Laurie & John | Early Tuesday Morning

[x-pyromania.livejournal.com]

"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two layers of praise." -Mary Kay Ash-

John closed his laptop and hastily pulled his shirt on. He was wearing his boxer shorts but since it was just Laurie, he wasn't about to give a shit about decency. He trudged out into the hallway and made his way to her room. It was half past four in the morning and most of the mansion's residents were still asleep.

It was high time he requested that she make him a sandwich. Laurie, he thought, was useful like that. He knocked twice on her door and waited --- somewhat patiently.

At the sound of the knock, Laurie looked up from the paper she'd been writing on her laptop, and frowned. She'd been working in the common room of the suite in order not to wake any her roommate, who needed her sleep. She quickly locked her computer screen and walked over to the door, opening it to see who was on the other side.

"Isn't it a bit late to be knocking on doors?" she asked, before she saw who it was.

"Well, then next time I'll remember to let myself in," John smirked and poked his head in to see if anyone else was awake before he flicked his gaze back to Laurie. "I'm here to collect." He gave her a quick once over. "Nice pjs."

Laurie looked down at the flannel grandpa pajamas she wore and flushed slightly in embarrassment. She hadn't exactly been expecting anyone but her suite mates to see her in them. "Um...collect?" she asked, somewhat confused. "Collect what?"

"Treats. A sandwich. A midnight fuck." He wriggled his eyebrows. "Whatever you can offer." There was a high chance that she was going to slam the door in his face but not with his hand on the door frame. "I'm thinking--" He bit down on his bottom lip. "A triple decker sandwich and a soda." He eyed her flannel pjs once more and wrinkled his nose. "Definitely - not - very attractive at this hour of the night."

Laurie simply looked at him for a moment, confusion clearing to be replaced with exasperation as she firmly placed her hand on his chest and pushed him backwards into the corridor as she closed the door behind them. "You, are completely full of it. If you wanted someone to make you a sandwich, you just had to ask."

Not that she'd just have made him a sandwich, of course. But, anything to get him the hell away from her suite. She was already going to have some explaining to do from that journal conversation when everyone else woke up.

His mouth stretched into a full fledged grin. "Where's the fun in that?" John slipped a cigarette between his lips and lighted the stick. It was a no smoking zone but who the hell would tell him off for smoking at this hour of the night? "Don't say a word," he warned her and hurried down the steps, heading toward the kitchen.

"Who am I to deny you a lingering early death from cancer, or the inevitable emphysema from sucking smoke into your lungs constantly?" Laurie asked him, a small smile twitching at her lips as she followed him to the kitchen.

"You're gonna be the one to cry at my funeral, Laurie. Mark my words." John took a seat on one of the kitchen stools and waited for his sandwich to be prepared. "Hm. I'd like an orange soda to go with my ham and cheese. No, wait." He arched his head back in deep thought. "I'll have a glass of orange juice. Freshly squeezed."

Laurie walked over to the fridge and pulled out several containers and placed them on the bench before pulling the bread bin closer and taking out some bread for the sandwich. "And I'll be wearing a burqa at the same time, no doubt. Why do you want fresh orange juice at this time of night?"

"Because it'll give you more to do." John tapped the end of his cigarette on the bread bin, letting the ash fall onto the top cover. "Don't get any of that on or in my sandwich, thanks." He was looking far too smug at this point. "So why the hell are you working on your assignment at this hour of the night? You don't look like the tardy sort."

Laurie rolled her eyes at him but refrained from mentioning that he could make his own damn sandwich if he wanted to make sure of its purity. As if she'd ever allow something like cigarette ash into any sandwich she made. "I've been busy, and I don't always get a chance to study after classes is all. I mean, with med lab duty, and the X-men training and all the classes I'm taking to get ready for Pre-med...It's just quieter around this time, less distractions. It's not all the time, anyhow. Just, you know, once in awhile. "

John made a face at hearing that. Most of everyone he knew was in the X-Men. "Ever thought of not being part of the leather geeks?" he asked her. "Why play the part of a superhero? Got a desperate need to save people?"

"Yes." Laurie answered honestly, finishing his sandwich and placing it in front of him without even the hint of pressure, something she was quite proud of considering how hard he was trying to needle her. She moved to the fruit bowl and selected several oranges before pulling open a drawer and retrieving the juicer. "There something wrong with wanting to save people?"

"I don't know. Depends on why, I guess," he answered as he eyed the sandwich on his plate, scrutinizing it. "Like, are you genuinely interested in saving the helpless or do you just secretly like the rewards that come with it? I know being a doctor is good money which would be my sole reason for pursuing that line of work. As for joining the X-Men," he picked his sandwich up. "Maybe you're doing it because you don't want to feel like a disappointment. Maybe you think it's expected of you. Maybe you don't want to be left out. Maybe," John's upper lip curled into a smirk. "You're just a sheep."

Laurie grabbed a knife from the wallboard and sliced through the oranges in a slightly rougher then needed manner before squishing them against the juicer. "Now you're just trying to be insulting. I'm not in it for the money, if you must know. I honestly just want to help people, is that so hard to believe?"

John clicked his tongue as he watched her. Temper, temper. "Guess not, since you're all about being little miss perfect."

"You know, there's an old saying, John." Laurie began, as she picked up the fresh juice and heading over to where John sat. Stopping in front of him, she reached forward as if to hand the glass to him, and then turned it over, dumping the juice firmly in his lap. "You should always watch out for the quiet ones."

He had been about to reach out for the glass when she upended it. "--what the fuck!" John hadn't anticipated that at all and when he tried to move back, he fell off of his stool, landing hard on his butt.

John stared at the orange bits stuck on his boxer shorts, the material clinging onto his skin and his dick; his cigarette lying next to him, and he let out a breath of air; a short laugh. Least he hadn't scorched anything. "Oh... I am going to fucking murder you," he uttered the words out in a slow, deliberate manner.

Laurie had been about to laugh but figured that perhaps retreat was the better part of valor, and she took off for the door at a run. "Only if you catch me first!"

There was no way he was going to run after her with bits of orange stuck on his legs. He reeked of orange juice. John was going to have to find a way to exact his revenge on her some other time. She had better watch her back. Leaving the mess in the kitchen, he grabbed his sandwich and hurried upstairs.