xp_logs | Jean-Paul and Adrienne

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Jean-Paul and Adrienne meet over breakfast and discuss Jake.

She'd been staring into the fridge for so long that her arms were breaking out in goosebumps from the chill, but Adrienne failed to notice, preoccupied by her own thoughts. Not hungry, she couldn't decide on anything she wanted to eat, but knew she had to try to eat, and eat in the kitchen where she could be seen so that she wouldn't raise suspicions that she was upset about anything, hiding away in her room as she had been a lot lately.

Jean-Paul trailed into the kitchen, dressed for his morning run and thoroughly soaked from the weather. Summer in New York state was entirely miserable, he'd decided. The only improvement it had over Canada was the lack of botflies. He caught sight of the woman standing before the fridge and, for a moment, considered turning around and heading back out, but then stepped on the idea. It was early, he was hungry, and he was not going to play these ridiculous games.

"Bonjour, Adrienne. Is breakfast being elusive?"

Jumping at the sound of his voice, Adrienne backed away from the fridge. She hadn't even heard the speedster come in. "Bonjour, Monsieur Beaubier. Yes, it is, actually. Nothing seems to be appealing this morning. Were you running, or working out?" she questioned conversationally, leaning against the counter so she could ponder food without blocking his access to the fridge.

"One and the same." Jean-Paul shrugged lightly and raked the raindrops from his hair with a quick swipe of his hand. "I was planning to cook. If you do not mind trusting the menu to me, you are welcome to join."

"Are you kidding?" Adrienne asked, momentarily brightening. "Why would I have any reason to distrust you where food is involved?" She sat on one of the counters, trying to stay out of Jean-Paul's way. "As long as it doesn't involve chocolate, I'd love to join," she added, half to herself.

"Beware gym freaks bearing gifts," the speedster said, leading the way up the stairs to his suite. "For all you know, I intend to feed you wheat germ and lemon-grass juice. This will have to be vegetarian, I think? Do you eat eggs?"

The psychometrist followed him up the stairs. "I'll eat eggs, sure," she answered with a smile. "And you forget, Monsieur, I used to be a model. Wheat germ and lemon-grass juice were the sorts of things that were staple meal items while I was younger. And cigarettes," she chuckled. "I don't think I truly began to appreciate food until I met Jake Gavin- you know him, yes?" Adrienne thought she remembered a journal conversation or two, but wasn't entirely sure. She hadn't been following them very closely lately.

"I am getting to know him, yes." Jean-Paul managed to keep a straight face and neutral tone. "We have been doing the bakery tour for the last couple of weeks. He is quite a lot of fun once you get used to the idea that he has no dignity whatsoever." Their arrival at the suite was greeting by hopeful squeaks from the rodent high-rise. "Plus tard," he said firmly. "J'ai un invité aujourd'hui." To Adrienne, "Will oatmeal, eggs, and fruit do?"

Adrienne eyed the rats cautiously. "Uh... did you want me to do something with them? Do they want food or something?" She tore her eyes away from the high rise and back to Jean-Paul. "Sounds great. Getting to know him?" she questioned, curiously. It was sort of an odd phrase, wasn't it? Wouldn't most people just say they were friends, or that they were hanging out or something? Maybe it was the translation Jean-Paul was thinking of from French that made it sound strange.

Jean-Paul shook his head. "They want me to let them out for some playtime. That does not typically happen unless I know the company does not mind and never when I am cooking." He started water boiling on the stove, then went to work slicing bananas and pineapples, giving himself a few seconds to consider his answer. He knew that Adrienne had been dating Jake. Morgan knew that he knew Adrienne was dating Jake and also that he had an interest in Jake as more than just a friend, but it did not necessarily follow that she'd passed this information on to Adrienne. And then, again, there was the simple fact that playing these games was more trouble than it was worth. "We have spent a couple of nights together," Jean-Paul clarified.

"You... you slept with him?" Adrienne tried to keep her voice level but she ended on a higher tone than she'd started on. "I... sorry," she said, shaking her head after a moment. "It's none of my business." She went over to the rat habitat for lack of anything else to distract her. "It's just... I thought I was dating him until Thursday, and you've already..." she chuckled to herself. Jake had moved on very fast. Not that he had anything to move on from. They hadn't really been in much of a relationship, after all. "I was stupid to think we had anything special," she chastised herself. It hadn't been anything more than casual in the end, Adrienne supposed. Still, it didn't seem fair that he'd already moved on to someone she admired as much as Jean-Paul while she was still moping about Jake ending things. But when was anything fair? "You two seem well-suited to each other," she said with a nod and as generous a smile as she could muster.

"Too similar by half, I think. But we will see what comes of it, if anything." Jean-Paul looked up from his food prep, debating on if he should say anything more. This would have been easier if he didn't consider Adrienne a friend. Of course, if he had not, then they would have been doing this in the kitchen. "I went to see him Thursday night and he...was very unsettled. I do not say this to place blame - he did not want to talk about what happened, so I do not know. But he seemed to need someone."

Adrienne nodded. "I'm glad you were there with him. He... lost his arm," she explained, figuring that if Jean-Paul was sleeping with him then he deserved the heads-up. "While we were... in bed. I... handled it badly. The blame is mine. Apparently I have big hideous trauma," she grinned wryly. "I was willing to try to move past said trauma, but he did not wish to continue seeing me. Which will be best for all in the long run." Shrugging, she returned to the kitchenette, smiling at Jean-Paul. "Because now you and he are together, and that amuses me, because you're both very cute, and I imagine the discussions about food are amazing when you two get together."

"Name someone here who does not." Jean-Paul offered her a faint smile in return, along with a plate of artfully arranged fruit slices. "But I am still not looking out for blame. We cannot all be jaded all the time, hm? Some things still get under the skin. Still, I am glad you are not upset with me. I am sure it would affect negotiations with the milk council," he teased.

"Of course I'm not upset," Adrienne said with another smile, taking a slice of pineapple. "I never planned on keeping him very long anyway." She chewed thoughtfully. "I'm not sure about that jaded thing- not being jaded all the time, I mean. But it would be nice to try it. And the milk council negotiations are completely wrapped up. I have a shoot for you arranged for two weeks," she deadpanned.

"I suppose I will have to get into acceptable shape again, hm?" Jean-Paul dropped butter and a cup of steel-cut oats into a saucepan and left the oats to toast for a bit. "Showing honest emotion is so trying, though," he mused. "I could not possibly have the energy to get through the day like that. This is how we manage to stay sane and productive."

Shrugging, the psychometrist took another slice of pineapple. She wasn't exactly feeling better, but there was no point in moping in front of Jean-Paul. She didn't want to act like a loser. "You look to be in pretty good shape to me, and I'm sure Jake can help you exercise," she smirked unabashedly.