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Jack and Shen - Backdated
Shen meets one of the new guys in the Danger Room, and then cooking happens.
Jack dusted his hands off on his pants legs, looking at the simulated cityscape around him. He had to admit, this simulation technology was pretty impressive. He didn't have anything crazy simulated; it was just a beginner sim anyway, since he wasn't with anyone and he wasn't supervised. Just some extreme free-running things, seeing what kind of gaps he could clear and the like out here.
He hadn't even bothered changing out of his suit. Any decent suit, he reasoned, could stand up to some punishment. The setup was cleverly disguised to look urban, but Jack had basically punched in an amalgamation of eccentric obstacle courses. He was pacing himself, too, seeing how his stamina would last through extended exercise. He was pretty sure he'd checked the schedule right and nobody else was due in for awhile, so that shouldn't have been an issue.
Ribbed palms gripped the simulated telephone pole that he'd jumped to from a simulated rooftop, and he scurried up, his hands and feet gripping just as well as any climbing gear. A fire escape was his next destination, but rather than enter it, Jack clung to the outside, taking it like a giant ladder, effortlessly pushing off from the outside of the platforms, grabbing onto the next floor's rails and pulling himself up. He was pleased that his functionality wasn't diminished much out here; there must have been just enough people in Salem Center to keep him operating at better-than-average levels.
Shen had come down to the Danger Room to check its availability, and when she'd seen who was occupying it, of course she stayed in the observation room to have a look. And wow, it was something. He hadn't impressed her online, but now he was, if on a completely different level. This was him not in a city. What would he be like in any major city? She did nothing to hide her presence, standing by the window, arms crossed, wings relaxed behind her.
He got to the top of the simulated building and shrugged and gave his suit coat a tug, squaring it on his shoulders. He glanced at the window, getting that prickling feeling that he was being watched. When he spotted the girl he figured was Shen, he gave a slight smile and a little wave. "I have no idea if you can hear me, by the way," he said. "But if you can, or if you're good at reading lips, you're welcome to come join in," he offered. "I'm kind of itching to see what the more advanced sims have to offer."
She could hear him, and she stepped closer to the right console and pushed a button so that he could hear her, too. "I'll be right down." Like her answer was ever going to be no to more Danger Room time.
She walked into the Danger Room proper just a few seconds later, dressed in some capri pants and a tank top. "What kind of program did you have in mind?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure what they have on tap," Jack said, shrugging. "I'm trying to gauge my limits in an area like this," he said. "Any pointers, personal favorites?" he asked.
"I've mostly been here on my own so far," Shen replied, going over to the console to sign in, so the Room would know there was two of them now. "So, not really."
"Well, maybe it's got some sort of 'random' or 'shuffle' function," Jack said, shrugging. "Pick something that looks fun. Something involving climbing or, I dunno, maybe punching."
"I'm not much for climbing," Shen remarked, with a flex of her wings. She ended up only upgrading the current program to something with opponents, although they wouldn't be the very dangerous sort, not without supervision. "Here. The idea's to take out the bad guys." Fairly simple, and the urban landscape, as it was, would work for his abilities and allow her to fly about, too. Everybody won.
"Looks fun," he said, looking over at the simulated cityscape before them. "Game plan? Or just free-for-all?" he asked.
"Contest," Shen answered with a smirk, wings stretching. "See who gets the most." And without waiting for an answer, she launched into action, soaring through the air and towards the nearest opponent.
"Fair enough," Jack said, smirking after her as she departed. He put his back into the jump that he did after her, deciding to not try to intercept her, and instead just get ahead of her, if he could.
They both gave it their all, and by the time they were done, they were almost a tie. By one. "I'll win the next one," Shen warned him as she touched down beside him, and wrinkled her nose at the slashes her talons had made through his jacket as they made for the same target - which he'd gotten. "You know, tighter clothing would work better for this stuff." And make him look like less of a rich douchebag, too.
"Probably," Jack admitted, shrugging. "But this is more likely what I'm to be wearing at any given moment," he said. "So it feels like that's what I should practice in. Besides, it's not quite as stiff as it looks."
White privilege looked stiff to Shen on most days; not everybody wore it like Warren did. But this was taking it to a new level, wearing suits in everyday life. "Guess you'll keep a tailor in employment." She'd apologize about his jacket, but... she wasn't really sorry, not if he felt that way about it. "You wanna give another one a go? Your pick."
"Or learn to sew myself," Jack chuckled, looking at the tear with no real sadness or remorse in his eyes. "And sure. I honestly found this one to work well for both of us; let's see if we can find something that plays more to our weaknesses than our strengths," he offered. "If we can find something like that," he added. "You seem to be able to kick ass no matter the situation."
"You seem to like complimenting people," Shen replied with a smirk, and tilted her head to the side, watching him. "Or is it just me?"
"As much as I'd like to say it's just you, it isn't," Jack said, shrugging. "I try to see the best of people. When you spend time around a certain class of slimeball, you have to in order to survive."
"So you taught yourself to see the best in slimeballs?" Shen asked skeptically. That didn't sound much like earth logic to her.
"A lot easier than loathing every single person you're around," Jack said, shrugging. "Besides, some people aren't actually that bad. Or they're at least trying not to be, which counts for something."
"Doesn't count for much, if they're still douchebags," Shen answered with a shrug of her own. "Anyway! Pick our next challenge." She was way more eager to go through another sim than to discuss philosophy with a rich white boy.
"Some are, some aren't," Jack said, as he looked over the interface. "Ah, here we go." He hit a few buttons, and the cityscape around them transformed into that of a densely-packed wood. Shen could probably fly around with some maneuvering, maybe, but Jack wasn't used to trees.
If there was any indication that Jack was maybe taking this bit a bit more seriously, it was that he shucked his suit coat and tossed it aside. "Baddies lurking in the woods," Jack explained. "Simple enough, kind of like last time. Except an environment not exactly tailored to either of us."
"You can say that again," Shen confirmed, and grinned. "Good thing I've been practicing outside."
So these were thicker woods than the ones on the grounds, and she lost a few feathers along the way, scraping her wings against trees. But all that laser practice she'd been doing had to be good for something, and she managed relatively well. Training served a purpose, and she was glad to see it work out, for the most part.
Jack had a rougher time of it. He'd scraped a knee, which healed before he'd finished up, of course, but his clothes were rumpled and he was looking a bit weathered, and she'd done far better than him, this time. "I think I'll leave the woods to you," Jack chuckled, as the scenario ended. "I guess they're called 'urban adaptations' for a reason," he said.
"You just need some training," Shen assured him, smiling from the fun workout that had just been. "I can't even imagine what you'd be like in a city, if you're still that enhanced out here." She walked over to the console to check the time. "Okay, we should go." She ended the program and picked up a couple of feathers from the floor, making an unhappy face at them.
"I'm thinking 'leap tall buildings in a single bound' might be apt," Jack said, shrugging just a little, grinning just a tiny bit. "At least you're not dependent on people being around. You're just as strong in a city as you are, well, in the woods," he said. But he decided he'd follow her. "Wanna do lunch?" he asked.
"Sure," Shen agreed with a nod. "I'd planned on cooking my own today, though." She tended to, on the weekends, instead of eating whatever vegan option the cafeteria had. She led the way out of the room. "I can make enough for two, if you'll eat vegan."
"No problem with that here," Jack said, amicably. "I can even help cook, if you want." He wasn't terribly handy in the kitchen, but he could follow directions well enough.
"Sure," Shen agreed easily. "How does pesto pasta sound?"
"Delicious," Jack said, earnestly. "Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll learn a thing or two from you in the kitchen, too," he said, nodding. "Got a feeling I'll be wanting to cook more, rather than have cafeteria food."
"It's actually pretty good," Shen answered, leading the way to the elevator. "Well, the vegan options are. I just like cooking."
Jack followed along, keeping pace with her. "That's good to know. I was in the public school system; nothing great about the food in that," he explained. "I guess I just have certain expectations when it comes to food when it has the word 'cafeteria' in front of it."
"Well, my public school cafeteria didn't even have vegan options, so," Shen made a face. "I'll just trust you on that."
"That does suck," Jack agreed. He wasn't a vegan, but he believed in allowing people to have their choices. And he understood the health and ethics reasons behind it; he just had a weak spot for non-vegan things. "I mean, it's what, 2017? Isn't it time they got with the trends?" He cracked a grin.
"Lack of funds, blah blah blah," Shen answered with a twist of her lips. Don't get her started on politics. She pushed the button for the elevator, and got in when the doors immediately opened.
He could tell she didn't want to pursue that topic any further, so he decided against it. Light talk, then. "So you've been here longer than I have, I take it. What's your take on the place?" he asked. "Good times?"
"Mostly," Shen confirmed, settling her wings against the back wall, trying not to crowd the elevator. "I mean, it's still school," she added with a small smile.
"Well, naturally," Jack said, cracking a grin. "But everyone I've run across seems pretty chill, which is nice. Makes it a bit better than your average school."
"Chill isn't a word I'd use for everyone here," Shen remarked with wry amusement. "Who have you met, anyway?"
"I'll be honest, not many," he admitted. "I guess it's just wishful thinking."
Shen chuckled at the admission. "I feel you." She walked out of the elevator when the doors opened again, leading the way towards the kitchen.
He followed along, falling into step beside her. "So what else do you do, other than kick ass in simulations and cook vegan?" he asked.
"Fly, obviously," Shen replied with a smile. "Work out. Spend way too much time on social networks trying to make people on the internet see how wrong they are." Very quixotic of her, yes.
Jack chuckled. "It's good that people are active for what they believe in," he said, not trying to placate her, but give her a genuine compliment. "And there are plenty of people that are wrong on the internet," he added. "I'm surprised you find time for anything else. Either that, or you must be very convincing."
"Pfft, I wish," Shen stated with a grimace, and pushed her way into the kitchen. "'Making people change their views on the internet' would be a hell of a mutation."
"Ethical ramifications aside, yeah, it would be," Jack chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "Alright. I'm officially in assistant chef mode. Lemme know how I can help."
"Can you cook the spaghetti?" Shen offered as she headed for the oven to turn on the grill. "Or whatever type of pasta you'd prefer."
"I can sure as hell try," Jack said, grinning just a little as he did a quick search for a pot to put water in. "Spaghetti works fine for me," he added. "I'm an al dente guy, myself. You?"
"Works for me," Shen confirmed, and pointed at the right cupboard. "In that one."
"Got it," he confirmed, reaching in and grabbing a pot of appropriate size. He started filling it up at the sink. "So, got an interesting story, yourself?" he asked, curiously. "I looked around on the forum but it seems like you came in before doing a little tell-all piece on the board became popular."
"Pretty boring, actually - in an awesome way," Shen added, since she didn't want to sound ungrateful. She did not envy some kids their interesting stories. "I moved here from Seattle, and my uncle's so supportive he made the move too. He lives in Salem Center, so I can go see him when I want."
"That's good, good to have family close," Jack agreed. "And it's also good, 'cause, y'know. I don't know how recent your mutation was, but obviously your uncle's supportive," he said, taking the pot over to the stove and turning it on, putting some salt into the water.
In the meantime, Shen was putting vegetables in a large bowl to toss with oil, salt and pepper. "Pretty recent. The wings only started growing in May."
"That's gotta be painful," Jack said, sympathetically. "What about the claw thing?" he asked.
"Talons," Shen corrected him mechanically. "They kicked in over the summer."
"Talons, right," Jack agreed. "Because, bird. Except, well, not really bird, because..." He shook his head and chuckled. "Only at this school. Well, so far. If this one's secret, there could be other secret schools, for all we know."
"Yeah," Shen agreed, although she was mostly thinking of the other team. She blinked out of it to set the vegetables to grill in the oven, wings shifting to allow her to bend over without knocking into anything. "Let's just hope they're a safe space, too."
"Agreed. If they even exist," he said. It was entirely possible there weren't any. The water was starting to boil, so Jack added the noodles. Wealthy or not, Jack still knew how to make spaghetti; he wasn't totally helpless.
Shen kept an eye on what he was doing all the same, because who knew with rich people. Especially teenage boys who walked around in suits. But spaghetti seemed within his ballpark, which was great. She grabbed a lemon and the pesto and quickly turned to making the sauce. This was a recipe she could have done in her sleep. "What about you? Hobbies?"
"I love a good book," Jack said, nodding. "I'll read just about anything. Fiction, philosophy, religious texts, hell, even a cookbook if it looks interesting. Never was much of one for sports, at least in participation, but I'll watch a game socially," he chuckled.
"What sports?" Shen asked, pausing in her preparation of the sauce to turn the veggies over in the oven.
"Whatever's on and everyone else is watching," he said, shrugging and stirring the noodles a bit so that nothing got stuck to the bottom and burned. "I'm not picky."
"So you're in it for the people, but never the sports?" Shen asked.
"I like the sense of community," Jack clarified. "Togetherness."
"Hmm." She still found it a little weird that he wouldn't care at all about the sport - she'd watch women's soccer but not football, for instance, for all that she didn't care all that much about sports. But hey, to each their own. "So I'll never find you rooting for a team?"
"Nah," Jack said, shaking his head. "It's just fun to watch everyone else rooting for whoever they're fond of."
So he liked that sense of community without wanting to be a part of it. Shen really didn't get it, but hey. She set the finished sauce aside and pulled the grilled vegetables out of the oven. There was corn, squash, a bell pepper, a zucchini, and some onions. She grabbed a knife to chop them into pieces, and the corn into kernels, throwing them into the bowl she'd used earlier. "I never really got into sports either."
"Fair enough," he said, removing a noodle and giving it a look-see. Not quite close to being close to done yet, he could tell. "I do like me some urban exploration," he added. "Mutation helps a lot with that, naturally. But I was kind of into it beforehand. Liked seeing where I could get."
"Huh." Shen did not stop in her chopping as she thought it over. "Yeah, I had no clue about flying before. I mean, I never tried base jumping or bungee jumping or whatever."
"Base jumping, now that's something I haven't tried," he chuckled. "Same with bungee jumping. But honestly, knowing that I can survive a fall from that height kinda takes the thrill out of it, maybe," he said, shrugging. "Now the urban exploration is just more fun. If a little rough on the suits."
"Poor suits," Shen let out before she could wonder whether sarcasm was a smart move. If he didn't have a sense of humor about them, tough luck.
Jack chuckled. "Yeah. I'm hard on them," he said. "I think our pasta's juuuust about done," he said, fishing out another noodle and giving it a look.
Shen wasn't sure that he realized how much the suits made him look like a rich prick, given that he'd missed the point of her sarcasm. Then again, she'd made out with a guy who dressed in pinstripes in everyday life, so she probably shouldn't throw stones on that one. "Cool," she replied, grabbing some tomatoes to add to the bowl. "Give me a taste," she requested, since he seemed to be mostly looking at the pasta. She reached for his hand to direct the noodle into her mouth. "Yeah, they're good," she confirmed after swallowing.
"Excellent," Jack said, nodding, as he moved to strain the noodles. "Can't wait to see how this all comes together."
Jack dusted his hands off on his pants legs, looking at the simulated cityscape around him. He had to admit, this simulation technology was pretty impressive. He didn't have anything crazy simulated; it was just a beginner sim anyway, since he wasn't with anyone and he wasn't supervised. Just some extreme free-running things, seeing what kind of gaps he could clear and the like out here.
He hadn't even bothered changing out of his suit. Any decent suit, he reasoned, could stand up to some punishment. The setup was cleverly disguised to look urban, but Jack had basically punched in an amalgamation of eccentric obstacle courses. He was pacing himself, too, seeing how his stamina would last through extended exercise. He was pretty sure he'd checked the schedule right and nobody else was due in for awhile, so that shouldn't have been an issue.
Ribbed palms gripped the simulated telephone pole that he'd jumped to from a simulated rooftop, and he scurried up, his hands and feet gripping just as well as any climbing gear. A fire escape was his next destination, but rather than enter it, Jack clung to the outside, taking it like a giant ladder, effortlessly pushing off from the outside of the platforms, grabbing onto the next floor's rails and pulling himself up. He was pleased that his functionality wasn't diminished much out here; there must have been just enough people in Salem Center to keep him operating at better-than-average levels.
Shen had come down to the Danger Room to check its availability, and when she'd seen who was occupying it, of course she stayed in the observation room to have a look. And wow, it was something. He hadn't impressed her online, but now he was, if on a completely different level. This was him not in a city. What would he be like in any major city? She did nothing to hide her presence, standing by the window, arms crossed, wings relaxed behind her.
He got to the top of the simulated building and shrugged and gave his suit coat a tug, squaring it on his shoulders. He glanced at the window, getting that prickling feeling that he was being watched. When he spotted the girl he figured was Shen, he gave a slight smile and a little wave. "I have no idea if you can hear me, by the way," he said. "But if you can, or if you're good at reading lips, you're welcome to come join in," he offered. "I'm kind of itching to see what the more advanced sims have to offer."
She could hear him, and she stepped closer to the right console and pushed a button so that he could hear her, too. "I'll be right down." Like her answer was ever going to be no to more Danger Room time.
She walked into the Danger Room proper just a few seconds later, dressed in some capri pants and a tank top. "What kind of program did you have in mind?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure what they have on tap," Jack said, shrugging. "I'm trying to gauge my limits in an area like this," he said. "Any pointers, personal favorites?" he asked.
"I've mostly been here on my own so far," Shen replied, going over to the console to sign in, so the Room would know there was two of them now. "So, not really."
"Well, maybe it's got some sort of 'random' or 'shuffle' function," Jack said, shrugging. "Pick something that looks fun. Something involving climbing or, I dunno, maybe punching."
"I'm not much for climbing," Shen remarked, with a flex of her wings. She ended up only upgrading the current program to something with opponents, although they wouldn't be the very dangerous sort, not without supervision. "Here. The idea's to take out the bad guys." Fairly simple, and the urban landscape, as it was, would work for his abilities and allow her to fly about, too. Everybody won.
"Looks fun," he said, looking over at the simulated cityscape before them. "Game plan? Or just free-for-all?" he asked.
"Contest," Shen answered with a smirk, wings stretching. "See who gets the most." And without waiting for an answer, she launched into action, soaring through the air and towards the nearest opponent.
"Fair enough," Jack said, smirking after her as she departed. He put his back into the jump that he did after her, deciding to not try to intercept her, and instead just get ahead of her, if he could.
They both gave it their all, and by the time they were done, they were almost a tie. By one. "I'll win the next one," Shen warned him as she touched down beside him, and wrinkled her nose at the slashes her talons had made through his jacket as they made for the same target - which he'd gotten. "You know, tighter clothing would work better for this stuff." And make him look like less of a rich douchebag, too.
"Probably," Jack admitted, shrugging. "But this is more likely what I'm to be wearing at any given moment," he said. "So it feels like that's what I should practice in. Besides, it's not quite as stiff as it looks."
White privilege looked stiff to Shen on most days; not everybody wore it like Warren did. But this was taking it to a new level, wearing suits in everyday life. "Guess you'll keep a tailor in employment." She'd apologize about his jacket, but... she wasn't really sorry, not if he felt that way about it. "You wanna give another one a go? Your pick."
"Or learn to sew myself," Jack chuckled, looking at the tear with no real sadness or remorse in his eyes. "And sure. I honestly found this one to work well for both of us; let's see if we can find something that plays more to our weaknesses than our strengths," he offered. "If we can find something like that," he added. "You seem to be able to kick ass no matter the situation."
"You seem to like complimenting people," Shen replied with a smirk, and tilted her head to the side, watching him. "Or is it just me?"
"As much as I'd like to say it's just you, it isn't," Jack said, shrugging. "I try to see the best of people. When you spend time around a certain class of slimeball, you have to in order to survive."
"So you taught yourself to see the best in slimeballs?" Shen asked skeptically. That didn't sound much like earth logic to her.
"A lot easier than loathing every single person you're around," Jack said, shrugging. "Besides, some people aren't actually that bad. Or they're at least trying not to be, which counts for something."
"Doesn't count for much, if they're still douchebags," Shen answered with a shrug of her own. "Anyway! Pick our next challenge." She was way more eager to go through another sim than to discuss philosophy with a rich white boy.
"Some are, some aren't," Jack said, as he looked over the interface. "Ah, here we go." He hit a few buttons, and the cityscape around them transformed into that of a densely-packed wood. Shen could probably fly around with some maneuvering, maybe, but Jack wasn't used to trees.
If there was any indication that Jack was maybe taking this bit a bit more seriously, it was that he shucked his suit coat and tossed it aside. "Baddies lurking in the woods," Jack explained. "Simple enough, kind of like last time. Except an environment not exactly tailored to either of us."
"You can say that again," Shen confirmed, and grinned. "Good thing I've been practicing outside."
So these were thicker woods than the ones on the grounds, and she lost a few feathers along the way, scraping her wings against trees. But all that laser practice she'd been doing had to be good for something, and she managed relatively well. Training served a purpose, and she was glad to see it work out, for the most part.
Jack had a rougher time of it. He'd scraped a knee, which healed before he'd finished up, of course, but his clothes were rumpled and he was looking a bit weathered, and she'd done far better than him, this time. "I think I'll leave the woods to you," Jack chuckled, as the scenario ended. "I guess they're called 'urban adaptations' for a reason," he said.
"You just need some training," Shen assured him, smiling from the fun workout that had just been. "I can't even imagine what you'd be like in a city, if you're still that enhanced out here." She walked over to the console to check the time. "Okay, we should go." She ended the program and picked up a couple of feathers from the floor, making an unhappy face at them.
"I'm thinking 'leap tall buildings in a single bound' might be apt," Jack said, shrugging just a little, grinning just a tiny bit. "At least you're not dependent on people being around. You're just as strong in a city as you are, well, in the woods," he said. But he decided he'd follow her. "Wanna do lunch?" he asked.
"Sure," Shen agreed with a nod. "I'd planned on cooking my own today, though." She tended to, on the weekends, instead of eating whatever vegan option the cafeteria had. She led the way out of the room. "I can make enough for two, if you'll eat vegan."
"No problem with that here," Jack said, amicably. "I can even help cook, if you want." He wasn't terribly handy in the kitchen, but he could follow directions well enough.
"Sure," Shen agreed easily. "How does pesto pasta sound?"
"Delicious," Jack said, earnestly. "Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll learn a thing or two from you in the kitchen, too," he said, nodding. "Got a feeling I'll be wanting to cook more, rather than have cafeteria food."
"It's actually pretty good," Shen answered, leading the way to the elevator. "Well, the vegan options are. I just like cooking."
Jack followed along, keeping pace with her. "That's good to know. I was in the public school system; nothing great about the food in that," he explained. "I guess I just have certain expectations when it comes to food when it has the word 'cafeteria' in front of it."
"Well, my public school cafeteria didn't even have vegan options, so," Shen made a face. "I'll just trust you on that."
"That does suck," Jack agreed. He wasn't a vegan, but he believed in allowing people to have their choices. And he understood the health and ethics reasons behind it; he just had a weak spot for non-vegan things. "I mean, it's what, 2017? Isn't it time they got with the trends?" He cracked a grin.
"Lack of funds, blah blah blah," Shen answered with a twist of her lips. Don't get her started on politics. She pushed the button for the elevator, and got in when the doors immediately opened.
He could tell she didn't want to pursue that topic any further, so he decided against it. Light talk, then. "So you've been here longer than I have, I take it. What's your take on the place?" he asked. "Good times?"
"Mostly," Shen confirmed, settling her wings against the back wall, trying not to crowd the elevator. "I mean, it's still school," she added with a small smile.
"Well, naturally," Jack said, cracking a grin. "But everyone I've run across seems pretty chill, which is nice. Makes it a bit better than your average school."
"Chill isn't a word I'd use for everyone here," Shen remarked with wry amusement. "Who have you met, anyway?"
"I'll be honest, not many," he admitted. "I guess it's just wishful thinking."
Shen chuckled at the admission. "I feel you." She walked out of the elevator when the doors opened again, leading the way towards the kitchen.
He followed along, falling into step beside her. "So what else do you do, other than kick ass in simulations and cook vegan?" he asked.
"Fly, obviously," Shen replied with a smile. "Work out. Spend way too much time on social networks trying to make people on the internet see how wrong they are." Very quixotic of her, yes.
Jack chuckled. "It's good that people are active for what they believe in," he said, not trying to placate her, but give her a genuine compliment. "And there are plenty of people that are wrong on the internet," he added. "I'm surprised you find time for anything else. Either that, or you must be very convincing."
"Pfft, I wish," Shen stated with a grimace, and pushed her way into the kitchen. "'Making people change their views on the internet' would be a hell of a mutation."
"Ethical ramifications aside, yeah, it would be," Jack chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "Alright. I'm officially in assistant chef mode. Lemme know how I can help."
"Can you cook the spaghetti?" Shen offered as she headed for the oven to turn on the grill. "Or whatever type of pasta you'd prefer."
"I can sure as hell try," Jack said, grinning just a little as he did a quick search for a pot to put water in. "Spaghetti works fine for me," he added. "I'm an al dente guy, myself. You?"
"Works for me," Shen confirmed, and pointed at the right cupboard. "In that one."
"Got it," he confirmed, reaching in and grabbing a pot of appropriate size. He started filling it up at the sink. "So, got an interesting story, yourself?" he asked, curiously. "I looked around on the forum but it seems like you came in before doing a little tell-all piece on the board became popular."
"Pretty boring, actually - in an awesome way," Shen added, since she didn't want to sound ungrateful. She did not envy some kids their interesting stories. "I moved here from Seattle, and my uncle's so supportive he made the move too. He lives in Salem Center, so I can go see him when I want."
"That's good, good to have family close," Jack agreed. "And it's also good, 'cause, y'know. I don't know how recent your mutation was, but obviously your uncle's supportive," he said, taking the pot over to the stove and turning it on, putting some salt into the water.
In the meantime, Shen was putting vegetables in a large bowl to toss with oil, salt and pepper. "Pretty recent. The wings only started growing in May."
"That's gotta be painful," Jack said, sympathetically. "What about the claw thing?" he asked.
"Talons," Shen corrected him mechanically. "They kicked in over the summer."
"Talons, right," Jack agreed. "Because, bird. Except, well, not really bird, because..." He shook his head and chuckled. "Only at this school. Well, so far. If this one's secret, there could be other secret schools, for all we know."
"Yeah," Shen agreed, although she was mostly thinking of the other team. She blinked out of it to set the vegetables to grill in the oven, wings shifting to allow her to bend over without knocking into anything. "Let's just hope they're a safe space, too."
"Agreed. If they even exist," he said. It was entirely possible there weren't any. The water was starting to boil, so Jack added the noodles. Wealthy or not, Jack still knew how to make spaghetti; he wasn't totally helpless.
Shen kept an eye on what he was doing all the same, because who knew with rich people. Especially teenage boys who walked around in suits. But spaghetti seemed within his ballpark, which was great. She grabbed a lemon and the pesto and quickly turned to making the sauce. This was a recipe she could have done in her sleep. "What about you? Hobbies?"
"I love a good book," Jack said, nodding. "I'll read just about anything. Fiction, philosophy, religious texts, hell, even a cookbook if it looks interesting. Never was much of one for sports, at least in participation, but I'll watch a game socially," he chuckled.
"What sports?" Shen asked, pausing in her preparation of the sauce to turn the veggies over in the oven.
"Whatever's on and everyone else is watching," he said, shrugging and stirring the noodles a bit so that nothing got stuck to the bottom and burned. "I'm not picky."
"So you're in it for the people, but never the sports?" Shen asked.
"I like the sense of community," Jack clarified. "Togetherness."
"Hmm." She still found it a little weird that he wouldn't care at all about the sport - she'd watch women's soccer but not football, for instance, for all that she didn't care all that much about sports. But hey, to each their own. "So I'll never find you rooting for a team?"
"Nah," Jack said, shaking his head. "It's just fun to watch everyone else rooting for whoever they're fond of."
So he liked that sense of community without wanting to be a part of it. Shen really didn't get it, but hey. She set the finished sauce aside and pulled the grilled vegetables out of the oven. There was corn, squash, a bell pepper, a zucchini, and some onions. She grabbed a knife to chop them into pieces, and the corn into kernels, throwing them into the bowl she'd used earlier. "I never really got into sports either."
"Fair enough," he said, removing a noodle and giving it a look-see. Not quite close to being close to done yet, he could tell. "I do like me some urban exploration," he added. "Mutation helps a lot with that, naturally. But I was kind of into it beforehand. Liked seeing where I could get."
"Huh." Shen did not stop in her chopping as she thought it over. "Yeah, I had no clue about flying before. I mean, I never tried base jumping or bungee jumping or whatever."
"Base jumping, now that's something I haven't tried," he chuckled. "Same with bungee jumping. But honestly, knowing that I can survive a fall from that height kinda takes the thrill out of it, maybe," he said, shrugging. "Now the urban exploration is just more fun. If a little rough on the suits."
"Poor suits," Shen let out before she could wonder whether sarcasm was a smart move. If he didn't have a sense of humor about them, tough luck.
Jack chuckled. "Yeah. I'm hard on them," he said. "I think our pasta's juuuust about done," he said, fishing out another noodle and giving it a look.
Shen wasn't sure that he realized how much the suits made him look like a rich prick, given that he'd missed the point of her sarcasm. Then again, she'd made out with a guy who dressed in pinstripes in everyday life, so she probably shouldn't throw stones on that one. "Cool," she replied, grabbing some tomatoes to add to the bowl. "Give me a taste," she requested, since he seemed to be mostly looking at the pasta. She reached for his hand to direct the noodle into her mouth. "Yeah, they're good," she confirmed after swallowing.
"Excellent," Jack said, nodding, as he moved to strain the noodles. "Can't wait to see how this all comes together."