Toffee B2, Friday Morning

[apocalipped]

Jonothon woke up this morning, deciding that being 19 was going to be infinitely better than being 18 had been, and so he was in a relatively good mood, at least compared to his usual. Perhaps he'd take his guitar out around to the campfire, in fact, so that he could muddle his way through a few songs, even if they were going to have to be unplugged.

His good mood fell a few notches when he realized that his guitar wasn't there. And in its place was an individual who wore enough leather to make Jonothon look tame, with a mane of wild red hair.

And that individual was eyeing him expectantly.

"Play me?"

...

//Remind me sometime today to go out and buy an acoustic.//

[Open for friends and cabinmates and anyone else who wants to visit Jono, sure.]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven had heard mention of Jono and birthdays on the radio last night, so she came by to see for herself if it was true. "Hello, Jono," she said, tapping on the alcove entryway. She gave the other person in the alcove a curious look.

[furnaceface]

The other person in the alcove gave her a nod and a pleasant, if somewhat leather-bound wave back. There was probably a smile in there, too, but it was hard to tell under that crazy muzzle thing that he was wearing.

Which Jono thought was an interesting look, for a musical instrument.

//Morning, luv,// he greeted, giving her a small nod of his own. //I don't suppose you've met my guitar before.//

"Call me Strat."

//... My guitar, Strat.//

This was going to take some getting used to.

[trigons_child]

"Hello, Strat," Raven said politely, giving the guitar a smile. "It is nice to meet you." She glanced over at Jono. "Nothing of mine has come to life, but I suspect that is because I have never learned to feel real affection toward belongings as other people have." Azarathians weren't big on materialism.

[furnaceface]

//That's probably for th'best,// Jono mused. //It'll be an interesting endeavour, attempting to make music on him.//

Strat just sat back, clasping his hands behind his head and looking smug. Jono gave him a look, and then turned back to Raven.

//To what do I owe th'pleasure of yer company this morning, luv?//

[trigons_child]

Raven wasn't even going to try to imagine how Jono might play Strat now, thank you very much.

"I listened to the radio last night and your birthday was mentioned," she said. "And I wished to say happy birthday if it were truly the case."

[furnaceface]

//And it was th'case,// agreed Jono, as he made his way to the edge of his bed and took a seat. //And so thank you.//

A beat.

//I'm nineteen, now. It's bloody weird, th'difference a year can make.//

[trigons_child]

"I know that far too well," Raven said with a tiny smile. "I was very different a year ago when I first came here. And you were very different as well." A lot more cranky, but she didn't say that part out loud.

[furnaceface]

Jono didn't need it pointed out, really. He was well aware.

//More prone to skulking about in corners, for a start,// he agreed, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. //Convinced that my being here was an anti-mutant riot just waiting to happen.//

How a boy with no mouth or lungs to speak of managed to snort out a scoff was anybody's best guess.

//From where we're sitting now, it's difficult to think either of us were ever so afraid t'just be ourselves, really.//

[trigons_child]

"We have both learned a great deal since coming here," Raven said, nodding. "And I will forever be grateful for that."

She paused for a moment, then said, "I do not think I even have to say what I would like to give you for a birthday gift, do I?" Since she'd been pestering him about it for a better part of that very year.

[furnaceface]

Don't mind Strat, who was going to make a point of grossly misinterpreting that statement, grinning like a complete psycho somewhere behind his mask, and then slapping his knee.

Jono was going to fix him with another look. He still had some of his old crankiness stowed away for when it really mattered. And then, when Strat took the pains to look properly chagrined, Jono turned back to Raven, considering her words thoughtfully.

//No,// he allowed, //I don't believe you do have to say. And I...//

His thoughts drifted back to last night. He didn't have a singing voice, and so that was what Didi had gotten him as a gift, in the way of Christian.

And he'd wanted so badly to kiss her for the thought, but he didn't have a mouth, either.

//Do you really think you can?//

[trigons_child]

"Strat," Raven scolded, giving him a look of her own. "I can sense what you are feeling, you know, and that is not what I meant."

She gave her attention back to Jono. "Of course I can," she said. "There is no injury I cannot heal." She could sense Jono's longing now, and that made her all the more determined to restore him so he could do those very things he wanted.

[furnaceface]

Strat was doing his best to look perfectly angelic, now. Dressed up like some sort of demonic bondage addict, something was getting lost in translation, somewhere along the way.

Jono, meanwhile, was fighting a mental battle between desire and reason. As it stood, after nearly a year of denial and fear and waking up every morning just wanting to inhale, his longing was starting to win.

//Is there anything you need, for it?//

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "Nothing but your consent," she said. "Though a quiet place would work best so nothing interrupts my concentration. I suspect it will not be an entirely easy task, but not one I am afraid to undertake."

[furnaceface]

Re-building a face and chest over a furnace of apparently endless biokinetic flame was totally easy to do. Honestly, now.

//We're not terribly likely to find anything resembling quiet so long as they're running about,// Jono noted, nodding toward Strat. //But... perhaps... next week, sometime? A week from today?//

A week seemed easy. He had classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and he worked at Groovy Tunes on Tuesdays. Some little responsible shard of his consciousness was pointing out that he'd have a pretty difficult time concentrating on any of the above, if he were to attend them with a complete face of his own for the first time in well over a year.

Longing, apparently, had just won.

[trigons_child]

"That would be perfect," Raven said, trying not to appear too eager. She had been longing to help Jono since she first met him, but waiting another week would be no trouble at all. "I have class just before lunch on Fridays, but other than that my day is free."

[furnaceface]

//Friday afternoon, then,// he decided, moving right along into that state of uneasy anticipation that up until now, he'd never really had much experience with. A face on Friday. On Friday, a face. No matter how he rearranged that statement in his mind, it still seemed entirely surreal.

//Away from here, somewhere. Closer to th'dorms, perhaps. Nobody really has any reason to be out that way.//

[trigons_child]

"Wherever you feel comfortable," Raven said. Her own anticipation was more on the gleeful side; she could hardly wait to see Jono's smile when she was done.

"Do you wish Didi to be there with us?" she went on. "I do not mind at all."

[furnaceface]

//I'd like that,// Jono replied without missing a beat. Of course he wanted Didi there. She was like solid ground for him, when the rest of the world was bent on crumbling away.

He wanted to be able to smile for her, too.

//I'll ask her to be there, then. I can't really imagine her saying no, after all.//

The request would probably come with an apology for going ahead and making her birthday gift for him unnecessary, true, but that hardly seemed to matter overall.

[trigons_child]

"And I am certain her presence will make you more relaxed," Raven said. "And the more at ease you are, the easier it will be for me." It wouldn't really make a large difference for the healing itself, but she'd have to have her shields down and she wouldn't want Jono's nervousness to affect her.

[furnaceface]

Strat was now making a game for himself by mentally adding 'between the sheets' to the end of everything that Jonothon and Raven said. It was making for a very kinky version of a conversation that was already pretty suggestive if one went and removed all of the context.

He approved.

//Her being there would help,// Jono agreed, oblivious to Strat's idea of killing time, and probably better off for it //It's... difficult to doubt my decisions when Didi's around. I can't really explain it.//

She was comforting.

[trigons_child]

Raven gave Strat a sharp glance. She could tell he was amused, though she couldn't tell exactly why, of course. "Whatever you are thinking," she said, "I am certain it is wrong." There was nothing funny about this! Healing was serious business!

[furnaceface]

Of course, Strat's train of thought was now going, 'I am certain it is wrong between the sheets,' which only served to send him flopping over backwards against his stand, laughing like a psychotic banshee on happy pills.

Jono just eyed him for a moment.

//I'm definitely going acoustic after this wears off,// he decided.

It shut up the Stratocaster fairly quickly.

[trigons_child]

"Your guitar has a strange sense of humor," Raven observed. "I am not certain what he found so amusing."

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded knowingly.

//I blame it on Fender bein' an American make,// he decided.

Because clearly, that made all of the difference.

[trigons_child]

"English guitars would be more well-behaved?" Raven said, amused.

[furnaceface]

//Naturally, luv.// No, there wasn't so much as an iota of doubt in Jono's mind about it. Jono had faith in England.

It was a thing.

//I don't think I'll hold it against my Stratocaster too much,// he added, graciously. //I'll decorate him up with th'Union Jack when he turns back, and all will be right with th'world again.//

That was him joking.

[trigons_child]

"Until he turns human once again and complains to you about it," Raven teased. "Endlessly."

[furnaceface]

//Well, I think it would be a good look for him,// Jono replied, smirking over at Strat as the guitar made faces- Jono was fairly sure that Strat was making faces, anyhow- behind his mask. //It might serve as a reminder about what happens to ill-behaved guitars who need to learn some manners.//

And now Strat was making retching noises. Because he could.