Ororo laughed until she couldn't see straight. Shinobi could not dance to save his life, and she was going to have the sore toes to attest to that. "Not funny." Shinobi said, smiling with her. She wanted to dance, so he took her dancing. He did warn her, though. Everyone says they can't dance, and they're usually not that bad. But he was bad, very bad.
They sat at a table and ordered a couple of drinks. They hadn't really talked, yet. They mostly skirted around the issue at hand. She wanted to tell him that his father's words made her really question all this. He made it seem as if she were nothing more than a whore for Shinobi's disposal. Love her this week. Dump her next week. That's what she read in Mr. Shaw's words.
She sipped on her wine and finally said, "Where is this relationship really going?" she asked. She hoped she wouldn't have to listen to a string of promises. That's what usually happened when she asked a man where "this" was going. She had enough promises from men to last her three lifetimes. She just wanted to know what he thought this was leading to.
"I don't know, but I do know that I care for you deeply," he said, and that was an honest enough answer for her.
- - -
Author's Notes: Let me just say that Sarah McLachlan's album "Afterglow" and provides the inspiration for much of this fic along with Ali Farka Touré's album "Talking Timbuktu", Alicia Key's "The Diary of Alicia Keys", and Poe's "Haunted". Just a random tidbit I felt like sharing.