Jean-Paul and Adrienne - Friday night

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

Adrienne goes to visit Jean-Paul, attempting to help with his relax and recoup regimen, and his company prompts her being able to relax herself for the first time in weeks.


Knocking on Jean-Paul's door, Adrienne sent silent prayers that Nathan wouldn't be around. She knew he'd been watching his friend very closely, and he couldn't be faulted for that, but the psychometrist couldn't bear to face him right now. She hadn't been sleeping well since her encounter with Wyngarde and her lesson in Black Court powermongering tactics, which made Nathan's disapproval even worse somehow. No matter what she tried to do, the subject of the Hellfire Club, how she was nothing except what they desired her to be, and whether or not she was willing to play their game were never far from her mind, affecting her sleep and her energy levels in general. And worse, she knew the strain was beginning to show. So she couldn't face Nathan, who, like Garrison had put the question of why she needed the Club at all into her head. Not now, when she couldn't come up with an answer that would satisfy even herself.

Except Jean-Paul was a sort of a friend, she supposed, and Adrienne did want to see him, knowing he'd been having a rough time recently. And she wanted to be with someone who knew nothing about her involvement with the Club, who wouldn't judge or question her motives.

Setting her jaw and telling herself she could face Nathan if she had to, Adrienne knocked again, one arm full of dvds and a bag of snacks.

The door opened to reveal Jean-Paul and let a few chords of quiet guitar music underlain with the coaxing strains of gentler strings float out past him to tease her ears. He seemed a little tired, but still...he looked himself.

"Adrienne."

Well, except for the inexplicable flicker of guilt across his face before he got himself under control.

"How are you?" he asked quickly. "It has been a while."

"It has," she smiled warmly. She'd seen the momentary change in his features, but didn't bring it up. "I'm sorry I haven't come before now." Now it was her turn to look guilty, but she offered no explanation. Blaming Nathan and Garrison for her absence sounded trite when she said it out loud. "I was very glad to hear that you're on the road to recovery, though. I thought I might bring you some eye candy while you're still recuperating." She put the stack of dvds on his coffee table, but made no motion to sit as she wasn't sure Jean-Paul would be up to visitors, especially considering the fact that it was already growing late in the evening. "Is that Vivaldi?"

Jean-Paul looked pleased. "One interpretation, yes. 'Concertos for Guitar and Recorder'. I was just chasing relaxation. Please have a...seat?" He'd caught sight of the dvd cover. Eye candy indeed. "Adrienne," he gasped, affecting a stunned expression, "what kind of man do you think I am?"

"A very sophisticated and cultured one... who just came back from what I hear was a rather hellish experience, and as such might need to... chase some relaxation. Take his mind off the rigors of daily life," she explained with an evil smirk, sitting down on the couch. "I suppose Vivaldi works, as well, though."

Jean-Paul laughed softly at her description of him. "It is nice to see that I still have most people fooled. Raymonde would be so proud. And amused as hell, I think. I will meet you halfway? The eye candy can stay in its pen and we will enjoy your snacks. I have some tea steeping if you would like a cup."

Adrienne smiled gratefully. Tea sounded wonderful. Especially tea with Jean-Paul, who didn't know what she'd been up to of late and thus wouldn't judge, the perfect person to relax with while listening to Vivaldi, with no sign of Nathan around. "I would, thank you." She sank into the couch and looked very weary all of a sudden. "You don't really have me fooled," she informed him matter-of-factly, opening the bag she'd brought and laying snacks out on the table. "I can see through your facade, but I wouldn't want to ruin your image." She was teasing, but also addressing something that had been preying on her mind lately, about people wearing masks around others, not letting anyone see who they really were underneath.

Another laugh as Jean-Paul headed for the kitchen. She was on a roll tonight -- the laughter even sounded genuine. "I assure you, madame, that you have nothing to worry about on that front. I believe I have done an admirable job of wrecking my image all on my own. I do it as a hobby these days." He returned shortly, balancing a wooden tray on one arm and a sugar bowl and milk pitcher on the opposite palm. "Cammie tells me you have been assisting her with her GED studies by way of bribes. I approve."

"That's me, using underhanded tactics to get what I want from people," she muttered. "You and I seem to have that in common," she added, since they both seemed to be in a self-deprecating mood tonight. "Wrecking our images, I mean." Of course, she hadn't actually done anything to wreck hers yet. She was just thinking about it, about what that image actually was, what she wanted it to be, and whether she wanted to destroy what she had.

"I was under the impression that you were quite upfront about the bribery," Jean-Paul responded lightly, pouring her a drink. He didn't name the blend, but it was pale amber with a sweet hint of jasmine beneath bolder ginger. "Though I must confess, there is a definite satisfaction in confounding everyone's expectations of you. I will carry to the grave that anyone who was still thinking of me as Quebec's most eligible bachelor by the time I officially came out needed the reality check anyway." He sipped from one of the identical cups, then looked up at Adrienne again. "But what image are you tearing down, if I may ask? I have not kept up with the local happenings as of late."

"Isn't bribery an underhanded tactic no matter how upfront one is about using it?" Adrienne questioned. She sipped at her tea and closed her eyes, letting the warm liquid envelope her senses. She paused for a long time, enjoying being in the comforting safety of Jean-Paul's suite rather than her empty, cold, memory-plagued penthouse. "It hasn't been in the local happenings," she explained finally, not wanting to go into enough detail that he would feel the need to chastise her about it, but finding that she very much wanted to get some of it off her chest. "I'm merely contemplating it, at this stage. Tearing down the misconception people had about me being a good person, I mean. That's where you and I differ, though. Your image gets wrecked when you try to do the right thing, mine when I consciously decide to do what everyone else here would agree is the wrong thing."

"Only if it is explicitly forbidden. I do not recall any rule against non-students being bribed into better performance in the school's code of conduct." Jean-Paul observed Adrienne over the rim of his cup, how slowly relaxation seemed to come to her. "This would have to be a very big thing, I imagine." His tone was gentle. "What are you contemplating? Most importantly, is it worth the price?"

"If I tell you," she muttered, eyes still closed, "you're going to lecture me, and then I'm gonna have to leave." And go back to her empty, cold, memory-filled penthouse. The thought gave her a shudder. She hated it there. "Honestly, I don't know if it's worth the price. That's why I haven't done anything yet. Can we drop it?" she pleaded, opening her eyes to stare at him. "I'd rather hear about you. How are you doing? Who's Raymonde?"

"I have been better," Jean-Paul confessed, allowing the former topic to drop, though tucking it away for later examination in the back of his mind. "Learning to cope with the waking nightmares, mostly relying on Nathan's help for the ones that keep me up nights. But no one ever said healing was easy. Or complete." He stole a cookie from the snack selection and dipped one corner into his tea. "Raymonde was my guardian when I was younger, and the only decent parent I can remember." A slight smile quirked the edges of his lips. "Not everyone is up for taking in a suspicious street brat and trying to turn him into a civilized human being. I think he did a fairly good job, considering what he had to work with."

"Nightmares? Shit, maybe it's an epidemic." Adrienne mused. She took her own cookie and chased it down with a brownie. Sugar was good for energy, right? And she'd definitely been low on that lately. "I'd say he did a great job," she smiled. "And it seems to me like not every street brat would allow himself to be turned into a civilized human being, so obviously he did have something fairly extraordinary to work with. Was it just you and him, or did he have other children?"

Jean-Paul snorted a quiet laugh. "Technically it was just the two of us. Practically speaking, it takes Le village to raise a child. Not to mention the madwoman practically living in the kitchen downstairs. I do not think he lacked for advice." The second question chased any hint of fond recollection from his face, replacing it with a quiet anger. "One other. The result of a past...indiscretion. He did not know she existed until she was grown, but he tried to make amends. She repaid this by planning his death." Jean-Paul drained his cup and moved to refill it. "She is still in prison, I understand."

"Planning?" Adrienne asked tentatively. "So... not succeeding?"

"No, she succeeded. Or failed, depending on your point of view." Jean-Paul leaned back into the couch. "To be precise, she was plotting to kidnap and ransom him to the hotshot skiing champion. Her plan went wrong. These things happen when you hire a sociopath with a death touch to be your muscle. If I had known what he was at the time, I would not have hesitated and Raymonde would not be dead." His mind nagged at him that such was not necessarily true and got less certain with every year -- Raymonde had been nearly old enough to be his grandfather when the two of them had first met, after all. As always, he dismissed that as an unimportant detail. "Suffice to say," he quipped wryly, "I was happier as an only child."
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"I'm sorry," Adrienne said genuinely. She didn't reach out to touch Jean-Paul, but hoped the concern showed on her face clearly enough. "You don't have any family anymore?"

"A long-lost twin sister who is currently lost again. Maybe she will turn up again some day, maybe not." He let his eyes drift shut. "It is a long story that involves explaining multiple automobile collisions, very stupid smart men, and the presence of certain scars. It will require more tea."

"I don't know if I can stay awake for more tea and a convoluted story," Adrienne admitted, "and I don't know if you can either. Some fun I am, coming over to keep someone company and nearly falling asleep on their couch." She hadn't even been there that long- her level of exhaustion almost didn't make sense, even though she hadn't been sleeping well due to nightmares. She'd had nightmares before, just as bad as the ones she kept having now, and she hadn't been this exhausted. "Shit, I must be getting old. Can I stay here with you?"

Jean-Paul opened one eye. "If you wish. I certainly have no complaints about the company. There is the couch, if you want it, and the spare bedroom if you prefer more in the way of privacy. Either way, my bad dreams should not bother you. They are not the 'wake up screaming' sort, thankfully."

"Mine are," she mumbled, her head falling onto Jean-Paul's shoulder sleepily. "But maybe I won't have any tonight."