Monet and Jake - Sunday evening

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Monet and Jake catch up with imported beer, imported chocolate, and imported snark.



Monet knocked on what she hoped was Jake's door, green bag with a pair of Red Tulip eggs and a rabbit left over from Easter hanging off one arm. Well, if it wasn't his, she could probably use her feminine wiles - or, more probably - one of the eggs as a bribe to get Wanda to let her know where Jake actually was.

At that moment, Jake was coming out of the stairwell, a bag full of groceries in one hand and a six-pack of cold beer in the other. His face lit up in a smile as he caught sight of a familiar explosion of hair standing in front of his apartment.

"Trust you to show up at the same time as the beer," he teased. "Did you at least bring chocolate?"

"Course I did. Did you bring good beer or American crap?" Monet smiled at Jake and gave him a one armed hug, carefully avoiding clocking him with her bag. "Dude, it's good to have you have back."

He shifted the beer to the hand holding the groceries and one-arm-hugged her back. "Would I buy crap American beer?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in feigned offense. "Please." He dug out a set of keys and let Monet into the apartment. "And it's good to be back, I think. I hadn't quite realised how much I missed the madhouse until I returned. Even if it is still a madhouse," he added.

"I didn't think you would, but it's always better to be sure." Monet took the beers and looked around, faintly horrified by Jake's decor. "It's still a madhouse. I don't think it can possibly be anything else." She twisted the cap off one beer and set it on the bench beside her before opening one for Jake. Glancing down at the bottle, she sighed. "These weren't twist tops, were they?"

"Oh, stop. 'Oops! I accidentally used my superpowers just to remind you how awesome I am!'" he mocked in a singsong voice, setting the groceries down. "Yes, yes, yes, we all know you're special. At least when I can't find my bottle opener." He grinned at the tongue Monet stuck out at him as he took his beer. "So, other than getting the Danger Room dropped on you--and how you managed that, I'm not sure I want to know--how've you been?"

"There was a drone and I smacked the wrong part of the wall with it," Monet said, shrugging. She stepped to one side and staggered slightly, catching herself on the bench. "Otherwise, y'know. Goodgood. Save the world. Argue with Xavier's teenyboppers. Convince Morgan to go clubbing looking like me... How about you, mate?"

He raised an eyebrow at the stumble. "Did you start drinking without me?"

"Would I do that to you, babe?" Monet shook her head. "Nah, it turns out that my idiot disowned brother tried to steal my body a couple years back. Only, Marius was a fucking moron, cocked it up and left me with this. And I can't be trusted to use the good china any more because of him. Fucker."

"Marius? And to think, he was such a good boy," Jake said dryly. "Come on," he said, gesturing to the couch. "Sit down before you start making me feel sympathy or something equally no fun." He softened the last with a smile. "So was he after your powers, or just envious of your stunning beauty?"

"This was the other Marius. The one daddy disowned just before whatserface had her kid, who he called Marius, as well." It was never going to sound less complicated. "Seriously, if Dad was able think of a second male name, this would be so much less complicated." Monet settled on the couch. "My powers were a bonus. Mostly, he wanted revenge for being disowned like twenty years earlier and a body without maladaptive powers," she said. "Still, you haven't told me anything yet. Why are you back here?"

"Who would've thought when Marius and I were at school that I would turn out to be the good one?" he mused idly, sitting down next to her. He shrugged. "Came back here looking for work, really. Mother and Devi had a hissy and threw Dad and I out of Infonet."

"Dude. That really sucks." Monet patted his knee. "I've heard having a real job is awful. I decided that it was really just simpler to work for Nate. What would I do without the bi-annual shoot at the Elpis employee sessions? I'm guessing Pete and co snaffled you up and promised you interesting times and fun with Jubilee?"

"There are, y'know, rewards and...things..." he gestured vaguely, "to earning an honest living, especially when it's a good one. But I liked my job quite a bit, and I'm a workaholic, whereas most people don't meet either of those criteria." He shrugged. "I don't know that I've been 'snaffled'--is that even a word?--but I have been promised that Remy'll cut me into tiny little pieces if I fuck up." He grinned. "Not quite as fun as getting shot at for Nate, but very few things are, I'll wager. How's the Elpis thing going, anyway?"

"You were snaffled." Mone nodded firmly. "Oh, you know. Boring paperwork, trips in the field, lots of 'oh fuck, now we're being shot at'. And then even more boring paperwork," she said lightly.

He laughed and nudged her with one knee. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you, my dear, went and got a Real Job when you weren't looking." He grinned, raising his beer in a salute. "Welcome to the working world. Now, weren't you supposed to ply me with chocolate? I distinctly recall being bribed."

"No, it's not a real job if one of your coworkers thinks she's a cat." She was sticking to that or else. shifting around on the couch, Monet made a pathetic attempt to reach the bag. "Jaaaake! It's over there!"

He let her squirm for a moment, taking the opportunity to finish his beer, before he heaved an overly dramatic sigh and stood. "You're incorrigible, you know that?" He snagged another pair of bottles from the six pack and handed them to her before retrieving the bag. "Here, Human Bottle Opener. Practice your superpowers."

He dropped back down next to her and upended the bag on the couch on his far side, where Monet couldn't reach. "Come to me, my pretty little imported chocolates." Selecting one, he began to peel the foil off. "Did you know you can't get Cadbury in the States? I keep forgetting it's only Hershey's, then I buy some and end up horribly disappointed."

"Ta." Monet nodded and openeed the beers. "I know! I keep getting upset about that. But at least Mum and Granddad and Aunty Tanekka keep me supplied with the good stuff. They get a bit worried about me being over here on my own and all so they send stuff over via Granddad - he doesn't mind, since he doesn't have to come over himself in winter. Just sends bags through, instead." She selected the rabbit and snapped its head off before picking away pieces of foil.

"You should talk them into sending extra for me," Jake replied through a mouthful of chocolate. "Or at least into sending extra for you to bribe me with--I'm sure I could come up with something to get you to pay me off on a regular basis."

"Won't be hard. I think Mum remembers you in a not entirely horrified sort of way."

"Which is amazing, considering all the trouble I got Marius into. Or out of," he considered. "Maybe that's why she likes me. That, and the fact that I'm stunningly handsome."

"Sorry to break it to you, babe, but this current face is really just not all that handsome." Monet shook her head. "Get some better cheekbones and we'll talk. Mum always said you were too damn charming for your own good, but she liked you, so..."

"Hey!" Jake pelted her with the wrapper from his chocolate egg. "I am too pretty. Lots of people think so. We can't all have the St. Croix cheekbones, you know." He popped the rest of the chocolate in his mouth. "'Course, your mom might be right about how charming I am."

Monet flailed her hands in the air, trying to catch the balled up tin foil. Picking it up off the floor, she tossed it back at him. "She is, but we love you for it."

He grinned, blinking as the foil bounced off of his forehead. "I suppose being devilishly charming is better than stunningly handsome--the latter I can always change."

"Yep. Want to be charming and get me another beer?" Monet asked.

"I don't think that's how it's supposed to work," Jake said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Besides, can't you levitate or something? I think you should show off a bit more and float over there to get us more beer."

"Fine. Fine. Whatever." Monet slowly floated off the couch and drifted over to the kitchen, where she collected the last two bottles. Giving herself a gentle push off, she floated back to the couch with the intent of landing back in her seat. She missed and hit the floor with a solid thump.

Jake peered over the edge of the couch at her. "Now I know you started drinking without me," he smirked. "That, or it's a cunning ploy to make me get us refills next time. Get up here with my beer, woman."

"Fine. Whatever, bitch." Monet float back onto the couch and handed Jake his drink.