Paige and Jono | Vacation Negotiation
Sep. 24th, 2024 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsPaige and Jono talk holiday plans- and also about their fake future.
Telling Jeb about Jono had been a mistake. Really, telling her mother, which had led to telling Jeb, about Jono had been a mistake. But thanks to her big mouth and impulsive decision, here Paige was outside of Jono's room yet again with a million texts from Jeb asking her about her "pretend boyfriend." When she hadn't gotten Jono on the phone back in Kentucky, she should have expected that Jeb would keep asking if he could meet Jono over the phone. Over a month later, she still hadn't gotten to it and now Jeb claimed that Mama was asking more questions. Since she felt bad about leaving Jono out of the initial decision to lie, it was probably a good idea to ask him how he wanted to handle this. They could stage a break up or something like that, no need to drag him any further into this mess she had created. With that thought in mind, Paige knocked on Jono's door.
Jono opened the doors, eyes squinted in a smile. "Oh, hey Angel. Everything okay?"
“So my little brother has been texting me,” Paige started out. “Everyone at home is fine, by the way. They’re all safe and doing ok. But it turns out Mama’s been asking about you, and she’s been asking Jeb because she doesn’t think I’ll answer her if she asks me. And she’s right. So I thought rather than accidentally digging you into a deeper hole, I’d come ask you what you thought we should do about this.”
"Okay, well what do they want to know? Easy enough fix, innit?" Jono asked, ushering her inside so they weren't having this conversation where his new roommate could hear... if Hank was even home.
“Oh, you know, the basics. How old you are, what your job is, if you’re a Yankee, how long we’ve been together. Stuff like that.” Paige let Jono pull her into the room before curling up on his bed. “But I could always tell everyone we broke it off. It’s really not that big a deal, I just didn’t want to surprise you this time.”
"I'm twenty-five. I'm a library employee. I can't be a Yankee, I'm not American. And I have no idea how long you said we've been together." Jono said, ticking off the questions on his fingers. "What exactly did you tell your mother anyway?"
“You mean you’re not from the north part of the US, I haven’t said how long we’ve been together,” Paige started ticking off on her fingers. “Honestly, I didn’t tell anyone much. Just that you’re a rock musician and you help me study. I really only implied we were together.”
She turned red as she remembered why she had brought up her love life. “Also that you wouldn’t get me pregnant out of wedlock, but that’s not really important.”
“No, I mean I’m not from the US at all.” Jono said brow furrowed. “Also, if we were together- it is way too soon to even think about having a kid. You’re in a PhD program! I’d never marry you until your degree was done or do anything to jeopardize finishing your doctorate. You’ve worked too hard for the diploma to have anything other than your name on it.”
“No, Yankees are from the North.” Paige started playing with the ends of her hair as Jono spoke, unable to look him in the eye during this incredibly awkward topic.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing onto the end of his sentiment. “That’s your issue? What my name is on my degree?” That was kind of funny, given the issue, and definitely adorable.
“You’re the first in your family to go to uni! I know that’s important to you!” Jono replied, slightly exasperated at the humor in Paige’s voice. “I’m offended your mum thinks I’d mess with that.”
“That’s really sweet, Jono,” Paige said genuinely. “Also, if we’re not fake breaking up, you should tell Mama you’re not proposing for another 4 years, I think her head will explode.”
She paused for a moment, thinking over the situation they were in. “If we’re going to keep this up, you’re probably gonna have to come home with me for Christmas to meet the family. I don’t know what the plan is for Thanksgiving, but Christmas is kinda a given.”
“Putting a Pin in the ridiculously idiotic idea that a few years is too long to wait to propose-” Jono said, every new thing he learned about Paige’s mother made him like the woman less. “Yes obviously I was going to Kentucky with you- I wasn’t letting you go back there alone after what happened in July. But you should get a passport.”
“Oh, you weren’t going to let me?” Paige rolled her eyes fondly. “I wasn’t even alone in July. And that was special circumstances. It should be calmer in December. And why do I need a passport? Kentucky is part of the US.”
Jono looked at her and then looked at her shoulder before making eye contact again. “No. I wasn’t. You should get a passport because if you’re taking me to Kentucky I want to show you England.”
“Oh.” She looked up at him. “I suppose that’s only fair, and I would love to. I’ll have to try and save up a bit first, but we can look into it.” It would be nice to see where Jono was from, and it was the least she could do after subjecting him to Kentucky.
“Paige. I have a job and my only expenses are soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I can cover travel expenses if you get a passport..” Jono rolled his eyes. “You’ll just have to tell me when your semester starts.”
“Oh…” That was…kind of a big offer. But he was lying about being in a relationship for her. Maybe it was ok? “If you’re sure. I guess. I’ll look into getting a passport.”
“Yes, I want to visit England and yes I want to take my best friend. These are nonsense questions. Honestly Angel, it’s like you hardly know me.” Jono shook his head and leaned dramatically on her shoulder. “Although I suppose I could take Match if you don’t want to go- but I’d really rather not be a homewrecker and face Sharon’s wrath. She scares me enough as it is.”
“Oh, Sharon’s not scary.” Paige leaned into him as well. “And I suppose I could save you from ruining a real and go with you. For Sharon and Match’s relationship, of course. Oh, and speaking of relationships…”
Paige leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed her bag. From a small pocket, she pulled out the lesbian flag that had previously been hanging above her desk. “I’ve been informed that this is the lesbian flag. I don’t know where you got it though.”
“She threatened to touch the inside of my chest cavity and I do not like her.” Jono said, brows furrowing. When Paige pulled out the flag the frown deepened. Are you not a lesbian? You flag like one.”
Yeah, that sounded like Sharon, Paige couldn’t argue. “No, I’m bi. Also, probably demisexual. Still working it all out. What do you mean I flag like one?”
“Then why do you flag like a lesbian? Is it a preference thing?” Jono raised an eyebrow.
“No, explain. What do you mean I flag?” If she was coming off as a lesbian, that was news to Paige.
"You wear a carabiner on your belt loop, you wear work boots despite being in academia, the flannels, you keep your nails short but don't play an instrument, get very excited about Emily Dickinson...." Had she really not noticed?
“Everyone dresses like that at home and carabiners are convenient, I keep my nails short so they don’t break, and I own one anthology of her poetry because I found it for cheap at a thrift bookstore.” Paige’s brow furrowed. “Wait, flannel is a lesbian thing? It’s just comfy and practical. I’ve seen you wear flannel.”
"Flannel when paired with work boots and a carabiner on a woman getting a graduate degree is definitely a lesbian thing." Jono rolled his eyes. This was common knowledge!
“Huh,” was really all Paige had to say to that. She didn’t know what work boots or carabiners had to do with liking women, but Jono seemed very confident that he was right. Who was she to argue? “Ok well I’m bi and I’m not buying a new wardrobe because of it.”
"Nobody says you have to, dress however you want." Ah. Yeah. He'd fucked up.
Paige huffed and leaned on his shoulder, pulling out her phone to look up how to get a passport. “I know. So, tell me more about this trip to England.”
"Well....I'd floated the idea past my mates." Paige didn't need to know that it was the first conversation he'd had with them since his birthday. "And they said we could stay with them so we wouldn't need a hostel. I could take you to see my old haunts in Birmingham.....take you to see any tourist sites you want.....the band's still going without me....maybe we could catch a show?"
“You want to go do tourist stuff with me?” Paige tried not to giggle at the thought of Jono in a crowd of people. It was cute how excited Jono was about this trip. He must have been planning it for a bit.
Jono adjusted himself a bit to look at her, trying and failing to hide the heat rising to his cheeks. “Angel, I’d willingly go to London if you asked me to.”
“Not a fan of cities?” Why would that embarrass him?
“London is……awfully posh.” The last word was said with some venom. ….It was also where Gayle was living now. “There’s some more working class areas, but all the tourist stuff’s in the posh part. But if you want to see it, I’d gladly take you.”
“We do live in a mansion. We might count as ‘posh’ now,” Paige joked, trying lighten the dark look that came over Jono’s face. “Anyway, I’m more than happy just seeing your hometown and meeting your friends.”
"........I'm going to have to give you a primer on the British class system aren't I?" Jono groaned. "But I'm sure I can find you things to see in Birmingham- I mean we do have Cadbury World."
“What’s Cadbury World?” Paige didn’t think Jono was an amusement park guy, but she couldn’t think of what else something with World in the title could be.
"It's like an interactive museum for Cadbury Chocolate? I went once as a kid and fucking loved it but I was also....seven." Jono laughed in her mind, warm and affectionate. "I'll put together an itinerary, you just tell me if there's anything specific you want to see and I'll try to add it?"
“Absolutely,” Paige said, laughing along with Jono. “I’m looking up travel guides as we speak.”
Telling Jeb about Jono had been a mistake. Really, telling her mother, which had led to telling Jeb, about Jono had been a mistake. But thanks to her big mouth and impulsive decision, here Paige was outside of Jono's room yet again with a million texts from Jeb asking her about her "pretend boyfriend." When she hadn't gotten Jono on the phone back in Kentucky, she should have expected that Jeb would keep asking if he could meet Jono over the phone. Over a month later, she still hadn't gotten to it and now Jeb claimed that Mama was asking more questions. Since she felt bad about leaving Jono out of the initial decision to lie, it was probably a good idea to ask him how he wanted to handle this. They could stage a break up or something like that, no need to drag him any further into this mess she had created. With that thought in mind, Paige knocked on Jono's door.
Jono opened the doors, eyes squinted in a smile. "Oh, hey Angel. Everything okay?"
“So my little brother has been texting me,” Paige started out. “Everyone at home is fine, by the way. They’re all safe and doing ok. But it turns out Mama’s been asking about you, and she’s been asking Jeb because she doesn’t think I’ll answer her if she asks me. And she’s right. So I thought rather than accidentally digging you into a deeper hole, I’d come ask you what you thought we should do about this.”
"Okay, well what do they want to know? Easy enough fix, innit?" Jono asked, ushering her inside so they weren't having this conversation where his new roommate could hear... if Hank was even home.
“Oh, you know, the basics. How old you are, what your job is, if you’re a Yankee, how long we’ve been together. Stuff like that.” Paige let Jono pull her into the room before curling up on his bed. “But I could always tell everyone we broke it off. It’s really not that big a deal, I just didn’t want to surprise you this time.”
"I'm twenty-five. I'm a library employee. I can't be a Yankee, I'm not American. And I have no idea how long you said we've been together." Jono said, ticking off the questions on his fingers. "What exactly did you tell your mother anyway?"
“You mean you’re not from the north part of the US, I haven’t said how long we’ve been together,” Paige started ticking off on her fingers. “Honestly, I didn’t tell anyone much. Just that you’re a rock musician and you help me study. I really only implied we were together.”
She turned red as she remembered why she had brought up her love life. “Also that you wouldn’t get me pregnant out of wedlock, but that’s not really important.”
“No, I mean I’m not from the US at all.” Jono said brow furrowed. “Also, if we were together- it is way too soon to even think about having a kid. You’re in a PhD program! I’d never marry you until your degree was done or do anything to jeopardize finishing your doctorate. You’ve worked too hard for the diploma to have anything other than your name on it.”
“No, Yankees are from the North.” Paige started playing with the ends of her hair as Jono spoke, unable to look him in the eye during this incredibly awkward topic.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing onto the end of his sentiment. “That’s your issue? What my name is on my degree?” That was kind of funny, given the issue, and definitely adorable.
“You’re the first in your family to go to uni! I know that’s important to you!” Jono replied, slightly exasperated at the humor in Paige’s voice. “I’m offended your mum thinks I’d mess with that.”
“That’s really sweet, Jono,” Paige said genuinely. “Also, if we’re not fake breaking up, you should tell Mama you’re not proposing for another 4 years, I think her head will explode.”
She paused for a moment, thinking over the situation they were in. “If we’re going to keep this up, you’re probably gonna have to come home with me for Christmas to meet the family. I don’t know what the plan is for Thanksgiving, but Christmas is kinda a given.”
“Putting a Pin in the ridiculously idiotic idea that a few years is too long to wait to propose-” Jono said, every new thing he learned about Paige’s mother made him like the woman less. “Yes obviously I was going to Kentucky with you- I wasn’t letting you go back there alone after what happened in July. But you should get a passport.”
“Oh, you weren’t going to let me?” Paige rolled her eyes fondly. “I wasn’t even alone in July. And that was special circumstances. It should be calmer in December. And why do I need a passport? Kentucky is part of the US.”
Jono looked at her and then looked at her shoulder before making eye contact again. “No. I wasn’t. You should get a passport because if you’re taking me to Kentucky I want to show you England.”
“Oh.” She looked up at him. “I suppose that’s only fair, and I would love to. I’ll have to try and save up a bit first, but we can look into it.” It would be nice to see where Jono was from, and it was the least she could do after subjecting him to Kentucky.
“Paige. I have a job and my only expenses are soap, shampoo, and conditioner. I can cover travel expenses if you get a passport..” Jono rolled his eyes. “You’ll just have to tell me when your semester starts.”
“Oh…” That was…kind of a big offer. But he was lying about being in a relationship for her. Maybe it was ok? “If you’re sure. I guess. I’ll look into getting a passport.”
“Yes, I want to visit England and yes I want to take my best friend. These are nonsense questions. Honestly Angel, it’s like you hardly know me.” Jono shook his head and leaned dramatically on her shoulder. “Although I suppose I could take Match if you don’t want to go- but I’d really rather not be a homewrecker and face Sharon’s wrath. She scares me enough as it is.”
“Oh, Sharon’s not scary.” Paige leaned into him as well. “And I suppose I could save you from ruining a real and go with you. For Sharon and Match’s relationship, of course. Oh, and speaking of relationships…”
Paige leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed her bag. From a small pocket, she pulled out the lesbian flag that had previously been hanging above her desk. “I’ve been informed that this is the lesbian flag. I don’t know where you got it though.”
“She threatened to touch the inside of my chest cavity and I do not like her.” Jono said, brows furrowing. When Paige pulled out the flag the frown deepened. Are you not a lesbian? You flag like one.”
Yeah, that sounded like Sharon, Paige couldn’t argue. “No, I’m bi. Also, probably demisexual. Still working it all out. What do you mean I flag like one?”
“Then why do you flag like a lesbian? Is it a preference thing?” Jono raised an eyebrow.
“No, explain. What do you mean I flag?” If she was coming off as a lesbian, that was news to Paige.
"You wear a carabiner on your belt loop, you wear work boots despite being in academia, the flannels, you keep your nails short but don't play an instrument, get very excited about Emily Dickinson...." Had she really not noticed?
“Everyone dresses like that at home and carabiners are convenient, I keep my nails short so they don’t break, and I own one anthology of her poetry because I found it for cheap at a thrift bookstore.” Paige’s brow furrowed. “Wait, flannel is a lesbian thing? It’s just comfy and practical. I’ve seen you wear flannel.”
"Flannel when paired with work boots and a carabiner on a woman getting a graduate degree is definitely a lesbian thing." Jono rolled his eyes. This was common knowledge!
“Huh,” was really all Paige had to say to that. She didn’t know what work boots or carabiners had to do with liking women, but Jono seemed very confident that he was right. Who was she to argue? “Ok well I’m bi and I’m not buying a new wardrobe because of it.”
"Nobody says you have to, dress however you want." Ah. Yeah. He'd fucked up.
Paige huffed and leaned on his shoulder, pulling out her phone to look up how to get a passport. “I know. So, tell me more about this trip to England.”
"Well....I'd floated the idea past my mates." Paige didn't need to know that it was the first conversation he'd had with them since his birthday. "And they said we could stay with them so we wouldn't need a hostel. I could take you to see my old haunts in Birmingham.....take you to see any tourist sites you want.....the band's still going without me....maybe we could catch a show?"
“You want to go do tourist stuff with me?” Paige tried not to giggle at the thought of Jono in a crowd of people. It was cute how excited Jono was about this trip. He must have been planning it for a bit.
Jono adjusted himself a bit to look at her, trying and failing to hide the heat rising to his cheeks. “Angel, I’d willingly go to London if you asked me to.”
“Not a fan of cities?” Why would that embarrass him?
“London is……awfully posh.” The last word was said with some venom. ….It was also where Gayle was living now. “There’s some more working class areas, but all the tourist stuff’s in the posh part. But if you want to see it, I’d gladly take you.”
“We do live in a mansion. We might count as ‘posh’ now,” Paige joked, trying lighten the dark look that came over Jono’s face. “Anyway, I’m more than happy just seeing your hometown and meeting your friends.”
"........I'm going to have to give you a primer on the British class system aren't I?" Jono groaned. "But I'm sure I can find you things to see in Birmingham- I mean we do have Cadbury World."
“What’s Cadbury World?” Paige didn’t think Jono was an amusement park guy, but she couldn’t think of what else something with World in the title could be.
"It's like an interactive museum for Cadbury Chocolate? I went once as a kid and fucking loved it but I was also....seven." Jono laughed in her mind, warm and affectionate. "I'll put together an itinerary, you just tell me if there's anything specific you want to see and I'll try to add it?"
“Absolutely,” Paige said, laughing along with Jono. “I’m looking up travel guides as we speak.”
