Kevin & JPB | Friday Morning (backdated)

[x-quebecois.livejournal.com]

Kevin and Jean-Paul have breakfast, discuss their last week or so, and talk about Kevin's non-platonic thing with Laura.


Jean-Paul was waiting outside the diner down the street from his apartment, hands in his pockets and one foot braced against the wall behind him. It was cold outside, even for him, and the piles of dirty snow all on the street weren't really helping things. He almost wished he'd brought a scarf so he could tuck his nose into it, but he hadn't, so he just bore the chill and tried not to worry overmuch. Kevin would be there soon - the Southerner had impeccable timing.

According to his watch Kevin was one minute early when he spotted Jean-Paul half a block away. His general tendency for layers had him more accustomed to the necessary layering for cold weather, but he still hated the cold even after a year in Scotland. He had on his usual tank-long sleeved shirt-tee shirt combo along with a not so Kevin-proof sweater, a hoodie, a scarf and a coat. You could take the boy out of Georgia but you couldn't convince him fifteen degrees was alright by any means. His nose and cheeks were bright pink from the cold by time he reached Jean-Paul. "Hey." The word was muffled behind the scarf.

Laughing a little, Jean-Paul moved to the door and held it open for Kevin. "Quickly," he said, smiling despite himself. "Before we freeze." Once inside, he let his leather jacket hang open and freed his hands. "Now, bonjour."

Kevin didn't warm up nearly as fast. He was still huddled in on himself, but he did pull the scarf away from his mouth. "Y'know what the highs are in Atlanta this week? In the fifties. You know what they are here? Mid-thirties at most." He sounded thoroughly bitter. "What is wrong with this place and it's desire to turn me into an icicle?"

Jean-Paul grinned. "It is colder in Alaska, is it not? And you seemed to like it well enough there." It was also colder in Quebec, but he hadn't been home in a good, long while so he wasn't as intimately attached to the weather there as Kevin seemed to be to his Georgian winters. Reaching over, he stole the Southerner's scarf and draped it around his own neck. "Let me tell you of my past week. It was very boring, and then it was not. And then a dinosaur stole my life force and Laurie made me drink more Gatorade than a person should ever have to. The end."

Kevin was in the process of reaching over to steal his scarf back when his eyebrows darted up at the word, "dinosaur." "Uh, hold up, what?" He actually shook his head as if it would clear his ears enough to hear better. "Tell me that again. A what stole your what now?" They were led to a table before Jean-Paul could answer, but Kevin looked rather expectantly across the table at him once they were seated.

"A flying dinosaur attempted to steal my life force for himself. He had killed others in District X for the same purpose, though we did not realize it at the time, oui?" Jean-Paul wrapped Kevin's scarf around his neck once, just to make sure it was safe for the foreseeable future, and then sat back in his chair. "I was very tired for a few days. And, as I said, there was far too much Gatorade. This is why I did not text you immediately on Monday."

There was a clear effort to wrap his head around all that. Knowing weird stuff happened was a lot different from knowing a dinosaur tried to steal his person's life force. It was such a strange thing to hear that he couldn't even get past it enough to get mad that a dinosaur thing tried to apparently kill Jean-Paul. "So... Gatorade replenishes....life force? Ah thought it was mostly for like electrolytes and sugar."

Shrugging, Jean-Paul smiled. "It helps with energy." He should probably actually talk to Hank about it. Or Jean. But he didn't want to for the moment. It was all well and good, knowing he was ridiculously tired because of the incident with the dinosaur, but it was something else entirely to know he'd lost a certain number of years because of the thing. Jean-Paul didn't want to think about that. "But yes, you see? This was my week. It was mostly very boring."

"Yeah, yeah, sounds real dull. Is that what you do workin' for Vanessa? You get your life force sucked outta you?" Then he had a thought about how you would go about sucking life force out of someone. Kevin's head cocked to the side while he quickly scrolled through some of the options. "Was it, like, literal sucking? Like do you have a hole somewhere the dinosaur bit you to suck on your life force? Or was it like...sexy sucking? Did you get a blow job from a dinosaur and then it was all 'oh shit, where'd that life force go?'" The saddest part was that Kevin was at least half serious with those questions.

If Jean-Paul had been drinking something when Kevin asked that, he would have choked. As it was, he couldn't stop the laughter even as he shook his head. "Non, mon ami. Non. Laura, she has said it looked as though the dinosaur was humping me at one point, but this was before he changed into his dinosaur form completely, oui? There was no sexy sucking, as you say. One moment I tried to punch him, the next I was very tired and did not know why."

"How come Laura never tells me 'bout the dinosaurs?" He shook his head. "Ah gotta set down some rules in our friendship, like you tell Kevin about dinosaurs humping people he knows on the street while sucking their life juice away."

"It is a very personal thing, having the life forced sucked away from you," Jean-Paul said, still laughing. "Perhaps it is only that she thought I would want to tell you myself. And so I have. So you see, you know of everything that you needed to know." Their waiter approached then and sat silverware down for them, then took their drink orders and wandered off to fill them.

After the waiter left Kevin reverted his attention back to the man sitting across from him. "Still." Now he was pointing. "You got your life force humped away. Dude dry humped years off your life or somethin'. And that's like, during the slow week. And wrong. That's just so...wrong. What sorta manners are those? You don't just go up to any random guy and dry hump him on the street to steal his soul or whatever. Even if he's hot. That's just rude."

"So, if the dinosaur had known me for long enough, it would have been okay for him to steal my soul?" Jean-Paul couldn't help trying to tease the logic out of Kevin. It was too funny. Part of him was pleased, though, that the Southerner was so grumpy about the entire situation - it was nice to feel valued.

"No." The word was resolute. "He didn't ask my permission to steal your soul juice, ergo no soul juice for him!" He gestured to the left side of his own neck with a finger. "Remember? A soul juice sort of thing requires permission and not just yours. Not to mention, still rude to steal it even if you'd had a few dates."

Reaching across the table, Jean-Paul tugged on the string that tightened Kevin's hood. "SHIELD came for him, so he will not be stealing soul juice from anyone else." The waiter chose that moment to return with their drinks and the Quebecois realized he hadn't actually looked at the menu. It took him a moment to find what he wanted, but once he'd ordered, he tipped his head to the side.

Kevin ordered an omelet with bacon and more bacon instead of sausage and hashbrowns because he didn't trust them to make grits right. When the waiter was gone he slumped against the back of the booth with a bit of insolence to it. "Ah'm glad he's locked up or whatever. But still...that's wrong. And for me to say someone else's mutation is wrong is pretty bad. Ah mean, death touch guy and all."

Jean-Paul slid his foot across the space beneath the table and hooked his toes around Kevin's ankle just for the contact. "Oui, it is wrong. And the people he killed, their families still grieve. I think we were lucky. We did not know what he did until Laurie and Kyle were there. They had had dealings with him in the past, oui? Laura made sure he did not succeed in taking more of my life force. There was no juice - I feel you should know this."

"Ah'll hafta remember to thank her for that." He really thought it should feel more awkward to thank the girl he'd been flirting with for saving the soul juice of the man he'd been in a relationship with until fairly recently. But it didn't. That was odd, but easily dismissed because it not being awkward was sort of awesome. "So Alaska was awesome and had no soul sucking dinosaurs, point for me. Ah forgot to bring my sketch book with me. Ah meant to. There were glaciers and they're just...immense and sort of awe-inspiring and the way light plays off the ice is impressive. Ah did a lot of sketching there. And a lot on Saint Lawrence Island that's off the coast from Nome and has a population of like twelve hundred split about in half between two villages. It's cold there, but Ah don't mind. Maybe it's the lack of dense civilization that makes me think it's okay."

"You forgot your sketchbook, but you did lots of sketching?" Jean-Paul smiled. "I am picturing you sketching on napkins and the backs of envelopes. I am glad you enjoyed it, though, even despite the cold. The photo you sent, it was beautiful." And they both knew he loved snowy landscapes. Mostly at night, with the moonlight reflecting and magnifying the off the snow. He wished he'd been there to see it, but he understood the need for solitude. "May I see some of the things you drew?"

"No, Ah didn't forget to bring it to Alaska or to the glaciers or whatever. Ah forgot to bring it here to show you. So, obviously, you can see everything. Ah just gotta remember it next time Ah come see you in the city. Or you gotta remind me next time you see me at the mansion. Either way. And that offer stands to do a bigger, detailed version of whatever your favorite is." He had sketched sunsets specifically for Jean-Paul. They were beautiful, but it was a well-established fact that Kevin preferred beginnings. No matter how beautiful the ending it was still an ending, a closing, a finality. Kevin liked the hope inherent in beginnings and thus inherent in sunrises. Clean slates. "Ah tried to get a picture at night for you but they all came out too dark to see anything."

"Merci," Jean-Paul said, settling back with his juice glass resting on his sternum for a moment. "It is good that you are back." The Quebecois wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to say when he said that, only that he felt it was true. "And I am sorry the TSA agents were so stupid. But tell me, what have you done since you returned? I think you cannot truly blame jet lag for the strange things you said on the journals."

Kevin grinned. "Nah, my weirdness is more like joy overload finding an outlet. Since bein' back," he shrugged. "Art, wandering, that sorta thing. Ah've got plans to get the boathouse converted into an art studio so Ah've got somewhere to do blacksmith type shaping of metal and easy access to the outdoors to work on really big pieces again. And it'll give everyone else somewhere to work, too. Otherwise, Ah've still gotta get my sculptures together and brought into the city. Ah've got until a week before the opening or Joel promises to barbecue me little by little. But it's cool, he said he'd use the spicy honey barbecue sauce so at least Ah'll be tasty."

Quirking his head to the side again, Jean-Paul asked, "The opening?" He knew about the boathouse project, but not this opening Kevin spoke of, to say nothing of the possible barbecuing, which the Quebecois was not in favor of in the least.

Almost immediately Kevin was overcome with shifty eyes. "...you mean Ah didn't tell you 'bout that? Ah swore Ah did. Maybe it's 'cause Ah haven't seen you at all since Ah found out? Seriously though, Ah swear Ah said somethin' to you. Or maybe Ah just think that 'cause Ah tell you everythin' else, too."

Jean-Paul snorted, nudging Kevin's leg a little with the foot still hooked at the Southerner's ankle. "Non, mon ami - you did not tell me. So tell me now."

"Oh, right." Getting his brain on track was obviously a useful thing here. "So you know how Ah met up with a guy who owns a gallery here in the city who wanted to do a show of up and coming artists? This was back in, uh, November? Anyway, it was like right before Ah left for Alaska, like the day Ah got my freedom kinda right before, that he called me and told me Ah got in. Show opens March first and goes for four months. He chose seven sculptures he wants, most of them over five feet."

Grinning, Jean-Paul nodded. "I remember you spoke of the show for upcoming artists, oui." His voice was quiet and very sincere when he said, "Congratulations, Kevin."

"Thanks." Kevin was downright beaming at Jean-Paul. "Ah've gotta get like a u-haul or somethin' to transport everything. Or, y'know, Ah need to actually buy a truck one of these days so Ah can just haul it all myself in a couple trips. But the sculptures are big and heavy and Ah might hafta recruit someone with super strength to help me load and unload."

"If I can help, tell me please," Jean-Paul said, nodding. "And also, with the boathouse." Their food arrived and Jean-Paul waited for the waiter to leave again before quirking his head to the side and asking, "Who are you taking to the opening?"

"You can help with the boathouse. A lot. You'll get text messages asking whether or not you're working and you'll be requested to drag yourself back over to help lift and tear down and nail and screw and wow that went to a whole different place, didn't it?" Kevin was grinning, his expression unabashedly frisky. It was hard to be across from Jean-Paul talking about nailing and screwing and not have his brain go to X-rated places.

Kevin bit off an end of a bacon strip before continuing. "Onto safer, more PG topics than construction... Ah'm takin' Laura. She promised me a dress, high heels and her pretendin' she has more manners than she's usually got. We'll see if she measures up to be considered a lady by my definition." He didn't sound as if he would make accomplishing that easy.

Laughing, Jean-Paul made a mental note to tell Vanessa that the booty calls were apparently once again an option. "You can text and call whenever you like. It is not so difficult a commute for me, oui? I will look forward to seeing you both, then - you will send me the details of the opening, of course?"

"Nah, Ah was thinking that guy who's all supportive of my art and really appreciates my sunset paintings and who basically is one of the most important people in my life shouldn't come. Ah mean, why would Ah want that?" A half-smile quirked on his lips and Kevin finished off his bacon strip.

Cutting the vegetable omelet that he'd ordered up, Jean-Paul tried rather unsuccessfully to repress a smile. "Well, when you say it this way, it does seem like a silly question." But it was always, always better to be sure.

Kevin's leg swung to the side a little to bump Jean-Paul's next to it. He did nothing to pull away from where the other man's foot was still hooked around his ankle. "Yeah, well, Ah'm puttin' it down to gettin' your soul sucked away by a dinosaur. It was a traumatic event and it's makin' you think weird things like how you wouldn't be invited to my art opening." The Southerner took a bite of his cheese omelet and thought about that. "Actually, Ah'm pretty okay whether or not anyone else shows up but you're basically required. Just sayin'. And maybe Yvette, too. Far as required goes, Ah mean." Yvette had been busy with college and her RA duties so Kevin hadn't quite seen as much of her as usual. But Jean-Paul had still come to know him better than anyone from those first very intense months of them being together.

"I would not miss it," Jean-Paul said, taking a bite of his omelet and humming low in his throat. It was good. "Et oui, having my soul sucked, it was traumatic, as you say. We will blame any other nonsense I say on this."

"Ah'm pretty much plannin' on that bein' my go-to excuse for anything you do for like the next four months. It'll be all 'Yeah, but his soul got sucked out, so it's not his fault' for everything. Cutting in line, cryin' at movies, any instances of pink that might happen, anyone you try to punch a hole through... Only if you're nice to Jared and flirt back with him Ah'll call that the oncoming apocalypse. Even soul sucking doesn't justify that one."

"Marde, if I flirt with him please have Hank examine my head." Not only was Jared most definitively not his type, but everything about his attitude repulsed Jean-Paul. Then he pointed his fork at Kevin. "I do not cry at movies." He'd gotten rid of the pink clothing Angelo had dyed and he hadn't tried to punch a hole through anyone but Lykos - he didn't think Kevin would hold that against him

Kevin held both hands up in surrender even though he had some omelet on the end of his fork. "Ah'm just sayin', if you felt a tear when Lassie died or whatever, Ah'd tell everyone it was 'cause of the soul sucking. That's all. Just, y'know, Ah got your back there." His hands came down and the piece of omelet in all its cheesy glory went into his mouth. "Mm, and don't worry. Ah see you flirtin' with him and Ah'll hit you over the head with somethin' hard. Then Ah'll bring you to Doctor McCoy or whoever's around."

"Merci," Jean-Paul muttered dryly. "It is good to know you have my back, as you say." He shook his head and ate another piece of his omelet before reaching for his juice. "Just make sure you hit me hard enough to have some effect."

"Pretty sure Ah'll manage." They both knew Kevin was possessive. And he hated the way Jared talked to people when he was claiming he wasn't hitting on them. On top of that, he didn't like the way things might go if Jean-Paul was flirting with someone who staunchly asserted how much he wasn't trying to pick up someone. It was one thing to self-identify as straight but openly admit an attraction to someone, it was another to not admit said attraction. There was a fair chance, Kevin decided, that his possessive streak would flair badly enough to hit at least one of them with a fair bit of effort behind it should Jared end up anywhere near Jean-Paul. Jared had a forcefield which left only Jean-Paul to be hit. "Yeah, no worries, Ah've totally got you covered there."

The Quebecois looked at the younger man askance for a moment. "You seem very assured of this... and not so worried about having to actually hit me that hard."

Kevin shrugged. "Ah really don't like that guy."

"I do not either, but I would hit him, not you."

"Problem with that," the Southerner said, pointing his fork at Jean-Paul. "He's got a force field thing. He wouldn't feel it and the impact probably wouldn't even do anythin' to him other than maybe push him back or knock him over or whatever. He'd just get up and throw a bottle at me or something. You Ah could knock unconscious."

"I could punch him hard enough to move him," Jean-Paul said consideringly. "I could probably fly him up high enough to drop him from high up. This would be satisfying."

"But wouldn't hurt him," Kevin pointed out. "So, not really as satisfying as it should be."

"But would be satisfying enough," Jean-Paul said. Reaching across the table, he stole a piece of bacon. "I think you just want to hit me."

Eyes narrowed at the thieving hand absconding with his bacon. "Well, yeah. 'Cause Ah'd be so repulsed by the thought of you doing anything with him that it'd put me off you forever. See how this works? You flirt with Jared and everyone loses. Seriously, almost anyone but him and we're good."

Biting the bacon in half, Jean-Paul considered that and nodded. "Oui. I see this. Since I will never hit on him or flirt with him or anything else. It is a moot point." Then he offered the other half of the bacon to Kevin, eyebrows raised.

The younger man looked from his omelet baring fork to the offered bacon and back again. He chose the bacon. Kevin leaned forward, mouth open so Jean-Paul could simply put the bacon in his mouth rather than him have to divest his fork of his omelet so he could try to spear the bacon. Spearing airborne bacon was nigh impossible anyway. He didn't say anything until the bacon was in his mouth.

"Oh, speaking of," Kevin began after swallowing his bit of bacon. "In the nature of full disclosure, and 'cause Ah don't want anyone pissed at me, there's a thing. With Laura. That's not totally platonic. But it's not a relationship either. Figured you should know. Common courtesy and considering there's still benefits here," he gestured between them with his fork. "Wouldn't be right for you to not know."

"A not platonic thing," Jean-Paul said, tipping his head to the side. He licked his fingers and then ate another bite of omelet. "I do not understand the attraction to women," he finally said, "but she is very nice. I like her." It was as close to 'you have my blessing' as they were ever going to get, but Jean-Paul felt it was good enough.

"See, that's why you're gay and I'm...slightly gay." He definitely wasn't mostly gay or even half gay. Kevin didn't check out guys walking down the street and had only found himself attracted to two in his life. Well, so far. However, Kevin was quite pleased with himself. Laura had been fine with his terms that he wouldn't alter anything with Jean-Paul as things stood and Jean-Paul had been fine with his not-exactly-platonic friendship with Laura. Damn, who said you couldn't have your cake and eat it, too? "What're you up to after this? Not more soul sucking, right?"

"Non, no more soul sucking," Jean-Paul said. "I have no plans. I am not working on a case now and I saw both Hank and Jean after the flying dinosaur incident." Quirking a brow, he asked, "Pourquoi?"

Kevin grinned. "Oh, just wonderin' if you were free."

Expression shifting a little, Jean-Paul ate a piece of tomato and shrugged. "I think this depends on what you plan to do with me for free."

Kevin's leg nudged Jean-Paul's from the inside so the older man's legs parted just slightly more than they already were. "Oh, y'know. Nothin' that should be done in public unless you wanna get arrested." A mischievous little expression crossed Kevin's features and then disappeared as their waiter came to check on them. Once he was gone Kevin added, "It'd be good for your soul, Ah bet."

Jean-Paul felt a very small smirk tugging at his lips. "Oui? Well. If it will be good for my soul... I think I can make the time for you."