ax_main | Tamara and Shen

There's an explanation, and dancing, and dirty-dancing, and flying, and wing-stroking, and then things get awkward, but not for the reason you might expect.

Shen was beginning to wonder if it wasn't going to end up raining in the near future. She hadn't yet flown in the rain, and it might be fun! Dancing in the rain could be, after all, so why not? But her thought process stopped when she spotted Tamara down on the ground, on her own, for once. Shen landed beside her, not as smoothly as she could have, but she had a very nice buzz going, so there it was.

"You and I need to talk," she told her friend as she folded her wings behind her back. She leaned in to whisper in her ear. "What was that with Simon Tam earlier?"

Tamara's heart thudded in her chest, and her wings twitched guiltily behind her. Shit.

But she managed to put a smirk on her face. "Ohmygod, did you see how drunk he was??"

Shen frowned as she leaned back, because that was so random. "What?"

"I see him in the infirmary all the time, 'cause of my wings, y'know? And he's soooo uptight." She grinned, thinking back to their dance. "But he was drunk."

"So you thought you'd take advantage of that?" Shen asked, beginning to frown for an entirely different reason.

"What? I didn't do anything to him," Tamara replied, rolling her eyes. She knew that look on Shen. "No videos, I didn't make a move on him or anything creepy-- we talked, and he wanted to dance. It was funny."

"Why did you even go and talk to him?" Shen asked, not understanding Tamara at all. "That guy doesn't understand anything."

"Wanted to know why he'd bother coming," Tamara replied with a shrug, hoping that was a good enough answer. Shit, she hadn't realized Shen had watched the whole encounter. She'd been counting on the party distracting other people from really noticing. "He's not exactly well-liked around here."

"With good reason," Shen muttered. Couldn't he give them a safe space long enough for them to have a freaking party?

That seemed to have done it, and Tamara nodded with a bitchy glance in Simon's direction. Sorry, Simon... Then she turned back to Shen. "Forget him. Having fun?"

"Yes!" Shen confirmed with a grin. "Sooo much dancing." Including up in the air with Warren earlier, and that had been so much fun. "How about you?"

"You looked good dancing up there," Tamara told her, looking just a little longingly up where Shen had been flying. "Less dancing for me, but plenty of fun," she said, looking pretty satisfied with herself.

Shen reached out to lay her hand on Tamara's back comfortingly; she'd get up there with them eventually. But at Tamara's next words, Shen's gaze slipped to the hickey on her neck. "As long as the fun wasn't had with Simon Tam..."

"Ohmygod, no," Tamara assured Shen, though she couldn't help thinking not this time, anyway... Pushing that thought away, she brushed her fingers over the mark on her neck with a very satisfied smirk. "Tommy, thank you very much."

"Miles better," Shen stated, with feeling. She paused, then asked, "Good kisser?"

Tamara all but beamed up at Shen. "Oh yeah. But don't tell him I said so," she added, glancing in Tommy's direction. She didn't even notice the way she wetted her lips just thinking about it (where 'it' meant pushing him up against a tree and pretty much having her way with him). "Boy takes direction real well."

Shen laughed. "How about initiative?" She liked for things to be balanced, what could she say?

"Didn't give him much chance," Tamara returned playfully, grinning at Shen. "Maybe next time. If he's good." Oh yeah, she'd had enough to drink that there was really zero filter (she'd used it up protecting Simon or something, right?).

"You're terrible," Shen told her, although between her grin and her tone, there was no doubt that she approved. Hey, as long as everybody had been into it, it was all good!

"He didn't seem to think so," Tamara said, barely managing to fake an innocent face at her friend. Her wings flapped gently behind her. "And ohmygod, did I need that. Sometimes you just need to kiss someone's face off, right?" Things had been... whatever-it-was, with Warren for so long now, she'd almost forgotten how good it felt to just kiss. (Well, kiss, get handsy, let a boy feel you up...)

"Tell me about it," Shen agreed, with feeling. "You wanna dance some more, then, or are you all partied out after that intense make out session?"

"Dance, definitely! Let's do it." Tamara seriously needed some dance floor time now. She took Shen's hand and headed in that direction with a grin.

Shen was already dancing on their way to the others, and she kept a hold of Tamara's hand when they reached what served as the dancefloor area. They stayed on the edge - easier when there were wings involved - as they began to dance more properly. Shen loved moments like these.

Tamara approved of the location, letting her wings flare and move with her. They only occasionally overbalanced her these days, but dancing was much harder when she had to focus on hold them close to her back. So what if her upper body was kind of stiff? She'd always been the type to dance with her hips anyway...

Shen's limbs felt a little too loose in the best of ways, and she felt even warmer than she would've naturally. The buzz just added to the moment, and she focused on nothing but the music and Tamara in order to move in synch with both. This would only get better once they were both able to do it in the air.

Tamara's last drink seemed to hit her all at once when she started dancing, like the booze had just been waiting to go to her head. And she liked it.

She also liked the way Shen moved. With a happy grin, she reached up and put her arms around Shen's neck, swaying in time with her (and letting the taller girl steady her so her wings didn't tip her by mistake).

Whoa, hello there! Shen laughed in pleasant surprise. She instinctively wanted to wrap her arms around Tamara's waist, but her wings connected so low on her back that her only option would have been groping her ass. So she pulled her hands back to Tamara's hips, holding on to her to help her balance, Shen's own wings spreading a little to help counterbalance. She bit down on her lower lip, all happy and into the moment, as they synched their moves even better now that they were all up against each other. Damn, Tamara could move. And it might be the first time Shen danced like this with someone shorter than her, but it wasn't all that weird at all. It just felt awesome. Everything felt awesome right then.

Yes, this was much better, Tamara decided. Not having to worry about her wings overbalancing her or hitting other people let her focus on dancing (when she'd been dancing with Simon, she'd kinda had to make sure he didn't fall over - srsly, never letting him live that down, ever). She grinned up at Shen.

Shen's smile widened, teeth letting go of her lip, when Tamara beamed up at her. She just looked so happy. That moment was perfect.

Tamara liked the way Shen smiled back at her. She usually only danced with boys, but this was Shen. Leaning in so she'd be able to hear over the music, she said, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Always," Shen assured her, keeping her head tilted to better hear Tamara.

"I made that video we talked about," Tamara told her, lopsided grin on her face. "Gonna post it tomorrow."

"What?" Shen stopped dancing, watching Tamara with wide eyes. "Why didn't you ask me?" If there was any hurt that her friend had done it without her, she forced herself to push past it, because this was Tamara's thing, and the only thing Shen should be right now was supportive. She grinned at her. "You've got to show me!"

Tamara still had her arms around Shen's neck, and didn't miss the spill of emotions that chased across her face. "Didn't want to get you in trouble with me, especially when you and Gar were talking about starting a club."

"No, it's fine," Shen assured her. "I mean." She frowned again. "I'd have done it in a heartbeat, have you met me?" And to hell with the club. What Tamara was doing mattered. She'd just thought they'd be doing this together - but it didn't matter. That she was doing it mattered. "I'm serious though, you can't make me wait until tomorrow!"

"Yeah, okay," Tamara agreed, grinning up at her. "You wanna go to my room and see it on the computer?" She didn't want to play in here on her phone - there was a party going on, music and stuff, and she didn't want to give it away to anyone else either.

"Definitely," Shen answered without missing a beat. She tugged Tamara away from the party, then realized walking up to the mansion would take a while and offered, "Want me to fly you?" Hey, Warren wasn't the only one with the extra strength to make it possible. He was just the only one to couple that with supermodel good looks.

"Can you? Ohmygod, yes, let's do it!" Tamara loved being flown, but she'd only been with Warren before.

Shen grinned at her answer. "Any pointers? I haven't taken anyone yet, so you're the one with actual experience."

Tamara stepped close again, hands going around Shen's neck as she pulled her wings tight to her back. "Keep a hand on my wings so they don't crash us?"

An arm, more like, Shen thought as she plastered an arm across Tamara's wings. "And the other goes..." She flexed her knees to bend her other arm under Tamara's butt, and secured her nicely in her arms once Tamara hopped up. "Trust me?" she asked her, their faces super close now. And more than just their faces, to be honest.

Breath catching in her chest a bit - well that was new - Tamara grinned. "Yeah, totally."

Shen grinned right back, then looked up, and took off. She did so less quickly than she could do by now, not quite certain what speed Tamara was made for, or what she was ready to handle at this stage. Still, they were underway in no time, and she looked down at her friend with a smile, her arms strong and steady around her. "Doing all right?"

Tamara was grinning, head tilting back as she watched the stars whizzing by. She'd never done this at night before. "Better than," she said over the sound of the wind. "Wow, this is..."

"I know, right?" Shen asked excitedly. "Wait 'til you can do this on your own."

But even going at a fraction of the speed Shen was now capable of, they were already nearing the mansion, and she slowed down to make her approach as smooth as possible for her passenger.

Flying was such a rush, and Tamara gasped as Shen maneuvered them for a landing. "Jeez, I had no idea you were so strong," she said with a laugh, that tingling sensation of falling running through her even though she knew she was safe.

"It's not all for the white boy supermodels," Shen assured her with an amused smile. Because they both knew better, and because they both liked Warren. She stretched her wings to slow down, and angled her body back upright until her feet touched down. A couple of steps, and she could set Tamara down on the ground. "How do you think I got to fly so quickly?" Tamara had it tough, having to work up all of the strength and muscles necessary before taking to the sky.

Not that it stopped Shen from attending the gym almost daily.

Tamara giggled softly as Shen put her down. "Seriously, I don't know why you and Warren ever come down."

"We'd get lonely up there," Shen assured her with a smile, and took her hand to tug her inside. Well, and there was the whole food and drink and sleep thing, but her answer sounded better.

It was an answer Tamara liked, and she squeezed Shen's hand playfully as they went inside, taking the lead when they reached the hallway and letting them into her room. Ignoring the main light - which would be way too bright after the dim lights outside - she switched on the reading light by her bed, then turned on the computer.

"Okay, give it a minute to wake up," she mumbled, almost pouting as the computer seemed to take its sweet time about it.

"Sure," Shen said, sitting on the edge of the bed - with her back to the edge, so her wings could hang off of it. She looked around their room, bathed as it was in the half-light provided by the small lamp.

"Sorry for the mess," Tamara said, settling down on the desk chair, backwards to accommodate wings. There were a few shirts and such strewn about her side of the room, and odds and ends of makeup on most surfaces.

Turning to face Shen while the computer continued its slow progress, Tamara smiled as she was met with those beautiful wings, automatically reaching out to stroke them. Shen would stop her if it was weird, but she knew she liked having her own wings played with. "Okay, I love my wings and all, but I just love the feathers you guys have."

Shen couldn't help the full body shiver that went through her. Nobody had ever touched her wings, and it was... weird. She exhaled a little shakily, then gave Tamara an awkward smile. "Sorry. Just not used to anyone touching them. Does it - I mean, have you?" She didn't mean the way she'd kept them tucked in as they flew, but the sort of touch Tamara had just given hers. More like a caress.

Simon. Well, Tamara couldn't say that. "They've been rubbing them to help the muscles, down in the infirmary." It was really, really close to the truth. She stopped her hands, not lifting them yet, just not caressing any further. "Do you wish I wouldn't? It feels good to me, but..."

"It feels..." Shen had to move her wings then, just because Tamara's hands like this, not moving, was almost ticklish. Possibly it was all in her mind. "A little too good, maybe?"

Tamara giggled softly, finishing the stroke but not starting again. "I know, right?"

She turned her chair back toward the computer, which finally seemed ready to participate. "Okay, here we go," she said, double clicking the file before turning to Shen again. "Don't laugh!"

Shen shivered slightly again, then gave Tamara a slightly hesitant smile, compared to her usual smiles. She'd composed herself by the time Tamara clicked on the file, and she shook her head, her eyes glued to the screen. "Only in amazement, I promise."

Tamara played the video for her, holding her breath pretty much the whole time. She hadn't shown it to anyone yet, had done it all without even letting Clarice know, using a laptop with a webcam and then some basic editing.

About halfway through, she turned away from the screen to watch Shen's reaction instead.

Shen was biting down on her lower lip, damn near holding her breath as she watched it. Once it was done, she turned to Tamara and blurted out, "Oh my god, it's amazing!"

"You think?" Tamara wasn't usually one to get insecure about anything, but... well Shen's opinion counted for a lot in this case.

"Fuck I think, I know!" Shen let out, cursing more heavily than she usually did in her enthusiasm. "Seriously, Tam. It's so you and so right and so perfect. Like, you'll have mutant haters and masculinists and freaking racists all over your comments for sure, but screw them all! It's amazing."

Tamara was absolutely beaming under Shen's praise. "Ohmygod, I'm so glad you like it!! The comments are gonna be a nightmare, and I have no idea what Xavier will think, but..." She trailed off with a grin, totally relieved she and Shen were on the same page. "So yeah, putting it up in the morning."

"You? Are da bomb," Shen told Tamara, holding her fist up for a bump and having completely forgotten about that awkward wait-what moment with her wings earlier.

Tamara bumped her back enthusiastically. "And if anyone asks, you had no idea I was doing this, got it?"

"Please." Shen's face was incredulous. "Do you know me at all? I'll back you up all the way."

Tamara breathed a laugh, standing up so she could climb onto the edge of the bed too. "I know that, promise." She settled next to Shen, their shoulders and wings touching. "That's not the same as getting in trouble for something I did on my own. I mean, I didn't even tell Kitty what video I was posting, and she was helping me."

Shen facepalmed a little at that. "She's gonna be mad. And you know that you're doing that thing where you're protecting people against their will. That thing sucks even when it's not a guy doing it to a girl." Although that sucked even more, admittedly, because gender politics.

"Yeah, I know. But being kind of a dick was worth it to make sure this gets out," Tamara said, smiling wryly up at Shen. She'd thought about all those things ages ago and made up her mind. At least it had been a deliberate choice, right? "No one can rat you out if they don't know."

Shen frowned. "Well, okay, now I'm offended on my behalf and Kitty's." She really didn't think Kitty would have ratted them out. Well, no, ratted Tamara out; it wasn't like Shen was a part of it after all.

"Don't be mad," Tamara said, pouting playfully at her friend. "I didn't mean it like that. Just, secrets are hard to keep, especially when the principal is a freaking telepath, y'know? I didn't want anyone getting in trouble for like, not stopping me or telling a teacher, and didn't want it accidentally getting out before I was ready to put it online. That's all."

"I'm not mad, I'm hurt," Shen pointed out, not feeling very playful about any of it. "But anyway. It was your choice. And your video rocks."

Tamara blinked, surprised by that. "I... you are? I didn't mean to..." She took a breath, focusing her thoughts. "Hurt?"

"I'll get over it," Shen assured her, not really into discussing it, especially not if it wasn't obvious why. It made her feel stupid for feeling hurt at all. "Kitty helped make sure it wouldn't be traced back here, then?"

"Yeah, but wait, go back," Tamara said, not ready to let it go. Her pout was much more genuine now. "It's important."

Shen rolled her eyes, wings bristling behind her back. "Look, you came to me for help on this awesome project, and I was super into it, and I agreed to help, and then you went and did it without me. Cue in me feeling left out. And then you sounded like telling me would have endangered the secrecy thing, so yeah, add insult to injury. I'm hurt. But I know that's not how you meant it, so I'll get over it."

Tamara frowned, wilting a little as she listened to Shen. She hadn't thought about any of it that way. "Wow. Okay, yeah, got it." She played with the blanket they were sitting on, weighing things in her head. "It was just... the more I thought about it after we talked, the more it seemed like doing this first one alone was important."

Shen shrugged. "Like I said, I know you didn't mean it like that, and I'll get over it. Now can we move on?" This was seriously harshing her buzz. Maybe she should fly back to the party, have another drink, and find someone pretty to dance with.

"Yeah, okay. Sorry." Tamara offered her a smile, hoping to smooth things over now that she at least kind of understood.

"It's okay," Shen assured her with a small smile, and pushed up to her feet. "You wanna head back to the party?"

Mischief lit Tamara's smile at that. "Can we fly again?"

Shen gave her a look. "Like I was gonna walk back."

Tamara grinned back, flapping her own wings with excitement. "Alright, let's do it!"