Rogue and John -- Reconnecting

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

In which Rogue and John have a deep, philosophical talk over Jell-o and ice cream. Or not.


Jello.

There was truly nothing better as a midnight snack. The silkiness of the strange solid dissolving on one's tongue...the artificial smells wafting in the air...the gentle quivering in the wind....."Well, you sure are poetic this time of night," she said to herself, happily stirring her bowl. "Almost like you are one amazing person, Rogue. If I do say so myself."

At midnight, there was nothing wrong with talking to yourself.

John had just returned from yet another one of his late night wanderings to nowhere in particular; anything to be away from the mansion. He had been planning on heading straight to bed, but upon hearing that Southern drawl, he made an impromptu decision to head over to the kitchen instead. He recognized the voice of course, knew it belonged to Rogue, and when he saw that she was alone, he rapped his knuckles on the counter to get her attention.

“Amazing, huh?” He smirked. “If you two are having a moment…” He glanced at the bowl in her hand and raised an eyebrow.

Rogue barely looked up from her spoon, returning John's smirk. "All have you know, sugar, that there are more than two people up in this head.". She turned her attention to her friend and grinned. "Sometimes I have to remind them all who's boss."

Patting the chair next to her, she continued. "Grab a spoon and join me. I promise I haven't licked the bowl. I can be civilized."

Trust her to remind him about her abilities. John considered her invitation with only the slightest bit of hesitation before he figured what the heck. It wasn’t like he had any grand plans for tomorrow. If he wanted to, he could even afford to sleep in.

“What, no ice cream, Roguey? What’s wrong with you?” He walked over to the fridge, took out a tub of butterscotch before grabbing a spoon from the drawer. He then promptly took a seat next to her as he pried open the lid to serious business, diabetes inducing goodness. “It’s so fucking nice and quiet around this time.” Granted it was a weekday. If this was a Friday night, the kitchen would be filled with teenagers and there was no way John would have even bothered to show his face here. He was still adamant about keeping his distance from... well, at this point, just about everyone ever who wasn't someone he already knew.

"A-fucking-men," she responded. "I'm apparently working for Adrienne right now and let me tell you, I am never by myself." Looking over at John's ice cream, she couldn't resist. She dipped her spoon in and looked up thoughtfully.

"Why do so many horrible things have to taste ah-mazing? I swear, if I didn't have Logan and Scott on my ass all the time, I'd be 500 lbs." She grinned at John, tongue peeking out slightly. "You'd sponge bathe me with a stick, right?"

“Oh, sure, honey. With a mop, a broomstick, anything that puts a reasonable distance between us.” John spooned some jello out of the bowl and ate it before he made a face. Not at the food, but at that mention of Logan earlier. It was a delayed reaction, but John was sure that dislike for each other was completely mutual after that whole Stryker, Brotherhood crap from years ago. “I can’t believe I’m back to living under the same roof as the X-geeks. I’m telling you. It's my worst nightmare.” He was still considering doing that reckless thing: moving out, but the new world was… the new world. It wasn’t exactly safe. But his own safety hadn’t been a factor in years. He’d been to worst places. He’d gone in to war zones, dealt with extreme poverty.

Fucking hell, he missed his old job. John stuffed his mouth with another spoonful of ice cream.

Rogue nodded sagely. She'd 'drank the kool-aid' many years ago, but with John, he always struggled against anything that felt confining, whether it was personal or not. "We all come back," she said with a shrug, "but we're not all the same people who come back." No shit, but it was midnight and her brain had slowed down.

"'Sides," she added, "I think y'all like complaining for the sake of complaining. You're a big boy. Almost 30. You don't haveta be here. Just like me. I was quite happy living in deep cover....did it for what, six years?" Another spoonful of jell-o was necessary to continue this conversation.... "Only problem was I had to deny myself the entire time. isn't it nice to be with people who at least understand, even if it's just a genetic thing?"

Although Rogue did have a point, it would literally kill John to admit to there being some degree of comfort in being amongst his kind. Out there, when he wasn’t working on something X-Corps related, he was forced to pretend, to blend in; to be like those humans he often claimed to dislike. But he had been fine living in the mansion before he’d moved out with Angelo. It wasn’t the place that was the problem, really. It was that being here now was a huge reminder of everything he and everyone else from their world had lost. For John, the family he knew had been wiped out of existence, and they had only just started to get along after his niece was born.

“You’re 30,” John murmured as he dunked a spoonful of ice cream into her bowl. He clearly wasn’t going to answer her question or admit to her being right about what she’d said. “What’s it like, aunty?”

Rogue glared. "Auntie? You'll be 30 soon too, jackass. I'm not that much older, so hush your mouth." Peering down into her bowl, she made a face before trying the strange concoction.

Eh. She'd eaten worse things.

"Besides," she flashed a smile, "I look amazing while you look like a sad sack of crap. Are you even sleeping? And drug induced sleep doesn't count," she added quickly.

“Don’t even.” If she was going to lecture him about taking better care of himself, he was going to avoid her like the plague.

“You planning on dragging your amazing self to the gym tomorrow to burn off those calories?” He poked her in the stomach. “Maybe I’ll join you.”

She gave him a glare but didn't move. There were a few people who she was 100% comfortable with AND who were comfortable with her. John was one of those people.

"You know I still train with Logan right? I'm sure he'd love to have you come too," she teased. "But he only does to make sure I go on my early morning run. Gym time is my time, so in a round about way, yes John, please come to the gym withe me."

"Yeah... not if the old man is going to be creeping around in the gym after you. I don't want my guts spilling out all over the floor and you don't want the place to burn down." John had successfully avoided all interaction with Logan for years now. It was something of a miracle, really. There was that time he'd almost broken his nose by smacking it against a bookcase because he'd made an abrupt turn when he saw Logan coming down the hallway. He so wasn't afraid of the guy though. He was just allergic to... feral types.

She rolled her eyes. Men. How many years had it been anyways since she'd last seen the two of them in the same room?
"Oh cool your horses," she said, digging into her bowl again. "I'll text him and make sure that it's a Logan free zone, so there. I'd be happy to see you in the daytime." Clearing her throat, she looked around.

"Have you bumped into Bobby yet?" She tried to sound neutral, but if she'd bumped into new!Bobby like this....well, she would've reacted a slight more strongly than her teen self did.

"Nope." John shook his head, not really liking where the conversation was going. He didn't like talking about how messed up it was that the people they knew before were now different. But this was good ol' Rogue. "You know... he probably still thinks you're hot. Being a teen and all." He'd seen the kid around, but had deftly avoided any and all interaction. He didn't see the point of it.

Rogue gave him a pointed look. "It's because I AM hot, you loser.". She gave her spoon a lick and grinned. "I should've tried to tap that when my brain was still 19, huh? Never gonna get that chance again."

"You sure? He could be the Ashton Kutcher to your Demi Moore." Even as he said that though, John was already making a face.

"And then I'd get the T-shirt -- Been there, done that, drained him too," she added, finishing her jello. "Now, since we're both up and we already know we're exercising tomorrow, let's go find some alcohol and be inappropriate. I like being an adult again."