Quick stop at the ice cream shoppe! [Draco!]

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Some mentor you are," Shiloh grumbled, walking beside Seiteki as they headed down the street toward a little shop down the way. This little outing was her idea, not his, but he wasn't going to turn down free ice cream. Assuming she was paying, which he was indeed assuming, because if she made him pay after all this then that would be especially crappy. "Some mentors bang their candidates fer less an' I go through hell an' get ice cream."

He ducked after he said it and quickly sidestepped, anticipating a wing-to-the-face. "Guess it sorta rhymes with 'ice queen.'"

Seiteki had had to put up with his bitching the whole way into the city, and it damn well served her right. It had been a couple of days since Shiloh's impromptu interrogation over something he hadn't done or known a thing about, and he was still reeling from it. Wasn't so much the physical stuff, pain was nothing and he could deal. It was just that he'd been suspected, no, accused--same thing, different names. It was the whole idea that even though he was a Pilot, he still wasn't safe from Pilots.

Nothing could have prepared him for that...

And now he gets ice cream instead of feel better sex. How lame is that? What was that 'everyone screws their mentor' thing he kept hearing? 'Cause he sure hadn't.

He didn't really know why he kept fixating on that fact except that he was bitter and Seiteki...well, he couldn't find much else to pick on her for but that. Why was he picking on Seiteki? Because she was his ex-mentor and she was convenient. He needed to rant at someone and she was there.

And he trusted her.

They approached the ice cream parlor and Shiloh jogged ahead so he could hold the door open for Seiteki. (Let no one say lower caste brats didn't have some manners.) It was a cheery little place on the inside, kind of old fashioned and cutesy with bouncy music that made even Shiloh want to tap his toes. He'd never admit it, though. "Ya better be gettin' me a bucket of ice cream!" he said. "No, two buckets."

[Anonymous]

On the way their Seiteki kept mostly quiet, just flashing him the odd grin or sticking her tongue out or ever opening a wing to almost but not quite smack him. Open it and close it to create a slightly not-normal gust of wind, Shiloh was used to those, they generally appeared before a wing smack. The banging candidates made Seiteki roll her eyes and put her hands on her hips while they walked. “You, are not my candidate anymore. Besides,”Seiteki tossed her hair and lifted her chin, “you’re not my type.”

When Shiloh ran to open the door for her, Seiteki breezed past but not before sticking her tongue out at her ex-candidate and wandering in. Indoors meant wings were tightly closed to her back, the tops almost touched her head, the flight feathers crossed at the back slightly touching and dragging across the ground.

“I’ll get you a waffle cone and two - no - four scoops. Watch you lick ‘em off onto your foot. It’d be cute.” Seiteki smiled at Shiloh and gave him a thumbs up before walking to the counter and waiting for him to pick what he wanted. Seiteki was glad to be alive to enjoy ice cream. Wonderful invention, and some of them tasted so good.

No one told me until after it was finished that you were being interrogated. I would have been there if I had known, you maybe not be the best candidate or best Pilot, but you’re mine.

A dangerous look flashed in Seitekis eyes for a moment before she visibly frowned and slowly returned her features to normal.

I protect what’s mine.

“What flavour do you want, Kiddo?”

[Rhi-Rhi]

"I could be yer type," Shiloh said with a grin, and quickly scurried to the counter where he would, hopefully, be safe from any wing abuse. After all, she couldn't very well open them in here! Not without collateral damage, at least! "An' I plan on eatin' every scoop!" All four of them.

Shiloh paced along the counter, checking out all the different flavors and trying to narrow it down to just four--one for each scoop. It was tough, though; they all looked good and he had a sweet tooth. Mint chocolate chip...pralines and cream...what the hell was 'tira misu'? He asked the cashier for a sample and was given a little spoon with a small scoop of ice cream on it, and he promptly licked it clean. Hmm...not bad at all. Maybe he'd get some of that--or the cherries jubilee, or the bubblegum, or the fudge brownie, or--

Seiteki's voice suddenly filled his mind, and Shiloh went still, eyes going distant and unfocused as he listened.

And her words sent an involuntary shiver down his spine.

Hers...

Then her voice came at him from the outside and Shiloh jolted and whirled to look at her. He didn't think he would ever get used to it, that sudden back and forth switching between mind-talk and real-talk; it was jarring, and he never could get how some people could do both at once. "Huh? Oh, uh, um..." He turned back to the cashier. "I'll, uh, have..." Shit, what was he having? He ran through his options again. "A scoop of mint chocolate chip, cookie dough, strawberry cheesecake, and, ah, cotton candy! On a waffle cone. The kind with all the sprinkles and shit."

While it was being scooped up and prepared, Shiloh sneaked a sidelong glance at his old mentor and frowned. "What do you mean, 'yours'?" Maybe it was just his paranoia rearing its head as usual, but the implied ownership made him a little uneasy.

[Anonymous]

((DDDDDDDDDDDDD8 I THOUGHT I REPLIED TO THIS. You don't have to reply, but I just wanted to because I remembered it and checked up on it and it was my turn >: ))


Seiteki looked at Shiloh and barked out a laugh, moving closer to him so she could speak in a low voice. "I haven't had sex in years and no way is a wet eared puppy like you going to break my dry spell. The fact you don't make me swoon with lust doesn't help either." Shiloh was right about her wings, they were tucked tightly to her back, the tips dusting the floor gently and when her ex-candidate spooked at her mental words she frowned and then opened her mouth before shutting it again.

She should have expected him to do that, but instead she just explained herself. "Y'know. Mine. My candidate. My responsibility. You may not be my candidate anymore, but you're still important to me. I guess I just feel protective. Sorry for going cave man on you."

Sort of.

Seiteki knew that he couldn't care less about her, 'cept that she was buying him ice cream and he had a sorespot that it wasn't ice queen sex. An apologetic look and Seiteki took a few steps off to the side, giving Shiloh some distance. "Well, there's the ice cream." She said simply, and accepted her cone from the worker, giving it a lick and getting her chip scanned so the appropriate amount of credits could be deducted from her account.

"You going to go see your girlfriend or do you want to chat?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Aw, so you do care about me," Shiloh 'pathed back, amused, and took his ice cream cone as it was handed to him. Of course he knew she did, otherwise why would she hang out with him now? Either way, her explanation was slightly less creepy than the original statement.

And it was kinda...nice in a way. You didn't know someone for eight years without feeling something for them, whether good or bad, and he'd always though she hated him. He'd been a tough student and he knew it--not because he lacked drive or anything, hell no; when around Pilots, he asked 'how high' when they said 'jump', he called them 'sir' and 'ma'am' and tacked on their rank, and he kicked ass at the physical stuff. He never wanted to be in the system; Pilots scared him. But since he was there and had no choice, and since he knew this life would be better than the slums, he did it, and he wanted it. His drive was never the issue.

His misanthropy was; Stage 3, the team stage, was one of the hardest, and anything involving classwork sucked. He wasn't smart and he knew it; no one made a secret of that, and it became painfully clear to himself, too. He couldn't read or write, he was awful at math and remembering shit, and it hurt him, stunted his progress, and frustrated him. Seiteki had to deal with many a book-throwing tantrum and screaming outbursts that he hated this and couldn't do it and that he hated her, too.

Shiloh took a bite of his ice cream, which was already melting down the sides of his cone though it was in the back so he didn't notice it yet. He was still thinking over what she said and trying to decide how he felt about that when she spoke up and for a moment he just stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"Wha? Girlfriend?" Shiloh's eyebrows raised, face paling as a look of panic slowly crept over him. Shit, had he gotten drunk and made some sorta announcement somewhere? Wouldn't be the first time... "Uh, who?"

[Anonymous]

Seiteki stared at him over her ice cream cone. Her stare was eerie. Her electric blue eyes glowed a little, her pupils were usually tiny so she constantly looked a little like she was on something. A swipe of her ice cream with her tongue while she watched Shiloh have his mini freak out.  Of course she wanted to laugh. “That girl you’re always with? The shapeshifter?” Seiteki was so convinced that Shiloh that other boy and the girl were in some sort of relationship.

“Maybe not. I’m no good with knowing what relationships look like.” She laughed to herself before she reached up and ruffled Shiloh’s hair. “Your ice cream is dripping.” She smiled again before she stretched her wings out after making sure no one was behind her. Seiteki walked along, “Feel up for a walk? You’re more like a little brother than a student now, you can fill me in with the crap you’ve been up to!” She smiled again and ate a bit more ice cream, “Done anything interesting?”

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Finaa?!" Shiloh just about choked on the bite of ice cream he'd just taken, but he managed to swallow it down--and gave himself a minor brain-freeze in the process. Wincing and pinching the bridge of his nose, he listened to Seiteki as he waited for it to pass.

"Finaa? Uh, no way in hell. Couldn't make me date 'er." Then, realizing how that must sound, he added, "She's m' best friend, Sei. We ain't datin'."

And thank the gods they weren't! They'd tried it once, back when he was a candidate, and it had lasted all of a week. One whole week in which they both ended up avoiding each other because it was just awkward. Sure, they had sex back then, and sure they had sex now, and yeah it was great sex, too. But they worked as friends, not lovers. He loved her more than he could vocalize, but he wasn't in love with her.

That just made things weird.

Something cold and sticky hit his hand, then, and Shiloh looked down at it. Yep, sure enough, his cone was dripping all over the place. Lifting his ice cream, he awkwardly licked at his hand and up the side of the waffle cone, trying unsuccessfully to stop it. There were four scoops to deal with there! Just when he was starting to think a napkin might be a good idea, Seiteki's words caught up with his brain and he blinked and looked back over at her.

Brother? She saw him as a brother?

Really?

He fell into step beside her and took another lick of his ice cream. "Uh, well, a lotta stuff. Took my week an' hit th' brothel. Done a mission. Got interrogated..." Nope, not bitter at all! "Been helpin' m' friend with her stuff. I dunno, it's gone pretty fast since I graduated." He cracked a slight grin. "Sure beats bein' a candidate," he said, taking another lick--

That sent his already unbalanced ice cream tower tumbling down, the top two scoops rolling off and splattering wetly on his combat boots.

[Anonymous]

Seiteki’s eyebrows rose up. She thought for sure those two were some sort of item. Of some sort. Then again, she herself was no good with the relationship business. It’d been over a hundred years since she’d done more than pay someone to oil her pipes. Seiteki stared off into space for a moment and frowned deeply. Of course Shiloh’s outburst almost made her laugh.

What passion! Seiteki just smiled at him, finding it unfamiliar to her ears to not hear a ‘pilot’ capped onto her name. Especially coming from Shiloh. Always a bit of a brat, he’d been good with the formality. Seiteki simply raised her hands, palms out. “No need to get so cranky about it.” Seiteki took a lick of her ice cream cone.

Of course she had her mouth full of ice cream when he mentioned going to the brothel. Did they all go to the brothel? Seiteki wrinkled her nose. Every pilot fresh out of Candidacy went and romped at the brothel. She winced slightly at the mention f the interrogation. Shiloh. A Gospel. The thought alone made her want to chuckle. Shiloh was too... Good. The gospels were the bad guys. They ruined the stuff. They killed Providence. They killed that candidate. They cause explosions and they were... Bad.

Seiteki fell silent and just watched Shiloh. “You were a pretty awful candidate.” She said with a straight face before licking the ice cream cone while his tumbled to his boot. Seiteki looked down with her bright blue eyes and blinked a few times. “And you’re awful at eating ice cream. You should have gotten a bowl.” Seiteki nudged his boot with her own, her wings moving out unconsiously to keep her balance.  

“Were you prepared to be a Pilot? You know you were my first candidate in years and years and years.” She gave a solid nod while still staring at his boot before she looked up at him slowly, “I’m not cleaning that up for you, Shy.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh frowned down at the lump of ice cream on his boot and lifted his leg so it slid off and onto the floor. Aw, maaan...some of the best flavors, too...

"But I wanted th' cone..." he said when she mentioned the bowl, still frowning at the melted puddle it was turning into. "I like waffle cones..." He let out a long, sad sigh and gave the remaining ice cream a long lick as more dripped onto his hand, and he licked his hand, too. This was so messy!

And no napkins, either. He should've grabbed napkins.

He tried scraping his boot on the ground to get some of it off, but that only worked so well. "Uh...prepared?" He looked back up at her. It probably didn't look it at the moment, him with ice cream all over his boot and more leaking on his hand. "Yeah, pretty much. I was ready t' stop bein' a candidate an' start bein' a Pilot, y'know? I felt ready. All tha' training, finally addin' up to somethin'..."

He gave an uncomfortable shrug. He wasn't so good with this stuff. "Ya did alright."

[Anonymous]

“Alright.”

Seiteki pursed her lips and licked the icecream. Alright. She’d trained more Dragon Riders than there were pilots now and she was just ‘alright’. Seiteki let the ice cream melt and she swallowed before she stuck her tongue out at Shiloh. Alright. Oh well, with the way things were now...

The woman gave Shiloh and hearty slap on the back, her head turned the other way so she could feign innocents if his nose ended up in his ice cream. “You know, they make bowls out of wafflecones. Could have had a bowl for your icecream AND your wafflecone.”

“And just so you know? You were a total pain in the ass.” Seiteki smiled, “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re so cute!”

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Oomph!" Aaand right into the ice cream he went, his nose and lips smashing right into the melting scoop. Pulling back and wiping furiously at his cold and sticky nose and licking his lips, Shiloh swung to face her and snap at her, but then she went and called him cute.

Cute?!

It startled him right out of his irritation and he gaped, open-mouthed at her even as more ice cream dripped on his hand. He'd been doing far more talking than he had licking. "Cute? I ain't fuckin' cute!" he said, giving his treat another long swipe with his tongue to try and get it back under control. "Pain in th' ass, I believe ya there. Cute? Naw." He took another lick and groused, "I don' wanna be cute. Kittens are cute. I'mma fuckin' Pilot."

He was flushing a little even as he said it, embarrassed. He never knew how to handle comments like that.

[Anonymous]

“You were my candidate!” Seiteki said, grinning. “And I’m old.” Seiteki nodded, “You’re so snarly and grumpy.” She smiled again and opened her wings widely and stretched her arms up. “And yes, good boy, Shiloh. You are a Pilot.”

“But you’re also a kitten. A nasty bratty little kitten and you have your claws out and you hiss all the time and you rip up the furniture and you’re a total pain in the ass.” Seiteki rose her eyebrows and licked her ice cream again.  “Therefore, since you’re a kitten. You’re cute.”

“You’re too young to turn into a grumpy old man. Just accept that you’re adorable and move on.” Seiteki poked his cheek and smiled. “And hey, just because I think you’re cute doesn’t mean you are! I’m just immune to your more nasty snarky side.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh frowned at Seiteki as she kept going on and on about him being cute and adorable and congratulating him on knowing he was a Pilot, shrugging uncomfortably and taking a bite of waffle cone. It didn't look like it was going to stop, and he didn't feel right about telling his old mentor to shut the hell up; he hadn't been a Pilot long enough to get used to the fact that they were now the same rank, that they were no longer Candidate and Mentor, that they were equals.

So instead, he did what he did when he was a candidate and a Pilot started in on him--shut down and took it. He was used to people being patronizing asses and used to the comments implying or otherwise flat-out telling him he was stupid. But it didn't mean he liked it, or that he liked being made to feel like a weak little fuck-up after he'd worked and struggled so hard to get here. He knew he hadn't been that great of a candidate...

"Yeah. Alright," he muttered, swatting away her hand.

[Anonymous]

Oop. Seiteki noticed that. She went quiet after he spoke and looked away, after throwing the last of her ice cream cone into her mouth she chewed it and continued to walk, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Aww, Shy, I’m sorry.” She reached out but quickly retracted her hand. He wasn’t a friend. Seiteki rubbed at the side of her face while she tried to think of something to smooth it over.

This was probably why she didn’t have any friends. Personal space. Personal boundaries.  “Don’t shut down on me. We’ll walk back home and I’ll give you your space.”  She sounded irritated and put out, the feathers on her wings were tight against her back. “Promise not to bother you until I have to get you a present and I have to ask you what you want.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh frowned at Seiteki, head down and focusing on finishing up his ice cream so he had an excuse not to talk. He wasn't good with articulating his thoughts and feelings, and was always cautious about expressing pride over an accomplishment in case it was followed up by getting knocked back down a peg--like now. Becoming a Pilot was big. He'd struggled, but he'd made it. He still struggled, and he still got scapegoated, but he tried to make up for it all with determination and hard work.

And this was supposed to be a fun outing, but instead he'd been made to feel like a stupid child, gotten told he was awful, and gotten his nose smashed in his ice cream like a bad dog or something.

"Ya ain't botherin' me," he finally muttered. She wasn't. He wanted to hang out with her. But he couldn't really tell her what was wrong, either, because it was stupid.

[Anonymous]

Seiteki frowned and let her head drop down, wiping her hands off on her pants, which just made them feel more sticky. She didn’t have to be an empath to figure out something was bothering Shiloh and she didn’t have to be a genius to figure out it was her fault. Of course, she was neither so she went silent after he spoke and she looked away.

“I’m not stupid.” She said quietly, rubbing her arm. Awkward. Seiteki made a face away from Shiloh and moved her hand to rub at the back of her head. As if it’d make things better. “ Because obviously I am.” Seiteki frowned, “You can tell me the truth now, you know. I might have been the biggest pain in your ass when you were a candidate but we’re the same rank now so if you really don’t like me you can tell me so and I’ll keep my distance.”

She closed her eyes and sighed before she tired to smile at him, before she hooked her arm around his and tugged him to a bench and making him sit down. “As it is, if I’m not bothering you like you say I’m not. What exactly am I doing. Was it the teasing?” Seiteki reached over and poked his shoulder, “I’m not very good with social cues. Everything sort of gets muddled up in my head and you got pretty grumpy pretty fast."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Made to sit down on the bench, Shiloh stared wide-eyed at Sei as she fired the questions at him, questions he didn't know how to answer, questions that just made him feel cornered. If Seiteki wasn't good with social cues, neither was he, and he was even worse at talking about his feelings.

So he just avoided it altogether.

Flushing, feeling like a child as she called what she'd been doing 'teasing' with him being sat down to talk it out like a kid, he jerked back to his feet. "No, I jus'--I don' wanna talk 'bout it, alright?"

[Anonymous]

Seiteki huffed and crossed her arms over her chest slung a leg over the other and leaned back on the bench. Well, this sucked! Now it was awkward and uncomfortable and Seiteki wanted to take back the teasing because Shiloh didn’t seem to get it. It always hurt a little when she realized she was never a ‘friend’. Just that grumpy woman with wings that people liked sometime. Her wings were bunched up behind her and she sighed.

“Fine. We won’t talk about it.” She rolled her eyes before she stood up and glared off to the side. Sure she was old, but that didn’t mean she was patient or a good people person. It was easier to just be alone. Far easier. Couldn’t accidentally hurt feelings that way. “Then what do you want to do Shiloh. I took you out for ice cream so we could talk and to help you wined down from being fucking interrogating. That isn’t working very well and I’m sorry but I am not going to fuck you like a rabbit to release that tension.”

“So, that leaves.” Seiteki swing her arms towards the general direction of the citadel, her wings mimiced the motion unconsciously, one of them folding out and the wingtips pointing too. “I’m sorry I’m so shitty with you, really. Obviously you’re not comfortable around me yet to actually talk about anything though so I’ll go home and you... Try to enjoy your day.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Shiloh's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, a look of shock crossing his features before it was replaced by anger, jaw tightening as he grit his teeth. He didn't want to talk about it; he wanted to talk about something else. He wasn't good with talking about his feelings and shit, because it was awkward and uncomfortable. So what does she do instead? Tells him she's not gonna fuck him to release the tension? Like that was all this was about, and like that was what was bothering him? What the fuck?

It was enough to send him from uncomfortable to pissed in zero seconds flat.

His fists clenched at his sides so he didn't punch her. "Y'know wha? Fuck yerself," he snarled before he spun on his heel and walked, stiffly, back toward the shopping center, needing a distraction.

[Anonymous]

That wasn’t a good look.  Seiteki had been expecting Shiloh to change a little after becoming a Pilot. More pressure, more work. But he was still the sensitive boy she’d snagged because he was headed down and he seemed like a good kid. Sorta. A good kid under all those lower level bad habits. That and he reminded her of a friend she had a long, long time ago.

Seiteki rolled her eyes and followed Shiloh quietly for a time, her wings were pulled tight to her body and she breathed deeply before she wandered over again and slung her arm through his. “I’m sorry.” Seiteki frowned before she patted his arm. She had a vice grip so even if he tried to pull away it wouldn’t work. “Okay. We won’t talk about... That.” Or anything.

“What else is there?” She nudged him gently, trying to sooth things over. It’d be pointless to explain herself since he’s in such a pissy mood. “I’m hungry.” Seiteki tugged him towards the food court, “Want anything? I got my sweet tooth fix but some food would be nice. Something salty.” Seiteki looked up at Shiloh. “Got any suggestions?”