2/24 Instance: One Order of Amour

[fourpawsonthefloor]

Timeline: After Bungled Reunion

"Here we are," Josh said, pushing open the door to Izumi's Japanese Restaurant. After about an hour of wandering through the city, asking surly pedestrians for directions, and getting chased by a rather large dog, they'd made it. And, joy of all joys, there wasn't a waiting line. A waiter showed them to a table around a metal stove and poured them green tea in ceramic cups. Josh smiled at Rachel and handed her a menu. "Pick anything. My treat."

"Finally." Rachel ran a hand through her hair, taking the menu from him. Sitting was good, especially after getting lost. Stupid map. Well, or it was just stupid them for not being able to read the map. "Hmm...okay. What's good?"

"Well..." He glanced over her shoulder at the menu, even though he had his own right in his hands. "I'm getting hibachi steak and fried rice. They'll make it right here in front of us, on the stove. The yakiudon is good - it's basically noodles, chicken and mushrooms. And then there's beef teriyaki if you don't want to be adventurous."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and back at the menu, considering the food he'd suggested. "Uh...what you're having sounds fine. Never been here before, so yeah..." she shrugged.

"You'll like it," he assured her. He placed the order and the waiter took their menus away. He picked up the tea cup and sipped it. "So, have you missed the Uni much?" he asked.

Rachel hoped she'd like it as she stared at the tea. She'd tried to with Liz one time, not the best thing she'd ever had. "You don't already know the answer to that? Of course I do. I even miss Rogue's nagging...though she does that online anyway..."

"I know better than to shake the Roguester," Josh nodded in agreement. He watced her eye the tea. "You know, they sell soda here."

"It's fine. I'll try it...eventually...and if I don't like it, well you get amusement from the look on my face," she grinned.

"Yay me," Josh replied, toasting her with his own cup. "Though I think I've seen that look before. When you caught sight of my, erm... pancakes." He laughed sheepishly.

"The pancakes were good, and it was sweet, though a bit deformed," Rachel snickered. She eyed the tea again before hesitantly take a sip, her face scrunching up at the taste. Yeah, she still wasn't liking tea.

Josh grinned at her expression. "You make it seem like you're drinking pee," he laughed. "Which I can promise you you're not. Just get a soda."

"Piss would probably taste better," she set the cup down, pushing it away with a disgusted look.

Rachel glanced around the place and back at him, trying to shove the nagging feeling down. She still wanted to know, and the little voice was still telling her that she should tell him. "I still want to know..."

Josh stared at the tabletop for a minute. There were hardly any people in the restaurant, which was a relief. Secrets could stay secret.

He took a deep, calming breath. "You remember when you said you were afraid to... stay at Xavier U., because of your powers?" he murmured. "Do you still feel that way?"

"Yeah. Sometimes, I do. It's not as bad as it was, and I've always been afraid I'd hurt someone."

"So then..." He looked at her squarely. "If you've always been afraid, why did it make you leave this time?"

"Because I actually almost killed Ben," she stared at the table and resisted the urge to pull her knees up.

"But you didn't," he said, surprised to hear his voice crack. "You didn't, and you left anyway, and -" He bowed his head, falling silent for a long moment.

"Look, when you left... I thought about some stuff I hadn't thought about in a long time." He glanced at her with dull eyes. "How much did I tell you about Jimmy?"

"Yeah, and it can't happen again if I'm not around." She chewed on her lip, thinking back. That'd been a long time ago, like when they'd first met. The piano lessons. She looked up at him, still trying to find what it had to do with anything, "That he was in an accident. You couldn't help him..."

"Yeah, and it can't happen again if I'm not around." She chewed on her lip, thinking back. That'd been a long time ago, like when they'd first met. The piano lessons. She looked up at him, still trying to find what it had to do with anything, "That he was in an accident. You couldn't help him..."

"Yeah. But I'm a healer. And he wasn't dead when I got to him. Why do you think I couldn't save him? Wasn't I trying hard enough?"

He was grateful the waiter had yet to show up with their food. "Remember the first time we..." He waved one hand limply in the air. "You know. And how I didn't take my socks off."

Rachel frowned, "I...Well, yeah...I remember..." She ran her hand through her hair again, "...You said they kicked you out...and...yeah..."

He reached down and plucked his shoe off. Dang, it was weird doing this in a restaurant. He was probably making the place unsanitary. He got a couple looks from other diners but managed to hide well enough that no one said anything.

"This is why I don't take my socks off," he said, and pointed to a round dark spot on the ball of his foot.

Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Okay. In case you didn't know when I got back, my whole body does that...sorry...still a bit bitter about changing. So, it's a random black spot?"

"I know," he said, one hand on her shoulder massaging gently, while he hastily replaced his sock with the other. "That's what I wanted to show you. When I was in the hospital, I tried to save my brother. But the doctor tried to hold me back. He touched me, and... I killed him."

He looked away from her, trying to hide his shudder. Even now, it was hard to talk about. "I don't really understand it," he choked out. "I touched him, he died... This spot appeared." He lifted a hand and scrubbed at her forehead, slouching back in his seat. "I wanted to tell you because... You aren't alone."

Rachel chewed on her lip, watching him for a moments before scooting closer and wrapping her arms around him. "I...Does anyone else know? Like, besides me?"

She sighed as she tried to think of something to say. She ran through a few things and decided they wouldn't work so decided to be honest, "I...don't really know what to say. I mean, I'm sorry or something like that doesn't really make anything better..."

"... Justin knows. Nobody else." He felt warm in her arms and wrapped one of his own around her. "You don't have to say anything. I came here to tell you. It was the only thing I could think to do," he added in a whisper. "Because I didn't like seeing you afraid of yourself. But I understand how it is, because, dammit I killed someone."

He dropped his forehead on the cool tabletop and heaved a soul-shuddering sigh. "Imagine what his family must have thought. He didn't have to die and he did, just because I touched him. For a long time after I hated everything." He lifted his head a bit. Her hair seemed like flames through his blurry eyes. "Coming to this school is all that saved me, Rae. All that made me think I can control it, so it will never happen again. But when you left, because you were worried of hurting anyone with your powers... I just wanted you to know you're not the only one struggling with that."

Rachel kept an arm around him, sliding her fingers through his hair, "But you didn't mean to kill him, Josh. It was an accident. You didn't even know you could do that. And, it's not just my powers that scare me. It's just me in general. I've tried to kill myself twice and would've died if someone hadn't saved me both times. I'm mostly scared of that. I don't like being like that and it hurts everyone around me."

"Honestly, being with you is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. Closest to happy I've ever been, and I trust you more than I think I should. I know you won't let anything happen to me, if you can help it. It's nice."

He knew he didn't deserve to hear those words. He'd done anything but make her happy. "That's why I want you to come back," he said, emotional and impulse-driven. "If you think you're hurting others by being close to them, let me tell you it hurts a lot more when you're not around. Everyone notices you're gone. It's like there's a hole in our lives. I mean, Ben and Rogue won't stop talking about you. And I... am going crazy without you," he confessed.

"I promised you I'd come back." Rachel took a breath. She sucked at this. "I think about everyone all the time. Like, work. The mouse. Made think of Bobby. Or I'd do something that I know Rogue would get after me about. Purple, pink, and Star Wars make me think of Liz. Play guitar hero everyday, and think of Ben or you and the rec room," Rachel cringed at her voice cracking. "You don't think I'm not going even more crazy without you?"

He felt something swell inside him and couldn't help smiling, in spite of their heavy thoughts. "I'm glad to hear that. I thought... I thought I'd messed everything up. I just didn't realize what I had," he said sincerely.

She shoved back the lump in her throat, giving a weak smile back and ignoring the Rogue-like voice in her mind again. "No, you didn't mess everything up. Not sure you could even if you tried. Going to take more than arguing to get rid of me..."

"And I'm sorry," he added after a beat. "For... heck, the moon falling out of the sky. I'm sorry I hurt you. It was the last thing I wanted to do."

Where was that dang waiter with their food?

"I know you didn't mean to," Rachel chewed on her lip again, realizing how odd they must look and reluctantly let go of him, sitting up in her chair.

He frowned at the loss of her touch and wiped his forehead with a clammy hand. "And you should know," he started, "that I l-"

"Heeey! How are we today?" The hibachi chef appeared in front of their stove, throwing rice and meat onto it. "Hoooh, we're gonna have some nice meals today!" he shouted as he built a volcano out of stacked onion slices and lit it aflame.

Josh stared at him, open-mouthed, as he started juggling unbroken eggs with a spatula. "Um," he shot Rachel a sheepish grin, "I'll tell you... after he finishes preparing our food."

She gave the chef a small smile and watched. He hadn't been getting ready to tell her...had he? No. Damnit! Now she wanted to know. She made it look like she was paying attention. It was impressive, but yeah,

The chef eyed the two of them closely as he prepared fried rice. "Oooh, I see," he croaked. "You were to propose to the lady!" he exclaimed, jabbing a spatula in Josh's face.

Josh blinked and jerked back. "Whabuhuh?" Yeah, that was intelligent. "Uh, no! Nothing like that -"

But it was too late. People around the restaurant were clapping. He even heard someone whistle. Heat bloomed in his cheeks and he couldn't look at Rachel, which the chef turned to her and said "Hey pretty lady, let me cater at the wedding yes?"

Rachel spewed the sip of her soda she just took a sip of, coughing as she tried to regain the ability to breathe and speak. She was fairly sure her face had never been the color of her hair before. "I...uh...umm..."

She shot Josh a help me look. she shot at him since she was still coughing. "Umm..." she gave a shrug, looking to Josh again.

Rae's telepathic message caught him by surprise and he answered outloud. "You don't have to say anything!"

"No," interrupted the chef. "But you do." His spatula was now mere centimeters from Josh's nose. "Tell the lady how much you adore her." The fellow diners cheered and Josh suddenly felt sick.

But all eyes were on them. Well, after all those chats with Rogue and Ben, and scaring Lizzie witless by sneaking into her and Rachel's room - he ought to have courage by now. He held Rachel's gaze steadily and willed her to understand his sincerity.

"I... I lo... I frigging love you," he said.

"I...l-love.." she took another sip of her drink. Maybe then she'd be able to talk and breathe. She did like breathing after all. "...I love you, too."

He was pretty sure he'd turned as orange as her hair. he sent her as the chef banged his spatulas together and the other diners clapped.

"Celebrate! Open wide!" the chef cried. He picked up a yellow bottle and gave it a squirt right into Josh's mouth, and then Rachel's. Surprised, Josh swallowed reflexively. Sake. Dang.

Rachel gagged on whatever the stuff was and was choking again.

That thought scared her. She'd never thought about getting married, never had any reason to. And this stuff was...strong.

Josh replied, still amazed by her own admission.

His thought was left hanging in the air as he leaned forward and crushed their mouths together. The diners were laughing, cheering (and some were shooting them dirty looks for disturbing the peace), but he noticed none of it.

Rachel was starting to think that she'd never get to breathe again. First choking, then more choking, and now kissing. She slid her arms around him again, kissing back.

This was uncomfortable. Everyone was staring, and she was freaked out enough with the love thing.

He opened an eye.

She thought for a moment,

"Um, waiter?" Josh called. "Can we get this stuff boxed up?"

The waiter, who happened to be the only sympathetic person in the restaurant, nodded and quickly went to pack up their meals. Josh stood up and wrapped and arm around Rachel. He was grinning like a schoolboy. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah...please, now..." Rachel did her best to hide behind Josh and not spill their food as they made their way out of the place.

"I love you, but you're not choosing where we eat anymore."

"But we always have so much fun when I choose where we eat," he protested, paying the check and carrying their boxed food as they headed out the door. "Think I woulda gotten up the guts otherwise?" he added.

"I would've gotten it out of you eventually," she shrugged. "Oh, and now for the exciting part and revenge for embarrassing me..." Rachel smirked, "...We get to go to my house and inform my father."

Josh was about to drop the boxes on a bench and kiss her all over. He stopped mid-lunge at her words. And stared.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me," Rachel tilted her head up, catching his lips.

he sent while his lips were otherwise occupied.

[Edited on 25/2/08 by fourpawsonthefloor]

[Ult_Sm86]

:worship:worship:worship


Very well done. Very clever. Very funny indeed. I enjoyed every bit of it.


Can't wait for Ben to come crashing in and ruining this happy-momentous occasion!

[Starfish]

Heehee, awesome instance, you two. Both hilarious and emotional. I love it.

for Rae and Josh being the fantastic emo couple, and for the black spot canon reference concerning Josh.

[Esynthia]

yay!!!!!!!!! total and complete cuteness!!! inner:rogue is extremely happy