xp_logs | Manuel, Valentia & Forge, then Manuel & Adrienne

Manuel decides that he must not like his sister very much because he subjects her to Forge and the final dismantling of car parts.

Had someone told him a year ago he would be going down to the garage to give his sister over to Forge for babysitting, not only would he have laughed, but he would have asked them what they were on to make such a ridiculous notion. Yet there he was, walking into the garage, one hand firmly gripping the wolf head of his ebony cane while the other was clasped around a smaller hand of his sister's. His shielding was down, deliberately so he could sense anything ill from Forge, though he doubted that suspicion very much. Forge was as loud as they got in empathy.

"Forge," he called out and his sister shrank behind him , pulling his searching gaze down to her.

"One second, or more accurately about seven and a half..." came Forge's voice from the rear of his black sports car, followed by the high-pitched sounds of spring form metal popping loose from bolts, and the clatter of a section of exhaust pipe coming free. With the rattle of metal wheels, Forge slid out from under the car on a small trolley, standing up and wiping his hands off on a rag. Completely ignoring, of course, the large streak of grease down one side of his face. "Hey, Manuel. This would be... Valentia, yes?"

To his credit, he actually pronounced Manuel's sister's name correctly, a rarity given how abominably bad Forge's accent tended to be in any languages other than English, and even THAT was questionable on some days.

Manuel looked up, curious at the pronunciation but pleased that it was, for once, pronounced without correction. Not that he usually bothered to correct people, it was generally difficult to have them to stop calling her Val as opposed to her full name.

"Yes this is her." He tugged, or tried to, making a great effort to attempt to pull her from out behind him until her arm snapped in and she buried herself against his backside. A very gesture which was awkward for Manuel and he stepped away from her. But she maintained her position behind him until he was scratching at his forehead in admitted defeat.

"She seems to have fixed herself to my posterior. Do you have a crowbar?"

"Yes," Forge said without any trace of humour. "Although I think I might have a better method. Hold on." He reached out to a strange-looking metal dome on his workbench, snapping his fingers as two vents opened in the top and the telltale glow of electric heaters became visible within. "Ever seen Return of the Jedi? Watch this: Artoo, dispense sustenance."

At his vocal command, the device beeped and with the sound of compressed air, launched two small rectangles into the air, which Forge snatched deftly, offering one towards Valentia. "Pop-Tart?" he asked by way of invitation to the small girl. "They're blueberry."

Valentia was equally fascinated as Manuel was. Until the pop-tarts came out. "This could be the very reason you appal women and draw them," he marvelled. "You are truly shameless in your geekery."

The pop tart offer had its effect and for once, she didn't look to Manuel for support. Instead, she came out, black pants, black sweater and a black headband pushing back her hair. In fact, the only colour on her was Manuel's red tie, which he had yet to make her part with. "There. A woman after my own heart," Manuel said proudly as she took the pop tart from Forge, but reglued herself to her brother. "Easily swayed by food."

"She doesn't speak, does she?" Forge asked rhetorically before squatting back down on the trolley and wheeling himself around to the other side of the car, where one of the tires had been removed, exposing the brakes. "If she understands English, though, we're in business."

He pointed to an open toolbox by where Manuel and his sister were standing. As would be expected, it contained a selection of socket wrenches, callipers, and other automotive tools. Unlike a normal toolbox, however, every tool had one or more colored tabs attached to the handle. "Valentia," Forge called without looking up from the brake assembly. "Could you bring me the adjustable wrench? The one with the red and blue handle, please?"

Valentia looked at where Forge was, to the toolbox and then to her brother. " She does not speak English Forge. She is learning." He translated what Forge had said and she still did not move and he was beginning to think this was a disaster.

"Ah," the young inventor said, thinking. "Plan B."

Forge walked to the toolbox, and picked up the adjustable wrench. "Wrench," he said conversationally, nodding to Valentia, then pointing at the colors. "Red. Blue. Si? Rojo y azul."

Valentia gestured her thanks in sign language, taking another bite out of the pop-tart and looked to her brother, signing 'how'. Manuel leaned down but shook his head, conveying without words that he didn't know how to say wrench in sign language.

"Va a estar bien aquí?" he asked, vocalizing his concerns to whether or not she would be okay in Forge's company. She gestured another thank you - her way of saying yes, much to Manuel's disapproval - and he turned to Forge as he stood.

"Please take care of her." His tone was genuine.

The level of trust Manuel was showing was not lost on Forge. Kneeling down by Valentia, he raised one hand to his mouth, then extended it palm-up, then placed his left fist in his right hand, raising them slightly. "Thank you for the help," he translated out loud. Looking up to Manuel, he shrugged. "I picked up a few bits of sign language here and there from Blackagar."

The gesture surprised Manuel, as well as his sister and she felt the assurance from Manuel as his fears settled like dust. Briefly, he touched her shoulder in acknowledgement that he was leaving, saluting a brief nod to Forge before he turned away. Forge had just earned his respect in ways he could not explain.

Watching Manuel leave, Forge scooted back over to the brake assembly with his wrench. "And now, Miss de la Rocha," he said with a grin, "we're going to learn how to strip a brake rotor. Might as well jump in with both feet. First off, wheel," indicating the tire with a nod, making the simple signing gesture as he did so.

She certainly wouldn't be the most skilled assistant he'd had, but sometimes, silent company was the best.

---------

While Forge is looking after Valentia, Manuel decides to go for a swim to relieve some tension and runs into Adrienne. They talk about the latest Hellfire Club event and she wants an invitation.

Having finished her laps for the morning more quickly than anticipated, Adrienne huffed out tired breaths and floated on her back in the water with her eyes closed, taking a few moments to enjoy the incubated feeling that came with being submersed in the water. A shadow fell across her face, darkening the insides of her eyelids, and she opened them quickly, startled. The downside of being incubated was that she hadn't heard anyone approaching.

Manuel's hands slipped to her back, steadying her in the water and helping Adrienne stand up. "You always struck me as the type to relax when no one is looking." His hands recoiled from her and he drifted back in the water, leaving a ripple in his wake.

Adrienne considered chasing Manuel and trying to dunk him, just because she knew touching him would annoy him, but she held off on her instinct. Instead, she gave him a smile and drifted towards him leisurely. "I didn't think anyone was looking. Usually nobody's in the pool at this time." She thought that meant he and Morgan were still at odds with each other, not swimming together at the ungodly hour they usually did, but Adrienne didn't bring it up as it wasn't any of her business whether they got along or not. Just because she got along with both of them tolerably well didn't mean she cared if they were friends. "And what are the White Bishop's plans for world domination today?" she asked conversationally.

"The usual; complete world domination, beginning with a ritualistic sacrifice of awful sports such as baseball. Who have you been hanging out with to develop a taste for such an disreputable sport?" Manuel backed up in the water, maintaining the distance between them.

"Baseball is not disreputable," Adrienne scoffed, chasing after him slowly, stalking him like prey. "Things like football and boxing and cockfighting are disreputable. Baseball is very reputable!" It probably didn't help her case that she liked boxing, but she didn't admit that. "If you're sacrificing sports, start with football. Or Ultimate Fight Club or whatever the hell it's called. When will the next sacrifice be taking place?" She gave him a thousand-watt smile of obviousness so he would know she wasn't sneaking around about wanting an invitation to the next Hellfire Club meeting.

"Americans like baseball. The rest of the world enjoys soccer. Majority rules. Perhaps you should side with your King instead of with the peasants." Manuel was never prey, not even with his cane. Except with Remy, where he was simply a fixation for removal should he step out of line. The key word with Remy was not 'if' he stepped out of line but 'when', a minor detail Manuel was going over this morning as he considered a specific contact.

Adrienne canted her head in an interpretation of a shrug, letting Manny gain some distance on her as she didn't want to make him uncomfortable by chasing him. "I don't mind soccer," she admitted. "European, that is. Not a huge fan of American league soccer. I just don't catch it very often. My free time is rather limited and I tend to devote only so much of it to sport, so I usually choose baseball since it's the most prominent. I didn't know you liked soccer, Señor." She would have to prod him again later about the Hellfire Club invitation to see if he was avoiding the subject or had just been more interested in discussing sports than the club.

"It is by heritage that I enjoy soccer. My bloodlines do not allow for another sport to fit into my life and I cannot be bothered with anything else. The Spanish man needs his rivals, Señorita, for a sport to be worth his attention." Now was he still talking about sports or something else?

One of Adrienne's eyebrows shot up as she read between the lines of Manuel's statement. "I'll take your word on that, Señor." Change in topic, perhaps? "So what brings you to the pool at this hour? Don't you usually swim with Morgan? You two aren't still spitting at each other like a couple of cats, are you?"

One for Manuel. Zero for Adrienne. He smiled. "No, we are finished with that. It has defused itself, that is, until Laurie comes back." He backed up another pace, pushing off the bottom to drift in his float. "I am trying to build muscle in my legs without the use of the cane. That and there is a sense of false freedom I rather enjoy. You?"

"I always swim alone," Adrienne quipped. "But still, she usually swims with you. So what, she's off with her boy toy?" Realizing that Manuel might not know about the boy toy, Adrienne added a quick 'whoops' as she moved into a lazy backstroke. "I didn't say anything if you don't already know anything, right?"

"You mean Sam?" Manuel stopped, setting his feet down on the ground and threw his head back, rich with laughter. It was a good steady two minutes before he recovered, but his laughing didn't die, it only slowed, shaking his shoulders in silence. "Please--" he gestured, wiping the corner of his eye. "Do not do that again. I am afraid it is contagious-"

Manuel's laughter set Adrienne off and she had to stand up before she drowned herself. It was indeed contagious. "I'm guessing you're not a fan of the good ol' Southern boy dating the blueberry?" she asked when she'd laughed herself out of breath.

"Oh no, it is not that. By far, it is not. I do not care who dates who. I find it amusing is all. Doomed for failure," his chuckle died down slightly, replaced by a grin that was not easily wiped off his face.

Adrienne lost her composure again, laughing until she started coughing. "You are a horrible, horrible person, Señor, but I love you so much right now."

"Is it my Jekyll and Hyde persona that you love or that I simply cannot stomach a relationship that teeters too close to normal?" He turned and sunk down again, lazily stroking his arms backwards, away from her.

"Jekyll and Hyde, most certainly," she assured him. "Please; you presume to think I have the faintest idea what a 'normal' relationship is? I'm not even going to touch that one with a ten foot pole. I don't know what the hell normal is, so I don't have anything to say about that." She headed over to the side of the pool, not wanting to chance swimming again and possibly drowning. "Are you going to the next Hellfire Club meeting?" she asked, not bothering to be casual about it.

"Of course," he smiled and turned disappearing under the water. He enjoyed the freedom he had in here and the muffed quiet around him was mildly refreshing even though emotions were fairly loud around him. He came up a few lengths away and turned, falling back into that lazy pace as he slowly approached her to pass. Naturally he was waiting and she knew this by the expression on his face.

Adrienne rolled her eyes at him, though she was amused. "You're going to make me ask, aren't you, Captain Cryptic? Fine, I have no problem asking as long as it's you and there's no one around," she teased. "Could I possibly be your date for the next Hellfire Club function?"

"Assuming I do not already have a date, yes?" he asked, though it was plain to see he was willing to make this as painful as possible for her.

"And you're assuming you're my only option?" she answered, grinning. "You may be my first choice, but if you have a date I'm sure I could find someone else to escort me; I have been having lunch lately with various people I met at previous functions."

"Mmhmm," he turned over as he passed her, watching her for a moment. "I had no plans of taking anyone with me, however if you want a foot in the door, I may be able to provide that option." For a price.

Giving him a calculated look, Adrienne kicked her feet in the water, splashing him lightly as he passed. "You've taken me to a few functions in the past, and you must know full well I've been using you to get my foot in the door because you are not an idiot, and now you're going to freeze me out? This is an interesting game we're playing, Señor." She said it evenly, no trace of emotion in her voice, but if he was feeding on her emotions he would know she was mildly amused, with the slightest hint of irritation. "I'm assuming if you're willing to 'provide that option' you're looking for something in return?"

Manuel tossed his head sideways, avoidant of the splash despite being wet.

"The courts are always in a game of constantly shuffling. Some are in, some are out. Most are always trying to get their foot in the door." He was doing the same, only in a different manner. Most thought he was in a coma still, though word was spreading fairly quickly that he was very much alive, well and walking."I am not looking for what you think I am looking for."

Adrienne shot off the side of the pool and leapt at Manny, cuffing him around the neck with an elbow and dunking his head underwater for a second before darting away, out of reach, or so she hoped. "I don't think you're looking for sex, and I thought you knew me better now than to assume I thought you wanted sex," she commented. "I know you're not interested in me sexually, and I wouldn't offer anyway." Once upon a time she would have offered sex to get what she wanted, but not anymore. "I was talking about me getting you information. Christ," she scoffed, "or maybe babysitting for you or something."

Water rolled off Manuel's body as he stood up more from being dunked, spitting some out, with a firm grasp of her ankle in his clutches. "Or something?" he mused, dragging her through the water and lifting her leg up more. If she kicked, he'd just grab the other foot. "I have a babysitter already and you would have to know what is going on within the club to know what information I want. No, I would like something better. Though what could you give a man who cares for nothing?" The last part being mostly true, as he had lost a fair amount due to his teenaged antics.

She did kick, and her mind went blank with old, familiar panic, aided in part by the nature of their conversation, and she cried out in pure fear before her senses kicked back in and reminded her that this was Manuel and he wasn't going to hurt her. Adrienne forced herself to relax and let him tow her through the water, though she could feel herself shaking. "I can find out what's going on within the club, and what information you want," she reminded him, voice steady. "I'm a psychometrist, remember? But what is it you want?"

Manuel frowned but he didn't let her go. "What was that that you just did?" he asked evenly, despite her current state. "That was..." he let go of her leg, letting her get away and allowing her the space she needed. "You are scared... of me. Why?"

Adrienne shook her head quickly, feeling guilty, though she made no move to close the distance he'd put between them. "I'm not scared of you. Really; I just... forgot myself for a moment. It's nothing. But I'm not scared of you. I'm sorry if I made you think I would be scared of you."

"If I scare you, or my actions, what do you think another in the Hellfire club will do?" Manuel began to approach her again, stalking. Clearly he was ignoring her reassurances to herself that she was not afraid.

"If another from the Hellfire Club grabbed me by the legs in a swimming pool, I'd punch them first and ask them what they're doing later," she answered without hesitation, jutting out a hip and staring him down. "I let you off easy because you put me to bed when I was drunk once." The self defence courses and boxing lessons hadn't been taken in vain- Adrienne had no plans to be a victim ever again and though the fear had clouded her senses for a moment, she'd put it behind her and had gotten past it to see reason- in this case, not fighting back because it was Manuel and she wasn't threatened by him.

He closed his hand over her bicep, pulling her into him and the amusement in his voice was gone. "And if they looked and acted like me, then what would you do Senorita? Would you ignore your instinct of being afraid, like you are now? Would you recognize me under the spell of telepathy or would you be able to tell another wearing my skin?"

"I'm not ignoring it," Adrienne countered, glaring daggers at him, "I'm being rational through the fear. Not paralysed. Thinking through it. I know being afraid is healthy, but letting it dictate your life is not. If you were under the spell of telepathy or someone was mimicking you there wouldn't be a thing I could do to recognize it," she answered, "I'd be caught off guard, and then I'd fight because that's what I'm learning to do. But I won't go around assuming everyone is out to get me, either. I won't live like that anymore." Green eyes gleamed and she leaned in close to him. "What would your instincts do if I kissed you right now?" she queried, trying to turn the tables on him by using his obvious intimacy issues.

He let her go and moved away from her in the water, not rising her to bait but ignoring it instead. "In the hellfire club, you trust no one. Not even your peers. The knife is always closer to your back than you think and too late to recognize when it draws blood."

The brunette canted her head towards him. "Point taken, and thanks for the warning. Now, can I go with you or not? You still haven't said what it is you want."

"Your first time was a free pass. This time, it will cost you. Payment will come later - call it an I.O.U."

"Well, gee, I can't wait to see what it is, Captain Cryptic," Adrienne rolled her eyes, splashing him again.