xp_logs | Nathan and Jake, Saturday afternoon (Reply)

Jake gets an unwelcome visitor with a very unusual proposition.

The knock on Jake's door was very firm - not quite pounding, but almost. "Gavin!" a very familiar voice barked from beyond the door. "Open this damned door before I break it down."

"I'm not home," Jake responded. He was tempted to let Nathan stew in the hallway, but he had the feeling the man would follow through on his threat. He opened the door, resigned to whatever fate Nathan had cooked up for him. "What?"

Nathan's eyebrows drew together alarmingly. "Are you going to let me in," he inquired softly, "or do we have to have this conversation out in the hall?"

Jake tilted his head, trying to decide how serious Nathan was being. Unfortunately, the man was either very, very serious or very, very good. He couldn't think of anything he'd done that the other man would be angry about, but then again, there were plenty of perfectly reasonable things that he'd done in the past that Nathan hadn't liked. He sighed. "Sure, come in." It's possible he could make it to the window before Nathan stopped him, if he had to.

Right. Because an open window would be difficult for a telekinetic to shut. Dammit.

Nathan waited until Jake had shut the door behind them to drop the act. "So," he said, all amiability now. "Someone has a birthday coming up. Did you know that?"

"I hate you the most." Jake sighed. "You know, if you do that every time you come over, I'm not--" He blinked. "Wait, who?"

"Jean-Paul's birthday. Soon. So I had the most amusing idea." Nathan's eyes were almost dancing. It was a very alarming sight, even more than the shark-like grin he gave Jake as he sat down on the couch. "Want to hear about it?"

"Probably not," Jake replied warily. He looked around, realizing that once again there was nowhere to sit except on the couch with Nathan. He really needed to get some chairs in here. "But I'd guess that it's probably better that I know ahead of time, because I have the feeling you're not going to give me much choice in the matter. Am I right?"

"Oh, heavens no. You have all the choice in the world," Nathan assured him with all evidence of sincerity. "I would never force you to do anything, Jacob. Plus it involves cake."

"Choice is a funny word." He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the door. "What are you up to?"

Nathan shrugged, still smiling. "I want you to pop out of a cake at Jean-Paul's birthday," he said simply.

Jake's jaw actually dropped. "You're joking."

"You do remember what he did for my birthday. I think a little payback is in order." Nathan's lips were still twitching. "Besides, I bet it would be fun. You could even be fully clothed - we really ought to keep it PG-13."

"This in retaliation for a well-attended party where beautiful people did body shots off of each other?" Jake's mouth quirked in a smile despite himself. "You have strange notions of revenge."

"Strange but entertaining. Tell me I'm wrong." For the first time in their respectably long acquaintance, Nathan actually gave Jake Gavin the infamous puppy-dog look. "And imagine his face. Come on."

Jake blinked, then laughed. "Are you actually trying to use my own tricks against me?" He uncrossed his arms, drumming his fingers on the door for a second. "What exactly am I supposed to do, anyway--jump out and sing 'Happy Birthday Mr. President'?"

"You can do whatever your devious little heart desires. So long as by the end of it, he can't speak for laughing." Nathan was wearing a rather smug little smile at this point. Victory was his; he could sense it.

A sigh. "And if I say no, you'll mention this idea to Wanda and she'll pester me to death until I agree." His eyes narrowed. "If I do this, what's in it for me?"

"I'll owe you a favor," Nathan said without hesitation. Because while he wouldn't put it past Jake to think of asking for something uncomfortable and/or embarassing in return, he trusted that the younger man had enough self-preservation to know that once all debts were paid, all bets were off.

Jake regarded him for a moment, then shook his head again, rubbing at his eyes in the vain hope that maybe this was all just a stress-induced hallucination. "I can't believe I'm going to let you talk me into this."

"Oh, stop protesting so much." The shark's grin was back. "You know it's going to be fun."

"I really hate you, you know."