Julian and Jean-Paul

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Jean-Paul pokes his head in to check on Julian.



There was something to be said for sleeping in your own bed sans nightmares and floating furniture, Jean-Paul mused as he headed down the hall. He was still having weird dreams, but he could handle weird a lot better than he could handle night-terrors. It was also good to be functioning somewhat above zombie level. You noticed more details. Like the absence of certain emails from your inbox.

He stopped in front of Julian's door and knocked. "Julian? It is Mr. Beaubier."

Behind the door, Julian was sitting on his bed doing his reading for class, his iPod whispering the bittersweet tones of Metallica. The knock came loud enough to make him look up and pop one bud out of his ear. "Come in," he replied, not having clearly heard who was on the otherside. His darkened room was messy and he'd be the first to admit he needed to do laundry, but at least as long as his laundry was scattered about the room, his nocturnal poltergeists had something to do before moving on to bigger mischiefs around the mansion.

Jean-Paul headed in, gaze flicking over the messy room and strewn clothing. "I have the feeling I'm going to be ambushed by goblins." he remarked dryly, though he made no move to turn on the lights, only made himself comfortable against the door post. "The Team One dinner is in a couple of days. I hadn't heard from you, so I thought I should drop by."

As soon as he saw Jean-Paul, Julian had a suspicion his visit would be about something like this. The day at Laser-Saga had changed everything for him- the comfortable life he'd had at the mansion had been turned end-over-end. "Oh, sorry, Mister Beaubier, I guess I'm just not up to it right now." He popped the other ear bud out, using it as a book mark as he shut the book. "I'm sorry, I should have let you know."

"Obviously I cannot make you be social, and I would not even if I could, but I hope you're not kicking yourself over what Arcade did." Jean-Paul held his position for a moment more, then came to sit at the foot of Julian's bed. "You invited your classmates to share in your good fortune. That is all."

He'd heard that a few times over the last couple days, "I know it wasn't my fault with what happened, but," he paused, trying to find the words. Julian shrugged, "It's more about the fact I wasn't strong enough or fast enough to save them during the challenges. And while it might not be my fault, the others still hate me for what happened." He hadn't realized that he'd sat up during the rant, now sitting forward slightly, with anxiety churning his stomach. He sighed and sat back against his pillows, giving Jean-Paul an apologetic look.

The speedster arched one dark eyebrow. It certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility, but he'd still be surprised if it were true.

"Who has said this to you?"

No one had actually said it, in fact a lot of people were telling him the opposite- well, except for one person. "I guess just Inez, but how could the others not feel that way too?" He sat back up, a little stiffer now. "I mean...I do," he mumbled.

"You feel you failed them? That you should have done more during the whole ordeal?" Jean-Paul drew one leg up to his chest, resting his chin on his knee.

Julian had never been terrific at expressing his feelings- but Jean-Paul was one of the people around the mansion that he trusted. He was a good teacher and had actually made learning about literature fun. He sighed and nodded in response, wanting to say so many things, 'I was too slow when Zanne got carried away, I wasn't quick enough to catch people falling off platforms, I just wasn't strong enough,' but he keeping it inside.

"It doesn't mean much when people say it was not your fault. I know I was not responsible for what Arcade did, only for what I do. But that is enough. I keep thinking that I should have been able to save Yvette from falling without abandoning Inez and the other boy. I think that we should have been able to find where the others were held instead of wrecking empty cells. If we had, perhaps we could have managed to regroup and locate Arcade...assuming he was ever there to begin with." He offered Julian a wry half-smile. "There's always more we could have done, isn't there? Even if it all turned out all right, that doesn't change things. And somehow, it is never anyone's fault but our own. Because we put them there, or we were supposed to be in charge, or just because they are our friends." Jean-Paul shook his head. "I know I do not hate you. I would bet you stupid amounts of money that the others do not either."

He was right, of course, and Julian nodded in understanding. "Part of me knows that, but...I want to get better with my abilities in case it happens again. I'm told stuff like this goes down here rather often around here." Julian returned his smile, "I'm tempted to take you up on that bet, though- Inez hates me, that I'm sure of." He sighed, "Silent treatment."

"Extenuating circumstances," the Canadian protested. "I have perhaps heard gossip that you were under claim by two parties before any of this." He reached over and scruffed Julian teasingly. "This is what you get for being the only boy in school." He sobered a bit. "You do not have to come along Thursday, but I hope you do. I know Yvette and Callie and the others will miss you if you are not there, and I think Lil plans to try and make me eat the live octopus with sake chasers. If it is too soon to mock the devil over the whole thing, though, that is all right too. Just do not go hermit on us, hm? That helps no one, least of all you."

Julian gave Jean-Paul a genuine smile and nodded in understanding, "I'll think about it." He knew he would probably end up going- a Sushi dinner wasn't something he'd had the opportunity to have since he was back out West. "Octopus you say," the boy had never aquired the taste for things with tentacles, "that's just unfortunate. My little brother told me that it's pretty good if you toss a little hot sauce on it, but he may have just been trying to get me to do something stupid."

"As I understand it, the alcohol shot is supposed to kill it before it can crawl back up your throat. Hmm. Perhaps I should rethink this. Koralina would strike me dead if I ate anything alive in front of her." Jean-Paul stretched a bit. "I suppose there are worse things than Diamond Lil thinking I am a wimp."

"I'm sure we'll both be getting nasty looks from Kare as she eats her tofu...though, veggie tempura is pretty good." Julian's mind was slowly changing- he still didn't know if he could handle seeing everyone together again, but maybe.... "Like I said, I'll let you know tomorrow if I'll be joining you- though...I haven't had sushi since around October." He shrugged and grumbled internally, knowing he'd probably go.

"Merci, I appreciate it. I'll let you get back to your reading now." Jean-Paul rose to his feet and headed for the door again. "Let me know if you need to talk."

"Thanks, Mister Beaubier," he picked up his book, "I will." Julian watched his teacher leave before he popped his ear buds in again and got back to his reading- knowing full well he'd be emailing Jean-Paul in the morning to RSVP.