Caius and Jean-Paul at the Wrap Party, backdated 5/10/13

[om_northstar]

Jean-Paul meets Caius and they feel each out a bit.



Jean-Paul wasn't exactly in a bad mood, but he somehow felt odd turning up at the wrap party, even with Simon. This wasn't his usual scene was the matter. All of these kids his own age...it was just weird. He took up a position on the edge of the whole business and just decided to observe for a while.

"People watching?" asked a voice next to him where a small blond boy stood also observing the crowd.

Jean-Paul glanced across, cocking his head curiously. "Oui. Caius, isn't it?"

"Yes, though I don't believe I've caught your name."

"Jean-Paul Beaubier. Skiier, snowborder, and general pain in the ass according to popular opinion. You haven't been here that long, have you?"

"Not too long, no," though he had heard the boy's name before. Now he had a face to put to it. "I take it the theater is not your usual haunt?"

"I was in the play as a favor to a friend," Jean-Paul explained. "So no, not really. You?"

"I am taking advantage of a social occasion," said Caius. "Though I do love the theater."

Jean-Paul snorted quietly at the description. "I suppose there are more networking opportunities here than one might expect, if that's what you mean."

"Oh no! I just love a party," Caius' smile showed teeth. "I wouldn't miss one if I didn't have to."

"I think you will enjoy it here, then. We seem to take any excuse we can find to throw one."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Caius. "My last school was so boring. Even the parties were banal."

"You are in luck, then." The speedster turned to watch some of the other students struggling to get the bonfire lit. He wondered how many of them would finish the task minus their eyebrows. "Even the banalities around here have an undercurrent of weird."

"So I've noticed," said Caius. "And what of the wallflower? What would his undercurrent be?"

Jean-Paul raised an eyebrow and feigned misunderstanding. "Point him out to me and I will give you my opinion."

How adorable. Caius smiled and pointed at Jean-Paul.

Jean-Paul snorted softly. "I am a barely-nuanced battering ram. I do not have undercurrents. As the surface might imply, I am somewhat bored. Once the leading man is free to be congratulated without my stepping on anyone, I will likely take my leave."

"You are good friends with our Dorian then?" asked Caius.

Jean-Paul had to stop and consider that. He didn't have much in the way of categories for friends. They were friends, which meant that he'd do a lot for the kid, up to and including give or take quite a bit of bodily harm. Above acquaintance, below beloved.

"I suppose," Jean-Paul said with an easy shrug. "He is a good kid."

"I will have to take your word for it," said Caius. "I have yet to meet him."

Jean-Paul nodded. That wasn't surprising, especially if Caius was relatively new. "The play has been keeping him occupied. But he is not the stand-offish sort, really."

An interesting pair then. "How did you two become acquainted?" asked Caius.

The elven-eared boy snorted quietly. "The same way I meet most my friends here -- I offered to feed him. Though it is fine if you approach him without bribes. He does not bite."

Caius smiled at the note of safety. "And what of me? You have yet to offer me food. Are we not to be friends?"

"We're outside of my usual habitat for that sort of thing. If you're hungry, I would suggest raiding the snack table."

"Then we'll just have to find another way to establish our friendship. Maybe a dance?"

Jean-Paul took another look at the boy: slender, blond, a bit of a pale waif, but self-assured for all of that. Perhaps a bit overmuch for Jean-Paul's taste.

"And you are so sure we are to be friends?" he asked mildly.

Caius tilted his head, lips pursed and looked Jean-Paul over. "Maybe," he said. "I haven't yet made up my mind."

"Perhaps you should list your usual criteria, just so I can give you fair warning if need be."

"Where would be the fun in that?" asked Caius. "Besides, my criteria varies depending on the individual in question. If it didn't I would only have one friend."

The faintest smile quirked the edge of Jean-Paul's mouth. "Who did they end up rooming you with?"

Caius' head tilted curious of the question. "Sokka. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if I knew him. But no, I do not think I have seen him outside of self-defense."

"I do not see him often outside of our room," admitted Caius. "We do not seem to have much in common."

That prompted a brief laugh from Jean-Paul. "No, you seem far more the refined feline sort to his over-eager puppy. It likely does not make for very many common interests."

Caius grinned brightly, loving the comparison. "If only you knew," he said. "The boy likes maps for goodness sake. It's one thing to use a map to find your way to someplace exciting but to use them as posters?" He shook his head as he said, "I can't understand it."

"Are they at least maps to real places?" Jean-Paul was definitely smirking. "Or do you have to stare at the usual mess of squiggles and coffee stains that every fantasy map devolves into?"

"Most of them are real though there is one of some place called...'Middle Earth'? I think it's his prized possession as it stands in a place of honor above his desk."

"That one's popular enough that even I know about it. But at least we can claim he is mostly grounded, if a bit eccentric."

"Aren't we all a bit eccentric?" asked Caius. "Each in our own way?"

"I suppose that depends on how much leeway we are giving the term. Some of us are just plain weird."

Caius laughed and nodded. "Quite right," he said. "The scale does vary."

Jean-Paul was about to use himself as an example of scale, when he caught sight of a somewhat unsteady, spiky green head through the crowd. "Excuse me, but I think I have just found someone who may need shepherding. Perhaps we can continue this later?"

"Of course," said Caius. "Have a good evening Jean-Paul."