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om_mainThe start of the camp out and Jean-Paul's noticing the youngest member of their group is suffering in the cold. Not that Victor's willing to admit it or anything.
To Jean-Paul, it became clear in short order that he could have done a better job organizing some of the details on this little camping excursion into the woods. (True, they were just at the lake on the Xavier Institute grounds, and could just pop in to get whatever they needed, but he'd still screwed up. ) For one thing, he'd forgotten to grab a vegetarian substitute for the hot dogs, and while there were more than enough apples, potatoes and s'mores fixings to make sure Josh didn't starve, Jean-Paul didn't like to exclude a friend.
And then there was the weather. It wasn't even brisk by most standards, but from the way Victor was hugging himself and staring longingly at where Fraser was getting the firepit put together, he was feeling the drop in temperature.
Jean-Paul crossed over to where Vic was standing and put an arm around his shoulders. "Hey. Want me to zip back to the school and get you another jacket or something?"
"Oh hey, um nah I'm fine." Victor looked up at the older boy and flashed a grin. It was stupid to be cold anyway. He was from Illinois, this kind of weather was nothing. Besides he didn't want to be the baby who was wanting extra blankets and stuff. "Thanks though."
"If you are sure. If you change your mind, I can always go. It is not like we are out in the middle, of nowhere, non?" Victor was making no move to pull away, so Jean-Paul stayed put, lending him a little extra warmth.
"It's ok, you don't need to go running about for me." Victor insisted but, yeah the body warmth next to him was good. Really good. He was wearing a coat and all but still he could feel it. "Not, not that I don't appreciate you looking out for me all the time. I do. Really."
"You make it sound like I mother you." Jean-Paul chuckled. "You are not anywhere near that bad, trust me. We are friends, right? That means we watch each other's backs. Especially with everything that has happened this year."
"I didn't mean it badly or nothing." The younger boy felt he needed to say quickly before nodding a little "Yeah, friends." Still, with someone like Jean-Paul (with most of the older boys really) he strongly suspected he was a tolerated presence more than a friend. Who needed some stuttering younger kid hanging around, right?
And yet Jean Paul and the others had invited him to this camp out, him the youngest of the boys. So, yeah, not looking weak and needy was important right now. He wanted to be invited to stuff in the future after all.
"Is there much of a plan?" He asked as his gaze went back to watching Benton. "Or we just winging it?"
"At some point, we eat." Jean-Paul's laugh was low and sheepish. "Other than that, winging it. I did not think to draw up an itinerary."
"Food sounds good, all the plan I need." Vic reassured the older boy with a grin.
"I know it is cliche, but do you know any ghost stories?"
A small shy shrug. "Um a few from, like, drama club and stuff. Not sure if there's any good for you guys or not."
Jean-Paul shook his head. "Don't worry about that. The important thing is that it's a point to start talking about something."
Victor nodded a little, looking around again. "You picked a bit of a random group to come out here, I reckon anyway."
Jean-Paul shook his head as he counted off the crew: Scott (with Alex in tow), Simon, Josh, Jack, Fraser, and, of course, Victor himself. "Not so random. I like all of them."
"I don't really know the new guys, I like Josh though." The younger boy told him before adding quickly "And you and Simon, well I thought it went without saying but then it felt weird. You guys are great, really great, and I'm sorry Vance is still blaming Simon." But not sorry enough to admit his part in it all. Still, his boyfriend wasn't exactly the mean type so he doubted he'd have said anything to Simon at least.
"Is he? I have not had a chance to talk to him lately -- I suspect we are being avoided. But I think you will like the newcomers. They are, if nothing else, interesting."
"No one likes their secrets being spilled. He avoids me sometimes too." This was only something Victor suspected but still after the two incidents recently, Vance ad been really hard to find after and that wasn't usual. As a linked afterthought to the incident with Alex, he added "I train with Scott. He's really intense. I think before I'd have said I'd prefer to hang with his brother but. Nah. Not right now, that's gone weird. Hanging with Scott's cool or it can be. And the new guys seem nice." And hopefully Victor would be able to hold a conversation with them without stuttering.
Jean-Paul nodded his agreement with the assessment of his friends, but that wasn't what held his attention. "Are things OK with you and Vance?"
"Every relationship has ups and downs." Was shrugged back
"Very true, but some downsides are more difficult to weather than others. I won't pry and be a pest if you don't want to talk, though."
Victor dropped his voice a little "It's more of the same really. He wants the closet and, well, I'm doing my best for him but I hate hiding. Also we keep getting found out and I'm pretty sure he blames me. We're ok for now" Pietro being away for the week had given them the guaranteed privacy to have a few happier moments and stuff at least. "We'll figure something out."
"That sucks," Jean-Paul sighed. "I'm sorry. You'd think he'd at least feel safe being more open behind these gates."
"He thinks if people here find out then his dad will somehow. There's no arguing with him on it." He sort of shrugged like he didn't care but obviously he did. "Alex and Sokka walked in on us while...well at a really bad moment. I think we're moved past it now but for a while...yeah."
"Rough." Jean-Paul considered. "Speaking of out...have you been considering the image inducer question?"
"What question?"
"Whether or not you're going to keep using it. No judgement," Jean-Paul was quick to add, "just...wondering."
It hadn't even crossed Victor's mind to stop using it. "I don't fancy getting lynched much." He said quietly. "Maybe at the end of the month." Like his mom used to tell him, Halloween would be the only ever safe day for him while he looked like this. And even that wasn't without it's issues.
Jean-Paul relaxed unconsciously, then squeezed Victor's shoulder. "It'll be cold by then anyway. I was just thinking about it...we haven't really talked since I went public, so to speak. I don't know how you really feel about any of this."
Victor twisted his head a little to look up at the older boy with a little surprise. "Why do you care what I think? It was your choice, your life."
"My choice -- and Braddock's and Alison's and the others' -- impact a lot of people. As a mutant, you're one of them."
Well, Victor couldn't really argue with that. "I think it was brave."
Jean-Paul laughed a little, glancing away. "Merci. That...I am glad you think so. I just...never asked how it all impacted you, you know?"
"It doesn't, not really. I was hiding before and I'm hiding still...Just meant when one of the guys from my old school posted something on facebook about you, I told him to shut his mouth before I told everyone what happened at drama camp. Seemed to work." Seeing people calling Jean-Paul a cheat really annoyed him. Idiots didn't know what they were talking about. Jean-Paul wouldn't cheat.
"And thank you again. I appreciate the show of faith." And Jean-Paul wasn't entirely surprised to find that he meant that. "But all right, enough heavy talk. It looks like Fraser is almost finished. Want to give me a hand with food prep?"
"Sure, not quite the kitchen we're used to though." He managed to joke a little as he started reluctantly pulling away from his heat source.
To Jean-Paul, it became clear in short order that he could have done a better job organizing some of the details on this little camping excursion into the woods. (True, they were just at the lake on the Xavier Institute grounds, and could just pop in to get whatever they needed, but he'd still screwed up. ) For one thing, he'd forgotten to grab a vegetarian substitute for the hot dogs, and while there were more than enough apples, potatoes and s'mores fixings to make sure Josh didn't starve, Jean-Paul didn't like to exclude a friend.
And then there was the weather. It wasn't even brisk by most standards, but from the way Victor was hugging himself and staring longingly at where Fraser was getting the firepit put together, he was feeling the drop in temperature.
Jean-Paul crossed over to where Vic was standing and put an arm around his shoulders. "Hey. Want me to zip back to the school and get you another jacket or something?"
"Oh hey, um nah I'm fine." Victor looked up at the older boy and flashed a grin. It was stupid to be cold anyway. He was from Illinois, this kind of weather was nothing. Besides he didn't want to be the baby who was wanting extra blankets and stuff. "Thanks though."
"If you are sure. If you change your mind, I can always go. It is not like we are out in the middle, of nowhere, non?" Victor was making no move to pull away, so Jean-Paul stayed put, lending him a little extra warmth.
"It's ok, you don't need to go running about for me." Victor insisted but, yeah the body warmth next to him was good. Really good. He was wearing a coat and all but still he could feel it. "Not, not that I don't appreciate you looking out for me all the time. I do. Really."
"You make it sound like I mother you." Jean-Paul chuckled. "You are not anywhere near that bad, trust me. We are friends, right? That means we watch each other's backs. Especially with everything that has happened this year."
"I didn't mean it badly or nothing." The younger boy felt he needed to say quickly before nodding a little "Yeah, friends." Still, with someone like Jean-Paul (with most of the older boys really) he strongly suspected he was a tolerated presence more than a friend. Who needed some stuttering younger kid hanging around, right?
And yet Jean Paul and the others had invited him to this camp out, him the youngest of the boys. So, yeah, not looking weak and needy was important right now. He wanted to be invited to stuff in the future after all.
"Is there much of a plan?" He asked as his gaze went back to watching Benton. "Or we just winging it?"
"At some point, we eat." Jean-Paul's laugh was low and sheepish. "Other than that, winging it. I did not think to draw up an itinerary."
"Food sounds good, all the plan I need." Vic reassured the older boy with a grin.
"I know it is cliche, but do you know any ghost stories?"
A small shy shrug. "Um a few from, like, drama club and stuff. Not sure if there's any good for you guys or not."
Jean-Paul shook his head. "Don't worry about that. The important thing is that it's a point to start talking about something."
Victor nodded a little, looking around again. "You picked a bit of a random group to come out here, I reckon anyway."
Jean-Paul shook his head as he counted off the crew: Scott (with Alex in tow), Simon, Josh, Jack, Fraser, and, of course, Victor himself. "Not so random. I like all of them."
"I don't really know the new guys, I like Josh though." The younger boy told him before adding quickly "And you and Simon, well I thought it went without saying but then it felt weird. You guys are great, really great, and I'm sorry Vance is still blaming Simon." But not sorry enough to admit his part in it all. Still, his boyfriend wasn't exactly the mean type so he doubted he'd have said anything to Simon at least.
"Is he? I have not had a chance to talk to him lately -- I suspect we are being avoided. But I think you will like the newcomers. They are, if nothing else, interesting."
"No one likes their secrets being spilled. He avoids me sometimes too." This was only something Victor suspected but still after the two incidents recently, Vance ad been really hard to find after and that wasn't usual. As a linked afterthought to the incident with Alex, he added "I train with Scott. He's really intense. I think before I'd have said I'd prefer to hang with his brother but. Nah. Not right now, that's gone weird. Hanging with Scott's cool or it can be. And the new guys seem nice." And hopefully Victor would be able to hold a conversation with them without stuttering.
Jean-Paul nodded his agreement with the assessment of his friends, but that wasn't what held his attention. "Are things OK with you and Vance?"
"Every relationship has ups and downs." Was shrugged back
"Very true, but some downsides are more difficult to weather than others. I won't pry and be a pest if you don't want to talk, though."
Victor dropped his voice a little "It's more of the same really. He wants the closet and, well, I'm doing my best for him but I hate hiding. Also we keep getting found out and I'm pretty sure he blames me. We're ok for now" Pietro being away for the week had given them the guaranteed privacy to have a few happier moments and stuff at least. "We'll figure something out."
"That sucks," Jean-Paul sighed. "I'm sorry. You'd think he'd at least feel safe being more open behind these gates."
"He thinks if people here find out then his dad will somehow. There's no arguing with him on it." He sort of shrugged like he didn't care but obviously he did. "Alex and Sokka walked in on us while...well at a really bad moment. I think we're moved past it now but for a while...yeah."
"Rough." Jean-Paul considered. "Speaking of out...have you been considering the image inducer question?"
"What question?"
"Whether or not you're going to keep using it. No judgement," Jean-Paul was quick to add, "just...wondering."
It hadn't even crossed Victor's mind to stop using it. "I don't fancy getting lynched much." He said quietly. "Maybe at the end of the month." Like his mom used to tell him, Halloween would be the only ever safe day for him while he looked like this. And even that wasn't without it's issues.
Jean-Paul relaxed unconsciously, then squeezed Victor's shoulder. "It'll be cold by then anyway. I was just thinking about it...we haven't really talked since I went public, so to speak. I don't know how you really feel about any of this."
Victor twisted his head a little to look up at the older boy with a little surprise. "Why do you care what I think? It was your choice, your life."
"My choice -- and Braddock's and Alison's and the others' -- impact a lot of people. As a mutant, you're one of them."
Well, Victor couldn't really argue with that. "I think it was brave."
Jean-Paul laughed a little, glancing away. "Merci. That...I am glad you think so. I just...never asked how it all impacted you, you know?"
"It doesn't, not really. I was hiding before and I'm hiding still...Just meant when one of the guys from my old school posted something on facebook about you, I told him to shut his mouth before I told everyone what happened at drama camp. Seemed to work." Seeing people calling Jean-Paul a cheat really annoyed him. Idiots didn't know what they were talking about. Jean-Paul wouldn't cheat.
"And thank you again. I appreciate the show of faith." And Jean-Paul wasn't entirely surprised to find that he meant that. "But all right, enough heavy talk. It looks like Fraser is almost finished. Want to give me a hand with food prep?"
"Sure, not quite the kitchen we're used to though." He managed to joke a little as he started reluctantly pulling away from his heat source.
