Doreen & Julian: Lonely Guy Smell

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Doreen seeks Julian out for some company and ends up dragging him outside for his own good.

There was a tree outside Julian’s window and it wasn’t the biggest tree, or the strongest one but the branches let her get up to, and walk towards his window.

She knocked. Hoping he was there.

Hearing a knock, Julian turned his head away from the computer screen toward the door. Something about it hadn't seemed right- but perhaps it had just been a light rapping. After a moment's hesitation, he got out of his chair and went to open the door- only to be confronted with air. "Hello?"

Doreen could hear his ‘hello’ just barely and knocked on the window louder. “I’m over here!” she said, not too sure if it would be heard through the glass or not. “Julian!”

It was and Julian jumped with a sudden surge of adrenaline hitting his heart. Spinning around he spotted Doreen waving to him from outside the window by Fred's bed and quickly made his way over, doing his best to calm down. Opening the window, Julian did his best to smile, "You scared the hell out of me, Dori."

“Oh no!” she said, her face falling a bit as Monkey Joe took the opportunity to jump into Julian and Fred’s room, sniffing around in search of food, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. Anyway… wanna come outside? It’s really nice out.” She had the tan to attest to it. It would’ve made some of the girls back home jealous, but it only meant to her that she wasn’t sunburned.

The momentary pang to join her passed after a moment when he reminded himself that he should really do everyone a favor and just stay in his room for the time being. "Thanks, Dori, but maybe next time." He looked away, over to Monkey Joe who was struggling in vain to get the top drawer of Julian's dresser open- a small stash of Snickers bars were inside.

Doreen frowned and moved closer, she could get through the window if she had to, “Monkey Joe, stop that! We have food outside!” she said, seeing what her other friend was up to, “Are you sure? It’s a great day out and,” she paused and sniffed, “It smells like lonely guy in here so you really should come outside.”

Despite his foul mood, Julian managed a smile, "That has a smell now, hmm?" He made his way over to Monkey Joe and shooed him away, quickly opening the drawer and pulling out a candy bar before tossing it toward the open window. "I'm not lonely," he lied.

“It’s ALWAYS had a smell,” Doreen said as Monkey Joe ran after the candy bar, managing to catch it in a way only a squirrel could and she started to work her way in the open window, “Are you sure? It’s not like you to stay in one place so much that it starts to smell musty and lonely. It’s a great day outside. See? I’m tanned. I bet Cas would’ve been so jealous of it,” she said with a buck-toothed smile.

Plopping back down on his bed, Julian nodded in appreciation of her tone. "She only ever fake-baked- you always looked better than her." He sighed, it had always been easy with Cas. "Besides, she was a bitch...seem to be a lot of those around though."

“I wasn’t that pretty,” Doreen said, managing her way through the window with ease, “And that’s not nice, you know. I’m sure everyone has their reasons for what they do. Why, is someone being mean to you right now? That’s odd, you’re always really good with girls. I mean, they sort of kind of flock to you,” she mused, stretching and making sure she was keeping her claws from killing the floor. It was easier said than done, the last few days Doreen had only ventured inside for food and bathroom breaks. Today she looked decidedly feral, even if she was in control right now.

"Unfortunately, that seems to be part of the problem," Inez, Angel, Esme...he wondered who else had developed a crush on him since his arrival. "Back home...I mean, in Beverly, I had a girlfriend and that sufficiently quashed any drama like this." A sigh and a shake of the head, "Yeah, someone is being mean to me."

“Who’s being mean to you?” Doreen asked, sitting on his bed and helping Monkey Joe open the candy bar and took a piece for herself, “And Cas scared away the other drama, I don’t think anyone here is quite like her.”

"Angel," Julian said sucinctly. Then, noticing her confused look, he realized his error, "No, she's not like Cas. She's being mean...has Yvette turned on me again and stuff." Keller sighed again, he'd just mended that divide.

“She did?! Why would she do that?” Doreen said, her eyes wide, this didn’t seem right. She sighed, this was the type of stuff she missed when she stayed out doors, “That’s not nice at all!”

Julian held up a hand and shook his head, dismissing her misperception. "No, no, no...I totally deserve it. I sort of," another uncertain hand gesture, "crossed a line."

“Well, what did you do? It can’t be so bad that you couldn’t just say you’re sorry,” Doreen returned.

A small snicker crossed his lips, "Kissed Esme at the prom to start with. Then, when it looked like there might be some sort of reconciliation...Manuel set us up for dinner together- the bastard." With a sigh he continued, "She crossed the line by pointing out how her parents actually cared about her. Then I may have said something about how she...well...." A shade of blush set into his cheeks, sex never having been part of the conversations Doreen and he had shared til this point. "Basically told her that she's a prude."

“What? Why?” Doreen asked with a raised eyebrow, “I mean, I don’t know her well, but she really doesn’t seem like the kind of girls back home and I guess compared to some of them she would be,” Doreen tilted her head to one side then suddenly face palmed, “Boys are dumb. Why are you all so stupid?”

Another dejected sigh, "Yeah, I'll get back to you on that one. I was waaaay out of line- but it's not something that an I'm sorry is going to cover." Julian looked into her eyes, the regret obvious on his face. "And now Yvette hates me too."

“Yeah, you pretty much blew it,” at least if he said what she thought he was trying to say and she was pretty sure he was, “I mean, you could try to explain yourself, but that might not work and wow, I thought you said you liked her. Did you not or something? I mean, the stuff with Yvette might be kind of hard because I think she and Angel are best friends, right?”

"Roommates, besties and yeah, I'm not seeing any way on repairing that chasm." He looked out the window, "I need to get out of here, Dori...back to the West Coast or the ocean at least." Wistfully he continued, "I have the sudden urge to go surf."

“Yeah, it’d be great to go to the beach,” Doreen said, looking up, “If you go to the right ones, only a few people stare and stuff. But everyone stares at you for a different reason, so I guess we’re both kinda used to it.”

It took him a moment to process what Doreen meant by that, "Yeah- I wonder if there's any good ones around here." A strange question struck him, "Which beaches would those be by the way?"

“I don’t know, I liked Zuma beach,” she said, “It’s pretty there… Paradise is okay, I mean, we didn’t get to go out TOO much. And it was annoying having to tailor swimsuits and some places in L.A. there were people that looked even weirder than me.”

A scoff, "You don't look...well, you look different, but not in a bad way. You're very cute, Dori." He offered her a reassuring smile, "Even if you do look a little wild right now...what have you been up to out there?"

“I dunno,” Doreen said, looking down at her clawed feet, “I’m just having fun outside and I’m really not the type most guys like. I mean, don’t guys like blondes,” she said with a toothy smile. It was half a joke.

"If that were true, I'd be dating Inez," Julian quipped in return. "You just haven't met the right guy then. There are seven billion people in the world...gotta be one out there who can keep up with you."

“Yeah, but I thought we both agreed guys were stupid. Not that I like girls or anything. Besides, Monkey Joe might get jealous so I’ll just be a wild animal for awhile. It’s fun, you should try it. Come outside! Please?” Doreen asked, returning to her original reason for being here.

It'd be better than sitting at his desk the rest of the night without any homework to do. With a sigh he stood up, "Mind if we take the door though? I'm not quite as good as you at climbing trees."

“I don’t mind at all,” Doreen said, standing up and taking Monkey Joe with her, “Let’s go! It’ll be fun! I hope you’re hungry! We’ll have sandwiches. I have everything I need in a cooler in the tree house,” she rambled.