xp_logs | Logan and Em

Logan popped one last Oreo into his mouth, then swept all the cards into a pile, watching Marie out of the corner of his eye. She'd been very happy today. It was nice to see her in a good mood.

Marie picked up the last of the napkins and threw them all in the trash. "There. Good as new." She put her hands on her hips and surveyed the room, then looked at him and smiled. "Well, that kept the sullenness and gloom to a minimum, didn't it? It's no fun to be stuck down here for any reason. I didn't want people getting all miserable about it."

He smiled back at her. "It was a good idea." That he'd played well was incidental, so long as it had been fun for Marie. But he /had/ played well. And he /did/ have fun.

"I'm glad you came down." She picked up her laptop and a stack of college forms. "You seem better. I think we're allowed to see the light of day now." She looked up at the ceiling, tilting her head as though she were listening. "Want to go?"

"Sure." He walked over to the door and opened it, leaning back against it. "I'm glad I came, too. It was fun."

"Don't mind hanging out with us kids?" she asked teasingly as she passed him. "You need a little fun. It's good that they get to know you, too. What are you going to do now?"

"Clean up my room, maybe?" He let the door close behind him as he followed her out. "Looks like it's been searched or something while I was away."

"It's possible," she says, nodding. "Then again, you could have just forgotten how messy you are." She winked at him over her shoulder. "Want help?"

"Maybe I have," he laughed. "Sure, I never was very good at cleanin' up after myself. Help'd be great."

"It's not so bad," she said, putting her things down on the table. "The papers definitely need tidying and yeah, it looks like someone rifled your dresser and closet, but this won't take long." She eyed his work area, where files and their contents were strewn all about. "Where do you want me to start?"

"If you want to start on the papers, I'll do the closet," he said. He popped an Oreo into her mouth, then tossed the empty package into the rubbish bin.

"...mmmph." She took a bite of the Oreo before turning away to start working. "I'm going to have to go for a run to work all that off. I don't think I touched an Oreo the whole time you were gone. And, of course, ice cream's right out. I was almost getting fit," she said lightly, bending to pick papers up off of the floor.

Logan began putting the closet back together, hanging up his clothes and tucking a box or two back on the shelves. "Getting fit?" he asked over his shoulder. "You don't have to worry about strength and I /know/ you're not worried about how you look."

"Well, no," she said, biting her lip as she read over papers. "I suppose there's no reason to worry. And the strength, well, it works oddly. It has nothing to do with my fitness, you're right."

Logan turned to look at her, confused. "You're lovely. You know that, right?" He gave one last, confused look, then turned back to the closet.

"Oh..." She stopped sorting papers and stared at his back for a long moment, then turned back to the desk, making herself busy. "...not really," she said under her breath. "...not that it matters."

He cleared his throat quietly, about to say something else, but got distracted by something. Or rather, the absence of something. There was one carefully-wrapped katana propped in the back of his closet. One. Not two. He growled quietly, trying to think of where else he might have left it.

"What's wrong?" Marie didn't look away from the papers she was sorting.

"Can't find something that should be here." He stood and started cleaning up the dresser, hoping he'd find the missing katana in there.

"I'm sure it's just misplaced," she said soothingly. "I think I'm getting these all in the right folders. Close enough that you can find what you need, anyway. I'll help you look when I'm done if you want."

"Yeah. It's around. Gotta be." He had no idea where the pair of katana came from, but he'd had them for as long as he could remember. He was sure they were important. He looked up from the dresser. "Thanks for helping clean up this mess."

She turned around and smiled at him. "Not a problem. We'll get everything back in place and it'll be fine. We can go shopping some time if you want. You're almost out of beer. I don't think you ever did keep anything else in that fridge, did you?" Her tone was teasing.

He snorted. "I think I had some milk in there once, too," he said, mock-defensively.

She laughed at him. "Well, there's your balanced diet right there."

"Beer's got two of the four food groups covered, right there. Starches and proteins. Hah." He looked quite proud of himself.

"I think hops counts as a vegetable," she said helpfully. "And then milk is your dairy. No wonder you're so big and strong." She crumpled up a scrap of paper and threw it at him, hitting him lightly on the head, then giggled.

He dropped what he was doing and stalked toward her. "None of that, now. No making fun of your elders!" He lifted her and tossed her over his shoulder, smacking her on the bottom, then walking toward his door.

"Eek! Logan!" she protested, smacking him on the backside in turn. "Bad!"

"Dinner. Not bad." He closed the bedroom door behind him and headed toward the stairs, laughing the whole way.