've been so tempted to try and convince Kitty to run a D&D game in there, but I have absolutely no idea how to go about programming a scenario. It's like a holodeck in there."

"A what?" Shen asked with a confused frown.

"Holodeck," Teddy prompted, assuming she just hadn't heard him clearly the first time. "You know, from Star Trek. Computer, run program."

Shen's frown didn't go anywhere. "Were they in the movies?"

"No..." Teddy's eyes went wide in (mostly) mock surprise, and also a certain amount of excitement. There was nothing quite like the rush of introducing someone to something awesome. "You've never watched the shows? Any of them?"

"I'm watching Discovery?" Shen offered. "Michael Burnham's awesome." She really resonated with her. "But I can't remember any... holodecks."

"Okay, that's a bit better, we can still be friends," Teddy teased her. "And she is deeply awesome. But that's a prequel - holodecks show up in Next Gen for the first time, so roughly a hundred and ten years after Discovery. Big rooms that can be filled with hologram projections. Sometimes used for training, more often used for games, like three-d rpgs." He eyed her speculatively. Which series other than Discovery? Original Trek had the right ideas but hadn't aged all that well, Next Gen was awesome but started slow. Oh, duh. Obvious answer.

"So you're saying you've never watched Deep Space Nine."

"I don't even know what Deep Space Nine is," Shen admitted with a chuckle. "But your holodecks totally sound like the Danger Room."

Oh, he so had this. Movie nights, incoming. "Deep Space Nine was the third Star Trek live action series," Teddy explained, not even going to try and explain the cartoon. "It's basically a seven-season long extended commentary on the evils of imperialist colonialism and the power of local resistance. Plus Sisko, who's the best commanding officer ever. It's also got an openly genderfluid and bisexual lead in the ensemble. Which isn't half bad for nineties tv."

"Okay, I'm in," Shen decided, and smiled brightly at Teddy, then frowned a little in thought. "Really? Genderfluid? That is so awesome. And unexpected. And awesome. We don't even have that many now!"

Teddy nodded enthusiastically, returning her original smile. "Dax is really awesome. They're a blended species, host and a symbiote. The symbiote doesn't have a gender, and they take on characteristics of their hosts. Dax is in a female host during the show, and pretty much her opening scene is talking about how she was presenting as a guy last time she saw the Captain, but that it doesn't change her inner self. She even hooks up with an ex-wife again at one point later on in the series."

"Right on!" Shen let out happily. "Sounds great. Sign me up. Totally. Does Dax kick as much ass as Michael, too?"

"Definitely." Was that thought a spoiler? He didn't quite think so. "A previous host of hers used to hang out with Klingons, and her hand to hand skills are awesome."

"Wow, she hung out with Klingons, what?" Shen asked with raised eyebrows, definitely impressed.

"Nope, not going to spoil it for you," Teddy replied cheerfully. "You'll just have to watch it with me if you're curious now."

"I said I would! I will!" Shen assured him, and laughed. "I know I've been drinking, but I won't forget about the kickass genderfluid Star Trek... person. Are they an officer?" Hanging out with Klingons didn't sound like they would be.

"Dax? You'll love this. Her current host is a Starfleet science officer. It was Curzon, the last guy, who was an ambassador to the Klingon Empire." And he was nerding out all over Shen, which meant time to haul it back in. There were very few people, Teddy had discovered over his life, who were all that interested in hearing someone else wax on about their fandom obsessions. "I think the whole thing's on Netflix right now, so we can pick a night and make popcorn, give the first season a try."

"I thought you didn't want to spoil me!" Shen protested with another laugh. Were they at peace with the Klingons then? Were they the imperialist oppressors? Or something way more interesting, like the Federation being the imperialist oppressors? "Name your night, I'll be there."

Teddy fought with the temptation to launch into the explanations about the various stages of Klingons through the different series - nerd - and just grinned instead. "That's not really a major spoiler," but he conceded the point. "Tuesday's Hallowe'en, and I think I'm doing a birthday thing with Nick and Lil, but what about Wednesday or Thursday?"

"Wait, is it your birthday?" Shen asked with raised eyebrows. "Or one of their birthdays." Completely and easily sidetracked, yes!

"It's Nick's. Mine's not for another few weeks, and... I'm actually not sure when Lil's is." Wait - Shen was an Organizer with a capital O, and what if she decided he needed a bigger party? "He really only wanted something small," Teddy cautioned. "We're just doing cake and a game night."

"Cool," Shen nodded, completely getting it. Besides, she didn't really want to spend time with Lil. She'd have tried again, but she felt like the girl kept glaring at her when they met. "I'll have to remember to message him. When's yours exactly?" As if she would remember a specific date like that, especially when she'd been drinking so much. But a girl could hope!

"The eleventh." Finished his soda, Teddy still hung on to the can for lack of anything better to do with his hands. "When's yours?"

"February 20," she answered, to get it out of the way and get back to his. "That's in two weeks! Any plans?"

Teddy tried to remember, making a note to himself to write that down when he got the chance. "Um, not really? I'm having dinner with my mom Saturday night." He glanced across the way and caught a glimpse of Billy, a rueful grin tugging at his lips. "And I have the feeling Billy's up to something. But he won't tell me what. So- I guess change the 'not really' to a qualified maybe? Assuming he's not just being tipsy-enthusiastic."

"From what I know of him, he doesn't need to be tipsy to be enthusiastic," Shen pointed out with a grin. "I'm sure he'll have something great planned!"

"There is that," Teddy acknowledged, following Billy with his eyes for a moment longer. "We'll see how much of tonight he actually remembers tomorrow."

"That's definitely a problem for tomorrow!" Shen let out with a grin. "For tonight - you wanna dance?"

How different it was from last time, absolutely no guilt or stress that she'd get the wrong impression, or expect something from him. Teddy tossed his can towards the bin set aside for empties. It hit dead-center. "Nothin' but net" Teddy joked - the obligatory line - and nodded happily. "Sure. I'd love to."