Angelo and JP - backdated to the night of the 28th

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Jean-Paul goes for a late-night swim. Angelo's dog does not approve.



The weather hadn't chilled enough to freeze the lake over, and Jean-Paul was grateful for that. It was another restless night, starting with general unease and capping off with dreams of Jeanne-Marie. As stubborn as the speedster was, even he knew a lost cause when there was one squatting inside his own skull. Time to throw in the towel on sleep and find something else to occupy himself with, even if it was a midnight swim in unheated water.

The trouble with midnight in New York in November, Angelo thought wryly to himself, was that it was very, very cold, even if it didn't hit freezing point. And the trouble with having a large and solid pet dog was that when she wanted something badly enough, she could and would haul him out of bed by the ankle to get it.

This time, it had been to investigate the interesting noises on the grounds - it might have been a fox, or Jean-Paul, or something else entirely, but the result was the same: Angelo, wrapped up in a parka, a blanket and not much else, grumbling and following Joyita towards the lake, huddled over a lit cigarette.

Jean-Paul had been floating on his back, enjoying the only half-familiar sensation of cold seeping into his skin, when his seekers found him. The big labrador wasn't subtle; she clattered down to the end of the dock and began pacing, whuffing insistently in Jean-Paul's direction, obviously torn about whether or not to go in after the human who didn't know better than to come out of freezing water. Jean-Paul skimmed back from the dock slightly, treading water as the bundled wraith and his small spot of red light came into view.

"She's not going to jump, is she?"

"She'd better not", Angelo told him, glaring half-heartedly at the dog. "Joyita, you go in there an' you sleep in the stables. Also, hi. Angelo Espinosa, you might not remember. Been a while."

Joyita gave Angelo a look that was somehow both incredulous and pathetic. The human was in the cold water! Angelo wasn't just going to let him stay there, was he?

"I recognized your voice." Jean-Paul swam up to the dock. "The blanket is what threw me off."

"No, you can't go play", Angelo told the dog firmly, misinterpreting somewhat. "Not in the water. An'... yeah, this one wanted out an' since I plan to go back to bed when she lets me... blanket."

"Late night logic." Jean-Paul debated with himself for a moment, then floated up onto the dock. He could always go back in later and talk was as good a distraction as a swim. "You got a little taller, I think."

"...I did?" He peered down at himself, vaguely thrown by the observation. "Yeah, I guess maybe. Relatively taller, anyway." He was never going to be what you'd call tall.

"Or maybe I am just trying to sound as if I've been paying attention -- hey!" Jean-Paul's emergence had sent to lab into fits of joyous relief, if seemed, and she was currently tromping all over Angelo and Jean-Paul's feet and whacking them about the thighs with her tail as she did her happy dance. "Are you trying to send me back in?"

Angelo rolled his eyes at her, more with weary affection than anything, and backed away from the lake with a summoning whistle. "Hey, monster dog. This way." With a glance up, he added, "Sorry, she's... enthusiastic."

"So I see." Jean-Paul considered, then grabbed his towel before following along. He wasn't tired, but at least his head felt clearer. He could get some work done instead of trying to drive himself to exhaustion.

"She likes people", Angelo said with a shrug. "Most people, anyways. I think she heard you out here - she was sure as hell set on gettin' to the lake, anyway. Sorry if we interrupted your swim."

Jean-Paul shrugged easily. "If I still wanted to swim, I'd have stayed in the water. As it is, I'll find something better to do with my night. God help me, I may be productive."

That got a snort. "God forbid. Shouldn't think you'll be the only one up an' about... but then, I guess if you wanted company, you wouldn't've been out here in the middle of the night."

"The mood I was in would not have made me good company for anyone. With any luck, it's been steeped out of me for a while; I still have a lesson plan to hammer out."

Angelo pulled a face. "Sounds like fun. That'd be why I only let them talk me into teachin' a physical class."

"Do not tell anyone, but I am rather enjoying the challenge."

"...yeah, if I tell them that, they'll pile more on you, so not a word from me. First time teachin' since you were last here?"

"Oui. Shaking the dust off, as it were." Jean-Paul eyed the through the trees school. Angelo was right about him not being the only one up and about; there were more windows lit that one would expect for this hour. "Funny how places look so much more welcoming when it's cold out."

Angelo chuckled. "An' here I thought you didn't feel the cold. Or you'd be headin' for the medlab with hypothermia right about now."

Jean-Paul wrung the last of the water from his hair. "I spent a half hour in a lake not so much above freezing in the middle of a winter night in New York and now I am thinking I might put on a sweater and have a cup of tea when I head in. I think that qualifies by most reasonable measures. But what do they have you teaching? I'm not even half caught up yet."

"Self-defense", Angelo told him easily. "Along with... Callisto, right now. It changes almost as much as the guidance counselor."

Jean-Paul gave Angelo a sharp look from under his stiffening bangs, but didn't pursue the matter. Even if the last had been a dig at the position he had abandoned so abruptly, well...it was still a fair point. "Probably it teaches the children to adapt quickly. I will go have that cup of tea now and let you get back to your bed. Sorry for waking your dog."

It hadn't, particularly. Jean-Paul was hardly the only one to have had the position and left it. Angelo did realize what he'd said, though, and returned the sharp look with an innocent one. "No problem - she likes to think she's the house guard dog sometimes, I think."

"There are certainly worse positions she could assign herself. Gardener, for instance." Jean-Paul fell out of step and headed toward his window. "Bonne nuit, Angelo."