Jean-Paul and Jake

[x-cynosure.livejournal.com]

Jean-Paul and Jake go out for morning-after baked goods and talk about the possibility of redefining their relationship.



Jake had spent the night curled around Jean-Paul. He woke subdued and quiet when Jean-Paul started to get up, his heart no longer fluttering against his ribcage like a hummingbird, and pulled him back into bed for another hour of sleep with an exhausted lack of guile. Eventually, however, the need for food won out, and the speedster had been able to coax him out of bed with the promise of baked goods.

"I think you'll like this place," Jake said from behind a pair of dark sunglasses as they approached the bakery. It was the first sentence he'd volunteered without prompting since they'd woken up.

"You have yet to take me to a sub-par bakery. Questionable decor, yes, but that has little impact on the food."

Jean-Paul had thought that Jake would want him to cook, or at least go fetch breakfast, but Jake had insisted on going out. Apparently, the only thing that had a chance of curing his morning-after slump was a blueberry turnover right from the oven. Intellectually, Jean-Paul knew that he should be trying to apologize for his conduct the night before, or at least explaining what had bothered him. It was just difficult to turn his mind toward honesty that would put a damper on the morning when he knew that Jake was still oblivious that there had been anything amiss, and when Jean-Paul himself was already trying (and failing) not to be charmed by Jake's morning whims.

The girls behind the counter recognized Jake at once and made a happy fuss over him before taking their order. Jean-Paul kept his smirk to himself and retreated to a two-person table by the window with their food while poor, exhausted Jake collected a few more verbal pats and a comped apricot blondie.

"Have I mentioned before that you are utterly shameless?"

"Never," Jake deadpanned, not having the energy for much else. He took a sip of his coffee, which had been his other reason for wanting to come here; besides blueberry turnovers, the bakery had a house blend that was good enough to make occasional appearances in his dreams. He might live after all, he considered as he took a bite of his turnover. He glanced up at Jean-Paul. "How's yours?"

"Good." Hardly an effusive review, but accurate. "Listen...I am going to be taking off again for a bit. Nathan and I are heading out of the country this evening for more Elpis work. That should only take us a couple of days, but we are going to hit Tel Aviv on the way back so his people can make sure I am good enough for him." There was some teasing there. "If I get any version of The Talk, you may find a very grumpy, very tired, beach-deprived Beaubier on your fire escape a few days before we are officially due to come back."

Jake smiled a little wistfully at that. "I think I could be okay with that. I wouldn't mind someone else being the one to get The Talk for a change." His free hand slid across the table, fingers twining with Jean-Paul's. "If you come home early, we'll just have to find a nice beach to strand you on for a couple of days."

Jean-Paul squeezed Jake's hand minutely. "Are you sure I cannot convince you to meet us there?" He hoped that he was teasing, but, in all honesty, he wasn't quite sure. Wanting someone this much simply could not be healthy; already it made him a little dizzy and was frictioned unpleasantly against the emotional intimacy he was scared to ask for.

Jake smirked halfheartedly, fingers tightening around Jean-Paul's. "And make Nathan jealous? Surely, you jest." He shrugged. "Besides, I thought we decided we'd have more fun on a beach somewhere that didn't involve Nathan's ex-mercenary friends?" Because romantic getaway plans were the answer. Good job, Gavin.

"You are a mercurial creature. I thought I'd ask." Jean-Paul lifted Jake's hand to his lips for a kiss.

'Do it. Do you think this is going to get any better if you wait? For God's sake, you coward, just ask.'

"Jake...do you remember what we discussed the night after Jubilation caught me in your apartment? Could we revisit that when I get back?"

Jake blinked and paused mid-bite. "Which conversation was this?" There had been several, after all.

"The one classifying our non-relationship." Jean-Paul kept himself from letting out too deep a breath. "I...would like to figure out where we stand with each other these days."

Oh, that conversation. He chewed carefully, trying to find a balance between 'deer in the headlights' and 'the poker face that beat Domino.' It's not like he hadn't known this conversation was coming, as much as he'd pretended otherwise. "Sure," he said once he'd swallowed. "It's...probably a good idea."

"Merci. Sorry...I was not looking to ruin your breakfast."

Jake sighed at that, and now it was his turn to bring Jean-Paul's hand to his lips. "You didn't," he replied simply. He smirked suddenly, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "If you were trying to ruin my breakfast, making me feel wanted is a lousy way to go about that."

"Trust me, I want you so much right now it's making me question my state of mind," Jean-Paul answered. "Or at least how badly I really want to stop off at Tel Aviv."

The problem with the morning after was that the trade off for last night's euphoria was that today Jake simply didn't have the emotional depth that he really should have had for this conversation. He squeezed Jean-Paul's hand again, knowing he should feel touched, or panicked, or anything in between. Instead he just felt tired. He thought about trying to hide behind entendre, but instead reached for a joke instead. "I'm going to wake up to find that you've kidnapped me out of my bed and are flying me to Tel Aviv, aren't I?"

"Fear of your employers keeps me from anything so drastic. But expect a lot of communications that take no notice of time-zones."