ArchivedLogs:Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
THE SKRULLS HAVE INVADED
Dramatis Personae Dante, Ember, Peter, Ross, Shane
In Absentia	2013-07-28 Ross, Shane, Peter, and Ember hang out. Surprisingly, no one dies or falls into a lake.
Location <XS> Back Porch
The back patio is a restful place to sit and relax, in most weather. Ample seating comes in the form of umbrella'd deck chairs and a cushioned porch swing, and the neighboring gardens attract butterflies and hummingbirds to make the viewing pleasant. The hot tub is usually open for use, though in snowy weather the transition in and out is a shivery one! It's a beautiful day. The sun is quite warm, but not sweltering, though light clothing is still more comfortable and recommended. The sky is cloudless, with just the sun peering down below. The back porch is basically empty, other than Ross, who is dressed slightly strangely. The purple skinned teen is wearing a long sleeved jacket, with the sleeves going all the way to her wrists. On her hands are a pair of fingerless gloves, with her fingers currently in a bowl of potato chips as she sits at a table. She is wearing long jeans and boots, as well. On the table, next to her bowl of chips, is Pedro, who has a miniature fan inside one of his claw grippers, which is blowing on her. "God...when will he get here?". She taps impatiently, brushing her brown hair backwards, this time with no colorful streaks. "Well, hopefully this will be a good day." "--kind of wanted to talk to you. About," Peter begins, his voice quite low! Apparently in the process of discussing something with Shane. He is holding hands with the sharkboy, with /maybe/ a hint of violet in his face; he is dressed for warm weather, with a loose t-shirt (one with a picture of the Devil burying fossils, captioned 'TEACH THE CONTROVERSY'), cut off blue-denim shorts, and -- his thwippy things. "--about. Um oh," Peter suddenly cuts himself off, glancing -- at Ross! At the table. His violet coloration deepends as he steps out from the back of the school. "--right I'm. Ross wanted to. See me? For some reason." Then, louder, so Ross can hear: "Ross?" Peter is wary! But not actively keeping his distance, at least. "About a what?" Shane today has jeans, paired with green v-neck t-shirt and pinstriped grey vest. A thick red fabric collar circles his neck. In the hand that /isn't/ holding Peter's he has a bowl! Of /food/. Beef and seitan stir-fry, a tiiiiny bit of kimchi accenting the meat; about all the non-protein rougage that Shane's system can handle in one meal. A pair of chopsticks has been shoved into the food. "-- what." That comes out flat. Shane releases Peter's hand, though mostly only so that he can take the chopsticks. He offers Peter the first bite of beef, even! "-- sup." To Ross -- also flat, though. Ross's face is immediately sour when she spots Shane, but she shrugs it off. "Hey Peter, Shane! Lovely day, nice to see you!.". She waves a gloved hand, still panting from the heat. "Would you guys like to sit down?". She slides Pedro over, so he's not intruding anyone's space, but makes sure the fan is still pointed at her. "It's a lovely day, isn't it? Sweltering hot, but, still lovely!". "--Anole," Peter responds to Shane's query kind of /quietly/, with a sudden flush of additional color! His face darkening from violet to a steady indigo, but then racing back to violet and -- back to metallic blue! -- as he turns his attention back to Ross. Also maybe eyeing Shanefood from the corner of his eye, and... "--lovely. Uh yes it's. Nice. I'm okay, I kind of don't -- why are you wearing," Peter asks, eyebrows /smashing/ together, "those gloves?" "Oh -- oh, yeah, I've been. Hoping he's OK, he went back home but I think --" Shane /grimaces/ as he says this, "-- I think he should stay here. It's better than being /shot/ at." Which is apparently as much praise as he is willing to bestow upon their school. "Hi, Ross." Also flat! Still flat. "I'll stand." He fishes out a piece of seitan with his chopsticks, popping it into his mouth. "S'an alright day. What's up?" Grabbing another chip, Ross looks curiously at Peter. "Gl-, oh, you mean these?". She puts the gloves up again. "They're comfy and I like glov-. Okay fine, I'm using them to control my powers, I guess. Or something, I saw some chick wearing gloves all the time so I thought I'd try it.". She brushes her hair back. "So, uh...yeah. I had a question for you, Peter? Kind of..?". She /pets/ Pedro for a second, grabbing a second chip and popping both into her mouth at the same time. "I thought you'd be the best person to ask this, so I invited you out here..?". "What did you want to tell me about?" Shane plucks out a piece of beef, chomping it down hungrily. His brows raise at Ross's explanation. "-- Huh. Cool. I mean, that's good. That you're trying." He falls into quiet, plucking out another piece of beef to offer it in the chopsticks towards Peter. His eyes are mostly fixed on Ross, though, with curious expectation. The back sliding door to the mansion glides open slowly as Dante emerges with a glass of amber liquid in his left hand. His back remains to the trio as he closes it gently, and takes a sip from the drink. He looks over to the group and smiles, waving with his free hand. "Sup kiddos!" he pipes happily, teeth glistening in the sunlight. He has a pair of dark aviator glasses that hide his normally bright green eyes, and is clad in a black beater, and open black karate gi, and white karate pants. A black martial arts belt is slung over his shoulders, the tails hanging down to his waist. The wood of the porch creaks slightly under his bare feet as he walks to one of the corners, taking another sip of his drink. "Gotta little party here?" he asks, unusually cheery for even him. Ross shrugs in response to Peter's first question. "Normally I can control it, but sometimes when I'm really stressed my voice activates it automatically. But, people don't even like getting close to me so I thought...I'd just do this, so they could feel safer, I guess?". She shrugs, taking another handful of chips. She then looks into his eyes. "I needed to, uh, ask...how do I get people to like me? You're the most likable person I know, which is probably because I don't know many people, but...is there something special you do? I never really had friends so..". She quickly stops her spiel when Dante comes out. "Oh, hey...Mister Dante, yes?". She waves, also waving one of Pedro's arms too, as a tiny joke. "You could join us if you'd like!". She's uncharacteristically nice today, isn't she? Instead of answering Shane's question, Peter just kind of. Well. /Stares/ at Ross. "--get people to -- /like/ you? I have," he says, "absolutely /no/ idea how to get people to like you I am like the worst person you could--" Suddenly, Peter stops. And /chomps/ the beef Shane's offered to him. CHOMP. Probably not quite as impressive as a shark chomp. "--mmnf." Chew, chew! Swallow. "Shane's got way more friends than /I/ ever did. Um. I guess not -- freaking people out with your powers is a good start though?" Peter's eyebrows fling up at Dante's arrival; he takes a tiny hop back to make room for him. "Oh, uh, hello Mr. Lee." "Yo. Not a party. -- Did you really just call us /kiddos/." Shane's ridged brow raises; the look he turns on /Dante/ now is flat, kind of skeptical. His chopsticks fish around in his bowl, pairing a small bite of cabbage together with his next mouthful of beef. Ross's question hooks one side of his mouth upwards in a smile. "Peter," he informs Ross, "is a total goddamn sweetheart. That might be out of your reach. Baby steps first. You could start!" this suggestion is being made quite /earnestly/, really, "-- by not being a complete fucking twatface all the time. This --" He waves the chopsticks towards Ross, right now, "thing you're doing right now, that's definitely an improvement." Dante is about to respond to Ross, until she waves Pedro's hand. He stops, a strange look on his face, as if acknowledging that he's the butt of some sick joke...but even so, he smiles and nods slightly. "Hii Pedro!" he quips, a mixture of shame, but with a twinge of humor... His smile returns to it's natural (or unnatural, depending on how you look at it) wide grin as he nods to Peter and Shane. "I might have," he responds to Shane, flashing a little wink. He waves off Peter's sudden move "Thanks, Peter, but no need, i still have some...training...to do." he responds, taking a spot near the edge of the porch, facing the kids and the mansion and sitting down cross legged. He takes a deep breath in, and breathes out slowly, settling into a sort of "waking meditation," and then...takes another sip of his drink... Drunken meditation, perhaps? Hmmm... Ross takes a mental note of Peter's suggestion. "Good idea, Peter!". She then turns to Shane. Normally, she'd curse him out by now, but instead. "You're right. I shouldn't be a jerk all the time. Thanks, Shane.". She smiles, nodding her head. She then turns to Dante. "Uh, still no hard feelings, right? I shouldn't have used my power like that on you, I apologize.". She nods her head down and up, as some form of gesture. She thinks of taking her gloves off, and almost does, but decides not to at the last second. She grabs another chip. "How are you, Mister...Lee?". "...huh?" is Peter's response to Dante's mention of training; his response to Dante proceeding to crouch down and -- slow his breathing! -- just gets a silent "?!" out of Peter. His eyebrows are getting quite a workout; they're in the process of doing some /very/ complicated calisthenics. But! "--oh, okay." To Shane, very /quietly/: "--he's the -- theater teacher, right?" The mention of Peter being a sweetheart gets another blush out of him, but then he's focusing on Ross a moment, and... "--you used your...?" he says, and it /kind/ of sounds -- tense! But when she apologizes, Peter's voice dwindles off. "--oh." Peter seems to relax a bit. "What the fuck." That is Shane's response to being winked at; that and a slow blink. He's turned from eying Dante to eying Dante's drink, contemplatively. "Yeah, something like that. Jesus, isn't it a bit early to be getting /trashed/, though, dude." His attention returns to Ross, brows hiking up again at her apology. "Huh. Are /you/ drunk, too?" He sounds genuinely curious. "Please, y'all...It's Dante. No 'misters' no 'professors,' Just Dante..." he corrects quickly. And to Ross, he nods slightly. "Yeah, we're fine. Just keep them glove on, dear," he responds with a smile and an eyebrow raise of his own. His eyes close a little, focusing on his breath once more...It's pretty incredible when he can almost instantly tap into his Chi reserves. It enhances pretty much everything: his strength, his speed, his durability...Even his senses. He can see better, smell better...and hear Peter whispering to Shane. From his seated position, he nods once more "That's correct, Pete! Which i'm rather surprised you havent taken yet...You'd be a very talented stunt man, if i remember your Rooftop Knife Dance well enough." he responds with a slight wink and another sip of his now dwindling drink. At Shane's inquiry, he smiles again, and shrugs. "Eh, it's Ireland somewhere, right!?" How many HAS he had? Ross shakes her head at Shane. "No, I'm not allowed to drink anymore, they confiscated all my beer.". She then turns to Peter, grabbing another chip. "I may have /kind of/ used my power on him. I do feel really bad for it, though. It was a terrible thing to do.". She then turns to Dante. "Wait, we have theatre? How do I get into that?". She smiles, humming to herself. "I'd totally be a great genderbendered Sweeney Todd, I swear.". "--oh," Peter responds, a little suddenly! At realizing that Dante /heard/ him. "Oh, uh, that is, I'm not really into -- /theater/, Mist--Dante," he corrects himself. Though very reluctantly. As if using first names somehow brought him paaaaaain. "Or any of that stuff, I guess, um. I'm gonna take fencing in the fall, though." At the mention of Ross using her power on Dante, Peter's eyebrows lift a bit higher...! But: "Oh," is all he says. To Shane: "--should I ever get drunk? I've never had--wait it's illegal for me to drink, right?" Peter sounds as if he's just realizing this fact! "Do you really think it was a terrible thing to do?" Shane tilts his head curiously at Ross. "You get into it by going to class, I guess. Or they have auditions for the actual shows even if you don't take the class." He shrugs a shoulder. There's a pause while he chews down another piece of seitan and offers Peter another piece of beef. "-- I don't know," he answers with a shrug, "if you think it'd be fun, you could get drunk. If you don't, don't. It's illegal but nobody's going to /care/ if you're -- like. At home chillling and not -- out in public," his eyes flick towards Dante briefly, "being a moron. Just --" His smile skews a little wry, "don't get drunk during /class/. Weekends?" Another shrug, another glance towards Dante. "S'not like you have anywhere else to be anyway." "Fencing! Wonderful! That'd certainly be most fun!" he piped up happily. Obviously he was NOT going to be getting any meditation in today. He waved off Ross's apology haphazardly, "Eh, i'm sure i'll laugh about it in a week or so! And, well...talk to me, if you wanna get into theatre! I could use more folk fillin up the seats!" He nods slightly at the thought of a genderbendered Sweeney Todd..."I like it!" is all he offers. When the conversation turns to drinking, he watches Peter and Shane carefully, as if almost sobering up instantly. He stiffles a small grin at Shane's jab, and stands up, walking towards the trio finally. He takes a chip from the bowl and nibbles on it, keeping his eyes on Peter. "I advise you not to drink on campus, if you wanted to try it...just be responsible, ya know? And best not to do it alone..." He puts a hand on Peter's shoulder and pats gently, leaning down and talking softly. "Though, if you wanna join me for Drunken Boxing training on Sundays in the Danger Room, we could call it an extra-curricular." As he stands up straight, the smile is back on his face. He waves his hand in a haphazard salute to the trio, and finishes both the chip he took, and the drink in his hand while making his way back to the door. "Y'all have a good rest of the day, yeah?" he pipes happily, before opening the screen once more and disappearing into the mansion... Ross quickly shakes her head at Dante. "How did /he/ become a teacher?". She then turns to Shane. "Well, kind of? I mean, in retrospect or whatever that shit is, I guess so. I mean, he didn't even see it coming and I basically just, /took over/ his brain. I don't think that's very nice, or something.". She's obviously struggling for words, but her face shows that she genuinely believes what she is saying. "Peter. Don't drink. I mean it. It's good for a few hours, I guess. And then, you get sober. Bad things happen. Hangovers, to be exact. Don't drink.". She looks at him sternly, trying to be, /responsible/?. She brushes her hair back. "I don't think. Rasa likes me very much. Or Kai. Or Mya, but then again, that's my fault. Or Ember. Or...anyone, really.". She goes to reach for another chip, but is out. "God damn it.". "H--oh. Okay," Peter responds to Dante, lifting his head in -- what appears to be brief confusion, before just nodding his head. "I mean -- thank you, sir--erm. Dante," he repeats, with just a /tiny/ grimace at the use of first names. It takes him a while. After Dante slips off, Peter turns to Shane, teeth once more /chomping/ down on that beef. Chew-chew-chew. "--dunno I've never. Done anything like that I just. I mean I don't want to get in trouble or do anything dangerous -- I just. Kind of realized there's a lot of stuff. I don't -- do? I guess." A hint of creeping violet. In response to Ross' advice, Peter's eyebrows lift upward! But he purses his lips a moment, before: "Oh. I mean. I wouldn't -- um. Be dangerous or -- well, I mean, I guess, if you want. To be friends with all those people I don't know you should probably -- did you try to use your power on /all/ of those people?" Peter asks, kind of worriedly. "See ya," Shane jerks his chin upwards in a nod to Dante. "Have -- fun." Then back to beef, chomp chomp chomp. "You don't get hangovers if you don't get /trashed/, really. You can drink without getting ridicu-drunk. Mmnh -- I don't," he tells Peter, "do any of that stuff except -- home or. People's homes that I trust now, Pa says --" He shrugs a shoulder. "But it's not really that dangerous if you're careful about it. I mean. Driving in a car is like a bajillion times more dangerous than having a beer or smoking a joint at home and you do /that/ all the /time/. -- Uh. But it's not like you /need/ to do any of that shit, either." Another shrug. He taps his chopsticks against the side of his bowl, frowning slightly at Ross. "-- You given any of those people a reason to like you?" Ross looks at Peter, then Shane. "No, I did not try and use my power on any of th-, okay, maybe Kai. But I asked first!". She shakes her head. "No, no, it was still wrong.". She then turns to Shane. "Uh, well, uh..". She quickly tries to come up with words failing. "No.". She faces her head down, brushing her hair back. "No, I did not, I guess. I just..I don't know.". She twirls her bowl around a bit, stroking Pedro's chassis. "I just..I guess maybe I've never really had struc-, no, shouldn't be making excuses. I'm an uber-crazy bitch, and I get it. I just, don't know /if/ I can change. I mean, right now I guess I'm accepting it, the next minute? I'm tossing a painting out a window or throwing a table or /something/. I have no clue how to socialize, I guess.". She ponders for a moment, stroking her hair again. "I just, don't know.". "--how much stuff like that /did/ you used to do?" Peter asks, impulsively -- suddenly curious. Then, to Ross: "I think. The counselors help, here? The therapy and stuff I mean, I used to -- have all sorts of panic attacks and so much anger I still have -- a lot of that, uh, but. Not as much. But if you -- try, I'm sure. Not everybody'll -- I mean, if people hated /me/ on account of doing dumb stuff I don't think I'd have /any/ friends." A sneaky hand is slipping toward Shane's bowl. Sneak, sneak. "Used to?" Shane cracks a brief grin at this. "Still do plenty. Just not --" He shrugs. "It's nice sometimes. At home. With friends. When I don't want to think so much." He leans down to administer a KISS to the knuckles of that hand, but follows this up with another actual proferral of beef. "Hngh." This is his first answer to Ross, with a grimace. "-- The therapists here," he agrees with Peter, "are good people. You been seeing them? I think they're plenty used to, uh -- a /lot/ of us are fucking crazy, dude. And you sure as hell aren't the first who came here not having a clue how to socialize." Ross nods to Peter and Shane. "Mandatory counseling, yes. They force me to go, I guess.". She stretches backwards, lifting her body up out of the seat. She then looks at the beef thing. "You two are adorable, you know. Just, adorable.". She smiles, grabbing Pedro. "I have to go, anyways. Forgot to do my homework, last minute stuff, I guess.". She stretches her arms out. "I guess, I'll see you guys later?". She looks at the two of them, smiling. "Let's go, Pedro.". "--you," Peter informs Shane quite suddenly, "are going to give /both/ my parents heart-attacks oh my /God/ you're /still/ doing all this -- stuff." Peter doesn't sound like he's chastising Shane; in fact, he's /grinning/ as he says this. "Um. I might -- some time, want to try -- I mean. With you, kind of. Making sure? That--" Peter lets the thought dwindle off as Shane delivers a /kiss/ to Peter's knuckles; he wiggles his fingers up into it, but then darts his head forward to BITE the offered sliver of beef. Peter's swallowed it by the time Ross mentions adorableness; Peter's face threatens to turn a /little/ bit violet, but: "--oh okay. Um, sure. I've got to -- talk to Shane about something anyway." Peter gives Shane a /tiny/ guilty look. "I'll -- see you later," he tells Ross. "Well -- yeah I mean. It's not that bad," Shane protests with a slight wrinkle of his nose, "people just get really /uptight/ about it. Uh --" His teeth sink against his lip for a moment. "-- you can if you want to. Just, uh, at /home/ oh my god I don't even want to imagine how big your hero complex gets when you're /drunk/." He grins at the adorable comment, sharp and /thin/ as he takes his chopsticks back from Peter's mouth, fishing around again in his bowl of seitan and beef. /He/ eats a piece of seitan, happily. "Naaaah, this motherfucker," he gestures with the chopsticks towards Peter, "brings all the adorable. -- See you later, Ross." The robot is /eyed/ with a kind of baffled look. He nudges his shoulder against Peter's, moving forward to take a seat only once Ross has stood up. "S'it you needed to talk about you keep getting all /shifty/." Ross quickly realizes what class her homework is in, and scurries backwards. "On second thought, I think you guys are /safer/, because there's a rabid hyena in my dorm room trying to eat me. It's true.". She quickly jumps into an adjacent table, placing Pedro back down. She is currently wearing a long sleeved jacket, with the sleeves going down to her wrists, and fingerless gloves, which is way too hot for the current weather. She also has long boots and jeans. "Unless you..mind, then I'll go. I swear. Maybe.". She smiles, slightly kidding. "This is a really good day. I don't know if it could get worse, really.". "OhmyGod I'm not--I am /not/," Peter insists with a grin, "going to do hero-stuff drunk that would make me the worst kind of superhero. I mean, can you imagine Batman or Superman showing up to save the day drunk? Would be -- all /sorts/ of terrible." The slight flush graduates to a full flush at Shane's assessment of Peter's adorableness; Peter quickly /darts/ to a chair beside Shane, giving Ross one more eyeing as he does. "Um--it's just. I, uh, about /Anole/--" When Ross returns, Peter's eyebrows shoot up; he seems -- confused! And he glances back to Shane. Shifting in his chair a little helplessly. "--oh, um. I mean, okay, I don't think. It's -- a big deal?" "It could get worse," Ember assures on her way onto the porch, recognizing Ross's voice without needing to see the purple girl. "It can /always/ get worse." Aren't we the optimist? If nothing else, she should get credit for not answering the comment that came before. The pyro emerges onto the porch dressed... well, much like Ross, with clothing ill-fit for the weather. The hood is pulled up on the oversized and zipped up grey jacket, with a pair of fuzzy grey cat ears standing proudly atop it. Corduroy pants, fingerless gloves, and fur-lined uggs are all in black, with said gloves stuffed into her pockets. "Gentlemen," she greets the pair on the bench, eyeing the food with no little interest, and then glances toward Ross. "Kool-Aid." Shane's food is a large bowl of seitan-and-beef stir fry, lightly dosed with sriracha and a veeeery tiny helping of kimchi mixed on. He is at least dressed somewhat more like summer. Jeans, but short-sleeved green t-shirt beneath his pinstriped grey vest. "What," he answers Ross, somewhat dumbfounded at this change of mind, "in the actual fuck. Do you, perhaps, have the /brainworms/?" His brows raise. "Yeah, I fucking mind, you go from normal to batshit with no warning." He fishes out another piece of meat from his bowl, poking the chopsticks over towards Peter. "Anole? He's alright, right?" His baffled look for Ross shifts easily into a bright and toothy grin when Ember arrives. "Yoooo. Sup. You like beef? Or seitan? I didn't cook it, so it's actually delicious." He wiggles the bowl at Ember in offering. Ross shakes her head. "No, I was trying to make a stupid excuse. My homework is math. I hate math. I can put it off until like, next year or something.". She turns to Ember. "Hey, Ember! How are you? I haven't seen you lately!". She smiles, cheerfully. She then points to the little tiny homemade robot on the table. "This is Pedro. I haven't, well, put mechanics in him, yet. Probably going to ask Kisha to do that, though.". She smiles, pulling out of her jacket, a book. The Elder Scrolls book, to be exact. She begins reading it, looking up from the book for a moment. "Would you like to sit down? There's plenty of room. I think.". "--ohyeah Anole's -- he's /okay/," Peter quickly tells Shane, before snapping at that beef -- something almost vicious about the way his teeth clamp! Except this is obviously more a case of Peter imitating Sharktwin chompiness. Even if he /does/ try to, for a moment, chew on the edge of those chopsticks. "I mean he's not -- I'm worried about him going to the sewers, it's just, um." Violet creeping. Ember's arrival is replied to with a tiny little wave of Peter's fingers, followed by a tiny-grin, albeit a shy one; Peter's glancing back to Ross, then back to Shane, and then: "--um I should probably just. Tell you later." SO DODGY. Torn between the offer of food and the anomaly that has become Ross, Ember's eyes shift between the table and the other girl, furrowed 'brow and the slightly purse of her lips openly suspicious. Skrull, indeed. "I... uh, yeah. Fine, you?" A glance toward the robot, another toward Shane and Peter, before she lifts a half-gloved hand to quirk a little wave at the empty shell. "Yo, Pedro." Now, what was that about food? The pyro's attention shifts back to Shane and Peter, and whether prompted by friendliness or the prospect of sharing, she's grinning back at that sharky smile. "I like food," she generalizes, and sidesteps the table enough to drop into a seat beside Shane. There's not even a blink from the pyro as the temperature on the porch begins to drop, stopping a degree or two from what they'd feel indoors. "You offering?" At least she has the decency not to start grabbing. For now. "Peter you can't eat these chopsticks." Tugtugtug, Shane pulls them back away from Peter. "Ross has been replaced with some freakish changeling-ross," he informs Ember. "-- Oh my /god/, I could kiss you again. Here. Have a beef." In lieu of kisses, perhaps. He offers the bowl to Ember, chopsticks and all. "-- Peter you're /blushing/ again oh my god did you fuck him?" His eyes rivet on Peter abruptly. So much for talk later. "-- Anyone ever tell you you'd be shit at poker?" Ross shrugs, laughing at Shane. "I'm just trying to be /nice/. Is that so bad?". She flips about 20 pages in 30 seconds. "I wonder what it'd be like to play poker with a telepath.". Picking at her skin, she reaches into her empty bowl. "Oh wait, forgot I ate all the chips.". She looks around for the bag, but not finding it, puts the bowl over. "Peter. He's right, though, you're a terrible liar. And that's coming from me.". She flips another page. "Like, seriously.". Peter does not subscribe to your opressive perspective regarding the edibility of chopsticks, Shane. Peter will eat WHATEVER HE W--oh, nevermind. The chopsticks are pulled back before Peter can chew them to splinters. He grins, a bit, as Shane offers the bowl to Ember -- but at that last comment regarding Anole, Peter goes /deep/ indigo. And squeaks. Eyes popping open like two freshly seared kernels of popcorn. "--n--no! No! I didn't--" Peter's palms /fly/ up in front of him, like he's just been asked by the officer to put up his hands. "--I just--/kissed/ him is all," he fiercely whispers, to Shane. Ember quirks a 'brow as she watches the dynamic between Shane and Peter, and there's a bit of a smirk toying at her lips as the boys respond to the temperature drop. And then! There is food. "Yes." Because that's the appropriate response to 'have a beef'. The chopsticks are given a /look/, and when she decides they should be used in lieu of fingers, she's only picking one up. The tip of said chopstick -- chewed as it may be -- is used to stab one of the pieces of beef, and once skewered, brought to her mouth. It's only once the food situation has been stabilized that she looks back to Ross, nodding slowly. "Nice is good. We like nice. And don't play poker with a telepath. S'like... playing hide and seek with a fucking teleporter." Where's Faelan when you need him. Fuck? Aaaand her attention is back to Peter and Shane, looking from one to the other, before landing square on Peter. "Peter, sexual activity is a /very/ serious topic. Teenagers have urges, I understand, but there are /consequences/ to having intercourse. Pregnancy, fluid swapping, /biting/..." There's a theatrically 'subtle' look toward Shane at the last one. "Very dangerous." "I've played hide and seek with a teleporter," Shane muses. "/And/ poker with a telepath but that's -- dumber oh my god Hive wins /all/ the fucking card games s'no point." He relaxes back into his chair with a happy sigh for the newer chiller temperature. "-- Anole's a dude, I -- think. Probably not a lot of pregnancy risk from hooking up with Peter although I didn't even think he was -- mmnh. Maybe I didn't think he was /straight/ just so much as I thought he didn't even know what sex /was/ yet. Biting," he adds with totally seriousface to Ember, "is not a /consequence/ it is totally a /feature/." He hooks one leg up towards his chest, tipping sideways in his chair to bonk up against Peter's! Or at least slouch his shoulder up against Peter's. "-- Was it nice?" he adds, after a pause, to Peter, "he's fucking /adorable/." His eyes narrow on Ross for a moment, then relax. "Not bad. Can you keep it up?" Ross smiles. "Yeah, nice is pretty good.". She then looks towards Peter, quipping sarcastically, "Don't get pregnant, Peter.". She flips another page, slowly this time. "How often does the teleporter win? And who's Hive?". She looks up at Shane. "Anole was that green lizardy dude, yes? He's cool, I guess. Does he goes here?". She's terrible at small talk. Flipping the page again. "Maybe. We'll just have to find out, won't we?". She smiles at this. "Atleast, I hope I can keep it up.". "--oh my /God/," Peter responds to Ember's SEX-TALK. Elbows on table; face to palms. WHUMP. "Why does /everyone/ tell me about the birds and the bees?" When Shane explains Peter's situation regarding not even knowing what sex /is/, Peter bristles just a little bit. But when Shane bonks his shoulders against Peter, he relaxes a little -- hands slipping down off the table, reaching to snake an arm around Shane's waist. "--it was. Really nice, yeah. I don't think -- we really expected to -- I guess you /wouldn't/ mind would you? I didn't want to--" The arm around Shane's waist gives a tiny tug. Peter continues, very quietly: "He probably knows less than /I/ do I don't want to -- freak him out." Then, suddenly, as if just realizing it's gotten colder -- Peter looks to Ember, eyes shooting up. "Did you do that? The cool air, I mean. I--" A flashing glance at Ross, followed by a slight upward twitch of his mouth. "--don't think. That's going to be a problem for me." "Anything's possible if you pray hard and fuck hard. Heard that first part in church, and the second part... well, it just /flows/." That's spoken around the half-chewed bit of beef, and she's offering an imp grin toward the boys. "Kissing don't count for shit. /He/" -- a look toward Shane -- "kissed me, and I don't think he even likes girls." A pause, and then a more considering look at the shark boy. "Do you like girls? 'cause if you do, I call a do-over. I don't care if you got a boyfriend, that shit was /way/ too PG." Another piece of meat is skewered and bitten free, and then there's a glance toward Ross. "Pray hard and... hope hard? Fuck, that works with anything, don't it?" Playing social ping-pong, she's nodding toward Peter's question about the air. "I'm multi-purpose. Like windex." "I got half of that down," Shane answers Ember with a small smirk. His eyes drift closed as Peter's arm curls around his waist, posture relaxing in against the other boy's. "Anole, yeah. Lizardy. /Adorable/. Kind of badass, too? He totally saved B's life down in the sewers. He doesn't go here now but I think he's starting next term." He shrugs a shoulder. "-- It's because you blush so easy," he adds to Peter. "People would stop telling you about it but you turn such great colours. -- Wouldn't mind what?" That might be enough of an answer; as he cracks his eyes open again he looks genuinely baffled at what is even being asked of him. "I have /three/ boyfriends." He's grinning again, now, at Ember. "Sometimes, anyway. I /might/ like girls." At this, the grin dims to a smile, less toothy, more thoughtful. "Maybe I just haven't kissed enough of them yet. /Maybe/," alright, the grin is widening once more, "I'm bi-curious." Ross laughs at Peter's first comment and last comment. "Are you sure..? Wait, could a male mutant even /possibly/ have a child? I just..I don't think I understand mutations enough.". She shrugs. When Ember mentions kissing Shane, Ross must have forgotten when it happened, because her face turns visibly red, causing her to hide her face in the book. It goes away quickly, with her bringing her face back up. "Yeah, I guess it does. Except, sadly, praying doesn't do shit.". She stretches back, still holding the book. "Yeah, the sewers. You know, I saved everyone's life down there.". She says this smiling, for once, actually visually joking about her own feats. "I think you have enough love interests, Shane.". She says this teasingly and playful. "Eventually, Peter's going to get jealous.". "--one day," Peter says, "I will learn how /not/ to blush," he comments, in response to Shane's bit about blushing. "And then? /WATCH OUT/." This is accompanied by a tiny shake of Shane. Shake, shake, shake. Not very hard, but! "If you started kissing /girls/ -- oh my God, Shane," and Peter's quickly proving that he has a long way to go in the learning-how-not-to-blush department, "you'd -- it'd be like /weaponizing/ you. I don't think the school would survive." "--no you couldn't -- I mean, I guess anything's possible biologically but I've never heard of a mutation that -- uh. Is like that," Peter comments to Ross. "--and. Um. I don't." He glances to Shane, still flushed. The hand that's snaked around Shane's waist suddenly slips up higher, along his shoulders; a pair of fingertips rest against the nape of his neck. "--it doesn't. Bother me, really." "Ross, darlin'... I make fire out of thin air, the twins got shark parts, and there's this chick I met who fuckin' /glows like a rainbow/. Boys havin' babies makes /way/ more sense, you know, biologically, than real-life Rainbow Brite. That said..." Her tone is dry now. "It was a fuckin' joke." There's strong emphasis on the word 'was'. Joke dead now. "Peter's safe, pretty sure." She looks back to Shane and Peter then, and while a grin was starting to pull at her lips, bronze eyes are catching sight of those fingers curling about Shane's neck before the expression comes to fruition. She smirks instead, offering Shane a one-shouldered shrug. "There's a song about that, I think. Cherry chapstick or some shit." She glances toward the food, then back to the boys. "If you don't want me eatin' all of this, you should take it back." "Never enough love interests, come on, people can be fucking awesome. Why wouldn't you want to date all of them?" Shane's head tips slightly back, prickly not-really-hair bristling up against Peter's fingers for a moment. "Jealous of what?" Still baffled. "Maaan, who /does/ understand mutations, really? Maybe Io. /Probably/ not even him, though." He grins more fiercely at Peter's comments, and leans forward to snag his bowl back, plucking up the chopsticks to offer Peter another bite. "You've made up my mind. I'm going to kiss /all/ the freaking girls now. -- Do you," he asks Ember lightly, "/have/ cherry chapstick?" Ross shakes her head at Ember. "Yes, I know it was a joke.". She smiles, playing cool, even though she /really/ wants to punch someone. And then, Shane replies to Ember. Ross freezes, hiding back in her book. It seems kissing will be happen. "Uh..this is a good book. A /very/ good book. Have any of you read it? It's a /really/ fucking good book.". She nods, smiling, keeping calm. "Like, seri-fucking-isly good book.". She begins sweating, before she turns her chair around. "I think I get shade better from this side, yeah.". "/Some/ people," Peter explains this to Shane as if he were David Attenborough, announcing yet another /interesting wildlife fact/, "actually get jealous over their dates going around and dating other people." This comment is accompanied, however, with a grin; Peter's fingers /squeeze/ at the nape of Shane's neck -- managing to curl some of that odd, plastic-y not-hair in his grip. Giving the red band around Shane's throat a sudden, /tiny/ tug. "Also, you have to start slow, Shane. Tiny-steps. Kiss, like, all the girls /here/, at the school. Then expand." "I got /all/ kinds of chapstick," Ember assures Shane solemnly, offering no indication as to whether or not the words are facetious. Ross is beginning to talk about her book then, a bit too avidly, and whatever decency had Ember paying attention to that bit of possessiveness from Peter seems to dwindle as she looks back to the boys. "Okay, pretty sure she'll like... blow up if one've you kisses me. Which one will it be? I guess you could... kiss each other, if you wanted, but where's the fuckin' fun in that?" Peter's advice to Shane has Ember's attention narrowing in on the poor chitin-covered youth. "How 'bout you, darlin'? Got this feelin' you've never tasted cherry chapstick." There's a wink at the boy, if only to dismiss any perceived threat. It could be a tease or offer, depending on how he wants to take it. "Haven't read it," Shane says dismissively. "You know you could always go the fuck inside if you get this freaked out by /kissing/. -- Some people," he answers Peter's information, "are fucking /weird/." There's a brief moment at that little tug where his breath catches, but after this he turns his attention to food. There is still so much beef yet to eat. "Pfft I kiss him all the /time/ I've only kissed you /once/ and /he's/ kissed you /never/." From his tone, clearly, Shanemath adds this up to mean kissing Ember wins /the most points/. He nudges Peter in the side. "You should, she's pretty. /Plus/ does this even mean I've kissed more girls than you?" This idea seems to amuse him. "You need to catch up. -- Y'know, Desi's starting here in fall too. You could /also/ kiss /everyone/." Ross's face turns even redder, as she spins her chair back, and continues reading. "No, no, I'm fine. Nothing wrong here. Besides, I've nothing wrong with Peter and Sha-". She quickly stops herself, and starts to hum, reading her book furiously. "Yes, Peter, that's /most/ people.". She begins speed reading, quickly flipping pages. "Most people are like that. But I take Pedro as one of those guys who'd date everyone.". She says this jokingly, even though it's not that funny. "Yes, I know, I'm hilarious. Sue me.". "--I--wh--waitwhathowdid," Peter's eyes proceed to launch /wide/ open at Ember -- before passing a glance back to Shane: "How did -- how did this become about /me/ kissing I'm not --" Peter's face has plunged so deep into indigo that the boy's starting to resemble a mood ring, at this point; he makes a tiny /squeak/ at Ember's wink, and for a moment, looks like he's about to thrust Shane toward her just to use as a /shield/. Then, when Shane brings up -- well, his /SHANEMATH/ -- Peter's eyebrows SLAM together as he contemplates this. He opens his mouth to contradict it -- closes it. Opens it again -- closes it. And then just -- gives a much more sharp (but still small!) /yank/ on Shane's collar. Ember smirks at Shane's logic, and then there's snort as she watches Peter's reaction. She should be amused, right? Her lips still curve a bit, but there's something weary in the girl's eyes as she sits back from the table to reposition herself on her chair, shaking her head at no one in particular. "Is the kitchen still open? Or is it like... free for all?" An odd question for one who has already been there for some time. Shane squeaks, too, small and brief at that yank on his collar. He sits back afterwards, though, offering Peter another piece of meat. "Well, /I'd/ kiss you more," he tells her, "Peter's just --" His head tilts, black eyes flicking towards Peter. "-- new to this," he decides on, in the end. And then, blankly: "Pedro." He eyes the robot, baffled. "-- uh." It takes a shake of his head and a quick moment to return his attention to Ember. "Lunch is done but there'll be more food by dinnertime. In between you can go in and make whatever you want. Or grab whatever you want, there's usually hella leftovers in the fridge. The cook is freaking amazing." He starts to rise, but then stops with a very small bow of his head, a small stretch of his neck. "-- 'kai go?" This is directed to Peter. "Hive was visiting -- is visiting?" He doesn't sound entirely certain about this, "-- and I'm not sure Pa actually /got/ lunch I should go down and -- check." Ross looks towards Ember when she mentions kitchen. "Oh god, I'm starving. I think I'm going to head to the kitchen myself." She grabs Pedro, turning to Shane. "Yes, this is Pedro. He is my robot.". She has Pedro wave at Shane. "Anyways, see you, Peter, Ember, Shane!". Carrying Pedro and her book off, she heads into the mansion, closing the door behind her. "--sorryum," Peter tells Ember, a little wide-eyed! "I mean, you /are/ very pretty -- I mean. I don't mean, it's not like I don't /like/ the idea of -- uh. That is --" When Shane offers the extra bite of beef, he silences himself by chomping down on it. And then when Shane offers a more -- elegant? -- explanation -- Peter surrenders to it. "--new to this," he repeats, with a tiny smile. "--bye, Ross," Peter quickly adds as Ross slips off to the kitchen -- his eyes drift back to Shane. "Oh, right, um. Right," and now, suddenly, Peter is grinning. Just /slightly/. "Yeah." There just just one more tiny tug at that band of fabric, as if reluctant to retract its hold; then, Peter's fingers withdraw, giving Shane's shoulder a squeeze. He leans down and kisses his cheek. "I'll see you -- later tonight."