Shiro & Clarice, Monday lunchtime

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Clarice helps Shiro calm down after a particularly graphic and troubling nightmare.


Shiro didn't quite stagger into the kitchen so much as amble uncertainly. He had spent the morning in meditation outside under his favorite oak tree, as he'd spent every day since his benching from the X-Men, and even before that for an hour or so a day. Today had seemed successful. He'd even come to some tranquility that allowed him to properly and constructively reflect on his troubles. At least until his own thoughts were abruptly ousted by nightmares of Tokyo burning in a fiery holocaust. Even now, ten minutes afterwards, he could still see it clearly. The Imperial Palace, the Diet, Tokyo Tower, all laid to waste. Shiro nearly hurled into the sink.

"Watch the shoes!" Clarice called, up from the table the instant it looked like Shiro was about to lose his lunch. She ran the sink water to wash any bile down that might come up from him and rubbed his back, "You hit anywhere other than the sink and you gotta clean it up," she informed him. That seemed like a reasonable request, "Are you sick? Need to go to the medlab?" she felt his forehead, but he always felt hot. That was no indication of anything.

"I am fine." Shiro took a deep breath and fought back the nausea. "I just had a bad dream. I think it was a dream, at least. It was . . . odd. I do not think that I was asleep." He poured himself a tall glass of cold water and downed it in a few seconds.

"You didn't look asleep when you came in," she had watched him, it was sort of hard not to. Her first boyfriend, her first love and their relationship since the break up all those years ago had been somewhat...volatile. They had mellowed with age into a truce that bordered eerily on friendship now though. "What did you see?"

"Tokyo on fire." Of course. Two of Shiro's favorite things, just not when they're together. "I think it was under attack. I do not know by whom. Sorry." He shook his head and refilled his glass. He automatically started to lean back into her comforting touch until he felt her pull back, shunting him back to reality. "Sorry," he repeated.

Clarice knew how much Tokyo meant to Shiro. He might've mellowed over the years regarding his patriotism, but he was still very proud of his country. Or at least, he had learned to hate America and Americans less. That they had dated was testament to that. "You a precog now?" she asked, "Or is Dani gone nuts again?" both were entirely possible, "And don't apologize, You feeling better?" she sort of guided him towards a chair.

Shiro considered her first comment, but shook his head and discarded it. That was just plain silly. "Yes, thank you. Maybe Leyu-chan's manifestation disturbed me more than I thought. That would explain all the fire, ne?"

The idea of Shiro being a precog was ludicrous, which was exactly why she had suggested it, she had hoped it would get her a smile or something, "Maybe. Manifestations, even when expected, are pretty much traumatic," like she was an expert? Not at all. "It would though. But Tokyo burning? Uncool man, uncool."

"Yeah." He finished a second cup of water and then set to wash and put away the glass. "Would you like to have lunch?" he blurted out suddenly. "I-if you are not busy this afternoon, that is. I have not seen you much since you and Jay took me to the city."

She shrugged, watching him move. That was one of the nice things about the school, Clarice decided, almost everyone moved well in their skin. "Are you paying?" she asked with a smile, "Because I am so there if you are," at least she didn't make the date comment or ask about him and Jay. Yet.

He smiled. "OK. But that means that I get to choose where we go. And you are teleporting." Eerie or not, Shiro had desired at least a friendship with her since she had dumped him. He couldn't deny some long retained feelings for her, although since her declaration of sudden lesbianism and his relationship with Jay, he wasn't so sure that they meant anything anymore. Still, she was one of the few women who playfully tolerated his bullshit, and he had to respect that.

"I am not wearing a burqa, it's too damn hot in the sandbox. And I am not getting out my winter coat either. So it better be somewhere where I can where this," she indicated her current capri pants and shirt. She looked cute, she thought, but it was not a cold weather outfit. "Oh, and I am not eating monkey brains or grasshoppers or ants. Otherwise, pick away," she tolerated his bullshit and he tolerated hers. It was a good match.

"There is that Thai place in Salem Center that you liked. Or a street market in Thailand. Whichever you prefer. We can get balut," he teased. Fetal duck still in its egg wasn't the same thing as brains or insects.

"Yeah, or not," fetal duck was just as gross as brains or insects. "Salem Center it is. I don't trust your Thai Marketplace," Clarice stood, "Ready?" she asked. Since they weren't driving and she wasn't paying, she didn't need her purse.

Shiro patted his pocket the make sure he had his wallet and nodded. A couple of seconds later and they were standing in front of the restaurant. Like a gentleman, he opened the door for Clarice and let her in first. "So," he began as he took his seat, awkwardly realizing that he didn't really have anything to talk about with her, "uh, how are you?"

Sitting and letting the waiter bring them water and menus with only one open stare at Clarice, she shrugged, "Can't complain. About to start school again. You? Heard you had a fight with Jay or something."

"It was a bad day. A misunderstanding that escalated. We made up." He paused. "And then broke up. It was not working. So, school. Your final year, ne?"

Clarice shook her head, "No, another year, maybe a little more. I took a semester off for being irradiated and then dropped a couple classes because of missions and stuff," she wasn't too concerned. She was 21, even if she took two more years, she'd be on target for the national average. "Sorry about you and Jay. It's kinda weird though. I dated Kyle and you dated Jay. And they dated each other..." she made a face and then steadfastly looked at the menu to find something to order.

"Yeah. Weird." The love square hadn't been lost on Shiro. "We just do not understand each other. He still does not comprehend the concept of duty and responsibility, so his sudden desire to join the team makes no sense to me."

"Makes no sense to me either," they had talked about it once, a year or so ago. Maybe more. "He's a decent guy and all, but yeah...he's too...what's the word? Immature," that was saying a lot coming from her, but most of her immaturity was an act. When she needed to be, she could be incredibly focused and persistent. Being underestimated was a tactic she had perfected. "Maybe it'll help him grow up. Figure out that there is a world outside himself. Or we can use him as a punching bag until he quits," she was good with either.

"I hope it changes him for the better. He needs it. He might almost be a tolerable person if he could grow up," he teased, offering a half-smile to hide the sudden onset of a dull throbbing in his head. After the waiter came to take their orders, he quickly downed his water. "I hope that no one will be harder on him that is necessary."

"We can hope," Jay would probably be an awesome person if he grew up a little. "His powers could be useful. Flight and those sharp feather thingies," she was so technical. Placing her order she waited until the waiter was gone until she continued, "Well...I think people might need to be harder on him than like, on me or you, you know? When we were trainees, just because of how he is. But, I don't think Scott and everyone would let anyone be needlessly cruel."

"Not if he stops inviting it upon himself. I worry he may be too similar to me. Poor impulse control," he explained. "And a raging asshole. Though I suppose the team needs someone to replace me, so maybe this is all for the better."

Laughing, Clarice shook her head, "Please. He'll grow up. You did. I did. They all do," it was hard not to given what they did and what they experienced. "It'd take effort not to."

In that case, Shiro mused privately, he deserved an A for effort himself.