Amanda and Jean-Paul - over Chinese
Dec. 15th, 2011 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAt their usual Chinese place in New York, Jean-Paul and Amanda banter about their jobs. Amanda mother hens, just a little bit.
Jean-Paul had placed his usual order at his usual Chinese restaurant and promptly taken up an entire table with the food he'd ordered. The little old woman who always took his order beamed at him and he was pretty sure it was her grandson who'd brought over all the food. Which left the Quebecois sitting quietly at a table near the window, methodically making his way through vegetables in brown sauce, sesame chicken, dumplings, and lo mein.
The bell above the door rang as it opened, revealing a muffled figure in coat, scarf and hat. On seeing Jean-Paul, the figure waved a be-mittened hand and came over.
"Heya, Speedy." The voice revealed it was Amanda underneath the layers. "Up for company? I'll order my own, even."
Jean-Paul quirked an eyebrow at his friend, taking note of all her layers, and then half-laughed. "Oui, I would not mind company. But I must ask - you look like a very colorful Eskimo. You are expecting some kind of snow storm again?" It had been a little chilly for him, but the Québécois hadn't thought it was that bad. Of course, he sometimes forgot that not everyone had his slight resistance to colder temperatures.
"It's bloody cold out there, since you hadn't noticed." She stuck her tongue out at him as she unwound the scarf. "Or at least by my standards. England's wet and miserable, but we don't often do the snow thing." She shuddered. "I hate snow."
Grinning, Jean-Paul shrugged. "I like it, myself. It is difficult to fly in, sometimes, but it is beautiful from up high, especially when the lights are on in the city. Go, order your food, my Eskimo friend, and then come sit with me so we may discuss the many fat babies we are not having."
Laying her hat, scarf and coat on the empty chair at the table, Amanda went to do just that, chattering away to the staff in her accented Mandarin. She returned shortly after and took a seat, reaching over to steal a dumpling. "So, how're things?"
"Things..." Jean-Paul paused to eat a piece of broccoli, shrugging as he did so. After swallowing he said, "Things are good, I think. In some cases only so good as they can be, in others better. C'est la vie. And you? How are you?"
"Good. Busy, as always, but I've got Nico helping now, which means I actually have time to do things like eat and sleep." Not to mention Nico had a habit of making sure she did both of those, much as she tended to look after Wanda. She leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands. "How about the whole X-Factor thing? Getting back into the swing of things now with Vee back?"
"Oui," Jean-Paul said, nodding. And with being back, himself. It was no one's business that he'd had to forcibly keep Vanessa from doing serious damage to the police officer who was beating his wife, after all. "It is strange, I think. Some things are the same and some are very different. But none of it is...bad, yes?" Just sleepless nights and nightmares that seemed to be popping up more often now.
"What is, is," Amanda replied, wryly. "Something I learned from Nate. But yeah, sometimes life's just like that. At least Vee's back, even if she's going to need some time to sort herself out, from what I hear."
Brows rising a little, Jean-Paul asked, "What have you heard? The rumor mill, it does not tell me things any longer. Perhaps because I am a recluse now."
"Bugger, who's going to be my inside source now?" Amanda mock-complained, although she was a little concerned about the recluse statement. Especially since Jean-Paul hadn't exactly been Mr. Outgoing before he'd gone to Denmark. This train of thought was interrupted by her food arriving and she dug in, concentrating on filling the empty spaces in her stomach. "Got any plans for Christmas?" she asked eventually, mouth full.
"Non," Jean-Paul said, managing to get two dumplings at the same time with his chopsticks. "No plans. Work, maybe." Kevin was gone, Vanessa would be spending her time with Bishop, Adrienne would be at the mansion along with Warren and Jean. The holidays hadn't really been his favorite time of year recently. "You?"
"Stephan's bringing his wife and our other sister over here for the holiday, so it'll be a gypsy invasion." Amanda used the not accepted word on purpose, mocking as she did most things. "They're staying at the mansion, tho', since there's no room at the brownstone." She grinned at him, suddenly. "You could come to the mansion thing and we can sneak off later to Harry's for the real party?"
Nodding, Jean-Paul offered Amanda a smile. "Merci. I will see if I can manage this." It would be nice to not be alone on the holidays, even if seeing everyone else's pervasive good cheer might make him wish he'd thought things through a little more carefully. "No promises, of course."
"Of course," she agreed, her expression sympathetic. "No pressure, just an option." She grinned suddenly. "Of course, you'll have to visit me sometime to get your present."
"Present?" Jean-Paul asked, brows rising. "You do not need to get me a gift, Amanda." He smiled and shook his head. "The invitation to Harry's was enough, I assure you."
"No-one needs to buy presents," she pointed out, grabbing a snow pea with her chopsticks. "I wanted to. You're a mate, I give my mates Christmas presents." She grinned again. "Makes up for missing birthdays when I'm hanging upside down by my toes in Stanistanistan or wherever."
Snorting softly, Jean-Paul shook his head an laughed. "Oui, this is true. Though if you were really hanging from your toes, I would hope someone else would help you down, birthdays or no."
"That's what the Trenchcoats are for, to cut me down when I get strung up by my toes. Or other bits. Teams are handy that way, for the whole 'watching your back' thing. But don't let any of the X-men know I said that. We have this whole rebel spy mystique thing going on." She winked at him.
Jean-Paul wrinkled his nose. "Teams. They can be good at times." X-Factor worked for him because no one slowed him down. "I am not on your team, oui? And I would help you if you were strung up by your toes. Or other bits, as you say."
"True. Tho' the team's more likely to know about it, since, you know, they're usually the reason I'm in Stanistanistan in the first place." Amanda dipped a spring roll in the puddle of soy sauce she'd poured on her plate during the conversation. "But," she continued, waving the roll at him. "I promise that if you're around to help me if I'm strung up by my toes, I'll let you. And say thank you, even."
Reaching over with a dumpling, Jean-Paul dipped it in Amanda's soy sauce and then popped it in his mouth. He chewed for a moment, then nodded. "I will agree to this. though if they ever do not bring you back from Stanistanistan, I will be very displeased with them."
"You and me both." Although Amanda was aware of the realities of her chosen profession. Sometimes people had to be left behind. Remy being a case in point. "Still, they'll need their magic encyclopedia around a bit longer, so it's not likely to happen." She bit into her spring roll with relish to punctuate her statement.
"Has anything interesting happened with your magical things recently? Anything that you can tell me, of course." Jean-Paul raised his eyebrows, then paused with another dumpling halfway to his mouth and yawned. Covering his mouth with the back of his free hand, he shook his head. "Je suis désolé."
"Late night?" Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't often you caught a speedster being overtired - it was sort of counter to the whole power, really.
"Several," Jean-Paul said, shaking his head a little. "Adulterers, they do not choose often to go to motels and things during the day."
"Bloody inconsiderate of them," Amanda replied. "But seriously, you should make sure you get your down time. You look tired.'
If she only knew. Two to three hours of sleep a night just weren't cutting it, apparently, and it was starting to show. "I will try, of course." Reaching across the table, he nabbed one of her spring rolls. "But I can make no promises." The nightmares kept eating away at more and more of the time when he might have been resting. Add to that the fact that he often kept watch over Vanessa and... well. Things were what they were.
"Who can make promises these days?" Amanda asked rhetorically - their lives tended to make that difficult. She reached over with her own chopsticks and nabbed some noodles. "'M aware of the irony in telling a speedster to slow down, but yeah. Take care of yourself and all that?"
Jean-Paul laughed softly. "You would not be the first person to tell me this. I will try, as I said. Only, you should try, also, to not be strung up by your toes - or other bits. We will be even then, I think."
Jean-Paul had placed his usual order at his usual Chinese restaurant and promptly taken up an entire table with the food he'd ordered. The little old woman who always took his order beamed at him and he was pretty sure it was her grandson who'd brought over all the food. Which left the Quebecois sitting quietly at a table near the window, methodically making his way through vegetables in brown sauce, sesame chicken, dumplings, and lo mein.
The bell above the door rang as it opened, revealing a muffled figure in coat, scarf and hat. On seeing Jean-Paul, the figure waved a be-mittened hand and came over.
"Heya, Speedy." The voice revealed it was Amanda underneath the layers. "Up for company? I'll order my own, even."
Jean-Paul quirked an eyebrow at his friend, taking note of all her layers, and then half-laughed. "Oui, I would not mind company. But I must ask - you look like a very colorful Eskimo. You are expecting some kind of snow storm again?" It had been a little chilly for him, but the Québécois hadn't thought it was that bad. Of course, he sometimes forgot that not everyone had his slight resistance to colder temperatures.
"It's bloody cold out there, since you hadn't noticed." She stuck her tongue out at him as she unwound the scarf. "Or at least by my standards. England's wet and miserable, but we don't often do the snow thing." She shuddered. "I hate snow."
Grinning, Jean-Paul shrugged. "I like it, myself. It is difficult to fly in, sometimes, but it is beautiful from up high, especially when the lights are on in the city. Go, order your food, my Eskimo friend, and then come sit with me so we may discuss the many fat babies we are not having."
Laying her hat, scarf and coat on the empty chair at the table, Amanda went to do just that, chattering away to the staff in her accented Mandarin. She returned shortly after and took a seat, reaching over to steal a dumpling. "So, how're things?"
"Things..." Jean-Paul paused to eat a piece of broccoli, shrugging as he did so. After swallowing he said, "Things are good, I think. In some cases only so good as they can be, in others better. C'est la vie. And you? How are you?"
"Good. Busy, as always, but I've got Nico helping now, which means I actually have time to do things like eat and sleep." Not to mention Nico had a habit of making sure she did both of those, much as she tended to look after Wanda. She leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands. "How about the whole X-Factor thing? Getting back into the swing of things now with Vee back?"
"Oui," Jean-Paul said, nodding. And with being back, himself. It was no one's business that he'd had to forcibly keep Vanessa from doing serious damage to the police officer who was beating his wife, after all. "It is strange, I think. Some things are the same and some are very different. But none of it is...bad, yes?" Just sleepless nights and nightmares that seemed to be popping up more often now.
"What is, is," Amanda replied, wryly. "Something I learned from Nate. But yeah, sometimes life's just like that. At least Vee's back, even if she's going to need some time to sort herself out, from what I hear."
Brows rising a little, Jean-Paul asked, "What have you heard? The rumor mill, it does not tell me things any longer. Perhaps because I am a recluse now."
"Bugger, who's going to be my inside source now?" Amanda mock-complained, although she was a little concerned about the recluse statement. Especially since Jean-Paul hadn't exactly been Mr. Outgoing before he'd gone to Denmark. This train of thought was interrupted by her food arriving and she dug in, concentrating on filling the empty spaces in her stomach. "Got any plans for Christmas?" she asked eventually, mouth full.
"Non," Jean-Paul said, managing to get two dumplings at the same time with his chopsticks. "No plans. Work, maybe." Kevin was gone, Vanessa would be spending her time with Bishop, Adrienne would be at the mansion along with Warren and Jean. The holidays hadn't really been his favorite time of year recently. "You?"
"Stephan's bringing his wife and our other sister over here for the holiday, so it'll be a gypsy invasion." Amanda used the not accepted word on purpose, mocking as she did most things. "They're staying at the mansion, tho', since there's no room at the brownstone." She grinned at him, suddenly. "You could come to the mansion thing and we can sneak off later to Harry's for the real party?"
Nodding, Jean-Paul offered Amanda a smile. "Merci. I will see if I can manage this." It would be nice to not be alone on the holidays, even if seeing everyone else's pervasive good cheer might make him wish he'd thought things through a little more carefully. "No promises, of course."
"Of course," she agreed, her expression sympathetic. "No pressure, just an option." She grinned suddenly. "Of course, you'll have to visit me sometime to get your present."
"Present?" Jean-Paul asked, brows rising. "You do not need to get me a gift, Amanda." He smiled and shook his head. "The invitation to Harry's was enough, I assure you."
"No-one needs to buy presents," she pointed out, grabbing a snow pea with her chopsticks. "I wanted to. You're a mate, I give my mates Christmas presents." She grinned again. "Makes up for missing birthdays when I'm hanging upside down by my toes in Stanistanistan or wherever."
Snorting softly, Jean-Paul shook his head an laughed. "Oui, this is true. Though if you were really hanging from your toes, I would hope someone else would help you down, birthdays or no."
"That's what the Trenchcoats are for, to cut me down when I get strung up by my toes. Or other bits. Teams are handy that way, for the whole 'watching your back' thing. But don't let any of the X-men know I said that. We have this whole rebel spy mystique thing going on." She winked at him.
Jean-Paul wrinkled his nose. "Teams. They can be good at times." X-Factor worked for him because no one slowed him down. "I am not on your team, oui? And I would help you if you were strung up by your toes. Or other bits, as you say."
"True. Tho' the team's more likely to know about it, since, you know, they're usually the reason I'm in Stanistanistan in the first place." Amanda dipped a spring roll in the puddle of soy sauce she'd poured on her plate during the conversation. "But," she continued, waving the roll at him. "I promise that if you're around to help me if I'm strung up by my toes, I'll let you. And say thank you, even."
Reaching over with a dumpling, Jean-Paul dipped it in Amanda's soy sauce and then popped it in his mouth. He chewed for a moment, then nodded. "I will agree to this. though if they ever do not bring you back from Stanistanistan, I will be very displeased with them."
"You and me both." Although Amanda was aware of the realities of her chosen profession. Sometimes people had to be left behind. Remy being a case in point. "Still, they'll need their magic encyclopedia around a bit longer, so it's not likely to happen." She bit into her spring roll with relish to punctuate her statement.
"Has anything interesting happened with your magical things recently? Anything that you can tell me, of course." Jean-Paul raised his eyebrows, then paused with another dumpling halfway to his mouth and yawned. Covering his mouth with the back of his free hand, he shook his head. "Je suis désolé."
"Late night?" Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow. It wasn't often you caught a speedster being overtired - it was sort of counter to the whole power, really.
"Several," Jean-Paul said, shaking his head a little. "Adulterers, they do not choose often to go to motels and things during the day."
"Bloody inconsiderate of them," Amanda replied. "But seriously, you should make sure you get your down time. You look tired.'
If she only knew. Two to three hours of sleep a night just weren't cutting it, apparently, and it was starting to show. "I will try, of course." Reaching across the table, he nabbed one of her spring rolls. "But I can make no promises." The nightmares kept eating away at more and more of the time when he might have been resting. Add to that the fact that he often kept watch over Vanessa and... well. Things were what they were.
"Who can make promises these days?" Amanda asked rhetorically - their lives tended to make that difficult. She reached over with her own chopsticks and nabbed some noodles. "'M aware of the irony in telling a speedster to slow down, but yeah. Take care of yourself and all that?"
Jean-Paul laughed softly. "You would not be the first person to tell me this. I will try, as I said. Only, you should try, also, to not be strung up by your toes - or other bits. We will be even then, I think."
