xp_logs | Logan and Doug

Doug wandered the hallways. Marie had said that he should come see her on Saturday when she returned from Los Angeles, but the couple of times Doug had wandered by her room, she hadn't been in. Not to mention that he hadn't seen her or heard anything about her returning. Sighing, he turned a corner and wandered in the direction of Logan's room.

Logan had given up on The Sun Also Rises and was now reading Catcher in the Rye, still stewing about Professor X's dismissal of his request -- demand -- to retrieve Marie. The residual anger made for difficult reading.

Doug stared at the door to Logan's suite, afraid to knock. Logan was one of the few faculty members that really intimadated Doug. On top of which, he was Marie's friend/father figure/whatever. Finally Doug sighed and muttered to himself. "Faint heart never won fair lady, Ramsey." Summoning up his courage, he tapped tentatively at the door.

Logan dropped his book on the table. It wasn't Marie, of course. He stood and walked to the door, ready to bite the head off whomever had come to disturb him. Opening the door, he growled, "What?"

Doug barely restrained himself from hopping back and cowering, both from the growling and the combination of frustration and anger rolling off of Logan's body language. "Um, I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Logan. I was just...well..." Doug stammered.

Logan sighed and ground his teeth. He stepped back from the doorway, giving Doug a little more space. "You were just...?" He raised an eyebrow expectantly, feeling vaguely guilty that he was terrorising one of the students for no good reason.

"I...er..." Doug scratched the back of his head with one hand sheepishly. "It's Marie. I was supposed to meet up with her this evening, and I haven't seen her around. I was wondering if you knew anything. Whether she got out of Los Angeles all right, if she's been delayed somewhere..."

Logan's shoulders dropped a little. "There were riots in LA. Something about a trial. She's driving back." He didn't sound at all happy about this turn of events.

Doug blinked. "I...is she okay?" he asked, nervously.

"She's fine." Everything about Logan's posture and expression said that if she didn't /stay/ fine, someone would pay.

Doug tried very hard not to back away from Logan's anger, knowing that it wasn't precisely directed toward him. Still, he had heard stories about Logan's moods, and was still leery.

"Um. That's good that she's okay. Did she say when she'd be back?"

Logan's hand clenched on the doorknob at the very thought that Marie might not be fine. He took a breath, reminding himself that she was okay and had promised to call regularly. "Wednesday, probably. She's driving the whole way. Maybe later."

Doug tried his hardest not to look dejected. ~I guess that means the...whatever it is...is off.~ "Okay."

"You needed her for somethin'?" It had just occurred to Logan that he'd never met this kid and didn't know why he was asking after Marie.

Doug fidgeted, jamming his hands in his pockets. "Well, I...she and I were supposed to get together to..." He shrugged. "...hang out. And she said I should check in with her when she got back from LA today."

Logan was a little disconcerted that he hadn't heard about her plans, but reminded himself that she had no real reason to tell him if she didn't want to. "Right. Well, she won't be getting back tonight."

Doug nodded. "Okay. That's what I was hoping to find out. Thanks for your help, Mr. Logan."

"You're welcome." A pause, then, "And it's just Logan."

Doug hesitated at the thought of addressing so intimidating a personality by his given name. "Um...okay...Logan." Hands still jammed in pockets, Doug wandered off down the hall, deep in thought.