xp_logs | Doug and Marie (Reply)

Doug and Marie, the date promised in San Diego.

Oh my G-d, Ah have nothing to wear was Marie's only thought as
she stared at the closet over flowing with clothes. A panicked look
at the clock showed that she had less than twenty minutes to put on
make up and pick out an outfit and shoes. "No, no, no, no…" Her hand
brushed this top and that, before finally alighting on a dress that
caused her to smile. Perfect.

Slipping the lavender chiffon dress on over her head, Marie made a
face at her reflection. The dress was perfect, but she still had a
lot to do in…ten minutes?!? That couldn't be right. Rushing to the
bathroom, she applied her make up in record time. A spritz of perfume
and then she dashed back to her closet, grabbing a pair of cream dress
sandals and slipping them on. Moving to stand in front of the mirror,
she looked critically at her reflection. Not half bad.

Doug had built ten extra minutes into his schedule, because if Em was
feeling anything like he was feeling, having some extra time to get
ready after having a nervous breakdown would probably be welcome.

Raising a hand to knock at her door, he grinned slightly at the sight
of it. He hoped she'd be pleasantly surprised.

Starting at the knock, Marie stared at the door for moment. Calm
down. It's just Doug. And it's not like this is the first time
you've gone on a date. She immediately squashed the thought that
it had in fact been years since she had been on one. "Coming!" she
called as she slipped a pair of gloves on and walked to the door.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door were the white
camellias Doug was holding. "They're beautiful," she said, reaching
out to accept them. As her gloved hand brushed against his, she
looked down, her eyes widening in surprise. She looked up, a huge
smile spreading across her face as she brought the flowers up to
inhale their scent.

"I take it you approve, then?" Doug asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Now that Marie had taken the flowers, she could see that Doug was
wearing gloves as well. A pair of black cotton gloves like those
handbell ringers wore covered his hands and tucked away into the cuffs
of his dark gray buttondown shirt.

"You look great," she said, her smile growing bigger, though it was
barely possible. The gloves meant more to her than the flowers,
though both were causing her to blush a little. Taking a vase out,
she arranged the flowers and leaned down to take in one more breath of
their aroma before grabbing a shawl.

"You look...amazing," Doug said after a long pause of taking in the
full effect of Marie's dress, gloves, and shawl. He was a bit stunned
that she thought he looked good. Even though he'd gotten a little
better about such things since he'd been at Xavier's, straight out
compliments on his appearance tended to leave him a little startled.

"Thanks," she said softly as her cheeks darkened from a soft pink to
red. She barely resisted the urge to run her hand through her short
hair and instead took a final glance in the mirror before heading out.
Even with 'Ro taking her to get her hair fixed, she had trouble
thinking anyone could describe her as 'amazing' right now.

She looked at Doug curiously as they walked down the hallway. "So
where are we off to this evening? You were pretty cryptic."

"I hope you like Italian," Doug said nervously. Given his druthers,
he'd have probably fallen back on long habit and gone to Mama Lupe's,
but that was where he and Angie had gone. He didn't want discussion of
Angie to cloud dinner. He had no idea how Mama Lupe would react to the
fact that he and Marie-Ange were broken up. Not to mention the gloves
would be a little out of place at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican
restaurant. Mama Lupe wouldn't say anything, but he couldn't speak for
everyone else there.

"Sounds good," she said brightly, unaware of Doug's anxiety or his
internal musings over Marie Ange. "It just feels nice to be doing
something normal, after San Diego and then Scott's disappearance."
Unable to suppress a momentary shudder, she looked at her date
apologetically. Only at Xavier's did a social life have to be inserted
in between one crisis and the next. "But we don't need to talk about
that tonight."

"I shall say no more," Doug replied. "But it'd be okay if you -did-
want to talk about it, y'know," he added reassuringly. He waved a
hand airily. "And like I've said before and I'll surely say again,
normal is subjective. I mean, yeah, there's the crises that only
Xavier's could spawn, and working crazy long days of disaster relief,
but there's benefits, too." He looked sidelong at Marie, afraid of
actually voicing the overly cheesy compliment his brain had supplied.
He shook his head. "Like the fine array of sports cars in the
garage," he extemporized with a boyish grin. "My lady's chariot
awaits."

"Maybe later," Marie said with a smile that was just a little forced.
Like after five or ten drinks. "Normal may be subjective, but
it's kinda what Ah want for tonight, y' know? Don't get much of a
chance for it." Continuing to smile at Doug as he opened the door of
the car for her, she settled herself into the passenger seat.

Doug nodded. "Oh, I'm not knocking normal. And spending the better
part of a week doing disaster relief definitely makes you appreciate
normal more." Trotting around the car, he started it and put it
smoothly into gear as they headed out the gate.

---

Marie clutched the menu nervously as she looked around the restaurant.
She was usually anxious while out because of her gloves, but no one
had given them a second glance at this establishment. Instead, her
nervousness stemmed from feeling out of place at a place as nice as
the one Doug had selected. She looked around wide eyed before smiling
hesitantly at her date. Suddenly, she entered a whole new plane of
anxiety. She was out on a date with Doug. Stammering a little
as she spoke, she asked, "Have ya been here before?"

Doug had picked the restaurant because it was upscale, and because
Marie's gloves would fit right in. In this setting, she did not look
out of place at all, as everyone who looked at her saw a classic
Southern belle. On the other hand, Doug's own gloves had gotten a
curious raised eyebrow from the maitre'd, though Doug doubted anyone
who didn't have his advantage at reading body language would have
noticed it. But he didn't mind, really, as long as Em didn't feel too
anxious. The stammer and slight tenseness of her body language belied
that hope, though. "Nope," he replied gently. "Mostly I've been
living on my own cooking, takeout, and the occasional curry night with
Amanda. I just...thought this place looked nice." He did his best to
smile reassuringly.

Marie continued to smile at Doug, though the smile finally reached her
eyes. "It's perfect." Looking over the menu, she scanned dish after
dish that seemed just a bit too exotic for her. Finally, her eyes
landed upon something that was more than just the typical pasta and
she set the menu down on the table. Clasping her hands together in her
lap, she began to calm down. "Ah've always wanted to try veal, looks
like Ah'll get mah chance." Her nerves caused her southern accent to
come out more than it usually did.

"I've never had veal myself," Doug admitted. "Mind if I try a bite of
yours when it arrives? I was thinking of getting the chicken marsala
myself. That way if the veal turns out to suck, you can have
something we know will probably be good." He grinned. The waiter
appeared to take their order, then quietly left the table, leaving the
pair to talk. "So, you managed to catch up on your sleep yet since
you've gotten back?" Doug asked. He wasn't entirely sure if he had,
and he hadn't been the one bench-pressing Shamu.

Marie looked off to the side and the expression in her eyes became
troubled."Ah haven't been sleeping all that well," she confessed. She
refrained fromtelling him the fact that her dreams of late also didn't
seem to belong to her exactly. "Just all the stress, y'know? Not too
big a deal," she said and if her cheerfulness was a bit forced, the
hopefulness wasn't. She fell silent as the waiter brought them their
salads.

This was a date, and Doug wanted it to go well. That meant not
bluntly calling Em out on the fact that her smile looked a little
forced, and the 'not too big a deal' had untruth written all over it.
Being blunt and calling the other person on it -never- really worked.
So Doug figured he'd just have to distract her a bit and do his best
at subtly helping where he could. "Shamu, huh?" he asked with a silly
grin as he took a bite of his salad.

A true grin appeared on Marie's face after she let out an overly
dramatic sigh. "Ah am never gonna live that down. You should hear
some of the kiddies at the mansion. One of them even drew me a
picture." She took a bite of her salad before adding, "Of course, in
it Shamu kinda looks like a black and white cow."

Doug giggled slightly, ducking his head. "That's museum-quality
compared to my stick figures. If I'd drawn it, it'd be a little stick
figure with a white streak in her hair carrying an amorphous black and
white blob." He continued to smile. "You did a good job with that,
though. Don't think it means any less than pulling some person from a
building. Saving a life is important, even if it's not a person." He
shook his head. "Besides, you weren't the only one saving animals..."

The giggle was infectious and Marie found herself joining Doug with a
laugh and smile of her own. "Ah certainly felt silly doing it and a
bit guilty for spending time on a fish and not a person. But you
shoulda seen the look on this little girl's face..." Her smile
deepened as she cocked her head. "Who else was going after critters?"

Doug raised a hand sheepishly. "Wanda and I had to rescue some koala
bears at the zoo," he explained. "Of course, by this point we're
completely punchy from days of relief work on questionable sleep and
food, so the whole thing was like a standup routine. Especially when
she fell down on her butt." Doug chuckled at the memory.

If the waiter looked at the pair a little funny as he cleared their
salad plates, Marie didn't notice as she had dissolved into giggles.
She covered her mouth with her hand and had to concentrate in order to
catch her breath. Taking a sip of water, she laid one hand on the
table. "Ah've just got this image of you leading all these animals
around like some kinda Pied Piper," she said with an impish twinkle in
her eye.

"I am -not- Dr. Doolittle," Doug replied defensively, as he had at the
San Diego Zoo. "I do not speak...except I speak cicada, sort of.
Crap." He hunched in his chair and pouted in overly melodramatic
fashion, sticking his lower lip out. Em couldn't worry about not
sleeping well and all that stuff if she was giggling at his antics.
His was a cunning plan.

Marie continued laughing. "Nothing wrong with being like Dr.
Doolittle. Gives you an extra resource...not quite sure what you
could actually _do_ with the cicadas, but Ah'm sure you'd figure
something out." She found herself enjoying the silliness of the
conversation and just the general ease she felt when talking with
Doug.

Doug giggled right along with Marie. "Maybe I'll take over the world
with some giant mutant strain of cicadas that do my bidding. I wonder
if you have to go to Evil Medical School for that, though." He
straightened up and attempted his best Dr. Evil impression. "I'm the
-boss- here, people, throw me a frickin' bone!"

"Just promise me a place in your new society," Marie said, almost
managing to get through her request without cracking up. "Ah'll even
go to Evil Psychology School." They continued talking when their meal
arrived and before she knew it, they had finished their dinner and the
gentle coughing of the waiter was a clear indication that it was time
for them to leave.

Doug wasn't entirely sure how they'd gotten back to the mansion and
Marie's room. The paying of the check and the ride home had been a
pleasant blur, and all too soon they had returned. He bit his lower
lip unobtrusively. He'd had a plan for a long time, since before he'd
dated Marie-Ange. He'd never thought any of that planning would come
to fruition. But Marie had seemed honestly touched by his wearing
gloves for her, and he hoped that she'd like the other plan he'd come
up with.

Doug walked Marie back to her room and she stood in front of the door,
feeling incredibly nervous. She wasn't even sure why...it wasn't like
she would be getting a good night kiss. All she could really expect
was a good night handshake. Despite enjoying the evening, the usual
doubts about dating began to resurface in her mind. After all, what
was the point? She quickly pushed away that thought and smiled at
Doug. "So...Ah guess this would be goodnight."

Continuing to chew on his lower lip, Doug fiddled with something in
his pocket and looked at Marie's face. Now that the moment was upon
him, he was incredibly nervous. "Do you trust me?" he asked
hesitantly.

Marie cocked her head and gave Doug a puzzled look. "Ah...well, Ah
know you wouldn't hurt me. So yes." It was hard for her to admit to
trusting anyone but she knew Doug would never intentionally do
anything to harm her. Accidentally...well, no one could be in control
of those things. Oddly enough, almost all of the people she trusted
most had accidentally harmed her at one point or another.

Fishing a silk handkerchief out of his pocket, Doug shook it open
between two fingers and held it up between them. "Hold this," he told
Marie, handing it to her. After she took it, he gently adjusted her
arms so she held the handkerchief closer and closer to her face.
Finally, when it was practically touching her nose, he reached out and
placed his hands gently on her hips. And then, leaning in, he pressed
his lips to hers, the warmth of his mouth radiating through the
whisper-thin silk. The kiss was short, because Doug didn't want to
spook Marie too badly, but definitely long enough to be noticed. When
he pulled back, he opened his eyes and watched what he could see of
Marie's face that wasn't hidden by the handkerchief, nervous as to how
she would react.

Marie's eyes remained closed as the cloth fluttered out of her numb
hands. Slowly opening her eyes, she remained silent, though the smile
on her face spoke volumes. She reached out to gently brush his face
with one gloved hand, while the other brushed her lips.

"I take it you liked the surprise, then?" Doug asked quietly, bending
down to pick up the handkerchief, holding it loosely in one hand.
He'd dreamt of this exact moment for most of the time before he dated
Marie-Ange, and now the reality was everything he'd thought it would
be.

"Ah...Ah...yes," Marie finally managed to say, her cheeks turning
pink. She was touched at how thoroughly Doug had planned out this
evening. "How'd you learn to be so sweet?" she asked in a tone that
made it obvious she didn't expect an answer. Reaching out for his
hand, she lifted the handkerchief to cover his lips and leaned in to
give him a slightly longer kiss. "Goodnight," she said softly,
ducking inside her room before he could see her cheeks flush red.