Hugging Time

[François Laffont]

That night, when some of them went to rescue their kidnapped fellows, Franck had it hard. He wished he could have been of some help but knew it was best for him to stay behind. He didn’t have the nerves to do such an operation, he would have screamed like a girl constantly and give away their position, if not get everyone killed. He found a way to occupy his mind a little, that is until they all had to hide as SPECTRE also planned an attack. What a coincidence, that they both would strike the same day. Franck felt like his heart was ready to give out on him then, that it would blow in his rib cage or something.



He mourned those who died, he really did. This was awful. He never wished to be so close to death in his life, ever. Even now, he was still making some nightmares, where SPECTRE got mixed up with religious fanatics and where no one was really safe, starting with him. The only relief he got from it all was the fact all of his friends came back alive. When he saw their familiar faces, he just had no idea which one he wanted to hug first. He wanted to do it with all three at the same time. Of course, they needed care and rest so the hugs had to wait for a later time.



In a way, Franck was less worried of the repercussions of this event on Erika and Felix than he was for Frank. Felix had been very moody even before that and he was staying at his side even more than usual to help him go through that. As for Erika, well she had a lot of people with her and he was still there to hold her should it come to this. He knew they would deal with it the way any normal person would. And here was the reason why he worried for Frank. She was not normal. Who was to say how she would react to all that happened to her. Franck came to the conclusion she was much too unpredictable to know for sure. She could act as if nothing happened, be moody or crazier than ever. Everything was possible with her. And it was why the French boy decided to check which one it was.



He came to her dorm room. And he had a little surprise. She probably wouldn’t recall the last time she came to his house and demanded some coffee done à la française. But he still got her one. He might regret that gesture. Especially since he put a lot of sugar in it to sweeten the taste, it was after all what they did. He had it in a travelling coffee mug. Franck knocked at the door of her dorm. “Frank, are you in there?” he asked. He knew for a fact that no matter how much they want her to rest she was likely not to do so. And if she was not in her room, she could be anywhere. Starting with the least probably places.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank had taken to laying in her room and watching cartoons a lot lately. Mostly because she was still working on the whole getting her strength back thing. This meant lots of sleep (which Frank now realized she super liked), eating a ton, and watching as much cartoons as she could possibly watch. She'd thought about marathoning Dr. Who episodes, but she decided that she wanted something a little brighter instead.

There was a pretty noticeable difference though. Instead of being surrounded with, say, candy and other such sweets and junk food, Frank mostly had various MRE wrappers in place around her head. The military meals had been purchased in bulk for Frank, and she had literally boxes of them stacked around her room. She was under strict orders to eat them with a regularly that was obviously medical, at least until she grew back to her original weight (though there had been some mention of her needing to put on a little weight just in general, since her "original weight" had been a little wonky of late, and definitely not healthy).

"Fraaaaaanck, is that you!?" Frank called, waving her arms and kicking aside some stuff to all but fall out of her bed. "I'm in here, but I'm trapped and I could totally use someone to play, like, wii with and stuff. i so have a Wii in here somewhere," she looked in the right direction, her eyes narrowing to focus. She didn't see it right now, but that didn't mean anything. There were a lot of MRE wrappers all over the place. Things came in, like, this weird plastic container with all the various portions of the meal and then littler wrappers for all the other parts too. Frank did eat some of them, but she kinda liked just ripping them open. Plus, just because she could eat plastic didn't mean she had to. Rebel, yo.

[François Laffont]

François was a bit apprehensive of what he would find behind that door. Frank, of course, but in what state. She went through a traumatizing event and it was bound to leave some scar. If Franck would like her to get a little more mature he also had to admit Frank’s charms precisely resided in her lack of it. She was more than a ray of sunshine, she was the whole sun entirely. He feared this might have changed. She’d have all the reasons in the world to change but he wished she kept a bit of who she was and that he wouldn’t have to pick her up. He’ll always do it, but he had to do so with enough people already, himself included. Frank used to be the one he could go to for a change of mind. It might be selfish but he sure wished this could still be happening.

Of course, if he had some fixing to do first, he would. With Frank that probably implied watching cartoons or comedies and come out with prank ideas she could do once she’s feeling better, or running down to get her some candies or soda. He finally heard her voice. “Yes, can I come in?” he answered when she asked if it was him. When she said she was trapped, he quickly opened the door, thinking that perhaps she fell or something and was in a jam or something. But as he did she mentioned playing Wii and the way she talked of it, it almost made him wonder how he could ever worry they changed her. He bet she made them go crazy. He sighed, a smile appearing on his lips.

Going through the boxes and various other things belonging to his friend, Franck tried to spot her. He never went to her room before but it sure seemed as messy as he expected out of her. As he approached her bed, he saw the several plastic wrappers on the floor. The fact he was blocking the view of her television mattered little to him. He finally caught sight of his friend and his smile grew bigger as he finally laid eyes on her. “How are you feeling?” he asked. He knew he could check for himself. He already had vibes of emotions coming from her. But he’d rather she tell him. He looked at her bed and found little place to sit there since there were so many wrappers around. He showed her the mug he had in his hands. “Coffee? But I warn you, if you don’t like, you’re the one who asked me for a French one,” he told her. She probably didn’t remember but it didn’t matter. He did and she was back to come out with other crazy things to say so all was well.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

There was Franck. Frank grinned up at him, practically wiggling at the sight of one of her friends. She heard the question, and blew out her lips to make a raspberry, waving a hand. "I'm fine. they just starved me a little, which totally sucks. But I didn't get, like, shot or tortured or anything; I think it was because I did all the talking and--oooh, coffee!" Frank clapped her hands, grinning at the mug and then at the person holding it.

Frank stared for a bit, blinking, and then her brow furrowed. "Um, I think we talked about coffee, right? I don't actually, uh, remember everything I did before the whole,' she wiggled her fingers then. Frank rolled her eyes. "not sleeping, crazy huh? But it totally worked, people were all happy and junk. What are you doing standing around? You should totally take a seat, bud! Oh, did you talk to Erika or anyone else yet? Oh Gah!" she clapped her hands to her mouth, her eyes going wide. "We totally vanished on you! OMG, Franck, I am so sorry! Next time, you should get kidnapped with us. Then you'd worry less."

It was hard to say whether or not Frank was joking there. She was grinning, her eyes sparkling, but if the empath's ability was working as well as it should, he'd get the wave of sympathy coming from her. Frank really was sorry that she'd caused her friend worry, which was ironic, coming from the bedridden, starved girl.

[François Laffont]

François was glad to hear his friend was fine now. If she was lying down, which was a little out of character for such a lively creature as Frank Cox, the rest seemed relatively close to who she had always been. He was also glad all they did to her was to starve her. He condemned what happened to her and the others of course, but Erika had been physically tortured, they ripped off her nails and who knows what else they did to both Trevor and she. Of course, for Frank, starvation was perhaps the worst, knowing the nature of her power and all. Still, he figured it was easier to recover from.

When she mentioned the talking, he could almost laugh. He bet she talked, but wasn’t sure just how relevant any of what she said was. He did not laugh however, in case she indeed said something relevant to them. The school had been attacked, people died, children. He didn't want to think his friend might have a part to play in it. He tried to push that thought aside but even the coffee she wanted to get from him didn’t achieve it entirely. He still gave it to her however, trying to chase the bitter taste in his mouth she had put there.

He was not fully understanding at first when she talked of coffee. “Hm? Oh, yeah. We did. I figured... it was just a little joke,” he said, hesitating on his words as he didn't have his mind set on the conversation. Frank was already jumping from one thing to another, now telling him to sit down. He was looking around for a way to sit somewhere he wouldn’t end up sitting on a wrapper, open or not, when Frank made him startle. He raised an eyebrow when she said next time he should be kidnapped with them. “I’d rather you all just don’t get kidnapped again, if you can avoid it,” he said, trying to put on an amused smile. But he was not exactly in the mood for pleasantries, even Frank style’s ones

He could however feel her sympathy for him and this was what washed away any worries he had. Frank was just being Frank here and no matter what happened, François could not throw a stone at her. Pushing some of the wrappers aside, he sat down next to her. “You don’t know how much I missed your beautiful randomness,” he finally let out, a genuine smile on his face.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank giggled at Franck's easy dismissal of her coffee plan. "I can barely remember that one. I was whoo," she let that word climb up in octave as she said it, gesturing wildly with a hand. Frank giggled again, still smiling though her eyes had a slight wink of sadness flittering across. That sadness got washed away with a new burst of cheer at Franck's comment.

"Deal," she said, nodding. "Though maybe next time you should, like, strap a bunch of bandoliers to your body and attack or something. They sent some total hotties to rescue us, but we so could've used your charm. Just do some winking,' Frank did precisely that, before giggling again. She watched as Franck moved next to her, waiting till he got within range to wrap him in a hug. She just held him for a few seconds, feeling how solid he felt, before giving him a little squeeze.

"Gotcha in a huuuug," she sang out, swaying a few times, clearly not planning on release any time soon. Not like she got to hug cute French boys every day of the week, at least, not here.

[François Laffont]

There really was only Frank to laugh about the time when she was crazy. François had noticed she had been more than usual. Because, let’s be honest, Frank was not herself with something insane coming out of her every five minutes or so. But usually her randomness was funny to watch and even to live with. When it reached a point where she made herself sick and dismissed it... “I’m just glad you decided to reconcile with sleep,”” he told her. To him, that matter was closed now. With enough sleep, he figured he might get the old Frank back, the funny one, not the one that kept hitting his walls.

Franck did wish he could have come to help and rescue his friends. They were his friends, after all. How can you not want to help them? But he saw why it might be best for him not to. His powers wouldn’t prove very useful. Besides, he was no fighter and tensed as he was, he had more chances of screaming and making a hole in the ceiling jumping to it, alerting everyone of their presence. At least, it was what he told himself every time he felt a tiny bit guilty for not helping out. “I wanted to help, really. But they chose the students based on how useful their ability would be to them. Mine wasn’t of much help,” he told Frank while pushing some of the wrappers to sit down next to her. It was important for him to have his friends know he wanted to help them. He chuckled though as she winked after saying it was all he needed to do. He was stiff for a second when she hugged him but smiled, quite happy to see his friend in that state. He hugged her back and let his power do some exploring. Frank wouldn’t feel it but François wanted to get what she had been dealing with and how she truly felt right now, over the excitement and random that was Frank on normal days.

He laughed again as he swayed with her. “It’s good to have you back,” he said. When he pulled back, he watched Frank’s facial traits, studying them to see if there was any weariness or wounds or any other signs he should worry about. “What’s with all those boxes?” he asked after a moment of silence, looking at the many ones around her room. He also checked the wrappers, reading what was written on it. Food? Not that he saw it as particularly strange for Frank, but he did wonder where it all came from.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Yeppers, Sleep and I are buddies now. We're like this," Frank grinned and held up her fingers, crossing them, of course, and nodding a few times. This was, of course, before the big hug and stuff. As for his wanting to help, she understood that. "It's cool; they probably wouldn't have picked me for something like that either," she offered, shrugging, "unless I told them about how I'd mastered the secret art of mutant fu," Frank giggled because, honestly, what kind of crazy person would bother to invent a martial art specifically for mutants? You'd have to be three different kinds of crazy.

Then came the whole hugging thing, which felt super good. "You're good at the hugging," Frank told her friend, giving him another squeeze. The temptation to latch on like a koala threatened to overwhelm Frank. She fought it back though, instead actually letting Franck go when he pulled away. Frank scooted back, bouncing along the bed and knocking a few more wrappers away. while she bounced, she snagged another wrapper.

The question had her rolling her eyes and waving her hand. "They're, like, MREs. Meals-ready-to-eat, but it might as well be mostly rotten edibles," she stuck her tongue out and shook her head. Then came more eye rolling and she worked open another package, dumping the various contents on the bed. "They're super high calorie packs for, like, military people and junk. I normally eat, like, thousands of calories a day, and I got, like, maybe a thousand or something? So they're telling me I gotta eat these things," she wrinkled her nose but took a bite out of the one in front of her. "They're not really good, but at least they're not, like, protein paste," she paused, then leaned forward, whispering confidentially, "that's what they threatened me with if i don't eat these," she nudged another wrapper with her foot, giggling as it fell from bed to floor yet again.

[François Laffont]

François chuckled as Frank told him she reunited with sleep. He was happy to hear this, even if she might have now more reasons than before to have trouble sleeping. Perhaps it was why he was so happy to know she finally understood the importance of rest. He was also glad she didn’t think badly of him for not coming to the rescue. None of his friends did actually and he was happy of it. He did fear they might wonder why he didn’t show up when they needed him the most. Or come to see them while they were recuperating. But they needed rest and he thought it was more important than having him around to chitchat. That could be done later, like now.

The fact they would not have taken Frank for such a mission seemed to be obvious. She’d be giggling and joking and talking all the time. Plus he doubted she’d have the time to chew through the gun before they pulled the trigger and splashed her brains all around. He laughed however at the mention of mutant fu. Whatever happened to Frank back there, it didn’t affect her enough to change her personality completely. A god thing for Franck didn’t know if he could have handled a depressed Frank Cox. The mere thought of such a thing being possible seemed too irrational. He was more ready to believe in the Aztec prophecy that the world would end in 2012, and that even if they were now in 2014, than the possibility of Frank growing into a serious and slightly depressed woman.

Meals-ready-to-eat, with lots of calories. Yep, that did sound like something Frank would need. He moved his head closer to hers as did so to whisper to him, almost smiling as he went back to his former position. “Well, you need those calories and it takes less room than all the food you’d have to eat otherwise. Does that mean you no longer have energy drinks?” he asked her. Franck never liked those much. One, once in a while, didn’t seem too bad but she was had way too many of these. “It’s still funny, to know they have you on rest and military meals. Never thought someone would be able to force you into anything of the like,” he let out after a moment, a chuckle in his voice as he talked.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank rolled her eyes. "They could, like, let me eat lavish meals or something instead. Big feasts with lots of cake," she sighed and took a bite out of her latest MRE, chewing it with a dreamy, faraway look in her eye. Another question had followed though, and of course Frank would be ready to answer a question. "Nah, I got a stash under the bed still. Trevor got 'em before we got all imprisoned and junk. I'm not gonna, like, be chain drinking them again," she paused then, tapping her fingers on her bed, "'less I'm doing like, a weekend party thing or a video game spree."

Another shrug and another big bite of the MRE, Frank chewing happily. The next comment had her chuckling a little, then gesturing. "They were pretty insistent," she said. "All like 'eat this stuff' and tbh," she said the letters, "I kinda need the whole resting thing. Rest is sooooo much better than the whole starving thing and all. Plus, they were like, 'you can watch all the TV you like and visitors are okay and it was totally either this or the infirmary and the infirmary smells funny," Frank wrinkled her nose. She'd been there directly following their return to the school, and she'd hated nearly every minute of it. Never had Frank been more thankful to be confined to her room.

"Plus, I can, like, start planning other stuff. Like prom and the summer festivals and junk," Frank nodded, clearly at least somewhat pleased with this situation.

[François Laffont]

Franck laughed as his friend wanted cake. He was not all that surprised about it. “I doubt they want you to eat only those things. I’m sure you’re still allowed cake. It’s not like you can’t eat anything,” he pointed out. He’ll give her one if she wanted cake so much. He’ll be her personal illegal-cake provider. He already brought her coffee and couldn’t believe she’d drink this. He never had coffee when in France, he was too young and not really interested. He only tasted American one. Even his father got used to the one served here. Anyway, the way Franck too it, it was more like milk with a taste of coffee. That didn’t stop him from feeling sorry for Frank to taste this one that was way too bitter and so had a ton of sugar in to sweeten it a little.

François wondered if he should not try and snatch those energy drinks she said were under her bed so she would not repeat the same mistake again. But she said she would not. “You better or I’m taking them all away,” he told her with a fake stern tone. Like he could have any authority on anyone, let alone Frank! Still, he’ll keep an eye if she ever end up livelier than her normal self, that was already quite lively.

He smiled, quite happy to hear his friend say she was into rest now. He even laughed as Frank wrinkled her nose at the mention of the infirmary and its scent. “Well, I’m glad you finally agree on that one. I told you rest was good,” he said. He didn’t want to sound all ‘I told you so’ but he bet it was how it came out. Oh well, he did tell her so. “Oh? And what have you planned so far?” he asked, curious as to what she might have come up with. He was a little apprehensive. With her, you just never know. But at the same time, he was just too happy to see her again to really care whether she intended to glitter-bomb everyone at prom.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Yeah, but not, like, as much as I want," Frank pointed out, "but that's actually pretty normal, seeing as I'd go through, like, a cake a day if it was up to me. That's why they don't mind that I'm in the kitchens making cookies all the time. Cheaper to let me bake whatever I want," she shrugged. "My parents probably have something to do with it too. They're not exactly thrilled that I'm like this. Talked about pulling me out."

Which would've put a downer on her, even with Franck's teasing little threat about her energy drinks. Thankfully, Frank never lingered on anything that made her sad for longer than it took for that information to pretty well process through her body. It helped that Franck had first approved her plan of actually getting some rest, and then talked about her plans. Frank clapped her hands at that, bouncing on the bed a few times.

"It's gonna be aweeessooome!" she said, her voice sing song. "Like, I obviously need a prom date, so I figure I'll just hold a tryout and take whoever's the most awesomely awesome person who shows up, y'know? I'll probly just party down at prom, since, y'know, prom, and I don't wanna mess that up for anyone who's all like 'this is the best day of our lives.' Though I might do some dancing, and I'm totally gonna bribe the DJ to do, like, a Lady Gaga hour because.

"And I think they're gonna do something cool over the summer. They apparently have this festival thing with all sorts of fun things that people do and stuff? I'm thinking about talking my parents into maybe sending some money for it, talk them into thinking it's all for our morale or something. They'd totally be down for it," Frank nodded, pausing now only to shove her face full of MRE. Well, that and get some feedback from one of her most awesome BFFs, who she now looked at with an expression approaching adoration.

[François Laffont]

Franck chuckled as she talked of her cake diet. “Hey, I’ll get you cake if necessary. Maybe not once a day but I’ll smuggle them in for you,” he said with some laughter in his voice. There was something quite ridiculous about smuggling cakes. He bet they could taste awful that she’d still eat them. Unless plastic and soda cans tasted better than they looked. That would be insulting no, to have Frank refusing to eat your food when ate pretty much anything. He frowned a bit as she talked of her parents. Did she mean they didn’t like her having this kind of power, her overall attitude or the situation she’d been in lately? He wasn’t quite sure. And since he came here to cheer her up, he sure would not ask today. He’ll have to remember that for another day, when she’d be running around and in a better shape to deal with les funny topics.

He laughed, trying to follow all of her plans. First, the way she would choose a date. Frank was a pretty girl but considering her over the top personality he could understand most people thought her to be too much to handle perhaps. Franck was making plans for prom himself. Knowing Felix was staying in his room, glooming, for the most part, he was trying to get him out of it. “Hey, it’s your prom too, you should make it the best night for you too,” he said when she mentioned people might not like all of her ideas. Franck wanted to dance also and have fun and make it worth it. If he managed to get Felix out, he won’t have the flirting he should expect as he was nominated for the Prom Prince but he could deal with that. He’ll flirt some other time.

He looked at frank with interest as she mentioned something planned for the summer also. “That sounds great. And we could all use something like that, after all that happened. Party and fun and good things. That’s what I want to make of prom for myself, just a way to release the remaining tension from those past weeks,” he told her with a nod. He did look at her, wondering why she was staring at him like this but said nothing, just smiling, not sure exactly what he should say or do about it.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Daily cake!" cried Frank, throwing her arms into the air with excitement before wrapping them around Franck for a big hug. Frank really could eat anything, after all, though she had her preferences. Her unique ability did mean that she had no problem with eating anything people made for her though, and she'd eaten her share of poorly made items in order to make someone else happy.

Plans, plans, plans, and Frank was soon giggling as Franck insisted that prom should be awesome. She rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, I'm gonna make sure it's awesome for me too. But it's my junior prom, and, like, I heard that they're voting for that really fragile girl for princess or something, so I'm gonna have to make my own fun. Plus, it's prom, and if it's one thing we've learned from movies and television, it's that prom is when all the stuff comes to a head," she gestured, lacing her fingers with one another and nodding with that sagacious knowing that seemed to pop up every once in a while in Frank Cox. She grinned at Franck over her wiggling fingers.

"And you should totes enjoy prom, stud," she said, and, with fingers still locked, she leaned over and nudged him a few times, clicking her tongue against the side of her mouth. "You find anybody to go with? Or do I need to set you up one too? Ooooh, do you wanna make people jelly? I could totally, like, hire someone super hawt or---no, you're too classy for an escort, but I could proooobly get someone else. I think I know a guy who knows a guy..." and clearly Frank was going to end up doing something to Franck if he didn't stop it (and there was no guarantee that any attempts at stopping would actually work).

[François Laffont]

François laughed as Frank exclaimed herself. “Daily, I’m not sure. I’m not as rich as you are,” he pointed out with amusement as she hugged him again. He really didn't mind getting hugs from her. It always put him in a good mood since she was such a ray of sunshine. Of course, the fact he would focus on her happy thoughts helped too. He had no idea how she managed not to lose it after what happened to her. People might think she was an airhead but to Franck, she just proved she was a lot stronger than she looked.

It was also his junior prom. Prom was not as important in France. They had a party but nothing as fancy as what you get around here. Yet the one he’ll have this year was meant to be nothing compared to the next, when he’ll also graduate and all. Was there really that much of a difference? Perhaps he’ll be more thrilled. Unless another tragedy decided to struck them a few weeks prior to it. He smiled as she talked of Luxanna. “If it matters, I’m voting for you,” he said though he wasn’t certain Frank really minded here. He did not imagine her as one who’d go after a crown. “I was surprised people nominated me as the prince. I mean, I’m gay and I’m French, you’d think that disqualified me on the spot,” he added. He knew the school was pretty tolerant about sexualities but the fact still remained he was not American. He never thought he had much of a chance because of that but then Tim had his blog and told people to vote for him. Coming from someone he barely knew, it impressed Franck greatly. He only chuckled and shook his head as she referred to the proms you see in movies or tv shows. “There’s always some drama in those. I hope we won’t have this,” he simply replied. They had enough drama in their lives already, they could use a night of fun only.

He laughed again as she clicked her tongue. He was about to answer her as she asked if he had a date but she then went on about finding one for him. He raised his hands as she talked of escort and, worse, a guy who knows a guy. He was still laughing, but he needed to stop her before he ended up with some dubious character at his arm expecting something out of him. “I’ve been thinking about bringing Felix. He’s not feeling so well lately and I’m sure he’s planning on locking himself in his room the whole night. I won’t be flirting a lot but he needs a good prom too, even if I have to drag him,” he explained. He pretty much just thought about it now but staying with a moping Felix seemed a better option than anyone Frank might find or pay for him. He did feel a bit like his hyper friend when saying he’d drag Felix whether he wanted it or not. If so, then he assumed she could not complain and persuade him otherwise.