xp_logs | Manuel and Paige (Reply)

They meet formally. They chat.

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Paige tugs at the sleeves of her sweater, pulling them down and over her fingertips as she walked. Searching for Manuel was proving to be much more difficult than she originally thought it would be. The school had never felt so large before and she suddenly, for about the tenth time, really wished she could develop some mental powers to go along with her very messy mutation. It would at least make finding people easier. She turns another corner, willing frustration down; it was hardly his fault that her detective skills were lacking.

Manuel, for his part, was sitting in his room with the door open. He's got his iPod going, and his music cranked up. Thus, he really isn't paying too much attention to the comings and goings of people in the hallway.

It was time to make it to the second floor and Paige bounds up the flight of stairs two at a time, hardly bothering to keep her hand on the railing. She could hear something that could possibly be considered music from the top of the stairs and figured that was probably her best bet, walking down the hallway. She pauses at Manuel's door, rapping sharply at the frame. "Knock knock?"

Manuel looked at Paige, and then presses PAUSE on his iPod. "Come in." he says in heavily accented English. "You ... are Paige, yes?"

"Don't you know it," she replies cheerfully, making her way into the room and popping herself up on a corner of a desk that wasn't occupied with papers. "And you are Manuel. Manuel Alphonso Rodrigo de la Rocha according to your journal. Pardon my lack of appropriate accent."

Manuel just smirks at that. "If you speak slowly, I'll be able to talk in English." he said. "What brings you here?"

"I should hope you could speak to me in English. The only other language I can speak is Spanish, and not especially well." Paige's speech did slow down, however, her "newscaster accent" coming into play. "I came to see you, of course."

Manuel waves a hand negligently. "I am here." he says in English. ~You speak Spanish?~ he asks in Castillian.

Paige smiles at that. ~Not for a while. Somewhat,~ she answered, her Spanish hardly flawless but certainly decent. ~I am a product of the American education system, after all.~

Manuel just grins at that. "Unfortunately." he adds, in English for your benefit.

"We can't all go to fancy boarding schools," Paige pointed out, thankful for the switch back.

Manuel shrugs that off, there not being a whole lot he can say to that. "Is there something you wanted from me?" he asks.

"Just a hello. A face to match the name and all that, plus reducing the excuses you could think up for not using my name, pet or otherwise, in the future." Paige smiled as she said it, clearly teasing him.

Manuel picks that up easily, his power being what it is. "You mock me?" he asks slowly, scanning Paige’s feelings to verify what she says. "I have seen you before." Not at the best angle, and he _was_ a little distracted at the time...

"As often as I can," she chirped, turning her smile into a grin. "I know you have. You were busy, though."

"I was." he admits with a smile. "This does not bother you." he says,
making it a statement, not a question.

Paige answered it anyway, shrugging. "Embarrasses, perhaps, but certainly doesn't bother me. No one seems to be getting hurt in the situation."

Manuel nods. "Not at all. She isn't like that. Now - you had asked me about colors, yes?"

"That was Lorna, actually, but I'm somewhat curious myself." Paige kicked her legs a little, bringing one foot up to rest under her. She was content with Manuel's answer about Amanda and himself. "Would you mind telling me?"

Manuel looks thoughtful for a second. "I will try." he says. "I am an empath. You know this. I see emotions as colors."

Paige nodded thoughtfully, but didn't reply much more than a positive, "Mhm."

"Intensity, hue, and the color itself all have meaning. Passions are red, fears are yellow, doubt is black, that sort of thing. By looking at the colors, I can see how people feel." There's a lot he's not saying, but he offers that as a preliminary explanation.

"Makes sense so far," she answered simply. "So, when you say I am filled with greens, blues and yellows I am what and fearful?"

Manuel shakes his head. "Yellow is a complicated color. Yellow is fear and doubt, but yellow is also warmth, and friendship, and friendliness. The intensity and strength of the color determine what feeling it is."

Paige bit her lip a little, nodding again. It was a look of intense concentration, how she usually got when she was discussing mutations with another. "Okay. More complicated than I expected but I suppose it couldn't not be, under the circumstances."

Manuel smiles thinly. "And that's just the very beginning of it. Very few emotions exist by themselves. So there's how the colors interact, blend into one another ... I don't have the words to describe it."

"Your own personal aurora borealis swarming around everyone. Pretty and very annoying all at the same time." Paige pulled at her sweater as she spoke, thinking more out loud than anything. "You must get horrible headaches."

Manuel smiles thinly again. "Once, but not now. I have grown used to it." Considering it was that or go mad...

Paige might not be an empath but she could certainly read that look. She stretched out a leg, kicking him playfully. "All right, come on. New, more happy topic now."

Manuel smiles despite himself. Her good moods must be infectious. "Did you prefer we discuss something ... else?" he asks with a leer.

Paige was, once again, oblivious. "Yes please. I can only handle the grr for so long."

Manuel leans back in his chair and gives Paige the ol' once-over. "Well, that depends on you. What would _you_ like to discuss?" He's smirking again, his roguish one that Amanda always tells him makes him look too cute for his own damned good.

"Actually, I have not a clue. I came for a hello and didn't really plan much after that," Paige replied. She was clearly not used to any sort of once-over and missed it entirely. "Usually I make up cue cards, or at least write something on my hand. Bad me."

Manuel smirks. It's so nice to be dealing with an innocent from time to time. Scooting closer, he trails his fingertips along the back of her hand briefly. ""So your afternoon is free, I take it?" he asks with a rakish grin.

Paige drew her hand back, but only to look at her watch. "Mm... I have a meeting of sorts later, but that's not for a couple of hours. Why?"

He smirks again. "I can think of some very pleasant ways to pass a few hours..." he says suggestively.

Tilting her head curiously, Paige tried not to look too confused. "Manuel, you're the empath, not I. Nor am I a mind reader, much as it disappoints me. You're going to have to be a little more blunt."

After his conversation with Remy, he's trying very, very hard to not just take what he wants. "Allow me to be a little more blunt. You're a very pretty girl. I'd like to get to know you better. Will you stay for a few hours?" he says.

Finally, her "Danger Will Robinson!" radar was going off, if only quietly and at the back of her mind. "Thank you, Manuel, that's sweet of you. However, I'm not sure what that has to do with our getting to know each other better, not to mention I thought that's what we were already doing?"

Manuel smiles. "There's knowing, and then there's _knowing_. But if you are not interested, then so be it. Tell me, Paige, what do you do for fun?" And it just about kills him to say that.

Paige is quite confused at this point, but she answers as best as she can without halting too much. "Um. I'm the horse girl of this school. So that. I run a lot? As well as train. Read. Not big on the fun factor I guess."

"That is ... unfortunate." he adds sympathetically. "Your life does not sound very much like fun. You should take a lover, get out more. See the world."

"I have," Paige answered easily. She was getting better at this and held up two fingers. "Two, actually." She shrugged. "I don't really have the time to get out more, though."

Manuel quirks a brow. So maybe she wasn't quite so much of the innocent. Still, Remy's words rung in his mind, so he did not probe to get the interesting details. "I see. Good for you. I'm sure that they are lucky people indeed. And you should make time - what do you need to do that is so urgent that it takes away from you?"

"Something like that," Paige said a little flatly. She shrugged again. "School. Work. Training. My horse. It all takes up time."

Manuel can't bring himself to question Paige's judgment - her confidence in her own decisions and her determination are leaking through. So he just nods in agreement. "As for me, I spend my time in therapy, or going to classes, or talking to Ms Frost. And I find the time here and there to keep myself amused." As Paige well knows, as she's seen it.

Paige smiled at that. "How well balanced of you. I should probably learn to do it myself one of these days."

Manuel decides to take a risk, sans-powers. "No time like the present..." he adds suggestively.

Something finally clicked and Paige laughed, though not rudely or entirely at him. "Manuel! You've been hitting on me!"

Manuel laughs along with Paige. "I admit it, I have been. Does this offend you?”

"Not so much," she said, honestly, blushing a little. "I'm just not used to it."

Manuel looks surprised by this. "Now I am surprised." he says. "A girl looking as beautiful as you should be overwhelmed with suitors."

Paige laughed, ducking her head a little. "Angelo and Jono aren't especially... welcoming to the idea. They tend to beat not only each other up, but anyone else who makes advances too."

"The Mexican and the guy missing half his face? I'm not very worried about them. I am very good at deflecting scorned lovers. But it is your decision, of course. I will not influence you one way or the other." Even though he could, so very easily...

Paige kicked him again, amused. "Yes, them." She gave him a pleased look, almost proud. "Thank you for letting me decide. I have a feeling that you don't have to. But, I'm quite fond of Angelo and Jono, and it's confusing enough with just the two of them. It's best I don't make it three."

Manuel laughs. "I'm not asking you for a _relationship_. God, no! That would be ... ill-advised. All I was asking for was an afternoon. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I figured you weren't. But I'm only okay with that sort of thing so long as it doesn't hurt other people, remember? It would hurt them, not to mention me." Paige smiled at him. "If you can handle just conversation, though, you know where to find me."

Manuel quirks a brow. "I do not understand." he says, the confusion plain. "Do you think so little of me that you believe I would hurt you? I am very ... good, at bringing pleasure..."

Paige snorted at that, blushing a little. "That's not what I meant. I'm sure you're... very talented." Paige bit her lip. "It's more the fact that I'm all gooey in love with Jono and Angelo and being with someone else doesn't really interest me, pent up hormones or not."

Manuel takes another quick look empathically, to confirm her words. "So you are." he muses. "How unfortunate for me. A pity, really. Sure I can't change your mind?"

"Not any natural way, no," Paige said gently, shaking her head.

Thanks for pointing that back out, and Manuel winces briefly at the mention. "I see." he says, noncommittally. "Since I'm not going to change your mind with words, and I'm trying very hard to not do it the easier way, I suppose the Cajun wins this round. I accept your decision, although not without some sadness. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Paige didn't like that look, and resists hugging him. "The honor of your lovely conversation a little later?" You know, when I'm not making you look like I just ran over your dog. You sure do have a way with people, Paige.

Manuel perks up a little at that. Perhaps this hasn't been a complete loss... "I'd like that." he says. "And perhaps, later, when things are not so conflicting ..." he adds hopefully.

"Ten points for persistence," Paige answers to that, grinning and shaking her head. She jumps off the desk, hair falling over her shoulders. "I suppose now is when I exit the room and let you come to your own conclusions. Shouldn't be that difficult."

Manuel smiles brightly. "I am very persistent, when the people I'm around are persistent. And since you are, I am. I'd like that talk later. Alphonso used to own horses..." he adds, by way of incentive.

Paige laughed. "Using myself against me. How very naughty and brilliant of you all at the same time," she answered to both parts of his own response. "So it's settled. You'd like that talk, as would I, and you now brought up horses, so how can I resist?"

Manuel looks a little sad at that. "I have no choice." he says softly. But he rallies and then smiles at Paige. "Another time, then?"

Paige gave him a warm look, resisting brushing his hair away from his face if only because she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. "Another time. Promise." She made her way to the door, pausing at the jamb.

"Promise." he echoes back to her. "I will hold you to that."

"I always keep my promises, Manuel," she answered simply and slipped out of the room.

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Now, that wasn't so bad, now, was it?