Weird crazy meeting stuff

who: journey, lullaby and joshua
where: lullaby's house
when: late afternoon

Lullaby had set up a meeting for Journey and Joshua. They were going to gather at her house, under the pretense of watching movies and that kinda crap. Her parents were more than happy to accomodate her, because generally speaking, Lullaby never asked for much. So when she did ask for something like 'hey, could you guys go out for a little while tonight so I can have a little gathering' they obliged without complaint. This was a good thing, considering she wanted them to be able to talk without worrying about who might be around. Not September, not Unc...it'd be just them. She'd texted them both to let them know when to be there, and as she eyed the clock, she sighed. They should be around at any time now. Not that she expected Journey to be on time. He was allergic to punctuality, really. She was sitting in the living room, a movie on though she wasn't paying attention to it. Just a little longer and they could talk about things. Why was she so nervous? Probably because she was worried.

She wanted a solution here, and she didn't figure they'd find one. Oh well. That didn't mean she couldn't try.

Joshua, to put it lightly, was feeling like crap. Having had possibly the worst night's sleep of his life, he had gone back to the hospital and spent the day sitting with September. The doctors still hadn't been able to work out what was wrong with her and because she was being kept sedated, Joshua hadn't been able to speak to her - not that he was holding much hope for a coherent conversation. He had been relieved to get Lullaby's message, the last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of the day alone having been kicked out of the hospital. He walked straight to Lulu's from the hospital, not bothering to go back to the apartment first. Girlfriend time, even girlfriend plus best friend, was more appealing than shower and change of clothes at this point in time. Traipsing up the path to her front door, Joshua hoped that he didn't look too rough as he knocked on the door.

Lullaby hopped up the second the flasher that signified someone was at the door went off, and she rushed over to the door and opened it up. She smiled at Joshua as she saw him, and immediately reached out, grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside. Inside for a big hug, because frankly, he looked a bit like hell. Which of course he had every right to look, considering. Lulu was a big fan of affection to combat hell-feelings, however, so she was doing that. And alright, she was alone with the boyfriend for a few, and she liked that too. "Hey, I'm glad you're here." she said, before pulling back to look up at him. Absently, she kicked a foot out to shut the door.

Stuggling to keep himself upright at first, because Lulu's lack of height did not equate to lack of strength, Joshua was glad of the hug and wrapped his arms around her. Having his arms full of cute girlfriend-shaped person was awesome at the best of times and was just what he needed given his current state of mind. "Glad to be here too." Joshua replied with a smile.

She gave him a smile, and then of course a kiss. Lullaby was under the impression that those were addicting. Like, a lot. She didn't let herself get too carried away, because she was worried about him, and wanted an update on September and everything else. That didn't mean she didn't draw it out until she needed to breathe again though. Then she tugged him over to sit down on the couch with her. "How's September?" she asked. "Is there any word on her condition? Oh my mom's got a bunch of food and stuff for you by the way, she says that she doesn't want you having to fend for yourself while September's sick."

Ignoring the small part of his brain that commenced pouting when kissing stopped, Joshua let himself be pulled to the couch and frowned slightly as he tried to remember exactly what the doctors had told him. "There's no change in condition, they're keeping her pretty heavily sedated so they don't get a repeat of what happened yesterday. Rabies has been ruled out so the doctors reckon she must be having an allergic reaction and are testing her for a bunch of stuff." He was suprised by Lulu's mom's generosity and sheepish half-smile came onto his face. "Did she hear about my disastrous track record when it comes to using a kitchen unsupervised?"

She looked worried when he told her about September's unchanged condition, and she took his hand to squeeze. Then she kept it for good measure. Smiling a bit at his last sentence, she shook her head. "No. I think she has a mothering gene gone haywire. She feels the need to provide things like that for the people in my life. So be prepared for mothering. I think she made you like, a ton of stuff, I helped with some of it. We made cookies." she told him. "But yeah she does this, so get used to it."

Joshua nodded in understanding. His own mother was the same way and having married into the Barclay family, there had always plenty of mothering to be done. He couldn't help but grin at the mention of cookies, it could never be said that Joshua was difficult to please, and squeezed Lulu's hand. "I'm sure I'll be able to cope" he said, smile still in place. "I could probably use any help I can get."

Lullaby drew in a deep breath then tugged him over so she could hook her arms around his neck. She was facing him on the couch cushion anyhow, so it wasn't too difficult. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then rested her forehead against his temple for a moment. "It'll be okay." she promised. She wasn't sure how exactly, but she would make sure it was. Determination had always worked for her before, so she was sticking to that, damnit.

It was that small gesture that brought all the stress of the past two days crashing over Joshua head. His guardian was lying in hospital, possibly dying, they were thousands of miles away from anyone who could really help and he couldn't help holding himself responsible and Lulu's small voice telling him that it would be okay was too much to take in. Letting out a strangled sob, he squeezed his eyes shut, determined that he wasn't going to start crying.

She hadn't expected him to do that, but she certainly wasn't going to stop him. It was probably good for him, really. So she gave him a squeeze, then leaned back, taking him with her. She might have been a hell of a lot smaller than he was, but that didn't mean she couldn't hold him. They could curl up on the couch together, and he could do whatever he needed to do. Rubbing his back and shoulder a little, she looked down at him, ignoring the little twinges her bruises were giving her. They weren't bad, and she deemed comforting him far more important than stupid things like those.

Feeling the acceptance behind Lulu's actions, the last of his resolve vanished and tears slowly began to fall down his face as he slid his arms back around her.. The fact of the matter was deep down he was terrified by what had happened; his whole life his guardians had been there to keep him out of trouble and they had always seemed invulnerable to him. But now what with September's attack, so soon after what had to Lulu, Joshua just didn't know what to make of the world anymore. After a few minutes, he became aware of how they were lying on the couch and shifted himself over slightly. "I'm not squashing you am I?" he said with a small sniff.

She shook her head, smiling a little bit and she smooched the top fo his head. "No." she answered. She gave him a squeeze, too. Yes, she thought this was probably a good thing. People didn't need to hold up the world all on their own, she was glad he wasn't trying to anymore. "You're not squishing me. Don't worry, just relax, okay? I've got you." she assured him. Lullaby was good for being there. And okay, she couldn't fix everything magically or anything like she might want to. She could be there!

This was why Lulu qualified as the Best Girlfriend Ever. Rubbing the back of his neck, Joshua felt a sudden need to say something. "While you've got me, do you think you could let me know if you come across my dignity. I think I may have lost the last of it." he said with a weak smile. Okay so he was using humour as a defence mechanism but he was eighteen years old and he was mental flailing over the fact he had just cried in front of his still fairly new girlfriend.

Lulu laughed a little at that, then gave him a kiss, nuzzling her nose against his affectionately. "Don't worry." she said. "You're allowed to be upset now and then. I promise I won't tell anyone." she promised. Hell. He wasn't the only one who'd cried on her in the last 24 hours, even. She was good for it. Being there and all that stuff? She had down.

Journey climbed the porch steps wearily, stopping to gaze at the doorbell. Then the door. His fingers twitched thoughtfully over his wrist band. He needed practice at being ninja. It would be very entertaining to sneak up on Josh and Lulu (if he was here yet, and considering Journey was late? highly likely). He turned the knob slowly (unlocked! ha!) and crept inside, heading towards where he heard voices and noise. He stopped in the doorway and leaned against the frame casually, hoping to make it appear as though he'd been there for awhile. Maybe scare the crap out of Josh, depending on what they'd been up to so far... "Yo," he greeted with a little wave and a smile. "You kids behaving?"

At hearing another voice, Joshua jumped and given his precarious position on the edge of the couch, wound up on the floor with a heavy thud. For the first time feeling thankful that he and Lulu hadn't been doing something else, that would have been even more embarrassing for Journey to have walked in on, he let out a low groan and stayed on the floor as his cheeks burned. "Hey Journey" he muttered, his face largely muffled by the floor beneath his face.

Lullaby winced. She had felt him hit the floor there, and she looked over to see Journey. Who she immediately thew a throw pillow at. "Curse your ninja skills!" she said. "I'm going to put a bell on you one of these days, Journey Winters!" she added. Then threw another pillow for good measure. Then she turned her attention down to Joshua. "You okay?"

Giving Lulu a thumbs up, Joshua decided his face was probably back to its usual colour and rolled onto his back. Rubbing his cheek where it had made contact with the floor, he sat up and peered around the end of the couch to look at Journey. "Seriously mate, Lulu's got a point about a bell. Hell, I'd pay for it."

Journey caught the first pillow with a grin, but the second smacked him right in the face. He grabbed it quickly before it fell on the floor and headed for the couch, lightly smacking Lulu in the head with both. He plopped beside her on the couch with a sigh, and shot Josh a cheeky smile. "Jewelry? Isn't it a little soon for that, Josh man? We haven't even had dinner yet," he pouted.

She swatted Journey's shoulder. "I keep telling you you're not allowed to have him, he's mine. If anyone's going to be keeping him in jewelry and all that stuff, it's going to be me thank you very much. I know he's adorable and loveable and cute and awesome and everything you'd want in a man and all, but I don't want to share." she finished loftily. Then she leaned over the side of the couch to look down at him, and she smiled sweetly. Lulu gave Joshua a kiss, then sat back up. "So. I suppose you're wondering why I arranged weird crazy meeting stuff. Here's the deal. You're both cursed."

Joshua had been so caught up in the blushing at Lulu's comments and the kiss that followed that it took a couple of moments before the last thing she said registered. He knew she said she knew someone with a curse but he hadn't expected it to be Journey - the most down to earth guy he had met in a long time. Still, he probably didn't look the type to move things with his mind and have a guardian angel hanging around. Go figure. Turning to look at Jorney, he gave him a wry smile. "So...sucks to be us doesn't it?"

Journey shot Lu an exasperated look for that. Couldn't she have transitioned into that better? That was just really sudden. If he hadn't known already that Josh was cursed, he probably would have flipped the hell out. Maybe that's why she'd told him in advance and not Josh? Hm. "Yeeep. Sucks to be us," he muttered. And then, he figured he better offer up at least one of his curses. "If I do any physical harm to another person, it comes back on me twice as hard. I punched a guy in a jaw couple months ago and fell down a flight of steps. Shattered my wrist."

Lullaby looked sheepish. "I'm sorry! How else does a girl say it? You're both cursed, it's something to talk about with the three of us. How else should I have done it?" she shrugged, then sighed. "I've seen it, it sucks. I think his are more focused than yours is, Joshua. You can explain that though." she said, then fell quiet again so they could talk. She was the non-cursed person in the house after all, it was mostly about them.

Wincing in sympathy, having received a similar injury himself, Joshua nodded in agreement at Lulu's explanation. "Certainly sounds like it for sure." he said, looking thoughtful. "With my family, it's kinda non-specific, constant bad luck, from cradle to the grave. The amount of time I've spent in A and E you would not believe, my medical records are as thick as the yellow pages." Rubbing the back of his neck, Joshua smiled slightly. "Still, I always figure it could be far worse."

Constant bad luck, huh. He considered that for a long moment. "I dunno," Journey muttered. "Is the level of bad luck consistent, or does it change from stubbing your toe every day to, say, falling down a flight of steps? 'cause random levels of back luck would just suck ass." He rubbed the back of his neck, gaze troubled. You'd always have to be prepared for the worst, and then... well, wouldn't you still get hit with something? "That sucks monumental ass. At least with mine, I have a pretty damned good idea of when, what and why."

"Every day is different, though falling on my face seems to happen fairly frequently I gotta say." Joshua replied, pausing to think. "I mean someday's it's fairly tame, like I'll keep losing my keys or the bottom will fall out the grocery bag I'm carrying. Others...well. When I was ten I went through some ice and almost drowned and I've fallen through the roof back home. My family have actually banned me from ever learning to drive in case the brakes fail or something else goes wrong." Letting out a sigh, Joshua stared at the toes of his sneakers, not sure whether to bring up September or not as he chewed his bottom lip.

Lullaby was quiet as she listened to the boys discussing. She didn't like it, really, she'd always hated Journey's curse, doubly hated his other one, and Joshua's seemed like something that was a constant sort of battle. Making sure he didn't trip or hurt himself or something. Which she actually realized as they were sitting there she already actively tried to avoid. She sort of looked out for things that he might run into or trip on and sorta...steered him around it if she could. And she didn't mind or anything, it was just kinda daunting. What if she messed up someday and he got hurt? At least with Journey's, he had to take some sort of action. It was a limitation, not something actively seeking to make his life miserable.

Listening to Josh had Journey feeling... strange. Restless. Like a tiny something in the back of his head was making little protesty noises. It was uncomfortable, and--ohshitpanic! The book suddenly entered his mind, and he rose quickly to his feet. Pacing was good. It'd get rid of some of the nervous energy. I barely know Josh, I'm not making him my chosen, hell no, hell no! No fucking way! Him and Lu just started dating, hell no! What if they have some nasty break up and I'm stuck with him and she gets upset!? Hell. No. No fucking way, man. He was squashing that right fucking now, because no. At least not yet. It was too soon, he was only sixteen fucking years old and just... yeah. Picking your also-teenaged best friend's new boyfriend to protect? Bad fucking idea. Even he wasn't that stupid. Journey paced the living room, back and forth, feeling highly agitated. Oh, this just fucking sucked!

Joshua wasn't the smartest guy in the world but that didn't mean he couldn't be incredibly perceptive and he could feel the tension growing around him, and had the horrible realisation that he was probably the cause of it. This was the reason he didn't tell people about his curse, this was what he was terrified of happening - people treating him differently because of what could happen. Even Journey, who had his own pile of suck-tastic curse stuff to deal with seemed to getting worked up and Joshua wasn't about to let other people get sucked into the realm of neurosis that September already inhabited on his behalf.

"Look, it isn't up to you guys to worry about me. I'm okay, hell I've made it to eighteen without any problems. I don't want my friends, my girlfriend to treat me like some kind of breakable." He could hear the agitation in his voice and hated it but went on, trying (and failing) to keep himself calm. "September does it all the time and it drives me crazy but that's her job. I just want to have part of my life that isn't ruled by that fucking curse. Something normal!"

Brown eyes following Journey's progress back and forth across the living room, Lullaby absently reached out to snag his wrist, though she stopped mid motion when Joshua began to speak, and by the time he was finished, she was left blinking at him. "I don't treat you like you're breakable." she said. "I watch out for you, but I watch out for him too. I don't--I worry anyways, it's not--" she broke off, because she felt like she was really messing up and anything she said right now would come out wrong.

Argh! Journey only barely resisted the urge to punch something (because now he was frustrated on top of restless, and it felt a hell of a lot like anger). As it was, he made a violent slicing gesture with his hand, not looking at either Josh or Lullaby. "I have my curses for a reason," he explained, his voice abnormally steady (and quiet) despite the restless-frustrated-anger. "I'm a protector. We get family curses as part of the package. And I get hit in the face with random bouts of restlessness when it comes to people I think I should protect. I can't really choose who I get. It just happens. When it happened to my dad, it was an accident. I'm just... trying to work past it, right now, 'cause..." His voice cracked, just a little, and he ran a hand roughly through his hair. "I'm just sixteen, and we just fucking met, and it's nothing personal but I'm not really quite ready to commit the rest of my life to you, Josh, no matter how cool of a guy you've been so far. I just... needed a minute. To calm down. And make that part of me shut the fuck up." He sucked in a breath, finally turning to face them.

"I'm okay. And yeah, you're really not breakable," he managed calmly at his normal around-Lulu volume, plopping down on the couch beside Lu and pretending as though he hadn't just given a mini rant she couldn't hear at all. "Anybody who falls through a roof and a frozen lake and has a shitty luck curse on him and who's still alive after eighteen years isn't fragile. No worries."

Okay, now he felt like a bastard. Sitting down next to Lulu he gave her hug, hoping he hadn't completly blown it with his little outburst. "I'm sorry Lu, I didn't mean to...I'm just..you didn't...I...I'm...Sore subject, not an excuse. I suck." he said, hoping he didn't look quite as stupid as he sounded. What Journey had said was slightly more difficult to deal with and it took all his effort not to sture at the younger guy. He knew about protectors but only in the vague sense and finding out his girlfriend's best friend was one? Kinda making his head spin. "If it helps at all, September's kinda got that stuff covered. She's a guardian angel." Joshua said with a faint smile. Hell, might as well come clean with him after that little exchange he reasoned.

Lullaby hugged Joshua back. She was kind of difficult to properly tick off, and she forgave people pretty easily as well. Besides, it wasn't a very good subject in any way, so she could understand it. "It's okay." she assured him. She kind of wondered what Joshua might be talking about, but figured it was just the worried type stuff they were both expressing. She sort of half settled back against Joshua, but with enough room that she could still read his lips when he was talking. Her eyes were back on Journey as she kind of wanted to ask him if he was okay and all sorts of stuff like that, since he'd been agitated and she didn't believe for a second that he'd randomly got all better for no reason. Cuz yeah. She wasn't that dumb.

Witness him completely thrown. Insanely. Brain broken, 'zomgwtf!' the only thought in his head, and it was stuck on repeat. Angel. Guardian angel. What!? "Angels are real?" he blurted out, and oh, the intelligence in that statement! He rocked. ...at being a complete and total dork. Why wouldn't angels exist? He was being haunted by a ghost, or something! They were discussing curses. Seriously, though, what the fuck was going to be next? Vampire attacks?

It would appear that information had not traveled in all directions and that Journey clearly did not know about some of the weirder goings on of the world and Joshua had just dumped that can of worms into his lap. Barclay, you are an idiot. This is why you shouldn't ever make assumptions. Looking decidely sheepish, Joshua met Journey's eyes. "Yeah, pretty much. And other...stuff."

She was still learning all of this stuff herself. "So there's a lot out there. I'd like to find out just how much. I don't know who to ask though. Or if we can find out. And...um..." she sighed. "I'm going to be looking into breaking your curses. I know I probably won't find anything, it's not like your family lines haven't tried and I don't think I'll be able to do it, but...I have to try. Okay?" she asked, looking at both of the boys.

"Aw, Lu," Journey said with a little sigh. Because that declaration completely sidetracked him from 'zomg, angels!?'. "I don't think mine can be broken. I think it's just part of the protector deal..." he hesitated, just a little. "But I think we are only supposed to have the one curse. I dunno why my family has two." ...and, oh shit, he hadn't told Josh about the horribly depressing, angsty one yet, had he? Damn. And now he'd brought it up. Double damn. Maybe he'd drop it? One could hope, 'cause mentioning your own death never failed to kill a conversation.

Luckily for Journey, Joshua was so blown away by Lulu's decleration that he'd completey missed what the other boy said. Resting his hand against Lulu's cheek, he gave her a broad smile. "You are by far, the most awesome girlfriend in existence" he said, before giving her a small kiss. Sure he would have liked for it to be longer but he wasn't about to do that with Journey in the room was he?

Lullaby gave him a kiss back, then smiled at the both of them. "Yes, I'm going to try, and I witness my utter lack of concern over it being part of the deal with you, Journey. Deal with it. Maybe I'll break one of them or something. And maybe if people didn't wander around thinking things couldn't be broken, then they'd get broken. Or...something. I don't care. I'm young, I've got a long time to work something out, and if I can't, then I'll find ways around them. For both of you. So there." Yes, she had officially put her foot down. It was her 'give up now, you are doomed' tone.

Journey saw two options here. He could either continue the conversation like an adult (okay, teenager at best), or he could go the childish route.

...pfffft. No contest! "Ewwww," he said, exaggeratedly, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the PDA. Of course, he was also fighting back a wicked grin, so. Yeah. Nobody who'd known him longer than thirteen seconds would buy for a minute he was really grossed out. "Hands above the waist and below the boobs, Josh!"

Joshua responded in an equally mature fashion and, grabbing the nearest cushion, launched it at Journey's head. "Where my hands are is entirely none of your business, thank you very much" he retorted with a grin, sliding his arm around Lulu to rest his hand on her hip. "And besides, I've seen the way you look at your girl. I hope you follow your own advice."

Lullaby laughed at that, snuggling back against Joshua, and she of course kicked Journey on the leg for good measure. She might have said something more, but Joshua's statement made her wince a little bit. Not a lot, and she tried to hide, it, really she did, but that really didn't work out for her so well. She couldn't help it, she still worried about Journey's other curse. She still held out hope that one day he might decide to be gay.

He noticed Lu's wince, but didn't really do anything about it. He was a teenage boy, first and foremost. So yeah, there was grinning and blushing in his world as he thought back to Friday night, and his eyes drifted up to the ceiling. Lu's house? Had awesome ceilings. "Okay, so my advice sucks ass. I will admit it." Hmm, he needed to call Belle, actually...

Giving Lulu a small squeeze, Joshua grinned as Journey blushed and apparently started taking a trip down memory lane. As he saw the expression on Journey's face, he was unable to stop a laugh escaping him. 'I think he's got it bad' he signed to Lulu, his amusement clearly visible on his face.

He was so cute with the signing. And he was getting better at it too. 'Think so? Hmmm. Yes, looks like.' she agreed, signing back to Joshua. Ahh the bittersweet of that. She wanted him to be happy, she just didn't want him doing it with his girlfriend. Curses sucked. And not only for the person who had it, either.

Journey watched the two of them signing, a pout slowly forming on his face. He'd caught 'I... he's... it bad,' from Josh, and then 'Yes' from Lulu (curse her nimble fingers!) "Not fair," he whined, letting a touch of petulance creep into his voice. He pouted at Lulu, giving her puppy eyes. It was her weakness, after all! "If you're gonna talk about me when I'm too dumb to catch on, you gotta give me food as compensation. 'sa rule!"

"You're not too dumb." Lullaby said firmly. "You're too lazy." She nodded firmly. "You could learn, but noooooo. You don't want to, you're too cool to learn sign language." she teased. Hey, at least they weren't on dire, horrifying subjects anymore. "But food I can do anyways, I was gonna ask you guys if you wanted to order chinese. I think it's just a chinese sort of day."

Laughing at the exchange between Journey and Lullaby, Joshua's stomach gave a growl at the mention of food. He hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning and wasn't convinced that the pop tart and a can of soda he'd had actually constituted a meal but hey, chinese definitly qualified. "I'll have to agree with you there Lulu. Bring on the noodle-ly goodness!"

Lullaby smiled sweetly. "I will." she said. "Or, you guys will, I can't call." she added with a grin. All in all she thought at the very least that the talk had gone well. Sure, they hadn't figured much of anything out, and Journey hadn't come clean about his other curse, but she could kind of understand why on that score. Maybe eventually he'd trust Joshua enough to tell him about it. Until then, she was still going to be working on trying to break the stupid curses, or find some way to get around them. She thought it was a worthy expenditure of her time. She looked between the boys and smiled. Yeah. Definitely worthy.