More Than Words
Title: More Than Words
Fandom: X-Men
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Marvel.
Rating: slash - soft
Pairing: Jay/Jono.
Feedback: Yes, please.
Author’s Notes: Though this is the same couple from Critical Thinking and From a Distance, I haven’t yet decided whether I want this to belong in that story line, since I have other plans for them there. So I’ll just consider this a one-shot for right now. The title is from the song by Extreme. This fic was written for windles_orbit, for the Halloween Fest. My prompt was ‘Monster Mash’.
Jay sighed and tugged at a loose feather, grooming his red wings carefully. He didn’t really want to go to this dance, but the others were counting on him, so… He didn’t want to hear them nag at him later on. Better just to go for a couple hours and pacify them.
He’d had a hard time deciding what to go as. He hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since he was about eleven years old. His last costume had been Batman. In the end, it had been Sofia who had picked out his costume for him. He’d wanted to go as someone cool, so she’d suggested the Dread Pirate Roberts from the movie The Princess Bride. It had seemed a halfway decent idea, so he’d simply shrugged and gone with it. David was going as a mad scientist, and Josh was a ninja. It made sense to have a pirate.
He glanced at his alarm clock. Eight o’clock. They’d agreed to meet downstairs at 8, but Jay was still too self conscious to leave his room. He looked ridiculous. Tying the mask around his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath and tried to regain some semblance of confidence. If he could act the part for a couple of hours, he’d be in the clear. With a roll of his eyes and a flutter of his wings, he opened his door and left.
When he reached the gym, he found the dread inside him building up. The others were so excited, each of them looking forward to the night, and he just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. Sofia, in a pink tutu and ballet slippers, turned to him and smiled.
“You’re late!” she admonished, and he tried to smile sheepishly and look as though he felt a little bad about it. “You look wonderful.” She cast him an admiring gaze, clearly satisfied with her own workmanship.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, and started to return the compliment, before Josh butted in.
“C’mon already! There’s a raffle going to see who can guess the weight of that giant pumpkin!” Josh urged them. “I totally wanna have a go at it, the prize is an iPod.” His golden eyes gleamed with the thought of winning.
The group trailed into the gym, which was dark and decorated quite effectively. Fake cobwebs strung from the ceiling, black lights casting an eerie glow on everyone, purple and black ribbons, skeletons, pumpkins… It was all a little overdone, really. But the others ooh’ed and aah’ed as though it were the most incredible thing they’d ever seen.
While his friends found themselves various forms of entertainment, Jay found comfort in a nice stretch of blank wall. He sighed and leaned against the cool stone, folding his arms over his chest and settling himself for a nice bit of brooding.
“Enjoying yourself a little too much, don’t you think?” a dry voice asked from the corner. Jay jumped, startled, and the voice let out a short laugh.
He turned and found himself facing Jonothon Starsmore. The Briton had leather bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, though he no longer had any use for them. Jay knew there was a face beneath those bandages, he’d stared at it many a time.
“You, ah… you’re not dressed up,” he said lamely.
“Sure I am.” Jono gestured to the bandages. His jaw moved as he spoke. “I’m going as a mutant freak.” The bitter sarcasm was notably detected even through the leather that muffled his voice.
“That isn’t funny, Jonothon,” a snippy female voice interrupted.
Jay looked up, horrified to see his sister standing there, dressed in a princess gown. Warren stood at her side, looking slightly embarrassed in his own royal costume, nodding politely to them both. He should have guessed Mr. Worthington would invite Paige to the dance, but he hadn’t wanted to really think about it. Now it was staring him in the face.
Jono shrugged, not even turning to look at her, casually examining a fake cobweb hanging nearby. “Not here to impress you, Sunshine.”
“What are you supposed to be, Josh?” Paige asked, her cheeks slightly flushed as she tried to ignore Jonothon the way he did her.
“Err… the Dread Pirate Roberts. It was Sofia’s idea,” he said hurriedly.
An unmistakable snort came from Jonothon’s general direction, and Jay reddened. Paige glared icily at her former boyfriend.
“What is your problem, Jonothon?” she hissed. “Why can’t you just leave my brother alone?”
“It would have been fine if you hadn’t come along sticking your nose into our business.” Jonothon was still focusing his attention firmly away from her.
Paige fumed. “I was coming here to check on him - making sure you weren’t going to hit him for being related to me.” Warren turned a faint shade of pink.
“Since when does the world suddenly revolve around you? I’d never hit Jay, and it just so happens that you don’t come to mind every time I talk to him. So you might wanna take the crown out of your arse and get over yourself.” His voice was utterly deadpan. Jay dared to peek at his eyes. They were hollow, eerily so, and his heart tightened.
“Why you miserable little goth freak-” Paige began, raising her hand to her face as though she were going to tear her flesh away right there and start a fight. Jay’s eyes widened, unable to look away, as though it were some horrible accident at the side of the road you just couldn’t take your eyes off of.
Warren swiftly reached out and grabbed her hand away, giving them all a charming smile. “I think we’ll go get some refreshments. It was nice talking to you,” he told them politely, smoothly turning his girlfriend away and steering her towards the refreshments table. The blonde kept tossing deadly glares over her shoulder, but Jay felt the relief flood over him. His shoulders relaxed noticeably, and he glanced over awkwardly at Jono.
“Charming little princess, isn’t she?” Jono asked, leaning against the wall.
Keeping his silence, Jay could only shrug uncomfortably. He didn’t want to think about the history between his sister and Jonothon. Not least because of the feelings that he had for Jono himself. Rude bastard that he was.
“I hate this bloody song,” the man grumbled suddenly.
With a frown, Jay listened to the song playing. It was the Monster Mash. Several yards away, Josh was doing some weird Frankenstein dance to entertain the others.
The Brit gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m going out for some fresh air.” He began to walk away, paused, and artfully added, “You can join me if you’d like.” Turning slightly, he gave Jay his profile, one brown eye glinting. “You don’t seem overly thrilled to be here yourself. And it’ll give me an excuse, right? Chaperoning duties.”
Jay was mute, but followed Jonothon outside, hardly believing it even as his feet paced the ground. The air outside was chilly, the wind picking up dead leaves and blowing them around. He shivered and closed his wings around his shoulders. Jonothon didn’t seem affected by the cold, and Jay wondered if he even felt it.
Nearby there was a couple making out noisily. Jonothon threw them a disgusted look and stalked off in the other direction. Following nervously, his heart thumping in his chest, another shiver ran down Jay’s spine. This time, it wasn’t due to the cold.
They stopped when they were out of sight of the front entrance, as Jonothon leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. Cool and haughty and unbelievably sexy.
Jay swallowed. “Nice night,” he commented, and mentally kicked himself. Jono snorted again. Then he glanced up at the velvety black sky, speckled with diamonds. The moon beamed down at them.
“Yeah. It is.”
Reaching behind his head, Jay untied his mask and slipped it into his pocket. He felt stupid with it on, and he was awkward enough without having to add that on top of things. He half hoped Jono would remove the bandages, but they remained firmly in place.
Would he like Jonothon as much if his face was still missing? Would he be able to overlook Jono’s physical flaws the way Paige apparently had? Jay’s stomach twisted and he looked away from him, ashamed. Leather bandages wrapped around his face were all well and good, but Jay knew there was still a face beneath. Did he love that face more than the man within?
Sneaking a glance over, he was surprised to find Jonothon watching him. Those golden brown eyes peered at him intensely from behind a fringe of thick bangs, captivating him. A shadow of despair lingered hauntingly in his gaze, but there was life there. Was Jono changed because his body was whole? Not really. He was the same man, mouth or not. Jay could vaguely remember a time - when Jonothon had been to their house for Thanksgiving - that the man had gone off on his own. He’d spied on him, curious, enthralled, and watched as those bandages were removed. The fiery blaze that had erupted from him had been lovelier than the Northern Lights. And so what if he hadn’t had a mouth? There was so much more to him than that.
Jay’s feet were moving of their own free will, bringing him closer to the man who stood there so disdainfully. Jonothon watched him, dark eyes unreadable. He moved in close, his mind a haze of curiosity, just as he had been when he’d spied on him all those years ago. Raising his hand, he pressed it to Jonothon’s chest, where his heart should be. There was no painful beating, as his own heart was doing, no rise and fall to his breath. There was no breath, no heart to pump blood with. But there was flesh, and that was real enough.
His hand moved up, gliding over the leather bandages, reaching that flesh when the leather ended. Gently caressing his cheekbone, he slowly pulled the bandages down, past those perfect lips and firm jaw, revealing Weapon X’s creation. They were both silent, Jono tense and watchful, Jay focusing his concentration.
He slowly traced his thumb over his lower lip, studying him carefully, not meeting his eyes, far too afraid of what he might find there. Revulsion, perhaps. He needed this, needed to do what Paige had never. Ached for it. Leaning in, eyes closing, he found the courage, or the stupidity, to finish what he’d started.
The kiss was soft, just a light brush of lips. Hardly anything at all, just enough to stop his heart. Then he kissed him again, and held it for the two most beautiful seconds of his life. Even better than Julie, he thought dazedly, and pulled himself away as though he’d suddenly caught on fire. Turning, his wings began to spread, preparing to fly away. Almost crippled with the sudden guilt that tormented him.
A hand grabbed him by the wrist and brought him back. Jonothon turned him around roughly, and Jay quickly averted his eyes. He couldn’t look at him now. But then a cool palm was cupping his chin, tilting his head back, and their lips met again. His eyes fluttered closed, bringing his arms up to curl around Jonothon’s neck as his tongue fluttered against his lower lip, and Jay slid his mouth open, and it was hot and desperate and he needed more, drinking him in.
When Jonothon’s lips left his at last, he was breathless and panting, flushing slightly. Those warm eyes held him in a gaze so soft, it was as though that one kiss had found all the shattered pieces and melded them back together. Jay realized he hadn’t been whole until right now. Neither of them had been. So he kissed him again and again, and never let go.
Fandom: X-Men
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Marvel.
Rating: slash - soft
Pairing: Jay/Jono.
Feedback: Yes, please.
Author’s Notes: Though this is the same couple from Critical Thinking and From a Distance, I haven’t yet decided whether I want this to belong in that story line, since I have other plans for them there. So I’ll just consider this a one-shot for right now. The title is from the song by Extreme. This fic was written for windles_orbit, for the Halloween Fest. My prompt was ‘Monster Mash’.
Jay sighed and tugged at a loose feather, grooming his red wings carefully. He didn’t really want to go to this dance, but the others were counting on him, so… He didn’t want to hear them nag at him later on. Better just to go for a couple hours and pacify them.
He’d had a hard time deciding what to go as. He hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since he was about eleven years old. His last costume had been Batman. In the end, it had been Sofia who had picked out his costume for him. He’d wanted to go as someone cool, so she’d suggested the Dread Pirate Roberts from the movie The Princess Bride. It had seemed a halfway decent idea, so he’d simply shrugged and gone with it. David was going as a mad scientist, and Josh was a ninja. It made sense to have a pirate.
He glanced at his alarm clock. Eight o’clock. They’d agreed to meet downstairs at 8, but Jay was still too self conscious to leave his room. He looked ridiculous. Tying the mask around his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath and tried to regain some semblance of confidence. If he could act the part for a couple of hours, he’d be in the clear. With a roll of his eyes and a flutter of his wings, he opened his door and left.
When he reached the gym, he found the dread inside him building up. The others were so excited, each of them looking forward to the night, and he just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. Sofia, in a pink tutu and ballet slippers, turned to him and smiled.
“You’re late!” she admonished, and he tried to smile sheepishly and look as though he felt a little bad about it. “You look wonderful.” She cast him an admiring gaze, clearly satisfied with her own workmanship.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, and started to return the compliment, before Josh butted in.
“C’mon already! There’s a raffle going to see who can guess the weight of that giant pumpkin!” Josh urged them. “I totally wanna have a go at it, the prize is an iPod.” His golden eyes gleamed with the thought of winning.
The group trailed into the gym, which was dark and decorated quite effectively. Fake cobwebs strung from the ceiling, black lights casting an eerie glow on everyone, purple and black ribbons, skeletons, pumpkins… It was all a little overdone, really. But the others ooh’ed and aah’ed as though it were the most incredible thing they’d ever seen.
While his friends found themselves various forms of entertainment, Jay found comfort in a nice stretch of blank wall. He sighed and leaned against the cool stone, folding his arms over his chest and settling himself for a nice bit of brooding.
“Enjoying yourself a little too much, don’t you think?” a dry voice asked from the corner. Jay jumped, startled, and the voice let out a short laugh.
He turned and found himself facing Jonothon Starsmore. The Briton had leather bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, though he no longer had any use for them. Jay knew there was a face beneath those bandages, he’d stared at it many a time.
“You, ah… you’re not dressed up,” he said lamely.
“Sure I am.” Jono gestured to the bandages. His jaw moved as he spoke. “I’m going as a mutant freak.” The bitter sarcasm was notably detected even through the leather that muffled his voice.
“That isn’t funny, Jonothon,” a snippy female voice interrupted.
Jay looked up, horrified to see his sister standing there, dressed in a princess gown. Warren stood at her side, looking slightly embarrassed in his own royal costume, nodding politely to them both. He should have guessed Mr. Worthington would invite Paige to the dance, but he hadn’t wanted to really think about it. Now it was staring him in the face.
Jono shrugged, not even turning to look at her, casually examining a fake cobweb hanging nearby. “Not here to impress you, Sunshine.”
“What are you supposed to be, Josh?” Paige asked, her cheeks slightly flushed as she tried to ignore Jonothon the way he did her.
“Err… the Dread Pirate Roberts. It was Sofia’s idea,” he said hurriedly.
An unmistakable snort came from Jonothon’s general direction, and Jay reddened. Paige glared icily at her former boyfriend.
“What is your problem, Jonothon?” she hissed. “Why can’t you just leave my brother alone?”
“It would have been fine if you hadn’t come along sticking your nose into our business.” Jonothon was still focusing his attention firmly away from her.
Paige fumed. “I was coming here to check on him - making sure you weren’t going to hit him for being related to me.” Warren turned a faint shade of pink.
“Since when does the world suddenly revolve around you? I’d never hit Jay, and it just so happens that you don’t come to mind every time I talk to him. So you might wanna take the crown out of your arse and get over yourself.” His voice was utterly deadpan. Jay dared to peek at his eyes. They were hollow, eerily so, and his heart tightened.
“Why you miserable little goth freak-” Paige began, raising her hand to her face as though she were going to tear her flesh away right there and start a fight. Jay’s eyes widened, unable to look away, as though it were some horrible accident at the side of the road you just couldn’t take your eyes off of.
Warren swiftly reached out and grabbed her hand away, giving them all a charming smile. “I think we’ll go get some refreshments. It was nice talking to you,” he told them politely, smoothly turning his girlfriend away and steering her towards the refreshments table. The blonde kept tossing deadly glares over her shoulder, but Jay felt the relief flood over him. His shoulders relaxed noticeably, and he glanced over awkwardly at Jono.
“Charming little princess, isn’t she?” Jono asked, leaning against the wall.
Keeping his silence, Jay could only shrug uncomfortably. He didn’t want to think about the history between his sister and Jonothon. Not least because of the feelings that he had for Jono himself. Rude bastard that he was.
“I hate this bloody song,” the man grumbled suddenly.
With a frown, Jay listened to the song playing. It was the Monster Mash. Several yards away, Josh was doing some weird Frankenstein dance to entertain the others.
The Brit gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m going out for some fresh air.” He began to walk away, paused, and artfully added, “You can join me if you’d like.” Turning slightly, he gave Jay his profile, one brown eye glinting. “You don’t seem overly thrilled to be here yourself. And it’ll give me an excuse, right? Chaperoning duties.”
Jay was mute, but followed Jonothon outside, hardly believing it even as his feet paced the ground. The air outside was chilly, the wind picking up dead leaves and blowing them around. He shivered and closed his wings around his shoulders. Jonothon didn’t seem affected by the cold, and Jay wondered if he even felt it.
Nearby there was a couple making out noisily. Jonothon threw them a disgusted look and stalked off in the other direction. Following nervously, his heart thumping in his chest, another shiver ran down Jay’s spine. This time, it wasn’t due to the cold.
They stopped when they were out of sight of the front entrance, as Jonothon leaned against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. Cool and haughty and unbelievably sexy.
Jay swallowed. “Nice night,” he commented, and mentally kicked himself. Jono snorted again. Then he glanced up at the velvety black sky, speckled with diamonds. The moon beamed down at them.
“Yeah. It is.”
Reaching behind his head, Jay untied his mask and slipped it into his pocket. He felt stupid with it on, and he was awkward enough without having to add that on top of things. He half hoped Jono would remove the bandages, but they remained firmly in place.
Would he like Jonothon as much if his face was still missing? Would he be able to overlook Jono’s physical flaws the way Paige apparently had? Jay’s stomach twisted and he looked away from him, ashamed. Leather bandages wrapped around his face were all well and good, but Jay knew there was still a face beneath. Did he love that face more than the man within?
Sneaking a glance over, he was surprised to find Jonothon watching him. Those golden brown eyes peered at him intensely from behind a fringe of thick bangs, captivating him. A shadow of despair lingered hauntingly in his gaze, but there was life there. Was Jono changed because his body was whole? Not really. He was the same man, mouth or not. Jay could vaguely remember a time - when Jonothon had been to their house for Thanksgiving - that the man had gone off on his own. He’d spied on him, curious, enthralled, and watched as those bandages were removed. The fiery blaze that had erupted from him had been lovelier than the Northern Lights. And so what if he hadn’t had a mouth? There was so much more to him than that.
Jay’s feet were moving of their own free will, bringing him closer to the man who stood there so disdainfully. Jonothon watched him, dark eyes unreadable. He moved in close, his mind a haze of curiosity, just as he had been when he’d spied on him all those years ago. Raising his hand, he pressed it to Jonothon’s chest, where his heart should be. There was no painful beating, as his own heart was doing, no rise and fall to his breath. There was no breath, no heart to pump blood with. But there was flesh, and that was real enough.
His hand moved up, gliding over the leather bandages, reaching that flesh when the leather ended. Gently caressing his cheekbone, he slowly pulled the bandages down, past those perfect lips and firm jaw, revealing Weapon X’s creation. They were both silent, Jono tense and watchful, Jay focusing his concentration.
He slowly traced his thumb over his lower lip, studying him carefully, not meeting his eyes, far too afraid of what he might find there. Revulsion, perhaps. He needed this, needed to do what Paige had never. Ached for it. Leaning in, eyes closing, he found the courage, or the stupidity, to finish what he’d started.
The kiss was soft, just a light brush of lips. Hardly anything at all, just enough to stop his heart. Then he kissed him again, and held it for the two most beautiful seconds of his life. Even better than Julie, he thought dazedly, and pulled himself away as though he’d suddenly caught on fire. Turning, his wings began to spread, preparing to fly away. Almost crippled with the sudden guilt that tormented him.
A hand grabbed him by the wrist and brought him back. Jonothon turned him around roughly, and Jay quickly averted his eyes. He couldn’t look at him now. But then a cool palm was cupping his chin, tilting his head back, and their lips met again. His eyes fluttered closed, bringing his arms up to curl around Jonothon’s neck as his tongue fluttered against his lower lip, and Jay slid his mouth open, and it was hot and desperate and he needed more, drinking him in.
When Jonothon’s lips left his at last, he was breathless and panting, flushing slightly. Those warm eyes held him in a gaze so soft, it was as though that one kiss had found all the shattered pieces and melded them back together. Jay realized he hadn’t been whole until right now. Neither of them had been. So he kissed him again and again, and never let go.