Paul and Jeanne-Marie, at the CLUE party

[om_aurora]

Jeanne-Marie spies a lingerer and decides to make friends. Paul gets to know her, and lets her get to know him.

Of course she wanted to sing a few songs, make sure Lucrezia was having a nice time, and dance with Bobby some, but Jeanne-Marie was mostly at the cast party to congratulate the students who'd been on stage--and to meet the new kids. There had been so many lately, but she'd been so busy with her own nonsense--and her brother's very serious things--that she felt like she'd been neglectful in making sure everyone was happy and comfortable here.

So when she saw the tall, good looking blond boy lurking at the edge of the party, that was all the impetus Jeanne-Marie needed to approach with a huge smile already on her face. She thought his name was Paul, and he'd been there for a while, but they'd never had a conversation so she'd treat him as if he didn't know her. It was simpler that way.

"Hello," she offered immediately, looking directly at him so there could be no mistake (sometimes she wondered if people in a crowded place were really addressing her--she didn't want to make him feel that kind of discomfort!). "How are you doing, out here on the fringes--ah, Paul, isn't it?"

"That's me," he agreed with a wary smile. Wasn't quite sure who the lady was, but he'd seen her around a few times. Not enough to go up and speak to her, but he still sucked at introducing himself to pretty much anyone at the school, which had been why he'd stayed on the edges of the festivities instead of being in the middle.

That, and he really wasn't much of a dancer. Or a singer. "I, uh, don't think I caught your name?"

Jeanne-Marie smiled happily. Someone who hadn't seen her plastered all over tabloid sites! How refreshing! She offered her hand. "Jeanne-Marie Beaubier. It is good to meet you properly."

Someone who wouldn't know a tabloid site if it bit him in the ass, if he was honest about it. Paul took her hand for a brief, carefully not too firm, shake, and let some of the warmth into his smile. "Paul Bolton. And I'm not sick, I just run warm."

"Good to know, Paul." In an instant, Jeanne-Marie dug deep inside her and found her light; the hand in Paul's began to glow, all the way up to her elbow. It would send that warm, comforting, tingling sensation into anyone else's skin, but she wasn't sure he would notice, as warm as he already was. "And so do I, sometimes."

His eyes widened at the light, but he didn't flinch away, staying steady as she started to glow. Didn't notice the warmth, but he definitely noticed the light. "That must be useful after lights out."

"Very much, since I am not fond of the dark." She took her hand back and let the glow die naturally. Her smile was almost as bright, though. "Of course, I don't mind when surrounded by this many people. Who could?"

"Doesn't make it any less dark." His grin warmed naturally, and he turned to glance at the crowd for a moment, laughing. "I mean, I guess, the people don't. The lights kinda help with that. You're not singing tonight?"

"True!" He had the most lovely smile; Jeanne-Marie found herself answering and even laughing a little. "I will almost certainly sing; I love to sing, though I'm not so good compared to most people in the music class. What about you?"

Paul shook his head, laughter fading to a low chuckle. "No. Really, really no. I'm tone deaf, can't carry a tune in a bucket."

"They say that can be taught," she said, then laughed too. "But you will hear plenty of tone-deaf people tonight. It's more about the fun of it. Is the spotlight not your idea of a good time, Paul?"

"They teach you to carry tunes in buckets?" he quipped, looking towards the stage again. "Yeah, no, it's not for me. Not where I wanna be. I'll make sure to stay to hear you sing, though."

She laughed at his joke, covering her mouth a little before she remembered she didn't need to. Even after nearly two years, sometimes she forgot--it was almost muscle memory, really. "What kind of music do you like, then? Any requests?"

"Something you enjoy singing." He smiled, slightly worried by her reaction to laughter. Not a happy sign. "I listen to most stuff, really. Whatever's on the radio, usually." He missed radio. Maybe he could save up enough to buy one, and some headphones.

"I didn't know that much about music until I moved here--except for, you know, things from church." Jeanne-Marie tucked her hair behind one pointed ear as she talked easily. "But my first roommate was Dazzler--of all people. I could hardly believe my luck. Now I listen to everything."

"Dazzler?" Paul echoed, expression betraying how much he didn't recognize the name. "Does she do light things as well?"

But of course he didn't know Dazzler! Jeanne-Marie hadn't been sure--Alison was so much better known than she and Jean-Paul, after all--but still, she ought to have at least suspected. "Oh yes--there's a lot of footage of it, now that she's publicly known as a mutant, too. She converts sound into light, and uses it in her concerts."

"Have I heard her on the radio?" Names of bands didn't stick much, or singers. "I don't..." He paused, made a face. "Sorry, I just let the radio go on, most of the time, and I haven't got one here."

"I am sure. A lot of rock and pop stations play her--and probably mention that she is a mutant. She went on MTV with me and my brother and told the world." Jeanne-Marie laughed, self-deprecation in her look. "Sometime I will play her songs for you."

"I'd like that," he said warmly, relaxing again. "So you... and your... brother, right, Scott mentioned you, you're twins, right?"

"Mmm, yes." She smiled hugely, as usual when talking about her brother. "And--did you see the show? He was Professor Plum, we look very alike. More than boy and girl twins do, usually."

"I caught some of it." Paul glanced towards the stange, instinctive reaction to thinking back to the play. "Wow. I wouldn't have guessed you guys were the same age."

"He seems older, no?" She suggested with a little laugh.

"Oh, definitely," he said rapidly, color creeping into his cheeks. "I mean, that's what I meant. Not that you... Him. Older. Definitely."

Not just handsome, but also adorably prone to blushing! Jeanne-Marie just loved that type! She smiled, hoping to set him at ease, and shook her head. "I understand completely. I am much more... mmm, carefree, let's say. At least, most days. He seems like a much older man trapped in a very young body, most days. It's part of his charm."

Not at all used to talking to girls, not when they were so friendly, anyway. "I, um, I haven't talked to him. Just, the way he was on stage..."

"He has that air about him," she said. She considered reaching out and settling a hand on his arm, but wasn't sure if that was all right. Some of the new kids--well. She wasn't the only one who'd been through trauma, and the longer she was here, the more she realized what that meant. So she just kept smiling. "And I have mine. Do you have any siblings?"

Paul hesitated. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think so? I was really little when I went in the first home, though, I don't remember anything before it, so I might."

Jeanne-Marie smiled, but there was a kind of wry understanding in it, and absolutely no pity. "I understand. I didn't know Jean-Paul existed until I came here and--here he was already. He was adopted as a baby; I was not."

"You didn't know you had a twin?" He'd thought - obviously wrongly - that there was some kind of mystical bond. Though maybe that was a mutation thing as well, some sort of telepathy. "I mean, God, sorry, that must be... Your parents kept one of you and not the other?"

Jeanne-Marie shook her head. "No. Once I knew, a lot of things made more sense, but neither of us were ever told.

"Our parents died, though. Some cousins took him in. I went to the state." This was at once matter-of-fact and delivered with a small smile. Jeanne-Marie had no difficulty talking about her past--at least, this aspect--and refused to feel ashamed. But it sounded like Paul could understand some of it, anyhow.

Paul nodded slowly. "Sucks, right?"

Not much else he could say, because it did suck. Because the state system was there, but that was about all that could be said for it. Because having had parents but not remembering them or whether there were brothers or sisters or cousins or aunts or uncles was all he knew, but he also knew enough that it wasn't considered normal, or expected.

"It was horrific," Jeanne-Marie said honestly. She hoped, prayed silently in the moment, even, that Paul's experience hadn't been like hers. But clearly it had not been good, either. "When I first came here, I thought it was a fairy tale that would disappear.

"Are you comfortable here, so far?"

"Not sure about the fairy tale," Paul admitted with a faint smile, acknowledging her comment because, yeah. Horrific was a damn good summary. "But it's... it's still a bit weird, I guess. Good, but weird."

"I have been here a pretty long time, and even I am still struck by how very weird it is, now and then." She chuckled. "But I'm glad you like it. I'd offer to show you around town--which is very cute--but I am not supposed to be seen there too much, anymore. So I don't draw attention to the school. Maybe the city sometime, though?"

Paul nodded. "I'd like that. I haven't been there, yet, since I got to the school here. I mean, I lived there, for a while. Kind of."

"I can go incognito, if you don't like having your photo taken," she promised. She'd done it before; she knew how to get away with it, now. Then her brow furrowed. "What do you mean, kind of lived there?"

"On the streets," he said simply. "Or under them, more. It's not so hard when you don't get cold and don't need to sleep or eat."

Lonely, but not impossible.

Jeanne-Marie nodded solemnly, "I understand." She'd considered doing it many times herself, but had been so under the Perraults' thumbs... She shook her head, smiling again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask things like that at a party. We're meant to be frivolous tonight, I think."

"Then I guess I should stop monopolizing you and let you go sing." He broke into a smile, bright and warm. "I'm not so great at frivolous."

As if imparting a great secret, Jeanne-Marie leaned forward and whispered, "I'm good enough at it for both of us." Then she stood straight and laughed. "Good to talk to you at last, Paul. Have fun at the party!"

Paul laughed, letting her go. "You too. I'll be listening for you singing."