om_main | Simon and Jean-Paul, Wednesday evening

Jean-Paul hasn't been sleeping. Simon steps in.

Jean-Paul hadn't really slept since he'd been back. He'd lie down with Simon and nap an hour or too, but nothing near like REM sleep. He didn't bother trying to hide it from Simon, but also didn't want to talk about it.

It wasn't until the caffeine pills and energy drinks started appearing, however, that the red flags started going up.

At first, Simon had tried to ignore it. He knew why Jean-Paul was avoiding sleep, and frankly, he didn't blame him, but when he felt it starting to affect his brain function and inflict muscle fatigue, Simon knew that it would only get worse from there. Soon, Jean-Paul's immune system would weaken. He'd start to suffer from memory lapses and headaches, and the effects of the stimulants would do more harm than good.

After three days of allowing Jean-Paul to continue along the path to destruction, he finally decided that he had to put a stop to it...or at least try. When his boyfriend walked in the room that evening, he already had the pills and drinks out on his desk, and turned to look up at him as the door closed.

Jean-Paul took a dull-eyed look at the scene and sighed. "Here to tell me about the risks of self-medicating?"

"You can infer those," Simon smiled sadly as he rose out of his chair and closed the laptop. "But I'm afraid you might not know the risks of extreme sleep deprivation."

"It can't be much worse than what will happen if I sleep," Jean-Paul muttered. "I don't even want to close my eyes."

"Nightmares are traumatizing," Simon murmured, stepping toward him to ghost a hand around his hip, tugging him closer. "Not sleeping could kill you if you keep this up."

Jean-Paul tugged back half-heartedly, but finally let Simon lead him to the bed. He sat heavily, fingers twisted in his hair, as if the pain might keep him awake longer. "I figured I'd fall over sooner or later."

Simon reached up and gently extricated his fingers from his hair, then started to push Jean-Paul's shirt off over his head. "It's possible, but there's not much research on mutants with your metabolism mixed with stimulants and sleep deprivation, and by not much, I mean none at all."

Jean-Paul sighed and let him. "Sorry. I'm always making you do this...."

Simon helped him lie back, undoing his pants with the intention of at least helping him get into something more comfortable. "Actually, I think the last time someone was using stimulants to stay awake, it was me."

"I'm the one who keeps crashing and making you scrape me off the floor," Jean-Paul clarified. He didn't move to get dressed once Simon had him stripped, only pulled him down beside him.

Simon stretched out beside him, sliding his arm around his boyfriend, brushing his lips over Jean-Paul's shoulder. "I knew what I was getting into when I started falling for a stubborn adrenaline junkie with a protective streak."

Jean-Paul leaned into him shamelessly. "Mmmm. Liar," he teased. "If you'd had any idea, you'd've run screaming."

"Oh, you think I didn't know? Trust me, you don't exactly have a subtle personality," Simon smirked softly.

Jean-Paul chuckled, starting to relax into Simon's embrace, then jolted awake again. "Shit..."

Simon started as well, his senses electrified by the sudden charge in Jean-Paul's physiology. "What? Jean-Paul?"

"It's nothing...just my stupid brain telling me not to fall asleep." Jean-Paul sighed. "Sorry. I wasn't planning on coming home a basketcase."

Simon ran his hand over Jean-Paul's stomach, caressing his abdomen and chest in light, circular motions, slowly relaxing against him again. "It's alright. We'll work through it, okay?"

Jean-Paul hid his face against Simon's neck, trying to sort through the mixture of relief and shame twisting his stomach. "Would you still have fallen for me if you'd known I was going to turn out such a fucking mess?"

Simon laughed softly. "Nothing was going to stop me for falling for you. Especially not if my own stubbornness couldn't keep those feelings at bay. Jean-Paul, I love you for all the beauty and mess you are, and I especially love you for what you did up there. You put yourself at risk for all of us, and despite my ire over the situation with Jack, I am so proud of you."

Jean-Paul relaxed under his hands, then lifted his head bit by bit for a kiss. He tasted slightly bitter, the residue of caffeine and Red Bulls. "I don't mean to take advantage of your patience, not ever. You're my one fixed point."

Simon smiled against his lips, his expression wry. "You're the North Star. Not me."

"You're my lodestone," he countered. "Let everyone else gawk at me; I'll keep you for myself."
Simon choked on a small laugh, ducking his face into Jean-Paul's hair. "God. Do you know that people write stories about us?"

Jean-Paul made a sound of disgust deep in his throat. "Yes. You and me, me and Jeanne-Marie. It's been happening since before I came out as a mutant. It got worse after, since Braddock and Worthington were out by then. But why the interest?"

"The girl I told you about a few days ago. She mentioned it in her delirium when she came into the infirmary, having overtaxed her ability. I was curious about what 'Beautam' meant and made the mistake of looking it up," Simon laughed again, both amused and embarrassed in equal measure.

Jean-Paul scowled. "I hope she passes out in the middle of the hall and brains herself."

"I don't pretend to understand the fascination, but that's a little harsh," Simon murmured.

"It's bad enough to have the press and everyone else commenting on and distorting my private life," Jean-Paul pointed out, "let alone having these idiots trying to 'improve' upon it through fictionalized spank material. It's fucking dehumanizing."

Simon ducked in, kissing him softly. "I'm sorry I mentioned it. At least you can avoid her at high speed, if need be."

For once, the kiss did little to mollify the speedster. "Or push her down the stairs without getting caught."

Simon pressed his lips into Jean-Paul's hair and took a moment to gather his thoughts. He couldn't put himself in Jean-Paul's shoes. He'd only been in the spotlight a little over a year, and even then, he hadn't really been focused on until the last month or two. Most of that time, he'd been hiding himself in his work. He had a feeling that Jean-Paul was absolutely justified in hostility toward the girl, but it was also hard to hear his boyfriend threatening to kill a fifteen year old girl.

Jean-Paul sighed deeply and snuggled up to Simon. "They've probably started writing porn of me with Jack and Alpha Flight members by now."

Simon didn't validate his concerns by telling him that yes, he'd seen some titles that had both disgusted him and pissed him off. Instead, he threaded fingers into his hair and caressed the back of his neck. "So this bed..."

"We'll go modest," Jean-Paul murmured. "It only needs to take up half the room."

Simon huffed out a quiet laugh. "I'm all for big, but I think we'll still need room for a desk or two in here."

"Very negotiable..." Jean-Paul's words were slightly slurred, his breathing slowing.

Simon lowered his voice a little, closing his eyes as he listened to Jean-Paul's breathing. "I'm going to at least insist on two sets of bedding with a high thread count."

The response was a sleepy affirmative and Jean-Paul burrowing under the sheets a little.

Very quietly, Simon pulled the covers up over him and reached over, shutting off the lights before easing down behind Jean-Paul, slipping his arm around him in the dark.