1964-01-25 - Just Friends
Summary: Sam stops by Jean's room between classes for lunch, and talk.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
cannonball jean 


Since he got back, Sam's managed to settle back into a bit of his old routine. He'd moved back into his old room, thankfully still as he left it. He'd left just about all of his things there, as travelling by self-propelled-rocket-power necessitates packing light, and was happy to find it all undisturbed. The last couple of days have been filled with classes, playing catch-up on things he'd missed, and re-acquanting himself with the grounds and the people, including some of those who had arrived after he had left. But this afternoon he finds himself with some free time on his hands. Sam had considered heading down to do some training, but felt he wouldn't want to disturb the relative peace and quiet of the day any more than necessary. And so he'd just been walking around the grounds, enjoying the fresh air. Until it got too cold, as it does, being January. And then he found himself inside, walking up the stairs as if by default to Jean's door. It's not until he has knocked twice that he suddenly realizes that she might not in fact be alone; is he ready to meet the new boyfriend? Probably not. But he steels his resolve, takes a deep breath, and prepares himself for whatever he might see when the door opens; if it opens at all.

*

Jean wasn't really doing much of anything. After returning from Mutant Town and handing out food, and she herself sleeping, seeing Gabriel off to work in the morning and returning to bed to try another snooze but.. it wasn't working. There was still issues with her eating, she knew that it was picked up upon by Charles the other day, so she resigned herself to make a very nice and lavish lunch. A nice shaved steak sandwich (that someone else made) with peppers and onions mixed in, cheeses, a large potato fries along with a bottle of coke.

The food itself was getting cold, that's how long she stood there and stared at it. She could probably burn a hole into it. Hell, she could probably do a lot with it, like throw it into the garbage. But the knock of the door saved the life of the food, and she immediately wraps her robe around herself to answer the call.

The door was pulled open, and a look of surprise crosses her face. "Sam..? Hi.." She says, then takes a slight step back. "..come.. come in."

*

… and she's in a robe. Sam blushes a little bit, was half-expecting her to be dressed, for some reason. "Oh, uh," he stammers. "Ah didn't know you'd be still sleepin'," he says, "Sorry if Ah woke you, Jeannie. Ah can always come back a bit later.." He looks down at the ground, but then forces himself to look up and make eye contact. "Had a break in mah classes, thought Ah'd check if you wanted to grab a bite with me," he says, but then glances inside to see the food sitting there. "Looks like Ah'm a bit late for that though, Ah guess." He offers a bit of a weak smile to her, with a nod toward the plate in her room. "Smells great. Guessin' you didn't make it?" He cracks a wide grin; her cooking skills being something of a running joke between them.

*

"I.. wasn't I mean.. it's quiet. Everyone is busy and everyone's minds are like.. buzzing and it's really comforting." She says admittedly. But, she does take a look aside, staring towards the food upon the plate, her brows lifting as she offers out a grind with a reach out to smack at his hand. "Stop that." She says quietly. "Come in. You can eat it. I don't have an appetite much anymore."

At least that one was true. Ever since her time in the mental institution, she's rarely ever had an appetite for food. Much of the reason why was kept a secret. A few things she's seen in there were horrifying. And yet, down to the wire of being healthy and passing out, she'd finally stomach it and would take a bite. But then there were the rolling, strong emotions she could hardly ever combat. That too, would make her sick to her stomach.

"I have gotten better at cooking.." She protests. "..I just.. haven't felt the need to lately."

*

Sam does, reluctantly, step through the door. Jean in a bathrobe throws up all kinds of alarm bells for him, warning him about modesty and appropriateness, the internal voice of which takes the sound of his mother. But it's the 60's now, and you're both adults, Sam, so get over it. He enters, and steps toward where the food sits uneaten. "Are y' sure, Jeannie?" He asks in earnest; on the one hand, he knows her relationship with food isn't great, and he doesn't want to be a problematic factor. But on the other hand, coming from where he does, food going to waste is a pretty major sin. And it smells so good. Steak.

"Ah believe you," he says in response to Jean's assertion about her cooking skills. It's been months, after all, so he'll certainly give her the benefit of the doubt. He takes a seat, hoping that Jean will do the same, but makes sure to set down on a chair, rather than the bed, for obvious reasons. "If you've been listening around all morning, didja catch me gettin' all confused over algebra earlier? Ah've got so much catchin' up t' do," he says, giving her a sheepish smile.

*

"Yes. I'm sure. I'm not really hungry." She smiles a little smile, then follows him towards the table, the chair that was pulled out immediately sat upon with a crossing of her legs. He wasn't missing anything, really. She wore a dress underneath the robe, but.. if he had a good sense of smell, he could smell that the robe itself was fresh from the dryer. And still warm! Who doesn't like that!

"You know.." Jean starts, leaning forward to place her hands upon the table. "There's this learning center in your brain, I can access it and give you the knowledge if you want. I know it'd be like cheating in a sense and it's bad, but it'll make things a lot easier for you." The plate itself was pushed towards him, her nose faintly wrinkling. The food smelled good, but now.. she was feeling ill.

*

If she's going to insist, Sam's not going to turn her down. Who turns down a steak sandwich like this? No-one sane, that's who! He starts eating, his table manners, as usual, leaving something to be desired. The kid's hungry, that much is obvious. And really, he's doing Jean a favour, getting it out of there. Her suggestion at some telepathic cheating gets a bit of a smirk, but inevitably, a shake of his head. Not that he's upset with her for suggesting it, but Sam's just too much of a stickler for doing things honest. "Ah appreciate the offer, but Ah think it'd be better if Ah figured it out just like anyone else," he says between bites. "If Ah really can't though, Ah might take y' up on it after Ah've given it all Ah can," he says, half-joking. If it's really something he can't get his head around.. well, one little thing won't send him straight to Hell, right? "So, forgive me f'r askin', but you were hungry when you picked this up.. what put ya off?"

*

"Always honest.." Jean comments as she listens to him, settling in her chair now, the robe was tugged and pulled aside to reveal the homely dress she wears underneath. It was left upon the chair as she stands, moving towards her dresser to retrieve her brush. "I.. was hungry." She states quietly, but then shrugs her shoulders. "I guess I didn't feel like chewing." It was somewhat honest, and somewhat of a lie. "But at least it's not going to waste. Which is a good thing." She begins to brush her hair, watching him for a moment as he eats. "Did you need anything, Sam?"

*

Sam breathes out a little sigh of relief as he spies the dress under the robe. No compromising states of undress here, thank God! He watches her as she moves to the dresser, continuing to munch on what would have been her lunch had she not given it over to him. "Ah'm the last one should be lecturin', but don't starve y'self, okay?" He offers a bit of a smile, not trying to sound preachy or overbearing, but there's a tiny bit of his mother coming out. "Ah didn't need anything, no.. just.. well, we're friends, right? Just wanted t' see you before Ah went back to class." He offers a bit of a shrug there, a soft smile. "If it's weird, though.. Ah can leave y' be. Truth is, Ah was a bit nervous about comin' up here, in case you were with your fella."

*

"I'm not starving myself. I just.. don't want to eat." She gives him a reassuring smile, "I.. I had fruit earlier. And some vegetables. Trust me, I'm okay." Jean was turning out to be a little bit of a liar, but that was at least to put him off of worrying about her. At least for all of them to worry about her, after all.

But she does return to the table with the brush, her hands shaking as she lets out a little bit of a sigh, putting the brush down as she watches him. "No. He usually leaves to work before dawn. I haven't seen him today." She considers this for a moment. "You know, I think he would be a great addition to the school, he could attend classes with you." She stops herself, then shakes her head. "Nevermind.. that's.. a bit much for you. But, he's a really nice person once you get to know him."

*

Sam gives a nod, and smile, at least at her explanation of her nutrition. He really doesn't mean to harp, but a lifetime of having to look after nine other kids, he comes by it honestly. "Okay, Jeannie," he says, and drops the subject of food, especially since he's packed away pretty much her entire lunch at this point. "Ah don't think you'd be with someone who wasn't, y'know," Sam says, trying to sound reassuring about the fact that he's okay with her having a new man in her life. Maybe he's giving her too much credit with regard to her judgement of charaacter, but that's Sam; always assuming the best about his friends. "He a bit behind on his schoolin' too, like me?" He gives a bit of a grin. Jean has a type, apparently? "Ah'm sure Ah'll meet him soon enough." And they can compare notes. "If he's here, he's a mutant too, right?" That much hasn't been made clear, but it's a safe assumption.

*

She smiles a little at him, turning a touch to the side as she slightly draws her fingers upon the surface. "I.. wasn't at first. He.. the… one guy was.. a bit rough." She says quietly. "I don't know if it was a rebound or something or I just wanted someone to be mean to me but.. I hope he's okay." She says quietly.

Though, she does grow serious as she finally turns towards him, her face scrunching up to something a little bit weird. "I found him in a box." She says quietly. "I think he's an alien. I haven't told too many people of the memories that I had gotten from him, but.. he was a sl.. I want to say he was a slave." She frowns a little. She has a type alright. A world-ender life-taker type. She was a little bit shaken thinking upon the memory of him murdering all of those people.

She puts on a smile though, one unusually bright. "He's way behind in his schooling. He has none, but slowly but surely, he's learning everything."

*

Sam gets a very serious, concerned look on his face at all that. He can't help it. In some sense, she'll always be his girl, maybe. The idea of her wanting "someone to be mean" doesn't sit well, for one, but the revelation that her current boyfriend is a potential alien former slave she found in a box is even more alarming. And it's not like Sam is intolerant to other people's differences, or anything, but it just doesn't strike him as a particularly great situation for her. But, again, he doesn't really have any right to make judgements, or give opinions. So he gives a slow nod, and forces himself to wipe that concerned look from his face. "Well," hard swallow. "Ah'd be happy to help out with whatever Ah can." Is there an ulterior motive there, maybe to position himself to be able to help if something bad were to happen? It's possible. But on the surface at least, and to Sam's own consciousness, he's offering because it's the decent thing to do. "… does th' Professor know all that 'bout him?"

*

"I.. it would be great to take him around. He needs more friends, you know? I sometimes worry that.. that I'm smothering him and I'm putting too much on his shoulders." She almost looks sad at that. "He doesn't talk to anyone else, he just.. comes to me and then we're together and, I love it but.. I think I'm going to ruin him. I ruin everything I touch.." She sniffs softly. "I'm sorry Sam.."

She rises from the chair, then moves into her private bathroom to begin to frantically brush her hair. "He knows some of it.. not all of it.. I.. I don't know."

*

"You hardly ruin everythin' you touch, Jeannie," Sam says, offering a soft, consoling smile her way, if she's watching him at all. "But Ah can try to get him out a bit, if y'd like. Not that Ah can really blame him wantin' to spend all his time with ya, but it's good f'r anyone to socialize a bit. " Maybe they should go bowling. Bowling's nice and safe, right? "This the kinda stuff Ah should keep from lettin' on to th' Professor, then? Not that Ah can really keep him out o' my head, but.." He shrugs a bit. Sam won't go telling Jean and her beau's secrets, but if Xavier goes poking around, Jean of all people knows that he's kind of an open book.

*

"You don't know that.." She nearly whined out, shaking her hands out in frustration. "..you left, you didn't stay around long enough for me to fuck you up too." Her head lowers, her hands buried into her face as she tries to take a few calming breaths, her head shaking almost quickly as the brush was soon haphazardly discarded upon the table. She remained quiet really, slowly swaying back and forth, her head shaking faintly as she lifts up to draw a half smile, which was gone like a ghost in the light. "No.. I mean.. I'm sure the Professor knows.. if not.." Her shoulders shrug idly, her gaze soon planted upon the floor. The low rumblings of her stomach was heard, which soon wakes her from her stare. "I think.. getting Gabriel out would be a good thing. He needs to see the world and now how much pain we're in."

*

"School's still standin', so Ah'll stand by what Ah said," Sam quips after a moment, hoping a bit of levity will lighten the mood. "Ah refuse to believe that y'r some kinda wreckin' ball of doom, Jeannie. Yeah, Ah left, and maybe some bad things have happened, but you're not a bad person. We've all got plenty of potential to break things, hurt people, and yeah, maybe we're none of us perfect, but we're not supposed to be. Long as we try to do our best." He moves to stand from the chair now, not to leave necessarily, but he does get closer to the door, maybe to give Jean a bit of space. Or because he's worried that he might give in to the temptation to hug her, or worse. "You'll have t' introduce us, 'cause Ah wouldn't know him from Adam, but Ah'll make an effort to help him out," he says with a firm nod of his head.

*

Jean lets out a little huff, a slight smile drawing upon her lips as she looks around her room. He always had a way of putting things straight and making her feel better, in which made her really glad to have him back. As he stands, she does as well, her head tilted just a little as she gives a bit of a nod. Introductions will come easy, both of the men were the nicest ones she's ever known. "I will. I promise."

She takes those few steps closer, lifting upon the tips of her toes to wrap her arms around his neck, drawing him into a tight hug that allows her head to rest upon his shoulder. "Thank you for visiting me. No one hardly does anymore.." She says quietly. "I really appreciate it."

*

"Ah'm always here for you, Jeannie," Sam says quietly in reply, giving a squeeze in return. It's definitely not easy for him, knowing he missed his chance, but he'll take friendship over nothing any day. "And Ah'll come visit. Could even make it a standin' date," and then he catches his turn of phrase, turning a bit red. "A regular thing, Ah mean. Every Wednesday for lunch, 'r somethin'." Sam gives another soft smile, "Even if that means Ah just show up and eat your lunch on ya."

*

She laughs finally, letting go of him to hold upon his shoulders, then gives him a light little push towards the door. "Alright, it's a date." She kept the word there, just to make him blush even more. "Now go, class is about to start, and I need to start cleaning before it gets too messy around here." Yes, Jean was the designated maid in the mansion! "You be good, okay?"

*

Sam lets out a laugh in response, and reluctantly lets go, and sets toward the door. "You too, Jeannie. Ah'll see you soon," he says, and slips out the door after a quick wave and a smile. See? They could be friends after all.

*

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