Jake, Jean-Paul and Johnny (Backdated to May 30th)

[x-ricochet.livejournal.com]

Jake and Johnny meet; Jean-Paul wonders why Jake was ever allowed to be a guidance counselor.



After Shiro left, Jake had settled down to wait on Jean-Paul's couch with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. It had been a long time since he'd read any Dahl, which was a shame, really. He was halfway through "The Swan" when another knock sounded at the door.

He looked up, blinking at the source of interruption. It was tempting to let it go; after all, Jean-Paul still wasn't back. At the same time, however, it was possible someone was looking for him. And he was curious.

Book in hand, he padded over to the door and opened it. "Um. Hi?"

Jake was perhaps the last person Johnny expected to see as the door pulled back, his mind immediately returning to the previous Tuesday and their only standing encounter (if it could even be considered one). He was certain the familiar man had to have a name, but all he could think was: 'the cake guy'. "Hey." A small grin pulled at the edges of his lips, but he kept his amusement silent, instead voicing the only question that really made any sense between the two of them in the given circumstances, "...Is Mr. Beaubier here?"

"Not yet." Jake scratched the back of his head. "I think he'll be back soon." He regarded the kid in front of him curiously, then offered his hand. "I'm Jake."

There was the name. Johnny moved to take the extended hand briefly, "Johnny Gallo." The older man seemed different now, more subdued in these calmer surroundings, more uncertain and looking him over with a kind of curiosity he couldn't quite figure out. A fraction of his smile remained, though he wasn't sure what was holding it up anymore. Maybe the fact that he was about to ask the man for a favor. "...Think I can wait around? If he's not too long?"

"Sure," Jake said, holding the door open for him. The curiosity was replaced with sudden recognition at Johnny's name, the student slotting into the mental position created by some of the things Jean-Paul had told him. "You're the one with the dad," he said easily, as if he had said 'you're the kid from New York' or 'you're the sophomore.'

Johnny nodded, stepping into the room as Jake opened the door and coming close to thanking the man when the second statement silenced him. His brows sank partially in and for a moment he didn't know what to say, but only that he genuinely disliked that particular kenning. The one with the dad. He relented at last, doing his best not to frown, "...Yeah."

Jake blinked. "I mean..." He trailed off, at a loss, trying to figure out exactly what he'd just stepped in. Maybe the kid didn't know his dad was an idiot? "Sorry. I didn't mean it like--well, anything." He shrugged apologetically, searching for some way to make this less awkward. "I just heard he...has his moments."

It was clear from the look on Johnny's face that the more Jake talked, the worse things got. The shapeshifter sighed, rubbing at his mouth. "I can tell you incredibly awkward and embarrassing stories about my own dad? Some of them involve strippers."

If Jean-Paul had told the man anything about Darren, it seemed, he either hadn't been listening or he was a master of putting his foot in his mouth. Johnny looked at the man blankly as he continued on, still at an honest loss for how to respond and trying to keep the downward curve out of his lips. Jake's change of approach, however, couldn't help but coax a laugh out of the young man, leaving him to wonder just what kind of stories Jake did have and what sort of stories he thought he had. He relaxed a little, smiling loosely, "Um...if you want..."

Jake appeared to be mentally rifling through a number of stories, trying to decide which one was the best to start out with, when the handle of the door turned. Jean-Paul opened the door in time to see Jake and Johnny both look incredibly relieved. "Oh, thank god," Jake exclaimed. "I was about to have to tell Johnny about my bar mitzvah. And yes," he confirmed, looking at Johnny, "there were strippers involved. Well. A stripper. And my dad. Incredibly awkward and embarrassing, especially when you're thirteen years old."

Jean-Paul really should have been gone longer, but his powerset did make helping with teardown rather easy.

The Canadian gave an incredulous snort as Jake explained himself. "I turn my back for five minutes and you start corrupting my students. Shame on you, Jake; that is my job. You could at least offer him somewhere to sit first." Jean-Paul turned his attention back to the student in question. "Good morning, Johnny. I hope you are not looking for breakfast; I have already fed this bottomless pit today."

Johnny was glad to see Jean-Paul...albeit, not as glad as he would have been a few moments before, since he was now left to wonder about the awkward calamity that was Jake's bar mitzvah. Still, he grinned immediately, tucking his hands into his pockets, "While, I'd never turn down breakfast...that's not it. You said there was more to talk about with the trip, so I thought..." He trailed off, glancing briefly at Jake, then back again, "But if you guys have plans, I can come back."

Jake shrugged, glancing at Jean-Paul. "Nothing but reading, and I can do that while you two talk," he said, indicating the paperback he'd left on the coffee table. "Or I could probably find someone to play basketball with, if you'd rather I leave?"

"You can stay. Johnny and I are taking a short roadtrip up north to fetch my car in a week or so, that's all. We are just planning things out." Jean-Paul gave the boy a conspiratorial grin. "I think we are both eager to get out of New York state for a bit. Long semesters, you know."

The white-haired teen smiled back, though it was less a matter of playful wile and more a matter of genuine enthusiasm, bobbing his head in agreement and giving little thought to the fact that he'd only been at the institute for three months and attending class for less than that, "Definitely!"

Jake shook his head with a rueful smile. "As excited as you are, you'd think you guys were going further than Quebec." He gave Johnny his best Serious Look. "Just be careful," he warned, "I hear they cover everything in cheese curds and gravy up there."

Jean-Paul countered Jake's Serious Look with Death Glare. There were certain activities that did not need to be discussed around impressionable youths.

"Do not listen to the ridiculous man, Johnathan. He's just jealous that you get to meet my car before he does."

"Quebec's pretty far," Johnny replied honestly once Jake was finished and the Canadian was glaring into him, making two things apparent: the boy was very poorly traveled and fairly oblivious. The latter was probably a good thing. The teen grinned at Jean-Paul's comment, "Well, it would be quite a step up, since he's used to traveling by cake."

The shapeshifter blinked at the boy's assessment of the distance between Jean-Paul's current and former homes; 'pretty far' was a term Jake saved for trips involving multiple connecting flights, passport stamps, and continents. It was hard enough to wrap his brain around that he almost missed the teen's dig. "Fair enough," he laughed. "As comfortable as it may be, a cake can't hold a candle to a car that's made of sex."

"Not that you are ever going to see the inside of it. Why they ever made a man with no internal filter a guidance counselor is a mystery for the ages." Jean-Paul gripped a somewhat bewildered and blushing Johnny by the shoulders and steered him away. "Come along, Johnathan, we'll go talk in the kitchen. Jake, you sit here and read." Yes, there was definitely supposed to be an "Or else" at the end of that sentence.

The awkward teen gave no resistance to this abruptly forced departure, concentrating on nodding and trying to quell the uncertain color in his face as Jean-Paul guided him out of the room.