Gilmore and Shen (backdated, October 9)
Oct. 9th, 2017 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainGilmore offers his services to the activism club. Shen isn't quite sure how to take that... or him.
Once Gilmore had heard about the activism club, he quickly identified the club's founder as one of the young ladies in his Ethics class. As soon as class let out that day, he glided up alongside Shen Li-Men with a broad smile. He wore a purple today -- he almost always wore purple, it was his best color -- and among the layered necklaces around his neck was one of colored metal rings arranged as a rainbow.
"Hello there. Shaun Gilmore," he introduced himself in a warm, rich voice that never lost a hint of the theatrical. "Am I to understand that you are the leader of this fantastic school's newest extra-curricular activity?"
Well, that was a vibrant voice. And a vibrant someone, from what Shen had seen of the guy so far. His question took her completely by surprise, and she frowned briefly, her gaze drawn to his rainbow necklace for a second. Her feathered brown wings settled slightly behind her. "If you mean the activist club, I'm the one who got the ball rolling."
"Wonderful, wonderful. I can always spot a fellow visionary," Gilmore proclaimed with certainty. Books under one arm, he seemed unaware that he was in a high school, and seemed to believe he was on a stage before a crowd of fans. "Now, I myself am not the sort of person to go out and save the world. I leave that to the brave and the bold among us, like you. What I do is create, and for that, I place myself entirely at your disposal, Shen."
He paused for breath only briefly, then asked, "Is it Shen? Do you prefer to be called anything else?"
"Shen is fine," she assured him after a beat, and tilted her head to the side - not entirely un-bird-like. "Create what?"
Gilmore spread his hands as expansively as he was able, considering he was holding school supplies with one of them. "Anything and everything you need. T-shirts? Pins? Protest signs? Something more complicated, perhaps? It's what these glorious genetics have given me, you see." He flashed another smile. "I invent. I can create anything you need, and do it better than you can buy anywhere else."
Shen stepped out of the way of another student, wings making her take that much more space in the hallway. She'd been about to tell they were really not there yet in terms of needing signs, but then her eyebrows raised. "Wow. That's not a mutation I'd have expected. How does it work?"
In fact, Gilmore did not really understand how his mutation worked. He just knew that it did. "Let's just say that I should probably be your first choice to be stranded on a desert island with, because I very likely can construct a working radio out of a pair of coconuts and some string," he chuckled. "As long as I have the right materials, I can make nearly anything work. Lucky for me, I can identify the right materials, too."
"That sounds..." Way out there? Amazing? "Incredible." Shen smiled at him, amused. "But we're not really at a stage where we need t-shirts or signs."
Shaun grinned broadly at her assessment. He thought it was pretty incredible, too. "When you do, though, you know who to call first? Hm? Gilmore's Glorious Goods also does glorious pro-bono work. All I hope is that you mention me when someone asks where you got your wonderful toys."
Gilmore's Glorious Goods? Shen's smile stretched a little wider at that. "OK, thanks, Shaun. I'll totally keep that in mind."
Pleased, Gilmore bowed -- actually bowed in the middle of the hall -- but he wasn't quite done yet. He was chatting with an incredible person who had wings, and he couldn't just let her walk away. Not before the start of their next class, at least. "And so, what part of the world is your group intent upon saving, Shen?"
Shen's eyebrows raised at the bow, and she only just held back a surprised chuckle. "The club? We have to choose one?"
Gilmore laughed -- it was warm and deep and almost sounded like he practiced it -- and shook his head. "Certainly not! I'll rephrase: where do you think you'll start to save the world?"
Shen couldn't help but smile a little. "That's a lofty goal. Mutant rights is probably going to be our focus, let's be honest." It made sense.
"Sensible, sensible," Gilmore agreed, tilting his head and looking at her with interest. "That means that someone will have to go public, though, won't it?"
"Someone already has," Shen pointed out. "Tamara? Dragoness?"
Gilmore clearly had to think about that for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Yes... right. That all happened right about the time I was serving a suspension and a grounding for flooding part of my last school with candy floss, so I'm afraid I'm a bit out of touch with the news of late September."
"You haven't seen the video?" Shen asked with raised eyebrows, pulling out her phone to search it. "Don't let Tamara know." Her tone was dryer as she said so than it would have been a short while ago.
"Don't let... ahh." Gilmore nodded, understanding, with significantly raised brows. Someone who had decided to be the first Out mutant of their generation very likely wanted everyone to know about it. Self-promotion was something he understood extremely well.
He couldn't lean over Shen's shoulder to watch, being that, well, there were already great beautiful wings over her shoulders, so he kept himself at a respectful distance and only let himself be a bit distracted by the wings. "This is better than most YouTube content creators," he murmured, half to himself. "Does she have a PR person?"
Shen had handed her phone over to Shaun for him to watch; it wasn't as if she needed to see the video once again. His question had her raise her eyebrows curiously. "Not that I know of. Do you do that as well?" She sounded wary now, and was ready to grab her phone back the second the vlog was over.
Gilmore held the phone up so he could see, and so Shen could see he wasn't trying to make off with it. The video was... a lot more confrontational than he'd expected, but given the context it showed, he wasn't completely surprised. "Do I what? Oh, no. Not for anyone other than myself, I mean," Gilmore explained, handing the phone back once he'd finished watching. He blinked, a little overwhelmed by Tamara's fire and confidence.
"What I mean is that a great many people at this school have incredible market potential. You... have wings! Several students at this school have wings, and we have no Public Relations team as far as I'm aware. I am stunned."
"You realize this place isn't supposed to go public?" Shen checked, watching him curiously.
Gilmore sighed. "More's the pity. No, I understand. Not everyone wants to be out. I just see so much potential..." He shifted his books under his arm and waved a hand as though trying to clear the air. "Habits, you know. I've been making money ever since I could count change. I've only been a mutant for a few weeks."
That was an odd thing to say, and Shen paused, wondering what kind of life Shaun must have led to have to work from such an early age. "Look, I have class to get to. But we can talk some more afterwards, if you like?"
Right, class. That thing that high school students had to do. Gilmore blinked himself back to reality, and grinned another broad grin. His hands spread somewhat; he might either just be someone who gestured a lot when he spoke, or he might be reminding himself that he didn't have to hug people he'd only just met. Actually, it was a bit of both. "I am forever at your service. It's been a joy to meet you, Shen."
"Um, yeah," Shen answered, still more than a little bemused at the enthusiasm. "You too, Shaun. Message me whenever you wanna talk?"
"Absolutely." Gilmore had to check his phone to recall when and where his next class took place, and that was all that kept him from bowing again as he took his leave. "Have a wonderful day, Shen," he called as he stepped back.
Shen watched him go with a bemused expression, then shook her head and headed to class herself.
Once Gilmore had heard about the activism club, he quickly identified the club's founder as one of the young ladies in his Ethics class. As soon as class let out that day, he glided up alongside Shen Li-Men with a broad smile. He wore a purple today -- he almost always wore purple, it was his best color -- and among the layered necklaces around his neck was one of colored metal rings arranged as a rainbow.
"Hello there. Shaun Gilmore," he introduced himself in a warm, rich voice that never lost a hint of the theatrical. "Am I to understand that you are the leader of this fantastic school's newest extra-curricular activity?"
Well, that was a vibrant voice. And a vibrant someone, from what Shen had seen of the guy so far. His question took her completely by surprise, and she frowned briefly, her gaze drawn to his rainbow necklace for a second. Her feathered brown wings settled slightly behind her. "If you mean the activist club, I'm the one who got the ball rolling."
"Wonderful, wonderful. I can always spot a fellow visionary," Gilmore proclaimed with certainty. Books under one arm, he seemed unaware that he was in a high school, and seemed to believe he was on a stage before a crowd of fans. "Now, I myself am not the sort of person to go out and save the world. I leave that to the brave and the bold among us, like you. What I do is create, and for that, I place myself entirely at your disposal, Shen."
He paused for breath only briefly, then asked, "Is it Shen? Do you prefer to be called anything else?"
"Shen is fine," she assured him after a beat, and tilted her head to the side - not entirely un-bird-like. "Create what?"
Gilmore spread his hands as expansively as he was able, considering he was holding school supplies with one of them. "Anything and everything you need. T-shirts? Pins? Protest signs? Something more complicated, perhaps? It's what these glorious genetics have given me, you see." He flashed another smile. "I invent. I can create anything you need, and do it better than you can buy anywhere else."
Shen stepped out of the way of another student, wings making her take that much more space in the hallway. She'd been about to tell they were really not there yet in terms of needing signs, but then her eyebrows raised. "Wow. That's not a mutation I'd have expected. How does it work?"
In fact, Gilmore did not really understand how his mutation worked. He just knew that it did. "Let's just say that I should probably be your first choice to be stranded on a desert island with, because I very likely can construct a working radio out of a pair of coconuts and some string," he chuckled. "As long as I have the right materials, I can make nearly anything work. Lucky for me, I can identify the right materials, too."
"That sounds..." Way out there? Amazing? "Incredible." Shen smiled at him, amused. "But we're not really at a stage where we need t-shirts or signs."
Shaun grinned broadly at her assessment. He thought it was pretty incredible, too. "When you do, though, you know who to call first? Hm? Gilmore's Glorious Goods also does glorious pro-bono work. All I hope is that you mention me when someone asks where you got your wonderful toys."
Gilmore's Glorious Goods? Shen's smile stretched a little wider at that. "OK, thanks, Shaun. I'll totally keep that in mind."
Pleased, Gilmore bowed -- actually bowed in the middle of the hall -- but he wasn't quite done yet. He was chatting with an incredible person who had wings, and he couldn't just let her walk away. Not before the start of their next class, at least. "And so, what part of the world is your group intent upon saving, Shen?"
Shen's eyebrows raised at the bow, and she only just held back a surprised chuckle. "The club? We have to choose one?"
Gilmore laughed -- it was warm and deep and almost sounded like he practiced it -- and shook his head. "Certainly not! I'll rephrase: where do you think you'll start to save the world?"
Shen couldn't help but smile a little. "That's a lofty goal. Mutant rights is probably going to be our focus, let's be honest." It made sense.
"Sensible, sensible," Gilmore agreed, tilting his head and looking at her with interest. "That means that someone will have to go public, though, won't it?"
"Someone already has," Shen pointed out. "Tamara? Dragoness?"
Gilmore clearly had to think about that for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Yes... right. That all happened right about the time I was serving a suspension and a grounding for flooding part of my last school with candy floss, so I'm afraid I'm a bit out of touch with the news of late September."
"You haven't seen the video?" Shen asked with raised eyebrows, pulling out her phone to search it. "Don't let Tamara know." Her tone was dryer as she said so than it would have been a short while ago.
"Don't let... ahh." Gilmore nodded, understanding, with significantly raised brows. Someone who had decided to be the first Out mutant of their generation very likely wanted everyone to know about it. Self-promotion was something he understood extremely well.
He couldn't lean over Shen's shoulder to watch, being that, well, there were already great beautiful wings over her shoulders, so he kept himself at a respectful distance and only let himself be a bit distracted by the wings. "This is better than most YouTube content creators," he murmured, half to himself. "Does she have a PR person?"
Shen had handed her phone over to Shaun for him to watch; it wasn't as if she needed to see the video once again. His question had her raise her eyebrows curiously. "Not that I know of. Do you do that as well?" She sounded wary now, and was ready to grab her phone back the second the vlog was over.
Gilmore held the phone up so he could see, and so Shen could see he wasn't trying to make off with it. The video was... a lot more confrontational than he'd expected, but given the context it showed, he wasn't completely surprised. "Do I what? Oh, no. Not for anyone other than myself, I mean," Gilmore explained, handing the phone back once he'd finished watching. He blinked, a little overwhelmed by Tamara's fire and confidence.
"What I mean is that a great many people at this school have incredible market potential. You... have wings! Several students at this school have wings, and we have no Public Relations team as far as I'm aware. I am stunned."
"You realize this place isn't supposed to go public?" Shen checked, watching him curiously.
Gilmore sighed. "More's the pity. No, I understand. Not everyone wants to be out. I just see so much potential..." He shifted his books under his arm and waved a hand as though trying to clear the air. "Habits, you know. I've been making money ever since I could count change. I've only been a mutant for a few weeks."
That was an odd thing to say, and Shen paused, wondering what kind of life Shaun must have led to have to work from such an early age. "Look, I have class to get to. But we can talk some more afterwards, if you like?"
Right, class. That thing that high school students had to do. Gilmore blinked himself back to reality, and grinned another broad grin. His hands spread somewhat; he might either just be someone who gestured a lot when he spoke, or he might be reminding himself that he didn't have to hug people he'd only just met. Actually, it was a bit of both. "I am forever at your service. It's been a joy to meet you, Shen."
"Um, yeah," Shen answered, still more than a little bemused at the enthusiasm. "You too, Shaun. Message me whenever you wanna talk?"
"Absolutely." Gilmore had to check his phone to recall when and where his next class took place, and that was all that kept him from bowing again as he took his leave. "Have a wonderful day, Shen," he called as he stepped back.
Shen watched him go with a bemused expression, then shook her head and headed to class herself.
