Match & Jono: Late Night Talks

[xp_match]

(backdated to March 19th) Jono and Match hang out and talk using Jono's new speech assistant.



Jono laid in bed and stared off towards the ceiling. Finally he lifted his phone and texted Match. 'Hey, do you want to hang out? I've got a machine that talks now so you don't have to read my shite handwriting.'

Match had been trudging back to his room after work when his phone dinged. Slowly, he looked it over before beginning the task of replying. ‘Sure, just got back, in hall’. Perfect, that… probably made sense. Where had they put that guy anyway?

‘Want me to come to you or?’ Jono asked, begrudgingly hauling himself into a sitting position on his bed. He couldn’t wallow in isolation forever. It was now time to wallow in company….even if Match had left him on read in his hour of need.

'Ill come to u, Cats is probab y in room,' Match nodded as he hit send, then paused, 'which room?' A sigh of relief. He squinted at the doors. Did people... did people put up their names on their rooms? Had he done that? Or Sharon? Much to think about.

Jono had decorated his door, or at the very least hung one of his posters on the outside so that he stopped forgetting which door was his. 'There's a Pearl Jam poster on the door, same floor as the library.'

‘Be there soon.’ Poster on the door, okay, he could find that. Match wasn’t sure what a Pearl Jam was, so upon seeing a poster on a door, he knocked. “Uh, Jono, it’s me — Match.” He clarified after a beat.

Jono quickly stood up and answered the door, ushering Match inside and indicating for the other man to sit anywhere. "How have you been?"

Match blinked at Jono as if he hadn't heard him before a crooked smile spread across. "Man, you sound kinda like The Master from the OG Fallout game, that's so cool. Are you -- how do I say this, -- are you okay with it?" He asked after he sat, carefully taking off his backpack to set it at his feet.

"I'd rather be able to talk and have a face if that's what you're asking." Jono typed. "It would certainly make interacting with people easier.....especially Paige. I actually want to talk to her and I fucking can't."

"Yeah,” Match nodded slowly, empathetically, brows knitting together. The name was unfamiliar but, he asked, because he liked Jono. That the older boy wasn’t as loud as everyone may have played a part. “That’s understandable. I don’t think I met her. Just wanting to be able to like talk in the moment?”

“Yeah.” Jono said, still wishing he could sigh. “She’s so nice- literally the moment she realized I couldn’t talk she pulled out a notepad and started writing with me. And she had good taste in music and books, and she’s so smart, and pretty, and I may have fucked it up because I’m an idiot who doesn’t know how to be friends with someone correctly.”

Match continued to nod as he listened to the electronic voice tell him Jono’s woes. Ah, yeah, verbally communicating was easier. Oh. “Fucked it up, how?” He asked after a beat, confusion clear on his face. “Sounds like you were hanging out and it was all good.”

“I didn’t realize it was Valentine’s Day.” Jono typed, anguish visible in every fiber of his being. “I asked her to go out into the city with me on Valentine’s Day, tried to buy her things, and then didn’t even pay attention when she pointed out a Valentine’s display. And then the next fucking day meeting her brother makes me realize I’m bisexual so now I feel like an even bigger idiot.”

Match blinked, nodded again, before pausing and shaking his head firmly. "You're not an idiot, man. Time's fucked and blurs all together if you're here all the time. And, like, sometimes you realize things later in life, you change, ya know? Gotta not be stuck in your mind of what you think is the norm for you and all that." The statement was rather calm coming from him, and he shrugged sheepishly after a moment. "I had to think about things like this before I even manifested. I've known I was gay, for, like, ever. Then came the other stuff, being a mutant, everything that went down in Chicago, coming here. It's all stuff ya gotta process."

“Oh the being attracted to men thing is not the issue, I should have realized that a long time ago. It’s more that it was her brother.” Jono replied, holding his face in his hands for a moment before typing again. “The Valentine’s Day thing wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t want to date her but I can’t. Even if it was remotely safe for me to date and get that close to someone….. I don’t have….It’s not like I could kiss her or talk to her without sounding like a robot or actually sing a song I’d write for her or….I can’t do any of that. But I took her out on Valentine’s Day and……. It’s stupid.”

Match shrugged slowly, in no way understanding the problem that Jono was describing concerning Paige and Paige's brother. This was beyond his area of expertise. Societal awkwardness however? That he knew well. "Jono, I know it's fucked, but I mean, I think if you like her, she'll still be there when you get control over your powers and it's not. . . it's not stupid, man. Things, they changed, ya know. But that doesn't mean you can't still want those things."

“But she doesn’t want to date me.” Jono typed before quickly adding. “And that’s fine. She doesn’t have to. But it still feels like I fucked up.”

What would Cats say — to him, if he were in this scenario. Something mildly ominous probably, that had a kernel of a point somewhere in there. Match tapped his hands on his knees gently, before responding. "I still don't think you fucked up, I mean, I get feeling that way, but it all sounds like you just misunderstood some stuff and the only way to really know if you fucked up would be to ask her... and I don't, I mean, I wouldn't do that, because even thinking about that is making me anxious."

“I feel nauseous but I can’t even throw up anymore.” Jono typed before flopping back against his bed dramatically. “I permanently disabled my last girlfriend, Match. This is a terrible fucking idea.”

Match rose slightly, before clearing his throat and instead reaching up to pull at the strings of his hoodie. "Talking about it? Or, uh, thinking about it for the future? Because, I - okay, I don't have a response to the ex thing, that's...I think that's an important talking point for, like, someone who doesn't find dogs for a job. I just offer to let people to hold Milton, wait, would that make you feel better? I can get him."

"What or who is Milton?" Jono typed. "Sorry, I just...don't have many friends and you get the fire thing."

He gave Jono a crooked grin. "Milton's my gecko, I got us paid in lizards once and had to sell the rest but Jess let me keep one, him, Milton. I guess, I kinda only got my first crush after, I, uh, after I manifested or whatever after I realized he was practically indestructible, which... I mean, is Paige indestructible? Do you know her power? Is it rude to ask that?"

“She can peel off her skin to make her body out of different stuff. I don’t know if it’s indestructible though. The lizard thing is cool, I’d be down to meet Milton. Why’d you name him that? There a special reason?” Jono typed, blushing only a little bit with Match’s grin. He was learning a lot about his type these days.

Match nodded thoughtfully. This was actually something he could work through his brain, powers, how they worked. "Maybe she can become indestructible, like how your powers can grow- Huh? Oh? I think I saw it somewhere and it looked neat, and he looks like a Milton, you'll understand when you see him." At least, he thought so. Looking back at Jono, he perked up slightly. "Oh! Girls like mac and cheese, right? Maybe do something with that for Paige?"

Jono's body went through the motions of laughing with none of the noise. Which mostly left and uncomfortable feeling in his chest and made it look like he was randomly jolting his body around. "That was...ignore that." He typed quickly. "Macaroni might be a sore spot for her right now. Apparently she can't cook."

At the motion, Match had paused, watching Jono with clear fascination, when the machine began to speak again, a crooked grin spread briefly before he cleared his throat. "You're good, man, and, I mean, I can't cook either, so we'd...we should probably find someone who can make the mac and cheese for her. Much to think about."

"I could cook it." Jono typed. "But maybe something else that she hasn't recently failed to make?"

"Hmm, okay, yeah, I'll ask Cats what other foods girls like. Don't worry, I won't list the raw meats she tells me when I report back," Match chuckled at his own point. "But, I mean, I think... I think you're doing good, honestly. It sounds like it to me at least."

"You're too nice to me." Jono typed. "It's fine, I don't want to set anyone else on fire again anyway. It's for the best this way."

Match sat there for a moment, watching Jono. "You're a good guy, Jono. I think Paige probably gets that too."

Jono shrugged and turned to look at Match more clearly. He wasn't sure that Paige got it, but, "I'm really glad that you think so."