2014-05-06 - Brotherly Love

Date Night for Julian Keller, it seems. He's freshly showered and in the process of shaving (Yes, he has to do that now...albeit not quite every day). Appropriate clothing has been set aside for a nice dinner at one of New York City's finest Indian restaurants. A small, private room, so crowds won't be an issue. It's not exactly "formal" but certainly "nice." Music plays from a nearby speaker to which Julian's StarkPhone 7 is presently connected. He's in the typical "just got out of a shower with damp hair and a towel wrapped around his waist as he finishes towelling off his face. Then, it's on to fixing up the hair!

Yes, Julian does take a little longer than most 18 year old guys to get ready, but hey, if a girl's worth the effort....

The steam from Julian's shower had fogged up a good chunk of the mirror, so it's not entirely surprising that the older Keller sibling manages to slip in unseen; and the music means unheard. A vaguely amused look settles on James's face as he regards his decade-junior brother in the midst of primping and preening.

He takes a sip from the bottle of water he had liberated from the refridgerator on his way in. "Hot date?" he says dryly, though not without humor. "So, Sports Illustrated or Victoria's Secret?"

Julian jumps a bit, a flicker of green energy instinctively popping around Julian even before "date?" is fully out of James' mouth. After another moment and recognition settling in, Julian drops the shield, shaking his head and smirking, "Jesus, James. Why do you -always- do that?" There's no real rancor in the complaint.

"Neither." Julian replies to the second question, "I'm over my "model" phase." At least for now. The younger Keller grins, "But it was fun while it lasted." He turns back to resume his groom, commenting, "You're early. Somehow I'm not surprised."

"Yeah. You should go by the tailor and get your measurements done. Geez, kiddo, you've been working out. /Trying/ to rub it in you got the looks genes?" James's teasing is good-natured, and it's almost like he didn't even notice the green flicker. Or if he did, he didn't care. He's about an inch taller than Julian, with the same grey eyes, but Julian definitely looks better-- more of a classically handsome look combined with the toned body from the training he does. James, on the other hand, has a few bits of grey marking his hair, despite not being 30 yet; and his body says more 'board room with a gym membership' than 'young superhero'. "And don't ask to look at what Mom's forcing us into this year. I made that mistake, and trust me, little J, you /don't/ want to know."

"Yeah, I've got an appointment tomorrow." Julian sighs, tilting a brow with a pained expression towards his older brother, "That bad, huh?" He shakes his head, "Guess I better leave it a surprise." Julian grins, "And yeah, working out is an understatement. Believe me, I've got the personal trainer from hell, in a manner of speaking." He chuckles, "So the business in Vienna wrapped up early, huh?" Hey, he paid at least that much attention to his brothers' whereabouts. "Lemme get my clothes on. My date should be here any minute now."

"Yeah yeah," James chuckles. "As for Vienna? Don't get me started. I'm glad it ended early, I was about to strangle half of them," the mild-mannered older brother comments wryly. "I'll be in the living room, and scout's honor if your new girl comes while you're indisposed." He winks, slipping back out of Julian's room with a laugh.

"OK. She can't talk, though, so don't take offense if she's quiet. She knows sign-language though." Which is probably...an intriguing tidbit, certainly not in Julian's past "catalog" of conquests. As for James? He...might actually know Sign Language, because he's the kind of guy that would learn it just to avoid having to pay for interpreters if it can be avoided....

Julian moves to his room for the time being, pulling on the clothes he's selected over the course of a few minutes, and of course giving himself a final once-over in the mirror as he prepares to step back out.

By the time Julian's come out into the living room, James is sitting on the couch with a couple of ledgers on the coffee table-- work is never done-- and Fiona is sitting politely and silently in a nearby chair, looking nervous and jumpy.

"Your date," James gestures mildly to the girl. "She's a bit nervous. Must have heard the stories about you."

~What stories?~ Fiona 'paths curiously.

~All the crazy and not-entirely untrue stories of when I was a hard-partying playboy in Los Angeles.~ Julian returns, ~But mostly he's just joking to give me a hard time. If he didn't introduce myself, this is my brother James. He's cool. Not...like my parents. Well, maybe not "cool" exactly, but...you know...inoffensive.~ Julian grins towards Fiona, moving over to lean down and give her a brief, hopefully mildly comforting kiss on the lips, "James, Fiona, Fiona, James...in case you didn't already get introduced. And we've been together a few weeks. We're too busy making new stories to worry about old ones."

James grins a bit. "Nice to meet you, Fiona," he rises to shake her hand. "I introduced myself, little bro, but she... as you mentioned... was unable to return the favor." He settles back on the couch. "Hopefully not page six stories," James teases. "Otherwise I'm going to regret moving a chunk of your trust into Wayne Enterprises stocks before that Expo a month ago. You're worth 18.32% more than you were two months ago." He pauses. "Also, your girlfriend is very pretty. Exotically, no offense meant, Fiona." He stumbles a bit at that last-- definitely not as socially adroit as his brother.

Fiona blushes, almost but not quite hiding behind Julian. ~He is very strange. His head is filled with numbers. I didn't mean to look, he just startled me when he shook my hand.~

~Yeah, he's not a mutant, but he's a genius with numbers and math and things like that. So..y'know...almost a mutant?~ Julian smiles to Fiona, then to James, "She's a little shy, which you no doubt noticed." Julian notes to James, putting an arm across Fiona's shoulders reassuringly, "Hey, awesome. Mom and Dad will have that much more to take away when they inevitably disown me." Julian..mostly but not entirely...jokes. "We're heading out to Devi. You want us to bring you anything back?" Julian smirks, "Or maybe we will anyway, because you're likely to forget to eat if somebody doesn't." If nothing else, Fiona will likely pick up on the relative (no pun intended) warmth that Julian has towards his brother...a sentiment that's either not present or intermingled with a host of more negative feelings where his parents are concerned.

"Nah," James replies. "I ordered in." He glances between the two. "You know," he says with a grin, "Next time Mom starts in on me about grandchildren..."

Fiona blinks for a moment. Then the implication sets in, and she turns scarlet, pulling away from Julian and moving towards the hallway and the closest bathroom.

~Hey, you all right?~ Julian queries while he gives James a sardonic look, "Seriously? I'm 18 years old. Pretty sure even Mom isn't -that- eager yet." He glances in the direction Fiona went, then looks back to James, "Way to freak out my new girlfriend, by the way." A -little- bit of anger there, but not any sort of truly venomous amount.

"Heh," James actually looks sheepish. "Sorry... didn't mean to." He sighs. "Just Mom. You know. Lately. On my ass about it. The rate I date, you'll long be settled with rugrats before I even pencil such into my calendar." He rubs his temples. "Bad joke, I know." He pauses. "Besides, you'll be 19 soon. Ish," he adds lamely, attempting to salvage it.

~I'm... fine. Just... hadn't thought about those sorts of things. At all.~ Fiona is still in the bathroom, but at least she left the mental link open, which is a good sign.

~Heh, yeah, well...I got the looks and charms and awesome mutant powers. He got the brains...just not socially.~ Julian reassures Fiona, though his expression remains on James ~Take your time. They'll hold the reservation.~ Not that they're in any danger of being late.

"Hey, don't be surprised if Mom shows up with a "beautiful princess" already picked out for you. Right family...huuuuuuge...trust fund." Julian teases his brother, even while he wonders if his mom would actually do it.

"Ugh. /Don't/ suggest that to her," James pleads. "Seriously."

Fiona sends the mental equivalent of a nod. ~Your brother doesn't care you're one of us?~ she asks curiously.

~Nah. Or if he does he's nice enough to keep his mouth shut about it. Honestly? I think he's so focused on work that details that don't factor into it just kinda get...ignored or dismissed sometimes. I mean, obviously he's a lot older, so we're not super-close, but he's always been pretty cool with me. Don't get me wrong, he does just about anything Dad tells him to do...unless he can convince Dad otherwise with business math, anyway. But he's never given me a hard time for my powers -or- my attitude.~ Julian explains to Fiona.

Meanwhile, he laughs a bit to James, "Believe me, my lips are sealed, but you -know- she might resort to that if you don't start dating more."

Julian pauses a moment in his thoughts, then adds, ~James was the first one that knew I was a mutant. He didn't freak out or anything when he heard. Just kinda looked at me, said "Huh" and then "You should probably tell Mom and Dad."~

~He seems nice enough,~ Fiona allows. ~I will be out in a moment.~

James wrinkles his nose. "Dating just takes more time than I'm willing to devote to it," he replies frankly. "You have to meet someone, then convince them to go out somewhere, then go out somewhere, make small talk--and I'm bad at small talk-- and hope it's not a failure and has to be done all over again." He shakes his head. "Leave me to dealing with the books. Those I get. Women? A mystery I have no time to untangle."

"The trick is not trying too hard. Because they -are- hard to understand." Julian reassures his brother, giving Fiona a mental "nod" as he awaits her emergence. "Anyway, once we get this big to-do over with and Mom and Dad head back to Cali I'll be a much happier guy. Or at least less stressed."

"You worried about..." James gestures in the direction of the bathroom. "Assuming you're bringing her, you know. She's a mutant too, right?" He doesn't seem fazed at all, more businesslike than anything. Crunching the numbers, so to speak. "And yeah. Mom's need to have her Disney party is irritating. And there's no skipping out early-- I was your age for the last one, and had to stay until its over. Mom also seems to forget that Disney queens are evil, seriously. She thinks she's Cinderella and ends up being a touch more Maleficent." James snorts.

Fiona emerges from the hallway, smiling shyly at Julian. ~I'm sorry about that. Are we not going to be able to sleep together after dinner since he's here?~ she asks, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Not worried. And yeah, she is." Julian confirms to James, "I plan on being on my best behavior. But we'll probably keep to ourselves with the friends I'm inviting as much as we're able." Julian shrugs, "I'll live through it. Once every ten years, right? I can spare a few hours of my life if it'll keep them...content...for a while." Happy being too strong a word, after all.

~We can if you want. The soundproofing's good in here.~ He glances to Fiona and grins, ~Doesn't help against telepathy though. We'll just have to stay in my room. James won't mind as long as we keep it private.~

~Oh...~ Fiona blushes deeply.

James glances at her apologetically. "Sorry about earlier. I'm not as smooth with people as little J here is." He grins.

"Oh god. Little J. You just -had- to drop that one, didn't you?" Julian's rueful smile flits across his face. He glances towards Fiona, offering a hand, "C'mon babe, let's go grab some dinner. Old J will be here when we get back." He grins to his older brother, then looks back to his girlfriend. "Shall we?"