ax_main | Vex and Shinobi | Backdated to Feb. 16

Vex and Shinobi enjoy a not!Valentine's Day outing in the city.

When Vex sought Shinobi out for distraction she’d been thinking the entertainment would involve fumbling in an adjacent broom closet. Somehow, this escalated to dinner in an upscale Manhattan restaurant. Vex had mixed feelings about going out, but if she let one traumatic experience ruin all future outings her life would be a dismal affair. And? She’d miss out on delicious food and reasonably delicious company.

Vex tugged her jacket on as they prepared to leave the restaurant and took one last glance around the room. It was hard to miss how many eyes were on them through the meal. This was one of Shinobi’s cities. The minute they walked in the door, he was known. A small smile curved Vex’s lips. Bets were on which of their fathers would express disapproval first.

As immaculate as Shinobi was, Vex reached over and smoothed out the collar of his jacket. She was close enough that were they not being so obviously watched she might have kissed him. “Let’s walk,” she said. “We passed that street fair on the way over. I think we’ve been cultured enough for one night. Dessert should be messier.”

Shinobi smiled as she brushed away the imaginary wrinkles in his exactingly-tailored coat. It was one of his favorites, a sumptuous, deep sapphire color, cut to the ankle, and trimmed with black merino wool at the cuffs and collar. Perfect for drawing attention without being being garish (though garish certainly did have its time and place). Whatever else might be said of him, Shinobi always enjoyed attention, whether the intent behind it was admiring or invidious. If the coat had not been sufficient to inspire that, his companion for the evening certainly had.

He linked his arm sinuously with hers before Vex pulled away, holding her against him snugly, but not insistently. "Messy sounds delightful," he hummed. "I'm positively a connoisseur of messy. And it will do wonders for cleansing our palates of haute cuisine, neh? Besides, I haven't been to a street fair in ages."

Vex leaned against. “We can trade worlds for a minute.” She led him out into the biting cold. The streets were bustling, and music ahead indicated they were walking in the right direction. “Watch your pockets,” she advised. “This coat is pretty alluring.”

"It's all one world," Shinobi argued, though playfully, enjoying the conversation as much as Vex's comfortable weight at his side. "Some of us just get to access more of it, either through the accidental fortunes of our birth or an adventurous disposition. Never fear," he laughed, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as the crowds grew more pronounced, and the music louder, "I don't carry anything on my person that I couldn't stand to part with. Especially not when I'm out and about. You're a darling to worry, though."

Vex looked up at him innocently. “Who says I was talking theft? It might just be my hand in your pocket.” She tugged him around a small cluster of tourists taking a gawking photo of the city line.

"I like your hand in my pocket," he said, letting himself be pulled in the direction Vex indicated around the knot of tourists. "Help yourself to anything you find there. As I said, it's nothing I couldn't stand to part with."

She snorted softly. “I’m not sure how to take that. My mind goes places, and many of them are concerning.”

"When you put it that way, I suppose there's at least one thing I can think of that I'd prefer to keep on my person," he returned wickedly. "Still, consider it an open invitation. Once you have reconciled yourself with those concerning mindscapes you mentioned." Shinobi shrugged. "I prefer to focus on the more pleasant ones, myself."

Vex silently resolved to steal something small off Shinobi by the time they got home. There had to be something that would fit into Vax’s collection of oddities. He’d probably be happier thinking of Shinobi as a mark, instead of a boy that Vex had questionable intentions toward.

“You sure do,” Vex quipped. “You are remarkably easy going. Thank you for the open invitation. Let’s do our best not to get arrested.”

"As if they actually had a prison that could hold me," he sniffed dismissively. If they had, his father would have probably already sent him there. But that was much too somber a thought for so enjoyable an evening. "That does take a bit of the illicit thrill out of the prospect of a little petty larceny, though. I suppose life is full of those sorts of trade-offs, neh?"

There were sidewalk booths and rolling carts to either side of the crowd, now, in increasing numbers, hosting small games or portable snack foods perfect for a night's perambulation. These latter were doubtless of a nutritional quality similar to sugar-infused cardboard, and would ravage his digestive system for hours after ingestion ... but they smelled delicious.

The smell of fried dough and powdered sugar inspired Vex to steer them toward one particular truck. She traced her fingers along the back of Shinobi’s hand thoughtfully.

“You know, sometimes I forget exactly how powerful your specialty is. Nothing can really hold you, can it? Would you say you have problems getting through things when you’re distracted, or can you pretty much escape any situation?” She was being intentionally vague in case anyone was eavesdropping.

Shinobi followed her lead with his usual languid interest, huffing a brief laugh at her observation.

"Honestly? I've always considered fantastic wealth to be an attribute of much broader utility. But no, I've yet to encounter an obstacle substantial enough to keep me from going wherever I please--which I'm sure has gone right to my head and made me unbearable, but modesty has never been a defining trait of mine." His dark eyes suddenly took on a much keener interest. "How about you?" he asked. "Devised any interesting new trinkets lately?"

“A few… no new companions.” Vex smiled at him. “I’m always playing with something.” She hopped into the line for zeppole.

"Or someone," he said, following her into line, nothing even remotely reproachful in his tone. "I admit, I've enjoyed our games, thus far. Even if I am simply a convenient stopgap. It's been fun." Shinobi eyed the fried dough and sugar concoctions on display ahead of them with a mixture of skepticism and interest.

She squeezed his hand and then let go to fish out a few dollars. After the outrageous dinner bill she could treat them to something off a cart.

“You are quite fun,” Vex agreed. “I’d say there’s a lot to like, but the size of your ego is already huge.”

"And here I'd thought my outrageously unwarranted self-confidence was part of why you liked me," he teased, watching as she exchanged a few bills with the vendor to secure their dessert. Under most circumstances, Shinobi supposed he probably would have protested and insisted on paying himself. But this seemed ... right. "I have no difficulty whatsoever admitting there's a lot to like about you."

Not fighting her on a decision was always the right choice. Vex appreciated his restraint. She pulled out one of the zeppole. The dough was hot against her fingertips. Chances seemed high she was about to burn her tongue, but Vex daintily bit into the pastry. The low sound she made was pure appreciation.

Vex licked the powdered sugar from her lips and then raised the dessert up to Shinobi’s.

If anyone could understand the impulse to transform the everyday into a minor, sensual spectacle, it was Shinobi Shaw. He grinned widely at Vex's faint moan of enjoyment, and unconsciously moistened his lips with his tongue before taking a bite of the proffered pastry himself. "Heavenly," he concluded, once he'd swallowed, traces of sweet white sugary topping still lingering around his mouth.

In the night crowd anyone might be watching. This wasn’t Vex’s city, but she couldn’t speak for how many people might care what Shinobi got up to. Chances were, no one would notice two teenagers on a night out. Given her company, Vex still felt a pang awareness before she decided fuck it and leaned up to kiss Shinobi. Her tongue flickered along his bottom lip.

For his part, Shinobi responded naturally to the kiss, utterly indifferent to the knots and pairings of fellow New Yorkers moving and pausing in their vicinity. He inclined his face in what pleasant experience had taught him was the most comfortable fit, pressing his mouth to hers with lips just beginning to part in invitation. True, that spectacle that they had begun had now just escalated somewhat, in a way that might have consequences later ... but there was very little he did not enjoy in being the center of attention, good or bad.

Vex chased the kiss a second longer before breaking away. She licked her own bottom lip and then smiled before reaching for another zeppole. “Delicious.”

"It's been a delicious evening, overall," he agreed, toying playfully with the collar of her jacket. "I take it, then, you are feeling suitably distracted from your unfortunate bout of cabin fever?"

"It's good to get out," she agreed. "I'm thoroughly distracted. I love the woods, but sometimes I do miss a nice city trip. Your vantage point is very interesting here."

"My tastes have always been very decisively urban," he admitted. "Though I've recently found a taste for more rustic pursuits. Who would have ever imagined?"

Vex smiled wickedly. “Would you like to come camping when it gets warmer? Packs on the ground? Nothing but trees for miles?”

"As long as you can tolerate the smell of me when I'm soaked in bug-repellent," he said, grinning--largely in appreciation of that wickedness. "You make it all sound so picturesque, I almost forget about all the variously-inconvenient arthropod life." Almost.

“We’ll wait until it’s warm. If it’s unbearable I can always tumble you into a river.” Vex was reminded of that strange week in Yorkland. She nibbled dessert, leaning close so Shinobi could reach into the bag if he wanted. “Random question— where were you when this place turned into the Princess Bride?”

Shinobi himself was all too happy to snuggle closer--for ease of sharing their dessert, naturally. He dipped his fingers into the bag to break off a piece of the pastry, and chewed thoughtfully as he turned her question over in his mind. Random, indeed. And regarding a topic about which he'd gone to some lengths to avoid confronting directly. "You know how some evenings you'll drift off to sleep, then wake up the next day dimly aware that some time has passed, but feeling as though it were just a moment? No memory of the dream in between, just a sort of lapse in consciousness? That's sort of what that episode was for me. I wasn't really ... anywhere, as far as I am able to recall."

He shrugged. "It may be that I simply don't remember, the way some people rarely remember their dreams. Or perhaps I didn't exist in that world." That last thought troubled him far more than he was prepared to admit, but he could still acknowledge the possibility. The most important thing was that it was over.

"How about you? End up anyplace nice?"

What a concerning thought. Vex hoped it was a case of not remembering over not existing.

“Wandering the woods, mostly. Trinket was older. We briefly visited a castle. Largely, it was hunting and solitude.” She looked around the night crowd. “It felt very much like the Wizard of Oz, where many of the faces were the same, but some of the key players in my life were now magical… dragons instead of tornadoes.”

"It all sounds so fascinating," Shinobi murmured. "I'm a bit sorry I missed it. Still, I suppose I can still make the most of this side of the rainbow. Drab though it might be."

“You’re pretty much a Disney Princess already, Shinobi,” Vex pointed out lightly.

"Mm-hmm?" Shinobi hummed. "Do you promise to rescue me from the ogre if I ever get spirited away?"

“Oh, darling. I fully expect that I’ll need to rescue you at some point.” She winked. “Ogres, poor life choices...”

"The latter probably more so than the former," he agreed, bumping her hip lightly with his. "As long as you're willing to swoop in and be my hero."

“Depends on the choices, but I think you’ll be in luck.”

"Sweet talker," he singsonged. "But I'll be happy to be your damsel in distress."

She grinned and brushed a kiss along his jaw. “I’ll keep you safe from wicked fairies, Princess. And get you home before midnight.”

"Not too much before, I hope," Shinobi laughed, leaning into Vex more comfortably. "After all, I'd want an opportunity to reward my knight in subtle armor appropriately. In suitable fairy tale fashion."