[For Bobby] The Morning After The Night Before - December 20

[prodigalflame]

John had woken early and moved lightly under the sheets, to prop his head up on one hand and just look at the young man sleeping on the other side of the bed. Bobby Drake. Bobby freaking Drake, probably Robert, possibly Louis just for shits and giggles, sleeping in his bed, curled up under the covers after a night that wasn't nearly drunk enough to give either of them any excuses.

John just looked at him for a few minutes that felt like a lifetime, breathing quiet, speaking no words, and the smile that spread across his face was full of wonder. Even if no one was awake to see it.

So he snuck out of bed like a thief, grabbing a decent plush robe from the back of the door and tying it around his waist, and headed down the stairs to fry up some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Breakfast for two, that was.

The problem, he decided, after he'd gotten the eggs out and made sure the bacon was defrosted, was that there was no fucking point in cooking a romantic/cute/welcoming/what-the-fuck-ever breakfast if he got it wrong.

So he trooped 'round to the stairwell near the dining area and bellowed "Hey, asshole! Get down here and tell me how you like your eggs."

Comments

[cold_blueeyes]

The few moments of disorientation upon waking were nothing new. With as many times as he'd changed beds in the last week, it had become the routine, in fact, and would probably continue for another week or so, until he got used to the new place.

This morning, though, it took a few extra seconds to figure out where he was, because he wasn't in his own room. The night before came flooding back and he turned, finding the spot in bed next to him empty. Sitting up, Bobby looked around John's room and smiled a little. Yeah, last night had gone better than he'd hoped, even.

And then his brief reverie was shattered by John bellowing from downstairs. Bobby chuckled softly and climbed out of bed, crossing to his room and grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants to pull on before descending the stairs. "Good morning to you, too," he said as John came into view. "Uh. Whatever you're having is fine. Coffee?"

[prodigalflame]

At the sound of him, the sight of him, John let go of the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"I have a machine," John told him, just a little giddy-eager-trying to please, opening up the pantry - and sure enough, there was one of those fancy espresso machines. And he had a little instruction manual to boot. But he looked at Bobby and then at the book....and shut the pantry door again, tossing the booklet inside. "And I have no idea how to use it."

Fortunately he still had his little french press on the countertop and he'd already made himself a mug. So he gave that to Bobby instead and poured himself enough, busying about a little to slide the sugar, milk and cream along the top of the counter towards the other man while he stared at it. He leaned over and kissed Bobby's shoulder gently, because he could. "Why don't you go set the table, handsome, and I'll work on breakfast, huh?"

All too soon there was the sound of frying eggs and the smell of bacon.

[cold_blueeyes]

"We can figure it out later," Bobby promised, figuring one espresso machine couldn't be that different from another. "This is fine for now." He poured himself a cup and added cream and sugar, smiling at the kiss. "Sure, I can do that." But he didn't move just yet, just leaned against the counter and sipped his coffee, watching John cook. This...was nice. Cozy and domestic and nice.

[prodigalflame]

It was, wasn't it? And that was okay, that was actually okay.

Reaching for his apron, he slipped it over his head, and grinned at the other man: "One of these days I'll cook in nothing but the apron," he promised, perhaps just a touch full of himself, but as with last night, who wouldn't be? He was high on the moment.

As he cooked, John felt increasingly alright with whatever this was. After all, he was John the mighty, John the glorious, slayer of - yeah, probably best not to go down that track, mentally speaking. Glancing over at Bobby, he eyed him up and down: "I must be delusional, because you should be setting the table." He reached out to poke Bobby in the stomach, and found he wasn't exactly all pizza, beer and college boy waistline. "You feel pretty solid for a delusion. Now scoot, Frosty. A genius like myself does not need to be disturbed in the kitchen."

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby shook his head a little, clearing it of the mental image of John cooking wearing nothing but an apron, and ways he could try to distract him..."Right, right, I'm going. Bossy." He grinned and got out dishes and silverware, leaving the kitchen reluctantly to set the table as ordered.

[prodigalflame]

"That's right, get that fine ass of yours moving," John jibed with a grin - before he remembered to flip the eggs. Careful now, you can't let that blue-eyed hussy distract you, he told himself, semi-seriously. And just grinned again because of the sheer idea of there being a 'blue-eyed hussy' in his household.

It didn't take long before John emerged with two plates, laden high with crispy bacon, two eggs over easy each, and a couple of slices of toast, and set them on the table before sitting down himself. "You," he declared, "are going to be so much better fed around here."

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby snorted softly, looking at the food with an impressed expression. "You think? If you weren't here, I'd probably just have a bowl of corn flakes or something." He sank into the other chair and looked at the food, then at John. "Thanks," he said quietly, smiling. It had been a while since someone had made him breakfast, and even longer since that someone was the same person he'd shared a bed with the night before.

[prodigalflame]

"You are a philistine," John told him, smiling back, before skewering some bacon and a bit of toast on his fork and using it to mop up some egg before he took a bite. "And finally I get to use everything Mom taught me and you know better than to snitch, so I'd say this is a win-win." The sheer warmth of his tone suggested he wasn't being entirely seriously. Lord knew there were situations he'd totally brag about his culinary skills.

He continued eating in silence for a few moments. There were things he probably should talk about - but they could wait until breakfast was finished. "So what are your plans for the weekend?" he asked, taking a sip of his coffee. "You probably haven't had a chance to see much of London yet. Not that there's really a limit reached when it comes to seeing London."

Feeling a little chill in the early London morning (hi, winter, nice to meet you) - John glanced over at the fire. He'd remembered to put more wood on the fire when he woke up, but now - foom and the flames spread almost like a fluid around the logs in the fireplace, soon crackling away.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby scoffed as he dug into the food. "Who would I snitch to?" he asked between bites, grinning. "As for plans, I don't really have any." And yeah, he probably should get to know the city better, but...his plans for the weekend depended on what John's were, at this point. Because he wanted to get to know him better, too.

His gaze followed John's as he looked to the fire, just in time to see the glowing embers jump up into a warm, roaring fire. He smiled to himself, thinking how nice it was that they could be themselves here, even if nowhere else. Also, it was kind of hot, watching John kindle the flames with a mere glance. He wondered if John felt the same way when he watched Bobby use his powers, or if it was just him.

[prodigalflame]

"Well, I can always show you around town, although my view of London tends to run to 'awesome stuff, great alcohol and/or decent coffee, and clubs.'" Not that he'd been picking up...well, okay, he had been 'on the pull' as they said around here. And it had worked once. Oh God. He blushed a little at the memory, and just kept eating. "I mean, we can also just find some little cafe and grab lunch and talk about stuff." John knew that they probably should get to know each other better, but he was a little leery as to how that was going to work. 'Take a questionnaire and please avoid the following topics?'

John's eyes met Bobby's as they slid back from the fire. It was good to be open about his powers, more than good. It was like school, but a thousand times better. "I have taught myself a trick or two in the past few years," he acknowledged. "Haven't really gotten a proper workout. You might have to offer one day."

[cold_blueeyes]

"There's no rush, right? I mean, I'm not going anywhere." Bobby smiled faintly. "Honestly, I'd be fine with just staying home and talking." Of course, if John wanted to get out for a while, he was fine with that, too.

His smile faded a little as John mentioned a workout, though. The word and the association with their abilities stirred up memories of afternoons spent in the Danger Room, training, honing their abilities, pushing themselves to do more, to find their limits. Bobby had never been as good at that as some of the others, but these days..."I don't really do a lot of that anymore, honestly." Of course, he had learned a trick or two himself, but he hadn't used any of that in the last few years. 'Regular boring college student' didn't really have a place for ice forms and ice slides.

[prodigalflame]

John paused for a second, just wondering how far he could push it. Back in the day, the pushing would have been instinctive. But what came out was far more fond than anything he'd said at Westchester: "You know, if I can't make a decision because I I want to be nice to you, and you can't make a decision because you want to be nice to me," he said, gesturing with his fork, before slicing up some bacon, chewing and swallowing: "We're gonna be doing this dance all day, and I am a bad dancer. Tell me what you want, Drake, you're the newbie."

There was a shrug. He noticed the slight fading of Bobby's smile, because hey, might as well own that obsession, but he didn't take it on board as some kind of personal insult to his ability to make the guy happy. Took a sip of coffee instead to give him some space. "As long as you're around to chill the beer when summer comes along, right? I'll handle the barbecue." And that was really all he wanted - a nice, safe, domestic space to do what the hell ever.

[cold_blueeyes]

"I thought I just did," Bobby replied with an arch of his eyebrow. He'd said exactly what he wanted to do, though maybe not as assertively as he could have.

He relaxed a little when John moved the talk away from working out with their powers to more innocuous uses. "Yeah, I'll keep the beer cold and make sure every party has homemade ice cream," he promised.

[prodigalflame]

John looked at him for a moment or two. "You really do just want to hang around the house with me and talk and snuggle and make out?" He shook his head, placing his silverware on his now finished breakfast plate and pushed it away from him a little. "I assumed that was just a line. Jesus, do you have any idea how charming you are?"

"Between that and the beer and ice-cream," John mused, taking another sip of his coffee, although he really didn't need it. "I might decide," he said slowly, testing the words out, taking his time mostly just to be able to get through them without too much of a flutter in his chest, "that you would make a suitable boyfriend." And then he ruined all his care by following it up instantly with: "Oh, if you want. I mean, I can ask you and do the proper thing, and part of me wants to do that, so it seems kind of superfluous, considering I already know you pretty well and I've licked your come off my fingers."

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby rolled his eyes, shaking his head a little. "Boy, you really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?" he said dryly, getting up and picking up his plate and cup, then coming around to pick up John's as well. "If that was your way of asking, yes, I want to be your boyfriend. Even though you're an idiot sometimes." He smiled and set the dishes down, giving John a quick kiss--to seal the deal, as it were.

[prodigalflame]

And no, it wasn't exactly asking, but it was as good as Bobby was likely to get any time soon. Which John knew and Bobby seemed to know, and John seemed to know that Bobby seemed to know it and - hey! Kissing. That was a Good Sign, "I promise to continue being just the sort of idiot you would date," John grinned.

And that was that. Boyfriends. Huh. Not nearly so scary as he'd thought. "Just....give me a clue from time to time, I'm not exactly Mr. Experienced when it comes to relationships." But he would try harder. For this.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby chuckled and pulled away, gathering the dishes again to take them to the sink, doing his part since John had cooked. "Clue number one, if you're going to say something sweet to your boyfriend, you should probably leave come out of the sentence." He paused and turned back, grinning. "On the other hand, if you're trying to turn your boyfriend on and make him want to ignore the dirty dishes and make out with you instead, that's an acceptable way to go about it."

[prodigalflame]

An eyebrow went up. But my mouth is especially sweet when your come has something to do with it was what he thought, but decided not to say. No, that wouldn't pass muster unless he had a few beers in him. Unless they both had, probably, from the look Bobby was giving him.

Instead, John settled for a shrug, and a certain amount of lofty fake seriousness. "The dishes do need to be done; I'm a fucking responsible grad student these days, at least. You live in my house, you got to have standards, Drake. I got all day to make out with you."

[cold_blueeyes]

"What do you think I'm doing?" Bobby replied with an arch of his eyebrow. "You don't get to take credit for the idea when I'm already halfway to doing it anyway." He was sorely tempted to stick his tongue out, but they were being responsible adults right now, so he resisted and just carried the dishes to the sink to get them washed.

[prodigalflame]

John just raised an eyebrow at Bobby's retreating back. It was his house, his rules. His boyfriend? Definitely his rules. And if that meant claiming credit for an idea what had been John's anyway, that was perfectly fine by him. Finishing off his coffee before it cooled, he was still partly shaking his head at how ludicrous this was. Hi, this is Bobby. Went to school together, before I subsequently tried to both kill and date him.

It probably wasn't one of those things that sounded less weird outside his head. Fortunately no-one remindered who he was, so he wouldn't really have to have that introduction - and John found he was a little disappointed, actually. It sure as hell would knock people's socks off. Bobby'd probably hate it, though.

Shame there wasn't really anyone - except there was. "Oh, Bobby?" John called out. And this definitely wasn't a 'Drake' moment. "I met someone who knows who I am." Thank God he didn't have to look at the reaction on Bobby's face. "Redhead. Female. Fucking gorgeous, actually." Not that he'd noticed.

[cold_blueeyes]

Bobby had already turned on the water to rinse the plates before loading them into the dishwasher, but when he heard John call out, he turned it down so he could hear. "Oh, yeah? I think I met her, too," he said, remembering the redheaded woman from another world that had known him and yet not.

[prodigalflame]

"Scary as fuck, actually," John called back, before getting up from the chair to lean in the doorway. Like a gentleman. And honestly, it made sense that intense chick on a mission had found Bobby as well, dorky false name or no. "Minding my own business, when this woman gets all up in my face about how she knows what I did. No one's supposed to know what I did! Even before everything changed, it was all suppressed, court orders and shit. Was she like that with you?"

[cold_blueeyes]

"Wait, what?" Bobby turned to look at him with a frown. "No, she was really nice. She, uh--knew me in another world, or something," he said, shrugging. He wondered if maybe John had done the same thing in her world, if she hadn't forgiven him, but that was still no excuse to come at him all hostile if she didn't even know if this John had done the same thing.

[prodigalflame]

"Noooo," John said slowly, stretching out the world. Another world? What? It was bad enough that people were apparently back from the dead (and part of him didn't entirely believe that, maybe the deaths had been faked or something) but as long as everyone believed they were dead, alive, or from the same constituent reality, it was probably none of his business.

"This chick was all -" He didn't know what she was, exactly- "I dunno, Homeland Security, or something? It was a real 'We're watching you, jerkwad' vibe." Then it hit him: "You met someone from another world? There's another world and there's mutants, and you, and stuff...?"

God. What if there was a him?

[cold_blueeyes]

"Yeah, I'm gonna guess not the same redhead," Bobby replied. "But yeah, she said she just showed up here about a month before. She was a precog or something. Oh, and psi projections, she made this hummingbird appear and everything. But she said she knew was friends with me where she was from." He laughed a little, uncomfortable. "Honestly, I've tried not to think about it too much. It's kind of bizarre, even by our standards, you know?"

[prodigalflame]

"Huh." John thought about it for a second before he answered: "Precogs always come in handy." Helped to know who was going to kick your ass before they actually did so, if that sort of detail was possible. Which it never was. Dammit, what was the whole thing about them being the superior race again? The projections sounded cute, and could be useful as a tactical distraction.

Some of the colour left his face as John realised that he still thought of powers as primarily a offensive or defensive gift, in a tactical, warfare-oriented context. But then doing domestic things like cooking with them had always seemed like a waste.

"You're right," he said after a pause, and cracked a grin. "Totally bizarre." Almost as bizarre as you and me, Drake. "If you see her again, say hi, and just take it as a given you're a friendly optimist in every fucking universe."

[cold_blueeyes]

In his experience, precogs were as dangerous as they were handy, but that wasn't really their fault. Predicting the future was an inexact process, he could get that.

Bobby snorted, but he couldn't help but grin in return. "You sound pretty confident about that." But part of him really did want to find out more about the other version of him. Who wouldn't, really? Except what if it was a case of 'be careful what you wish for?' That thought had kept him from seeking her out to try to get more information about the world she was from.

[prodigalflame]

Bobby probably knew more about precogs. That idle thought helped him out of his funk: Bobby probably knew more about precogs, because Bobby had training, and classes, and the Danger Room, and Xavier for that little bit longer. And John hadn't, and he realised how okay he was with that.

It made the grin soften into a teasing smile. "She doesn't sound evil, and she sees you as trustworthy, so I'm gonna go her with knowing you based on your whole good guy charm." The smile became sweeter, if anyone ever bothered to connect John with the world 'sweet': "Besides, the idea of a universe with a you who isn't you doesn't bear thinking about." Bobby could always invite her over; he could cook. Nice little mutant party, God, that would be good.