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Monday, after classes and before dinner. Emma + Sauna = Blushing Shinobi.

Things finally seemed to be calming down - for Shinobi, at least. He'd worry about the Russian when returned to the school, and in the meantime, concentrate on more pleasant things, like classes, and getting away for the weekend. Relaxing could always use some physical reinforcement, though, which has brought him to the sauna. Holding a towel around his waist with one hand, the other reaches for the door, and really, he's not expecting company.

But that doesn't mean he's not going to get it. Already inside the sauna, Emma Frost sits barely covered by her own towel, eyes closed, head pressed back against the warm wooden walls. She can feel Shinobi's arrival. She smiles. Just as the door opens, she adjusts her towel so he'll see her wrapping up as soon as he steps in. She does so like to tease that boy.

With good reason - he reacts. Shinobi's reaction isn't quite as bad as it would have been if he had walked in on this, say, a month ago, but it's still there, eyes briefly widening in surprise as he stubbornly ignores the sudden blush rising to his cheeks. "Sorry," he manages after a moment, his mind beginning a quiet manta of 'Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact..' as he flashes a sheepish smile. "I can come bask in here later, if you were after some quiet."

Emma pats the bench next to her, never opening her eyes. "Don't be silly, Shinobi. Come in, make yourself comfortable. You know I always enjoy your company. If nothing else, every moment we spend together feels like a way to stick the knife into your father a little deeper, and that always relaxes me."

"You do raise a valid point," Shinobi replies with a grin, definitely pleased at not being turned away. Dutifully, he ducks inside and closes the door behind himself, eyeing the indicated spot for a moment before crossing over and settling himself down comfortably. "You've been well, I hope? Things have only been, oh.. moderately crazed, lately."

"Have they?" Emma asks casually. "I hadn't noticed the difference. Is there good gossip, Shinobi? Who's fucking whom today? Between you and me, I think Cain has a secret thing for the Russian tin soldier."

"I try not to follow the gossip, really," Shinobi replies with a shrug, after taking a moment to make sure he wouldn't be bursting up laughing in the middle of his words. "Though, those two do seem to be getting along better now that they've tried to kill each other."

"It's very sweet. Like watching a nature program. Actually, the whole school feels a bit like that. Bulls butting heads. Predators swooping down on trembling rodents. Strange creatures rutting in dank holes." Emma crosses her legs and slides a hand along her thigh to rest on her knee. "We're all just naked apes, aren't we, dear?"

We certainly are right now. Eye contact eye contact eye contact. "Just another breed of animal," Shinobi nods, folding his hands in his lap and leaning his head back against the wall, deciding the ceiling might be the safest thing in the room to look at. "Bit more full of ourselves than most apes, though, I suspect."

Emma still has her eyes shut, but she can tell Shinobi is fidgety, telepathy or no. "Well, we do have better shoe stores, darling. We've earned a little self respect." She lets out a long, light sigh, feeling like a cat basking in sunshine. "So how are you, Shinobi, since we're on the subject of fullness of self?"

Shinobi makes a soft noise of agreement, eyeing the ceiling a moment longer before simply closing his eyes. Problem solved, right? "I'm.. better than I have been, I think," he replies thoughtfully. "Speaking with Doctor Samson is doing wonders for me, and I'm looking at a brief escape from this madhouse this coming weekend. We could probably use a chaperone, if you're at all interested in a weekend at a snowboarding resort, come to think of it. You can watch us make fools of ourselves in a new locale."

"Last time I went to the country for a retreat, your father sent a giant robot killing machine to turn me into a telepathic glory hole," Emma points out. "But that aside, it sounds delightful. Who else will be there?"

"Good point," Shinobi mumbles with a grimace, lifting one hand to rub at his face. He still feels rather guilty about that, it would seem. "Ah.. definitely Marie and Sarah, unless she changes her mind. I'm going to go down and invite Angelo along before my classes tomorrow, assuming he'll be available to come."

"Oh good. None of the boring students. And no teachers? That's good. They're all rather boring. Except Elizabeth. Any teacher who looks like she might gut you with a katana without a second thought is at least passably entertaining."

"I prefer boring to violently psychotic," Shinobi replies, trying his best to not to dwell on it. "May simply be a personal quirk of mine, though, and I probably would find it morbidly entertaining if she didn't seem to have a mad on for my girlfriend."

"Darling, if you prefered boring to violently psychotic, you wouldn't be dating Sarah at all. No-one prefers boring. Grey only looks good when matched with other colours." Her eyes flicker open and she looks Shinobi up and down as if he were a mannequin. "And it wouldn't look good on you at all. You'd be ashen." She closes her eyes again.

Shinobi takes a moment to consider this before making a faint, thoughtful noise, lifting his head. "I do suppose you have a point," he admits, hand falling back into his lap.

"I have many excellent points," says Emma, adjusting her towel again. "A fine arsenal."

Just when Shinobi had gotten comfortable again, too. "No arguement here." Wait. That was out loud. Eyecontacteyecontacteyecontact.

Emma licks her lips to stop her smile from being too obvious. After all, it's far too easy to really be a game. "Anyone in particular that you're escaping from this weekend, darling? Apart from our delicate English rose?"

"Mostly just stress in general, though a break from Clarice will do me good," Shinobi admits, suddenly sounding a bit tired. "Please tell me I'm not the only one in this house who associates 'X-Man' with 'responsible adult'?"

"Don't ask me, darling. I thought it meant 'pompous jackass'," Emma replies curtly. "Then again, I've always taken a dim view of authority."

"Marie doesn't seem like much of a pompous jackass, but I suppose she may simply be the exception instead of the rule," Shinobi allows, tilting his head in thought.

"Well, Marie is new to this," Emma concedes. "She'll probably pick it up as she goes along. It'll be a nice complement to the things Logan will teach her. How to catch bar nuts in your mouth. How to open a beer bottle by slamming it on a table top. Those sorts of things."

"Very useful life skills," Shinobi deadpans, inclining his head. "I'd hate to see her be wasted, though. She's good people. Respectable people, even, much of the time, and I don't think I truly respect very easy."

Emma arches an eyebrow. Shinobi isn't a total snob, in her opinion, but he does seem to enjoy slumming it, which is always a good sign of snobbish potential. So his endorsement does carry some weight. More than Logan's, anyway. "Well, she is Southern," Emma notes. "She'll either end up hogtying varmints or watching a plantation burn down. So there's potential either way."

"Potential which seems to largely be going to waste," Shinobi nods, shrugging and loosely folding his arms across his stomach. "To hear her tell it, at least, though I'll admit we've only really spoken on the topic while she's been a bit upset."

"Well, we can't have that," Emma says with polite, passing interest. "If I run into the girl, maybe I'll have a word. I don't like to see talent wasted. Not here."

Shinobi looks up, blinking once before allowing himself a pleasant grin. "If you can tolerate the group of us for a weekend, you could have a word with her at the resort," he suggests helpfully. Suitably pleased, he can't be *too* upset with himself when he catches his eyes starting to wander again, quickly returning his attention to the ceiling to simply enjoy the company. But not too quickly.

"Well, I'll think about it, darling," Emma says, keen not to be pushed into anything. "But let's not talk about snow in a sauna, shall we? It rather spoils the effect. In fact, let's not talk about the school, either. Let's forget the whole damned place. Just for five minutes."

"That certainly sounds like an attractive idea to me," Shinobi agrees, smiling and letting his eyes fall closed.