Timelined immediately after Surprise Lap Ninja and concurrent to Baby, What a Mess!
<Hope> Hope discovered that she really enjoyed the couch in the library. She had moved slightly from Shinobi's lap, sitting beside him with her legs still across him. After talking for awhile and catching him up on all he had missed in DC, including that the Speaker's toupee had fallen off into the fountain, she ran her fingers through his hair with a smile.
<Hope> "So... is it too mushy to say I'm glad this happened? Maybe a bit?" she questioned, her smirk sneaking onto her face.
<Shinobi> Shinobi was enjoying her long legs, tracing patterns on the tights with his fingertips. "Well... I could have done without the hangover I feel coming on," he said with a matching smirk.
<Hope> She made a slight face, nuzzling his cheek. "I could get you some Advil and water," she offered. "Gatorade does wonders."
<Shinobi> "I know of something else that would work." His gaze dropped to her mouth, then back to her eyes.
<Hope> She slid her finger over his lower lip, looking back into his eyes. "Do you now?"
<Shinobi> He nodded, smirk growing, and moved in to kiss her. Bringing one hand up, he cupped her jaw and nipped her lower lip.
<Hope> She nipped him back carefully, her hand moving to the base of his neck to keep him close to her as she kissed him.
<Shinobi> Since he didn't need much encouragement, he shifted, folding one leg under himself and leaning to ease her back onto the sofa, half propped against one arm.
<Hope> Hope leaned back, holding onto him as she did. She kept one hand at the base of his neck while the other slid from his shoulder down his arm, squeezing it.
<Shinobi> "One sec," he mumbled, reaching for a pillow and stuffing it behind her shoulders. Once she was comfortable, he stretched out as best he could, half on top of her, and grinned.
<Hope> Comfortable and with a hot guy on top of her, Hope just grinned back at him. She pulled him back down to her, kissing him deeply
<Shinobi> He groaned, one hand finding her leg again and sliding under the pineapple skirt.
<Hope> She groaned slightly, her hand moving up to his hair again.
<Shinobi> Breaking the kiss with another nip, he planted open-mouthed kisses along her jawline and moved to her throat. He hooked the back of her knee, urging her leg up and over his hip.
<Shaw> It had gotten quiet upstairs, after the fighting stopped, and though he'd tried not to listen in fits and starts of conscience, he still felt it necessary to go check on them. Climbing the spiral steps as quietly as he could, he realized he knew the sounds coming from the library.
<Hope> With her leg around him she was able to hold onto him and push him closer. She closed her eyes and whispered his name, completely missing the sounds of feet on the stairs due to her entire focus being on him.
<Shinobi> It was music to his ears, and he nosed his way to her collarbone, wriggling until he could tangle his other hand in her hair.
<Shaw> At least she didn't sound distressed, but it didn't matter much once he reached the top of the stairs and took in the situation. Sebastian crossed his arms and counted to ten. In French.
<Hope> Hope sighed and turned her head so she could kiss on him. She breathed him in, holding onto him tightly.
<Shaw> "Enough is quite enough," he said, maintaining a tight rein on his temper.
<Hope> Her eyes flew open at the sudden voice. Well shit. Her leg slowly slid down from around him as she tried to come up with some kind of clever response. She drew a blank. "Hello, Sebastian."
<Shinobi> Shinobi froze in position, staring at Hope with wide eyes for a moment until he twisted and wedged himself between Hope and the back of the sofa. He left his arm around her, half expecting Sebastian to haul him up any second.
<Shaw> "Come up for air, have you?" His lips pulled back in a sharp-toothed grin.
<Hope> She honestly half expected that too, but she quickly calculated a few things. One, Sebastian wouldn't touch her and two, he really did look like a shark when he grinned like that. "Yes indeed. Good to be home." She smiled back at him.
<Shaw> He sighed and counted again, picking Japanese this time, since it seemed fitting.
<Shinobi> Shinobi shifted and partially sat up, keeping Hope in his arms. "You already knew I care for her-"
<Shaw> "Yes, yes, and you're both adults," he cut him off. Sebastian's held Hope's eyes, one eyebrow raised. "That's going to be your argument, right?"
<Hope> "No I was going to say waiting sucked and caused more problems than it solved. But the whole adult thing works too. Yeah." She shifted uncomfortably into Shinobi.
<Shinobi> He tightened his arms around her, giving his father a defiant stare. "We are, yes, so it's really none of your concern."
<Shaw> The corner of his mouth twitched. It's no wonder you're fond of him, he sent to Hope. You're equally pig-headed.
<Hope> The thought made Hope smile. I know this isn't what you wanted. I'm sorry. She tried to relax a little. And yes I know he can't be seen in public. "What is it you are really concerned about, Sebastian?"
<Shaw> You know my real concern in this, Hope. "Shinobi knows my concerns, as do you."
<Shinobi> "And I told you I wouldn't take advantage of her," he spat, throwing Sebastian's words back at him.
<Hope> Hope eyed Shinobi just a little, before looking back at Sebastian. What? That he might actually be normal now? Mostly. "Better not," she muttered. She could so kick his ass.
<Shinobi> He gave Hope a slightly hurt expression. You know I wouldn't... After all, she'd been in his head, she had to know.
<Shaw> His eyes narrowed, picking up the stray thoughts. His shielding is terrible, he sent, keeping his own thoughts from Shinobi. He's more stable, yes, but for how long?
<Hope> She considered that thought and gave Shinobi a bit of a smile. Then he'll need somebody he cares about to bring him back. She shifted her mind over to Shinobi. I got this.
<Shinobi> You're talking to him, he realized, eyes shifting to watch his father closely.
<Shaw> Perhaps, but it's becoming harder and harder to maintain the lie... He picked up Shinobi's thought and suppressed his reaction.
<Hope> Just... trust me, she sent to Shinobi. She turned her attention back to Sebastian, keeping her shields much more closely guarded than she did with Shinobi. Tell me about it. I don't like lying to him. But he's a good person now, Sebastian. Well he tries. I might punch your ninja in the face.
<Shaw> That got his attention back. Yukio? Though telepathic communication took less time, he knew this stretch of silence was too long for plausible deniability. "I told you to be careful not out of concern solely for Hope, which you would have known had you not fled the house."
<Shinobi> Shinobi sneered at his father's attempt at concern in front of Hope.
<Hope> That's the one. Hope looked between them. "I feel like I'm missing something." Something important. Unless you have another ninja you keep on hand.
<Shaw> What did she do? He'd known she came into the house today, and had talked to Jess briefly. "We'll just say he was in a rush to join you at the hotel," he said carefully.
<Shinobi> "Because saying he used his usual threats to stay away from you would be too straight-forward, right?" He was quickly losing patience with this bizarre conversation and the telepathy involved. The hangover was also starting in earnest and his head pounded.
<Hope> Hope shook her head trying to clear her mind. She was on top of him when I got here. It was then that Sebastian's words hit her. She kissed the side of Shinobi's head and got to her feet. "Wow. You're a real piece of work. For the record... he didn't touch me. Not that it's any of your business."
<Hope> She licked her lips, considering her words quickly. "Perhaps if you took the time to invest in his future instead of assuming the worst, you might get different results."
<Shaw> Was she? He managed to hide his surprise, barely. Perhaps she'd shown a tad too much initiative in her duties. "That's not exactly what I meant, but, yes I would imagine that was at least a portion of his motivation." His gaze shifted to Shinobi. "I know how he thinks, after all."
<Shinobi> He watched this exchange with some confusion, although the kiss made his chest ache in an unfamiliar way. "She's right... as I told you I wouldn't hurt her... and that includes... that..." It was surprisingly awkward to talk about sex in front of his father. Strange.
<Hope> She was so tired of his mind games. So tired of trying to figure out what he meant. "Then what, Sebastian? Please tell me what his secret motivation was." She managed to keep her temper in check, but just barely.
<Shinobi> "He tried to warn me away from you," he said, voice muffled by his hands over his face. Even light was starting to hurt...
<Hope> She considered this, and couldn't decide if she was insulted that he joined her in an act of defiance... or honored. She looked between them, half tempted to tell them to sort their shit without her. "So that didn't work..." she stated obviously. "Okay logically. What's the worst that could happen?" Besides Tony locking up Shinobi out of spite.
<Shaw> "For both your sakes, if you'd bothered to listen," Sebastian said, crossing his arms and staring at Shinobi. So he was the source of the stench of alcohol in the room.
<Hope> "But it isn't." She stepped slightly so Sebastian had to look at her instead. "Because I tried that. I tried it your way. It didn't work. Not to mention the part where nobody believed me anyway." She rubbed each hand independently, staring Sebastian down. "I do listen. I did listen. It got me Yukio in his lap and me tackled by Bobby."
<Shaw> "Tackled?" Sebastian frowned, distracted for just a moment, then met Hope's eyes. "I don't want to see either of you hurt, little Stark. That was the point I tried to make to Shinobi. Both of you are... rather fragile, for many reasons."
<Shinobi> Shinobi's hands dropped so he could glare at the man again. "Fragile."
<Hope> "It's what they do," she waved off Sebastian's concern at the tackle. "You don't want to see me getting hurt? Well today fucking hurt! So what is your suggestion for that?!" He was missing the point entirely.
<Shaw> "Well if it was coming home to find him with another woman in his lap is painful, you're setting yourself up for heartache, with is entirely my point."
<Hope> "There you go again! Assuming the worst. Making him think like he's capable of nothing but disappointing you! Did you not settle down and stop sleeping around? Did your wife not do the same thing? Why is it so hard to believe he is capable of so much more?!"
<Shinobi> "I actually told her to fuck off... or at least I think I did." He was pissed, but getting up seemed out of his reach right now. "I just wanted to be left alone... if she was... with the prince..."
<Shaw> He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Hope. Because you know what he is and how he was made, as much as any of us know, and who knows what he may or may not be capable of doing.
<Hope> Hope had to roll her eyes too, glad Shinobi couldn't see. Harry caused so many problems. She sighed at Sebastian. I do know that. "Sebastian, I know first hand that if people keep telling you that you are nothing and will amount to nothing... you start to believe that. You start to believe that you are what they say about you."
<Shaw> He looked at Shinobi again, though his thoughts were directed to Hope. This is quite the show for his benefit. "I am trying to offer him a path forward, and to help you as well." Deciding he had danced around the point long enough, he set his jaw. "However, you both would be best served to walk these paths on your own."
<Shinobi> He stopped rubbing his temple and cursing under his breath at this and looked up with his own venomous glare. "Oh fuck you. I'm right here, you know."
<Hope> There it was. She recognized an order when she saw it. Her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. "No."
<Shinobi> Shaw> He tilted his head. No?
<Hope> No. She told him, standing her ground.
<Shinobi> "And another thing, just stop it. I know what you're doing, father." While they were engaged in their staring contest, Shinobi had managed to stand up. The room spun, but he felt somewhat less of an object for it.
<Shaw> His attention snapped to his faux son. "What did you say?"
<Hope> Hope looked over at him too. The hell?!
<Shinobi> "You waste so much time bemoaning my fragility and making yourself into father of the year, you don't pay attention to your own failings. How stupid do you think I am? You're a telepath. It's been obvious since the third day I was here and you and Jessica spent that entire horrible dinner pretending you weren't talking around me." Shinobi shook his head and drew himself up, crossing his own arms.
<Hope> Hope forced her smile down before it slid across her face. She instead stoned her face and looked over at Sebastian again. Of course he was about to deny it. But this was one fight she didn't want in the middle of.
<Shaw> He glanced at Hope for just a split second, then back to Shinobi. "I thought, for a time, that you may have inherited the ability."
<Hope> Oh she was so busted. So entirely busted. Maybe she could distract. She rubbed her forehead, wondering how she was going to get out of this mess. "Well he hasn't. He isn't you. And I'm not fragile." She told him, starting to walk by him to get downstairs.
<Shaw> He started to move to block her path, but was surprised by a hand on his arm. Sebastian found himself looking up into Shinobi's eyes and smirked.
<Hope> Hope made it only few steps down when she saw the last person she wanted to see at the moment. "You have GOT to be fucking kidding me!? You have to call in your wife, Sebastian!?" She called up the stairs at him.
<Jessica> Jess blinked up at her, "Uh... actually I came up here all on my own to make sure you weren't all killing each other... I am capable of thinking for myself, you know." She reminded herself to check her temper again. Still largely wasn't hers.
<Hope> "Are you? Or does he order you around like everyone else," she snapped.
<Jessica> "Don't take this out on me! I spend half my waking hours defending Shinobi - I'm on your side!" Nope. Still hadn't got it.
<Hope> "Then maybe you can talk some sense into him. Because I'll be damned if I'm going to be ordered away from anyone."
<Jessica> "Sense? You really think sense comes into this? At all? I told him before he came up here to be civil but he was already in a foul mood - he was looking for a fight and you obviously gave him cause to pick one. Why does everyone in this house insist on baiting each other?" She was beyond frustrated with all the sniping and bickering.
<Hope> "He picked the fight. Not me. You want to yell, go yell at him." She glared at Jess, tired of everyone assuming the worst of her.
<Jessica> "I'm not yelling at you..." At least, she was trying not to. "There's just a lot of angry feeling around right now and I'm having a bit of trouble filtering it out."
<Hope> "Well it's not better upstairs." Hope turned to lead her back up there.
<Shinobi> Shinobi wasn't inclined to let go, and stared his father down, the adrenaline minimizing the pounding in his skull for the moment.
<Shaw> "You'd best consider if you're fully committed to this move, boy," he said, the grin on his face anything but nice. Outside of the moment, he heard Jessica coming upstairs.
<Jessica> At the dangerous tone in Sebastian's voice, Jess picked up the pace, hurrying Hope ahead of her.
<Hope> Hope hurried at the urging, running a hand through her hair at the landing. Oh shit. She had missed something. She looked between them, calculating in her mind.
<Shinobi> Shinobi's hand tightened, his powers sharpening his fingertips to nails. He wanted to wipe that hideous grin off the old man's face.
<Jessica> Jess stopped in the doorway behind Hope, "Sebastian."
<Shaw> "Yes, love?" he said, never taking his eyes from Shinobi's and keeping his tone perfectly even. That did hurt since the boy was smart enough to move slowly to counteract his abilities, but he was never going to admit to that.
<Hope> She stepped aside so Jess could move more into the room. What was she supposed to do now? Maybe this was that worst case scenario and there was about to be an explosion.
<Jessica> "Is everything alright?" She looked between him and Shinobi, her tone light even though it was obvious she knew that the situation was very far beyond alright.
<Shaw> "Oh, it's just fine," he said past gritted teeth.
<Shinobi> You hear me, right? Shinobi let up slightly at his father's nod. I'm not giving you the satisfaction of thinking you're right. He released his arm and straightened up, still meeting Sebastian's stare.
<Hope> Maybe they needed separated. Hope carefully walked toward them, approaching Shinobi.
<Jessica> Jess went to Sebastian, taking the arm Shinobi hadn't been holding onto to move him away from him a little, This was your attempt at civil?
<Shaw> It was perfectly civil, he protested, breaking eye contact at Jess' touch.
<Shinobi> He smirked to himself and then realized Hope had witnessed their exchange. Moving away from his father and his wife, Shinobi went to Hope to test the waters and attempt a smile.
<Hope> She took his hand and tugged him further away from Sebastian, shifting to be between them, her hands squeezing his. What did I just miss?
<Jessica> Oh sure, you manage to alienate everyone and piss them off all at once. Perfectly civil. She managed not to roll her eyes. Barely. You know I heard everything from downstairs, right?
<Shinobi> He didn't think he was through. He was. Shinobi took her hands and lifted them between them, watching their hands while he stroked her fingers.
<Shaw> I assumed you did, yes. He turned from Jess to watch Hope and Shinobi. I found them... getting better acquainted.
<Jessica> And instead of leaving them to it you decided to yell at them because...? She frowned, stepping in front of him in an attempt to stop the staring.
<Hope> Are you alright? She asked, glancing over at Sebastian. Was he? Were they now? She squeezed Shinobi's hands tightly.
<Shinobi> I have a hell of a headache. Shinobi smiled slightly and watched her face. She was worried -- maybe frightened? -- and he had to swallow down the lump in his throat. Moving in, he brought her hands up to the back of his neck and slid his arms around her.
<Shaw> He gave her an incredulous look, entirely missing the display. And you think it's a good idea to just let them?
<Jessica> I think yelling at them is just going to make them more inclined to ignore everything we say. They have to be allowed to make their own mistakes, Sebastian... As much as you might want to be, you're not Hope's father... and you're not Shinobi's either. All we can do is try to be there for both of them and be the best approximation of parents as possible for Shinobi... and that means not making him terrified in his own home every day.
<Hope> She smiled softly, holding onto one of her arms with her other hand. I'm kind of worried I just messed something up, she admitted, closing her eyes.
<Shaw> He noticed now and started to take a step toward the couple, then stopped himself with a look at Jessica. Where's Miriam?
<Shinobi> No, you didn't. She'd defended him, and here she was. He closed his eyes and tightened his hold on her. I hope you're not having second thoughts now...
<Jessica> She's with Bobby. Her mental voice was coloured with her feelings on being ignored. Don't go over there.
<Hope> Just that he won't forgive me for that. She swallowed, stepping closer to Shinobi.
<Shaw> He knew there was going to be discussion on this later, so he sighed and took Jessica's hand. Fine. Let's go.
<Jessica> Jess gave his hand a squeeze so he'd know she was grateful for letting it go, glancing over her shoulder and hoping that one or both of them would take the initiative to make themselves scarce for a few hours.
<Shinobi> For what? The telepathy? He made a slight face, willing to take the blame for that one, and kissing her through her hair.
<Hope> And telling him no. She smiled at the kiss, relaxing a little.
<Shinobi> I'm glad you did. He gave her a squeeze, then thought to look up. They were gone.
<Hope> This is our decision. Not anyone else's, she pointed out, resting her head against him. Just ours.