Bobby puttered around the kitchen, humming along to the CD.
"...I've worn through the elbows
and the knees of my clothing
and I'm staring down the gravel
driveway of desire trying not to
wake up my sleeping self loathing..."He looked up at that. Frickin' serendipity. Bobby shook himself and cast his eyes over the room. The apartment was clean.
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"Scott's a real facts only guy. So the word 'Zombie' was a bit of a stalling ground for him. Then he met Fallen, one of the town's meta's? She helped out with-" Bobby paused, eyeing off Justin. "Um, the Cube quake? That was her."
"Okay, so..the raid on the Mansion? Ended in a lot of the kids getting kidnapped. When the teachers came after us, one of them got killed. Jean. She was.." Bobby cleared his throat, noticing the vice grip he had on the bench.
"Jean was the girl that found me with Scott. She's- Was. She was a telekinetic. You know what that is right? Anyway, she was a red head. Fallen is a TK and a red-head. There's a definite resemblance. Scott sort of noticed." Bobby rolled his eyes. "The idiot tried to pick her up."
"I tried warning him that she wasn't like Jean and he just...blew me off. Totally. It was stupid and unprofessional of him." He looked down at the mug of tea in his hands. "Damn." Frozen solid, the mug made a soft clunking sound as he placed it on the bench and reached for another one.
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"I'm sorry about Jean." Loss seemed to be a far-too-common theme in this town. And Justin was finally starting to see the downside to the powers he had always coveted.
"But Scott? You must have really looked up to him for him to have hurt you this bad." He made a wave towards the frozen cup. "That looked like more than a concern about 'professionalism' to me."
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"He walked into a new town. A dangerous new town, with limited information and brushed off the input of someone with more relative experience and knowledge than him. That's stupid." Bobby poured himself some warm, unfrozen anti-emo tea. "I expected better from him. So when it happened, it was like...a combination of patting 'little brother' on the head, and ignoring the advice of an inexperienced kid." A cookie was munched into viciously.
"Sorta thought I was over being relegated to the mascot when I found a place here with you guys."
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Then he grinned. "But this is the easy part. You just sit back, do your thing, and end up showing them you can be more mature than all of 'em." He tried to catch Bobby's eyes. "And you are one of the most mature guys I know. So don't let him rattle you."
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Bobby smirked as he munched his cookie, happy to shift the spotlight
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Le sigh.
"I'm sure Michael already gave you the whole scoop. He's part of the reason I came here. Successful, infuriating, gorgeous, emotionally-stunted, Brian. Fucking. Kinney."
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"Michael told me Brian was his friend. How'd he put it?" Bobby thought back. "Straight-forward, unapologetic, stubborn, selfish...and your ex. Sound about right?"
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"Yep, that's him. Fuck, Bobby. I was so in love." The cup in front of him suddenly became very interesting. "And that was something he just didn't have it in him to do. To love. To care. He... he broke my heart."
It was said in a straight-forward manner, having come to acceptance a long time ago. "He only took me in because," Justin sighed, it was time to breathe deep and suck it up, "I had this... accident. And he felt guilty."
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Nevermind the fact he suddenly wanted to meet this guy. Alone. Just for a few minutes.
Bobby slid his hand across to Justin's, letting his fingers lay lightly on his wrist. "That was crappy. Maybe well intentioned, but crappy."
What was it Michael had said? Brian was dysfunctional about showing affection. Hell. For all Justin knew, the guy had loved him. Just been too much of an ass to do anything about it.
"Was he...he was your first, wasn't he?"
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"First time, first love, first... everything, I guess. But I learned a lot from him." Maybe too much. I don't believe in love, I believe in fucking.
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"Sounds like you miss him."
He interlaced his fingers with Justin's as the comfort was accepted. "You said there was an accident?"
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"Most of the time, I'm fine. I made my decision to leave, and I'm good with that. I've got a new life, and I've got everyone here." He gave a small tug on Bobby's hand as he said it.
"But then I found out that Brian and I were still together four. years. later, if only I had stuck it out." Justin waved his hand in the general direction of dinner a few weeks ago with a rueful grin. "Bobby? Meet freakout. Freakout. This is Bobby."
He idly noticed the pain in his chest wasn't quite so sharp when he said it this time, so maybe all this talking was helping. But the next part?... After their talk about mutantcy, and Bobby's own troubles, Justin wasn't sure how Bobby would take it.
So he shifted closer to press his leg against Bobby's under the table then oh-so-subtly moved the cup of tea to the side. "And the accident wasn't an accident. It was a bashing."
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As he gained control back over the slight energy spike, Bobby turned, wrapping Justin in his arms. "I'm sorry."
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He hadn't wanted to announce it to the whole world and get the looks of pity that went with it. And the more people who knew just meant that there was that much more of a chance that it could pop up later in casual conversation when he wasn't prepared... but Bobby was different.
And Bobby's concern, and the display that he cared? That meant more to Justin than any need to hash out the past. So he settled into Bobby's arms with a slight feeling of relief and a simple, "Thank you."
But as long as he was getting it out there...
He turned his head to look up at Bobby and recited the facts somewhat tonelessly. "Brian was there when it happened and that's why he felt guilty. The bashing ended in a coma. I lost the fine motor control in my right hand. And it's why I dropped out of art school."
And that part? Still hurt.
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"I guess that explains the lack of sketching, huh?" Bobby looked slightly rueful. "I was wondering, after the comic and all...So you -are- an artist."
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