[Fic] An Unremarkable Event
Title: An Unremarkable Event
Fandom: Marvel
Characters: Jean-Paul Beaubier, Bobby Drake
Prompt: Hope
Word Count: 764
Rating: G
Summary: Bobby and Jean-Paul chat over coffee. Nothing special occurs.
An Unremarkable Event
Bobby fiddled with his blueberry muffin, slowly pulling off the paper wrapper. He and Jean-Paul had ostensibly come here to escape the mansion and its daily breakfast feeding frenzy, but the atmosphere was awkward at best. The last time they had seen each other, Providence had still been floating over the ocean.
"Sooo... How've things been goin' here at home base?"
The brunette toyed with his food, negligently crumbling bits of muffin onto his napkin. His eyes moved around the room, flitting from corner to corner, but somehow never landing on Jean-Paul's face. Said Canadian would have been insulted if it weren't for the fact that his gaze was solidly locked onto the surface of his lemon tea.
After an uncomfortable pause, Jean Paul grunted and responded, although his eyes never came up to meet Bobby's.
"All is as well as can be expected, I suppose. Henri stays cooped up in his lab for extended lengths of time, Emma snipes and criticizes wherever things aren't up to her standards, and Summers is so whipped that he spends most of his time cooped up in his office doing paperwork so that he doesn't have to deal with ... well, anything at all."
A steely blue-grey gaze was raised to hold Bobby's eyes.
"I believe they worry about you."
Bobby squirmed uncomfortably, then sidestepped the implication of that statement.
"Yeah, I bet they worry about the team a lot, huh? We're the ones out in the field after all."
Jean-Paul cocked his head to the side slightly, amused. Most people would have assumed that 'you' was singular.
"Yourself? I hear your relationship with Mystique was interesting?"
Bobby flushed a dark pink colour and ducked his head in embarrassment.
"Uh, yeah, I guess, you could call it that..." Bobby trailed off, losing himself in the bittersweet memories. Suddenly, the brunette banged his fist down on the table angrily.
"Damnit! Every time I think I've found someone who I can be with, they betray me or insult me or just- AGH!!"
Bobby threw his hands in the air, momentarily forgetting who he was talking to.
"It's like I have a big sign on my forehead that says 'Use me!'
He slowly slumped down onto the table, resting his forehead on his crossed arms. After a pause, he spoke into his crossed arms, his voice slightly muffled.
Jean-Paul raised an eyebrow.
"Robert, you're going to have to speak up, otherwise I'll never be able to understand you."
Bobby looked up, from his position, revealing big brown eyes and a worried pout.
"Sometimes I think I should just give up and take vows of celibacy."
A beat.
"You know, this is the point where you're supposed to comfort me."
Jean-Paul sat frozen for a long moment before he reached over and patted Bobby on the back, smiling wanly.
"What could I say? I don't exactly have that much luck either."
Bobby smirked in return, then he rubbed his forehead with his knuckles and looked up at the sky. Flippantly, he threw out a comment.
"Ya know, maybe we should just hook up then, huh?"
The two men stared at each other for another long moment, then Bobby broke the tension by breaking into laugher. When he stopped, his grin was wide and his eyes were sparkling.
"Oh man, JP, you should've seen your face! That was priceless!" Bobby's eyes flicked momentarily to his watch, then he stiffened and paled.
"Holy flippin'- ack! Is that the time?!" Bobby grabbed some napkins off the table, shoving them in his pocket as he stood. "Sorry JP, I gotta go! I promised Emma I'd pick up- aaaaaaaaack!"
Bobby cut himself off as he struggled with his jacket sleeve, which had gotten caught on the back of his chair. After he slung his jacket around his shoulders, he grabbed his muffin and was about to stuff it in his mouth so that he could free up his hands. Just before, though, he paused.
"Hey, JP?"
The white-haired man looked up from his morose examination of his rapidly cooling mug of tea. He seemed vaguely surprised and became even more so when Bobby turned a beaming smile towards him.
"It's been great catching up. We've gotta do this again sometime!"
With that, the man rushed out the door, probably headed towards his car so that he could go get whatever Ms. Frost required. For a moment, Jean Paul sat at the table, then he shook his head and laughed self-deprecatingly under his breath.
"You never get it, do you?"
Fandom: Marvel
Characters: Jean-Paul Beaubier, Bobby Drake
Prompt: Hope
Word Count: 764
Rating: G
Summary: Bobby and Jean-Paul chat over coffee. Nothing special occurs.
An Unremarkable Event
Bobby fiddled with his blueberry muffin, slowly pulling off the paper wrapper. He and Jean-Paul had ostensibly come here to escape the mansion and its daily breakfast feeding frenzy, but the atmosphere was awkward at best. The last time they had seen each other, Providence had still been floating over the ocean.
"Sooo... How've things been goin' here at home base?"
The brunette toyed with his food, negligently crumbling bits of muffin onto his napkin. His eyes moved around the room, flitting from corner to corner, but somehow never landing on Jean-Paul's face. Said Canadian would have been insulted if it weren't for the fact that his gaze was solidly locked onto the surface of his lemon tea.
After an uncomfortable pause, Jean Paul grunted and responded, although his eyes never came up to meet Bobby's.
"All is as well as can be expected, I suppose. Henri stays cooped up in his lab for extended lengths of time, Emma snipes and criticizes wherever things aren't up to her standards, and Summers is so whipped that he spends most of his time cooped up in his office doing paperwork so that he doesn't have to deal with ... well, anything at all."
A steely blue-grey gaze was raised to hold Bobby's eyes.
"I believe they worry about you."
Bobby squirmed uncomfortably, then sidestepped the implication of that statement.
"Yeah, I bet they worry about the team a lot, huh? We're the ones out in the field after all."
Jean-Paul cocked his head to the side slightly, amused. Most people would have assumed that 'you' was singular.
"Yourself? I hear your relationship with Mystique was interesting?"
Bobby flushed a dark pink colour and ducked his head in embarrassment.
"Uh, yeah, I guess, you could call it that..." Bobby trailed off, losing himself in the bittersweet memories. Suddenly, the brunette banged his fist down on the table angrily.
"Damnit! Every time I think I've found someone who I can be with, they betray me or insult me or just- AGH!!"
Bobby threw his hands in the air, momentarily forgetting who he was talking to.
"It's like I have a big sign on my forehead that says 'Use me!'
He slowly slumped down onto the table, resting his forehead on his crossed arms. After a pause, he spoke into his crossed arms, his voice slightly muffled.
Jean-Paul raised an eyebrow.
"Robert, you're going to have to speak up, otherwise I'll never be able to understand you."
Bobby looked up, from his position, revealing big brown eyes and a worried pout.
"Sometimes I think I should just give up and take vows of celibacy."
A beat.
"You know, this is the point where you're supposed to comfort me."
Jean-Paul sat frozen for a long moment before he reached over and patted Bobby on the back, smiling wanly.
"What could I say? I don't exactly have that much luck either."
Bobby smirked in return, then he rubbed his forehead with his knuckles and looked up at the sky. Flippantly, he threw out a comment.
"Ya know, maybe we should just hook up then, huh?"
The two men stared at each other for another long moment, then Bobby broke the tension by breaking into laugher. When he stopped, his grin was wide and his eyes were sparkling.
"Oh man, JP, you should've seen your face! That was priceless!" Bobby's eyes flicked momentarily to his watch, then he stiffened and paled.
"Holy flippin'- ack! Is that the time?!" Bobby grabbed some napkins off the table, shoving them in his pocket as he stood. "Sorry JP, I gotta go! I promised Emma I'd pick up- aaaaaaaaack!"
Bobby cut himself off as he struggled with his jacket sleeve, which had gotten caught on the back of his chair. After he slung his jacket around his shoulders, he grabbed his muffin and was about to stuff it in his mouth so that he could free up his hands. Just before, though, he paused.
"Hey, JP?"
The white-haired man looked up from his morose examination of his rapidly cooling mug of tea. He seemed vaguely surprised and became even more so when Bobby turned a beaming smile towards him.
"It's been great catching up. We've gotta do this again sometime!"
With that, the man rushed out the door, probably headed towards his car so that he could go get whatever Ms. Frost required. For a moment, Jean Paul sat at the table, then he shook his head and laughed self-deprecatingly under his breath.
"You never get it, do you?"