5/30 Issue: Klingons Don't Say 'I Love You'

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Slarti
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5/30 Issue: Klingons Don't Say 'I Love You'

Post by Slarti »

Timlined a few days after The Waiting Game.

Bobby: "You know, if the whole detective thing doesn't work out, you could make a killing as a moving crew." Bobby took another long pull from his beer and watched another dupe go by with a box.

Jamie: Jamie looked up from his deep dive into the second pizza box, watching the same dupe. "Except they'd murder me. ...suicide me? Prime would be dead. They're only doing it willingly right now because food, booze, and they took pity on you, dude."

Bobby: Bobby snorted and his eyes slid to Jamie. "Meaning you took pity on me. Thanks, dude."

Jamie: "Pretty much." Slice acquired, he shut the box and flopped back into his chair to take a big bite. "'dn't 'oo?"

Bobby: He gave him a long blank stare and then it clicked. "Yeah, probably." That called for more beer, so he took a swig.

Jamie: "'ee?" Jamie finished chewing and swallowed before continuing. "If you'd pity you, then it's not so bad that we do. I mean, lose your wife, kids, and the girl you lost them for in one fell swoop? Who wouldn't pity that. ...Unless they painted you the villain. Then they'd say you got what you deserved. Unless they turned it around into some sort of anti-hero tale." He stopped and looked at Bobby. "Are you a villain now?"

Bobby: Bobby's face screwed up more and more as he listed his epic failures. Then he paused and blinked. "I dunno. I guess I've been one before, sorta... which was also with Rogue..." Well, shit.

Jamie: Jamie watched a dupe put down a box and crack his back and he winced. "I'm going to be so sore when I get them all back. Maybe I didn't think this through." What Bobby said floated into his head, "Hmm? Oh. Uh, well, that's..." What? That's what? Scary as fuck? Don't say that. "Special."

Bobby: "Well, at least you have a girlfriend for a back massage, yeah?" He waved his hand at Jamie. "Not really... back when we took out some of the Marauders..."

Jamie: "Oh right! When Rachel was kidnapped by the loon. Yep, I remember that." Jamie took another bite and chewed while he thought. "Seemed more vigilante than villain, to me. Dumb, though."

Jamie: After washing down the rest with some beer, he swallowed and cleared his throat. Say it. But today is pity Bobby day. Say it anyway. She'll be sad. "Fiancee." Dammit.

Bobby: "Yeah, fuckin' Essex. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but of course it spiraled right the fuck out of control." He slammed back the rest of his beer and nearly choked. "Right," he coughed. "Sorry. Fiancee."

Jamie: Jamie looked down at the pizza in his hand and screwed up his face when Bobby choked. Sorry, dude. Subject change? PLEASE. "Want me to find someone to get you laid?" ...What. The. Fuck? Immediate regret.

Bobby: "What?!" It came out croaky while he hacked and he was hoping he'd misheard. "The fuck, dude?!"

Jamie: "Sorry! I know! ItriedforasubjectchangebutitcameoutlikethatandIsuckandthatwasawfulbutifyoureallywantedagoodlayIknowsomechicks."

Bobby: Bobby just glared at him as he coughed, trying to decipher whatever the fuck that was.

Jamie: Jamie slid his gaze to gauge Bobby's reaction. Hmm. Not what he thought it would be. "So, that's a no then? Cool. I will definitely not slip you some phone numbers then."

Bobby: He sat back, catching his breath, and just blinked at the dude. The sad thing about this? Pretty boy there probably did have better luck with the ladies than he'd ever had. He needed another beer.

Jamie: He cleared his throat again and sucked his lower lip into his mouth. "Maybe Paige'll come around? I mean, it's not like you fucked Rogue, right?" Jamie blinked and then turned back to Bobby with wide eyes. "You didn't, did you?"

Bobby: "No, I didn't." His voice was still a little off but he was recovered enough to grab another beer, popping off the cap and frosting it. After a moment, he offered it to Madrox. "But I told Paige I loved Rogue, so yeah, that ain't gonna happen."

Jamie: "Well that was dumb. Unless you were wanting to end the marriage and not get Rogue, too? Then it was pretty smart." Jamie thought about that for a minute and then nodded. "Smart." He took the beer and took a long pull. "Wanted to try the single life out? I still have those numbers I offered like...thirty seconds ago."

Bobby: "I wanted to tell her the truth," he grumbled, grabbing another beer for himself. "Smart is the last fuckin' thing I'd call myself." He shook his head and laughed a little. "I think I've had enough drama, thanks."

Jamie: "Oh, dude, no, these ladies are all very much non-committal. It was from after, but before. I didn't want anything and they were pretty good about just giving that." Jamie took the last bite of his pizza and tossed the crust at box to throw away later. "No drama. Just sex. No STDs either."

Bobby: Bobby stared at him with narrowed eyes. "After, but before..."

Jamie: "Jean," he said simply and gave Bobby a grin.

Bobby: He took a drink and nodded. "Oh. Gotcha." Bobby gave him side eye. "English ain't your first language, is it?"

Jamie: That startled him into a laugh, "What? I don't know any other lan-" Yes, huh. "I only recently learned other languages."

Bobby: Bobby gave up with a laugh. "Made some dupes learn 'em, huh? That's handy." He flipped open a pizza box and debated if he wanted food to interfere with his alcoholism. "I learned Klingon in high school."

Jamie: "Super handy." He paused with the beer halfway to his mouth, "Klingon? Like... Star Trek? Can you teach me? Would be a good distraction from your fuckity non-fucking thing you have going on."

Bobby: "Like Star Trek," he said around a bite of pizza, because why not add grease to the booze? "N'sh?" He paused to chew a little. "No shit? Usually that confession was what got me punched and called a dork," he laughed.

amie: Jamie shrugged. "Like I'm one to talk? I spent my high school career surrounded by myselves. I'm not exactly primo jock material." He eyed Bobby suspiciously, "Unless you're gonna teach me something that means 'you're a cunt,' and tell me it means 'I love you'."

Bobby: "Klingons don't say 'I love you,'" he laughed. "That's kinda half the fun of it - they're always dicks." Bobby took another drink. "I was a skater kid, worked at a theme park, and my mom made me take dancing lessons - with her."

Jamie: "Well, now you're ruined tricking me now that I know that." Jamie got up to snag another piece of the pie. "She could've made you take them with your dad instead."

Bobby: "I wasn't planning to trick you anyway." He took a bite and nearly choked - again. "Oh, fuck no! My dad hates me," he laughed.

Jamie: "Shit, really? That's awful, dude." He made a face at that revelation. First, his wife leaves him, then his love stays with the president, now his dad hates him? ROUGH. "At least you know how to dance?" Be better, Madrox! "It'll get you laid." ...Stop saying things like that!

Bobby: Bobby narrowed his eyes at Jamie. "I think you're more invested in that than I am, dude. Somethin' ya wanna tell me?"

Jamie: "I just know that it helped me back in the day. And since you can't fuck Paige or Rogue, why not go fuck someone else and forget about those two?"

Bobby: He chugged more beer and considered this. "I dunno." If Anna really broke things off with Tony...

Jamie: Jamie shrugged again and shoveled the pizza into his face. "'Oo 'tay wi' no 'ex?"

Bobby: "It's not like Paige and I were at it." He stared at the beer and took another drink. "She, uh, had a miscarriage... things were different after that. She just worked all the time."

Jamie: It was Jamie's turn to choke as he tried to swallow his pizza around the lump in his throat. "Those... those suck." Hadn't stopped Jean from hopping into the sack, though. Right? What was Paige's malfunction? "I guess women don't handle that the same way."

Bobby: "Sorry," he winced. Whoops. Forgot they were engaged, forgot she lost a baby too. Good friend, Drake. "She took it hard, yeah..."

Jamie: He stared at the half-eaten slice in his hand and was quiet for a minute. Maybe because Jean didn't know before she had the miscarriage it was easier? He should talk to her about that. "So." They were already here, right? "In an ideal world, what would you have wanted to happen?"

Bobby: That was a good fucking question. "Um..." He was nursing the pizza in his hand, so he shoved it in and thought about it as he chewed. "Part of me wishes Rogue had never said anything at all..."

Jamie: "Why? Was your life so much happier before you knew?" Jamie finally took another bite, chasing it with a swig of beer.

Bobby: "Yeah, exactly - that's the thing." He took a drink to wash down the pizza. "I kinda wonder if this wasn't gonna happen anyway... like, with me and Paige."

Jamie: "And if it was? What would you have done? Probably the same thing you're doing now, right? Just... less hope that Rogue and Tony won't get married because you wouldn't have known."

Jamie: One of the dupes stopped for a slice and glowered at them both. "What? I'm going to feel it later, too. I'm doing the work you're doing."

Bobby: Bobby silently offered the dupe a beer, too. Married? He hadn't even thought of it, because Tony Stark, but... yeah. It would have hurt. He would have been happy for her, but it would have hurt, too.

Jamie: The dupe accepted the beer and downed half of it in one go. Prime winced. "Gonna feel that, too. So glad that I only get half of the shit you put in my body."

Bobby: "I mean, I talk to myself... but damn."

Jamie: "And this is why I wouldn't punch you and call you a dork." Jamie shook his head as the dupe finished the beer and tossed the bottle at the trashcan before going back out for another load. "Back to what we were talking about before I so rudely interrupted us... Now that you do know, you can hope that one day, either Rogue and Tony go to Splitsville or you stop loving her. Without knowing, you just would've been a broken little man right now."

Bobby: "Thanks?" He watched the dupe wander back outside and made a face. "Me and Rogue have known each other... feels like forever. She's my best friend. If I could just stop I woulda already done it."

Jamie: "Have you tried?" Jamie turned his head slightly towards Bobby and arched an eyebrow at him as he took a drink.

Bobby: "Just turn emotions off and on. I know I sure as fuck can't. Why, can you?" He could, actually, but it would require staying in his vaporous form... forever.

Jamie: "Well, no. Not like a switch... But I can suppress until I forget about it and then one day, it's gone." Kind of. Seeing Jean had brought it back. But that's not important right now. Isn't it? Nope. "So... Have you tried?"

Bobby: "Believe me, I've had plenty of experience trying to bury shit, but as soon as I see her again? Especially now?" He snorted and shook his head, taking another drink.

Jamie: See? Important. Fuck off. "What, especially now that your wife left? You're technically still married, man. No signed papers means it's still wrong. Also, she's still with the President. Tony fucking billionaire Stark."

Bobby: "No, especially now that I know she feels the same." He gave Jamie a glare for the shot about the papers. "Yeah, for now," he took a chug.

Jamie: Jamie just shrugged one shoulder. He was right and Bobby knew it. "For now? Thinking they're not going to go the distance, then? Grapevine says they're pretty happy. Don't kid yourself, dude. She's in the same position you were except that Tony isn't treating her like shit the way Paige was doing you."

Jamie: "If Paige were still being who you fell in love with, would you have told her?"

Bobby: That was a very good question. So good, in fact, that he didn't want to think about it. Instead, he looked around, then lowered his voice. "Grapevine isn't always right."

Jamie: Jamie blinked at him. That wasn't an answer to his question. Why didn't he answer the question? Was there more to this? "Don't. Don't go there. It's a can of worms neither one of us should be digging into."

Bobby: "If you don't wanna know, I get it, but since I told ya before..." This was a terrible idea, but who else was he gonna talk to about this?

Jamie: Don't want to know? It was fact? Oh, fuck. Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose and propped his elbow on his knee. This is bad. This is very, very bad. Why? Did he want to know? NO! Maybe. Fuckity grapevine. Fuckity gossip. Maybe a dupe could hear instead? We'd all know at the end of the day, dummy. Fuck. Bad idea. Baaad idea. "Know what?" What?! Why?! SHUT UP. FUCK.

Bobby: The dude looked like he'd been struck with a sudden migraine. "Rogue... um, she asked me to wait for her."

Jamie: Nope! Definitely didn't want to know that. He dropped his hand and slowly turned his head to stare at Bobby. "Why," he squeaked out. STOP. TALKING.

Bobby: Jamie's expression just got more pained and his voice went up an octave. "You... okay there? Not gonna barf, right? Having a stroke?"

Jamie: "Why," he repeated after he cleared his throat. Not as squeaky, but still strained.

Bobby: "Why did she ask me to wait?" He glanced around again. "Why do you think?"

Jamie: Uh uh. Nope. This was not happening. "Nope. She lied." Yep. Good, sound reasoning. Scary woman lied. Perfect.

Bobby: "Why are you so freaked out about it?" It was starting to make him paranoid if there was something that Jamie knew that he didn't.

Jamie: "Because!" Jamie winced at how loud he was and lowered his voice. "Because. I can't tell Jean this, but I can't not tell her, either! But she's going to know that I know something that she doesn't know and that's just bad all around, you know?"

Bobby: "Yeah, I figured you'd tell her," he shrugged. Those two had shared a brain since college.

Jamie: "So," he tried again. "She lied. Rogue lied."

Bobby: "Rogue lied about what?"

Jamie: "About what I think you're meaning. She lied to you."

Bobby: "I honestly have wondered about that myself." He went for another beer, because he may as well now. "I don't know. But she asked if I wanted to share her with Tony Stark."

Jamie: That called for another nose pinching. Headache. Head aching. Make it stop. "Being that I think she's terrifying, I don't know her that well, but if you honestly think she lied to you, is she really a best friend?" Why are we helping? STOP. "And... I really could have lived without that mental image, thanks."

Bobby: "Yeah, me too. Not interested in dick. Not even Stark's." He was kind of enjoying this now and wasn't sure why. "It's not that I think she's lying... it's that I think she'll change her mind. Like, she'll get back to that big-ass house and realize it's a mistake."

Jamie: Jamie mentally flailed at the brain poking he was getting. Things were fine. Bobby was just ... being Bobby and breaking his brain. Boy time. It's fine. Beers, pizza, moving day. "Oh, good. So then I don't have to worry about not telling Jean anything because there's nothing to tell since she'll change her mind and this is all just a rumor that totally won't get me sent to federal prison."

Bobby: "Why would you think this would get you sent to federal prison, dude? She was talking about breaking up with him, not freakin' assassinating him." He shook his head and took another drink.

Jamie: "I don't know, man! It's the President. She can't just leave him for somebody else and expect things to go smoothly for her, you, or anybody who knew about it."

Bobby: "Why not? And he won't be the president much longer, y'know."

Jamie: "...because he's the President." It was the beer. It was making him dumb. Yep. Jamie reached for Bobby's new bottle. "Wake up!"

Bobby: "Have you met him?" He pulled the bottle out of reach. "He's got the attention span of a toddler. I'm shocked he's stayed with her this long and I don't wanna see her get hurt... again."

Jamie: Jamie just stared. Really stared. Almost like he could look inside Bobby's mind if he stared hard enough. "You think he's going to buy her a mansion and then drop her like a sack of potatoes? You're delusional."

Bobby: "A mansion is like a sack of potatoes to somebody as filthy fuckin' rich as he is." Bobby finally caught the stare and returned it. "You trying to borrow your fiancee's powers?"

Jamie: "Just trying to figure out how deep the dumb goes. He's filthy rich, sure, but he would likely drop jewelry or cars if he planned to drop her. Not things you get an investment from."

Bobby: Bobby shrugged. "Who knows what goes on in the heads of people like that? Besides, what kinda logic is that? Ya give jewelry to a woman to keep her - not that it worked for me."

Jamie: "I didn't mean a ring. I meant like a necklace or earrings. Something he knows she can't afford but would go well for a night out or whatever." He reached out and put a hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Did you want it to work out? Not talking about after you found out about Rogue's feelings. Just... after everything Paige had been putting you through."

Bobby: He looked up at him in slight surprise. They were touching now? Bobby thought about his question. "It's... probably better for both of us this way. For whatever reason, she doesn't want to be home with me and the kids." He snorted and shook his head. "This is the longest she's been with them in... years?" Fuck.

Jamie: Jamie winced at that revelation and brought his hand down to start picking at the label on his bottle. "Are they okay? Do they understand why they were suddenly ripped away from you? If they're not as comfortable with her as they are with you, it could mess them up pretty badly..."

Bobby: "Zach is too young to get what's going on and Paige is his biological mom... But Rip? I talked to her and she's smarter than she should be." He snorted. "Like her mom."

Jamie: "Yeah..." Jamie smiled as he remembered Lorna. "She was pretty great. Mrs. Drake helped me out a lot." ...Mrs. Drake was Paige now. Right. Shit. "Lorna, I mean." He looked over at Bobby again, "So, she's figured it out. But does she want to be home with you? Did Paige legally adopt her?"

Bobby: "I know what you mean." He looked up and gave Jamie a smile. "Paige and Lorna were best friends, so yeah, Paige legally adopted her."

Jamie: At least there was that. Thought it could make things more difficult. Hmm. "Did you consent to her keeping them away from you? Especially for this long?"

Bobby: He raised a brow and sat back, taking a drink of his briefly forgotten beer. "I'm not looking to call the cops on her, dude."

Jamie: "Not saying you should. But I am saying that you should consider what's best for your kids. If Paige wasn't around and you were their main caretaker, being ripped from you so suddenly can cause them more harm than good, even if you think it would help Paige."

Bobby: "Yeah. But y'know who else helped raise them?" He gave him a significant look and took another drink.

Jamie: Jamie sighed. "Dude. With how much she did for you, how did you not know? And why didn't you say something first?" Did he really just open that up for discussion? Crap. Well, too late now.

Bobby: "Rogue and Dee were tight, too." He finished off that beer. "And you wanna talk about weird powers, Rogue has absorbed Lorna... quite a bit. Not as much as me, but a lot." He was going to ignore the rest of that question in favor of another beer.

Jamie: "So you think she was helping you raise Ripley and Zach out of some kind of loyalty to Lorna?" Jamie made a face at him. "You're dumber than I was when I met Jean. Damn, dude."

Bobby: "You don't know her that well, dude. Out of loyalty to her family? Absolutely. Because she loved me, and not as a brother? I... didn't believe it was possible."

Jamie: "You really don't think much of yourself, do you? Why wouldn't it be possible? The two of you have been to hell and back for each other from what I've heard." Oh. Well that could be it. "Maybe it could be trauma bonding. But other than that?"

Bobby: Bobby barked out a laugh. "Oh there's plenty of trauma between us, alright." He rolled his eyes. "I spoke Klingon in high school, remember?"

Jamie: "Did you two know each other in high school?" Jamie was fully confused by him bringing that up. He thought Rogue hadn't been around until Bobby was already married to Lorna. Or something.

Bobby: "No, we met at the old school." He looked down at the bottle. "It was the start of my second year, her first. She helped me get back together with Lorna after a fight we had over the summer."

Jamie: Definitely not married, then. "Long time, though." Jamie regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. "Did you ever think about trying to tell her? Or were you just too chicken?"

Bobby: "A long time, yeah." He took a drink. "Seriously thought about it? I dunno... not really. I mean, after Lorna died? There were times... But Paige had been there with me after the X-Force stuff, and we just sorta... y'know..."

Jamie: Jamie grinned. "Oh yeah. I know. She's got a nice rack, so why not. First tits I ever saw were hers and Rachel's. Hard to pass up an offer for those."

Bobby: The beer bottle dropped away from his lips as he made a face at Jamie. "Thanks for the reminder, dude."

Jamie: He gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry. I'm sure Rogue's are better." Was that helpful? Sure! ...No. Fuck.

Bobby: He started to wave it away and then sputtered on beer. "The fuck, dude?!"

Jamie: "I've not seen hers, if that helps!" Jamie grimaced. "They've always been covered!"

Bobby: "Well yeah they've been covered!" He'd definitely seen them before, but he sure wasn't gonna share that tidbit, so he chugged down half his beer.

Jamie: Jamie wasn't sure what to say now so he started picking at the label on his beer again. A couple of dupes walked by carrying furniture and he glanced up at them. "Did you only go for Paige's tits because Rogue's were unobtainable?" Worst metaphor ever but it gets the point across. Hopefully. Or it won't and it's dumb.

Bobby: Bobby just shook his head. "Okay, dude, unless you want me to start talking about Jean's tits, let's go with a different metaphor."

Jamie: Jamie narrowed his eyes at Bobby. "Or how about just flat out saying it? Did you only go for Paige because you were too chicken shit to say anything to Rogue and because Paige was there when Rogue was off dealing with having been possessed, you thought she was a safe bet?"

Bobby: He let the hand holding the bottle drop to the table with a clank and met Jamie's eyes. His own narrowed.

Jamie: "I take it that's a yes?" Jamie was able to control his amused look only because he didn't want anything he was attached to frozen.

Bobby: "Fuck you," he said, but without much force behind it.

Jamie: "Not interested. Thanks, though!" That earned Bobby a shit-eating grin from Jamie. Especially since when he and Bobby had first started hanging out, Jamie thought Bobby had a crush.

Bobby: "Yeah, yeah." Bobby shook his head at him and stared hard at his bottle. "It's not that simple."

Jamie: "How is it not that simple?" There are a million sides to everything, Madrox. Duh. Shut up, there's a point to be made here. "When it boils down to it, would you have let yourself ever develop feelings for Paige if Rogue was around instead of off taking care of herself?"

Bobby: He heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know, man. Rogue was... more than just that. There was a real possibility she was gone. I'd basically had to kill her when Essex had control of her, and, uh..." Bobby licked his lips, not seeing the bottle anymore. "I-if anything happened, if Essex was still there, I might'a had to..." He closed his eyes.

Jamie: "So instead of grieving, you hopped in the sack with a beauty queen?" Prime locked eyes with a passing dupe and they both shook their heads. "That's pretty much what I'm trying to get you to do now, ya know."

Bobby: "You're trying to get me to hop in the sack with a beauty queen?" He snorted. "And that's oversimplifying it again. I love Paige... I just don't think she loves me anymore."

Jamie: "I'm not saying you don't. But would you have if Rogue were around?" Jamie waved a hand, dismissing the beauty queen remark. "I'm just trying to help you figure out your mess of a life. Or forget about it for an hour. Either way."

Bobby: Bobby licked his lips and started to answer, then had to clear his throat. "No. No, I probably wouldn't have," he admitted.

Jamie: Huh. Somehow, Jamie hadn't been expecting that answer. He had. But he hadn't. Now he just felt bad for making Bobby admit it out loud. But... "There ya go. Admitting is the first step." Or something like that. He's not an addict! Maybe he is! Addicted to Rogue? ...Stranger things have happened.

Bobby: Bobby made a face at him. "The first step in what? So far all of this has been great for everyone."

Jamie: "Towards healing. Or so they say." Jamie shrugged and took a drink. Healing? Or sobriety? Shut the fuck up.

Bobby: "Healing." He snorted and took a drink.

Jamie: Just say it. "Fine. Sobriety." Get ready to be frosted over.

Bobby: "Sobriety?!" Bobby looked from Jamie to the bottle in his hand, then made a face. "Yeah, well, sobriety is for... later."

Jamie: Jamie held his breath for a moment and slowly looked down his body. Nothing's frozen! He grinned and let out the breath. "I don't mean alcohol. I mean her."

Bobby: Bobby just looked at Jamie. He blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it. "Don't take this the wrong way, but huh?"

Jamie: "She's got a hold over you the way most substances do over addicts." How did that not make sense? It makes perfect sense. He just needs a minute to process, that's all. Right.

Bobby: There was more blinking. "Well, yeah... isn't love supposed to create a chemical that's addictive or something?"

Jamie: "Yeah..." He's got a point. Except not! "Do you only have that chemical with Rogue, then?"

Bobby: "What? I don't know that it's really even a thing - I just kind of remembered reading about it!"

Jamie: "It is a thing." Jamie frowned at Bobby. "What's your end game?"

Bobby: He just blinked again. "Well if it's a thing then you have it too, right?"

Jamie: "Well, sure. But I fucked it out of my system." Liar. Fine, fucked it into the bottom of our soul. ...closer. "And now that I've got it again, I don't have any problems because Jean's my girl and no one else's. So, it doesn't matter that I've got that addictive chemical going because I can always get my fix."

Bobby: Bobby smirked. "Sounds like you're trying real hard to justify why it's okay for you and not for me, dude." He took another drink and shot him a wink.

Jamie: "Of course it's okay for me and not for you! She's with the president. The man who could have everyone assassinated and no one would ever find us."

Bobby: "He's not gonna have us assassinated, dude!"

Jamie: "Dude! You don't know that!"

Bobby: "Yeah, I do! I know him, remember?!" Bobby shook his head and stared at his beer. "It's probably not gonna even happen anyway. She has everything she always wanted. With him."

Jamie: "She does?" Jamie watched Bobby with a confused frown. "It was her goal in life to grow up to be the mistress to one of the richest men in the country? Shit. Maybe I should've made different goals if that one was that easy for her."

Bobby: Bobby just looked up at Jamie and made a face. "What? Harboring a secret desire to be a kept woman, Madrox?"

Jamie: "If the pay is that good, maybe." He gave Bobby a cheeky grin. "Wouldn't you?"

Bobby: "Nope." He cracked open another beer and gave Jamie the side eye. "The back door is exit only, dude."

Jamie: "I never said I'd let him do anything sexual. But I'd put on a dress and a wig and prance around for a few hours a day for however much he keeps her for." Maybe. Probably. Don't think too hard.

Bobby: "Hey I don't need to hear about your kinky sex games with Jean." And he really didn't need to picture that guy in a wig and a dress. Also, his imagination made it a wig with a white stripe. Nope! "She's not kept, she's in love."

Jamie: Jamie would look good with a white stripe, but that's not what his imagination made it. He was wearing a multicolored pastel wig and one of Jean's pink sundresses. He was beautiful. "Jean would laugh too hard to be turned on by that." Hopefully. "You're the one who just asked about me wanting to be a kept woman so naturally, I assumed you kept her in that capacity in your mind in order to make sense of why she's with him and not you."

Bobby: "As she should." He took a long, long drink. "No... not really. I get it. He's the first guy she's had feelings for since her fiance died." Other than him, apparently. That called for another drink.

Jamie: "Um. Not to be Captain Obvious or anything, but she had feelings for you, didn't she?" He frowned and stared down at his own beer. "Besides money and the whole running the country thing, you two are pretty similar. Except that he's squishy and you're ... not. So, point for you? 'Cause didn't her other duder explode?"

Bobby: "Yeah... and me, apparently. But, when she felt like there might be a chance for me and her, I was already with Paige." He made a face and took a drink. "Or at least that's what she told me." Bobby looked up at Jamie, remembering his own recent experience. "Yeah. He was possessed by a mutant without a body and he turned his own powers against him... it was... awful."

Jamie: Jamie made a face and drained the rest of his beer. Ugh. Exploding people. UGH. "Well, if you explode, you'd be able to put yourself back together, right? But he can't. So... Point for you?"

Bobby: "Yep." He blindly reached for another and handed it over. "Ain't found a way to kill me yet."

Jamie: Jamie downed half of this new one and got his lip stuck from the suction. He popped it out but made a face, glad he was wearing his jacket now because he did not want to know if that could create a dupe... Who would likely not only break his new beer but also be kissing him. Ew. "Tony, though... He's not even a mutant. Just a super smart inventor of WMDs right?"

Bobby: Bobby had seen that, and was going to pretend he hadn't. "Right. Super duper smart. And rich. And handsome. And rich."

Jamie: "Being around somebody that smart has to make Rogue feel super duper dumb, though. A person can only put up with that for so long before they want to be around people of their own intelligence level, right?" Jamie wasn't going to say anything about the handsome part. Mainly because he didn't want to further the rumor of his wanting to be the President's kept woman. Tony is a looker though. Gross. Stop.

Bobby: "She's not dumb," he said, offended on Anna's behalf. He gave Jamie side eye again and bit back a comment about him and Jean.

Jamie: "I never said she was," Jamie frowned at him. "She's smarter than most normal people. I just said being with somebody as super duper smart as Tony's gotta make her feel super duper dumb."

Bobby: "Yeah, okay..." He waved it away. "I have no idea. We never talked about it."

Jamie: "And you probably won't need to if she's going to do what you said she's going to do, which I still think is a really bad thing to do. Not that I think her doing it is a bad thing to do, but the reason for doing it could cause problems."

Bobby: The bottle was on the way to his mouth when that started and Bobby's eyebrows drew further down the longer it went. "Yeahuh."

Jamie: Jamie sighed and shook his head. Bobby didn't want to see the potential problems. Because he wants his girl! Yeah, so?! Soooo.... Dammit, yeah, okay. "What are you gonna do when she's free?"

Bobby: He blinked, then snorted. "Fuck if I know. Die of a heart attack?"

Jamie: "That goes against the whole 'not killable' argument. Try again."

Bobby: "Nah. That just makes it all tragic and ironic."

Jamie: "..." He would not pinch the bridge of his nose. He would not. Drinking would be better. "Play out the fantasy, dude. Better than moping, right? And you're not taking me up on my offer to find you some new tail."

Bobby: "I don't want your tail," he protested, then thought about that and dismissed it with a shudder. "You know what I mean."

Jamie: "Exactly. You want the President's tail." He grinned, knowing exactly what he was doing. "And his girl, too."

Bobby: "Funny," he snorted, picking at the label on the beer. "I... I dunno. Still don't know that it's gonna happen, so maybe I'll burn that bridge if and when we get to it?"

Jamie: "I'm extremely funny," he said with a nod. "What would it hurt to pretend that it will, though? If she said she'll do it, and you don't think she was lying, then she should do it. So... fantasize."

Bobby: He sighed. "I don't want to." Bobby chewed his lip and realized his knee was jumping. He stopped it. "I've... done it before. Thought about it, dreamed about it." He cut himself off and looked up. "You never tortured yourself with the what-ifs?"

Jamie: Jamie frowned, "Yeah. But this isn't torture. This is... Planning, in a sense." Dreamed, huh? Interesting.

Bobby: "You told me it's fantasizing? So which is it?"

Jamie: "Both." How was that not evident? Now who's the dumb one? "You can't do it yet and you're not talking to her about it, so it's fantasizing. But you should be able to do it soon and talk to her about it, so it's also planning."

Bobby: "But why?" He frowned at the guy. "I'm not sure if you're encouraging this or discouraging it anymore, dude."

Jamie: "Both." How was that not evident? Didn't they just do this with the other question? "You're my friend, so I want you to be happy. But I like being alive, so I'm also trying a bit of self-preservation."

Bobby: He sighed. "I dunno, dude. If, and it's a big if, she does leave him, we'd have to talk about things. There's... a lot between us."

Jamie: "Talk about things? You wouldn't wanna have her jump your bones first? Damn. That's restraint."

Bobby: "I mean, yes, but that's a great way for us to fuck everything up." Bobby wrinkled his nose. "How old are you?"

Jamie: "How would that fuck everything up? It worked for Jean and me." Jamie grinned. "We figured out everything else during the pillow talk." He took a drink and raised an eyebrow, "Isn't it obvious? I'm a hormone-fueled seventeen-year-old boy."

Bobby: "Yeah, I think so," he snorted. "You and Jean also don't have ex-wives and dead wives and dead fiances and kids." When he spelled it all out he made a face. "Fucking hell how did life get so complicated?"

Jamie: Jamie made a face, too. "That's a lot. But I think with everything, it would totally be okay to fuck it out first." Tact, Madrox. Where is it? Gone. Three beers ago.

Bobby: "I'll keep that in mind," he laughed, shaking his head and watching another dupe pass by.
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