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om_mainAfter Jeanne-Marie's birthday went so well Bobby took it as a sign that he should stay off his medication completely (Not his best decision) It went as well as could be expected though he tried to hide the resulting screw ups from her. And failed.
warning for Bobby's PTSD and related issues
Jeanne-Marie looped her arm through Roberto's the moment they were outside. The sunshine was so nice, lately, and the days pleasant, but not too hot. She thought she would like weather like this forever. Though she was looking forward to being allowed to wear shorts for her first summer ever, she wasn't sure how she'd fare in the heat this far south. Or maybe she would love it.
She knew Bobby did, anyhow, and that went a long way. "How have things been with your squad lately? You have not complained--is it getting better?"
"I work in training, they are no longer attacking me unfairly afterwards and no one has tried to make me attend firearms training since so, yes, I suppose it is better. How is your squad going?" He was wearing a pair of shades against the sun though mostly he was hiding his eyes from Jeanne-Marie. He was policing himself carefully too, he wasn't completely off his face but he hadn't expected to see her quite so soon and had self-medicated after lunch. A liquid lunch.
He'd had another bad night though didn't want to admit it, he hadn’t sleep more than an hour for more nights than he could count. That combined with accidentally being in the wrong place when a fire arms practice was happening meant he’d been on edge for a while. He’d thrown out the old medication having decided on the spur of the moment that he no longer needed it and at first he’d been ok but then everything had turned upside down and he couldn’t stop it. So until he could get a prescription for more or something he had to sort himself out. He wouldn’t tell he any of this though, Jeanne-Marie was so much happier when she thought he was ok.
"It is interesting," she admitted. "I like our group very much, and we are going to take turns leading the exercises, I think. We don't have the same kind of, ah, personalities your squad does." Jeanne-Marie liked Damon, of course, but she didn't discuss that with Roberto purely for squad tension reasons--and though thanks to Wanda she liked Pietro better than she had, she still thought he ought to take his impatience and stick it somewhere very unpleasant.
And yet, she trusted Tessa to manage those boys if they got out of hand, and had no doubt that Bobby's pride was more than a little responsible for most of his complaints. (She kept quiet about that, too.)
As she spoke, Bobby ran his hand lightly down her arm, ultimately threading their fingers together.
"Who, uh, who is in your team? I do not remember." He admitted as they walked. What he wanted to ask but also feared to ask was if she'd been doing the fire-arms training. The idea of Jeane-Maire around guns, using guns, it made his blood run cold and his head spin in a panic.
"Oh, Angelo and Simon Tam, Ben, Curtis, Lorna, Toph, Barbara... oh, and Vance! He is a very sweet boy, I could never forget him. I think we work very well together, actually," she admitted, giving his fingers a squeeze and turning her face up to the sun. "But it is hard to say who should lead, in situations where someone must take control."
For herself, she thought Curtis might be a good choice--like most of their team he didn't mouth off, but he also had something very pragmatic about him that Jeanne-Marie liked in training. Or perhaps Barbara, who was certainly a genius. Lorna was very decisive too, if perhaps a little too young, like Toph...
"He and I train together to. Gym training, not powers. You are right, sweet kid." He looked up to Bobby and it was good, fun even to be training with another. "Good team." Though he didn't know Toph and whilst things weren't as icy as they used to be with Curtis (largely thanks to Vance again) but they weren't going to be hanging out any time soon.
"Where are we going querida?" He looked around, they hadn't agreed on a destination beyond 'outside'.
"Just around," she said blithely, before going a little sober again. "I feel so bad for Simon, I hardly know what to say to him right now. I am glad my brother is there to take care of him--and me to take care of my brother."
Bobby's grip on her hand tighten a little as that irrational thought he'd been trying to ignore came back for a fleeting second What if it had been Jeanne-Marie who was taken? But, no, he couldn't think like that. She was here and it was horribly selfish to worry about himself and her when others were suffering far more.
"It must be terrible for him. I do not know him well but...well, we all know he adores her." Bobby refused to use the past tense, not until they knew for sure. Using the past tense was akin to accepting defeat after all.
He stumbled a little but didn't trip, he managed to catch himself in time. He flashed a smile to cover the awkward moment. "I have forgotten how to walk in havianas after such a long winter, I guess..."
Jeanne-Marie raised an eyebrow at him. "You are -- not nervous. But something is off." And she thought she knew what, considering his behavior, lately. She understood and didn't want to make him feel worse, but... "Why don't you want to tell me things, anymore?"
"I, I do tell you things. We talk all the time." Roberto argued back quickly, after all there was a difference between telling things and telling everything. She did not tell him everything either and he'd never asked her to.
She stopped walking and turned to look at him, brow furrowed with concern. "Bobby. You are not yourself today. Will you tell me why, or will I have to guess?"
Bobby came to a halt and turned in to face her, inwardly groaning. Did they really have to talk about this again?
"It is nothing, querida." He insisted, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close in an attempt to distract her. "I just did not sleep well, that is all. No need to fuss."
She allowed him to pull her closer, but pursed her lips and furrowed her brow in disapproval. She was not fussing, and now she knew he had been drinking, if he thought that was going to work!
"Não olhe para mim assim. Eu estou tentando. I am trying so hard." And he hated when she looked at him like that. It hurt him. "Please. Just...I...I know I have to do better but uh..."
His big brown eyes and sweet voice did the trick; it didn't matter what he'd said that she couldn't understand. She brushed some curls from his forehead, gaze and mouth softening into an expression of pure worry. Quietly, she said, "I can't pretend that nothing is wrong. If I didn't care, that is what I would do."
"I know. I just...it was a bad night but I cannot, I mean could not. I cannot expect you to drop what you are doing each time. I wanted to get through it, maybe I didn't do it as well alone but..." And he knew he was rambling so forced himself to shut up as he lent his forehead against hers. He really did hate worrying her, he wanted to be normal and fine for her.
"I understand," she said softly, still petting his hair. The physical closeness calmed him just as it did her, and she knew it, so she used it. "I know you want--need to do some things on your own. But I can't help thinking you are hurting yourself, with the way you're doing it. There must be a better way than making a bigger mess."
And that was what he was, when he drank. In the middle of the day, even!
She always stroked his hair, so much so in fact that he was sometimes tempted to ask if she thought he was a cat or something. Still, he liked the attention so never actually said it.
"But I cannot expect you to fix things every time, it's not fair." He repeated, nose rubbing affectionately to hers. He just loved being close to her, it grounded him more than anything else.
"I understand," she assured him again, pulling back a little so she could look him in the eye. "I would feel the same--I often do, with my brother. I worry about leaning on him too much.
"But if you want to do it by yourself sometimes, you must find another, better way. This--Bobby, this is not okay."
"S'not like it is hurting anyone." Bobby mumbled and even he could hear how petulant he sounding. He winced a little behind his shades.
"You are someone."
Well, he couldn't argue with that one.
Instead he kissed her very lightly "You know, I don't think anyone has ever known me quite like you do." He told her softly, it was both a good and bad thing for both of them. Being so close, it meant seeing the ugly as well as the pretty. It meant being vulnerable.
Though she returned the small kiss, Jeanne-Marie wondered--and not for the first time--if she'd made a mistake on her birthday. Hadn't she learned the hard way there was potential harm in her affections? But it was so difficult, with Bobby, and it always had been...
She pulled back again. "And I am lucky to know you so well. And grateful that you allow me.
"But please, tell me you will look for another way. I will help."
Bobby nodded "Promise." He said softly, any semblance of the good mood he had created for her had faded. He felt utterly deflated in fact.
She smiled and patted his cheek before pulling out of his arms completely, then tugged him down the path once more. She wanted to keep moving--maybe he could walk some of it off and be himself again soon. "I will hold you to it. I don't want to be a--not hag, a nag to you. But you know that I know how serious these things are. If we do not face them, they eat us."
"Oh you are far too beautiful to be a hag, meu querida." He slipped his arm around her waist as they walked. "I want to hear about you though, tell me what's been happening for you."
"It is difficult to concentrate on much. I have been trying extra hard to work out with others even outside the squad, more than I was before, even; it has always helped me to feel safer, and at least I can focus on it." She sighed. "I was experimenting with my light--Damon was helping me--but we haven't done anything in a while."
"Damon?" Bobby repeated with an edge to his voice. Salvatore wasn't the kind of guy he wanted near anyone he cared about, especially Jeanne-Marie. "You never mentioned him before."
She shrugged, willfully ignoring the change in his tone. "We are friends; we have been for some time, now. He's not as bad as he likes everyone to think."
"You thought that about Anders once." Bobby pointed out as neutrally as he could before moving on. "If you are missing practicing with your light, you could practice with me if you wanted to."
Jeanne-Marie rolled her eyes. "It isn't right to judge Damon by Anders. Not that he doesn't do enough to stir people up on his own--but that is different.
"And I will always practice on you, if you like. But Damon's powers have a strange sort of interaction with mine. The energy I am--ah, converting? He can feel it and use it. It is very interesting--just his observations about it have already given me a lot to work with."
"If the practicing will help then I would, yes." After all she helped him so much so if he could repay a little of that, it would be worth it. "How can he use it? He's a mind controller, isn't he?"
"He can, yes," she replied, hugging his arm close to her again as they walked. Of course, she wouldn't tell Bobby that for Damon, this part was like an addiction, something that was difficult for him, something that often showed as troubling to him and his entire world, when they spoke. Even sometimes when they were silent. She told what she could, in good conscience, instead: "But he can also take energy from people, like a kind of vampire--so he calls it, and of course you know that makes me laugh.
"It is different, with me, though. I am a kind of transducer anyhow--I can convert kinetic and potentially kinetic energy into electromagnetic, into my light. And it reacts with that ability of Damon's, somehow. He says it feels, ah--" She searched for a different word from 'healing', not wanting to express that anything might be wrong with Damon that needed healing in the first place. "Restorative, really."
"He sees himself as a vampire feeding off of you and you have no problem with any of this." Bobby summed up slowly, unable to hide the concern he was feeling. This wasn't a jealousy thing anymore but an honest to God 'what the fuck?!' Nope, not jealous at all.
"You don't understand," she said simply. "He cannot drain me like he does others. I produce--no, convert--more than he can use when I am making my light. He takes nothing from me I am not putting into the world when I light up, in the first place--and he is telling me much about how it works." And she was glad she could help Damon with the cravings that seemed to own him so often, but she wouldn't tell Bobby that, of course. If not for that, she might really feel like she was unfairly using Damon for an experiment, when in fact, he was her friend.
Drain her? Like others? How Jeanne-Marie could be so calm about this, he had no idea.
"And how, exactly, does he do this vampire stuff?" He asked tensely, for a moment reminded of the first time they'd gone out together and how Jeanne-Marie had joked that he was the vampire. He didn't like that at all and it wasn't just because he was jealous. Because he wasn’t. He didn’t get jealous. Not at all.
She shot him a sideways look, vaguely impatient. "He just touches you and he can take the energy--the same way I touch people to let them feel my light."
"Funny that he never mentioned any of this stuff during training."
Another sideways look from Jeanne-Marie; Bobby seemed almost sullen now, and it was quite obvious to her why. He had no reason to like Damon--or perhaps most of his squad--but couldn't he at least accept that she had reason to like him? "It is not a very useful power to use in squad training--he wouldn't want to drain his own team, after all--but it could be useful in an outside situation. I think it makes most people quite tired and heavy."
Then she stopped walking, suddenly having a thought. "Or do you mean--you don't think your squad knows he can do it at all?"
"Well I didn't know, did I?" Bobby pointed out as he stopped walking too. "It is certainly something I would have remembered hearing, don't you think?"
"I am sure Tessa knows, at least." But Jeanne-Marie's brow stayed furrowed. Was Damon trying to hide it, and if so, why? Was it part of how it, for lack of a better word, hurt him, sometimes? It seemed silly, though--enough people knew around the school, and Jeanne-Marie wasn't the only one who'd fed Damon. Anyhow, "They don't know everything you can do, either--or they didn't. Wasn't Pietro complaining about that? I think your squad has communication issues."
"I explained it as best I could, it's not my fault that Maximoff didn't understand. That is different from omitting details intentionally." He privately agreed that they did have some issues though, but why he kept being blamed for them he had no idea.
While Pietro Maximoff had many faults, Jeanne-Marie did not think they were faults of understanding. She had no real wish to defend him--to what purpose?--but it seemed like a double-standard, was all. "I am not sure why you assume Damon omits things intentionally while you do not. Of course, it is his own fault if people don't take an interest in him--he likes to be horrible. But I don't think it has to make him a liar by omission."
"But not mentioning this shit when powers are being discussed and they all giving me a hard time over shit, including him? That's something." He shook his head and was about to carrying on when he caught himself. His tone softened as he continued "Querida, Jeanne-Marie, let us not argue. Not about him of all people." When he was sober he'd decide what to do about Damon.
Jeanne-Marie was about to point out that just because Bobby didn't know about Damon's vampirism, it didn't mean the rest of the crew was in the dark. She pursed her lips again, this time in annoyance, but let him get away with having the last (ridiculous!) word and changing the subject. For now. "All right. Anyhow, we both have things far more important in our lives right now. And you have made a promise."
"I have. I know." He nodded, it was obvious she wasn't going to let him off the hook and in truth he didn't want to be. He knew he needed to get his act together and seeing her disappointment in him just made him want to prove himself more.
His arms started to wrap around her waist again, wanted to change the tense and clearly irritated body language he was seeing from her. "What would you rather talk about, fofucho?"
She laughed, and the disapproval melted away. "Oh, anything else. Let's talk about the beach."
"Mmmm, perfect. We can go swimming and sunbathing, I will give you a surfing lesson or two, I did promise after all. We could go for sunset walks. What would you want to do?" They needed to finalize a destination of course but they had time, Bobby suspected that Jeanne-Mare would not go without Jean-Paul's blessing and they would not be likely to get that whilst the girls were still missing.
"Build sandcastles," she said definitively.
"And eat ice creams." Bobby added, he still had his arms around her waist. One stayed put as the other moved to take her hand and he started slow dancing with her on the grass. He wasn't sure if this was an actual attempt to be romantic or just the alcohol in control, if she went for it though all would be well.
"Yes, plenty of ice cream, that is important." She went with it for the moment, letting one arm rest over his shoulder. "We will take a nice, long weekend, once things are settled down."
"And I will be sorted out by then, I guarantee it." Bobby promised before adding "Do not forget my new car has arrived so we shall go in absolute style too."
"Ah, but is it possible for us to go any other way?" Another small giggle, there. Wherever they went, she always felt like it was in style. "I know you will be sorted out." To avoid too much seriousness, which he was obviously trying to avoid, she also added, "And I cannot wait to see the car."
"It has arrived, darling." He had intended to show her immediately but Warren had distracted him. "We could go-" He caught himself when he realised what he was saying "In the morning, we could go for a little drive perhaps? Test her out?"
"I would like that very much." Jeanne-Marie realized what he'd been about to suggest, of course. See! We could be doing that right now, if you hadn't... sigh. But she was too pleased with him for catching his own mistake to do anything but smile.
"Then we shall do it. Anywhere you like." Because if she wanted it, it would happen. Simple as that. "Am I forgiven?" He did his best puppy dog eyes as they continued their little dance.
"Mmm-hmm." For now, anyhow.
"Good." He kissed her again, he was getting used to kissing her often. It felt good, right even, and it was becoming more and more obvious that, whatever it was being called, they really were boyfriend and girlfriend when it came down to it. Who could deny it really?
And she liked kissing him, yes, but it just became clearer and clearer that she shouldn't be so selfish about it. She kissed back just a little, just so he would know she wasn't annoyed, before pulling away. She only kept hold of his hand and tugged him back towards the path.
"Where are we going?"
"For a walk, remember?" She smiled over her shoulder. She didn't want to have that talk, not now, not with him in this state.
"I shall follow you anywhere, querida." Bobby informed her with an easy smile.
warning for Bobby's PTSD and related issues
Jeanne-Marie looped her arm through Roberto's the moment they were outside. The sunshine was so nice, lately, and the days pleasant, but not too hot. She thought she would like weather like this forever. Though she was looking forward to being allowed to wear shorts for her first summer ever, she wasn't sure how she'd fare in the heat this far south. Or maybe she would love it.
She knew Bobby did, anyhow, and that went a long way. "How have things been with your squad lately? You have not complained--is it getting better?"
"I work in training, they are no longer attacking me unfairly afterwards and no one has tried to make me attend firearms training since so, yes, I suppose it is better. How is your squad going?" He was wearing a pair of shades against the sun though mostly he was hiding his eyes from Jeanne-Marie. He was policing himself carefully too, he wasn't completely off his face but he hadn't expected to see her quite so soon and had self-medicated after lunch. A liquid lunch.
He'd had another bad night though didn't want to admit it, he hadn’t sleep more than an hour for more nights than he could count. That combined with accidentally being in the wrong place when a fire arms practice was happening meant he’d been on edge for a while. He’d thrown out the old medication having decided on the spur of the moment that he no longer needed it and at first he’d been ok but then everything had turned upside down and he couldn’t stop it. So until he could get a prescription for more or something he had to sort himself out. He wouldn’t tell he any of this though, Jeanne-Marie was so much happier when she thought he was ok.
"It is interesting," she admitted. "I like our group very much, and we are going to take turns leading the exercises, I think. We don't have the same kind of, ah, personalities your squad does." Jeanne-Marie liked Damon, of course, but she didn't discuss that with Roberto purely for squad tension reasons--and though thanks to Wanda she liked Pietro better than she had, she still thought he ought to take his impatience and stick it somewhere very unpleasant.
And yet, she trusted Tessa to manage those boys if they got out of hand, and had no doubt that Bobby's pride was more than a little responsible for most of his complaints. (She kept quiet about that, too.)
As she spoke, Bobby ran his hand lightly down her arm, ultimately threading their fingers together.
"Who, uh, who is in your team? I do not remember." He admitted as they walked. What he wanted to ask but also feared to ask was if she'd been doing the fire-arms training. The idea of Jeane-Maire around guns, using guns, it made his blood run cold and his head spin in a panic.
"Oh, Angelo and Simon Tam, Ben, Curtis, Lorna, Toph, Barbara... oh, and Vance! He is a very sweet boy, I could never forget him. I think we work very well together, actually," she admitted, giving his fingers a squeeze and turning her face up to the sun. "But it is hard to say who should lead, in situations where someone must take control."
For herself, she thought Curtis might be a good choice--like most of their team he didn't mouth off, but he also had something very pragmatic about him that Jeanne-Marie liked in training. Or perhaps Barbara, who was certainly a genius. Lorna was very decisive too, if perhaps a little too young, like Toph...
"He and I train together to. Gym training, not powers. You are right, sweet kid." He looked up to Bobby and it was good, fun even to be training with another. "Good team." Though he didn't know Toph and whilst things weren't as icy as they used to be with Curtis (largely thanks to Vance again) but they weren't going to be hanging out any time soon.
"Where are we going querida?" He looked around, they hadn't agreed on a destination beyond 'outside'.
"Just around," she said blithely, before going a little sober again. "I feel so bad for Simon, I hardly know what to say to him right now. I am glad my brother is there to take care of him--and me to take care of my brother."
Bobby's grip on her hand tighten a little as that irrational thought he'd been trying to ignore came back for a fleeting second What if it had been Jeanne-Marie who was taken? But, no, he couldn't think like that. She was here and it was horribly selfish to worry about himself and her when others were suffering far more.
"It must be terrible for him. I do not know him well but...well, we all know he adores her." Bobby refused to use the past tense, not until they knew for sure. Using the past tense was akin to accepting defeat after all.
He stumbled a little but didn't trip, he managed to catch himself in time. He flashed a smile to cover the awkward moment. "I have forgotten how to walk in havianas after such a long winter, I guess..."
Jeanne-Marie raised an eyebrow at him. "You are -- not nervous. But something is off." And she thought she knew what, considering his behavior, lately. She understood and didn't want to make him feel worse, but... "Why don't you want to tell me things, anymore?"
"I, I do tell you things. We talk all the time." Roberto argued back quickly, after all there was a difference between telling things and telling everything. She did not tell him everything either and he'd never asked her to.
She stopped walking and turned to look at him, brow furrowed with concern. "Bobby. You are not yourself today. Will you tell me why, or will I have to guess?"
Bobby came to a halt and turned in to face her, inwardly groaning. Did they really have to talk about this again?
"It is nothing, querida." He insisted, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close in an attempt to distract her. "I just did not sleep well, that is all. No need to fuss."
She allowed him to pull her closer, but pursed her lips and furrowed her brow in disapproval. She was not fussing, and now she knew he had been drinking, if he thought that was going to work!
"Não olhe para mim assim. Eu estou tentando. I am trying so hard." And he hated when she looked at him like that. It hurt him. "Please. Just...I...I know I have to do better but uh..."
His big brown eyes and sweet voice did the trick; it didn't matter what he'd said that she couldn't understand. She brushed some curls from his forehead, gaze and mouth softening into an expression of pure worry. Quietly, she said, "I can't pretend that nothing is wrong. If I didn't care, that is what I would do."
"I know. I just...it was a bad night but I cannot, I mean could not. I cannot expect you to drop what you are doing each time. I wanted to get through it, maybe I didn't do it as well alone but..." And he knew he was rambling so forced himself to shut up as he lent his forehead against hers. He really did hate worrying her, he wanted to be normal and fine for her.
"I understand," she said softly, still petting his hair. The physical closeness calmed him just as it did her, and she knew it, so she used it. "I know you want--need to do some things on your own. But I can't help thinking you are hurting yourself, with the way you're doing it. There must be a better way than making a bigger mess."
And that was what he was, when he drank. In the middle of the day, even!
She always stroked his hair, so much so in fact that he was sometimes tempted to ask if she thought he was a cat or something. Still, he liked the attention so never actually said it.
"But I cannot expect you to fix things every time, it's not fair." He repeated, nose rubbing affectionately to hers. He just loved being close to her, it grounded him more than anything else.
"I understand," she assured him again, pulling back a little so she could look him in the eye. "I would feel the same--I often do, with my brother. I worry about leaning on him too much.
"But if you want to do it by yourself sometimes, you must find another, better way. This--Bobby, this is not okay."
"S'not like it is hurting anyone." Bobby mumbled and even he could hear how petulant he sounding. He winced a little behind his shades.
"You are someone."
Well, he couldn't argue with that one.
Instead he kissed her very lightly "You know, I don't think anyone has ever known me quite like you do." He told her softly, it was both a good and bad thing for both of them. Being so close, it meant seeing the ugly as well as the pretty. It meant being vulnerable.
Though she returned the small kiss, Jeanne-Marie wondered--and not for the first time--if she'd made a mistake on her birthday. Hadn't she learned the hard way there was potential harm in her affections? But it was so difficult, with Bobby, and it always had been...
She pulled back again. "And I am lucky to know you so well. And grateful that you allow me.
"But please, tell me you will look for another way. I will help."
Bobby nodded "Promise." He said softly, any semblance of the good mood he had created for her had faded. He felt utterly deflated in fact.
She smiled and patted his cheek before pulling out of his arms completely, then tugged him down the path once more. She wanted to keep moving--maybe he could walk some of it off and be himself again soon. "I will hold you to it. I don't want to be a--not hag, a nag to you. But you know that I know how serious these things are. If we do not face them, they eat us."
"Oh you are far too beautiful to be a hag, meu querida." He slipped his arm around her waist as they walked. "I want to hear about you though, tell me what's been happening for you."
"It is difficult to concentrate on much. I have been trying extra hard to work out with others even outside the squad, more than I was before, even; it has always helped me to feel safer, and at least I can focus on it." She sighed. "I was experimenting with my light--Damon was helping me--but we haven't done anything in a while."
"Damon?" Bobby repeated with an edge to his voice. Salvatore wasn't the kind of guy he wanted near anyone he cared about, especially Jeanne-Marie. "You never mentioned him before."
She shrugged, willfully ignoring the change in his tone. "We are friends; we have been for some time, now. He's not as bad as he likes everyone to think."
"You thought that about Anders once." Bobby pointed out as neutrally as he could before moving on. "If you are missing practicing with your light, you could practice with me if you wanted to."
Jeanne-Marie rolled her eyes. "It isn't right to judge Damon by Anders. Not that he doesn't do enough to stir people up on his own--but that is different.
"And I will always practice on you, if you like. But Damon's powers have a strange sort of interaction with mine. The energy I am--ah, converting? He can feel it and use it. It is very interesting--just his observations about it have already given me a lot to work with."
"If the practicing will help then I would, yes." After all she helped him so much so if he could repay a little of that, it would be worth it. "How can he use it? He's a mind controller, isn't he?"
"He can, yes," she replied, hugging his arm close to her again as they walked. Of course, she wouldn't tell Bobby that for Damon, this part was like an addiction, something that was difficult for him, something that often showed as troubling to him and his entire world, when they spoke. Even sometimes when they were silent. She told what she could, in good conscience, instead: "But he can also take energy from people, like a kind of vampire--so he calls it, and of course you know that makes me laugh.
"It is different, with me, though. I am a kind of transducer anyhow--I can convert kinetic and potentially kinetic energy into electromagnetic, into my light. And it reacts with that ability of Damon's, somehow. He says it feels, ah--" She searched for a different word from 'healing', not wanting to express that anything might be wrong with Damon that needed healing in the first place. "Restorative, really."
"He sees himself as a vampire feeding off of you and you have no problem with any of this." Bobby summed up slowly, unable to hide the concern he was feeling. This wasn't a jealousy thing anymore but an honest to God 'what the fuck?!' Nope, not jealous at all.
"You don't understand," she said simply. "He cannot drain me like he does others. I produce--no, convert--more than he can use when I am making my light. He takes nothing from me I am not putting into the world when I light up, in the first place--and he is telling me much about how it works." And she was glad she could help Damon with the cravings that seemed to own him so often, but she wouldn't tell Bobby that, of course. If not for that, she might really feel like she was unfairly using Damon for an experiment, when in fact, he was her friend.
Drain her? Like others? How Jeanne-Marie could be so calm about this, he had no idea.
"And how, exactly, does he do this vampire stuff?" He asked tensely, for a moment reminded of the first time they'd gone out together and how Jeanne-Marie had joked that he was the vampire. He didn't like that at all and it wasn't just because he was jealous. Because he wasn’t. He didn’t get jealous. Not at all.
She shot him a sideways look, vaguely impatient. "He just touches you and he can take the energy--the same way I touch people to let them feel my light."
"Funny that he never mentioned any of this stuff during training."
Another sideways look from Jeanne-Marie; Bobby seemed almost sullen now, and it was quite obvious to her why. He had no reason to like Damon--or perhaps most of his squad--but couldn't he at least accept that she had reason to like him? "It is not a very useful power to use in squad training--he wouldn't want to drain his own team, after all--but it could be useful in an outside situation. I think it makes most people quite tired and heavy."
Then she stopped walking, suddenly having a thought. "Or do you mean--you don't think your squad knows he can do it at all?"
"Well I didn't know, did I?" Bobby pointed out as he stopped walking too. "It is certainly something I would have remembered hearing, don't you think?"
"I am sure Tessa knows, at least." But Jeanne-Marie's brow stayed furrowed. Was Damon trying to hide it, and if so, why? Was it part of how it, for lack of a better word, hurt him, sometimes? It seemed silly, though--enough people knew around the school, and Jeanne-Marie wasn't the only one who'd fed Damon. Anyhow, "They don't know everything you can do, either--or they didn't. Wasn't Pietro complaining about that? I think your squad has communication issues."
"I explained it as best I could, it's not my fault that Maximoff didn't understand. That is different from omitting details intentionally." He privately agreed that they did have some issues though, but why he kept being blamed for them he had no idea.
While Pietro Maximoff had many faults, Jeanne-Marie did not think they were faults of understanding. She had no real wish to defend him--to what purpose?--but it seemed like a double-standard, was all. "I am not sure why you assume Damon omits things intentionally while you do not. Of course, it is his own fault if people don't take an interest in him--he likes to be horrible. But I don't think it has to make him a liar by omission."
"But not mentioning this shit when powers are being discussed and they all giving me a hard time over shit, including him? That's something." He shook his head and was about to carrying on when he caught himself. His tone softened as he continued "Querida, Jeanne-Marie, let us not argue. Not about him of all people." When he was sober he'd decide what to do about Damon.
Jeanne-Marie was about to point out that just because Bobby didn't know about Damon's vampirism, it didn't mean the rest of the crew was in the dark. She pursed her lips again, this time in annoyance, but let him get away with having the last (ridiculous!) word and changing the subject. For now. "All right. Anyhow, we both have things far more important in our lives right now. And you have made a promise."
"I have. I know." He nodded, it was obvious she wasn't going to let him off the hook and in truth he didn't want to be. He knew he needed to get his act together and seeing her disappointment in him just made him want to prove himself more.
His arms started to wrap around her waist again, wanted to change the tense and clearly irritated body language he was seeing from her. "What would you rather talk about, fofucho?"
She laughed, and the disapproval melted away. "Oh, anything else. Let's talk about the beach."
"Mmmm, perfect. We can go swimming and sunbathing, I will give you a surfing lesson or two, I did promise after all. We could go for sunset walks. What would you want to do?" They needed to finalize a destination of course but they had time, Bobby suspected that Jeanne-Mare would not go without Jean-Paul's blessing and they would not be likely to get that whilst the girls were still missing.
"Build sandcastles," she said definitively.
"And eat ice creams." Bobby added, he still had his arms around her waist. One stayed put as the other moved to take her hand and he started slow dancing with her on the grass. He wasn't sure if this was an actual attempt to be romantic or just the alcohol in control, if she went for it though all would be well.
"Yes, plenty of ice cream, that is important." She went with it for the moment, letting one arm rest over his shoulder. "We will take a nice, long weekend, once things are settled down."
"And I will be sorted out by then, I guarantee it." Bobby promised before adding "Do not forget my new car has arrived so we shall go in absolute style too."
"Ah, but is it possible for us to go any other way?" Another small giggle, there. Wherever they went, she always felt like it was in style. "I know you will be sorted out." To avoid too much seriousness, which he was obviously trying to avoid, she also added, "And I cannot wait to see the car."
"It has arrived, darling." He had intended to show her immediately but Warren had distracted him. "We could go-" He caught himself when he realised what he was saying "In the morning, we could go for a little drive perhaps? Test her out?"
"I would like that very much." Jeanne-Marie realized what he'd been about to suggest, of course. See! We could be doing that right now, if you hadn't... sigh. But she was too pleased with him for catching his own mistake to do anything but smile.
"Then we shall do it. Anywhere you like." Because if she wanted it, it would happen. Simple as that. "Am I forgiven?" He did his best puppy dog eyes as they continued their little dance.
"Mmm-hmm." For now, anyhow.
"Good." He kissed her again, he was getting used to kissing her often. It felt good, right even, and it was becoming more and more obvious that, whatever it was being called, they really were boyfriend and girlfriend when it came down to it. Who could deny it really?
And she liked kissing him, yes, but it just became clearer and clearer that she shouldn't be so selfish about it. She kissed back just a little, just so he would know she wasn't annoyed, before pulling away. She only kept hold of his hand and tugged him back towards the path.
"Where are we going?"
"For a walk, remember?" She smiled over her shoulder. She didn't want to have that talk, not now, not with him in this state.
"I shall follow you anywhere, querida." Bobby informed her with an easy smile.
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Date: 2013-06-19 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-19 03:03 pm (UTC)Or Bobby will just go straight for Damon.
Pietro is facepalming already. DAMMIT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TEAM AWESOME.no subject
Date: 2013-06-19 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-19 03:31 pm (UTC)Of course if Bobby does it without asking, oh god, please wait a few weeks because otherwise Pietro might try to break his nose.