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om_mainJean-Paul and Nori get tipsy and giggly in the hot tub at Shinobi's party. And in such state does Simon find them.
Jean-Paul hadn't exactly been waiting in ambush. But he was a speedster, which meant that the time between an idea striking and his acting upon it was typically very, very slim. So all he needed to do was catch sight of Nori making her way across the foyer, and then he was at her side with champagne.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Noriko had already worked up a halfway decent buzz, which probably explained the way she smiled at Jean-Paul, a smile maybe a little more pronounced than her regular ones. "This place is easier to stand with alcohol." That was Noriko-speak for: yes, she was, surprisingly enough.
"Most social events work that way. Why else do you think most of them have such liberally stocked bars?" Jean-Paul grinned and let himself hover a few inches above the floor. "The hot tub has just been refreshed, you know."
Noriko paused, thought it over, then figured, fuck it, if only to see the look on Jean-Paul's face when she agreed. "Sure, yeah."
Jean-Paul whooped a laugh, scooped her up, and darted off toward the hot tub.
Noriko laughed in surprise, but had managed to work up a glare by the time he set her down by the hot tub, which was thankfully empty for now. "That was not an invitation to manhandle me, you know." She almost sounded as if she minded, but not quite. Not right then, anyway, and she unfastened her gauntlets and put them down against the nearby wall, a few feet away from the tub.
Jean-Paul posed hipshot, utterly unrepentant. "Did you want us to be the first ones here or not?" He shucked off his shirt and tossed it over her gauntlets as a precaution, stepped out of shoes and socks, then tossed his jeans after it.
Her tank top joined his shirt, as did the rest of her clothes, and her boots, leaving her in simple cotton underwear, climbing into the tub before anybody else thought they might take their spot. "I'd trust you to have intimidated anyone out of it," she pointed out wryly, sinking into the hot water.
"You faith in my masculine brutality is heartwarming." Jean-Paul dunked himself a couple of times, then settled against the side of the tub with a grin. "We will just pretend it would have the slightest effect on this crowd."
Noriko didn't fully immerse herself, keeping her head out of the water as she settled in the tub, the end of her hair getting wet all the same. She needed a haircut, stat. "I'm sure some of the new kids are more easily intimidated than the ones used to your glares."
"There is a qualification for teaching, non?" He laughed, but it threatened to trail off into a drunken giggle. "Manly as hell, scares small children."
"As long as you don't get a ruler to whack our fingers, I think you're good," Noriko assured him wryly, resting her head on the ledge.
"Oh, please." He pushed off the wall and splashed his way over. "You don't count as children. You are age challenged or some shit."
Noriko let out a quiet, confused chuckle. "I don't even know if that's an insult or a compliment."
Jean-Paul gave the matter the weighty consideration of the drunk. In truth, he'd had little more than Nori, but his metabolism meant it hit hard and quick. "Compliment. Like saying you have an old soul, right?"
Noriko pursed her lips wryly at the thought of having anything close to an old soul. The one life seemed like enough work. "Sure, I'll take that," she acknowledged after a few seconds. As a compliment, yes.
"Good. I don't think I could explain myself more clearly if I tried right now..."
Noriko hesitated a second, then shook her head. "Nah, I'm feeling generous. I won't insist that you try."
"So kind..." Jean-Paul settled next to Nori with a sigh. "I should get drunk more often. I'm not good at it."
"Stick to tipsy, never go any further," Noriko recommended, knocking her knee against his. "'s what I do."
"Tipsy is still, like...scared to go all the way. Tipsy is third base."
"There is nothing wrong with third base," Noriko pointed out with raised eyebrows. Third base was pretty damn awesome, if you asked her.
Jean-Paul waggled his eyebrows at her and pressed close in a goofy parody of adoration. "But not as good or bold as going all the way, non?"
Noriko couldn't help but laugh as she pushed him back; he was being such an idiot. "They're both good. Not sure about bold."
He yelped at the push and splashed back into the center of the pool, going under for a moment. He resurfaced, sputtering. "Bitch," he said, then pounced her with a laugh. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"Who said I ever did?" Noriko protested with another laugh, as she tried to pull them both under.
Simon honestly hadn't been enthusiastic about the idea of attending Shinobi's party, but knowing that Jean-Paul had been depressed and going stir-crazy since his arrival home, and knowing that his nights had been less than pleasant, he'd steeled himself into attending what he knew would likely be an eccentric event of debauchery. Fortunately, it had yet to be quite as bad as he'd thought, and even though he'd stayed out of the alcohol, he'd been distracted enough by friends in attendance that it wasn't entirely necessary.
When he realized that he'd lost track of Jean-Paul, however, he started to get worried. In fact, he thought he might find him brooding on a balcony, or hiding in a corner, but when he ghosted past the jacuzzi room with a coke in hand, he paused, blinking in surprise at the sight of his boyfriend cuddling up to Noriko in the simmering rough and tumble waters. It was such a strange sight that he stepped inside, strolling up behind them with the intent of putting in a wry and amused comment...just as they began to wrestle.
Jean-Paul and Nori toppled into the center waters in a flail of laughter and multilingual profanity. Jean-Paul surfaced briefly before being yanked back down. He finally popped up again, hovering over the tub with an armful of struggling Noriko in his arms. "You might want to hang on," he informed her, grinning wickedly before curling up around her and letting go of his powers. The oversized human cannonball crashed back into the tub with a splash.
Noriko resurfaced, spluttering and laughing. "You are so lucky I can't return the favor," she told the speedster, and was really about to get the laughter under control when her eyes landed on Simon. The always so carefully put together Simon, now drenched and dripping all over the balcony. "I take it back," she laughed again, nudging Jean-Paul's shoulder with her own. "So not lucky."
Simon, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand, shoving the water out of his hair and back out of his eyes with the other. His white linen shirt was so wet that it slicked to his skin, and he was glad to have worn jeans, since otherwise his pants might have been the same. Instead, his loafers had gotten a taste of the water and now sucked around his toes, and he hated the fact that he'd be forced to painstakingly dry them out once they got home. He stared at Jean-Paul over his head, trying to decide if he was annoyed or amused, his expression landing somewhere in between.
Jean-Paul hesitated a moment, trying to decide what his odds of getting out of this alive were. And then said what he was thinking anyway.
"Well. You are already soaked, so you may as well strip and join us, non?"
"We might even stop wrestling," Noriko added helpfully.
"You want me to strip to my boxers in front of a party of people," Simon summarized, one eyebrow lifting. However, he did crouch down until he was almost eye-level with them. "Now I know that you're past your limit."
"It's just us in here," Jean-Paul wheedled, stepping up to the side of the tub. He reached for Simon's ankle hopefully.
"Pretty sure Shinobi would say you couldn't give him a better birthday present," Noriko added evenly, settling back on the other side of the tub to let Jean-Paul do his thing.
Simon fumbled to swat Jean-Paul's hand instead of letting him catch his ankle. "And I'm pretty sure Shinobi is not who I want seeing me in my boxers. How much have you two been drinking?"
Jean-Paul sighed and curled one arm on the lip of the tub as a chin rest. He gave Simon a reproachful look and held up his free hand, thumb and forefinger held just a little over an inch apart. "That much."
"Ish," Noriko confirmed, tilting her head to the side as she settled down.
Simon's lips quirked to one side, laughter in his eyes, and he finally sat his ass down by the side of the jacuzzi, right in a puddle, but really, what did it matter now? He bent his leg, an unspoken invitation and pillow if Jean-Paul wanted to take advantage of it, his fingers slipping into his lover's wet hair. "It's a good thing I'm driving tonight."
Jean-Paul gave up on the concept of dignity and rested his head on Simon's lap, eyes half-shut. "Can't leave me alone for a minute, I know."
"Speaking of leaving you alone." Noriko leaned her hands back on the desk and hoisted herself out of the tub. "Come on, join him in there," she told Simon with a small, almost daring smile.
Simon looked unsure. "I don't want to run you off. You can stay..."
"I could, if I wanted to," Noriko confirmed, standing up and stepping over to her clothes.
"She knows I'd have to get rid of any witnesses," Jean-Paul chimed in.
Simon tugged at Jean-Paul's hair reproachfully, keeping his eyes averted from Noriko's undressed state. "Thank you for keeping an eye on my boyfriend, then. God knows, I should have microchipped him by now."
"You know I'd fry it for him in a heartbeat," Noriko replied with a wry little smirk, snagging one of the towels left there for just that purpose. She might as well try and dry up as much as possible before she put any clothes back on.
Jean-Paul waved a lazy good-bye, then gave Simon a speculative look. "Well...?"
Simon sighed heavily at him, then reached up to start unbuttoning his soaked shirt. "You're an ass."
Jean-Paul hadn't exactly been waiting in ambush. But he was a speedster, which meant that the time between an idea striking and his acting upon it was typically very, very slim. So all he needed to do was catch sight of Nori making her way across the foyer, and then he was at her side with champagne.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Noriko had already worked up a halfway decent buzz, which probably explained the way she smiled at Jean-Paul, a smile maybe a little more pronounced than her regular ones. "This place is easier to stand with alcohol." That was Noriko-speak for: yes, she was, surprisingly enough.
"Most social events work that way. Why else do you think most of them have such liberally stocked bars?" Jean-Paul grinned and let himself hover a few inches above the floor. "The hot tub has just been refreshed, you know."
Noriko paused, thought it over, then figured, fuck it, if only to see the look on Jean-Paul's face when she agreed. "Sure, yeah."
Jean-Paul whooped a laugh, scooped her up, and darted off toward the hot tub.
Noriko laughed in surprise, but had managed to work up a glare by the time he set her down by the hot tub, which was thankfully empty for now. "That was not an invitation to manhandle me, you know." She almost sounded as if she minded, but not quite. Not right then, anyway, and she unfastened her gauntlets and put them down against the nearby wall, a few feet away from the tub.
Jean-Paul posed hipshot, utterly unrepentant. "Did you want us to be the first ones here or not?" He shucked off his shirt and tossed it over her gauntlets as a precaution, stepped out of shoes and socks, then tossed his jeans after it.
Her tank top joined his shirt, as did the rest of her clothes, and her boots, leaving her in simple cotton underwear, climbing into the tub before anybody else thought they might take their spot. "I'd trust you to have intimidated anyone out of it," she pointed out wryly, sinking into the hot water.
"You faith in my masculine brutality is heartwarming." Jean-Paul dunked himself a couple of times, then settled against the side of the tub with a grin. "We will just pretend it would have the slightest effect on this crowd."
Noriko didn't fully immerse herself, keeping her head out of the water as she settled in the tub, the end of her hair getting wet all the same. She needed a haircut, stat. "I'm sure some of the new kids are more easily intimidated than the ones used to your glares."
"There is a qualification for teaching, non?" He laughed, but it threatened to trail off into a drunken giggle. "Manly as hell, scares small children."
"As long as you don't get a ruler to whack our fingers, I think you're good," Noriko assured him wryly, resting her head on the ledge.
"Oh, please." He pushed off the wall and splashed his way over. "You don't count as children. You are age challenged or some shit."
Noriko let out a quiet, confused chuckle. "I don't even know if that's an insult or a compliment."
Jean-Paul gave the matter the weighty consideration of the drunk. In truth, he'd had little more than Nori, but his metabolism meant it hit hard and quick. "Compliment. Like saying you have an old soul, right?"
Noriko pursed her lips wryly at the thought of having anything close to an old soul. The one life seemed like enough work. "Sure, I'll take that," she acknowledged after a few seconds. As a compliment, yes.
"Good. I don't think I could explain myself more clearly if I tried right now..."
Noriko hesitated a second, then shook her head. "Nah, I'm feeling generous. I won't insist that you try."
"So kind..." Jean-Paul settled next to Nori with a sigh. "I should get drunk more often. I'm not good at it."
"Stick to tipsy, never go any further," Noriko recommended, knocking her knee against his. "'s what I do."
"Tipsy is still, like...scared to go all the way. Tipsy is third base."
"There is nothing wrong with third base," Noriko pointed out with raised eyebrows. Third base was pretty damn awesome, if you asked her.
Jean-Paul waggled his eyebrows at her and pressed close in a goofy parody of adoration. "But not as good or bold as going all the way, non?"
Noriko couldn't help but laugh as she pushed him back; he was being such an idiot. "They're both good. Not sure about bold."
He yelped at the push and splashed back into the center of the pool, going under for a moment. He resurfaced, sputtering. "Bitch," he said, then pounced her with a laugh. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"Who said I ever did?" Noriko protested with another laugh, as she tried to pull them both under.
Simon honestly hadn't been enthusiastic about the idea of attending Shinobi's party, but knowing that Jean-Paul had been depressed and going stir-crazy since his arrival home, and knowing that his nights had been less than pleasant, he'd steeled himself into attending what he knew would likely be an eccentric event of debauchery. Fortunately, it had yet to be quite as bad as he'd thought, and even though he'd stayed out of the alcohol, he'd been distracted enough by friends in attendance that it wasn't entirely necessary.
When he realized that he'd lost track of Jean-Paul, however, he started to get worried. In fact, he thought he might find him brooding on a balcony, or hiding in a corner, but when he ghosted past the jacuzzi room with a coke in hand, he paused, blinking in surprise at the sight of his boyfriend cuddling up to Noriko in the simmering rough and tumble waters. It was such a strange sight that he stepped inside, strolling up behind them with the intent of putting in a wry and amused comment...just as they began to wrestle.
Jean-Paul and Nori toppled into the center waters in a flail of laughter and multilingual profanity. Jean-Paul surfaced briefly before being yanked back down. He finally popped up again, hovering over the tub with an armful of struggling Noriko in his arms. "You might want to hang on," he informed her, grinning wickedly before curling up around her and letting go of his powers. The oversized human cannonball crashed back into the tub with a splash.
Noriko resurfaced, spluttering and laughing. "You are so lucky I can't return the favor," she told the speedster, and was really about to get the laughter under control when her eyes landed on Simon. The always so carefully put together Simon, now drenched and dripping all over the balcony. "I take it back," she laughed again, nudging Jean-Paul's shoulder with her own. "So not lucky."
Simon, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand, shoving the water out of his hair and back out of his eyes with the other. His white linen shirt was so wet that it slicked to his skin, and he was glad to have worn jeans, since otherwise his pants might have been the same. Instead, his loafers had gotten a taste of the water and now sucked around his toes, and he hated the fact that he'd be forced to painstakingly dry them out once they got home. He stared at Jean-Paul over his head, trying to decide if he was annoyed or amused, his expression landing somewhere in between.
Jean-Paul hesitated a moment, trying to decide what his odds of getting out of this alive were. And then said what he was thinking anyway.
"Well. You are already soaked, so you may as well strip and join us, non?"
"We might even stop wrestling," Noriko added helpfully.
"You want me to strip to my boxers in front of a party of people," Simon summarized, one eyebrow lifting. However, he did crouch down until he was almost eye-level with them. "Now I know that you're past your limit."
"It's just us in here," Jean-Paul wheedled, stepping up to the side of the tub. He reached for Simon's ankle hopefully.
"Pretty sure Shinobi would say you couldn't give him a better birthday present," Noriko added evenly, settling back on the other side of the tub to let Jean-Paul do his thing.
Simon fumbled to swat Jean-Paul's hand instead of letting him catch his ankle. "And I'm pretty sure Shinobi is not who I want seeing me in my boxers. How much have you two been drinking?"
Jean-Paul sighed and curled one arm on the lip of the tub as a chin rest. He gave Simon a reproachful look and held up his free hand, thumb and forefinger held just a little over an inch apart. "That much."
"Ish," Noriko confirmed, tilting her head to the side as she settled down.
Simon's lips quirked to one side, laughter in his eyes, and he finally sat his ass down by the side of the jacuzzi, right in a puddle, but really, what did it matter now? He bent his leg, an unspoken invitation and pillow if Jean-Paul wanted to take advantage of it, his fingers slipping into his lover's wet hair. "It's a good thing I'm driving tonight."
Jean-Paul gave up on the concept of dignity and rested his head on Simon's lap, eyes half-shut. "Can't leave me alone for a minute, I know."
"Speaking of leaving you alone." Noriko leaned her hands back on the desk and hoisted herself out of the tub. "Come on, join him in there," she told Simon with a small, almost daring smile.
Simon looked unsure. "I don't want to run you off. You can stay..."
"I could, if I wanted to," Noriko confirmed, standing up and stepping over to her clothes.
"She knows I'd have to get rid of any witnesses," Jean-Paul chimed in.
Simon tugged at Jean-Paul's hair reproachfully, keeping his eyes averted from Noriko's undressed state. "Thank you for keeping an eye on my boyfriend, then. God knows, I should have microchipped him by now."
"You know I'd fry it for him in a heartbeat," Noriko replied with a wry little smirk, snagging one of the towels left there for just that purpose. She might as well try and dry up as much as possible before she put any clothes back on.
Jean-Paul waved a lazy good-bye, then gave Simon a speculative look. "Well...?"
Simon sighed heavily at him, then reached up to start unbuttoning his soaked shirt. "You're an ass."
