Sticks and Stones
Feb. 10th, 2004 03:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsAfter this kerfuffle Amanda finds Shinobi in the usual place.
It had certainly been a full weekend, hadn't it? Despite his irritation, Shinobi still fancied himself a gentleman and thus, took his intense need for a smoke outside, even if it was well after dark. He's seated on the back porch with his heavy black jacket hugged around himself, hands shoved up into his sleeves as he works on his third cigarette of the evening, trying to enjoy what quiet he can get. When the ash gets a bit long, he leans to one side and gives the filter a sharp flick of his tongue in order to shake it free before straightening again, and going back to his ever so important pensive brooding.
The sound of the door opening jerks him out of his introspection. It's Amanda, muffled in what seems to be every layer of clothing she owns. "Oh," she says. "Didn't realise there was anyone out here."
Blinking, Shinobi twists around enough to look over his shoulder, straightening out his hunched-over posture. "I can get myself inside if you want the porch for yourself," he offers, speaking around his cigarette.
"Nah, just you looked busy with yer broodin' thing. Didn't want t' interrupt." She takes a seat on the steps, pulling a battered pack of smokes out of her coat pocket. "Bugger," she mutters, shaking the last one out and shoving the empty pack back in her pocket.
"I've more left if you need them," Shinobi says with a nod towards the empty pack, smiling somewhat. "I'm a modern bloke, luv. I can brood and be company at once. Multitasking's not so hard."
"I just might have t' take you up on that. Been readin' the journals for the last couple of days. With me head on straight, this time," she adds with a wry grin. "Came straight out here - needed a fag after all that."
"I can relate, obviously," Shinobi chuckles, mirroring the wry grin and cocking his head to one side. "I think I might be able to be suitably calm and all that if you want an actual ear t'talk at, as opposed to a computer screen.. assuming you don't want to just try and ignore it and see if it goes away."
"It hasn't yet." Amanda blows a cloud of smoke into the cold air and shivers a little. "I'm just tryin' t' figure out what all the fuss is about. Not that I don't appreciate it, mind," she adds. "But Rasputin calling me a tramp? Hah, ain't the first time. Can't figure out what's got everyone so bent out of shape."
"Well.. in my case..?" Shinobi lifts his shoulders in a shrug, jaw briefly jutting out as he thinks. "Bloke I hardly know outside of throwing underage drinkin' parties an' then posting 'bout them and mooning over his boyfriend calls a friend of mine something not fit for polite company. Whether his friends view him as being held to a higher standard or not, I as an utter stranger do. Bloke's supposed to be one've the Professor's X-Men, isn' he? Sure doesn't seem like he knows how to act like a respectable person, is all." He shrugs.
"I'm not sayin' he didn't act like a pillock," she agrees, taking another long drag on her cigarette. "An' I might have been taking the piss, but he was bein' melodramatic. Just didn't expect it to go all pear-shaped the way it did." She echoes his shrug. "Teachers're more fragile here - I've called some of mine far worse an' they dealt."
[
"I didn't expect it to get so big, either," Shinobi admits, stretching his legs out in front of himself with a lazy tilt of his head, studying his shoes in the dark. "But then, I didn't expect 'why are you acting like a sixteen year old girl' to be met with 'you're a tramp', either, so I s'pose it's just all full of surprises. Lots of stress flying around lately, probably hasn't helped."
"Personally I don't give a shit if Rasputin never comes back, but seein' you lot at each other... that's another thing altogether." She pulls a face. "Another sign I'm gettin' soft."
"If it's any consolation, Piotr and I have never really gotten along," he shrugs, looking to her with a somewhat apologetic smile. "I'd been curious to, but then New Years Eve happened and, well.. lost much of the appeal."
"This'd be the whole 'let's tell everyone we've been drinkin' when we shouldn't' party?" Amanda snorted. "Yeah, someone told me about that." She tapped ash over the side of the step and took another drag. "Thing's are a lot different in this country."
"Makes one miss home, doesn't it?" Shinobi agrees, grinning tiredly and rolling his eyes skywards. "I've thought about leaving once or twice," he admits, pursing his lips around the nearly-spent cancer stick between them. "Can't, though."
Amanda nods and grins. "Yeah. For all me posturin', I ain't about t' go anywhere meself. Romany'd be on me back faster 'n I could blink. She seems t' think I need lookin' out for." She shrugs. "What Rasputin said - he weren't wrong, y'know."
"Whether he was right or wrong isn't the point," Shinobi replies patiently, freeing a hand so that he can snuff his cigarette out on the step next to him. "Not my point, anyway. Bloke's your teacher, for chrissake. Wasn't bloody acting like it."
"Seems there ain't too much of anyone actin' like they should at the moment." Amanda taps her cigarette again, noticing it's almost down to the filter. She looks accross to Shinobi. "Can I take up that offer of another fag?" she asks.
Nodding, Shinobi digs in his coat's pockets before coming up with his half-finished pack and lighter, offering them over towards Amanda. "Always. Knock yourself out."
"Ta." She lights up with the lighter, not trusting her fire spell this soon after a power high - the last time she nearly took her eyebrows off. "What d'you think it would take t' get people t' settle down about this? It's getting out of hand, an' if anythin' it's giving me a headache readin' all that stuff. You lot use too many big words," she says with a chuckle.
"Sorry. Private school and tutors." Grinning, Shinobi holds up his hands in apology, bowing his head before plucking a cigarette of his own out of the pack. "Honestly..? Ask us to shut it and we will, luv. And once he's given you an apology, we'll feel okay about having shut it, even if we'll still be thinkin' it. Rather crossed a line, he did."
"If he did, then I'm sure someone'll tell him. Someone who ain't a student, that is." She passes back his lighter. "Pete, if he's not too pissed off about me winding him up in the first place." She grins. "An apology that I'm not makin'? Be a first."
"Just so all's square, you might want to offer one too," Shinobi reluctantly amends, grinning apologetically as he lights up. "But I think chromedome's is a spot more important than yours. I'm probably going to send him one whether I mean it or not, once I've calmed down a bit more." He pauses for a moment, making a face. "I don't know about the faculty stepping in on it, since they don't seem to pay too much bloody attention sometimes. God, I miss London schools."
"I don't - too free an' easy with the cane. Or the ruler. Or whatever else they could lay hands on," she says with a laugh. "Still, I probably earned it - right little shit I was, when I was there."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Shinobi replies innocently, wiggling his eyebrows as he tucks the pack and lighter away. "Eh, just need to find a proper balance, I suppose. Rules're no good if nobody can be arsed into upholding them."
"I s'pose. Why does everythin' have t' be about rules, any way? Even magic has rules, or so Rom tells me." Amanda leans back against the railing next to her and closes her eyes. "But yeah, I can apologise. For takin' the piss, any way. Not for callin' him a pillock - he yelled at me first, that time."
"Just be vague in your apology, he'll assume it encompasses all," Shinobi suggests, resting his elbows against the porch behind him and leaning back against them comfortably. "Rules are just a part of my life, I guess. Always been there, used to them bein' enforced. Feel naked when they aren't, practically." Pausing, he makes a bit of a face, though it's an amused one. "Samson's right. I analyze th' hell out of myself."
"This the head shrinker?" Amanda asks, tilting her head curiously.
Shinobi nods. "He's a nice bloke. Actually gives a rat's arse, which is pretty nice, and assures me I'm not mad, which is even nicer." Looking over, he grins. "Nicest, he let me smoke while we talked. Seems to be helping."
"Why d'you think I actually go an' talk t' Pete still? He lets me swipe his fags," she says. Then she shrugs. "Pete said somethin' about seein' Samson, but I've seen enough social workers an' the like t' last me a lifetime."
"I'll not tell you you should go, but I will say the Doc's good people, and you would probably find him at least tolerable. If you like the quiet, listening sorts, anyway." Shinobi shrugs, grinning lopsidedly. "Failing that, you can keep stealing Pete's fags and come smoke 'em on the porch with me. Whatever works."
"Nicotine therapy always works," she replies. "More people should try it, only then it'd get too bloody crowded out here."
"Got too crowded out front," Shinobi nods, smiling wryly. "It'll probably be even worse once it warms up. If it warms up. I'm pretty sure New York warms up. Never been here during the summer before."
"Me, I don't believe it. Feels like it's never gunna warm up." Amanda pokes at the snow on the lower steps with a Doc Marten boot. "Evil stuff."
"It's especially evil when you get it in your ears," Shinobi agrees, nodding his head sagely. After a moment's pause, however, he blinks a little, giving her a curious look. "...weren't high off yer arse again, were you? I distinctly recall you making happy noises 'bout snow."
"Error of judgement," she replies, with a roll of her eyes. "Made a bit of a miscalculation an' got a bit happy as a result."
"Oh, fun," Shinobi chuckles, cocking his head to the side curiously. "Do I dare ask, or should I stay blissfully unawares?"
"Best you don't." She shrugs. "I'm workin' on it - once I figure out how much I can take, everythin'll be fine." With that she stubs out her cigarette. "An' on that note, I'm off t' warmer climes. Ta for the fag. An' the advice. Think I'll work on that apology thing. Get it all sincere-soundin'."
"I remain oblivious, then," he agrees, holding up his hands and inclining his head. Shinobi looks up again quickly enough, though, grinning lopsidedly. "Warm is good, yeah. Anytime, luv. If you want me to give you a second opinion on the apology before you offer it, let me know. I've had a lifetime to get good at convincingly lying through my teeth."
This post follows.
It had certainly been a full weekend, hadn't it? Despite his irritation, Shinobi still fancied himself a gentleman and thus, took his intense need for a smoke outside, even if it was well after dark. He's seated on the back porch with his heavy black jacket hugged around himself, hands shoved up into his sleeves as he works on his third cigarette of the evening, trying to enjoy what quiet he can get. When the ash gets a bit long, he leans to one side and gives the filter a sharp flick of his tongue in order to shake it free before straightening again, and going back to his ever so important pensive brooding.
The sound of the door opening jerks him out of his introspection. It's Amanda, muffled in what seems to be every layer of clothing she owns. "Oh," she says. "Didn't realise there was anyone out here."
Blinking, Shinobi twists around enough to look over his shoulder, straightening out his hunched-over posture. "I can get myself inside if you want the porch for yourself," he offers, speaking around his cigarette.
"Nah, just you looked busy with yer broodin' thing. Didn't want t' interrupt." She takes a seat on the steps, pulling a battered pack of smokes out of her coat pocket. "Bugger," she mutters, shaking the last one out and shoving the empty pack back in her pocket.
"I've more left if you need them," Shinobi says with a nod towards the empty pack, smiling somewhat. "I'm a modern bloke, luv. I can brood and be company at once. Multitasking's not so hard."
"I just might have t' take you up on that. Been readin' the journals for the last couple of days. With me head on straight, this time," she adds with a wry grin. "Came straight out here - needed a fag after all that."
"I can relate, obviously," Shinobi chuckles, mirroring the wry grin and cocking his head to one side. "I think I might be able to be suitably calm and all that if you want an actual ear t'talk at, as opposed to a computer screen.. assuming you don't want to just try and ignore it and see if it goes away."
"It hasn't yet." Amanda blows a cloud of smoke into the cold air and shivers a little. "I'm just tryin' t' figure out what all the fuss is about. Not that I don't appreciate it, mind," she adds. "But Rasputin calling me a tramp? Hah, ain't the first time. Can't figure out what's got everyone so bent out of shape."
"Well.. in my case..?" Shinobi lifts his shoulders in a shrug, jaw briefly jutting out as he thinks. "Bloke I hardly know outside of throwing underage drinkin' parties an' then posting 'bout them and mooning over his boyfriend calls a friend of mine something not fit for polite company. Whether his friends view him as being held to a higher standard or not, I as an utter stranger do. Bloke's supposed to be one've the Professor's X-Men, isn' he? Sure doesn't seem like he knows how to act like a respectable person, is all." He shrugs.
"I'm not sayin' he didn't act like a pillock," she agrees, taking another long drag on her cigarette. "An' I might have been taking the piss, but he was bein' melodramatic. Just didn't expect it to go all pear-shaped the way it did." She echoes his shrug. "Teachers're more fragile here - I've called some of mine far worse an' they dealt."
[
"I didn't expect it to get so big, either," Shinobi admits, stretching his legs out in front of himself with a lazy tilt of his head, studying his shoes in the dark. "But then, I didn't expect 'why are you acting like a sixteen year old girl' to be met with 'you're a tramp', either, so I s'pose it's just all full of surprises. Lots of stress flying around lately, probably hasn't helped."
"Personally I don't give a shit if Rasputin never comes back, but seein' you lot at each other... that's another thing altogether." She pulls a face. "Another sign I'm gettin' soft."
"If it's any consolation, Piotr and I have never really gotten along," he shrugs, looking to her with a somewhat apologetic smile. "I'd been curious to, but then New Years Eve happened and, well.. lost much of the appeal."
"This'd be the whole 'let's tell everyone we've been drinkin' when we shouldn't' party?" Amanda snorted. "Yeah, someone told me about that." She tapped ash over the side of the step and took another drag. "Thing's are a lot different in this country."
"Makes one miss home, doesn't it?" Shinobi agrees, grinning tiredly and rolling his eyes skywards. "I've thought about leaving once or twice," he admits, pursing his lips around the nearly-spent cancer stick between them. "Can't, though."
Amanda nods and grins. "Yeah. For all me posturin', I ain't about t' go anywhere meself. Romany'd be on me back faster 'n I could blink. She seems t' think I need lookin' out for." She shrugs. "What Rasputin said - he weren't wrong, y'know."
"Whether he was right or wrong isn't the point," Shinobi replies patiently, freeing a hand so that he can snuff his cigarette out on the step next to him. "Not my point, anyway. Bloke's your teacher, for chrissake. Wasn't bloody acting like it."
"Seems there ain't too much of anyone actin' like they should at the moment." Amanda taps her cigarette again, noticing it's almost down to the filter. She looks accross to Shinobi. "Can I take up that offer of another fag?" she asks.
Nodding, Shinobi digs in his coat's pockets before coming up with his half-finished pack and lighter, offering them over towards Amanda. "Always. Knock yourself out."
"Ta." She lights up with the lighter, not trusting her fire spell this soon after a power high - the last time she nearly took her eyebrows off. "What d'you think it would take t' get people t' settle down about this? It's getting out of hand, an' if anythin' it's giving me a headache readin' all that stuff. You lot use too many big words," she says with a chuckle.
"Sorry. Private school and tutors." Grinning, Shinobi holds up his hands in apology, bowing his head before plucking a cigarette of his own out of the pack. "Honestly..? Ask us to shut it and we will, luv. And once he's given you an apology, we'll feel okay about having shut it, even if we'll still be thinkin' it. Rather crossed a line, he did."
"If he did, then I'm sure someone'll tell him. Someone who ain't a student, that is." She passes back his lighter. "Pete, if he's not too pissed off about me winding him up in the first place." She grins. "An apology that I'm not makin'? Be a first."
"Just so all's square, you might want to offer one too," Shinobi reluctantly amends, grinning apologetically as he lights up. "But I think chromedome's is a spot more important than yours. I'm probably going to send him one whether I mean it or not, once I've calmed down a bit more." He pauses for a moment, making a face. "I don't know about the faculty stepping in on it, since they don't seem to pay too much bloody attention sometimes. God, I miss London schools."
"I don't - too free an' easy with the cane. Or the ruler. Or whatever else they could lay hands on," she says with a laugh. "Still, I probably earned it - right little shit I was, when I was there."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Shinobi replies innocently, wiggling his eyebrows as he tucks the pack and lighter away. "Eh, just need to find a proper balance, I suppose. Rules're no good if nobody can be arsed into upholding them."
"I s'pose. Why does everythin' have t' be about rules, any way? Even magic has rules, or so Rom tells me." Amanda leans back against the railing next to her and closes her eyes. "But yeah, I can apologise. For takin' the piss, any way. Not for callin' him a pillock - he yelled at me first, that time."
"Just be vague in your apology, he'll assume it encompasses all," Shinobi suggests, resting his elbows against the porch behind him and leaning back against them comfortably. "Rules are just a part of my life, I guess. Always been there, used to them bein' enforced. Feel naked when they aren't, practically." Pausing, he makes a bit of a face, though it's an amused one. "Samson's right. I analyze th' hell out of myself."
"This the head shrinker?" Amanda asks, tilting her head curiously.
Shinobi nods. "He's a nice bloke. Actually gives a rat's arse, which is pretty nice, and assures me I'm not mad, which is even nicer." Looking over, he grins. "Nicest, he let me smoke while we talked. Seems to be helping."
"Why d'you think I actually go an' talk t' Pete still? He lets me swipe his fags," she says. Then she shrugs. "Pete said somethin' about seein' Samson, but I've seen enough social workers an' the like t' last me a lifetime."
"I'll not tell you you should go, but I will say the Doc's good people, and you would probably find him at least tolerable. If you like the quiet, listening sorts, anyway." Shinobi shrugs, grinning lopsidedly. "Failing that, you can keep stealing Pete's fags and come smoke 'em on the porch with me. Whatever works."
"Nicotine therapy always works," she replies. "More people should try it, only then it'd get too bloody crowded out here."
"Got too crowded out front," Shinobi nods, smiling wryly. "It'll probably be even worse once it warms up. If it warms up. I'm pretty sure New York warms up. Never been here during the summer before."
"Me, I don't believe it. Feels like it's never gunna warm up." Amanda pokes at the snow on the lower steps with a Doc Marten boot. "Evil stuff."
"It's especially evil when you get it in your ears," Shinobi agrees, nodding his head sagely. After a moment's pause, however, he blinks a little, giving her a curious look. "...weren't high off yer arse again, were you? I distinctly recall you making happy noises 'bout snow."
"Error of judgement," she replies, with a roll of her eyes. "Made a bit of a miscalculation an' got a bit happy as a result."
"Oh, fun," Shinobi chuckles, cocking his head to the side curiously. "Do I dare ask, or should I stay blissfully unawares?"
"Best you don't." She shrugs. "I'm workin' on it - once I figure out how much I can take, everythin'll be fine." With that she stubs out her cigarette. "An' on that note, I'm off t' warmer climes. Ta for the fag. An' the advice. Think I'll work on that apology thing. Get it all sincere-soundin'."
"I remain oblivious, then," he agrees, holding up his hands and inclining his head. Shinobi looks up again quickly enough, though, grinning lopsidedly. "Warm is good, yeah. Anytime, luv. If you want me to give you a second opinion on the apology before you offer it, let me know. I've had a lifetime to get good at convincingly lying through my teeth."
This post follows.
