Timelined after Not as Expected
<Shaw> A break was in order, he decided, and went to seek out a fresh pot of coffee. Glancing at the clock, Sebastian soon realized it was later than he thought. Wandering to the kitchen, he opened a drawer and stared down at his organized collection of take-out menus, then slid it closed again. Coffee.
<Jessica> Jess was glad to finally be home. It had been a very long day. She yawned a little and ran a hand through her hair after she took off her helmet and moved to open the door.
<Shaw> He could hear the garage elevator, but decided as there was only one person who had a key now that he wouldn't bother to secure his workshop door. Coffee was much more important at this point.
<Jessica> "Sebastian...?" Jess called as she moved through the living room, unzipping her jacket.
<Shaw> "Here," he answered from the kitchen, not bothering to raise his voice. She could hear him. The coffee was started and he turned to lean against the counter and wait for her.
<Jessica> She smiled and headed to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway, "How was your day?"
<Shaw> "Quite good. Spent the morning in the office catching up... and assigning others to catch up for me," he grinned and pushed off the counter to stalk her way. "Then I came home to work, and to wait for you, my lovely lady."
<Jessica> "I found some zombies and met my new roommate then went to work..." She moved to meet him and wrapped her arms around him.
<Shaw> "...zombies?" Sebastian returned the embrace and cocked an eyebrow at her.
<Jessica> "Well... not real ones obviously because I still have my brain..." She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I walked into the kitchen and Cassie and Johnny were there..."
<Shaw> "Ah, yes. Charles mentioned that. It's quite remarkable, really." The odds of all three of them surviving their encounter with the cannibals were astronomical, but then so many things were improbable when dealing with mutants.
<Jessica> "I wish someone would have told me..." She frowned, "Scared the hell out of me when I saw them sitting there."
<Shaw> "I can imagine," he chuckled and pulled her back in to kiss her forehead. "If I had known, I would have told you myself. However, he only told me this morning."
<Jessica> She cuddled into his chest and sighed, "It's okay... you weren't to know the whole school full of people that have me on Google didn't tell me." She gave him a squeeze, "What were you talking to him about? I assume you didn't just call him up to ask about non-dead students..."
<Shaw> "No, and he called me point of fact." The coffee was ready and he let go of her to get himself a cup. "So, other than your surprise, how was your roommate?"
<Jessica> "She wasn't too bad..." she shrugged her jacket off finally and went to put it away, "From the UK, too... one of the new kids."
<Shaw> "Ah, a countryman - or woman," he smirked to himself, then stopped before he took a sip of his coffee. "Would you like some tea?"
<Jessica> "Please... I think I'm going to jump in the shower real quick and change..." She hoped that would wake her up some.
<Shaw> Sebastian winced to himself, then took a gulp of coffee. "Of course... don't feel obliged to change on my account. I have no qualms with you wandering around as nature intended."
<Jessica> She laughed, "I'll bear that in mind..." she moved on into the bedroom as she undressed, "Any thoughts on dinner?"
<Shaw> "Well, I likely would have coffee for dinner and a scotch for dessert, but since you're here, we could go out." One thing he had learned over the years since he seemed to acquire British girlfriends was how to make tea. He still didn't like it though.
<Jessica> "Going out sounds great... I think I'm too tired to be trusted in the kitchen." She turned the water on, it was weird to carry on a conversation with someone when they were in another room and still have them be able to hear her clearly.
<Shaw> "Out it is then. There's no need for you to be a slave to the kitchen." It was still a novelty to have someone cook for him at all.
<Jessica> "It's not slavery if you enjoy it," She reminded him, sighing happily at the feel of the hot water on her skin. It was helping.
<Shaw> Oh yes, he could hear her perfectly well. He took another gulp of coffee and distracted himself with her tea.
<Jessica> "So, what do you feel like having for dinner?" She paused, "And don't say you want to have me for dinner because I'm dessert."
<Shaw> "You're not helping my resolve, koibito," he said with a smirk and another healthy swig of coffee. Now he needed a refill, and by then her tea would be about done. Surely.
<Jessica> She laughed, stepping out of the shower and wrapping herself in a towel before going back into the bedroom to investigate the wardrobe. "Who said I was trying to?"
<Shaw> "As much as I normally would appreciate the temptation, there is something I should finish before we go." Refilling his mug, he sat Jessica's cup near the edge of the island in plain sight and started back for his workroom. "Your tea is ready when you are."
<Jessica> "Thank you!" She picked out something to wear and got changed, moving back out into the living area to collect her tea before she wondered where Sebastian had gone to.
<Shaw> Sebastian was in his work room, looking over a schematic as he sipped his coffee.
<Jessica> Following the sounds of rustling to a room she didn't even know was there, Jess poked her head inside, "Whatcha' doin'?"
<Shaw> "Working, shockingly enough." He gave her a smirk over the top of the mug and gestured for her to come inside.
<Jessica> She stepped inside, moving to stand beside him, "Should I be in here?"
<Shaw> "I let you in, so yes," he glanced over at her, then back at the schematic. "This is my workroom, and if I'm not here it is locked."
<Jessica> "Don't worry, I promise not to snoop on any top secret projects.... like I'd have a clue how to read those things anyway," she gestured at the schematic he was looking at.
<Shaw> "Good, because then I would have to kill you." He took another sip.
<Jessica> She raised an eyebrow at him, "I'd like to see you try."
<Shaw> He sniffed and amended, raising his own brow. "Pay someone to kill you."
<Jessica> She laughed, "Pretty sure I could kick their ass too... or else talk them out of it - pheromones have got to be good for something, right?"
<Shaw> "Your pheromones are good for quite a lot," he chuckled and put down the tablet containing the schematic. The screen went dark and he ran his fingers through her hair, pausing at the damp, curled ends.
<Jessica> "Well... it all boils down to the same thing really... making someone do something they wouldn't do normally..." She supposed it was kind of like being a telepath only less invasive and potentially brain-melty.
<Shaw> "Oh, I don't know that I wouldn't do you normally, to be crass about it," he smirked, then shrugged. "In fact, I know I would, because I did."
<Jessica> She giggled, shaking her head, "Not what I meant... that's not the only thing they do.... but I'll thank you for the compliment anyway."
<Shaw> Still toying with the ends of her hair, he looked up to her face. "Yes, you've just alluded to that in the past. What else do they do?"
<Jessica> She sighed, looking away for a moment, "They do three things..." she looked back at him, "One you know... they can make people think they love me... or just want me.... They can also make people want to protect me... which you could try to argue is the same thing but I can tell you for sure that it isn't."
<Shaw> He watched her carefully now, letting her hair drop from his fingers.
<Jessica> She studied his face for a few moments before her eyes found the floor, "The other thing... they make people afraid of me... and not just a little bit afraid... like properly terrified.... I do it sometimes by accident when I'm angry... and I hate the effect it has on people..."
<Shaw> "Interesting," he said, still watching her and taking a drink of his rapidly cooling coffee.
<Jessica> "That's one word for it...." she took a sip of her own drink for an excuse to avoid looking at him for a few moments longer.
<Shaw> "Three things, you said," he prodded after studying her a while longer.
<Jessica> "That is three things...." She sighed, "If we go with the bug analogy... there's aggregation pheromones, sex pheromones and alarm pheromones..." she counted them off on her hand.
<Shaw> Sebastian's eyes widened slightly. "Aggregation, really? Though I don't suppose you can summon others exactly of your kind since we're all rather singular creatures it seems."
<Jessica> "Seems to work on most people... you know, the ones with actual organic brains..." She gave a half shrug, "Haven't really felt like testing it... seems like it could just get me in trouble..."
<Shaw> "Ah." Her pheromones were fascinating, and more complex than he thought. Taking another sip of coffee, he straightened the items on his workbench.
<Jessica> "People at XU are kind of funny about you testing your powers on them... even if you assure them it's not dangerous in any way...." She watched him moving things around on his workbench with a slight frown.
<Shaw> "That seems rather counter-intuitive for a school, since after all the intention is to learn." He looked back up at her and took another sip. "Or, that's the alleged intent."
<Jessica> "That's not been my experience... how much learning do you think happened last year between various abductions and world ending disasters? Not a whole lot, I'd bet."
<Shaw> "Well, perhaps that was Xavier's hope then - to change that trend." She had a good point about the abductions, though it was something he'd rather not think about anymore.
<Shaw> "He asked me to teach a few classes at your school," he said, watching her over the rim of his cup as he took another sip.
<Jessica> She blinked at him, "Really?" She wasn't at all sure how she felt about that. "Classes for what?"
<Shaw> "Engineering," he said, enjoying her reaction. "Engineering, business - something you lot seem quite in need of, some business sense - and robotics."
<Jessica> She wrinkled her nose a little, "Well... good luck with that..."
<Shaw> "Thank you, I suspect I'll need it."
<Jessica> "Yeah... probably more than you would if you weren't dating me..." She sighed, pausing only briefly before changing the subject, "Dinner?"
<Shaw> "Well, you can't take any of my classes, not that I would imagine you would want to anyway."
<Jessica> She shook her head, "Nope... and I kind of figured I wouldn't be allowed... you know, in case any actually good work I produce for a decent grade would be dubbed favouritism or cheating or something...." Because heaven forbid she manage to achieve anything on her own merits.
<Shaw> He was still watching her, quietly sipping his coffee. "Otherwise, I can't see how it would affect anything."
<Jessica> "Of course you can't... because you don't know how they talk to me... but that's okay... maybe they'll be better to you because you're an authority figure and can threaten them with the almighty F."
<Shaw> "Jess," he started, moving in closer to her and setting down his cup to take her hand. "If you think this will somehow make things worse, or more awkward, for you, I don't need to take the job. I certainly have more than enough to keep myself busy in my own business."
<Jessica> She shook her head, setting her own cup down in a free space and cupping his cheek with her now empty hand. "I'll be fine... It shouldn't even be an issue... I'm just... paranoid, I guess..."
<Shaw> "Ah, well, you are that," he teased, tilting his head into her palm.
<Jessica> She offered a half smile in response, gently stroking his cheek with her thumb. "I learned from the best."
<Shaw> "Oh, I don't know that he was the best." Sebastian turned his face to her hand and kissed her palm. "So, dinner..."
<Shaw> "And then I suppose we should get ready for school," he added with a smirk.
<Jessica> She giggled, stepping up close to him and ghosting her lips over his, "Oh so many people should just be jealous... think of all the fantasies we've played out already and now we get to add another one..."
<Shaw> Reaching up to catch the back of her head in one hand, he grinned wolfishly. "We may need to get you a short plaid skirt."