saga/title/fandom:Journey: Iceman (X-Men)

author: Minerva Solo

rating/genre:(PG-13) - Romance

warnings: homosexuality, language, UST

summary: Uncanny X-men 'verse. Iceman falls asleep on Northstar during a long plane trip. Spoilers for more recent comics.

comments/disclaimers: The X-men universe and associated characters belongs to Marvel, and I am making no money from this. This is my first X-men fit. Set in the uncanny x-men universe, at a point in canon which I haven't actually reached yet, living in England and buying the 'collector's edition' comics as I do. Spent a lot of time reading all the summaries of upcoming issues. Northstar/Iceman has launched itself onto my X-men OTP list. Enjoy! To read more of Minerva Solo's works of fiction go here.

Iceman

Bobby was more than a little pissed off. First, Jean Paul had complained about not being allowed to fly himself. That had been countered with some bullshit about a student teacher ratio. Then, he'd complained that they weren't taking the X-Jet. That had been countered with (a) not all of the students would fit and (b) what kind of school uses a high tech military grade aircraft for a school trip? And finally, he's complained they were in economy. At that point even the ever patient Kurt had told him to shut up.

What really irritated Bobby, though, was the fact Jean Paul wasn't complaining about sitting next to him. If he had, then Bobby could have complained as well and swapped with Annie, who always seemed more than happy to put up with the Canadian's arrogant whining. But if Bobby complained, he knew someone, someone, would accuse him of homophobia. He couldn't even being to comprehend where that idea had come from originally, but apparently if you dislike a gay guy for being arrogant and whiny and out-staying his welcome clearly it had nothing to do with any of those things and you were homophobic. Or gay.

Bobby stretched, sighed, stretched, put on his headphones, stretched, played with the radio, stretched, took off his headphones, stretched, played with Jean Paul's radio to see if he'd notice, stretched, yawned and sighed.

"Please don't tell me you're bored already?" Jean Paul smirked.

Bobby couldn't think of anything to say immediately, so he just ignored the older man.

"The film's Sleepless in Seattle," Jean Paul offered, skimming through the in-flight magazine.

"I wanted to sit by a window," Bobby grumbled.

Jean Paul shrugged. "I wanted to sit on the wing, literally. We don't always get what we- we want in this life."

Bobby frowned at the hitch in Jean Paul's voice and the vacant look in his eyes. "The students are fine. Look at them. I don't see why we have to sit in the middle just to babysit. I can't even see half of them."

"Are you always this grouchy, or is just when I'm around?" Jean Paul asked coolly.

Bobby shut up and tried the headphones again. Annie was glaring at him. Damn women and their love of gay men. Jean Paul wasn't that great to hang out with. Didn't even have a decent taste in clothes.

He yawned again. Stupid long haul school trips. Wolverine was the only one who even spoke Japanese. Except, well, it all sounded rather cool. Japan. He'd been there a few times, but it wasn't as though the X men had ever had much opportunity for sightseeing. Bobby grimaced at the back of the seat in front of him. It was exciting enough for him to have got little to no sleep last night.

"How long's this flight?" he asked Jean Paul abruptly.

Jean Paul shrugged. "Long?" he offered.

"Might was well get some sleep, I guess," Bobby sighed. "Pity it's not a night flight."

"You might want to check with Cyclops if he minds you putting the seat back," Jean Paul pointed out.

Bobby twisted in his seat to peer over the top. The red glasses glinted ominously under the artifical lighting. He sank back into his seat.

"I'll sleep upright," he said.

After a bit of squirming, a bit of fidgeting and rather a lot of kicking the seat in front (which turned out to belong to Ororo, who turned to give him a very dirty look) Bobby was on the verge of giving up on the idea when Jean Paul said, unexpectedly, "You can put the arm up and lean on me, if you want."

Bobby flipped the arm up before he'd even thought about it. He paused just before he settled, something in Jean Paul's face giving him cause to hesitate.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Wh- yeah, sure," Jean Paul flashed him a very brief grin.

"Not worried I'll wrinkle your shirt or anything?"

"As long as you don't drool I think I'll be fine," Jean Paul grinned. "Though if it keeps you still I might even tolerate that."

Bobby pulled a face at him before resting his head against Jean Paul's shoulder. It grew uncomfortable quickly, so they tried a few other positions, with Jean Paul eventually wrapping one arm around Bobby's shoulders and slouching in his seat to let Bobby rest his head on his stomach. That was comfortable.

Bobby drifted in and out of sleep. He was on his way back in when the stewardess approached them with a trolley, loud enough to keep him out but not loud enough for him to wake up properly and complain. He pressed the side of his face closer into Jean Paul's expensive shirt.

"Aww," the stewardess cooed somewhere above him, "you two make such a cute couple."

"Uh, thanks."

In the moment it took Bobby to make up his mind as to whether he would object to this or not, the moment passed and the conversation moved on. He kept his eyes shut, and listened.

"Never thought you'd actually be on one of my flights. I read your book, you know. I just wish I had a copy now."

"I'd carry copies with me, but that always seemed to cross the line between proud and vain."

The girl giggled. You don't need a bag of books, Bobby commented internally, to look vain. You manage that all by your little self.

"All the girls on the flight would just love to get something signed. We don't normally get celebrities in economy."

"Well, I'm not really a celebrity."

False modesty, Bobby decided.

"Oh, of course you are! And so handsome. We were just saying the other day how cruel it is that all the really handsome men are gay. It's like someone wants the genes out of the pool."

"The lifeguard's a gay man too, you see."

The giggle hurt Bobby's ears, and he couldn't stop himself from flinching. Jean Paul's hand settled on his head and started to stroke his hair. Again, Bobby debated objecting, but it felt nice and if he objected now they'd realise he'd been awake the whole time. Or reasons like that, but in a different order.

"If you've got a napkin and a pen, I'd be happy to oblige."

"Oh would you? You're such a sweetheart. Not like that actor guy we had on here the other day. I don't even know what show he's in, but he made such a fuss. I told him, if he wanted that kind of service he can damn well fly first class. You get what you pay for, I said, and no one should expect special treatment just because they're in some la-de-da foreign show no one's ever heard of."

"So if I tip well I get the nice wine and a real glass?" Jean Paul sounded hopeful. The girl giggled again.

There was the sound of paper being rumpled and then a square of pressure on the side of Bobby's head. He realised what was happening just as the pen began to tickle his scalp.

"Who shall I sign it to?"

"Oh! Mandi. With an 'i'. That would be just swell."

Bobby felt Jean Paul move as he handed the paper back and heard the trolley squeak away down the aisle. As inclined as he was to think about everything that had just happened, he was still comfortable and Jean Paul was stroking his hair again. Bobby wasn't an idiot, he knew when the fates were conspiring against him. You take advantage of a situation like that. Jean Paul seemed to agree, because the stroking slowed and Bobby felt a weight settle over him. The older man began to snore gently.

Wolverine was snarling at the airport security when it occurred to Bobby to check his passport. The stewardesses had given their documents a cursory look through on the plane, but that guy up ahead looked like he was likely to demand another look. As Bobby flicked through the pages, admiring his collection of stamps, a photograph fell out. He caught it and frowned at it for a brief second before breaking into a smile.

The stewardess was right, they were a cute couple. And Bobby was sure that Jean Paul wasn't nearly so irritating when he was asleep.

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