Shiro & Chris Summers, Wednesday morning

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What happens when Shiro meets the all too inquisitive pirate father of his ex?


It had taken quite some time to pick up Scott's trail, but he'd finally done it, and Chris patiently trailed his son down to the basement, figuring that he had to be able to corner the stubborn ass somewhere. Maybe he was heading down to see Jean. Scott took a turn that was definitely not in the direction of the infirmary, however, and Chris paused, stepping back around the counter when Scott stopped in front of a door that was quite obviously secured somehow. He did something to the keypad, and the door slid aside, admitting him. It closed again immediately, and Chris headed over to take a look, curious now.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," Shiro greeted Scott as they passed, offering the older man a polite nod. He raised an eyebrow at what to him was just a curt reply from Scott, but the look on his face told Shiro quite clearly not to pursue it. Shrugging, he continued to dry his hair with his towel as he stepped into the elevator taking him up from the sub-basement. When the doors hushes open, he froze. "Excuse you."

"Hmm?" Chris said, startled by Shiro's sudden appearance. "Sorry. I was just looking for Scott."

Shiro stepped out right in front of the mysterious man as the doors hushes behind him. He was used to everyone in the world towering over him, but he didn't let a height disparity detract from confrontation. If this man was the reason for Scott's attitude, he must deserve it. "This is off limits. Who are you?"

Chris raised an eyebrow at the hostile tone, but his tone was perfectly level as he went on. "Chris Summers," he said. "Scott and Alex's father."

Shiro's first reaction was much his normal reaction to people. After all, Scott seemed to make his feelings for his father quite clear, so there was little reason to act differently. But when he opened his mouth to make such a comment, he immediately shut it, remembering Alex's exuberance. "Oh," he said instead. "The corsair. I see."

Chris very tolerantly did not roll his eyes. Instead, he took a step back from the door, raising his hands briefly. "And sorry about poking at the door. If Scott's found a safe place to hide, I certainly don't want to disturb him." It was clearly meant to be a joke. Shiro would have had to know Chris much better to realize that it wasn't, not entirely at least.

"We take our security very seriously," Shiro offered awkwardly, suddenly aware of how rude he'd just been towards the father of his former lover whom he'd abused.

Chris made a thoughtful noise, one eyebrow raising slightly. "Perhaps you could direct me back to a part of the mansion where I'm not going to get myself in trouble?" he suggested, not quite idly.

Away from Cyclops, apparently. "Have you visited the grounds yet? Outside tends to be unoffensive." And maybe Alex would be there and could take his father's attention.

"Some of the grounds. Certainly haven't seen all of it." Chris made a semi-extravagant 'lead on' gesture, and followed Shiro. "And perhaps you could tell me your name," he said after a moment, pointedly, but with a certain degree of amusement.

Shiro nodded and led Chris down the hall and away from the hidden doors. "Shiro Yoshida," was his simple introduction, and he silently pled that if Alex had mentioned him at all, then it was just in passing.

Chris looked sideways at him, thoughtfully. "Alex has mentioned you. Former roommate, yes?"

Shiro looked straight ahead. "Sou desu. We shared a dormitory in high school." And that's all.

Chris smiled, genuinely pleased by having stumbled across one of Alex's friends. "What was he like, in high school? I mean, I know it's not that long ago, but I imagine he's had to do a lot of growing up the last year or so." He grimaced. "He's told me about some of the things that have happened to him."

"In some ways, he is much the same man now as he was then." Shiro pulled a band out of his pocket to tie his hair back with. "Stronger and more self-reliant, but his abuses have not tempered his . . . anou, enthusiasm."

"You sound like you know him quite well," Chris said, still smiling at Shiro's description of his youngest son.

Shiro bit his lip, and tried very hard not to look like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "We are . . . were . . . are very close friends. He is a good man."

Chris's eyes narrowed. "Admittedly," he said slowly, "I've known my sons were alive for less than a month, so I don't really have much right to get paternal... but I couldn't help but notice your problem with tenses, there."

"English is not my native language?" Shiro offered weakly. "We . . . fought recently, and have just begun to re-establish our friendship." He opened the door and stood aside to let Chris out first.

"I see," Chris said, walking through the door and glancing back at Shiro over his shoulder. "Well, I should point out that he's forgiven me for fifteen years of paternal delinquency. I would tend to assume that your chances are pretty good."

"~You did not turn him into a thing to be used and discarded~," Shiro muttered in Japanese, looking down as he let the door shut behind him. "We are working. Living here for so long puts everything into perspective, and abandoning longterm friendships is difficult."

When he looked back up, there was a very tall and very narrow-eyed pirate staring him down. "~Perhaps my sons neglected to mention that I've spent the last fifteen years in Madripoor,~" he said, in passable Japanese. "~I had to learn Japanese to be able to communicate with some of my business partners.~"

Shiro blinked. "Sou ne." Well. This was an unexpected development. "~What happened between us is complicated. There is no simple way to explain it, and even so I do not think that it is my place to do so. You should talk to your son.~"

Chris's eyes narrowed even further, but his stance relaxed slightly. Grudgingly. "I don't feel it's my place to push either of them about their history over the last fifteen years," he said, "and if Alex neglected while he was telling me all kinds of other awful stories to mention whatever you did to him-" His voice sharpened slightly, "- he's not ready to talk about it with the stranger who happens to be his father."

"Cyclops would not let me be an X-Man, much less still a resident here, if the truly horrible had happened." More or less a mantra to Shiro, though how much weight it would hold with Chris given Scott's obvious feelings for his father, Shiro didn't know.

"Reassuring...or it would be, if I knew precisely what Scott was likely to do in response to what," Chris said, still looking suspicious as he turned, stepping out of the middle of the hallway. "I've been less successful getting to know him this week than I have Alex."

Shiro looked up, meeting Chris's eyes. I am starting to see why. "He takes his responsibilities very seriously, as you must have witnessed. There is a reason that he is our leader, Corsair."

"My name is Chris. Mr. Summers, if you feel some bizarre need for formality. 'Corsair' is a nickname - a joke."

"Mister Summers," Shiro corrected himself. "Regardless, in spite of my history, I care for your son very much. Both of them, in fact. I owe a lot to them."

Chris nodded. "I believe you," he said, then cracked a slightly reluctant smile. "Sorry. I seem to be finding myself in various awkward conversations."

Shiro's lips quirked upward. Barely. "Welcome to the madhouse."