Shen and Warren, slightly backdated
Oct. 5th, 2018 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainWinged wonders play catch up on their crazy lives, families, and superhero adventures.
Warren slid in across from Shen, their wings forming a kind of parenthesis around the lunch table, like it was a closed club. It wasn't, but with all the time he'd been spending in the city lately, he was keen to catch up with what she'd been doing--and catch her up on the weird that was Worthington Industries right now. "Yooooooooo," he said by way of greeting.
Shen's expression brightened into a smile as Warren joined her at the cafeteria. "Heeeeey," she replied, eyes glinting with amusement.
Shen always made him smile. Even when she was mad at him (okay that'd been a long time ago and he'd been mostly forgiven, he was pretty sure) he couldn't help it. "One good thing about classes being back in session is at least I feel like I get to see you more, now. This summer was wild."
"That's one word for it," Shen confirmed. She was still smiling at him, but her expression held a touch of sympathy, now. "How have you been?" She'd barely seen him in those few months, and she was just as glad as he was for the start of classes, that way. She didn't like feeling disconnected from her friends.
"Harried. It's still so weird, thinking Dad's gone. Like, I didn't speak to him for almost a year, and then he just... disappeared. Even seeing him in a coffin didn't really help." Warren grimaced. "Happy lunch convo. But, I mean, I'm not upset about it, exactly. Not unless I think too hard. It's just weird and hard to get my head around."
It was a difficult thing for Shen to identify with. Her parents had died so long ago that she remembered it all as if in a fog. And she'd loved them. That much she was certain of. They'd loved her, and she had loved them as much as any kid her age loved loving parents. As for Yang Tien, she couldn't even imagine him being gone. It felt as if it would rip a hole inside her. It was nothing like what Warren was going through, because she could only imagine being estranged from family.
She pursed her lips in a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry. Have you... talked to your mom much?"
His feathers ruffled as he shook his head. "I mean, some, but we've never been... on chatty terms." He looked slightly embarrassed by that, with a goofy smile. "We mostly talk about operations. It's more comfortable for everyone that way."
Something else Shen couldn't relate to, but she could accept it all the same, with a small nod. "Well, I'm there, any time you need me."
"Thanks." His smile was all genuine, now. "What have you been up to while I've been trying to figure out how to engage in corporate espionage on my own company?"
Shen grimaced. "Wait, it's that bad?" They could get around to her after they talked about that.
He shook his head. "Not yet. But if they keep me in the dark much longer, especially once I hit eighteen--I'm gonna be ready for something verrrrrry like it. My uncle's involved now, and he has a shitty history. No way I'm letting him get his fingers into everything."
"What's the situation?" Shen asked. "I mean, legally, with the company." She had no idea how any of this worked, but she trusted Warren to explain it in a way she could understand.
"Mom's the Chief Executive Officer and President, so all the major, company-wide directives come from her. The Chief Operations Officer is sort of the second-in-command, right hand person, that kind of thing. Supposed to make sure everything The Boss wants for the company is on track and moving smoothly." Warren grimaced. "Supposed to be my job, once upon a time, when I hit eighteen. I'm not qualified... but at least I'm not a crook. He's out on parole for embezzlement at the last place he worked--not with us, he left just to piss my dad off."
Shen frowned. "Is he your mother's brother?"
"That'd make his current cozy situation with my mother far less creepy, if he was." Warren grimaced. "I mean, I'm not saying shit's gone full Hamlet, but she let him touch her shoulder once. That's weird."
Or way creepier, Shen thought, but didn't say. "That's... a disturbing thought. So when you turn eighteen, what's supposed to happen, now?"
"Dad called that meeting to reinstate me as the next 'right-hand'. But seeing as he died before he could..." Warren shrugged, wings rising and falling. "No idea, and it's never 'the right time'. It's not like I want the responsibility--I have enough. But better me than him, right?"
"From the sound of it," Shen confirmed with a nose wrinkle. "So you have no, like... legal claim to that position?" Or whatever it was called. This was so far beyond anything she knew.
He shook his head. "Not unless I can find... whatever Dad was going to show me. If he had papers prepared. Which I'm sure he did, but..." He shrugged. "I'd have to convince Mom to get them for me."
"If she or your uncle hasn't shredded them already," Shen said with a grimace. "Sorry! You said Hamlet and now I'm thinking very high levels of bullshit."
"The really sad thing is, I wouldn't put it past him." Warren sighed, wings slumping. "I don't know him that well, he got put away when I was like ten. But the stories aren't great. Pretty sure he's why my parents only had one kid: they didn't want a jealous younger sibling to fuck up their dynasty."
"Instead they get a creepy old uncle," Shen commiserated. "So you're gonna wait and see what happens?"
"Gonna keep my ear to the ground. Feel people out. Thought about asking Nolan and maybe Kitty to do the same, since some of the circles are similar. Simon's got some info via his father--bless him for going there for me, now that is love. I'm sure Shinobi will help too. He knows everything. He's fabulous like that."
Shen nodded, with a small smile. "Sounds like you've got a small army of people to help. And you know, not just people. Mutant kids. And we're the future."
“They all have better things to do, to be honest...” especially Nolan and Kitty at the moment. “But that’s just the kind of awesome future people we are.”
Shen batted that aside. "They don't have anything better to do than helping out a friend. Kitty would totally tell you that, and she's the busiest ever, so." Kitty was also the best, but, well.
"Good point. I can practically hear her voice." Warren chuckled fondly. "So yeah, that's my life." The part of it that was his alone, anyhow. "Now, about you!"
"Me..." Shen gave him a smile. "Pretty busy, still, but not Kitty-busy. There's been more rallies across the States, and that's really cool, but I let other people handle them. Monica and I have been helping out where we can? Kitty fitted us with awesome tech to monitor search and rescue stuff that might need a little mutant help."
"God, I miss superheroing," Warren said with a sigh. "It was a thrill to kinda get to do it in London for half a second. What kind of stuff have you guys been finding?"
"A fire here, a freeway pile-up there," Shen answered. "It's nice, being able to help, and showing people how much help mutants can be." Kickass female mutants of color, at that.
"I'm all envy and admiration." Warren leaned forward with one elbow on the table and propped his chin up on that hand. "Monica must be as cool as she seems."
"Cooler still," Shen answered with a bright smile. "It's nice to have someone else who gets it. Like, really gets it. I mean, you're woke, but there's a bunch of things you can only imagine, you know? It's not like you live them."
Warren nodded, feathers ruffling as if to echo the sentiment. "I see proof of it daily, now I know to look for it. You two are like a perfect inspiration for a bad-ass TV show, I swear. The shippers would go wild."
Shen laughed, and shook her head. "They'd have us in a happy committed relationship before the end of the week. Moving in and getting a cat together."
"Ah yes, the old chestnut about two women always bringing a U-Haul on the first date. Which is so clearly sexist, but also backwards, because that's more like my situation." Warren chuckled.
Shen laughed, eyes glinting playfully as she added, "It's funny because it's true. But yeah, it's pretty awesome, doing that stuff, and doing it with her."
"I wish I wasn't so recognizable," Warren said with a sigh. "Or so busy with stuff I'd rather not be doing. I miss it, actually making a difference with people."
"That's what image inducers are for," Shen pointed out. "Not being recognized, I mean, can't help you with the busy. But I'd be pretty recognizable too, if I didn't look older and different."
"It feels weird to change my wings," Warren admitted with a little laugh at himself. "My face, okay, but my wings... are more me than my face, somehow, these days. I mean--I'd do it in a heartbeat, to be able to do it again. It's just an observation."
"Maybe because they're the only outward sign that you're part of an oppressed group, so your identity revolves around them a lot?" Shen offered, after thinking it over for a moment.
Warren considered this for a moment. Well aware of his company—a close friend in whom he’d confide anything, quite literally— he allowed the process to play out on his face. He nodded, utterly taken with the idea. “I wouldn’t recognize that sensation. Makes sense it feels so new, right?”
Shen smiled, and shrugged. "I just know I feel very strongly about my wings, and looking Asian, and looking like a woman." If she could get away with keeping her wings the same color, she would. But gray it was, with the inducer, so as not to go give people ideas. There was chatter enough about how there were two female Asian mutants with wings, and were they of the same family? (Because, obviously. Idiots.)
Warren nodded along with her. "That makes total sense. Wow, journey of self-discovery that didn't suck, right there. Nice."
Shen grinned at him. Ah, she missed him. "Whatcha doing after class today?"
“Nothing, unless you have a good idea?”
"I was just thinking, how long has it been since we've gone flying together?"
Warren couldn’t have grinned harder. “You’re on.”
Warren slid in across from Shen, their wings forming a kind of parenthesis around the lunch table, like it was a closed club. It wasn't, but with all the time he'd been spending in the city lately, he was keen to catch up with what she'd been doing--and catch her up on the weird that was Worthington Industries right now. "Yooooooooo," he said by way of greeting.
Shen's expression brightened into a smile as Warren joined her at the cafeteria. "Heeeeey," she replied, eyes glinting with amusement.
Shen always made him smile. Even when she was mad at him (okay that'd been a long time ago and he'd been mostly forgiven, he was pretty sure) he couldn't help it. "One good thing about classes being back in session is at least I feel like I get to see you more, now. This summer was wild."
"That's one word for it," Shen confirmed. She was still smiling at him, but her expression held a touch of sympathy, now. "How have you been?" She'd barely seen him in those few months, and she was just as glad as he was for the start of classes, that way. She didn't like feeling disconnected from her friends.
"Harried. It's still so weird, thinking Dad's gone. Like, I didn't speak to him for almost a year, and then he just... disappeared. Even seeing him in a coffin didn't really help." Warren grimaced. "Happy lunch convo. But, I mean, I'm not upset about it, exactly. Not unless I think too hard. It's just weird and hard to get my head around."
It was a difficult thing for Shen to identify with. Her parents had died so long ago that she remembered it all as if in a fog. And she'd loved them. That much she was certain of. They'd loved her, and she had loved them as much as any kid her age loved loving parents. As for Yang Tien, she couldn't even imagine him being gone. It felt as if it would rip a hole inside her. It was nothing like what Warren was going through, because she could only imagine being estranged from family.
She pursed her lips in a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry. Have you... talked to your mom much?"
His feathers ruffled as he shook his head. "I mean, some, but we've never been... on chatty terms." He looked slightly embarrassed by that, with a goofy smile. "We mostly talk about operations. It's more comfortable for everyone that way."
Something else Shen couldn't relate to, but she could accept it all the same, with a small nod. "Well, I'm there, any time you need me."
"Thanks." His smile was all genuine, now. "What have you been up to while I've been trying to figure out how to engage in corporate espionage on my own company?"
Shen grimaced. "Wait, it's that bad?" They could get around to her after they talked about that.
He shook his head. "Not yet. But if they keep me in the dark much longer, especially once I hit eighteen--I'm gonna be ready for something verrrrrry like it. My uncle's involved now, and he has a shitty history. No way I'm letting him get his fingers into everything."
"What's the situation?" Shen asked. "I mean, legally, with the company." She had no idea how any of this worked, but she trusted Warren to explain it in a way she could understand.
"Mom's the Chief Executive Officer and President, so all the major, company-wide directives come from her. The Chief Operations Officer is sort of the second-in-command, right hand person, that kind of thing. Supposed to make sure everything The Boss wants for the company is on track and moving smoothly." Warren grimaced. "Supposed to be my job, once upon a time, when I hit eighteen. I'm not qualified... but at least I'm not a crook. He's out on parole for embezzlement at the last place he worked--not with us, he left just to piss my dad off."
Shen frowned. "Is he your mother's brother?"
"That'd make his current cozy situation with my mother far less creepy, if he was." Warren grimaced. "I mean, I'm not saying shit's gone full Hamlet, but she let him touch her shoulder once. That's weird."
Or way creepier, Shen thought, but didn't say. "That's... a disturbing thought. So when you turn eighteen, what's supposed to happen, now?"
"Dad called that meeting to reinstate me as the next 'right-hand'. But seeing as he died before he could..." Warren shrugged, wings rising and falling. "No idea, and it's never 'the right time'. It's not like I want the responsibility--I have enough. But better me than him, right?"
"From the sound of it," Shen confirmed with a nose wrinkle. "So you have no, like... legal claim to that position?" Or whatever it was called. This was so far beyond anything she knew.
He shook his head. "Not unless I can find... whatever Dad was going to show me. If he had papers prepared. Which I'm sure he did, but..." He shrugged. "I'd have to convince Mom to get them for me."
"If she or your uncle hasn't shredded them already," Shen said with a grimace. "Sorry! You said Hamlet and now I'm thinking very high levels of bullshit."
"The really sad thing is, I wouldn't put it past him." Warren sighed, wings slumping. "I don't know him that well, he got put away when I was like ten. But the stories aren't great. Pretty sure he's why my parents only had one kid: they didn't want a jealous younger sibling to fuck up their dynasty."
"Instead they get a creepy old uncle," Shen commiserated. "So you're gonna wait and see what happens?"
"Gonna keep my ear to the ground. Feel people out. Thought about asking Nolan and maybe Kitty to do the same, since some of the circles are similar. Simon's got some info via his father--bless him for going there for me, now that is love. I'm sure Shinobi will help too. He knows everything. He's fabulous like that."
Shen nodded, with a small smile. "Sounds like you've got a small army of people to help. And you know, not just people. Mutant kids. And we're the future."
“They all have better things to do, to be honest...” especially Nolan and Kitty at the moment. “But that’s just the kind of awesome future people we are.”
Shen batted that aside. "They don't have anything better to do than helping out a friend. Kitty would totally tell you that, and she's the busiest ever, so." Kitty was also the best, but, well.
"Good point. I can practically hear her voice." Warren chuckled fondly. "So yeah, that's my life." The part of it that was his alone, anyhow. "Now, about you!"
"Me..." Shen gave him a smile. "Pretty busy, still, but not Kitty-busy. There's been more rallies across the States, and that's really cool, but I let other people handle them. Monica and I have been helping out where we can? Kitty fitted us with awesome tech to monitor search and rescue stuff that might need a little mutant help."
"God, I miss superheroing," Warren said with a sigh. "It was a thrill to kinda get to do it in London for half a second. What kind of stuff have you guys been finding?"
"A fire here, a freeway pile-up there," Shen answered. "It's nice, being able to help, and showing people how much help mutants can be." Kickass female mutants of color, at that.
"I'm all envy and admiration." Warren leaned forward with one elbow on the table and propped his chin up on that hand. "Monica must be as cool as she seems."
"Cooler still," Shen answered with a bright smile. "It's nice to have someone else who gets it. Like, really gets it. I mean, you're woke, but there's a bunch of things you can only imagine, you know? It's not like you live them."
Warren nodded, feathers ruffling as if to echo the sentiment. "I see proof of it daily, now I know to look for it. You two are like a perfect inspiration for a bad-ass TV show, I swear. The shippers would go wild."
Shen laughed, and shook her head. "They'd have us in a happy committed relationship before the end of the week. Moving in and getting a cat together."
"Ah yes, the old chestnut about two women always bringing a U-Haul on the first date. Which is so clearly sexist, but also backwards, because that's more like my situation." Warren chuckled.
Shen laughed, eyes glinting playfully as she added, "It's funny because it's true. But yeah, it's pretty awesome, doing that stuff, and doing it with her."
"I wish I wasn't so recognizable," Warren said with a sigh. "Or so busy with stuff I'd rather not be doing. I miss it, actually making a difference with people."
"That's what image inducers are for," Shen pointed out. "Not being recognized, I mean, can't help you with the busy. But I'd be pretty recognizable too, if I didn't look older and different."
"It feels weird to change my wings," Warren admitted with a little laugh at himself. "My face, okay, but my wings... are more me than my face, somehow, these days. I mean--I'd do it in a heartbeat, to be able to do it again. It's just an observation."
"Maybe because they're the only outward sign that you're part of an oppressed group, so your identity revolves around them a lot?" Shen offered, after thinking it over for a moment.
Warren considered this for a moment. Well aware of his company—a close friend in whom he’d confide anything, quite literally— he allowed the process to play out on his face. He nodded, utterly taken with the idea. “I wouldn’t recognize that sensation. Makes sense it feels so new, right?”
Shen smiled, and shrugged. "I just know I feel very strongly about my wings, and looking Asian, and looking like a woman." If she could get away with keeping her wings the same color, she would. But gray it was, with the inducer, so as not to go give people ideas. There was chatter enough about how there were two female Asian mutants with wings, and were they of the same family? (Because, obviously. Idiots.)
Warren nodded along with her. "That makes total sense. Wow, journey of self-discovery that didn't suck, right there. Nice."
Shen grinned at him. Ah, she missed him. "Whatcha doing after class today?"
“Nothing, unless you have a good idea?”
"I was just thinking, how long has it been since we've gone flying together?"
Warren couldn’t have grinned harder. “You’re on.”
