Disclaimer:
Nope, no opportunities to sue here...Susana's still the only thing I own. ::grin::
Setting: The
Mansion's sun porch. About 12:00 PM.
Notes:
sound
*thought*
} telepathic conversation {
As
Jono was fumbling around in the basement looking for clean clothes in the mess
on the floor, Susana started getting the food back out and putting it on
plates. Putting her sandwich plate
aside, away from Artie and Leech's plates, she opened a bag of carrots and a bag
of chips and put a handful of each onto all three plates. Picking up 2 plates, she carried them down
the hall and into the sun porch, which was set up with a child's play table and
miniature chairs. She took a moment to
laugh at the prospect of Jono in one of the chairs, then decided that it was
doubtful even Leech and Artie would be able to use them. She returned to the kitchen and carried back
the other plate and a can of soda, then made one final trip to get the
remaining cans of soda and a roll of paper towels, rationalizing *We've got two
little boys, food, and beverages.
Something will spill. I
wonder what Jono's going to try and make me sing. I hope not anything metal.
Yuck.*
Meanwhile,
down in the basement, Jono finished pulling on his holey jeans and hooded
sweatshirt, then picked up his guitar.
Holding the guitar neck in his left hand, he sifted through a stack of
CD's in front of the stereo. Finding
nothing he wanted to hear Susana sing, he headed back towards the kitchen,
which he found empty. *Guess she must
be setting things up then.* He turned
to go, then stopped as he saw the two little boys standing in the door. }Hey, guys, 'ows school been so far
today?{ Artie made a face, and Leech
piped up with a comment about how school had been boring and they wanted
lunch. Deciding that it was probably
best to get started with the picnic, Jono sent Susana a telepathic
message. }Artie and Leech are back from
classes. Do you need me to bring anything
else from the kitchen, or are we all ready?{
}Just
bring yourself, the boys, and your guitar.
Think you can handle that?{
}Yes,
I think I just might be able t'manage that one. We're on our way now.{
}Should
I say "over and out", or anything like that?
Or should I just wait to harass you when you get here?{
}Don't
restrain yourself on my account. Need I
remind you who ended up having the upper hand earlier? I think I can handle anything you can give
me.{ He stepped through the door and
was promptly hit by a balled-up paper towel thrown his way.
"Just
had to bring that up, didn't you?"
She scowled at him, then turning completely away, she crouched down to
hug Artie and Leech. "You guys ready
for lunch? It's turkey sandwiches,
carrots, and chips." She hustled the
two boys to the places laid out on the table, where she realized that she'd
underestimated the size of the chairs.
They were nearly the perfect size for the two kids. She'd definitely been right about Jono not
fitting in them, though. Settling
herself on a pillow stolen from the living room couch, she threw a matching
pillow at Jono's back, then smiled and patted the floor beside her. "Will ya sit down? You're makin me nervous."
He shrugged, then bent to retrieve the pillow and drop it where she'd
indicated. Returning her attention to
the kids, she checked to make sure they didn't need anything, reassured herself
that they didn't, and then considered her sandwich. Silence reigned for a while, until Jono reached for his guitar
and began to pick out a tune...actually, Susana amended, a variety of tunes. Right about when she recognized something,
he stopped and she had to guess another.
After about 10 minutes of eating and listening, she'd had enough. }Can you please just pick something
and stick with it?{
Jono
shot her an aggrieved glare and raised an eyebrow at her. }What do you suggest? I'm just here to provide background
music. It's not as if I have anything
else to do right now.{
Susana
considered him for a moment, then took a bite of her sandwich, set her plate
down on the floor and reached for his bare hand. }Shh...I wanna try something.{
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the flavors in the sandwich,
then rolled all the impressions together and "sent" them to Jono. Opening her eyes, she watched his expression
shift from puzzlement to comprehension to...disgust?
}What?{
}There's
mustard on that,{ he gestured to the sandwich.
}I hate mustard.{ Her
eyes widened incredulously, and she reached across with her free hand to smack
him on the arm.
}I
let you in my mind so you can taste, and you bitch about the choice of
food? See if I do anything else for
you...{ She looked up and was glad to
see that Artie and Leech had remained oblivious to the whole exchange. It wouldn't do for them to see their
chaperones abusing each other.
Releasing
his arm and settling her plate back on her knee, she asked aloud "What songs
did you want to do? Do we even know any
of the same songs?"
Shifting
the guitar, he began to pick out the intro to "Hey Jude" by the Beatles. }Know this?{
"yes
indeed." She began singing along in a clear, strong, yet definitely feminine,
voice. He had to admit he was
glad. Hearing the voice that originally
accompanied the melody coming from her would probably have been pretty
freaky. When he finished that song, he
launched into a few others, and before they knew it, the time had come for
Artie and Leech to return to their classes.
As
if by a prearranged signal, both boys got up from the table and ran to give
Susana hugs, bowling her over onto her back in their enthusiasm. Artie projected a holograph image for her-a
bouquet of daisies- and Leech thanked her in his halting speech. Jono stood as all this was going on, and as
the two younger mutants went to leave, he held out his hand maitre d' style,
adding }I hope you enjoyed your lunch and the music.{ They both nodded their approval of the picnic, then raced out the
door to their respective classes.
}Well,
that went well. Sorry I took over with
the music there...but everyone knows the Beatles. I figured they were a safe bet.
Now...about that food thing.
Would you be willing to try that again, this time with something I like?{
"Certainly...it's
not as if it takes a lot out of me to do it, so yeah. What were you thinking?"
}Hmm...you
know, I haven't said this in a while. I
think I'm bloody out of practice. Would
you go to dinner with me this weekend?{
Susana's
head reeled. *Too bad all men aren't
that straightforward bout what they want.* She stopped her musings with a reminder
that the only reason he'd asked her was that she could share the sensations of
food. Smiling brightly, she replied
"Sure, that sounds great...if you'll go with me to that new club in town
afterwards."
Jono
considered this for a long moment, and she was beginning to get worried when he
nodded his agreement.
"Alright
then. I believe I told you I was going
to show you some yoga techniques after lunch, didn't I?"
}Yeah,
you did. Is this OK for me to do them
in?{ He waved a hand at his jeans and sweatshirt.
"I
dunno...do you have just a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt you could
wear? Jeans seams can be a bitch when
you're just getting started...they're really distracting. You go change, I'll clean up in here."
}You
sure? You always seem to get stuck
cleaning up.{
"Nah,
I'm fine. Besides, these were paper
plates. All I have to do is collect
them and toss em in the trash. Not too
rough, really. Now shoo!"
She
turned back to the table and gathered the plates, cans, and paper towels to
take back to the kitchen. When Jono
returned wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, she began guiding him through some
basic yoga postures and visualization exercises. After teaching him a few basic postures, she demonstrated some of
the more advanced postures, ending with a modified headstand. He was suitably impressed, and found his
thoughts wandering to...extracurricular uses of such experience. Admonishing himself to lay off, he ran
through the series of positions she'd taught him. He felt unaccountably proud when he remembered almost everything
with only a few gentle reminder touches-adjusting the position of his hand, or
nudging him to sit up straighter.
When
they were done, Susana congratulated him.
"You know, I think you take to this better than about 90 percent of the
people who came to the center. That's
really impressive."
}Well,
you know me...always gotta be impressive.{
"Indeed...well,
I'm going to go catch up to Jubilee, see what she's doing. When are we going to dinner, just so I know?" She hopped up from her lotus position and
stretched her legs out as she awaited his answer.
}I
thought maybe Friday night, if that's ok...{
"Sure,
sounds great. See you later!" With
that, she sauntered from the room, leaving him contorted into the lotus
position on his pillow, wondering how things would go.
