Timelined directly after X-Termination 101
<Shaw> Sebastian often lost track of time when working, especially when it wasn't on expense reports and stock updates. Secluded in his private work room, headphones on, he hummed to himself softly and clicked away on his keyboard.
<Shaw> It was exciting work, as he was expanding on an artificial intelligence theory. A quick smirk flickered across his features as he recalled his conversation with Hope just days before. Interested in stealing her ideas indeed.
<Shaw> There was substantial empirical evidence that solutions to a great variety of problems from many different fields could be found by genetically breeding populations of computer programs. It was cross-disciplinary work to a high degree and should end in exceptional results. He just had to work out the bugs.
<Jessica> Sure, she'd gotten some odd looks when she'd gone in there but she was in dire need of chocolate and they were nothing... nothing compared to the looks that she was going to get now.
<Jessica> Jess rubbed her hand on her trousers, which did little to help, before reaching into her pocket to extract the keycard. After a few failed attempts, she managed to get it to swipe well enough to admit her to the elevator and send her to the right floor. She held her shopping bag close to her chest, protectively.
<Shaw> The popup on his screen notified him of the keycard swipe and he saved his work, sitting back in the chair to stretch his legs beneath the desk. He needed coffee anyway, so he got up to greet Jessica.
<Jessica> Jess shuffled her way through the apartment towards the kitchen. It was a good thing the floors were wood and not carpet....
<Shaw> Sebastian stopped when I caught sight of her. She seemed to be covered in... some substance, looked disheveled, and was clutching some package to her chest. Was that snot? "...are you quite all right?"
<Jessica> She paused and looked down at herself then looked over at him, nodding silently before continuing to the kitchen.
<Shaw> "Then, would you care to explain... that?" He waved his hand indicating her general state.
<Jessica> Jess looked down at herself again and wrinkled her nose. "Not really?" she set her bag down on the kitchen counter. "I need a shower."
<Shaw> "That much is.... astoundingly evident." He started toward her and paused. "And what's that smell?"
<Jessica> "Probably bug juice." She washed her hands then rummaged in her back for some goodies. Aha! She smiled and popped the lid off, holding the tube out to him, "Smartie?"
<Shaw> "Bug juice? That... were you employing yourself as a flyswatter? Sebastian made a sour face at the offered candy, mostly because of the state of the offerer. “No thank you.”
<Jessica> Jess gave a small shrug at the refusal. His loss. "No...." she shook her head to the question as she made her way to the bedroom and, therefore, the bathroom. "But I can see why you'd think that." She paused to look herself over in the mirror.
<Shaw> He followed and gave her a good once-over. The dress she was wearing had been ruined by the... substance. Perhaps slime was a better word for it. With... bits. "I recall seeing a movie a decade ago... in which a government agent blew up a giant insect... from the inside."
<Shaw> Sebastian caught her eyes in the mirror. "If I turn on the news right now, is that what I will see?"
<Jessica> Jess shook her head, shuddering a little. "No way would I let myself get eaten. Not after last semester." She reached to pull the tie from her hair. "But there were giant bugs."
<Shaw> "Fair enough." Taking that as invitation, he went into the bathroom and leaned against the vanity to watch her. "So, since you seem to be covered in bits of chitin, that really is the giant bugs of the literal sort, instead of your metaphorical spider similarities."
<Jessica> Jess nodded, carefully undressing and trying not to get too much bug juice everywhere. She decided to put her clothes in the sink for now and figure out how to deal with that once showering had happened. "They were in the subway... there was some kind of nest down there and they were attacking the trains... there was so many of them..."
<Shaw> He lacked anything to prod the contents of the sink so he refrained from investigating and instead flashed a grin. "My, New York has always had a reputation for its roaches, but I never believed you could saddle one until tonight."
<Jessica> "Well... not anymore... there aren't any left... we did manage to contain a few... and then they exploded..." Once she was out of her gooey clothes, she moved to the shower and turned on the water nice and hot.
<Shaw> "All joking aside, what on earth do you think they were?" Slimed or not, he couldn't help but to admire her as she moved around the shower preparing.
<Jessica> "Giant bugs?" She frowned a little, "For a moment there I thought they were affected by my pheromones... but only a moment..." She shook her head.
<Shaw> "Ah, interesting you would say that." He searched through the items on the vanity, as a collection of feminine products had made their way there over the weeks.
<Jessica> She looked over at him as she stepped under the water, "It is?" Ah, thank God! Cleeeeeeeeean. She set to work getting the goo off her skin and out of her hair.
<Shaw> Finding the bottle he was looking for, he picked it up and took off the lid to take a sniff. "I received the lab report on your mystery perfume." Watching her through the glass shower door was quite enjoyable, though he was disinclined to join her until she had rid herself of at least some of the bug guts.
<Jessica> "And?" She turned her head to look at him while shampooing her hair. "Anything not so good lurking in there?"
<Shaw> "Point of fact, no." He debated if she was clean yet. "It seems innocuous enough, and at least in limited tests in the lab it seems it would serve the purpose as advertised - it will block your pheromones."
<Jessica> "Oh... well that's great," she smiled at him, tilting her head back to wash the shampoo out. "So mystery person is totally helpful... I really want to know who the hell it is.”
<Shaw> While she was preoccupied rinsing her hair, he silently slipped his clothes off to join her. Coming up behind her, one hand went to her hip and the other to her hair. "Yes, and if I should be jealous."
<Jessica> Jess smiled at him, "Never be jealous." She kissed him softly, lifting her arms up around his shoulders.
<Shaw> A sarcastic comment about Kevin came to mind, but he kept it to himself and returned the kiss. His hand ran through her hair and encountered suds still remaining. So, he helped.
<Jessica> She didn't mind the help, it felt kind of nice, as did his skin against hers when she pulled him closer to her. "Am I clean enough for you now?"
<Shaw> "Perhaps." He kissed her shoulder, enjoying the water running through the strands of her hair in his hand. "We might do a more thorough inspection."
<Jessica> "You going to check me over and make sure I didn't miss a spot?" She murmured and nipped his earlobe.
<Shaw> "That sounds like a splendid idea," he mumbled, hissing at the nip. However, before he got too distracted: "One more thing... there are very few known labs that would be able to just manufacture that formula on a whim."
<Jessica> "So... does that mean you could find out where it was made?" She moved back from him a little to look at his face.
<Shaw> "Potentially. It's a process of elimination, really." By now, he had to let go of her with one hand to slick his own wet hair back from his eyes. The hand on her ass was not moving.
<Jessica> "And then... you can ask them who made it..." She felt her heart rate go up with her hope at getting answers, biting her lip.
<Shaw> "Indeed." Noting her excitement, he smirked, watching a rivulet of water run over her shoulder and between the valley of her breasts. "The study of pheromones is very much in its infancy, after all, especially pheromone production and purpose in human mutants."
<Jessica> Jess cupped his face between her palms and kissed him fiercely (after making a small sound of excitement). Answers!
<Shaw> He needed no encouragement to return this kiss either, or to deepen it as he pressed her slick body back against his.
<Jessica> She pushed her fingers up into his hair, forgetting all about her reason for needing to shower as her mind was taken over by other things.