lazy man-child is lazy (OTA)

[uptonogod]

It was mid-afternoon and he'd missed lunch. And breakfast. That was fine. He was used to doing things himself anyway so, now, Jamie was at the stove, keeping his eyes on what he hoped would end up a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich and a pot of chicken soup. He had a bad habit of becoming mildly distracted and things burned just slightly. It was

Comments

[codenamepyro]

St John had eventually ventured back inside from the garage where he'd taken to pretty much vegetating all the time. No one bothered him there, and it was quiet enough to just think. He'd decided to start writing again.

But his shoulder was twinging from the cold, and he'd gone inside to see about getting something to heat it up. Rather than just set fire to his shoulder he'd grabbed a heat pack and started heading towards his room.

Staying there wasn't so bad any more. Most traces of Evan had been removed save from the few shirts Pyro had kept -Evan kept some of his anyway. But with Madrox around, St John wasn't left to his own devices much.

[uptonogod]

Jamie had returned to the kitchen long enough to grab a couple more cans of decaf and a bag of potato chips before heading back down the hall to his room.

Er...correction. His and John's room. He hadn't much spoken to the young firestarter. Just the typical getting to know you conversations. They usually didn't much interest Jamie. He was used to being his own best friend/worst enemy/whatever he needed at the time.

Now, there were other people and it was a bit strange.

Stepping into the room, he spotted Pyro and held out one of the cans of decaf, one eyebrow raising slightly.

[codenamepyro]

The fact that Jamie bothered to remember or had noticed that John didn't drink anything but decaf had surprised the firestarter at first, but now it was just a thing he was used to. Jamie seemed to prefer them too.

So John took it with his good arm, nodding a silent thanks and sitting back on his cot. Leaning against the wall took the weight off his back and shoulder and it kept the heat pack on the right spot.

He'd been told they'd take the brace off at the end of the week. And then he'd need to get used to using his arm again, slowly to build up strength. Fuck if he didn't hate being shot.

"Bored?"

[uptonogod]

Jamie had, by this point, flopped backwards onto his own lovely bed. One arm draped over his eyes and his other hand held the soda steady on his stomach. John's one word question got a brief smirk from Jamie.

"Bored." Very bored. "And I had another enlightening conversation with Edie." He wasn't sure if he should tell John about the prank just yet. He was sure the fire-starter would be most helpful, however. It was just a matter of talking to Kurt first.

[codenamepyro]

John couldn't help but snort at that. Edie was something of a bane to Esme; she didn't like Edie at all, and really, John could understand it. St John didn't count Edie as a friend, not at all. But he would talk to her -as much as he talked to anyone really.

"Sounds fun." And the enthusiasm in his voice probably spoke volumes for how he thought about that. Instead of elaborating further, St John took a sip of his soda and stared at the wall.

If Madrox felt like explaining. He'd explain.

[uptonogod]

"Oh, it was a laugh riot. So much so that I wish you were there." At least then, Jamie'd have a chance at a decent conversation..

"It was just more getting-to-know-you crap," Jamie stated as he sat up, searching the bag he'd stored under his bed. "I wouldn't have talked to her beyond 'good afternoon' had I not been doing dishes." As big a dick that Jamie could be, he had manners. He wasn't about to just flat out ignore someone, even if he really really wanted to.

He continued searching a slight frown on his face as he searched for one of the many shirts his dad made him. He wanted to go train at some point. Maybe even take John with him but the last thing Madrox wanted was to fall and accidentally replicate himself.

[codenamepyro]

John knew that sometimes getting things from Edie or even just conversing was like pulling teeth. "Crap is about right. There's no point getting to know anything."

It wasn't even that he was jealous over the whole generating fire. From what he'd seen, his control over the fire she generated was better than her own, and he could control any fire anyway. Besides, with Magma around, he had little to worry about.

Watching as Jamie searched through his stuff, John had a slight inkling as to what it was for. "The shirt's under your bed."

[uptonogod]

"My thoughts, exactly," Jamie stated as he continued rifling through his bag. He had no interest in Edie whether it be where she's from, what she can do or her favorite color. It was none of his concern.

Jamie looked up at John, one eyebrow raised slightly. And then, those same eyes stared looking under his bed and sure enough...

"Thanks, man," Jamie said as he pulled his shirt out, shaking it off and checking it over. His eyes rested on Johns shoulder, a small frown on his face.

"When you're healed, remind me to teach you how to take a gun out of someone's hand in less than a second."

[codenamepyro]

St John just looked at him, raising one eyebrow in question. "A second?" St John didn't do anything in less than a second, just ask Esme. It took in three seconds to blink.

But then, John had told Jamie just why, and how, he'd been shot. And really, Jamie hadn't seemed too thrilled. And they didn't even like each other that much.

"You can do that?" After all, John hadn't believed that Jamie could get them both extra pillows without leaving his bed.

[uptonogod]

Jamie smirked and nodded, going back to his bag for the gun he'd so kindly taken from that idiot MP that had driven him here. He removed the clip, checked the chamber for bullets and then stood.

"I'll show you. Here," he held the gun out to John, butt first. "Take the gun, point it at me and say 'Put your hands up." He paused. "With a little bit of enthusiasm. Otherwise it's boring."

[codenamepyro]

John's fingers curled around the gun, even as the bile rolled in his gut. His face was a mask of disinterest though. "You know," he knew that a quip was expected, and he'd make a point to through it out there, because anything less would be worrying. "I was always the tree in the dumb school plays."

It wasn't even a lie. The first time one of the teachers had encouraged him to get involved he'd practically made her cry. He was in fifth grade at the time, and in some stupid school in some hippy town in Alabama.

But this could be interesting to see. "Just mind the fucking shoulder, dipshit." John bitched, pointing the gun at Jamie and feeling like a total idiot. "Put your hands up." And really, he put as much feeling into it as he could.

[uptonogod]

Jamie just waited, hands at his side and his head tilted ever so slightly. School play or not, this was serious. And Johns enthusiasm was ignored. The moment the words were spoken, Jamie moved.

He was careful, mindful of his room-mate's shoulder and careful of how he moved and thank God John was smart enough to keep his finger out of the trigger. Otherwise, he'd have broken his finger.

True to his word, however, Jamie had the gun in his hands within a second of John speaking.

"Like I said, when you're all healed up, I'll teach you how to do that. That way, next time Jack tries his shit, you have a new trick or two up your sleeve."

[codenamepyro]

There was a moment when John was pretty sure he'd imagined holding the gun, but then Jamie spoke and things just sort of slotted. Clearly, he'd had a decent amount of time on his hands and decided to learn things.

Handy that mutation of his.

"Okay; that," and John was genuinely impressed and maybe starting to like Jamie a little more, "was pretty cool." And yeah, learning something along those lines would probably help -at least if Jack did his usual 'I'm going to explain and berate you before I shoot you' crap.

His shoulder really needed to heal faster.