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Of course I'd be. What's the fun in planning your grand escape if I'm not gaining anything from it?

[And he finally lights that cigarette.]

Unless you can think of another reward.

Reward? For what, exactly?

[He's losing track of all the things he's apparently done wrong and all the debts he owes Petre. Last he checked, this day together had evened up their ledger. Where's his head going now?]

For breaking you out, Johnny. Remember?

I can get out of this place myself. Easy. [He tucks his hands under his head, stretches his legs lazily.] Gimme a better reason.

So give me something better to do.

[ayyyy]

[Leave me alone won't work anymore, not that it ever did. After that drunken night, John has at least spotted the bait, and he's hopelessly drawn to the hook; even if it seems impossible, he wants to figure out the real driving force behind Petre's obsession with him. Find out if there is actual emotion behind it or if this is just the longest con of all time.

It won't change anything, he tells himself. Petre will never get what he wants. But they're studying one another, now - circling one another, more accurately.]

If - when we get busted, you take full responsibility. It was all your idea. You lured me into it. You know sure as shit I'll still take some of the punishment, but I just wanna see you do it.

[The look he gives John is entirely knowing - that he's in this for the power, too, just like Petre spins it every time. Could they get away with that? After all the times the blame was placed on John, suddenly Petre taking it for his misdemeanors would surely cause some kind of suspicion, and brand Petre as an even bigger threat.

But he's considering it, licking his teeth beneath shut lips.]

That's what's going to get you off?

I don't need to. The trip alone is worth whatever bullshit punishment they give. Seeing you confess to all of it? I'd scrub toilets with a toothbrush for a month to see that.

[He does enjoy your humiliation, Petre. It's what finally got you a kiss, if only you could remember it.]

Next weekend. We get separate day-passes into Salem, then meet up and catch the commuter train. That means I can't put a fucking toe out of line this week, though, so keep that in mind too.

So - you get to see me get punished in exchange for a date?

[Hah. Who's the control freak now, John.]

A week long hiatus. [and a contemplative tone, looking off at the distance. After a pause he exhales, lips wide, eyes smiling with them.] You better hope you make it worth my while, John.

We're breaking out for our sanity. It's no more a date than this is.

[Just making that damn clear. Yeah, he was the one who started with the terminology, but let's not keep it going.

His eyes move of their own accord, following the line of Petre's neck and jaw as he looks away, remembering that fierce urge to kiss a path all the way along it. Complete insanity, but just the memory is enough to make him shiver. A stray breeze, he'll say if Petre looks back in time to notice, and he quickly averts his gaze again.]

The seedy underbelly of New York, New York? How could it not be? You'll be right at home.

Please.

[He gives John a look of disgust, more adequate for a diva than a teenage boy. Another one of Petre's mannerisms, a theatricality.]

I can actually be classy.

You can act classy.

[They're the same, after all. He's the one who's always saying it. He's got the same filth under his nails as John, whether he cleans them meticulously or not, and it doesn't take years on the streets to build up that kind of dirt; it comes completely naturally.]

And it probably won't do you much good where we're going, anyway. Get your ass kicked. Which you'd turn around and blame me for.

I'd never let that happen.

[They'd be on their knees barking like puppies before they got to lay a hand on his precious face. John managed to accomplish that, but... Petre was caught unaware. That doesn't happen so much with anyone else.]

But I'd like to see you in a fight.

Would you? You know what I'd do, just burn the place to the ground.

[He's more creative than that, though. He'd like the chance for a proper fight, without instant intervention. The chance to really play with his mutation, see how he could make people dance to his tune. His eyes are alight with the very idea.

This trip will definitely end with the cops driving them back up Greymalkin Lane. He's becoming more and more sure of that, and caring less and less.]

Besides, you'll be dealing with other mutants. Adult ones who don't give a shit about using their powers against you. Might meet your match.

Finally.

[There's a light in Petre's eyes, too, not at the idea of getting into fights - or watching John - but just at the notion that he'll be out and about, doing what he wants, with someone on the exact same headspace. Not just fucking around to fuck someone. Actually getting to know the city. Its dwellers.

This place really is a cage, isn't it...]

What's the toughest power you ever dealt with?

[He chews his bottom lip as he thinks about that.]

In a fight? Aerokinesis. [Since haha probably hasn't met Bobby yet.] Like throwing mud into a fan. There's only so much you can do with fire when air's being manipulated around it - yeah, lots of shit gets burnt, but not anything you were actually going for.

[And then his brows draw down.] No, no, hallucikinesis. For everything. Fuck illusions. Fuck them forever.

[He's smiling, almost fondly, as John talks. Tries to imagine what that's like, but he finds himself being unable to quite make it work. It's be better if he saw it live, he's sure.]

You know who I'd like to meet? An empath.

[he just came up with that thought, for some reason.]

[John's eyes snap up to meet Petre's, and he actually props himself up on his elbows.]

Why?

The sex must be amazing.

[Sorry, John, if you were expecting anything deeper than that.]

[That's still enough to alarm him. It's skirting the edge of a memory, at the very least. Carefully, he shrugs and then lies back down.]

Wouldn't know. I've never met one.

Double the fun, right?

[He's continuing that line of thought, disregarding John's answer.]

I was with a telepath some time ago. [a telepath John definitely knows.] It's like they can't keep their mouths shut.

Some time ago, huh.

[His voice is low and dry. Yeah, he knows about that. And said telepath has already been warned about exactly what he's playing with.]

Yep.

[his turn to lie down, though he doesn't make an effort to do so too close to John. His eyes are just, features relaxed save for that smile on his lips.]

It was fun. More for him than for me, but still fun.

Don't tell me you actually did something selfless.

[He'll never believe it. He still thinks Petre is setting Ryan up for a fall of some sort, even if their stories match.]

Don't tell me anything, actually. I really don't need details.

I was just trying to get his mind off everyone else's. It worked.

[And he's damn proud of himself, thank you very much.]

Told him not to bother me after, looks like he listened.

[He really wouldn't want to deal with a clingy virgin. He'd just break his heart.]

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