There were no words for what he'd missed while he was away. Of course he knew it wasn't his fault for being gone, there were other things that he was dealing with, but maybe, maybe he could have helped enough to keep more people safe. Overall Kitty looked fine but he could tell that she wasn't happy with it. At least she was alive? That was one way of looking at it, but to be out for an entire week...Jean-Paul could have been flying people out of danger and doing something to aid in the fight. Already on his first day back things weren't going so well; he felt like he needed a drink and someone to annoy. Talk about defense mechanisms.
"I'm so sorry," he uttered in a weak attempt at being strong. "I should have-" cutting himself off, he shook his head. No, he wasn't even going to go there with someone else, especially not Kitty. "I'm just glad you're still here and mostly alright." Reaching out, he took hold of her arm, just to have some sort of contact with her. Having the few friends that he did, losing any one of them would be heartbreaking.
Yet, there Kitty went, looking on the bright side as she always could, a trait which he admired in the girl. It meant she hadn't lost her spirit. "Your own company? That's fantastic! Maybe you could actually teach me how to dance. I bet I'll be your biggest challenge." Jean-Paul grinned at the thought. Kitty could bring up cheerful things and he could joke his way out of most situations. "Don't think I'll stick around for a horse birth, though," he gave her a semi-disgusted look which was exactly how he felt about it.
"Scott Summers? I never met him, but I've heard of him. I really did miss a lot, didn't I?" He tried to look playfully shameful since he didn't want her knowing how he actually felt about his absence. "I'll get on that rebuilding thing. Who knows, maybe I can make it move twice as fast."