Shen and Shinobi | Backdated to Dec. 28th
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ax_mainShen and Shinobi plot the school's annual New Year's extravaganza.
Shen looked at list of items on the whiteboard, tapping the marker on her lips thoughtfully. "It feels like we're forgetting something, but I don't know what."
Shinobi and she had commandeered an empty classroom to plan for the party, and all of the big ideas on the board. They'd gone with Vex's idea of having part of it outside, which meant planning for a canopy, and space heaters, and they would have to reach out to Bobby to ask if he'd make ice sculptures for decoration, around the canopy. (Shen would gladly let Shinobi handle that one.) They would ask the usual suspects to handle the music, but they'd need speakers for outside, too. And Shinobi would foot the alcohol bill; he had the money, and the connections, to make that happen easily enough, as long as the Professor kept turning a blind eye.
"I know!" she suddenly lit up, turning to the other student with a bristle of feathers. "We need something awesome to happen at midnight. Duh. We could just ask Gilmore to wow us?"
Her enthusiasm, emphasized as it was by the pinioned appendages behind her, was positively infectious--not that Shinobi would have made much effort to suppress his answering grin, in any case. Their brainstorming session had been extremely productive, and he was confident they had the beginnings of a suitably Xavier-esque holiday celebration in the making. "Gilmore tend to impress even under the most lean of circumstances. I can only imagine what he might accomplish, given an actual budget to work with. But I imagine it will be more than typically spectacular."
Shen laughed at the thought that hit her. "And suddenly I'm picturing fireworks. That spell out 2019."
"Gilmore would probably give us an entire haiku saluting the end of 2018, spelled out in purple sparkles in the sky," Shinobi chuckled. "He's quite ingenious, I've noticed. And he never does anything halfway, when it comes to parties. Let's invite him to give his imagination free reign. Shall we leave the evening's climax entirely to Shaun, then? Or is there anyone else we could pressgang into contributing to the spectacle?"
"Maybe we can give him free reign for collaborators, too?" Shen offered with a smile. No one would know better than him who he would work with best, after all.
"Ingenious!" Shinobi clapped his hands enthusiastically. "And with the added benefit it entails less work for us. I'll text him on my way back to my room to let him know the good news." He peered at the whiteboard, tapping his chin. "Any other angles we haven't covered that you can think of? Or is it simply a matter of actualizing our draft?"
Shen turned back to the board and added an item saying, Midnight: Gilmore, then looked over at the list. "I think we have everything covered. You'll talk to Bobby about the ice sculptures, right? His fragile masculinity really doesn't like me."
"Really?" Shinobi returned with a raised eyebrow. "I thought that Bobby liked everybody. He reminds me of one of those overly-enthusiastic Labrador puppies I've seen around the grounds a time or two, in that regard. Energetic and a bit needy, and perhaps a touch slobbery on occasion."
Shen had to fight a laugh at that description, feathers rustling with the effort. "You are a terrible person."
"Well, yes," he agreed amiably, smirk creasing his face. "But it's not as though you didn't know that already, neh? Either way, I'll confer with young Master Drake regarding our holiday wish list. I'm fairly confident he'll prove amenable." Shinobi shrugged. "If not, as a terrible person, I can always resort to bribery."
"Or you could just call it patronage," Shen pointed out with an amused expression. "I mean, we're pretty much commissioning art."
Shinobi appeared to think that over for a moment. "No," he said, with a shake of his head. "I like 'bribe' better. It more consistent with my persona," he added, smoothing his shirtfront for emphasis.
"Whatever you like," Shen replied, still smiling as she shook her head. She pulled her phone out to take a picture of the whiteboard, then reached for the eraser to wipe it down.
"Naturally," he beamed. "Shameless self-indulgent is also a key component of my persona." He watched her scrub the board clear, then gave a satisfied nod. "Well. We have a game plan--a solid one, if I do say so myself. Time to make a party happen, hmm?"
"Time to make it awesome," Shen replied, turning around to face him with a grin. She let a beat go by, then asked, completely casually, "Hey, you heard from Tam lately?"
"Not as lately as I would like," Shinobi admitted, after thinking the question over for a moment. "But she's young, beautiful, and preoccupied with sharing those facts with the world, I'm young, beautiful, and preoccupied with sharing those facts with the world." He shrugged. "I suppose that was inevitable. I'm confident she's doing well, however." His head canted to one side inquisitively. "Do you ask for any particular reason?"
Shen's feathers rustled as she shrugged. "Just wondering how she's doing. Beyond what she's, you know. 'Sharing with the world'."
"She's doing quite well, as of last report," he said. Whether that report came from Tamara herself or one of Shinobi's extensive network of contacts was an open question. "Busy, but well. We're both much to self-aware to attempt a long-distance relationship, of course, but we do keep in touch."
So that was one relationship totally worth messing over her friendship with Shen, right? Shen couldn't help the bitter thought at how pragmatic and easy Shinobi made it sound, but she knew that was unfair. In the end, their falling-out had had very little to do with Shinobi, and everything to do with how different their ideas of friendship were. And the fact that Tamara and Shinobi would be self-aware enough not to hurt each other was definitely a good thing.
"That's pretty awesome," Shen stated honestly. "I mean, that you wouldn't drag it out, and that you're still in touch. I'm glad she's doing well."
"As am I," he said, regarding Shen thoughtfully. "We're all still young, aren't we? And I prefer to remain on good terms with all who enter into my eccentric orbit. It's much easier that hurt feelings and complication, I find. Though I admit I occasionally create complication through my fervent desire to avoid it."
Shen wasn't sure if that was a gross attempt at subtlety (however that worked), and she certainly didn't feel like arguing about what exactly had caused the complication between her and Tam. Besides, those words rang a little too close to home when it came to Tommy, and that was a lot more relevant, to this day. It wasn't that she thought he was still hung up on her - he seemed totally happy with Wynonna - more that she was still hung up on him, and, well, it sucked. To put it plainly.
"I feel you," she answered, with a little moue of sympathy, and pushed a hand back through her short hair. It was just long enough to fall into her eyes; time to get it cut again. "Hurt feelings totally have a way of cropping up on you, no matter how hard you try."
"Hurt feelings, reserved feelings ... feelings you wish you'd never had feelings." Shinobi shrugged, and rested a hand on her shoulder companionably. "Feeling is a very difficult thing. I'd half-convinced myself, at one point, that it wasn't worth the trouble. But I think we'd all be much poorer without them, neh?"
Shen looked at him dubiously. Was he mansplaining feelings to her, complete with that hand in her shoulder? Hitting on her? Or genuinely sharing? He was a hard one to read, but she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Well, I'm a Buddhist," she answered. "We're supposed to aim for serenity, balance, all that good, dispassionate stuff." She made a face, nose wrinkling, but there was a light in her eyes. "I'm a pretty terrible Buddhist in some ways."
"Confidentially, my favorite thing about Buddhism is that it discourages us from agonizing over being terrible at Buddhism," he said, grinning. "I'm not usually one for organized belief systems, personally, but if I had to choose, it would probably be one that allows me to spend a few lifetimes wallowing in undiluted hedonism before undertaking the no-doubt laborious task of polishing my tarnished soul."
Shen returned his grin at his first words, but shook her head at his last ones. "Thinking in Christian terms, there," she pointed out. "But yeah. I'm not even a little sorry about my love affair with selfies. Maybe in my next life." Or maybe not. Like he said, there was time.
Shinobi accepted her correction with a lighthearted shrug--he was hardly a theological scholar, and would have been the first to admit that his acquaintance with Buddhism was superficial, at best. What little he did know of it, he'd learned mostly through osmosis-via-proximity. "If you meet the Buddha, grab a selfie with the Buddha," he misquoted with an impenitent little smirk.
"Aaaand now I can only think about how awesome that'd be," Shen admitted with a chuckle. "Or the Dalai Lama! Can you imagine?" She certainly could, and it made her eyes light up with enthusiasm.
"Truly, he is like the Kim Kardashian of holy men," he laughed. "Except that there are fewer nude pictures of him circulating online. And the part where he is absolutely nothing like any member of that abysmally tacky clan."
Shen chuckled again. "And now I'm picturing what that meeting would be like."
"Fabulously sacred?" Shinobi ventured. "Though I suspect spending time in the company of the average reality-show celebrity would test the limits of even his legendary patience. I know that I consider myself a reasonably easygoing sort, but they definitely make me want to scramble their molecules after just a few minutes of inane made-for-TV chatter."
"Your life is so hard, Shinobi," Shen told him with a look of mock-sympathy, reaching out to pat his shoulder.
"Isn't it just?" he replied, heaving a dramatic sigh. "I'll just have to console myself with the consolation prizes of wealth, wit, and beautiful classmates who continue to tolerate me despite my frequent lapses into utter ridiculousness." Shinobi's mouth quirked into a playful smirk. "Still, your sympathy is appreciated, no matter how counterfeit it might be. I'm not at all picky about the sincerity of the emotional support I'm offered; I soak it up like a dehydrated sponge."
"I'll keep that in mind," Shen assured him with an amused little smile. "Anyway. I'll talk to Terry, but you're on Bobby, right?"
"Like white on a snowflake," he affirmed, nodding. "I'm sure he can be induced to participate with a liberal application of flattery. It's on occasions like these that my flexible notions of honesty become a valuable asset, I find."
"I... don't wanna know," Shen decided with a firm nod. "But let me know how it goes?"
"I'll text you as soon as he succumbs to my all-out charm offensive," Shinobi said, nodding again. "And please do let me know how your negotiations with the fairer of our two resident Cassidys go."
"I don't think it will even require negotiating," Shen answered with a smile.
"Your powers of persuasion are so devastatingly effective, I should scarcely be surprised," he said. "Still, do feel free to promise any number of outlandish favors with the Shaw name for collateral--perhaps a bottle of something antiquated and expensive from the Old Country? I pride myself on generosity toward those in a position to enhance my recreational pursuits."
"Surprise her with it, I'm sure she'll love it," Shen suggested. It was his idea; he should reap the gratitude!
"I do love surprises," he noted, tapping thoughtfully at his chin. "And surprise alcohol is the very best alcohol."
"Or the worst," Shen pointed out with raised eyebrows, because she kind of had to, given his phrasing. Still, given the context, they were in the realm of the non sketchy. "But yeah, I'm sure she'll be on board without any need for bribes. You might have to frame that gift as 'encouraging debauchery', if you wanna maintain your reputation."
"I would make a distinction between surprise alcohol and ambush alcohol," Shinobi said, amused. "One of those two is obviously questionable. Though you make a very good point about my reputation--I feel fairly domesticated, lately, and it might be necessary for me to make a point of emphasizing my gross hedonism now and then. In case anyone were on the verge of forgetting and thinking me well-adjusted and potentially a functional member of society, you know."
"That would be a shame," Shen confirmed. "Anyway, let's check in after we've talked to everybody?"
Shinobi offered a lackadaisical salute. "Hai, Shen-san. I am confident we will soon be toasting our respective successes."
"Talk to you soon, rénxiōng," Shen replied with a smirk, and slipped out of the room. Hey, he didn't corner the market on foreign language honorifics.
With a soft chuckle, Shinobi bowed to the now-empty spot Shen had previously occupied. He then retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket and began pecking out a shamelessly ingratiating text to Bobby. Party plotting was the surest way to put him into the best of moods.
Shen looked at list of items on the whiteboard, tapping the marker on her lips thoughtfully. "It feels like we're forgetting something, but I don't know what."
Shinobi and she had commandeered an empty classroom to plan for the party, and all of the big ideas on the board. They'd gone with Vex's idea of having part of it outside, which meant planning for a canopy, and space heaters, and they would have to reach out to Bobby to ask if he'd make ice sculptures for decoration, around the canopy. (Shen would gladly let Shinobi handle that one.) They would ask the usual suspects to handle the music, but they'd need speakers for outside, too. And Shinobi would foot the alcohol bill; he had the money, and the connections, to make that happen easily enough, as long as the Professor kept turning a blind eye.
"I know!" she suddenly lit up, turning to the other student with a bristle of feathers. "We need something awesome to happen at midnight. Duh. We could just ask Gilmore to wow us?"
Her enthusiasm, emphasized as it was by the pinioned appendages behind her, was positively infectious--not that Shinobi would have made much effort to suppress his answering grin, in any case. Their brainstorming session had been extremely productive, and he was confident they had the beginnings of a suitably Xavier-esque holiday celebration in the making. "Gilmore tend to impress even under the most lean of circumstances. I can only imagine what he might accomplish, given an actual budget to work with. But I imagine it will be more than typically spectacular."
Shen laughed at the thought that hit her. "And suddenly I'm picturing fireworks. That spell out 2019."
"Gilmore would probably give us an entire haiku saluting the end of 2018, spelled out in purple sparkles in the sky," Shinobi chuckled. "He's quite ingenious, I've noticed. And he never does anything halfway, when it comes to parties. Let's invite him to give his imagination free reign. Shall we leave the evening's climax entirely to Shaun, then? Or is there anyone else we could pressgang into contributing to the spectacle?"
"Maybe we can give him free reign for collaborators, too?" Shen offered with a smile. No one would know better than him who he would work with best, after all.
"Ingenious!" Shinobi clapped his hands enthusiastically. "And with the added benefit it entails less work for us. I'll text him on my way back to my room to let him know the good news." He peered at the whiteboard, tapping his chin. "Any other angles we haven't covered that you can think of? Or is it simply a matter of actualizing our draft?"
Shen turned back to the board and added an item saying, Midnight: Gilmore, then looked over at the list. "I think we have everything covered. You'll talk to Bobby about the ice sculptures, right? His fragile masculinity really doesn't like me."
"Really?" Shinobi returned with a raised eyebrow. "I thought that Bobby liked everybody. He reminds me of one of those overly-enthusiastic Labrador puppies I've seen around the grounds a time or two, in that regard. Energetic and a bit needy, and perhaps a touch slobbery on occasion."
Shen had to fight a laugh at that description, feathers rustling with the effort. "You are a terrible person."
"Well, yes," he agreed amiably, smirk creasing his face. "But it's not as though you didn't know that already, neh? Either way, I'll confer with young Master Drake regarding our holiday wish list. I'm fairly confident he'll prove amenable." Shinobi shrugged. "If not, as a terrible person, I can always resort to bribery."
"Or you could just call it patronage," Shen pointed out with an amused expression. "I mean, we're pretty much commissioning art."
Shinobi appeared to think that over for a moment. "No," he said, with a shake of his head. "I like 'bribe' better. It more consistent with my persona," he added, smoothing his shirtfront for emphasis.
"Whatever you like," Shen replied, still smiling as she shook her head. She pulled her phone out to take a picture of the whiteboard, then reached for the eraser to wipe it down.
"Naturally," he beamed. "Shameless self-indulgent is also a key component of my persona." He watched her scrub the board clear, then gave a satisfied nod. "Well. We have a game plan--a solid one, if I do say so myself. Time to make a party happen, hmm?"
"Time to make it awesome," Shen replied, turning around to face him with a grin. She let a beat go by, then asked, completely casually, "Hey, you heard from Tam lately?"
"Not as lately as I would like," Shinobi admitted, after thinking the question over for a moment. "But she's young, beautiful, and preoccupied with sharing those facts with the world, I'm young, beautiful, and preoccupied with sharing those facts with the world." He shrugged. "I suppose that was inevitable. I'm confident she's doing well, however." His head canted to one side inquisitively. "Do you ask for any particular reason?"
Shen's feathers rustled as she shrugged. "Just wondering how she's doing. Beyond what she's, you know. 'Sharing with the world'."
"She's doing quite well, as of last report," he said. Whether that report came from Tamara herself or one of Shinobi's extensive network of contacts was an open question. "Busy, but well. We're both much to self-aware to attempt a long-distance relationship, of course, but we do keep in touch."
So that was one relationship totally worth messing over her friendship with Shen, right? Shen couldn't help the bitter thought at how pragmatic and easy Shinobi made it sound, but she knew that was unfair. In the end, their falling-out had had very little to do with Shinobi, and everything to do with how different their ideas of friendship were. And the fact that Tamara and Shinobi would be self-aware enough not to hurt each other was definitely a good thing.
"That's pretty awesome," Shen stated honestly. "I mean, that you wouldn't drag it out, and that you're still in touch. I'm glad she's doing well."
"As am I," he said, regarding Shen thoughtfully. "We're all still young, aren't we? And I prefer to remain on good terms with all who enter into my eccentric orbit. It's much easier that hurt feelings and complication, I find. Though I admit I occasionally create complication through my fervent desire to avoid it."
Shen wasn't sure if that was a gross attempt at subtlety (however that worked), and she certainly didn't feel like arguing about what exactly had caused the complication between her and Tam. Besides, those words rang a little too close to home when it came to Tommy, and that was a lot more relevant, to this day. It wasn't that she thought he was still hung up on her - he seemed totally happy with Wynonna - more that she was still hung up on him, and, well, it sucked. To put it plainly.
"I feel you," she answered, with a little moue of sympathy, and pushed a hand back through her short hair. It was just long enough to fall into her eyes; time to get it cut again. "Hurt feelings totally have a way of cropping up on you, no matter how hard you try."
"Hurt feelings, reserved feelings ... feelings you wish you'd never had feelings." Shinobi shrugged, and rested a hand on her shoulder companionably. "Feeling is a very difficult thing. I'd half-convinced myself, at one point, that it wasn't worth the trouble. But I think we'd all be much poorer without them, neh?"
Shen looked at him dubiously. Was he mansplaining feelings to her, complete with that hand in her shoulder? Hitting on her? Or genuinely sharing? He was a hard one to read, but she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Well, I'm a Buddhist," she answered. "We're supposed to aim for serenity, balance, all that good, dispassionate stuff." She made a face, nose wrinkling, but there was a light in her eyes. "I'm a pretty terrible Buddhist in some ways."
"Confidentially, my favorite thing about Buddhism is that it discourages us from agonizing over being terrible at Buddhism," he said, grinning. "I'm not usually one for organized belief systems, personally, but if I had to choose, it would probably be one that allows me to spend a few lifetimes wallowing in undiluted hedonism before undertaking the no-doubt laborious task of polishing my tarnished soul."
Shen returned his grin at his first words, but shook her head at his last ones. "Thinking in Christian terms, there," she pointed out. "But yeah. I'm not even a little sorry about my love affair with selfies. Maybe in my next life." Or maybe not. Like he said, there was time.
Shinobi accepted her correction with a lighthearted shrug--he was hardly a theological scholar, and would have been the first to admit that his acquaintance with Buddhism was superficial, at best. What little he did know of it, he'd learned mostly through osmosis-via-proximity. "If you meet the Buddha, grab a selfie with the Buddha," he misquoted with an impenitent little smirk.
"Aaaand now I can only think about how awesome that'd be," Shen admitted with a chuckle. "Or the Dalai Lama! Can you imagine?" She certainly could, and it made her eyes light up with enthusiasm.
"Truly, he is like the Kim Kardashian of holy men," he laughed. "Except that there are fewer nude pictures of him circulating online. And the part where he is absolutely nothing like any member of that abysmally tacky clan."
Shen chuckled again. "And now I'm picturing what that meeting would be like."
"Fabulously sacred?" Shinobi ventured. "Though I suspect spending time in the company of the average reality-show celebrity would test the limits of even his legendary patience. I know that I consider myself a reasonably easygoing sort, but they definitely make me want to scramble their molecules after just a few minutes of inane made-for-TV chatter."
"Your life is so hard, Shinobi," Shen told him with a look of mock-sympathy, reaching out to pat his shoulder.
"Isn't it just?" he replied, heaving a dramatic sigh. "I'll just have to console myself with the consolation prizes of wealth, wit, and beautiful classmates who continue to tolerate me despite my frequent lapses into utter ridiculousness." Shinobi's mouth quirked into a playful smirk. "Still, your sympathy is appreciated, no matter how counterfeit it might be. I'm not at all picky about the sincerity of the emotional support I'm offered; I soak it up like a dehydrated sponge."
"I'll keep that in mind," Shen assured him with an amused little smile. "Anyway. I'll talk to Terry, but you're on Bobby, right?"
"Like white on a snowflake," he affirmed, nodding. "I'm sure he can be induced to participate with a liberal application of flattery. It's on occasions like these that my flexible notions of honesty become a valuable asset, I find."
"I... don't wanna know," Shen decided with a firm nod. "But let me know how it goes?"
"I'll text you as soon as he succumbs to my all-out charm offensive," Shinobi said, nodding again. "And please do let me know how your negotiations with the fairer of our two resident Cassidys go."
"I don't think it will even require negotiating," Shen answered with a smile.
"Your powers of persuasion are so devastatingly effective, I should scarcely be surprised," he said. "Still, do feel free to promise any number of outlandish favors with the Shaw name for collateral--perhaps a bottle of something antiquated and expensive from the Old Country? I pride myself on generosity toward those in a position to enhance my recreational pursuits."
"Surprise her with it, I'm sure she'll love it," Shen suggested. It was his idea; he should reap the gratitude!
"I do love surprises," he noted, tapping thoughtfully at his chin. "And surprise alcohol is the very best alcohol."
"Or the worst," Shen pointed out with raised eyebrows, because she kind of had to, given his phrasing. Still, given the context, they were in the realm of the non sketchy. "But yeah, I'm sure she'll be on board without any need for bribes. You might have to frame that gift as 'encouraging debauchery', if you wanna maintain your reputation."
"I would make a distinction between surprise alcohol and ambush alcohol," Shinobi said, amused. "One of those two is obviously questionable. Though you make a very good point about my reputation--I feel fairly domesticated, lately, and it might be necessary for me to make a point of emphasizing my gross hedonism now and then. In case anyone were on the verge of forgetting and thinking me well-adjusted and potentially a functional member of society, you know."
"That would be a shame," Shen confirmed. "Anyway, let's check in after we've talked to everybody?"
Shinobi offered a lackadaisical salute. "Hai, Shen-san. I am confident we will soon be toasting our respective successes."
"Talk to you soon, rénxiōng," Shen replied with a smirk, and slipped out of the room. Hey, he didn't corner the market on foreign language honorifics.
With a soft chuckle, Shinobi bowed to the now-empty spot Shen had previously occupied. He then retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket and began pecking out a shamelessly ingratiating text to Bobby. Party plotting was the surest way to put him into the best of moods.
