1/23 Instance: Family Traits

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
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1/23 Instance: Family Traits

Post by Slarti »

Timelined after Predatory

<Jessica> Jess lay on her back on the sofa, television on quietly in the background while she read a book. The baby monitor sat beside her on the coffee table with a cup of tea and a plate that had once held a sandwich. She was bored and trying not to think about it.

<Shinobi> The basement was boring, and he'd already read every class schedule in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology catalog. His father's offer for him to pick a class or two to audit for the spring semester was tempting, but he was still somewhat conflicted.

<Shinobi> Tired of talking to himself, Shinobi started upstairs and quickly located Jess. "Hey," he greeted and sat down in a chair uninvited.

<Jessica> Jess tilted her head back over the arm of the sofa and offered him an upside down smile, "Hey."

<Shinobi> He laughed and decided to move so they could see one another. "So, it's safe? No... tiny ninja chick?"

<Jessica> "It's safe," she assured him, "Yukio's back in her hideout and Miriam is fast asleep.... It is really boring in this house."

<Shinobi> "Yeah, it is. Quiet." He smirked. "Right now anyway, until the baby wakes up."

<Jessica> "Yes... then it will be noisy but only briefly and it'll go back to being boring again." She closed her book on her thumb and reached for her tea.

<Shinobi> Shinobi took his phone from his pocket and checked the screen. No messages. "Well, then maybe you can help me pick some classes to take..."

<Jessica> Jess stopped lifting her tea and set it down again, rolling onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow, "You're going to go to school?"

<Shinobi> "Sebastian said I should think about it." He shifted in the chair, balancing his phone on his knee.

<Jessica> She smiled, "I think that's a great idea. Where were you thinking of going?"

<Shinobi> "He said I could take a class at Xavier's school, if I wanted, or audit classes at MIT for a semester and maybe start in the summer."

<Jessica> "That's not what I asked," Jess replied, "But okay... you seen anything you're interested in?"

<Shinobi> "Xavier's seems... potentially more drama than I want to deal with." He cocked his head. "I've been looking at the MIT catalog, but I have no idea where to start..."

<Jessica> Jess laughed, "Yes, that place is like a bad soap opera for drama... I miss it." She sat up, setting her book to one side and picking up her tea, "Ignore the catalogue. What are you interested in learning about?"

<Shinobi> "I'm told I need to learn the family business," he said with a shrug, sliding further into the chair and resting a hand on his phone to keep it secure.

<Jessica> "Uh-huh... and do you always do what you're told?" She took a sip of her tea, "I know Sebastian would like for you to learn this stuff... but I also know it would frustrate him no end if you had no actual desire to do any of that. So what do you want to do, Shinobi?"

<Shinobi> "I don't know," he said after a moment. "Hope said we should just try things... lots of things, until we find out what we want. It seems... logical." Shinobi smiled to himself a bit, remembering that night, and their day at the school.

<Jessica> "Then do that. I think it's an excellent idea - it's what I did when I started at XU. I'd never been in a school in my life, the only thing I knew I had any interest in at all was spiders... doesn't get you that far. So I took every class available, found out I had a gift for math and made a friend. I still like spiders but I can do other stuff now too."

<Shinobi> "I..." Shinobi tried to recall his own schooling, and though it seemed like the memories should be right there, they weren't.

<Jessica> "Work out a timetable to take as many as you like," she suggested, picking up on the confusion but not the reason for it, "Obviously there'll be some things you have no interest in at all so just but a cross through those pages or something."

<Shinobi> "I probably will have to take general studies courses first, but if I do audit something it can be higher level... just to get a feel for the material." He shook it off, returning his attention to his step mother.

<Jessica> "Yep and it doesn't have to be limited to engineering. You can study whatever you want, just remember that okay? And if Sebastian doesn't like it, tell him it was my idea."

<Shinobi> He laughed quietly. "Throw you under the bus? That's what he'd expect me to do." The phone beeped and he picked it up, expecting a message from Hope. After a moment, he frowned. It was the news feed he'd installed. Hope Stark's name appeared in a headline this morning.

<Jessica> "Then he'll be so proud!" She laughed, shaking her head.

<Shinobi> "'Cinderella finds her Prince Charming,'" he read, pulling up the photos. It was Hope, all right, with the younger of the British princes. They looked...happy. Hope was laughing while he whispered in her ear. In another, they were dancing.

<Jessica> Oh that wasn't good. Whatever it was he was looking at was painful. She curled up a little in her seat in an attempt to protect herself from it, "What's that?"

<Shinobi> He didn't want to repeat it, so Shinobi handed her the phone, pulling his feet up into the chair the moment it left his fingers.

<Jessica> Well that explained it, "Oh..." She put the phone down again after closing the news feed, "Ignore it."

<Shinobi> "Ignore it?" His laugh sounded harsh and he rubbed a hand over his mouth, hard.

<Jessica> "The media are idiots that have no idea what they're actually looking at," Jess reminded him gently, "They're showing their dumbassery right now."

<Shinobi> "Are they?" He barely moved his hand to speak. Harry was a prince after all, and what was he? Shinobi swallowed convulsively and fought down his flight instinct.

<Jessica> Jess got up from her seat and went over to him, sitting down beside him and pulling him into a hug. She hoped the proximity would prompt her empathy to calm him down rather than just absorb more of his anxiety. "Of course they are! She'd doing her job and entertaining guests, that's all... of course they're going to look for things that aren't there - he's ginger."

<Shinobi> Shinobi sat up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders with surprising ease. "I know the last time was a cover up, but..."

<Jessica> "But nothing, she's just doing her job." It seemed to be working and she gave him a small squeeze. Of course, if it happened that Hope wasn't just doing her job, no amount of secret service agents would save her.

<Shinobi> He closed his eyes. "We've been texting... talking... ever since she left, but she hasn't answered a text since last night."

<Jessica> "That doesn't mean anything... has she updated any of her social media?" She gently stroked a hand over his back in a soothing gesture.

<Shinobi> "No," he said slowly, thinking about it and trying to weigh that against the litany of what if in his head.

<Jessica> "Well there you go then. She's addicted to that stuff, there's no way she wouldn't have stopped posting on there without a good reason and if they made her stop she'd be complaining at you about it, right? The fact she's not doing that suggests she probably broke her phone somehow." Or threw it at a wall raging about the same news article. Who knew?

<Shinobi> "Yeah, I suppose so." It made sense, and he worked to calm himself. "Has she texted you?"

<Jessica> Jess shook her head, "Nope, you can even check my phone if it'll make you feel better."

<Shinobi> "That's okay," he assured her, laughing a little and pulling back from the hug. "I just... sorry..."

<Jessica> She shook her head, "Don't apologise for being upset," she ruffled his hair, "Emotions are how we know we're human."

<Shinobi> He reached up to protect his hair. "I guess I overreacted the last time..."

<Jessica> "It's fine... I don't know whether you noticed but that's something of a family trait. We all have a tendency to freak out but we calm down and fix it, it's not a problem." She offered him a smile, "You don't always have to assume the worst."

<Shinobi> "I'm not sure if that's really reassuring," he said with another slight laugh.

<Jessica> "Pfft, of course it is. We're all guilty of it, no one can judge. And everyone has to forgive. That's not encouraging?"

<Shinobi> "I suppose." He smirked a little, watching her face. "I kissed her... or she kissed me..." Pressing his lips together, he shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

<Jessica> There was another uncomfortable surge of emotions there that made her wrinkle her nose slightly, "And?"

<Shinobi> He sighed, realizing he'd been the one to bring it up. "And it was... good. Great." Not wanting to say any more, he moved in again and hugged her.

<Jessica> Jess was a little surprised by the hug but she returned it anyway. "I'm glad things are leveling out for you now... both of you."

<Shinobi> "Are they?" He really didn't think so.

<Jessica> "You seem much happier generally... am I wrong?"

<Shinobi> "Yeah, I guess..." Shinobi knew she had to already know this. "But it's mostly her."

<Jessica> "You're helping each other, it's okay... I just don't want either of you to get hurt and Hope's in a funny position with her dad being the President and everything, it's complicated... you have to remember that, okay? Some things you need to look deeper before you react."

<Shinobi> "Yeah, okay... and I do know that. I tried to kill her... and her dad." He looked away, remembering the two who did die that day, and everything else he'd done.

<Jessica> She sighed, feeling that too, "Shinobi..." she reached to touch his cheek, "You didn't know what you were doing."

<Shinobi> "For some of it I did." He didn't mind the touch though, since he was feeling worse and worse for what he'd done in those days.

<Jessica> "The main thing is that you're sorry. How many times do I need to remind you of that? Hmm?" She slid her arms around his shoulders again.

<Shinobi> "Quite a few?" He relaxed in her hold. "I've just never..." This was difficult to talk about, but Jess was... safe. "Never felt this way about anyone before," he finally managed.

<Jessica> "I'm about to sound much older than I am so bear with me..." she sighed, "You're still just a child, there's plenty of time to feel like this in the future... just because it's new and exciting... don't feel pressured, okay?"

<Shinobi> That sounded as ridiculous the second time he processed it, so he leaned back to see her face. "And how old were you when you met my father?"

<Jessica> "So not the point..." she laughed and shook her head, "But I was twenty-one... and I'd lived a very different life."

<Shinobi> His age then. Shinobi snorted. "I don't know, mine's been pretty different."

<Jessica> "There are degrees of different... and Sebastian wasn't my first relationship..."

<Shinobi> "I don't think it's quite a relationship yet," he pointed out.

<Jessica> "I know... but that's what I'm saying," she was getting exasperated, "I was lucky with Sebastian..."

<Shinobi> "Harry's a prince."

<Jessica> It was hard work building up Shinobi's confidence, "What makes him better than you? Forgetting titles because we know Hope wouldn't be bowled over by that alone."

<Shinobi> "Those titles are hard to forget, and the criminal history, and other than that we were both orphans what do we really have in common?" He shook his head. "I'm probably more of a project for her than anything else..." After grinding his teeth for a moment, he glanced at Jess. "That goes for you, too."

<Jessica> "Shinobi... if you were just a project do you think I'd let you live in my house with my baby daughter? Insist you hold her? Defend you when you need it? You're a member of this family, Shinobi. Hope is too... and what do you think Sebastian and I have in common? Not a whole lot as it happens. But we love each other."

<Shinobi> He didn't know what to say to that, and looked down at the arm of the chair rather than at her face.

<Jessica> "You're over thinking emotional stuff... and you can't do that.... emotions aren't rational."

<Shinobi> "Nope, don't seem to be." Shinobi shook his head, taking an interest in the armchair seam and picking at it.

<Jessica> She laughed a little and gave him another hug, "Have you had any lunch?"

<Shinobi> "Nope." He returned the hug and then let go, sitting back in the chair to look at her with a smirk. "Does this mean I have to help you make it?"

<Jessica> "Not if you don't want to? You can just keep me company," she smiled at him, "Otherwise I'm liable to start talking to myself."

<Shinobi> "Well, we can't have that..." He smiled in return, then realized something. "You know, since Hope's not here..."

<Jessica> "We will break out the peanut butter," Jess smiled, getting to her feet and reaching for the baby monitor. "Cookies?"

<Shinobi> "Cookies sound great," he said, getting up to follow. "I'm becoming a regular at Starbucks, all for their peanut butter cookies."

<Jessica> "Well I can make some for you specially and put them away so Hope can't accidentally eat them," She gave him another smile over her shoulder as she crossed the hall to the kitchen.

<Shinobi> "Better put a big sign on them..." He picked up his phone, giving it another look before pocketing it to go after her.

<Jessica> "I will make sure to do that... or you can, there's some sharpies somewhere...."

<Shinobi> He smirked, imagining the sorts of things he could put on that sign. "That's about my skill set in the kitchen. I can do signs."

<Jessica> She laughed, "Okay, wait there and I'll go check the box of school crap for the pens." She headed down the stairs.

<Shinobi> When she disappeared, he checked his phone one more time. No messages. Pushing down his worry, he shoved it back into his pocket again.
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