Shinobi and Paige do bonding to the extreme

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After ten hours of logging with no point, we came up with this. What we learned: do not bring up Sarah, you will get poked in the eye, Paige has some WEIRD things in her closet, Shinobi owns a very fast car and is sweet, Paige is cute when excited, Shinobi will not tell and Paige doesn't have as much confidence as you thought.

Oh, and I didn't choose the icon for this post. You figure it out.


Once he'd gotten back from his run into town, a big box of nicotine patches (one already stuck on his arm) and a couple of books richer, Shinobi decided he'd been far too hermit-like of late. Lest he turn into half the people at the mansion, he should fix that. So, it was time to make the rounds, and with a Tootsie-Pop in his mouth, he lightly rapped a fist against the door to Paige's room. "Frappe? You company-able?"

Music was blaring from inside of the room, her usual classical music exchanged for some more upbeat swing. His knock managed to create a lot of banging noises and a couple screams before the music was turned down to a normal level and a somewhat disheartened and muffled voice came from within. “Well, I’m clothed. Does that count?”

"I'd be maimed by several people if I came in while you weren't, so yes," Shinobi replied to the door, grinning wryly and bouncing on his toes. Fidget, fidget. "But do you feel like company, poppet? I can go annoy somebody else if you're not."

“Come on in, chickpea. I’m just cleaning and you can protect me from my running sneakers,” Paige answered, rolling her eyes at the mention of several people again. “And since when is four several?” she asked as he opened the door.

Shinobi nudged the door open enough to duck inside, grinning amusedly around his lollipop. "Four is more than a couple, less than many," he explained logically, closing the door behind himself. "Would 'a few' be better?"


“If it makes me sound like less of a hussy, I’m game,” Paige replied, giving him her own grin in return. Mountains of clothes, shoes and other odds and ends were littered around her appearing as if her closet had exploded. It wasn’t that far from the truth, actually, Paige was attempting to clean out her closet to rid herself of some of the mind numbing boredom that was threatening to take over.

"Well, you aren't a hussy, so I'll yield to your judgement," Shinobi agreed easily, keeping his grin as he eyed the mountains of.. stuff. Huh. "Looks like you're having fun.. reorganizing?"

Paige nodded, satisfied. Good answer, good answer. “If you call reorganizing fun. I had too much spare time and watched one of those home improvement shows that gave my false promises like being able to clean out my closet all on my own.” She wrinkled her nose slightly, throwing another pair of socks into the wash pile. “They didn’t mention nuclear sports equipment, though.”

"They always leave out the important things," he agreed solemnly, considering for a moment before he shrugged a shoulder. "Do you want a hand? My evening is free, and I can't think of much better company to spend it in. Even if it is manual labor."

“Hm… I don’t know…” Paige mused out loud, tapping her chin. “You’d be subjected to all the private things in my life that no one gets to see. You’d have to keep some things under wraps, for sure. Can I trust you?”

"You can trust me not to repeat anything seen or said in this room to anyone else," Shinobi said after a moment's thought, tilting his head slightly to one side. "But not to refrain from privately teasing you a little bit if we stumble across anything really, really funny. Is that fair?"

Paige thought a moment before finally sighing in defeat. There was really no other way, and truth be told, she’d missed him. “All right. I suppose.” She gestured at him to fully enter the room and close the room.

Shinobi inclined his head, grinning and doing as she'd indicated. "I'll try my best to be good," he promised, and began to carefully pick his way towards the closet. "How can I make myself useful?"

Paige glanced around the room, looking helpless for a moment and almost ready to just dive into a pile of clothes and hide. “Um. You could, maybe,” she tried, searching for something for him to do. “Oh! Want to help me figure out which pairs of shoes to throw away? I don’t even like shoes; I don’t know how I got so many pairs. I think they’re multiplying.”

"There's a scary thought," Shinobi chuckled. "I'm not the best eye when it comes to women's fashions or anything, but I can try," he nodded, scratching the back of his head.

“Honey, trust me. If you know nothing you know more than me,” Paige replied with an amused little grin as she attempted to decide whether the t-shirt in her lap was worth salvaging. Maybe for dusting, but nothing else, she thought to herself, putting her fingers through the holes and tossing it into the garbage pile.

"If you insist," Shinobi mused, lifting a lone green and orange striped sock with a pair of fingertips. "...something tells me Jubilee's laundry may have found its way into yours," he said carefully, blinking once.

Paige snatched it back and threw it into the sock pile protectively. “It was a gift,” she claimed, going slightly red. “I mean, they were. It was a pair at some point.”

Shinobi quirked an eyebrow as the sock was snatched away, but shrugged it off, nodding sagely. "We'll have to try and find the other one, then. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Unless Joyita found it already, but really, how likely was that?

“Yes, let’s. And possibly my good pair of riding trousers. I might not be competing any more, but I’d still like to know where they are,” she replied offhandly, doing a rather fine job of subject changing if she did say so herself.

"I didn't know you competed," Shinobi replied, grinning as he resumed his rummaging. Laundry, laundry.. "I don't think I've ever actually done any riding. I'm sure I got dragged into it at one point, but I must have been too young to really remember."

Paige looked up at him to smile a little. “Yeah. There was less to do in Cumberland County and jumping seemed like as good a thing as any to get into when I was already surrounded by horses.” It was a fond memory, competing, and she brought down a box that had already been organized, probably first, and handed it to him.

"I can follow that logic," Shinobi agreed, returning the smile as he abandoned his hunting to accept the box. Far too curious for his own good, he opened it enough to peek inside, and grinned a bit wider at the clippings and ribbons inside. "You ever think about getting into it again? If you enjoyed it, I mean."

“I’ve thought about it. Maybe later, when I’m all old and crippled from being Captain of the X-Team for too long I can teach a class or something. For right now though? I just don’t have that kind of time,” she answered, folding the t-shirts in the keep pile. She almost looked a little sad, but shrugged it off. “We all have to make sacrifices for what we want, I suppose.”

Shinobi looked up from the box, with a small, sympathetic smile. "Being a part of the X-Team won't do much for your free time, if that's where you're headed," he warned lightly. "I do hope you avoid the crippled part, though. I don't think they'd let you compete if your legs didn't work."

Paige smiled at him, a little brighter, as she’d already thought about that. “I know. But I also won’t be a student, or if I am, it will be on my own time and terms,” she reminded him. “Leaving me plenty of time to keep you out of trouble.” Leaning over his shoulder, Paige looked down at a picture of her and her first jumping horse, which had happened to be Nem. “Well, luckily I can take care of myself and when I can’t, my mutation can. So, perhaps I’ll be less crippled and more just old.”

"Careful, poppet. You're beginning to sound like Sarah." The concern was genuine - he was beginning to have enough trouble surviving *one* Sarah to try and handle two people using their mutations as a crutch, so at the first sign someone might be starting.. worry happened. Shinobi offered a small, apologetic smile for the observation, just the same, though. "It'll be nice having you along to make sure I stay in one piece, once you can," he offered sincerely. "I think you'll do an excellent job of it. It's.. exhausting, but rewarding. And fun, in an odd sort of way, sometimes."

“Watch your mouth, Shaw,” Paige reminded him curtly. Oh yes, she was just born to have her own stick up her ass, she was. She shook the thought away and rubbed at an eye with the heel of her hand. That had hit too close to home, back to the better topic. “It’s my life dream. It’d better be worth it.”

Shinobi held up his hands, keeping his apologetic smile at the reminder. "I'm sorry, luv. I just worry," he said meekly, before willingly letting the topic drop. "It does feel good to get out there and *do* something, even if the impact isn't always immediately noticable.. but it does feel like you're doing some good just the same."

Paige gave him an amused look, as if he’d just said something very obvious. “That’s because you are, chickpea,” she said, going back to her sorting and organizing. Sometimes the people in this school made no sense to her.

"I know, I know," Shinobi chuckled, looking down into the box for a moment longer before carefully closing it again, holding it out so it could be returned to its spot. "I just can't help wishing the results were more widespread and visible. Instant gratification junkie that I am, and all."

“You’re used to having things be exactly as you want them,” Paige observed, taking the box from him with no apologies. It wasn’t an insult; she knew she was a variation of that herself. If Paige was Emma Frost brought up in Kentucky, it certainly made Shinobi and her related somewhere down the road.

"Not exactly, but close enough," Shinobi admitted, inclining his head. No need to focus on the negatives of that observation - the rest of it evened it out, and there was no point to a debate on the topic. "I'm not used to working for something, is what it comes down to. Need to work on my patience."

Nodding at him, Paige gave him a little bit of an apologetic smile of her own, realizing how harsh her observation must have sounded. But Shinobi’s own reaction to it was surprisingly mature and she couldn’t help but throw one of the shoes she had uncovered at him. “Look at you, all self healing and noble.”

Shinobi was just happy the shoe wasn't a stiletto, though that didn't stop him from yelping and quickly reaching up to try and catch it. Or at least deflect it. "Noble? Me? You must be mistaking me for some other Shaw, in some alternate dimension somewhere."

“Well, if you’d prefer. Maybe just very attractive,” Paige countered, grinning broadly as she started pushing back the hanging clothing that couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be folded. There was a glimpse of black satin that Paige oh-so-smoothly pushed farther back, inspecting a winter jacket instead. It’s debateable if Paige actually owns any stilettos.

"That one is me, the very attractive one," Shinobi agreed cheerfully, inspecting the shoe before setting it aside, to be returned to the closet once its twin was unearthed. If he noticed the glimpse of satin, he was a nice boy and didn't say a word, grinning as he returned to his rummaging. "How many holes does a pair of jeans need to have before they're unsalvageable, out of curiosity?"

Paige giggled a little, hiding it in the sleeve of her jacket, which she had deemed fit for another season. “Depends where the holes are, chickpea,” she replied, looking over at him.

Shinobi tugged the jeans out of the pile, turning them around to inspect them carefully. "The knees are pretty much gone.. I suppose you could turn them into shorts, or something," he said thoughtfully, then paused. "...erm. Arseless shorts. I think these are dead, luv."

“Oh, the toils my poor jeans go through for me,” Paige said with mock pity before pointing to the garbage pile. “Chuck them. Unless you want them for yourself.” Her eyes went wide and innocent as she folded.

"I think they might fit a smidge too snugly on me," Shinobi replied with a theatrical sigh, waving to the jeans before giving them a toss towards the garbage pile.

Echoing the sigh, Paige nodded, finding a couple more shoes in the corner of the closet and tossing them over. She also managed a pair of jeans, some pens, earphones and a juice bottle and sorted them accordingly. “Thanks for your help, by the way,” she said in the comfortable silence. “This is much less suicidal in your company.”

Shinobi waved a hand, grinning as he returned his attention to sorting out the clothes and knick-knacks in the pile at his feet. "You're welcome. I'm happy to help. The company doesn't hurt, either."

“You’re sweet,” Paige replied over the mountain of clothing and accessories in her arms that she’d managed to dig out from the deep recesses of her closet. Cleaning was only amusing for so long, though, and she dumped the haul down in front of Shinobi, following it. Suddenly, a bright turquoise shawl was draped over his shoulders and very large pair of sunglasses followed with her holding up a pair of clip-on pearl earrings as if trying to decide if they would fit. “Well, aren’t you pretty?”

It all happened so fast, officer. Shinobi was bending to inspect the newly arrived clothes when suddenly, there was a Paige in his face and a shawl around his shoulders and sunglasses over his eyes. "I've been told I'm very pretty," he replied, somewhat bewildered and mentally scrambling to catch up with what was going on. "Though usually, it's Sarah saying it. The teenie magazines tend to go with 'hottie', which I find offensive."

There he was, comparing her to Sarah again. That earned him a flick in the eye. Luckily, he was still wearing the very hideous sunglasses. Unluckily, it was merely a distraction as she was now taking a Polaroid of him; she’d been planning on taking pictures of what was inside of her sorting boxes and putting them on the outside. His appalled look was more than enough incentive for her to grin madly and hide the camera behind her back. “Maybe I should stick to hottie, then.”

He'd taken embarrassing pictures of her boyfriends - it was only fair if she got a few of him. He smiled wryly up at her, shrugging helplessly before reaching up to pluck the sunglasses off. "If you really, really want to, I could probably let you get away with it."

But this one she was keeping for herself, make no mistake. “Maybe I really, really want to. And I don’t even have the worry of your girlfriend. Clearly it’s meant to be,” Paige retorted cheekily, taking the sunglasses from his hands to chuck them over her head and into garbage pile, going back to sorting almost seamlessly.

"Clearly," Shinobi agreed, grinning and checking his ears for wayward clipon pearls before drawing the shawl off. "Make sure you share that shot with Angelo and Jono. I figure I owe them after the one I sent you from Brighton."

“I still owe you for that.” Paige smiled at the reminder and glanced over to her section of wall space. All of her pictures, ranging from her boyfriends to her family to her fellow students and to Nemesis were all arranged there in simple black frames. “Just don’t pick anything too embarrassing, hm?”

"Bah, you don't owe me for it," Shinobi chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "It got you to smile. That was the goal." While she was busy looking towards her pictures, he took the opportunity to loose ball up the shawl, and gave it a well-aimed toss towards her head.

“Hey!” Paige cried out, giving him a glare as she put the shawl away. “And people wonder why I’m nothing but professional. I let down my guard, get sentimental, and I suddenly scarves are thrown at me.”

"You threw a shoe at me," Shinobi countered innocently, pointing after the shawl. "That seemed much less potentially damaging."


“It was a sneaker. It was padded!” Paige reminded him, rolling her eyes. “Wuss. And I appointed you to sorting my shoes.”

"And that was a shawl. It's padding." Shinobi grinned impishly, quite pleased, before he shifted to return to the task of shoe-sorting. "How long do you have before you can bug Scott about a uniform, anyway? I'm horrible at remembering ages around here."

Paige moaned, distracted away from the padding debate and thumped her head against her bed lightly. "Twenty-one long, dismal days that seem content to never end."

"That soon? You'll make it, luv, I promise." Shinobi grinned, brightening further as he located the thrown sneaker's twin and plucked it from the pile. A-ha. "If I can help distract you until it gets here, just let me know."

“Soon? Soon?! You’re even more insane than I thought,” Paige cried out, throwing her hands into the air with one more head bang. “And what do you think all this is,” she continued, gesturing around the room. “Just for kicks? Trust me, I’m resorting to the evilest of distractions.”

"It could be twenty-two days away," he observed wisely, holding out the pair of shoes so Paige could appraise them and indicate a pile for them. "And if I can continue to help you distract yourself for the remaining twenty one, just tell me how."

Paige allowed herself a little sulk, taking the shoes, tying their laces, and putting them in the keep pile. “Stop being so zen and just come up with something to keep me occupied tomorrow, would you?”

Shinobi made a thoughtful noise, resuming his hunting for shoes. "Would I be hurt if I suggested taking you, putting you in my very fast, very expensive car, and taking you into Manhattan to amuse ourselves for the day? Or an amusement park, maybe?"

“Shiny?” Paige asked, perking instantly. “I like shiny. And, you know, you.”

"You flatter me so," Shinobi swooned, looking up with a cheerful grin. "The car is, indeed, shiny. I'm pretty sure that both Manhattan and Six Flags have various shiny things, too."

Making a happy little gleeful noise Paige threw herself at the young man, arms going around his neck. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She pulled back to grin at Shinobi before hugging him again. “You rule.”

He managed not to yelp this time, at least, though Shinobi did make a surprised noise as he had a Paige flung at him. Eep. "You're welcome," he replied with a faintly bewildered laugh, grinning lopsidedly as he regained enough of his bearings to return the hug. "I do try."

There was a final noise, an almost squeak, before Paige finally let him go, still bouncing slightly. “You’re doing a very good job. You’re sure you don’t mind, though? I might drag you to a park. Or worse, a bookshop. Maybe even a music store, there’s a piece I’m looking for but you can’t tell a soul.”

"I'm sure I don't mind," Shinobi nodded, smiling brightly. "You will be happy to know that I like parks, bookshops, and music stores. And I won't tell a soul, I promise."

“Kay,” Paige said in an almost childlike tone, still grinning, and looking so giddy she could burst. “You can pick where you want to go too, you know.”

"We have to save something for the next nineteen days. We'll alternate picking-where-to-go duty. We can drag Angelo and Jono along, too, if you want." Shinobi would suggest dragging Sarah along, but God only knows how hard it would be to get her out of the basement.. he probably should anyway. Later.


“Oh, but gas is so expensive!” Paige explained, looking flabbergasted at the mere idea. “But if we go again, we might be able to convince my boys if only because, well, you know. Shiny! Fast!” Paige paused, looking amused. “They seem to have a thing for shiny. We’re not touching the fast part.”

"Not with a very long pole," Shinobi agreed, flashing a smile. "Don't worry. I won't let them drive. We want this to be a disaster-free distraction extravaganza."

Paige grinned to herself over Shinobi missing the poke at herself; it was probably for the best anyway. “No. No one touches the car but you. And maybe me if you really adore me which you do,” she replied solemnly.

"I do," he agreed, just as solemnly. "If I can't trust you with the car, however can I trust you to keep me safe when we have missions together?" Shinobi paused. "You do have a licence, right?"

“Honey, I’ve been driving since I was seven. Farm girl, remember?” Paige stuck out her tongue at him before straightening herself out, trying to get back into Fearless Leader mode and failing miserably, not that she was trying too hard. “Think! We can be building a bond! And we don’t even have to fall off chairs and catch each other!”

"Yes, luv, but do you have your licence?" Shinobi repeated, grinning as he plucked a pair of mis-matched sandals from the mountain of clothes. Huh. He didn't know Paige owned Jellies. He didn't know anyone owned Jellies. "I thought we were building a bond? Soon, you'll be calling me Phase instead of chickpea, and I'll be calling you..." He paused, blinking once and tilting his head curiously. "What will I be calling you instead of frappe? Or poppet?"

“Yes, chickpea. I have my licence.” Paige smiled at the mention of Phase; she hadn’t been snooping around, what are you talking about? Idly taking the sandals from him, if only to throw them over her head to meet the same fate as her sunglasses, she gave him an almost shy look. “Um… Husk. It’s Husk. Although, Frappe was a very close second.”

"Then I shall indeed let you drive us to the city," Shinobi declared, nodding once. That settled that. He watched the sandals sail into the trash pile, grinning as he considered the name given. Besides, the nearly-shy look was very, very cute. "Husk fits better," he finally said, with an approving smile.

Paige looked up at him a little, glancing through her eyelashes, with a little smile, pleased at his approval. Almost as if she needed it. “Thanks. I was worried about it being too… cheesy.”

"Comparatively speaking, luv, it's not cheesey at all. They all just take a little getting used to." Shinobi shrugged a shoulder, grinning lopsidedly. "You'll fit in fine, Paige. I'll be right there with you."

“I hope so.” Paige tried to straighten again and flopped over, thankful of the rug. “I’m not freaking out, what do you mean?”

Shinobi's grin turned sympathetic, and he let himself slip off the bed, to plunk down on the floor nearby. "Freaking out is natural. But you'll still do just fine."

Allowing herself a small sigh, Paige nodded. “I keep telling myself that. I know I’m ready. More than ready, even. But I’m not sure if they’ll think the same thing.”

"I couldn't say if they do right now," Shinobi replied thoughtfully, looking over with a little smile. "But once they see your stuff, listen to you talk? There won't be a doubt in their mind."

Paige tipped her head slightly, looking over at Shinobi. "Thanks." There was nothing else to say.