The Comfort Of Flirting (JP)

Johnathan took another drag and nodded; "I'm fine." He said dryly before letting out another break of smoke. "I consider my closest friends to be my family, and right now, I'm worried about whether or not I'll get to see some of my family again after today. I know Finlay's just a kid -" he paused to take another drag of his cigarette. "But he is going to have to learn that when you're down here, you don't judge anyone - or anything. Every single one of us is different in one way or another." He loosed another breath of smoke before stamping out his cigarette. "Lydia's carrying out a mission today that could either go really well for all mutants, or it could be a suicide mission." he finally said.

Khunara considered Johnathan's words for a moment as she leaned against the wall and watched him. "You should go speak with them, let them know." She told him after a moment of contemplation and organization in her mind. "You never want your last words to a person to be something bad, especially if they're precious to you." Pushing from the wall, she offered him another smile with understanding in her eyes. "I can take care of my patients, so go find Lydia and speak with her."

Johnathan smiled softly at her, fighting the urge to gently tuck Khuns hair behind her ear. He settled instead for keeping his distance, but speaking his thoughts; "Lydia's not in the right head space for emotional conversations right now, and Cynthia will cry and then overthink everything. They're not the easiest to talk to when it comes down to emotional goodbyes. But, I know that they know, I love them both and I'm praying that they'll come home safe." He said, thinking back to the times they had taken on law enforcement and even EAST - there had been a time where Lydia took several bullets in order to protect one of the other mutants. She got off the ground that day and continued fighting, using her telepathy to remove the bullets. She, only 12 at the time, had a mutant heat her blade so that she could cauterize the wounds and keep fighting. That day was the first time Lydia had hugged johnathan, and the first and last time he had cried publicly. Since then, goodbyes were unspoken but felt. They all knew that goodbye wasn't really goodbye.

"Lydia's strong, and Cynthia is protective - plus if Kyra's going... God help whoever stands in their way." He said, finishing his thoughts and laughing a little bit

"I take it this Kyra girl is very strong," Khunara commented with a soft laugh she couldn't stop. When Johnathan did it, it was as if the sound was contagious. He brought out a sunshine in her that she'd not felt in many years. Before everything was black and white, but now she saw things in colors - rainbows - and everything was so much brighter.

Plus, she got to help people again. She got to actually do what she'd intended to with all those years of life studying and practicing. All she hoped was that she'd be able to survive long enough to have a real future with it and others things, like a family of her own one day.

"Well, since you don't plan to do that, would you like to finish checking on the patients with me?" She offered. "We could do something you like after."

Johnathan extended his arm, offering for her to lead the way. "After you." He said, trying to hide the slight blush that had crept onto his face. This was his first move, and to him, it was life altering. He didn't let people touch him or get close to him often, if ever, but the soft laugh did it for him. He wanted to be closer to her, and he had internally decided right then that there was no point in keeping his distance.

A pink color formed on Khunara's cheeks as she began to lead the way. Each patient was doing shockingly well for now, but she made sure they all were following the instructions and taking care of themselves. She even made sure all the nurses were doing well before moving on, but was very happy to see that everything was good for now. It was a moment of peace, but she was already prepared for any time that she'd have to run and help someone.

In her mind, it was like a hospital. Everything could be fine one second and chaos the next.

What helped keep her going right now, though, was Johnathan and his constant kindness. She would chat with him about simple and silly things, doing all she could to get to know him, understand his likes and dislikes. She even spotted a spiderweb and gladly inspected it, being respectful of the arachnid hanging there.

By the end, she had to take a seat and rubbed at her ankles for a moment. "I hadn't realized before how many people were here." She said with a tired laugh.