How to Spend Christmas at the Mansion without Going Insane Part 6a
Title: How to Spend Christmas at the Mansion without Going Insane (Part 6a/6: Desperate Measures)
Author: verbalthing
Fandom: X-Men movieverse
Characters: Bobby/St. John
Word Count: 3793
Rating: PG-13
Summary: “I think I’ll survive, Bobby,” John snapped back and thought God, how the fuck am I going to survive?
A/N: Part 6a of the series. Umm. There will be a 6b part coming soon...I had to chop up the last part because it got so long. (Basically, I'm too lazy to go back and change the posts to say there are now seven parts, so I'm doing this instead. :P)
Spoilers: None I can think of.
(And this is still not beta'd, all mistakes are mine.)
Previous parts:
Part 1: Boys, Interrupted
Part 2: The Consequences of Johnny (Depp)
Part 3: Second Impressions
Part 4: It wasn't my war
Part 5: Obstacle 2
John glared angrily out of the window from his room. In fact, his glare was so angry that it should’ve sent laser beams straight through the glass, right down to Bobby who was out in the snow, building some sort of…snow castle.
And that wasn’t the worst part: he was doing it with Jubilee and Marie. They all sat next to each other, putting what looked like a hundred snowballs next to each other until it formed a wall that surrounded them, and Bobby looked like a kid. He looked so happy - and John knew this was how Bobby was during winter. How he got whenever there was snow on the ground and you couldn’t step out without wearing heavy coats and scarves. In short, Bobby really did become a kid at Christmas time; it was a very special season for him, and John knew it.
Which was why he was so angry. He didn’t want to spend Christmas with Bobby because that meant he had to give him a present. Knowing Bobby, the present probably had to reflect on their relationship or something, so John could hardly just pin him against a wall and fuck him. And he couldn’t exactly buy him…what? Underwear? John didn’t have the faintest idea what you bought your - and he cringed at the word - boyfriend, no matter how well he knew him. John knew Bobby inside and out, the noises he made and the way hesitated for exactly 2 seconds every time John suggested they’d sneak out. After two seconds, John had his hand on Bobby’s crotch and that always seemed to do the trick. But knowing that didn’t exactly help him with his current situation.
At first John figured he could get Bobby something simple, something you get for your friends who doesn’t really care about Christmas, but then he saw how well Bobby got along with Jubilee and Marie. Bobby was no guy you could slap on the shoulders teasingly or sneer at without expecting a repercussion; he was one of the girls. Well, he basically could be, considering the way he was giggling with Jubilee right now.
A light bulb lit over John’s head. Jubilee was the answer; she practically had a degree in shopping. And if she didn’t want to help John he could just sneak into her room and torch her closet, watch her break down and weep over her lost clothes, and then ask her to help him buy a gift for Bobby. That technique never failed John.
*
A while later, they seemed to have had enough of the snow and John met them downstairs by the entrance, watching them shake off snow from their clothes and removing all the hats, scarves, coats. Bobby’s face was red from the cold but he was grinning like an idiot, running his head through his moist hair. John walked up to him with a slight pout, knowing he had to kiss ice cold lips, but leaned forward anyway to do it. Bobby was so happy that he even wrapped an arm around John, holding him still and therefore forcing him to be kissed by those ice lips over and over - Bobby knew how much John hated it.
It would never stop surprising John how much of a sadist Bobby could really be; it’s just that he was the only one who knew about it, because that side of Bobby only appeared when they were alone. Everybody else was left to think that John was the bastard of the two, doing naughty things to Bobby while he wistfully wished he was somewhere else. Then again, John figured that no one wanted to know how naughty Bobby Drake could actually be; everybody loved their precious Iceman too much to have their imagine of him being X-rated.
“He’s all yours, fireball,” Jubilee shot back at John, watching the two kiss by the door as she giggled with Marie.
John hated the nickname, but knew he couldn’t exactly be an asshole to her, considering what he was about to ask her. He peeled himself off Bobby and coughed up the courage - no, strength, because god knows how much of a pain Jubilee could be when you asked her for a favor - and said, “Actually, I need to talk to you.”
Jubilee looked surprised. “Oh really?”
“Yes, really,” John sighed, “and in private.”
Bobby watched him carefully for a second, trying to figure out what was going on. John never wanted to talk to Jubilee in private, unless it was about sex techniques - which Bobby had strictly forbid him to discuss, because he really didn’t need Jubilee to know everything the two of them did in bed. “John,” he said in a warning tone.
“C’mere Bobby,” Marie saved the day by grabbing Bobby by his arms, slowly pulling him towards the kitchen, “you can make me some hot cocoa.”
John gave Bobby one cocky grin as he watched Bobby being dragged away and when they were out of sight he turned around and was instantly met by Jubilee, her hands on her hips. She looked like she could eat John for breakfast.
“What’s on your mind, then?” she asked him, leading the way up the stairs as John followed, “need some advice on your techniques? Not that I think you need any -“ she paused to give him a wink, “but I’m always up for giving pointers.”
“No,” John shot back, slightly offended, “no, it’s not about that.”
“I didn’t think it was,” she admitted as they reached the top of the stairs, then headed towards the girl’s dormitories, “from what I can tell, you two are doing just fine.”
“Can we move on from talking about me having sex, to the actual thing I wanted to talk to you about?”
“Calm down, Johnny,” she smiled, “I know what you want.”
He cocked the Eyebrow of Disbelief, but said nothing.
“You don’t know what to get Bobby for Christmas.”
Had it been that obvious? Jesus, keeping a secret in the mansion really wasn’t an easy thing to do. “Don’t worry, Bobby has no idea that your stupid ass hasn’t gotten him anything, which might I add? Only goes to show that you two are having so much sex that your brains have stopped functioning.”
John watched her ramble as she arrived to hers and Marie’s room, letting herself in and keeping the door open as an invitation for John. He stepped into the room and was instantly met by Yellow and Pink, uniting in a colorful and god-awful mixture that made John wish he was colorblind. He looked away from the giant yellow curtains that looked like they would also eat him up for breakfast, and watched Jubilee sit down on her bed, inspecting her nails. “Who says that’s a bad thing?” he retorted with.
“That’s a good point. So?”
“So what?”
“What did you want to ask me?” She had something devious lurking behind her eyes, and John knew she just wanted to hear him say the words - it was no secret that John hated asking people for favors.
The only thing that made John do this in the first place was the thought of him torching her closet if she refused. Okay, that made him feel a little bit better. “I need you to tell me what to get him.”
“Come on,” she scrunched up her face, “you can do better than that.”
“I don’t have to do better than that; I just want you to tell me what the hell he wants.”
“You don’t know what he wants?” The skepticism in her voice was evident.
“I don’t know,” John admitted and leaned back against a small desk in front of Jubilee, “I know he thinks it’s a big deal. I’m not good with…big deals.”
“I know that,” she mumbled and then looked at him. “And you want my help?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t so hard to admit now, was it?”
John grimaced; it kinda had been. “No.”
“Well,” she stood up and bounced over to the desk, picking up some stuff from the shelves as John watched, “I can always do some fireworks. Write ‘You’ll always have my heart - luv 4-evah, Johnny!’ over the mansion. That’ll be memorable, at least.”
“Do that,” John warned her in a dead serious voice, “and I will end you.”
She stared at him for a moment, as if deciding how much that was the truth. “Other options then:” she perked up, leaning back on the desk just like John, their shoulders bumping into each other as she counted the options with her fingers, “A tie. That’s manly, as long as it doesn’t have some freaky patterns on it. Let’s see…If you want to be really corny, a snow globe could be cute.”
John snorted.
“Fine, something else: sex toys! That way, everybody wins.”
“I doubt Bobby’s gonna see it that way when I give it to him, especially since he wants the exchange to be in public.”
“Oh, Bobby’s no fun.”
“Nah, you’d be surprised,” John smirked at her.
“Well, there are other things. Books, CDs, movies, the usual stuff, but that’s normally only between friends. I can point out some non-tacky man jewelry, if you want?”
“No.”
“Oookay. Scarves, hats, winter wear, underwear with reindeers on them -“
John groaned loudly, wishing he had something hard to slam his head against. “I fucking hate Christmas,” he said out loud, “who the hell has underwear with reindeers on them?”
“Are you kidding? I always thought Bobby was the type to have -“
“Trust me, he doesn’t. Not if I can stop it.”
“What did you get him last year? According to you, he’s like impossible to shop for.”
“I didn’t give him anything.”
It took her a few seconds to stop gaping at him and ask, “What’s wrong with you?”
“What? He was with his parents the entire holiday, so I didn’t see the point.”
“But it was Christmas!”
“Well, that was when I fucked him for the first time. Does that make you feel better?”
“Yes, but not in the present-aspect, if you know what I mean. And sadly, you can only give up your gay virginity once, so that option is out.”
He snickered at what she said and looked down at his shoes, trying hard to think of something he could buy Bobby, but ending up with nothing. Why was he so damn hard to shop for? Bobby wasn’t any pickier than Marie, or Logan. You could give them a book or a beer and they’d be happy.
“So you haven’t gotten presents for anyone?” Jubilee then asked, interrupting John’s thoughts.
“Nope.”
She looked as bit hurt at that, though it shouldn’t have surprised her. He didn’t give anyone anything last year either.
“What would take for you to show your friends that you care about them?”
He looked at her for a moment, really considering the question. After a second or two he let out a smirk and said, “A Christmas miracle, Jubilee. Do you believe in those?”
She snorted, crossing her arms defiantly. “I make my own miracles.”
“You’re like your own deity.”
“Well, those can be kind of hard to shop for, so I’ll forgive you for not getting me any presents this year.”
“Thank you,” he rolled his eyes, standing up straight. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Bobby isn’t picky, you know,” Jubilee explained, “he’s with you, after all.”
“Huh,” John narrowed his eyes at her, “the same can be said for you and Sam.”
Jubilee looked shocked; probably because she thought nobody knew about her sneaking off to make out with Sam when no one was looking. John gave her an obnoxious smirk and a salute before heading towards the door.
*
Every Christmas, Xavier held a dinner for all the students and teachers at the school; to show his appreciation and his love, and giving them all a Christmas that their families couldn’t provide. John thought it was complete bullshit and spent the last Christmas outside, torching leaves and drinking Logan’s vodka while staring up at the stars. For some reason he never got caught doing it; but the wry looks the professor gave him the next day made him think that he knew all about it, but let it slide that time because it was Christmas.
Although the dinner was informal, the settings were nothing but. They had another large Christmas tree at the end of a long dinner table where all the students could sit together, and apparently you were supposed to “dress nice”; John had a suspicion that it meant suit and tie.
The only ones left at the mansions were a few of the older mutants; the youngest ones always had family come to pick them up. There weren’t many presents thrown about; everybody opened their own in private, or among their closest friends. Xavier sneaked in his own presents when no one was looking; if you were out of your room, you’d see a small note or a package outside of your door when you came back. He never mentioned it to you, and you never brought it up - it was a mutual understanding that he wanted to spread the feeling of Christmas and Joy and all that.
John was sitting in the empty rec room - probably the biggest reason he loved Christmas so much was because since so little students were at the mansion, the rec room would be empty most of the time. His lighter was on the table that he was sitting by and he was playing chess with himself. It looked kind of sad, probably, but he was bored and waiting for Bobby to show up from fixing himself up. Bobby took the whole “dress nice” thing very seriously, and told John to go out and help Marie set the table or something while he put some girly hair product and put on his Pretty Boy Shoes.
“Sitting here al by your lonesome, huh?” Logan walked in, his huge arms crossed over his chest and a cigar in his mouth. He was leaning against the closest doorframe, eyeing the chessboard. “Who’s winning?”
John sighed. “My imaginary friend.”
“You’re letting your imaginary friend kick your ass?” Logan asked, approaching the board. “I’m gonna have to show you a few tips, kid.”
John frowned as Logan sat down on the empty chair, right on the imaginary friend. “You play chess?” he asked in disbelief.
“Stranger things have happened.” Logan eyed the pawns, taking the cigar out of his mouth and blowing out the smoke. “Piotr gives me a few pointers sometimes.”
“I’m trying to picture you and Piotr playing chess,” John started, “but all I get is the monkey scene from A Space Odyssey.”
Logan smirked at him, and John got a weird feeling in his gut. He remembered his dream and felt guilty, uncomfortable - just plain weird. “Cute.”
John said nothing and picked up his lighter, flicking it open and watching the flame. Logan quieted also and stopped pretending to watch the pawns; now he was openly studying John. “So what’s wrong?”
“Why do you -“
“Because you’re playing chess by yourself.”
John glared at him, knowing that he was right. That didn’t mean he had to tell him anything, though, so he settled for glaring and flicking the lighter with his hand. Logan ignored the gesture for a second before taking his cigar and holding it over the flame: John automatically held it up closer to his face so Logan could puff on the cigar while he lit it.
“Meeting parents never goes well,” he then said, looking out of the window by their side, “especially at Christmas. I don’t know what’s with this holiday. Everyone gets psychotic over it.”
John chuckled at that. An imagine of Jubilee stalking Logan down the hall came to mind. He knew that Logan had more than a handful when it came to her, but somehow he never really seemed that annoyed by it. “Besides, that’s why I never meet ‘em,” Logan added, grinning while puffing on the cigar, “they’re nothing but baggage.”
“That is true,” John said, nodding to himself.
“Kid,” Logan sounded stern and made sure he had eye contact with John before adding, “You don’t want to be like me.”
“I’m nothing like you,” John defended himself, watching Logan scoff at the comment.
“I know. So quit acting like you’re about to kill someone because they didn’t like you.”
“A lot of people don’t like me.”
“With good reasons to,” Logan raised an eyebrow, “you’ve got attitude.”
John rolled his eyes; he didn’t want to have this talk, especially not with Logan. He closed his lighter shut and got ready to stand up and walk away, but stood still when he heard Logan speak. “Hey, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Attitude gets you far.”
John turned and looked at him. “Who sent you to talk to me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Logan replied, “everyone’s busy with their own crap. I’m just here to terrorize you.” And then he offered a sweet smile to annoy John even further.
John rolled his eyes again and decided he had had enough. He fled towards the closest doorway, quickly making his way towards the boys’ dormitories. When he turned around the last corner, he bumped into Bobby, who was busy fixing his tie to look where he was going. “Oh,” Bobby looked up and smiled when he saw it was John, “I was just coming to get you.”
“You’re wearing a tie,” John noted. Bobby was wearing a nice white shirt and a tie while John only wore a pair of jeans and a dark blue sweater he found in the closet; he couldn’t remember if it was his or Bobby’s.
“I know,” Bobby looked guilty, “I wanted to look nice.”
John shrugged with his hands in his pockets, “You look fine, though a tie might be a bit too much.”
Bobby studied John for a second, his hand still on his tie, and then asked, “You’re being sarcastic, right?”
“About you looking fine?” John asked innocently.
“About the tie being too much.”
John smirked as he turned around and started heading towards the main stairs, and Bobby quickly followed him, watching him with interest as they sped down the hallway. “Does Christmas always make you this jumpy?” John finally asked instead of answering Bobby’s question.
“I like Christmas,” Bobby defended himself, “you know I like Christmas.”
John eyed him sideways. “That doesn’t mean you don’t act like you’re being hunted or something.”
“What?” Bobby frowned at the comment, “what are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” John sighed heavily, tired of the topic already and stopped suddenly, grabbing Bobby by the back of his neck and assuring him, “You look good, alright?”
Bobby sighed. “I just want them to know how much it means -“
“In fact, you look so good,” John interrupted, “that I may have to give you a hand job during the dinner. I just can’t resist.”
Bobby glared at him and the moment John cracked a smile he stomped off down the hallway. John followed him and his laughter was echoing between the walls. “That was a compliment; by the way, feel free to thank me for it.”
“I’m not going to thank you,” Bobby said as they reached the stairs.
“And why is that?”
“Because if I do, I think you might actually try to give me a hand job during the dinner.” Bobby stopped in the middle of the staircase, holding up a hand towards John with a serious look on his face. “And just to be clear; I do not want you to do that. Okay?”
“You’re so hot when you boss me around.” John wriggled his eyebrows at him.
“You’re impossible,” Bobby muttered, walking down the stairs away and quickly noticed a distraction at the end of the lobby: Jubilee and Marie. “Hey,” he called out, rushing over to them with a big grin on his face.
“Hey,” Marie smiled back, eyeing John who came up from behind Bobby. “What’s up?”
“Apparently I’m impossible.”
“We already knew that, John.”
“You guys ready for some good old fashioned Christmas celebratin’?” Jubilee asked, obviously excited about the dinner. John narrowed his eyes at her jolly mood.
“I actually got to cook this year, you know,” Marie then said, grabbing Bobby’s attention as the four headed towards the dining room. Jubilee raised an eyebrow at John as they walked behind Bobby and Marie, listening to them chattering on about the food.
“Did you?”
“Well, I got to bake a little,” Marie corrected him, “but then the oven kinda caught fire and I had to find something else to do…”
Jubilee turned her head to look at John - the look then turned into a stare equipped with arched eyebrows and a smirk, and soon enough John glared back at her with a confused grimace. She mouthed “Merry Christmas” with an evil glint in her eyes, and John got the feeling that she might or might not tell Bobby about not getting him a present - probably as payback for not getting a present herself. Jubilee took all holidays very seriously, and John was beginning to regret asking her for help in the first place.
He mouthed back “freak” while Bobby was busy talking to Marie, and pulled Bobby aside with him the moment they got into the dining room. There was no way he was letting Jubilee get anywhere close to him. And he wanted to sit close enough to cop a feel when nobody was looking, but that was an entirely different story.
“What are you doing?” Bobby looked at John’s hand grabbing his arm, maneuvering them through the large room filled with at least 15 students trying to get a seat.
“Nothing, just want to make sure we get the good seats.”
Bobby frowned and let himself be led to the edge of the table where two chairs were free. He noticed Marie and Jubilee sitting on the other side of the room, closest to the kitchen, and was about to object when he realized that, “John, there aren’t any good seats. They’re all the same.”
“Maybe to you,” John explained, sitting down at a chair, while Bobby stood with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Are you gonna gawk all day or sit the hell down?”
Bobby obeyed, carefully watching John from the corner of his eye as John leaned back with his arms crossed defensively over his chest. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”
John gave him a blank look before responding with, “I am an eternal enigma.”
Author: verbalthing
Fandom: X-Men movieverse
Characters: Bobby/St. John
Word Count: 3793
Rating: PG-13
Summary: “I think I’ll survive, Bobby,” John snapped back and thought God, how the fuck am I going to survive?
A/N: Part 6a of the series. Umm. There will be a 6b part coming soon...I had to chop up the last part because it got so long. (Basically, I'm too lazy to go back and change the posts to say there are now seven parts, so I'm doing this instead. :P)
Spoilers: None I can think of.
(And this is still not beta'd, all mistakes are mine.)
Previous parts:
Part 1: Boys, Interrupted
Part 2: The Consequences of Johnny (Depp)
Part 3: Second Impressions
Part 4: It wasn't my war
Part 5: Obstacle 2
John glared angrily out of the window from his room. In fact, his glare was so angry that it should’ve sent laser beams straight through the glass, right down to Bobby who was out in the snow, building some sort of…snow castle.
And that wasn’t the worst part: he was doing it with Jubilee and Marie. They all sat next to each other, putting what looked like a hundred snowballs next to each other until it formed a wall that surrounded them, and Bobby looked like a kid. He looked so happy - and John knew this was how Bobby was during winter. How he got whenever there was snow on the ground and you couldn’t step out without wearing heavy coats and scarves. In short, Bobby really did become a kid at Christmas time; it was a very special season for him, and John knew it.
Which was why he was so angry. He didn’t want to spend Christmas with Bobby because that meant he had to give him a present. Knowing Bobby, the present probably had to reflect on their relationship or something, so John could hardly just pin him against a wall and fuck him. And he couldn’t exactly buy him…what? Underwear? John didn’t have the faintest idea what you bought your - and he cringed at the word - boyfriend, no matter how well he knew him. John knew Bobby inside and out, the noises he made and the way hesitated for exactly 2 seconds every time John suggested they’d sneak out. After two seconds, John had his hand on Bobby’s crotch and that always seemed to do the trick. But knowing that didn’t exactly help him with his current situation.
At first John figured he could get Bobby something simple, something you get for your friends who doesn’t really care about Christmas, but then he saw how well Bobby got along with Jubilee and Marie. Bobby was no guy you could slap on the shoulders teasingly or sneer at without expecting a repercussion; he was one of the girls. Well, he basically could be, considering the way he was giggling with Jubilee right now.
A light bulb lit over John’s head. Jubilee was the answer; she practically had a degree in shopping. And if she didn’t want to help John he could just sneak into her room and torch her closet, watch her break down and weep over her lost clothes, and then ask her to help him buy a gift for Bobby. That technique never failed John.
*
A while later, they seemed to have had enough of the snow and John met them downstairs by the entrance, watching them shake off snow from their clothes and removing all the hats, scarves, coats. Bobby’s face was red from the cold but he was grinning like an idiot, running his head through his moist hair. John walked up to him with a slight pout, knowing he had to kiss ice cold lips, but leaned forward anyway to do it. Bobby was so happy that he even wrapped an arm around John, holding him still and therefore forcing him to be kissed by those ice lips over and over - Bobby knew how much John hated it.
It would never stop surprising John how much of a sadist Bobby could really be; it’s just that he was the only one who knew about it, because that side of Bobby only appeared when they were alone. Everybody else was left to think that John was the bastard of the two, doing naughty things to Bobby while he wistfully wished he was somewhere else. Then again, John figured that no one wanted to know how naughty Bobby Drake could actually be; everybody loved their precious Iceman too much to have their imagine of him being X-rated.
“He’s all yours, fireball,” Jubilee shot back at John, watching the two kiss by the door as she giggled with Marie.
John hated the nickname, but knew he couldn’t exactly be an asshole to her, considering what he was about to ask her. He peeled himself off Bobby and coughed up the courage - no, strength, because god knows how much of a pain Jubilee could be when you asked her for a favor - and said, “Actually, I need to talk to you.”
Jubilee looked surprised. “Oh really?”
“Yes, really,” John sighed, “and in private.”
Bobby watched him carefully for a second, trying to figure out what was going on. John never wanted to talk to Jubilee in private, unless it was about sex techniques - which Bobby had strictly forbid him to discuss, because he really didn’t need Jubilee to know everything the two of them did in bed. “John,” he said in a warning tone.
“C’mere Bobby,” Marie saved the day by grabbing Bobby by his arms, slowly pulling him towards the kitchen, “you can make me some hot cocoa.”
John gave Bobby one cocky grin as he watched Bobby being dragged away and when they were out of sight he turned around and was instantly met by Jubilee, her hands on her hips. She looked like she could eat John for breakfast.
“What’s on your mind, then?” she asked him, leading the way up the stairs as John followed, “need some advice on your techniques? Not that I think you need any -“ she paused to give him a wink, “but I’m always up for giving pointers.”
“No,” John shot back, slightly offended, “no, it’s not about that.”
“I didn’t think it was,” she admitted as they reached the top of the stairs, then headed towards the girl’s dormitories, “from what I can tell, you two are doing just fine.”
“Can we move on from talking about me having sex, to the actual thing I wanted to talk to you about?”
“Calm down, Johnny,” she smiled, “I know what you want.”
He cocked the Eyebrow of Disbelief, but said nothing.
“You don’t know what to get Bobby for Christmas.”
Had it been that obvious? Jesus, keeping a secret in the mansion really wasn’t an easy thing to do. “Don’t worry, Bobby has no idea that your stupid ass hasn’t gotten him anything, which might I add? Only goes to show that you two are having so much sex that your brains have stopped functioning.”
John watched her ramble as she arrived to hers and Marie’s room, letting herself in and keeping the door open as an invitation for John. He stepped into the room and was instantly met by Yellow and Pink, uniting in a colorful and god-awful mixture that made John wish he was colorblind. He looked away from the giant yellow curtains that looked like they would also eat him up for breakfast, and watched Jubilee sit down on her bed, inspecting her nails. “Who says that’s a bad thing?” he retorted with.
“That’s a good point. So?”
“So what?”
“What did you want to ask me?” She had something devious lurking behind her eyes, and John knew she just wanted to hear him say the words - it was no secret that John hated asking people for favors.
The only thing that made John do this in the first place was the thought of him torching her closet if she refused. Okay, that made him feel a little bit better. “I need you to tell me what to get him.”
“Come on,” she scrunched up her face, “you can do better than that.”
“I don’t have to do better than that; I just want you to tell me what the hell he wants.”
“You don’t know what he wants?” The skepticism in her voice was evident.
“I don’t know,” John admitted and leaned back against a small desk in front of Jubilee, “I know he thinks it’s a big deal. I’m not good with…big deals.”
“I know that,” she mumbled and then looked at him. “And you want my help?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t so hard to admit now, was it?”
John grimaced; it kinda had been. “No.”
“Well,” she stood up and bounced over to the desk, picking up some stuff from the shelves as John watched, “I can always do some fireworks. Write ‘You’ll always have my heart - luv 4-evah, Johnny!’ over the mansion. That’ll be memorable, at least.”
“Do that,” John warned her in a dead serious voice, “and I will end you.”
She stared at him for a moment, as if deciding how much that was the truth. “Other options then:” she perked up, leaning back on the desk just like John, their shoulders bumping into each other as she counted the options with her fingers, “A tie. That’s manly, as long as it doesn’t have some freaky patterns on it. Let’s see…If you want to be really corny, a snow globe could be cute.”
John snorted.
“Fine, something else: sex toys! That way, everybody wins.”
“I doubt Bobby’s gonna see it that way when I give it to him, especially since he wants the exchange to be in public.”
“Oh, Bobby’s no fun.”
“Nah, you’d be surprised,” John smirked at her.
“Well, there are other things. Books, CDs, movies, the usual stuff, but that’s normally only between friends. I can point out some non-tacky man jewelry, if you want?”
“No.”
“Oookay. Scarves, hats, winter wear, underwear with reindeers on them -“
John groaned loudly, wishing he had something hard to slam his head against. “I fucking hate Christmas,” he said out loud, “who the hell has underwear with reindeers on them?”
“Are you kidding? I always thought Bobby was the type to have -“
“Trust me, he doesn’t. Not if I can stop it.”
“What did you get him last year? According to you, he’s like impossible to shop for.”
“I didn’t give him anything.”
It took her a few seconds to stop gaping at him and ask, “What’s wrong with you?”
“What? He was with his parents the entire holiday, so I didn’t see the point.”
“But it was Christmas!”
“Well, that was when I fucked him for the first time. Does that make you feel better?”
“Yes, but not in the present-aspect, if you know what I mean. And sadly, you can only give up your gay virginity once, so that option is out.”
He snickered at what she said and looked down at his shoes, trying hard to think of something he could buy Bobby, but ending up with nothing. Why was he so damn hard to shop for? Bobby wasn’t any pickier than Marie, or Logan. You could give them a book or a beer and they’d be happy.
“So you haven’t gotten presents for anyone?” Jubilee then asked, interrupting John’s thoughts.
“Nope.”
She looked as bit hurt at that, though it shouldn’t have surprised her. He didn’t give anyone anything last year either.
“What would take for you to show your friends that you care about them?”
He looked at her for a moment, really considering the question. After a second or two he let out a smirk and said, “A Christmas miracle, Jubilee. Do you believe in those?”
She snorted, crossing her arms defiantly. “I make my own miracles.”
“You’re like your own deity.”
“Well, those can be kind of hard to shop for, so I’ll forgive you for not getting me any presents this year.”
“Thank you,” he rolled his eyes, standing up straight. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Bobby isn’t picky, you know,” Jubilee explained, “he’s with you, after all.”
“Huh,” John narrowed his eyes at her, “the same can be said for you and Sam.”
Jubilee looked shocked; probably because she thought nobody knew about her sneaking off to make out with Sam when no one was looking. John gave her an obnoxious smirk and a salute before heading towards the door.
*
Every Christmas, Xavier held a dinner for all the students and teachers at the school; to show his appreciation and his love, and giving them all a Christmas that their families couldn’t provide. John thought it was complete bullshit and spent the last Christmas outside, torching leaves and drinking Logan’s vodka while staring up at the stars. For some reason he never got caught doing it; but the wry looks the professor gave him the next day made him think that he knew all about it, but let it slide that time because it was Christmas.
Although the dinner was informal, the settings were nothing but. They had another large Christmas tree at the end of a long dinner table where all the students could sit together, and apparently you were supposed to “dress nice”; John had a suspicion that it meant suit and tie.
The only ones left at the mansions were a few of the older mutants; the youngest ones always had family come to pick them up. There weren’t many presents thrown about; everybody opened their own in private, or among their closest friends. Xavier sneaked in his own presents when no one was looking; if you were out of your room, you’d see a small note or a package outside of your door when you came back. He never mentioned it to you, and you never brought it up - it was a mutual understanding that he wanted to spread the feeling of Christmas and Joy and all that.
John was sitting in the empty rec room - probably the biggest reason he loved Christmas so much was because since so little students were at the mansion, the rec room would be empty most of the time. His lighter was on the table that he was sitting by and he was playing chess with himself. It looked kind of sad, probably, but he was bored and waiting for Bobby to show up from fixing himself up. Bobby took the whole “dress nice” thing very seriously, and told John to go out and help Marie set the table or something while he put some girly hair product and put on his Pretty Boy Shoes.
“Sitting here al by your lonesome, huh?” Logan walked in, his huge arms crossed over his chest and a cigar in his mouth. He was leaning against the closest doorframe, eyeing the chessboard. “Who’s winning?”
John sighed. “My imaginary friend.”
“You’re letting your imaginary friend kick your ass?” Logan asked, approaching the board. “I’m gonna have to show you a few tips, kid.”
John frowned as Logan sat down on the empty chair, right on the imaginary friend. “You play chess?” he asked in disbelief.
“Stranger things have happened.” Logan eyed the pawns, taking the cigar out of his mouth and blowing out the smoke. “Piotr gives me a few pointers sometimes.”
“I’m trying to picture you and Piotr playing chess,” John started, “but all I get is the monkey scene from A Space Odyssey.”
Logan smirked at him, and John got a weird feeling in his gut. He remembered his dream and felt guilty, uncomfortable - just plain weird. “Cute.”
John said nothing and picked up his lighter, flicking it open and watching the flame. Logan quieted also and stopped pretending to watch the pawns; now he was openly studying John. “So what’s wrong?”
“Why do you -“
“Because you’re playing chess by yourself.”
John glared at him, knowing that he was right. That didn’t mean he had to tell him anything, though, so he settled for glaring and flicking the lighter with his hand. Logan ignored the gesture for a second before taking his cigar and holding it over the flame: John automatically held it up closer to his face so Logan could puff on the cigar while he lit it.
“Meeting parents never goes well,” he then said, looking out of the window by their side, “especially at Christmas. I don’t know what’s with this holiday. Everyone gets psychotic over it.”
John chuckled at that. An imagine of Jubilee stalking Logan down the hall came to mind. He knew that Logan had more than a handful when it came to her, but somehow he never really seemed that annoyed by it. “Besides, that’s why I never meet ‘em,” Logan added, grinning while puffing on the cigar, “they’re nothing but baggage.”
“That is true,” John said, nodding to himself.
“Kid,” Logan sounded stern and made sure he had eye contact with John before adding, “You don’t want to be like me.”
“I’m nothing like you,” John defended himself, watching Logan scoff at the comment.
“I know. So quit acting like you’re about to kill someone because they didn’t like you.”
“A lot of people don’t like me.”
“With good reasons to,” Logan raised an eyebrow, “you’ve got attitude.”
John rolled his eyes; he didn’t want to have this talk, especially not with Logan. He closed his lighter shut and got ready to stand up and walk away, but stood still when he heard Logan speak. “Hey, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Attitude gets you far.”
John turned and looked at him. “Who sent you to talk to me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Logan replied, “everyone’s busy with their own crap. I’m just here to terrorize you.” And then he offered a sweet smile to annoy John even further.
John rolled his eyes again and decided he had had enough. He fled towards the closest doorway, quickly making his way towards the boys’ dormitories. When he turned around the last corner, he bumped into Bobby, who was busy fixing his tie to look where he was going. “Oh,” Bobby looked up and smiled when he saw it was John, “I was just coming to get you.”
“You’re wearing a tie,” John noted. Bobby was wearing a nice white shirt and a tie while John only wore a pair of jeans and a dark blue sweater he found in the closet; he couldn’t remember if it was his or Bobby’s.
“I know,” Bobby looked guilty, “I wanted to look nice.”
John shrugged with his hands in his pockets, “You look fine, though a tie might be a bit too much.”
Bobby studied John for a second, his hand still on his tie, and then asked, “You’re being sarcastic, right?”
“About you looking fine?” John asked innocently.
“About the tie being too much.”
John smirked as he turned around and started heading towards the main stairs, and Bobby quickly followed him, watching him with interest as they sped down the hallway. “Does Christmas always make you this jumpy?” John finally asked instead of answering Bobby’s question.
“I like Christmas,” Bobby defended himself, “you know I like Christmas.”
John eyed him sideways. “That doesn’t mean you don’t act like you’re being hunted or something.”
“What?” Bobby frowned at the comment, “what are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” John sighed heavily, tired of the topic already and stopped suddenly, grabbing Bobby by the back of his neck and assuring him, “You look good, alright?”
Bobby sighed. “I just want them to know how much it means -“
“In fact, you look so good,” John interrupted, “that I may have to give you a hand job during the dinner. I just can’t resist.”
Bobby glared at him and the moment John cracked a smile he stomped off down the hallway. John followed him and his laughter was echoing between the walls. “That was a compliment; by the way, feel free to thank me for it.”
“I’m not going to thank you,” Bobby said as they reached the stairs.
“And why is that?”
“Because if I do, I think you might actually try to give me a hand job during the dinner.” Bobby stopped in the middle of the staircase, holding up a hand towards John with a serious look on his face. “And just to be clear; I do not want you to do that. Okay?”
“You’re so hot when you boss me around.” John wriggled his eyebrows at him.
“You’re impossible,” Bobby muttered, walking down the stairs away and quickly noticed a distraction at the end of the lobby: Jubilee and Marie. “Hey,” he called out, rushing over to them with a big grin on his face.
“Hey,” Marie smiled back, eyeing John who came up from behind Bobby. “What’s up?”
“Apparently I’m impossible.”
“We already knew that, John.”
“You guys ready for some good old fashioned Christmas celebratin’?” Jubilee asked, obviously excited about the dinner. John narrowed his eyes at her jolly mood.
“I actually got to cook this year, you know,” Marie then said, grabbing Bobby’s attention as the four headed towards the dining room. Jubilee raised an eyebrow at John as they walked behind Bobby and Marie, listening to them chattering on about the food.
“Did you?”
“Well, I got to bake a little,” Marie corrected him, “but then the oven kinda caught fire and I had to find something else to do…”
Jubilee turned her head to look at John - the look then turned into a stare equipped with arched eyebrows and a smirk, and soon enough John glared back at her with a confused grimace. She mouthed “Merry Christmas” with an evil glint in her eyes, and John got the feeling that she might or might not tell Bobby about not getting him a present - probably as payback for not getting a present herself. Jubilee took all holidays very seriously, and John was beginning to regret asking her for help in the first place.
He mouthed back “freak” while Bobby was busy talking to Marie, and pulled Bobby aside with him the moment they got into the dining room. There was no way he was letting Jubilee get anywhere close to him. And he wanted to sit close enough to cop a feel when nobody was looking, but that was an entirely different story.
“What are you doing?” Bobby looked at John’s hand grabbing his arm, maneuvering them through the large room filled with at least 15 students trying to get a seat.
“Nothing, just want to make sure we get the good seats.”
Bobby frowned and let himself be led to the edge of the table where two chairs were free. He noticed Marie and Jubilee sitting on the other side of the room, closest to the kitchen, and was about to object when he realized that, “John, there aren’t any good seats. They’re all the same.”
“Maybe to you,” John explained, sitting down at a chair, while Bobby stood with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Are you gonna gawk all day or sit the hell down?”
Bobby obeyed, carefully watching John from the corner of his eye as John leaned back with his arms crossed defensively over his chest. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”
John gave him a blank look before responding with, “I am an eternal enigma.”