Log: Manuel and Laurie

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Morning after Prom, Laurie goes to speak to Manuel in search of understanding.



Laurie paused for a moment, going over in her head one last time the things she wanted to say and then she knocked on the door of Manny and Kyle's suite. She knew Manny's little sister wasn't around at the moment, and so he shouldn't have any protests about talking with her. Any he did have, she was hoping she could lay to rest, which was mostly why she was here.

Due to the shields over their suite, Manuel did not know who it was until he opened the door. His first impulse was to close the door in her face. His mannerisms barely kept that at bay, though his disdain was obvious. "There is a point where a subject is dead."

"Stop making assumptions even before I open my mouth," Laurie said, irritation lacing her tone. "Do you have time to talk?"

She was keeping a tight reign on her power, making sure not even a whiff of it escaped her control.

He would not invite her in. By doing so, it would be only the two of them and the whirlwind of other emotions sat comfortably in the background for him. "Talk." He stepped outside of the suite and closed the door, one hand behind his back on the knob, the other gripping his cane.

"I just want to know what I did that was so wrong," Laurie said after a deep breath, and a slight step back to keep an equal distance between them. "Whatever I did that scared you, I'm sorry."

Manuel exhaled slowly, pulling patience out . "It is not you that has done anything wrong but us as a combination. Understand I am trying to gain lost control and I am easily absorbed in your powers. Whether it is a reflection of your desires or not, it is not mine. Your powers bring out the monster in me. Had you asked that in the first place, perhaps I would have been less inclined to be rude to you and given further explanation."

Laurie bit her lip, resisting the urge to fold her arms around herself. It was so hard sometimes, to just listen without retaliation. She'd only just started to accept that her powers were a part of her, and that that wasn't a bad thing.

"I..." She started, and then breathed in and out for a moment, never taking her eyes off the man in front of her. "We won't always be able to avoid each other, Manuel. I mean, well, I don't mean to be a bitch, but you're the last person I'd let touch me in a million years right now. I don't think you want me any more then I want you. Maybe that's been what you've been wanting, but isn't that just as bad? I'd rather not want to murder you just because I'm angry and we have some kind of weird power spike. There's got to be a way to work around this, we just have to try."

"You are being slightly extreme," Manuel replied dryly."Trying requires me to spend time with you, a lot of time and at this point, I have no desire to further our interactions. It is not as though we are friends, there is no loss."

He didn't quite understand the pressing issue here. He was convinced that his slow gain of control would ease the lack of control when he was with her and it was an issue he did not care to spare much thought on. He had more pressing issues.

"You really are..." Laurie began, and then simply shook her head and looked at the roof for a moment to calm her irritation. Why was he so stubborn? "I might have liked you as a friend, did that never occur to you? I don't usually invite random strangers to take me to Prom on a whim. It doesn't matter, I got what I came for, an explanation. Good day, Manuel."

An idiot? A jerk? Impossible? He could fill in the blanks of all the emotions that radiated from her at that particular moment. And while he was pleased that he could feel it so specifically, he had to wonder just how much Cammie's charge from the previous night had raised his awareness of Laurie's alluring powers or everyone's emotions for that matter.

"Good day."