Log: Jake and Shinobi have cake
Dec. 10th, 2003 11:08 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsIt was nice to finally get out of the house - and nice to finally have a change of clothes. While the rest of the party continues to hunt around for their purchases, Shinobi's stood outside the men's dressing rooms, a plastic bag to protect the suits on hangars within from the elements held over his shoulder, a pair of fingers hooked around the hangar to keep it in place. While the store wasn't exactly quiet, he was dawdling in the men's section just a *little* - as nice as the company was, a chance to be away from the familiar voices from the school was something of a relief.
Jake throws a casual look over his shoulder and goes to hide by the men's dressing rooms. Emma will never think to look for him there. 'Cause Emma is very dumb. Indeed. Jake isn't sure if he wishes Emma is reading his mind right now or not. He would like her to have at least a little respect for his intelligence and he is sure she'd have none what so ever if she overhears his current thoughts. It isn't his fault though.
He hates shopping. They've been shopping for hours. Jake is going insane. He smacks his forehead into a plastic bag, which ends that line of thought. "Ow," he says calmly, backing up.
Blinking twice, both at the bump and the 'ow', Shinobi twists around to look over his shoulder. "Oh, bloody.. sorry about that," he grumbles, giving the bag a somewhat dirty look as he carefully brings it around in front of himself, folding an arm and haphazardly draping the bag over it. "You alright?" Because plastic bags filled with suits can do such permanent damage to someone. Duh.
"I'm good, yeah." Jake blinks, and squints at the kid. Japanese kid. Ah. "Hey, you're the Shaw boy."
He just manages not to grimace at the address, very slowly nodding his head. "Shinobi," he helpfully supplies, and after a brief moment spent mentally arguing over manners with himself, he holds out his free hand with a slight grin. "Shinobi is vastly preferred."
Jake shakes Shinobi's hand, nodding. "Sure. Call me Jake. If you call me miss anything, I'll start calling you Shaw boy. Or something that sounds less like a very fucked up superhero."
"I don't think I could argue with the fucked-up part, either way," Shinobi snickers, giving the offered hand a crisp shake. "Jake it is, then." And while he finds a woman named Jake a bit odd, and he's sure there's a story behind it.. he just isn't. Going. To ask.
Jake grins. "Well, I'm sure you have some idea what kind of codenames some people choose. I've seen worse. Way worse. Hey, why are you carrying around on these?" He pokes a suit curiously. "I don't think Emma will let you out of the store with that one."
Blinking, Shinobi casts a look down towards the poked suit, tilting his head to the side. "Well, she isn't paying for it," he says after a moment's thought, looking back up with a shrug of his shoulders. "I know black isn't her color, but I'm told I look decent in it. Besides, she's probably already acquired a small country's worth of things to hoist into my closet, I can put one or two little things in there myself."
"Ha. That's what you think," Jake says darkly, leaning against the changing room wall. "You should see the underwear I ended up with. I was going for the discount pile, right? The plain stuff? I ended up with thongs and lace and god knows what else."
"For someone who was adamantly against my having typically hormonal-teenage-male thoughts about them..." Shinobi grins teasingly, and to his credit, manages to wrestle a faint blush back under control before it can become too noticable.
Jake gives him a startled look. "What? No, no, you have no idea how uncomfortable those things are. Trust me, sex would be the last..." Jake trails off, thinking. "Okay, no. Never mind. I see your point now."
That blush, however, takes a much more concentrated effort to wrestle back under control. Shinobi bobs his head once, bringing a loosely fisted hand up to cover his mouth as he quietly clears his throat.
Jake tilts his head, long black hair sliding down his shoulder. "So. Suits, huh? Warren has some great ones. I nicked some off him. Might be a bit big on you though."
"Probably would be," Shinobi agrees after a moment spent regaining his mental bearings, looking back up and flashing a grin. You are not nervous, Shinobi. Be strong! "Better to pick up some of my own, to be sure they fit properly. Besides, he's technically a business rival - doubt he'd want me borrowing his stuff, even if it would fit."
Jake waves his hand negligently, seemingly unaware of the effect he has on Shinobi. "Eh. Warren doesn't even know how many suits he's got. Doubt he'd miss a few. But, yeah, buying your own is probably the smartest. Hey, do you want to try these on now, or go buy cake before Emma finds us? She might make you try on capes."
"But in a cape, I am dashing," Shinobi states in a deadpan that, he hopes, might just hide the fact that he knows full well he's quoting a science fiction televisions how. Shaws are not nerds. Really. Still, he considers the idea for a moment before he nods once, allowing himself a lopsided grin. "Sneaking off to do something not involving the purchasing of clothes for a couple minutes might be nice."
"You, I might get to like." Jake grins. "You might want to leave the suits behind the desk or something. They might frown upon you taking them to the cafe. Or not. Who knows?"
"It would be one less thing to carry, which is the important part," Shinobi nods, grinning and casting a quick look back towards the counter. "Imagine that.. a clerk when you actually need one." With a vaguely amused noise, he turns to start off for the desk, so that he can drop the suits off. Much easier that way.
Jake wanders off to look at shirts, eyeing a bright red one lustfully. Unfortunately shifting into male shape in order to try on a shirt is way to much trouble, so he just stands there, petting the shirt, keeping an eye out for Emma or her minions, until Shinobi returns.
Shinobi doesn't take very long at all, and as he wanders back, he tilts his head a bit as he notices the attention Jake's paying the red shirt. "Want it?" he asks curiously once he's gotten a bit closer, giving the shirt a curious look. "Could smuggle it out amongst my clothes, if you're worried Emma might not approve."
Jake looks up, pauses, then gives Shinobi thoughtfull look-over. "Hmmm. Buy me cake and I'll think about it. I saw a cafe on the next floor that looked like it had a great strawberry cake," he adds. "You're buying because Emma is keeping my wallet hostage, by the way."
"That sounds fair enough to me," Shinobi nods, smiling wryly and taking a small step to the side, gesturing off towards the main walkway. While his first impulse is to say 'Ladies first', he doubts it would go over well in this instance, so.. "Since you know where we're going.. after you?"
Jake pets the shirt a final time, shrugs, and leads on to the little, very expensive cafe on the seventh floor. He sits down at a table in the corner, his back against the wall with full view of the cafeteria.
Shinobi dutifully falls into step behind, and follows Jake along to the cafe, hands tucked away in his pockets for the walk. He casts a curious, thoughtful look around as Jake gets settled, likely trying to determine whether or not it's expensive enough a cafe that there's a waitstaff to save him a walk for placing an order.
Jake picks up the menu, reading it quickly. "Oh, they do have strawberry cake." He looks up, then grins at Shinobi. "I think you have to go place the order yourself. Troublesome, I know, but surely worth it. You could have strawberry cake too," he says generously.
"I'd hope so, if I'm paying for it," Shinobi chuckles, giving Jake an amused look before he snatches up a copy of the menu for himself, giving it a thoughtful looking-over. If he thinks the place is expensive, he doesn't show it. "You want a whole cake? Bring extra home for later? Might have to fend people off of it, though."
Jake gives him a politely horrified look at the thought. "I think not. I know the wonderous greenhaired goddess is in the hospital wing or whatever it's called, but you just don't insult a chef like that. Especially not one with her skills. ...Who brought you up? A pack of wolves?"
"No, but I may have been better off with one," Shinobi quips, though given his expression, he's not entirely joking. With a faint shrug, he sets his menu back down, flashing a grin. "Two pieces of strawberry cake it is, then. No drink for you? ...hell, I sound like a sodding waiter." He makes a bit of a face.
"I have that effect on people," Jake dead-pans, then smirks. "A plain coffee would be good."
"Can't have cake without coffee," Shinobi agrees seriously, inclining his head. "Back in two shakes, then." With a grin, he spins on his heel to start off for the counter.
"Two shakes of a what?" Jake says, corners of his mouth twitching slightly, eyes on the menu once more. "And no, one can't. Because we're civilized people."
Whatever shook twice, it only took as long as was necessary for coffee to be poured and cake to be slid onto plates. Shinobi wanders his way back with a cup of coffee in each hand, the plates of cake carefully balanced on top of them, for lack of any extra free hands. A tray? Why? "Coffee's a bit warm, but it's best that way.."
"Grazie." Jake reached over, showing more cleavage than he realised, and grabbed a set for himself. "You're a good man."
A good enough man that he's pointedly *not* looking at the cleavage, no sir. "I do try," Shinobi shrugs, passing the coffee and cake down to Jake before moving to claim a free chair for himself.
Jake sipped in his coffee with every obvious sign of enjoyment, before leaning back, and fixing Shinobi with a stare. "So what brings you to the family of merry mutants?"
"Technically, I was kidnapped and brought here," Shinobi observes, offering a wry grin towards Jake over a forkfull of cake. "Emma was in rather dire need of a car at the time, and mine was handy. Rather pleasant kidnapping, though, all told."
Jake nods. "I see." He grins suddenly. "I bet Wisdom scowled at you and was cutely paranoid."
"I don't know about the *cute* part, but yes, he wasn't very pleased by the notion of bringing me along at all," Shinobi chuckles, forcing his mind to very much *not* try and figure out how 'Wisdom' and 'cute' wound up in the same sentence.
Jake shrugs. "I try to alternate. It's either insanely paranoid or cutely. I hope he'll one day overhear me call him cute and fall dead from a heartattack."
"Could always take him that red shirt and tell him he'd look cute in it," Shinobi suggests helpfully, grinning before taking a moment to eat the piece of cake on the end of his fork.
Jake considers it. "Nah, wouldn't work. He'd probably just search me for bugs, or something."
"Or decide you were mad and have you commited," Shinobi agrees, grinning lopsidedly as he reaches for his coffee. "And then who would Emma force into skimpy lingere against their will, really?"
"Betsy," Jake says immidiately, then stares at his cake longer than stricktly necessary, grinning broadly.
As he seems to be doing a lot this afternoon, Shinobi looks just a little puzzled - and then his mind translates. "Oh, Miss Braddock? That's probable, I suppose." He eyes Jake a moment before deciding that if there's a reason she's studying his cake, he really doesn't want to know, and distracts himself with taking a drink instead.
Jake munches down half his cake before replying. "No, not really. Betsy's got more spine than I do. Besides, she used to be a model. She has designers on speed-dial."
"Guess that would rather help get one over their fear of thongs, wouldn't it?" Shinobi muses after he's set his coffee back down, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully.
"I don't fear the thongs, I just..." Jake tilts his head as well. "No, you're right. There's definitely some fear involved... Hey! What did I say about teenage hormones and me?"
Shinobi holds up his hands defensively, letting out a bit of a laugh. "Hey, who said I was thinking about anything thong-related? I'm being good, I promise!"
Jake eyes him suspiciously. "I used to be a teenage boy once myself, you know. I'm not sure I trust you at all on that."
"Few people in the mansion trust me," Shinobi observes intelligently, with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Honestly, though, I'm being good. I'm doing my very best to think about the coffee, and the probability of finding a shop nearby where I can restock my cigarette supply. Been going through them rather speedily, lately."
Jake inclines his head in acknowledgement, and left the topic. "Think they'd have cohibas?"
Squinting in thought, Shinobi cast an absent look back the way they'd come in, lifting a hand to ruffle his own hair as he considers. "Possibly.. we can always look. Or if Emma steals us away, come back out and look later."
"Sounds good to me. Just let me finish my coffee, and we'll go tobacco hunting." Jake grins.
"Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon to me," Shinobi grins, looking to Jake with a sage nod of his head.
Jake finishes off his coffee, scoops off the very last piece of cake, and stands. "You're all right, for a Shaw," he says, smirking, just as they leave the cafeteria.
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:20 pm (UTC)...or maybe just myself.
I am deeply in love with your characters. Fantastic job.
I particularly enjoyed the shirt petting. I can identify with shirt petting.
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:26 pm (UTC)*is excited!*
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:27 pm (UTC)Oh, wait. Maybe that was just me again. Hm.
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:35 pm (UTC)I think it's endearing.
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Date: 2003-12-20 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:39 pm (UTC)*is petted!*
*therefore, purrs!*
*and (ab)uses exclamation marks!*
HEY NOW!
Date: 2003-12-20 11:42 pm (UTC)*irate 15 year old*
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Date: 2003-12-20 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 11:49 pm (UTC)She's gonna get over that crush really fast. :)
Mostly due to the influx of Available Men who aren't .. what, 30 years older than her.
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Date: 2003-12-21 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-21 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 10:57 pm (UTC)o.O
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Date: 2003-12-20 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 11:33 pm (UTC):)
no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 11:41 pm (UTC)(is evil, what?)
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Date: 2003-12-20 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-20 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-21 06:03 am (UTC)Oh wait, that'd be Frummah Emma . . .
*wonders if anyone else knows Fiddler so I don't feel like such a dork*
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Date: 2003-12-21 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-21 06:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-21 07:18 am (UTC)*facepalm* I'm such a dork.
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