Julian and Johnny

[x-ricochet.livejournal.com]

Julian and Johnny catch up. Upon realizing the sorry mood of their suite as a whole, they attempt to come up with a solution.



Curiosity as to the comic's owner had originally inspired Johnny to pick up the copy of Fables that had been left on the coffee table in the common room, but flipping through the early pages had left him curious about something else and by late afternoon he was almost halfway through the trade. The white-haired teen had taken up residence on their couch, his slim body not even making it from one end to the other and his sneakers resting lazily against the edge of its arm. He could still track down the owner and return it when he was done, right? It was an entertaining story and an apt distraction...even if it did have girls in it.

Behind the closed door that led to Julian and Fred's room, the only suite mate Johnny had who actually had money to his name was searching through a pile of dirty clothes. "Damnit, come on," he muttered as he, finally, reached the carpeted floor. With a sigh he slowly got to his feet, pulling his blankets tighter around him. The search had been in vain as he knew right where the trade paper-back was. The past three days he'd resorted to cycling through the five volumes of Fables over and over again. Last night he'd dared to venture outside the safe and cozy confines of his room into the common area of the suite, but quickly found himself succumbing to exhaustion and trodding off to bed. Since the first volume of the series wasn't in the room...it had to be out there.

With a cautious peak out the door, Julian didn't see anyone at first. Slowly he tip-toed out into the open and toward the couch he'd occupied the night before, his attention focused on Johnny and Nick's room door. For the second time in so few hours, he was inattentive enough not to notice someone only a few feet away. He jumped a little bit as he spotted the white haired boy on the couch, "Jesus, Johnny, you scared me."

Johnny blinked, looking up at him from behind the comic and grinning a sheepish and unspoken apology. His own surprise had been mild at best, his mind unconsciously tipped off by the sound of the door and of the approaching steps, though his attention had been focused on what he was reading. Even his danger sense had remained quiet, though it was sending uncertain little jolts along his nerves now that he was face to face with a startled mutant with unpracticed bits of electricity aching to spark from his fingers. He sat up, leaning against the back of the couch and looking at the older teen, teasing through a small concern, "You remember three other people live here, right?" Julian really had been on edge lately.

"Of course I do," he jibed back, nervously taking a step back and shutting his eyes while he pulled the static back into his hands. "I've just been avoiding you guys a while is all." He paused, then, "Well, except Fred of course, he doesn't seem to mind a little electricity hitting him in his sleep."

The younger teen didn't allow himself to frown at this familiar tactic or to watch Julian force his foreign power back into line (at least not too intently), answering slowly, "Yeah. I noticed. Nobody's threatened to throw me through a wall in weeks." Johnny closed to comic, holding it in both hands and flipping absently through the pages. "...How're you holding up?"

With a sniffle and a shrug, Jules gave Johnny a non-committal, relaxed, "Nyah." He nodded toward the comic, quickly changing the comic in the white-haired-teen's hands, "You reading that?"

It wasn't an encouraging response, but it carried a fairly blatant message, particularly when followed by such a rapid change of topic. Johnny complied somewhat unwillingly, dropping his eyes briefly to the book and giving a thin smile, "Yeah. It's pretty good, too. Just found it sitting out here, but I'm not sure whose it is. Is it on loan from Dori or something?"

"Actually no, I've got the first five of them in my room. I was going to pick up another at the comic shop last week, but...yeah." He looked back down at the floor for a moment before looking Johnny in the eye again, "Doreen did think I would like it though. You should come with us sometime, man."

"Seriously?" There was no judgment in Johnny's tone, just a genuine curiosity. He and Eddie used to read comics all the time (albeit, typically of the more spandex-clad crime fighter variety), but it just wasn't the sort of thing he associated with Julian Keller, at least not beyond his friendship with a certain puffy-tailed teammate. But that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the fact. He smiled, "Sure! I'll tag along if you guys want the company, but I can't really afford that stuff. The occasional bootleg cbr file is about all my funds will allow."

Julian gave an understanding nod, not entirely sure what Johnny was talking about. "Excellent, I'll," he shrugged, "text you or something before we go. My understanding is that the virus is supposed to wear off soon...can't say that I'll miss it." With a smile he hurriedly tucked his hands back under the blankets, "How've you been doing?"

"Glad to hear it," Johnny said, stifling the shock that Julian had kept this detail to himself until now, despite a genuine happiness for his classmate. The way everyone had been acting, he'd have expected them to be shouting such pleasant news from the rooftops. "How soon is 'soon'?"

"Me?" the white-haired teen replied as he found the inquiry turned around on himself. His distraction gone and his attention focused again on the previous days, he found himself fighting back an unhappy blush. Between his time spent with Lil and Catseye, what could he possibly say? "...All right, I guess," he concluded finally, smile still stretched across his lips, but with a far more sheepish curve to it.

"Soon. What about Nick?" he was curious to see how things had gotten on around here without him. Knowing that Fred was a little sad that Callie was avoiding contact, he wondered if this was to be a summer of heart break. Something about the hesitation in Johnny's answer told him that his white haired friend wasn't being completely honest.

Johnny hesitated a second time. "Well...I haven't seen much of him lately. He seems to have taken the 'avoiding you guys' approach from the New Mutants' playbook." His expression was uncertain, but laced with some amount of optimism as he offered more insight on the matter than he had intended, "Hopefully talking to Cats will help."

A quirked eye brow was his suite-mate's only response for a moment. "So, Fred is down about Callie, Nick is all avoid-y, I'm upset about my powers and you're...alright?" Julian shrugged, pulling his blankets tighter around himself. "Sounds like we should do something about that," he said as he looked up out the window. "Any ideas?"

"...Right," Johnny supplied, though he doubted Julian was buying it. Confounded by the opposite sex or recovering from a jealous streak I didn't know I had may've been more honest answers, but they also had the unfortunate repercussion of questions. After Catseye, he wasn't ready for more of those. He pushed his spindly fingers back through his unkempt hair, bright eyes following Julian's briefly. The only suggestions that came to mind seemed likely to end in a small electrical fire. "I don't know. I mean, what gets your mind off of powers and...girls and stuff?"

Julian thought for a moment, then replied simply, "Money, but I don't think a corporate take over is the answer here." He continued to silently think, "What about you?"

"You're looking at it," the white-haired teen returned, raising the telekinetic's comic briefly up and giving a thin smile. "...Not exactly helpful, huh?"

A thoughtful, "Hmmm," cut the air as Julian attempted to put a finger to his lips, only to find his dominant hand bandaged. "What could four guys do together aside from an all night HALO death match..." he mused. "You know, if we had a fifth, we could play poker."

Johnny laughed, turning to rest his arms along the back of the couch as he looked up at Julian again, "Money really is your distraction, isn't it?" He paused, then ventured in a somewhat more subdued tone, "...Is it hard? To play, I mean?" He supposed he should've picked up some knowledge of the game by now, but it had simply never come up. Not that it mattered. Even he knew enough to know he couldn't afford it.

"You've never played before?" Julian asked, a little more than surprised.

"Well, no..." Johnny began. His expression was slipping into embarrassment as he searched for a more substantial explanation than the one he'd given in his head. Still, it wasn't that unusual, was it?

A wolf like grin spread across Julian's face. "That seals it then- we're playing Poker, let Nick know and I'll find us a fifth tomorrow." He started back toward his room, then stopped and turned back, "Don't worry, not for money." The young scion winked and went back into his room, in a better mood than he'd been in all week.