Laura & Jean-Paul, Tuesday Afternoon (backdated like whoa)

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Jean-Paul and Laura meet up on the grounds and talk.
(Backdated a couple weeks because work killed me. And stuff.)


Jean-Paul didn't feel the need to escape. That was new for him, at least for the last few months. He found himself with nothing to do, though, since he wasn't flying, running, meditating, or talking to someone about his mental health - or lack thereof. He was well and truly at loose ends. Which was why he'd taken himself off to a seemingly deserted part of the grounds and started seeing how many (very slow) one-handed front handsprings he could do in a row. It wasn't difficult, so his mind could wander, and while he favoured his injured side more than a bit, the exercise felt good.

"Hey, that looks fun." Laura was sitting on a tree, a sling around her neck holding her left arm. She had tried to fight Hank's decision of using the damn thing for three whole weeks; although she was likely to heal in less time, the furry blue doctor wanted to make sure her bones were completely healed so she wouldn't break sometime later. So cute of him. That hadn't stopped her from climbing or running around; her healing factor kept the pain under control, so she hadn't needed the pain medication - the fact she wanted to be tough like Logan was also there, but she didn't mention it. Still, a broken shoulder was keeping her of doing all that she wanted, so she had taken a liking for the quiet of the grounds.

"How was India for you?" What? It was a totally valid question.

Stopping mid-flip, Jean-Paul hovered in the air for a moment before righting himself and landing lightly on the ground. He'd gotten to six before he realised someone else was there. "Why do you ask?" There was something vaguely familiar about the girl, but he couldn't place her and he wasn't particularly interested in doing so. The fewer people from before his torture that he had to deal with, the better given his current state of mind.

Laura shrugged, and in doing so a little yelp of pain followed. Stupid shoulder. "Just to make conversation? It was pretty cool for me, broken shoulder apart." Not to mention it had been mind scarring, but hey, if he wasn't sharing, then she wasn't neither. "I...don't think I have seen you before? Or rather, never really talked to you. I'm Laura, Kinney." She jumped down the branch, falling smoothly. "Broken bones suck big time."

The name wasn't something that stuck out to him as being horribly familiar, but she was still flagging as someone he should know. "Jean-Paul Beaubier," he said in reply. "Et oui, they do." Then he remembered the journals and reading this girl's exchanges with others - Logan's daughter. "I am sorry for your injury."

"Oh, Pops has probably said your name...sometime." Since it rang, but she could have just heard it from someone else? She had pretty good ears after all. Looking at her shoulder, she almost shrugged again, but Laura was learning. "Eh, a couple more weeks and it will be all good." She at least needed to believe that. "You got out of India without getting hurt? I would say lucky, but you probably are another superhero-teacher or something." She didn't remember if he taught anything though.

"Non, that I am not," Jean-Paul said, shaking his head. "I am burned." They weren't horrible burns, just enough to make him uncomfortable a great deal of the time, but they were healing. "And... Pops?" His brows rose a bit at that and he wasn't sure whether to snort a laugh of inch slowly away from the girl.

"So if you aren't a teacher, or a superhero, why are you here? Not that I might have a better reason than you though." Now Laura shrugged, and it hurt. "Ouch! You know, Logan? It's just creepy calling him by his name, he being my....my...well, dad and everything." Because it was weird, alright? "Well, I hope you heal soon...and don't get burnt again? That doesn't sound nice at all." She couldn't see the burns, but just thinking about messy skin was enough to dissuade her of trying to get a peek.

Jean-Paul eyed the girl carefully before saying, "Merci. I will try to avoid being burned again. It was not a pleasant experience in the least." Then he shrugged his good shoulder, wondering if she was going to continue hurting herself by accident, before continuing, "I am here to receive assistance from Doctor McCoy and the Professor." She didn't really need to know what he needed assistance with, of course. "Are you here only because of your father?"

Laura nodded, "Good." She didn't even feel slightly interested as why he was there - which was weird, considering how curious she usually was-, and managed not to keep shrugging. "Well, those two can fix pretty much everything, I'm sure of that." The other question took her longer to answer, "Well...I guess? He kind of wants to keep and eye on me, and Mom considered it was for the best...and I might even end up being a superhero, so it's worth the ride." She wasn't being super-anything with a broken shoulder though.

"Is it so wonderful, do you think, being a superhero?" Jean-Paul posed the question with nothing more than curiosity in his tone - he supposed he had wanted to be something extraordinary when he was her age. He'd been nineteen when he joined Alpha Flight, after all.

She was about to shrug, but Laura was getting the hang of it. Kinda. She negated with her head instead. "Nah; I'm not even one, and I already got hurt. And they do that every time it's needed. And people might not even like them. And they hurt other people; God, I think I killed someone back then, and I'm not sure how to feel about that." She looked down for a second, trying to get her thoughts into order. "But someone has to, right? If not them, if not us, if not me...then who will take the blows? Being logical, if someone has to suffer, let the ones that heal do the job." The fact her Father was one of the people she was talking about was left out of her speech again; she wanted to prove to herself she could be just like him -or maybe more than him-, and maybe even wanted his approval, just a tiny little bit, but she wasn't sharing that.

"Oui, it is logical. That does not mean that it is for everyone, of course." God knew Alpha Flight hadn't been for him, no matter how much he'd tried to convince himself that it was. And working with the X-Men... hadn't exactly gotten him any accolades. Most of the time, the work he'd done didn't even make him feel particularly accomplished. "If it is what you want, then you should attempt it, I think. But do not be so... caught up in it that you cannot see the damage it is doing to you - to others around you." Frowning a little, he said, "Your life is your own to lead, you see? Simply because you might fit in a certain place, that does not mean you have to stay there, oui?"

Now she did shrug, and heck, the crack was audible. "Oh God's damned piece of fucking crap that hurt!" She bent forward, kicking the ground as she tried to recover from it, telling herself that the attack that broke it hurt a lot more. "Alright, no more shrugging, really." Standing straight, she couldn't help to smirk at him. "I know, okay? But some things, we are just meant to be, you know? That doesn't mean I'll do things I don't want to. I'll rock on my own awesome way, hehe." She was not getting into complicated situations she didn't want to deal with just because, or at least she hoped it went that way. "And what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

Really? Was that all he had to say? "I mean...and I'm going under the assumption we are talking about the last question here; what are you going to do with your life? Stay here until you are well, and leave then? Stick around for more than a season? Become a regular?" She felt like talking about a television series already.

"Do with my life?" Jean-Paul snorted. "I am already a good deal through with mine, Logan Minor. I think that I will be here until I am well and then we will see." He couldn't simply say that he was going to leave - that had been his plan initially, of course, but now... now things were complicated. He had someone else to think about and that... that was new. Sort of.

Logan Minor was definitely not sticking as a nickname, ever. "Well, that's a good plan, I guess--" She stopped in her tracks, and then facepalmed, maybe with a little bit too enthusiastically. The burn wounds, the way he talked - the fact she had been barely paying attention that other night prevented her from realizing who she was talking to until that very moment. "You are Jean-Paul; I mean, you already said that to me, but you are the Jean-Paul Kevin is--" And there she cut herself again.

Jean-Paul's brows rose, his expression morphing into one of idle amusement as he simply asked, "Oui?"

"Well, you know; he told me. I'm not exactly sure why, but he did." Never mind the whole kinky talk they had after that, and those e-mails were better under seven locks on Kevin's computer. "Boyfriend? I wish I had one, mainly for the cuddles. Not that I don't want to get beyond cuddling but, boys are always expecting that in a relationship. Anyway." After that little inconsequential rant, Laura gave Jean-Paul one of her best smiles. "I guess you aren't really leaving then?"

Incredulity wasn't something that Jean-Paul wore particularly elegantly. He didn't think anyone ever really did, though. He brow furrowed before he let just one eyebrow rise. "Pardon?"

Laura waved her good arm in dismissal. "What-ever. Are you going to stay here for longer? I think I want to eat something..." And she didn't want to keep talking about anything if she was getting more evasive answers.

"I never said I was not staying," Jean-Paul said, snorting softly. "But there is a kitchen. And I am fairly certain I would not blow it up if I attempted to boil water. Or Lorna might be there. She is a better chef than I." He gestured back toward the mansion.