Claudia frowns. "That's a Shakespeare, right? I don't really get Shakespeare. There's a lot of old words that don't seem like they mean the same thing they normally do and the dialog is kind of hard to follow." She thinks for a moment. "I saw Romeo and Juliet on TV once and it was okay. But I think it's maybe easier when people are actually talking and you're not just trying to read the play."
Sorry, Shinobu. She doesn't mean to be so bad at actual literature, but Shakespeare is kind of homework reading.
That's okay, Claudia; reading Shakespeare in English tends to throw him too.
"Seeing people acting it out usually gives more context, I think. And language changes over time and Shakespeare apparently really liked his wordplay." Which has nothing to do with anything, but Shinobu has tried reading Shakespeare in English and honestly still kind of gets turned around until he's dizzy on some of the phrasing.
"Anyway, there's a play of his called A Midsummer Night's Dream, which among other characters features Titania and Oberon, the king and queen of the faeries."
"Oh right," Claudia says. "I forgot she was a fairy too. She always looked more like an evil witch and she never gets tiny like the fairy godmothers did."
"I think it's easy to forget, since most of the other Disney fairies don't really look or act like her." Not that he's aware of, anyway.
"Anyway, the Gentry - the faeries in my world are generally very powerful and very... the best word to describe them would probably be 'amoral.' They don't really understand human ways of thinking, and I'm not sure they're entirely capable of learning. But they're curious. And that combined with their power and amorality makes them very, very dangerous. If a mortal draws their attention for whatever reason, they'll simply take them - spirit them off to their realm and do with them what they will."
Claudia bites her lip. She's terrible at school and probably was the dumbest member of the BSC, but she's not so dumb that she can't see where this is going.
"So they kidnapped you," she says, in a small voice.
"Ninety," Shinobu says, his own voice barely above a whisper. "Inside, it felt like - I don't even know how long; I kept losing track. But when I got out..."
He returns her hug somewhat hesitantly, but no less heartfelt for that. "Thank you."
Ninety. Right. Because even if Shinobu was supposed to be from when Mimi had been a girl, he was also from thirty years in the future. Thirty years in the future, Claudia would be the same age as Thace's boyfriend and boy was that weird when she thought about it.
"I'm so sorry," she repeats. Then, biting her lip, she asks, "Did they say things about you being cute all the time? The bad fairies that took you?"
That would definitely be a reason to not like to hear about being cute, she thinks. A really good one.
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Sorry, Shinobu. She doesn't mean to be so bad at actual literature, but Shakespeare is kind of homework reading.
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"Seeing people acting it out usually gives more context, I think. And language changes over time and Shakespeare apparently really liked his wordplay." Which has nothing to do with anything, but Shinobu has tried reading Shakespeare in English and honestly still kind of gets turned around until he's dizzy on some of the phrasing.
"Anyway, there's a play of his called A Midsummer Night's Dream, which among other characters features Titania and Oberon, the king and queen of the faeries."
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"Anyway, the Gentry - the faeries in my world are generally very powerful and very... the best word to describe them would probably be 'amoral.' They don't really understand human ways of thinking, and I'm not sure they're entirely capable of learning. But they're curious. And that combined with their power and amorality makes them very, very dangerous. If a mortal draws their attention for whatever reason, they'll simply take them - spirit them off to their realm and do with them what they will."
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"So they kidnapped you," she says, in a small voice.
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Oh lord, this was so-- and Shinobu-- No. No.
Before she really even thinks anything further, Claudia finds herself wrapping her arms around Shinobu and holding tightly to him.
"I'm so sorry," she says.
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He returns her hug somewhat hesitantly, but no less heartfelt for that. "Thank you."
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Thirty years in the future, Claudia would be the same age as Thace's boyfriend and boy was that weird when she thought about it."I'm so sorry," she repeats. Then, biting her lip, she asks, "Did they say things about you being cute all the time? The bad fairies that took you?"
That would definitely be a reason to not like to hear about being cute, she thinks. A really good one.
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