Warren, Adrienne, Jean, & Jean-Paul | Thursday Evening (backdated)

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Warren, Adrienne, and Jean-Paul have conspired together to give Jean a respite from her duties in the medlab on her birthday.


Jean-Paul straightened his cuffs once more, then smoothed down the front of his waistcoat and made sure the silver serving trays they'd borrowed from the kitchen were covered to keep the food hot while they waited for Jean to arrive. Warren had called her a little while ago and Adrienne was standing by with the birthday girl's attire... which meant all they were missing, really, was the woman herself.

Adrienne waltzed in a circle with the dark blue Roberto Cavalli dress she was holding for Jean, humming to herself and taking in the scenery of the gorgeous coastline and rich Tuscan-style countryside and outdoor cafe that Warren had built, the delicious-looking spread Jean-Paul had ordered for them. The whole scene looked amazing. She knew Jean would love it.

Well, Warren certainly hoped so. And he doubly hoped that the surprise was - well, still a surprise. Surprising a telepath wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but he thought he'd been pretty convincing when he talked to her about coming down to the Danger Room. Of course they needed her expertise (... and not Hank's, or Garrison's, or Charles').

A small section of the scenery melted away to reveal two double metal doors as Jean hurriedly walked in, attention engrossed on a hand-held tablet she kept for notes on diagnostics on the Danger Room. It also did double duty for patients, scheduling, and pretty much everything else work related.

"Warren, are you sure the DR's messing up? I did a remote check and everything seemed fine..."

Jean's hair was pulled up into a messy bun, stray strands framing her face in a state of disarray. She wore a simple pair of grey slacks and a red sweater with black boots and her lab coat over it. She glanced up for a second, searching out Warren's face before tapping a few buttons on the screen, then quickly looked back up and tilted her head at the three of them and their lack of training uniforms.

"Are you running Scott's James Bond scenario? That one can get a little buggy but its only in the middle when the breadmaker snitch starts speaking in French instead of English. I can tweak that."

Jean-Paul's lips twitched upward at the corners. "I do not think the French would be so much trouble, mon ami. But no, we are not running a scenario." Tipping his head toward Adrienne, he raised his eyebrows. "Adrienne?"

"Oh, you guys are making me do this on my own?" Adrienne muttered incredulously, looking at the other two with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, I'll take the credit. Happy birthday, Jean!" she called out happily, and offered the dress out to her friend. "Welcome to Tuscerrento! Warren made it for you for your birthday, so we could take you out without leaving the mansion. Jean-Paul provided the food and we're gonna have a fancy dress dinner, complete with dress, courtesy of Warren. But I picked it out."

For some reason it took a couple of moments for their intentions to register with Jean, and it left her just blinking at them during that processing time. "Oh wow," she said as her brain completed the circuit. She'd actually forgotten it was her birthday.

A bewildered but happy smile formed on her lips as she laughed. "Really? I...I don't know what to say other than to be grateful. Thank you. I really appreciate it," she said, her eyes trailing around the lit countryside.

"This is beautiful."

It was almost a pity to not be able to take in the beauty of a place. Her initial thought had been the mission behind it and what sinister problem lay underneath. It'd been so long since she actually took the time to just...be, and see something for what it was, the simple grandeur of a thing.

Warren grinned at her, moving forward to kiss Jean on the cheek.

"Happy Birthday, Jean." He then gave her a little nudge towards the change room. "Now go get changed. You're dreadfully underdressed, my dear."

Jean's head dropped down toward the dress, almost forgetting Adrienne had given it to her. "How...much did this cost?"

If Adrienne or Warren purchased it. Even Jean-Paul having a hand in it would give her suspicion as to the price tag. Though she did take pleasure in nice things, sometimes they were too nice.

"I'll never tell and I bet Warren will telepathically shield himself when he gets his credit card bill. So let's just say the cost is you having a good time tonight," Adrienne smirked. "You must have a good time to pay for this dress."

Warren continued to grin as well. "You'll never hear it from me," he confirmed. "You just need to look beautiful and have a good time tonight, that's what is important. And Adrienne will be destroying the receipt so it can't be returned."

Jean held a look of continued incredulity before she finally relented, her shoulders sagging with a laugh. "Okay. I'll be right back," she said, disappearing behind the change room doors.

Adrienne slid a pair of Ferragamos under the change room doors. "Boots will just not do, Ma'am," she said with a smirk. "I hope I got the size right. I may have to kill myself if I lost that ability."

"And we would not want that," Jean-Paul murmured, smiling at his friend as he waited to see Jean step from the changing room. The dress really was gorgeous - Adrienne hadn't lost her touch, so far as he was concerned.

"Well, that went well," Warren smiled as they waited. "I expected far more protest about the dress. Or the shoes." But how could you say no to such things on your birthday?

"I heard that," Jean said as the door opened and Jean stepped out, the dress hugging her curves, with the hint of a pearlized shoe underneath. She had pulled her hair back into a tight chignon and almost looked like a different person.

"What do you think?"

Adrienne let out a wolf whistle of approval as Jean emerged. "Damn, if the boys weren't here I'd strongly consider jumping you," she said with a wicked smirk to flatter the birthday girl. "You look fab. You gotta wear that for Scott sometime."

Smiling, Jean-Paul nodded his agreement and stepped forward to offer Jean his arm. "Oui, mon ami. I think your husband would very much appreciate seeing you in this. We can take a picture to send him, maybe." He led her to the table, pulling a chair out for her so she could sit before gesturing for the others to take their seats as well. "And now we eat, I think."

He began by uncovering the dishes, the aromas of various expertly cooked Italian dishes wafting freely toward all of them as they settled in for the evening.