Shiro & Clarice then Alex, Tuesday evening

[x-sanfuaiyaa.livejournal.com]

The problem with e-mail nicknames is that you might end up accidentally sending them to the wrong person. Whoops.


Shiro yawned as he touched down in front of the mansion. He'd successfully managed to pull his TA's head out of his butt long enough to make a case, earning him the half a point he needed to keep his A. He knew he ought to be ashamed for being so anal retentive about half a point, but it was the principle of the thing. If it was A work, then he should get an A, not a B+ just because the TA doesn't like giving out A's.

He entered the mansion, ignoring the rumbling sound in his tummy, and waved at a couple of people as he made his way up to his suite. Time for dinner, and then "dinner." He couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. Alex was having this weird giddy effect on him, something he'd never quite experienced even with . . . "Clarice? Um, hi. Why are you standing in front of my door?"

"You tell me, Koi," she replied coolly, trying to resist the infantile urge to tap her foot. "I mean, I know we worked together to try and find the president's daughters, but I didn't think we were at the makeout like giggly schoolgirls phase of our training. Or did I miss that memo?"

The color drained from Shiro's face faster than you can say 'Oh, shit.' And he said that, too. "How did you . . . that e-mail was not meant for you," he said, his voice raspy from a suddenly dry throat. But at least she didn't know to whom it was intended.

Rolling her eyes towards the ceiling she replied drolly, "Obviously," before turning very, very serious, "Who is it?"

Shiro gulped and shook his head. "None of your concern," he managed to say around the lump in his throat. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to talk to said person." It wasn't until he pushed past her that he realized that the simple inference behind his words was: 'Said person is behind this door.'

Either they had a key to his room, were a teleporter or his roommate. Shiro was obviously not dating Kurt and Illyana wouldn't give anyone the time of day usually, so that left the other two options. Only one of which actually made any sense, "No way," she denied, already beginning teleporting into the room. There was just no way.

Shiro shut the door behind him and leaned on it heavily, and then nearly jumped out of his skin when Clarice's tell-tale portal blinked into existence, depositing her right in front of him. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice cracking. "Get out! Go!"

"Oh come on!" she rolled her eyes, immediately stalking around the suite to see who was there, Tommy's door was open and the room apparently empty. Angrily, she looked in the bathroom before turning to face Shiro's closed door. Glaring at Shiro she strode over, throwing the door open. She stared in the familiar room, speechless.

The cot that had been set up for Alex's use obviously had not been used in weeks. Instead, an extra person's worth of pillows sat on Shiro's messy bed (which was itself a sign because Shiro always made his bed in the morning, assuming no one else was still sleeping in it). "It's not what it looks like," he said, and remembered that those were the exact words he used in Glorian's dream world. A lie then, too.

Perhaps Clarice could have given him the benefit of the doubt until he said that. By definition, if he had to say it wasn't what it looked like, then it was. "What, you just tripped and fell on his dick?" she asked, quoting Lucky Number Slevin. "Was I that awful that you had turned to MEN?"

He knew he probably should have been embarrassed, but he was instead growing angry. "I'm sorry. Remind me, who broke up with whom? I don't think that you have a right to say anything about this. What I do with my dick is none of your business." He refrained from adding a 'bitch' to the end of that, as satisfying as it would have been.

Who had broken up with whom really had no bearing on the situation as far as Clarice was concerned, if he hadn't done Kick then she wouldn't have had a reason to break up with him in the first place, so really, still his fault despite who did the deed. "I can't believe this," she said half refusing and half knowing it was true, "you just...I cannot believe you!"

"Why do you care?" he repeated. "You do not enter into this equation. So why don't you go back to your school and blow your TA or something?" He inwardly recoiled from his own words, and the barest hint of regret flashed on his face.

Clarice stared at him incredulously for a moment before punching him squarely in the eye, "Fuck you, Yoshida-san. And fuck your little boyfriend too. Might want to put some concealer on that eye."

Shiro stumbled back under the surprising weight of the punch. He hissed. He should have seen that coming. "What the hell?" he demanded, his voice cracking. He left his left hand up to his face to cover the offending eye, and the other hand was soon engulfed in flames. "You should leave now, before I do something I really regret."

Making a face, Clarice disappeared. As far as she was concerned, this was far from over. Breaking up was one thing, but this was a whole different ball game.

~*~


Shiro groaned and dumped the bag of melted ice into the sink. He'd gone through three in as many minutes, and his freezer only had so much ice. He refilled his bag and took a deep breath before carefully putting it over his black eye again. Clarice had done quite a number on his face. He only hoped that people would buy his excuse that it was a training mishap. It was bad enough to get punched by a girl. Even worse that it was his ex, and the circumstances surrounding it.

Humming happily, Alex walked into their shared room, backpack over one shoulder and skateboard over the other. He dumped both on the unused cot and moved to step into the bathroom, not even realizing anyone else was there. He stopped short when he saw Shiro and the eye he was nursing. "Shit! What happened?" He asked as he stepped in the small space with the other boy. "Who did this to you?" In other words, who was he going to have to deal with. If any was protective over family, it was Alex.

"It's a funny story," Shiro said in a tone that suggested it was anything but funny. "I meant to send you an e-mail this afternoon, but in an extraordinary display of intelligence and computer literacy, I sent it to Clarice instead. Then I tried to block her fist with my face."

Alex couldn't help but groan slightly at the thought of both of their exs now knowing. Then he winced slightly in sympathy as he looked over the eye. "Are you okay?" While he was looking over the eye, it was clear he meant it in both ways; physically and mentally. Not being able to do anything about the eye, he reached out and put a hand on Shiro's hip, since touch was the best way he knew how to give comfort.

Even through clothes, Shiro felt the warm sensation that was Alex's mutation interacting with his own. It made him moan ever so slightly. "I'll be fine. I'll just tell everyone that your brother did this to me because he didn't think the Thwomps were challenging anymore." He didn't want to consider the other aspect to Alex's question.

Giving him a look that said this conversation wasn't over, Alex nodded. He understood, given how he'd freaked out over Lorna finding out and this obviously just happened and he didn't want to pressure Shiro. The other would tell him in good time. Smiling then, he turned Shiro so they were fully facing each other and put his hands behind the other's neck. "Let's order in tonight and 'not' watch movies hmm?" He asked playfully, hoping to cheer the other up a little before kissing his cheek right beneath the bruised eye.

Shiro shifted and caught Alex's lips with his own. "That was actually the gist of my e-mail. It's a good plan." The electric sensation of the next kiss sent shivers down Shiro's spine, and his free hand found its way down to Alex's belt buckles. "You have this really odd effect on me that I do not understand," he said seriously, but still with a smile. "You are going to get me in serious trouble some day."

No one would ever share the kind of electric kisses they did, they're mutation adding that extra spark that sent happy shivers down Alex's spine that were really compared to metaphoric. "As long as I'm there to pick you up...I'm okay with that." He added with a cheeky grin.

"So, when are we going to tell your brother?" Shiro laughed at the sudden horrified expression on Alex's face. "Kidding."

Rolling his eyes, Alex gave a small sarcastic laugh. "Ha ha. Very funny. I'd like to tell him in a way he doesn't come after you thank you very much." Sticking out his tongue, Alex gave him a quick kiss before ducking out of the bathroom. "Let me make one call to Papa Johns and I'm all yours for the night." he said as he looked for his cell phone, number preprogrammed in of course.