Léon Prunelle & Gaston Lagaffe - Jellybeans
Prunelle is the kind of man who prefers to keep work and pleasure distinctly separate. At the office, he is all take charge, get things done, hold meetings and ensure that everything is going (relatively) smoothly. He does smile, but it isn't seen as much as everyone else's- though that's mostly because of the stress.
It's really only after hours or on week-ends that he can be seen playing sports, listening to music, or enjoying nature. Some would be quite surprised to see how laid-back he can actually be when work and Gaston aren't busy stressing him out and pushing him rapidly toward going prematurely gray.
So it's a surprise to see him sitting at his desk, munching contentedly from a small brown bag as he studies one long and wordy paper after another. He seems pretty happy- there's the faint sign of a smile on his lips, but it's clearer in his chocolate-brown eyes.
"What are you eating?" Lebrac asks, as he comes into the office to deliver a few illustrations.
"Ah?" Prunelle pauses, looks up from his work. "Jellybeans."
Lebrac sets the illustrations on Prunelle's desk and tips his head to one side. "You're eating jellybeans? At work?"
Prunelle chuckles. "Well, yes. Gaston gave them to me. They're just... well, they're addictive."
Lebrac laughs. "Well, there are the urgent illustrations you requested so urgently. Um, enjoy your jellybeans."
Prunelle waves him away in a playful mock dismissal. He can say what he wants. Léon Prunelle does not mix business with pleasure, even in such a very small way. He just enjoys jellybeans, and they were a gift from Gaston, so it really just seems right.
This is what he thinks as he pops another small handful into his mouth and starts to look over the illustrations. The jellybeans have so many flavors... Rather like Gaston, actually. Sometimes he is lazy, and so frustrating. Sometimes he is selfish, and doesn't consider what other people think. But usually he is inventive and bright, looking for ways to improve what he sees as wrong with the world. Gaston thinks about nature, thinks about animal rights and human rights, about inventions that he imagines could do some good.
Gaston has a kind of after-hours side to him, too, and it makes Prunelle appreciate all those qualities he has about him, all those charming quirks and how wonderfully passionate he gets about the rights of other living things. When they aren't at work, he and Prunelle are usually together these days, and learning more and more about that other side each other has when they leave the Spirou office each evening. And, in truth, it's starting to affect the way they behave when they are at work.
It's starting to make Prunelle do things like eat jellybeans at his desk.
