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om_mainIllyana and Nico appeal to Jeanne-Marie for help after Nico's conversation with Jack.
This was it. Illyana really didn't feel the least bit bad about what she was going to do - Jack had brought this on himself, and it wasn't as if she were going to tell Jeanne-Marie anything that wasn't true. Still, she paused outside Jeanne-Marie's door, mostly just to wrap her head around exactly what she wanted to say and to make sure she had the most appropriate "worried" expression in place. Finally, she knocked. After all, Jeanne-Marie had always said if she needed anything, she should come and find her. She really felt this definitely fell into that category.
"One moment!" Jeanne-Marie called. She wasn't sure quite who it was, but even if she had been, answering in her cami and underpants would've been unacceptable. She pulled on a soft pair of yoga pants, tied back her hair, and opened the door. She smiled when she saw who it was, but then frowned slightly at her expression. "Illyana, is something wrong?"
"Kind of?" Illyana said awkwardly, chewing at her lip. "Do you maybe have a minute?"
Jeanne-Marie nodded and backed up, gesturing for her to come in. The room was in relatively good order--she always made her bed every morning, and the chair wasn't draped with clothes, so it was a good start. "Can I get you some tea or something?"
Illyana came inside, but shook her head at the offer of tea. "No, I'm fine. Thanks. I just..." She made a face and looked awkward. "I'm not sure how to start," she admitted.
"That's okay." Jeanne-Marie gestured to the desk chair and settled herself on the spare nearby--at a slight distance but still close enough to speak quietly and comfortably. "Maybe tell me who it involves, first? Is it about you, or another student, or...?"
"Well, mostly it's about Nico, I guess?" Illyana made a face as she sat down in the chair Jeanne-Marie had indicated. "But, I mean, we're dating. So..." She shrugged a little, then took a deep breath. "One of the security guys was kind of giving him a hard time the other day."
Jeanne-Marie frowned and crossed her legs at the knee, then leaned forward with her arms draped over it. "Nico seems so quiet, though. Not like a troublemaker at all." She couldn't think of any other reason for security to interfere with a student.
"Well, that's the thing. It wasn't about anything Nico was doing." Illyana met Jeanne-Marie's eyes with an awkward look. "Apparently, Jack thinks us dating is...unlikely."
Jeanne-Marie's brows scrunched even closer together. As far as she knew, Illyana and Nico had always been friends, so it wasn't so farfetched. And even if it was-- "That... is his business, why?"
"I don't know?" Illyana made a face. "Nico doesn't know either; he says Jack's never even talked to him before, he just all of a sudden showed up and started saying stuff about how we didn't act like we were dating or something. And he, umm..." She looked even more awkward, then said, "He told Nico he can always tell when someone's attracted to him. And he wasn't talking about me."
Jeanne-Marie's eyelashes fluttered a few times as she tried to comprehend this. "Jack... went to Nico to say that he doesn't act like he's dating you. Then said that you like him--as in Jack?"
Illyana shook her head. Damn, that had been too vague, hadn't it? "No. He kind of implied that Nico was interested in him. Or...more than implied, and said something about me being the wrong gender for him." She grimaced, letting her annoyance show. "Nico's pretty upset. Because yeah. No. And I'm pretty sure I'd know if my boyfriend was gay."
One, even if Jack did know that Nico was attracted to him, that was none of his business unless Nico chose to act on it--in which case Jack would have to rebuff him, obviously, but that was no concern.
Two, even if Nico was attracted to Jack, it certainly did not mean he was gay, and either way, it was hardly Jack's place to drag a boy into coming out--to anyone, let alone a strange staff member--if he had no desire to do so.
"There are so many levels of wrongness in this I'm not sure where to start," Jeanne-Marie admitted. "So--Nico has never confided in Jack? Jack just... approached him and said something like, I know you find me attractive and not your girlfriend? Which--by the way, wouldn't mean he was gay, even if it was true!" she was quick to add.
"No, I know that." Illyana smiled at Jeanne-Marie's reassurance. "And, I mean, I know Nico's interested in me - he might not be big on the PDAs, but...it's not like we're always in public." She grinned a little, girl to girl, knowing Jeanne-Marie would understand what she meant, then shrugged and let the grin fade. "But no. Nico said he'd never talked to Jack before. He asked me if I knew him, because he didn't. I don't really know him, either, not beyond him being Cal's old roommate's boyfriend. And I just can't - why would he even do this? As a joke? Because it's really not funny."
Jeanne-Marie had a good idea why Jack might do it, of course. Jack was a good person who wanted to help and protect people; of course he thought that he was helping Nico. Everything Jeanne-Marie had read and experienced said it was the opposite of helping--if Illyana had the whole story.
"It's not Jack's way to make jokes like that," Jeanne-Marie said firmly. "I'm sure he thought he was being helpful, but he shouldn't have done it. I'll have a word with him."
Which was possibly not her place, since Nico hadn't asked her to--but Jack was on staff, and if she saw a staff member doing something potentially harmful for a student, then it was her place to say something. And oh, if this was what it looked like, she would be saying a lot.
"Do you think Nico would speak to me, first?" It would make things clearer; she didn't want to go in accusing Jack of things he hadn't done.
"I don't know," Illyana admitted honestly. "Nico...isn't really much for talking to people in general. I can ask him." She made a face. "He's probably going to be annoyed that I said anything, but he'll get over it. He'd do it for me."
"I'd rather not go to Jack without the whole story unless it's absolutely necessary," Jeanne-Marie said. "Is Nico around now?"
"Probably?" Illyana pulled out her phone and typed, JM wants to talk to YOU. R U around?" She offered Jeanne-Marie a crooked smile. "If he doesn't answer in a few minutes, I'll go find him. He forgets his phone constantly."
me? ok i guess....but y?
About Jack. Doublecheck story, I think? Not happy with Jack at All.
k. wher u guys at?
JMs room. Illyana finished typing, then directed an apologetic smile at Jeanne-Marie. "Sorry. He's coming."
"Then I will make that tea while we wait for him, I think." Jeanne-Marie smiled and stood. "It's nice of you to take care of him like this. I think we all need someone to do that for us now and then."
As in a friend to watch your backs, not a perfect stranger to question your sexuality...
"It's Nico." Illyana shrugged, as if she'd never considered doing anything else. Funny thing? It was pretty close to the truth.
______
It took Nico a while to find Jeanne-Marie's room, mostly because he'd never had a reason to go there before. He steeled himself slightly before knocking on the door.
She was ready, and when she opened it, the scent of faintly herbal-flavored green tea wafted out. "Come in, Nico. Thank you." She gestured to her neat room and the chair across from Illyana where she'd been sitting, just near the desk.
Nico sat down, fidgeting his hands slightly. "So, what's up?" His eyes bounced back and forth between Jeanne-Marie and Illyana.
Illyana bit at her lip and "confessed", "I told Jeanne-Marie about Jack. I know you said not to, but..." she shrugged awkwardly, "You were upset, and I still don't think it was funny. If that's what he was trying for."
Jeanne-Marie shook her head. "But that's not Jack's idea of a joke." And went quiet, waiting for Nico's reaction.
First, Nico looked at Yana to steel himself. Then, he answered truthfully. "It was...weird," Nico settled on saying, eyes moving to the ground while he shrugged. "He's never talked to me before, and then he wanted to know all about Yana and I."
"I know this is awkward," Jeanne-Marie said, all sympathy and a tiny smile she hoped was reassuring. "But can you tell me what he asked and why? Or give me some idea, if that makes you uncomfortable," she added quickly. "I get the feeling his interference was inappropriate and I want to tell him so, but I'd like to hear what happened from you, first."
"He came up and started to talk to me, which, whatever. Said he heard I was dating Yana, and that that was weird because Illyana's a girl. He just kept saying stuff like he knew things about me which aren't true," Nico tried to explain, and man this was weird as hell. "He said it was cuz I don't talk about making out with her all the time or something."
Jeanne-Marie tried not to show her growing alarm as Nico talked. It was just like Jack to want to help someone he thought was struggling with their sexuality, but he really should know that even if Nico was solely interested in men--as Jack seemed to think for reasons unknown--Nico having a girlfriend certainly implied that he didn't want to admit it, possibly even to himself. More likely, however, Nico could be bi or pan or polysexual--like, well, Jack. Precisely why he ought to know better.
Either way, Jeanne-Marie had made some terrible mistakes herself in such things, of course, so she'd done a great deal of reading since. Especially with her intended career path, but also just in general, she wanted to be equipped to handle these things properly.
And Jack doing this... Was the opposite of "proper".
"Nico, I am so sorry," she said, first thing. "That must've been a very uncomfortable experience. It was none of Jack's business." And it wasn't. Jack had no business attempting to drag a student out of a closet, whether the closet truly existed or not was irrelevant.
Illyana'd gotten up while Jeanne-Marie was speaking, and crossed the room to perch on the edge of the desk by Nico's chair, resting her hand on his back as she turned to Jeanne-Marie with an awkward, nervous expression. "So, what do we do? Because I've gotta admit, it kind of creeps me out that there's some security guy watching us and, well, evaluating or something. We just started going out; I don't think we should have to be making out in public to keep weirdos from badgering Nico about whether or not it's real."
"It was pretty uncomfortable," Nico agreed with JM, shrugging slightly but leaning into Yana as he did so. It was good to have her there. "I told him to fuck off."
"Good for you." Jeanne-Marie let a little smile slip through, at that. But she also noticed the closeness between the two; regardless of what the nature of that relationship was, it was something important to them both, she was certain. As long as no one was being hurt, then it was no one's business. Except that she couldn't help thinking it charming, no matter what. "I'll have a talk with him, too. He owes you an apology, regardless of his intentions. And I wouldn't like to see him try and insert himself into anyone else's life in this way, so I'll say so."
Because all Jeanne-Marie kept coming up with was that even if Nico was gay--or some flavor of polysexual--it was Nico's business and his alone. Jack of all people should know better than to disrespect that.
Illyana smiled. "Thanks, Jeanne-Marie. I didn't want to bother you, but..." Her eyes darted towards Nico before coming back to JM's, her smile tilting just a little as she shrugged. Guys. What can you do?
"Yeah, thanks Jeanne-Marie," Nico parroted immediately. After all, she was doing them a solid. Even if Jack hadn't been that far off base.
"I'm glad I have your blessing," Jeanne-Marie admitted. She felt bound to say something even if Nico protested, which sounded... well, not nearly as bad as Jack, but at this point that was a low bar.
This was not going to be a pretty discussion, but Jeanne-Marie would do what she had to, of course.
"We should go, then." Illyana slipped down off the desk, reached for Nico's hand, and gave it a tug. "We took up enough of your time already. Ready?"
"Ready," Nico responded, standing up as well. "And...thanks Jeanne-Marie."
"Of course, thank you for talking to me," Jeanne-Marie said. "And you, Illyana. I'm glad you felt like you could."
Illyana smiled a reply, then pulled Nico out into the hall and closed the door. She snuck her arm around his waist and leaned into him, grinning smugly, but waited until they were well out of earshot before whispering, "If that didn't work, I don't know what will."
This was it. Illyana really didn't feel the least bit bad about what she was going to do - Jack had brought this on himself, and it wasn't as if she were going to tell Jeanne-Marie anything that wasn't true. Still, she paused outside Jeanne-Marie's door, mostly just to wrap her head around exactly what she wanted to say and to make sure she had the most appropriate "worried" expression in place. Finally, she knocked. After all, Jeanne-Marie had always said if she needed anything, she should come and find her. She really felt this definitely fell into that category.
"One moment!" Jeanne-Marie called. She wasn't sure quite who it was, but even if she had been, answering in her cami and underpants would've been unacceptable. She pulled on a soft pair of yoga pants, tied back her hair, and opened the door. She smiled when she saw who it was, but then frowned slightly at her expression. "Illyana, is something wrong?"
"Kind of?" Illyana said awkwardly, chewing at her lip. "Do you maybe have a minute?"
Jeanne-Marie nodded and backed up, gesturing for her to come in. The room was in relatively good order--she always made her bed every morning, and the chair wasn't draped with clothes, so it was a good start. "Can I get you some tea or something?"
Illyana came inside, but shook her head at the offer of tea. "No, I'm fine. Thanks. I just..." She made a face and looked awkward. "I'm not sure how to start," she admitted.
"That's okay." Jeanne-Marie gestured to the desk chair and settled herself on the spare nearby--at a slight distance but still close enough to speak quietly and comfortably. "Maybe tell me who it involves, first? Is it about you, or another student, or...?"
"Well, mostly it's about Nico, I guess?" Illyana made a face as she sat down in the chair Jeanne-Marie had indicated. "But, I mean, we're dating. So..." She shrugged a little, then took a deep breath. "One of the security guys was kind of giving him a hard time the other day."
Jeanne-Marie frowned and crossed her legs at the knee, then leaned forward with her arms draped over it. "Nico seems so quiet, though. Not like a troublemaker at all." She couldn't think of any other reason for security to interfere with a student.
"Well, that's the thing. It wasn't about anything Nico was doing." Illyana met Jeanne-Marie's eyes with an awkward look. "Apparently, Jack thinks us dating is...unlikely."
Jeanne-Marie's brows scrunched even closer together. As far as she knew, Illyana and Nico had always been friends, so it wasn't so farfetched. And even if it was-- "That... is his business, why?"
"I don't know?" Illyana made a face. "Nico doesn't know either; he says Jack's never even talked to him before, he just all of a sudden showed up and started saying stuff about how we didn't act like we were dating or something. And he, umm..." She looked even more awkward, then said, "He told Nico he can always tell when someone's attracted to him. And he wasn't talking about me."
Jeanne-Marie's eyelashes fluttered a few times as she tried to comprehend this. "Jack... went to Nico to say that he doesn't act like he's dating you. Then said that you like him--as in Jack?"
Illyana shook her head. Damn, that had been too vague, hadn't it? "No. He kind of implied that Nico was interested in him. Or...more than implied, and said something about me being the wrong gender for him." She grimaced, letting her annoyance show. "Nico's pretty upset. Because yeah. No. And I'm pretty sure I'd know if my boyfriend was gay."
One, even if Jack did know that Nico was attracted to him, that was none of his business unless Nico chose to act on it--in which case Jack would have to rebuff him, obviously, but that was no concern.
Two, even if Nico was attracted to Jack, it certainly did not mean he was gay, and either way, it was hardly Jack's place to drag a boy into coming out--to anyone, let alone a strange staff member--if he had no desire to do so.
"There are so many levels of wrongness in this I'm not sure where to start," Jeanne-Marie admitted. "So--Nico has never confided in Jack? Jack just... approached him and said something like, I know you find me attractive and not your girlfriend? Which--by the way, wouldn't mean he was gay, even if it was true!" she was quick to add.
"No, I know that." Illyana smiled at Jeanne-Marie's reassurance. "And, I mean, I know Nico's interested in me - he might not be big on the PDAs, but...it's not like we're always in public." She grinned a little, girl to girl, knowing Jeanne-Marie would understand what she meant, then shrugged and let the grin fade. "But no. Nico said he'd never talked to Jack before. He asked me if I knew him, because he didn't. I don't really know him, either, not beyond him being Cal's old roommate's boyfriend. And I just can't - why would he even do this? As a joke? Because it's really not funny."
Jeanne-Marie had a good idea why Jack might do it, of course. Jack was a good person who wanted to help and protect people; of course he thought that he was helping Nico. Everything Jeanne-Marie had read and experienced said it was the opposite of helping--if Illyana had the whole story.
"It's not Jack's way to make jokes like that," Jeanne-Marie said firmly. "I'm sure he thought he was being helpful, but he shouldn't have done it. I'll have a word with him."
Which was possibly not her place, since Nico hadn't asked her to--but Jack was on staff, and if she saw a staff member doing something potentially harmful for a student, then it was her place to say something. And oh, if this was what it looked like, she would be saying a lot.
"Do you think Nico would speak to me, first?" It would make things clearer; she didn't want to go in accusing Jack of things he hadn't done.
"I don't know," Illyana admitted honestly. "Nico...isn't really much for talking to people in general. I can ask him." She made a face. "He's probably going to be annoyed that I said anything, but he'll get over it. He'd do it for me."
"I'd rather not go to Jack without the whole story unless it's absolutely necessary," Jeanne-Marie said. "Is Nico around now?"
"Probably?" Illyana pulled out her phone and typed, JM wants to talk to YOU. R U around?" She offered Jeanne-Marie a crooked smile. "If he doesn't answer in a few minutes, I'll go find him. He forgets his phone constantly."
me? ok i guess....but y?
About Jack. Doublecheck story, I think? Not happy with Jack at All.
k. wher u guys at?
JMs room. Illyana finished typing, then directed an apologetic smile at Jeanne-Marie. "Sorry. He's coming."
"Then I will make that tea while we wait for him, I think." Jeanne-Marie smiled and stood. "It's nice of you to take care of him like this. I think we all need someone to do that for us now and then."
As in a friend to watch your backs, not a perfect stranger to question your sexuality...
"It's Nico." Illyana shrugged, as if she'd never considered doing anything else. Funny thing? It was pretty close to the truth.
______
It took Nico a while to find Jeanne-Marie's room, mostly because he'd never had a reason to go there before. He steeled himself slightly before knocking on the door.
She was ready, and when she opened it, the scent of faintly herbal-flavored green tea wafted out. "Come in, Nico. Thank you." She gestured to her neat room and the chair across from Illyana where she'd been sitting, just near the desk.
Nico sat down, fidgeting his hands slightly. "So, what's up?" His eyes bounced back and forth between Jeanne-Marie and Illyana.
Illyana bit at her lip and "confessed", "I told Jeanne-Marie about Jack. I know you said not to, but..." she shrugged awkwardly, "You were upset, and I still don't think it was funny. If that's what he was trying for."
Jeanne-Marie shook her head. "But that's not Jack's idea of a joke." And went quiet, waiting for Nico's reaction.
First, Nico looked at Yana to steel himself. Then, he answered truthfully. "It was...weird," Nico settled on saying, eyes moving to the ground while he shrugged. "He's never talked to me before, and then he wanted to know all about Yana and I."
"I know this is awkward," Jeanne-Marie said, all sympathy and a tiny smile she hoped was reassuring. "But can you tell me what he asked and why? Or give me some idea, if that makes you uncomfortable," she added quickly. "I get the feeling his interference was inappropriate and I want to tell him so, but I'd like to hear what happened from you, first."
"He came up and started to talk to me, which, whatever. Said he heard I was dating Yana, and that that was weird because Illyana's a girl. He just kept saying stuff like he knew things about me which aren't true," Nico tried to explain, and man this was weird as hell. "He said it was cuz I don't talk about making out with her all the time or something."
Jeanne-Marie tried not to show her growing alarm as Nico talked. It was just like Jack to want to help someone he thought was struggling with their sexuality, but he really should know that even if Nico was solely interested in men--as Jack seemed to think for reasons unknown--Nico having a girlfriend certainly implied that he didn't want to admit it, possibly even to himself. More likely, however, Nico could be bi or pan or polysexual--like, well, Jack. Precisely why he ought to know better.
Either way, Jeanne-Marie had made some terrible mistakes herself in such things, of course, so she'd done a great deal of reading since. Especially with her intended career path, but also just in general, she wanted to be equipped to handle these things properly.
And Jack doing this... Was the opposite of "proper".
"Nico, I am so sorry," she said, first thing. "That must've been a very uncomfortable experience. It was none of Jack's business." And it wasn't. Jack had no business attempting to drag a student out of a closet, whether the closet truly existed or not was irrelevant.
Illyana'd gotten up while Jeanne-Marie was speaking, and crossed the room to perch on the edge of the desk by Nico's chair, resting her hand on his back as she turned to Jeanne-Marie with an awkward, nervous expression. "So, what do we do? Because I've gotta admit, it kind of creeps me out that there's some security guy watching us and, well, evaluating or something. We just started going out; I don't think we should have to be making out in public to keep weirdos from badgering Nico about whether or not it's real."
"It was pretty uncomfortable," Nico agreed with JM, shrugging slightly but leaning into Yana as he did so. It was good to have her there. "I told him to fuck off."
"Good for you." Jeanne-Marie let a little smile slip through, at that. But she also noticed the closeness between the two; regardless of what the nature of that relationship was, it was something important to them both, she was certain. As long as no one was being hurt, then it was no one's business. Except that she couldn't help thinking it charming, no matter what. "I'll have a talk with him, too. He owes you an apology, regardless of his intentions. And I wouldn't like to see him try and insert himself into anyone else's life in this way, so I'll say so."
Because all Jeanne-Marie kept coming up with was that even if Nico was gay--or some flavor of polysexual--it was Nico's business and his alone. Jack of all people should know better than to disrespect that.
Illyana smiled. "Thanks, Jeanne-Marie. I didn't want to bother you, but..." Her eyes darted towards Nico before coming back to JM's, her smile tilting just a little as she shrugged. Guys. What can you do?
"Yeah, thanks Jeanne-Marie," Nico parroted immediately. After all, she was doing them a solid. Even if Jack hadn't been that far off base.
"I'm glad I have your blessing," Jeanne-Marie admitted. She felt bound to say something even if Nico protested, which sounded... well, not nearly as bad as Jack, but at this point that was a low bar.
This was not going to be a pretty discussion, but Jeanne-Marie would do what she had to, of course.
"We should go, then." Illyana slipped down off the desk, reached for Nico's hand, and gave it a tug. "We took up enough of your time already. Ready?"
"Ready," Nico responded, standing up as well. "And...thanks Jeanne-Marie."
"Of course, thank you for talking to me," Jeanne-Marie said. "And you, Illyana. I'm glad you felt like you could."
Illyana smiled a reply, then pulled Nico out into the hall and closed the door. She snuck her arm around his waist and leaned into him, grinning smugly, but waited until they were well out of earshot before whispering, "If that didn't work, I don't know what will."
