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Shinobi, Nolan, then Kitty - NolCorp Launch Party
The arrival of an unexpected guest puzzles them, and leaves them very suspicious.
It was hardly the first such party Nolan held at NolCorp - lowkey, more casual than not, with minimal press, but with the investors, employees, and friends of NolCorp all on the guest list. Of course, some people were on the guestlist even if they never showed up.
But then, sometimes, they did.
Nolan, dressed in a black hoodie shirt under a white jacket, and red pants, navigated through the crowd until he ended up by Shinobi's side. He gave the people Shinobi had been chatting with a polite smile and leaned in to tell his friend, sotto voce, "Your father's here."
The positively incandescent smile Shinobi had worn up to that point dimmed a few watts, but he managed to keep the expression from disappearing entirely as Nolan relayed his ... really incredibly unwelcome news. Dark eyes scanned the crowd, quickly picking out the tall, burly figure of Sebastian Shaw in the crowd. Surrounded by his own knot of casual business acquaintances, he did not appear to have noticed his son, as yet, though there could be no doubt he had known Shinobi would be here. Shinobi attended all NolCorp events as a matter of course. Sebastian, in contrast, had never before bothered.
"What is he up to?" Shinobi wondered to himself, before making his apologies and hustling Nolan off to a more private part of the room. He was very careful not to lose track of his father as he did so.
"Did you have any idea he was coming?" he demanded quietly, straightening his immaculate, pearl grey suit jacket around his shoulders--indeed, it was only in their overtly luxurious style of dress that the two Shaws resembled each other in the slightest. "I had no idea he was coming," the half-Japanese mutant admitted as an afterthought.
"Neither did I," Nolan confirmed. "I would've remembered if he'd RSVPed this time." Sebastian Shaw never bothered attending these parties, and he never bothered saying whether he intended to or not. Nolan had begun to take it for granted that he wouldn't show up. "He's interested by the tech, I know that, but it's not here and now he'll learn much more about it."
"That's too straightforward," Shinobi muttered ... actually sounding worried. "Even if he wanted to just learn about your developments, he wouldn't be so clumsy as to let either of us know about it." He made a face, and scrubbed a hand back through his elaborately disarrayed hair. "Not this easily. He's up to something." His certainty in that fact blended with his concern he couldn't immediately puzzle out what that something might be plain in Shinobi's voice.
Nolan had very rarely heard Shinobi worried, but each of those rare occurrences had, in fact, involved his father. All in all, it really was easier when your father wanted nothing to do with you. "Good thing I'm obligated to go and talk to him, then." He had hoped that Shinobi could shed some light on Sebastian's presence before he went over, but never mind that.
"No," Shinobi replied quickly, reaching out to grip Nolan's bicep, for all the other teen hadn't actually started moving yet. His near-black eyes continued to watch his father, and with something like the wariness of somebody staring down an angry cobra. "Make him come to you. He will, eventually, since that's what this is all about. It will give us time to talk, maybe provoke him into revealing more than he otherwise would." He muttered a few choice words in Japanese to himself, clearly disliking the fact he'd been caught so completely unprepared.
"What could that aging hill beast possibly want?" he added, mostly to himself.
Nolan had looked forward to getting this out of the way, and controlling the circumstances of when and how they interacted. But Shinobi knew his father better, obviously. "If you think he's likely to be provoked," he relented, watching his friend's expression. He really had it easier, having no contact at all with his father.
"Oh, he is," Shinobi said, with the utmost confidence, releasing Nolan's arm after smoothing the fabric of his jacket back into place. "The whole point of this appearance has to be you. If you go to him, he can follow your lead in the conversation and try to draw out what he's looking for obliquely, with little hints and inferences. Making him come to you means he's going to have to find a way to address the topic himself, since you didn't see the need to accommodate him." He grimaced. "I don't imagine he'll be pleased with that, and I'm sorry. But I expect I'd be sorrier if we let him get away with what he needed without either of us ever knowing what it is for certain. Forgive me."
"It's a gamble," Nolan replied with a shake of his head. "We'll see what comes of it." Should he mention what Tessa had picked up on? It wouldn't shed any further light on Sebastian's presence, but it would betray Tessa's surveillance. Best not to.
Shinobi's pretty face screwed up unhappily. "I hate gambling, especially when I haven't had time to stack the deck in my favor." He sighed and straightened, and brushed a few imaginary wrinkles from the front of his impeccably-tailored suit. "After we wrap up this evening, I'm going to have to make a point of finding out how this managed to come as a surprise. My people are supposed to keep me up to date on the old man's comings and goings." His dire tone implied somebody would be made to answer for this extremely unwelcome distraction.
Of course, the new arrival hadn't escaped Kitty's notice either, from a few yards away where she'd been explaining some of the tech to a couple of glassy-eyed investors. She excused herself after a moment, then quietly weaved her way toward Nolan and...oh, of course, Shinobi. Dressed in an understated black dress (secretly complementing Nolan's shirt), she had let her hair down (literally), but was still forced to walk a little more slowly than usual in the heels she clearly wasn't used to. Eventually, she sidled up to the two of them, quietly smiling through a somewhat alarmed expression in her eyes. "What is your dad doing here?"
"That's precisely what we're attempting to puzzle out," Shinobi told her, more tension in his voice than she'd ever conceivably heard before. Nolan was more familiar with his ... unique relationship with Sebastian Shaw. "I doubt it's a sign of anything good. In any event, we can't allow him to know he's taken us all off-guard. Act natural, as if his presence is the most normal thing in the world. Make him think it's nothing of note. He'll know we're lying, of course," that acknowledgement was fairly bitter, "but he'll be more hesitant to call us on it when he wants something." And he most certainly wanted something. Shinobi could feel as much in his bones. But what?
"He's... a very calculating man," Nolan told Kitty, pulling his gaze from Sebastian Shaw to look at her as he spoke. "Watch what you say, if you end up talking to him." Nolan would be surprised if Sebastian didn't talk to Kitty at some point. Whatever he wanted, it would make sense to try a less direct route than Nolan, at some point.
"Act natural. Don't say anything. Sure, sure," Kitty agreed, panic setting in. She didn't do either of those things well.
"Don't act sweaty," Shinobi told her jokingly, dark eyes finally turning to NolCorp's new CTO. "And keep in mind that he has no real authority to push you around--you work for Nolan, not him. Remember your accomplishments are all yours, and have nothing to do with him. You've already achieved more before eighteen than he ever has; he can only bully you if you let him. He'll try, but he doesn't deserve it." He might have been trying to reassure himself as much as Kitty, but he did his best not to let it show.
"Or," Nolan went on, looking away from Shinobi, and back at Kitty, "try and avoid him. And if you end up having to talk to him, watch-text me." It should be easy enough to do without drawing attention, for someone like her. "I'll come over." It was likely what Sebastian would want, but Nolan could make it look natural, he thought, and it was preferable to putting Kitty in a position like that.
That Kitty understood, and Shinobi's speech filled her with a quiet pride. She gave them both a relieved smile. "Okay. I can do that, no problem. I mean, I'm pretty good at ghosting people," she winked at both of them, because duh, Shinobi knew the merits of that skill, too.
"Ghosting is definitely an option," Shinobi agreed with a nod. He was, perhaps, a touch worried that too much of that and Sebastian might catch on to the fact Kitty was a mutant--he had some experience with Shinobi's past, improbable escapes, after all. But he supposed he would just have to trust her to be more subtle than he usually managed. Considering he didn't tend to set the bar that high, when it came to his powers, the odds could certainly have been worse.
"Shall we disperse before the old man has a chance to grow suspicious? Or shall we continue to group up, and inflame his Cro-Magnon curiosity?"
"I'd rather not inflame anything right now," Nolan remarked dryly, but paused, looking at Shinobi. "Unless you think it might help provoke him into letting something slip?"
Shinobi wobbled a hand in the air in a gesture of uncertainty. "There's about a fifty-fifty chance it will provoke something useful out of him versus just provoking him. And that could as easily lead to the kind of scene we'd all rather avoid. I'd suggest keeping it low key, for now? I'd rather not take that sort of gamble at an official NolCorp function."
"That's my cue to scram, then," Kitty decided. "Just...keep me in the loop?"
"Always," Nolan confirmed with a nod. He turned to look at Shinobi, catching his gaze. "I'll talk to you later." Probably after Sebastian and he had had a talk, at this stage.
"Of course. I'll keep a surreptitious eye on things, maybe spread some interesting rumors of my own--you know, the things I would have done anyway, but for a good cause instead of exclusively for my own, personal entertainment." He rested a slim, encouraging hand on Nolan's shoulder and grinned. "And do try to stay relaxed. That will annoy Sebastian even more than having to come find you." And with that bit of parting advice, Shinobi melted effortlessly back into the crowd.
"Ping me if you need me," Nolan told Kitty with a small smile, parting words before he, too, turned to go.
It was hardly the first such party Nolan held at NolCorp - lowkey, more casual than not, with minimal press, but with the investors, employees, and friends of NolCorp all on the guest list. Of course, some people were on the guestlist even if they never showed up.
But then, sometimes, they did.
Nolan, dressed in a black hoodie shirt under a white jacket, and red pants, navigated through the crowd until he ended up by Shinobi's side. He gave the people Shinobi had been chatting with a polite smile and leaned in to tell his friend, sotto voce, "Your father's here."
The positively incandescent smile Shinobi had worn up to that point dimmed a few watts, but he managed to keep the expression from disappearing entirely as Nolan relayed his ... really incredibly unwelcome news. Dark eyes scanned the crowd, quickly picking out the tall, burly figure of Sebastian Shaw in the crowd. Surrounded by his own knot of casual business acquaintances, he did not appear to have noticed his son, as yet, though there could be no doubt he had known Shinobi would be here. Shinobi attended all NolCorp events as a matter of course. Sebastian, in contrast, had never before bothered.
"What is he up to?" Shinobi wondered to himself, before making his apologies and hustling Nolan off to a more private part of the room. He was very careful not to lose track of his father as he did so.
"Did you have any idea he was coming?" he demanded quietly, straightening his immaculate, pearl grey suit jacket around his shoulders--indeed, it was only in their overtly luxurious style of dress that the two Shaws resembled each other in the slightest. "I had no idea he was coming," the half-Japanese mutant admitted as an afterthought.
"Neither did I," Nolan confirmed. "I would've remembered if he'd RSVPed this time." Sebastian Shaw never bothered attending these parties, and he never bothered saying whether he intended to or not. Nolan had begun to take it for granted that he wouldn't show up. "He's interested by the tech, I know that, but it's not here and now he'll learn much more about it."
"That's too straightforward," Shinobi muttered ... actually sounding worried. "Even if he wanted to just learn about your developments, he wouldn't be so clumsy as to let either of us know about it." He made a face, and scrubbed a hand back through his elaborately disarrayed hair. "Not this easily. He's up to something." His certainty in that fact blended with his concern he couldn't immediately puzzle out what that something might be plain in Shinobi's voice.
Nolan had very rarely heard Shinobi worried, but each of those rare occurrences had, in fact, involved his father. All in all, it really was easier when your father wanted nothing to do with you. "Good thing I'm obligated to go and talk to him, then." He had hoped that Shinobi could shed some light on Sebastian's presence before he went over, but never mind that.
"No," Shinobi replied quickly, reaching out to grip Nolan's bicep, for all the other teen hadn't actually started moving yet. His near-black eyes continued to watch his father, and with something like the wariness of somebody staring down an angry cobra. "Make him come to you. He will, eventually, since that's what this is all about. It will give us time to talk, maybe provoke him into revealing more than he otherwise would." He muttered a few choice words in Japanese to himself, clearly disliking the fact he'd been caught so completely unprepared.
"What could that aging hill beast possibly want?" he added, mostly to himself.
Nolan had looked forward to getting this out of the way, and controlling the circumstances of when and how they interacted. But Shinobi knew his father better, obviously. "If you think he's likely to be provoked," he relented, watching his friend's expression. He really had it easier, having no contact at all with his father.
"Oh, he is," Shinobi said, with the utmost confidence, releasing Nolan's arm after smoothing the fabric of his jacket back into place. "The whole point of this appearance has to be you. If you go to him, he can follow your lead in the conversation and try to draw out what he's looking for obliquely, with little hints and inferences. Making him come to you means he's going to have to find a way to address the topic himself, since you didn't see the need to accommodate him." He grimaced. "I don't imagine he'll be pleased with that, and I'm sorry. But I expect I'd be sorrier if we let him get away with what he needed without either of us ever knowing what it is for certain. Forgive me."
"It's a gamble," Nolan replied with a shake of his head. "We'll see what comes of it." Should he mention what Tessa had picked up on? It wouldn't shed any further light on Sebastian's presence, but it would betray Tessa's surveillance. Best not to.
Shinobi's pretty face screwed up unhappily. "I hate gambling, especially when I haven't had time to stack the deck in my favor." He sighed and straightened, and brushed a few imaginary wrinkles from the front of his impeccably-tailored suit. "After we wrap up this evening, I'm going to have to make a point of finding out how this managed to come as a surprise. My people are supposed to keep me up to date on the old man's comings and goings." His dire tone implied somebody would be made to answer for this extremely unwelcome distraction.
Of course, the new arrival hadn't escaped Kitty's notice either, from a few yards away where she'd been explaining some of the tech to a couple of glassy-eyed investors. She excused herself after a moment, then quietly weaved her way toward Nolan and...oh, of course, Shinobi. Dressed in an understated black dress (secretly complementing Nolan's shirt), she had let her hair down (literally), but was still forced to walk a little more slowly than usual in the heels she clearly wasn't used to. Eventually, she sidled up to the two of them, quietly smiling through a somewhat alarmed expression in her eyes. "What is your dad doing here?"
"That's precisely what we're attempting to puzzle out," Shinobi told her, more tension in his voice than she'd ever conceivably heard before. Nolan was more familiar with his ... unique relationship with Sebastian Shaw. "I doubt it's a sign of anything good. In any event, we can't allow him to know he's taken us all off-guard. Act natural, as if his presence is the most normal thing in the world. Make him think it's nothing of note. He'll know we're lying, of course," that acknowledgement was fairly bitter, "but he'll be more hesitant to call us on it when he wants something." And he most certainly wanted something. Shinobi could feel as much in his bones. But what?
"He's... a very calculating man," Nolan told Kitty, pulling his gaze from Sebastian Shaw to look at her as he spoke. "Watch what you say, if you end up talking to him." Nolan would be surprised if Sebastian didn't talk to Kitty at some point. Whatever he wanted, it would make sense to try a less direct route than Nolan, at some point.
"Act natural. Don't say anything. Sure, sure," Kitty agreed, panic setting in. She didn't do either of those things well.
"Don't act sweaty," Shinobi told her jokingly, dark eyes finally turning to NolCorp's new CTO. "And keep in mind that he has no real authority to push you around--you work for Nolan, not him. Remember your accomplishments are all yours, and have nothing to do with him. You've already achieved more before eighteen than he ever has; he can only bully you if you let him. He'll try, but he doesn't deserve it." He might have been trying to reassure himself as much as Kitty, but he did his best not to let it show.
"Or," Nolan went on, looking away from Shinobi, and back at Kitty, "try and avoid him. And if you end up having to talk to him, watch-text me." It should be easy enough to do without drawing attention, for someone like her. "I'll come over." It was likely what Sebastian would want, but Nolan could make it look natural, he thought, and it was preferable to putting Kitty in a position like that.
That Kitty understood, and Shinobi's speech filled her with a quiet pride. She gave them both a relieved smile. "Okay. I can do that, no problem. I mean, I'm pretty good at ghosting people," she winked at both of them, because duh, Shinobi knew the merits of that skill, too.
"Ghosting is definitely an option," Shinobi agreed with a nod. He was, perhaps, a touch worried that too much of that and Sebastian might catch on to the fact Kitty was a mutant--he had some experience with Shinobi's past, improbable escapes, after all. But he supposed he would just have to trust her to be more subtle than he usually managed. Considering he didn't tend to set the bar that high, when it came to his powers, the odds could certainly have been worse.
"Shall we disperse before the old man has a chance to grow suspicious? Or shall we continue to group up, and inflame his Cro-Magnon curiosity?"
"I'd rather not inflame anything right now," Nolan remarked dryly, but paused, looking at Shinobi. "Unless you think it might help provoke him into letting something slip?"
Shinobi wobbled a hand in the air in a gesture of uncertainty. "There's about a fifty-fifty chance it will provoke something useful out of him versus just provoking him. And that could as easily lead to the kind of scene we'd all rather avoid. I'd suggest keeping it low key, for now? I'd rather not take that sort of gamble at an official NolCorp function."
"That's my cue to scram, then," Kitty decided. "Just...keep me in the loop?"
"Always," Nolan confirmed with a nod. He turned to look at Shinobi, catching his gaze. "I'll talk to you later." Probably after Sebastian and he had had a talk, at this stage.
"Of course. I'll keep a surreptitious eye on things, maybe spread some interesting rumors of my own--you know, the things I would have done anyway, but for a good cause instead of exclusively for my own, personal entertainment." He rested a slim, encouraging hand on Nolan's shoulder and grinned. "And do try to stay relaxed. That will annoy Sebastian even more than having to come find you." And with that bit of parting advice, Shinobi melted effortlessly back into the crowd.
"Ping me if you need me," Nolan told Kitty with a small smile, parting words before he, too, turned to go.
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