Johnny and Jean-Paul
Apr. 17th, 2009 02:58 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsJean-Paul returns home and runs into Johnny; the two greet each other by being pleasantly dishonest.
Jean-Paul sighed as he made his way through the woods, staying away from the paths. It had felt odd trying to settle back into the suite, which was ridiculous. He hadn't been gone for so long, not even two full weeks, and yet coming back made him tense up all over again. He could only imagine the state he'd be in if he hadn't taken Nate up on his offer of time on the island. It was just for one night, though. He had work to catch up on tomorrow. Soon classes would start again and he'd be able to concentrate on his work and his students.
As chance would have it, Jean-Paul would have a student to concentrate on sooner than he thought. Somewhere ahead in the dark, spindly, winter-worn trees he heard a snap and a familiar voice crying out in shock as he found his feet suddenly held up by nothing at all.
The reaction was instinctive; Jean-Paul zipped ahead and caught the falling boy before he'd even had a chance to identify who he was. The mid-air catch saved Johnny from going splat, but didn't keep his flailing target from smacking him in the jaw with an elbow.
"Monsieur Gallo," Jean-Paul remarked dryly as he sank back to earth. "Tell me you are not trying to fly as well."
Johnny slammed into the man with a stiff grunt, too disoriented even with his frame’s sudden stillness to prevent his elbow from striking his savior squarely in the jaw. The connection left him with immediate tension and a pitiful, scrambling excuse right on the tip of his tongue…until he realized whose arms he was resting in. His features lit up. “You’re back!”
"And just in time, it would seem." Jean-Paul set Johnny back on his feet, smiling despite himself. "How have things been here?"
“My hero, as per usual,” the boy chimed easily, relieved to be back on his own feet rather than sprawled out in the heavy dirt and scattered grass. He kept his smile on, opting to keep the difficulties of the previous week to himself. He didn’t want to think on it again any more than he wanted to burden Jean-Paul with it. He was just home after all. “Aside from almost getting K.O.ed by a tree, I can’t complain. It’s been weird around here without you though.”
"If my return is any sort of herald to normalcy, then I fear we are all doomed," the speedster remarked. As he'd expected, Johnny fell into step as he started walking again. As much as he and Nate joked about each other's "strays", Johnny did often remind him of a pup looking for approval. "Getting along with your roommates?"
So long as he earned that approval, he probably wouldn’t even mind the comparison either. Johnny smiled, “We hung out a little more over the break. They’re good guys. Even if they won’t make breakfast.” He paused a moment, tucking his hands into his coat pockets and looking up at the older mutant, “What about you? Did everything work out okay in Quebec?”
"As well as could be expected." Jean-Paul had rehearsed the fiction in his mind often enough that it came easily; he even managed to keep his smile. "I only stayed in Quebec a couple of days, then Nathan invited me to unwind at his home in Scotland. I did not have better offers, so I went. It was good for me, I think. Very...quiet. It gave me time to think about things."
Johnny seemed relieved of some silent stress Jean-Paul hadn’t noticed until now. Oblivious as the boy was, the circumstances of the older mutant’s sudden departure had left even him with concern. But he didn’t question the lie whatsoever, seeming to trust the man as easily as he had the day they met. “I’m glad.”
"Of course," Jean-Paul went on, "a few days of that, and then I was ready to come back here. Too much peace and quiet does a number on us restless types."
The white-haired teen didn’t show any signs of doubting this either. He nodded along with the false statement he could identify so well with, “Maybe a little is good, but I think too much of that just makes it worse. For anyone. After what happened with Darren and…” He shook his head, resolving to drop the matter for both their sakes.
This resolution came with a fresh smile and Johnny added playfully, “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t get any of it.”
Jean-Paul laughed softly, the sole, genuine expression in their exchange. "You're all heart, Jonathan. Truly."
Jean-Paul sighed as he made his way through the woods, staying away from the paths. It had felt odd trying to settle back into the suite, which was ridiculous. He hadn't been gone for so long, not even two full weeks, and yet coming back made him tense up all over again. He could only imagine the state he'd be in if he hadn't taken Nate up on his offer of time on the island. It was just for one night, though. He had work to catch up on tomorrow. Soon classes would start again and he'd be able to concentrate on his work and his students.
As chance would have it, Jean-Paul would have a student to concentrate on sooner than he thought. Somewhere ahead in the dark, spindly, winter-worn trees he heard a snap and a familiar voice crying out in shock as he found his feet suddenly held up by nothing at all.
The reaction was instinctive; Jean-Paul zipped ahead and caught the falling boy before he'd even had a chance to identify who he was. The mid-air catch saved Johnny from going splat, but didn't keep his flailing target from smacking him in the jaw with an elbow.
"Monsieur Gallo," Jean-Paul remarked dryly as he sank back to earth. "Tell me you are not trying to fly as well."
Johnny slammed into the man with a stiff grunt, too disoriented even with his frame’s sudden stillness to prevent his elbow from striking his savior squarely in the jaw. The connection left him with immediate tension and a pitiful, scrambling excuse right on the tip of his tongue…until he realized whose arms he was resting in. His features lit up. “You’re back!”
"And just in time, it would seem." Jean-Paul set Johnny back on his feet, smiling despite himself. "How have things been here?"
“My hero, as per usual,” the boy chimed easily, relieved to be back on his own feet rather than sprawled out in the heavy dirt and scattered grass. He kept his smile on, opting to keep the difficulties of the previous week to himself. He didn’t want to think on it again any more than he wanted to burden Jean-Paul with it. He was just home after all. “Aside from almost getting K.O.ed by a tree, I can’t complain. It’s been weird around here without you though.”
"If my return is any sort of herald to normalcy, then I fear we are all doomed," the speedster remarked. As he'd expected, Johnny fell into step as he started walking again. As much as he and Nate joked about each other's "strays", Johnny did often remind him of a pup looking for approval. "Getting along with your roommates?"
So long as he earned that approval, he probably wouldn’t even mind the comparison either. Johnny smiled, “We hung out a little more over the break. They’re good guys. Even if they won’t make breakfast.” He paused a moment, tucking his hands into his coat pockets and looking up at the older mutant, “What about you? Did everything work out okay in Quebec?”
"As well as could be expected." Jean-Paul had rehearsed the fiction in his mind often enough that it came easily; he even managed to keep his smile. "I only stayed in Quebec a couple of days, then Nathan invited me to unwind at his home in Scotland. I did not have better offers, so I went. It was good for me, I think. Very...quiet. It gave me time to think about things."
Johnny seemed relieved of some silent stress Jean-Paul hadn’t noticed until now. Oblivious as the boy was, the circumstances of the older mutant’s sudden departure had left even him with concern. But he didn’t question the lie whatsoever, seeming to trust the man as easily as he had the day they met. “I’m glad.”
"Of course," Jean-Paul went on, "a few days of that, and then I was ready to come back here. Too much peace and quiet does a number on us restless types."
The white-haired teen didn’t show any signs of doubting this either. He nodded along with the false statement he could identify so well with, “Maybe a little is good, but I think too much of that just makes it worse. For anyone. After what happened with Darren and…” He shook his head, resolving to drop the matter for both their sakes.
This resolution came with a fresh smile and Johnny added playfully, “But don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t get any of it.”
Jean-Paul laughed softly, the sole, genuine expression in their exchange. "You're all heart, Jonathan. Truly."
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