xp_logs | Marie-Ange and Manuel - "The case had been tried by the jury inside"

Who: Marie-Ange and Manuel
What: She makes him an offer that he'd be a fool to refuse
When: Early evening on Wednesday
Rating: R. A solid R.

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By the time Marie-Ange got Manuel's response, it was late in the evening, past sundown. Making the excuse of "girl stuff' , she ducked out of the room and down the hallway. Steeling herself, determined to get this done, she knocked on Manuel's door.

Manuel's got the door cracked, as usual, and is sitting on his bed, listening to his iPod. "Ah, Marie-Ange. Come in." he says in passably good English

Both Marie-Ange's eyebrows rose as she noticed the excess of clothing on the floor, and she opted to lean against the doorjamb, arms folded, rather than attempt to find a clear space to sit. "Is that offer for empathic assistance still open?"

Manuel nods. "It is. How can Empath help you?"

Marie-Ange closed her eyes and let out a breath, unconsciously leaning her head back against the wall and baring her throat. "I .. it is not me, but Doug. I need to know how bad he really is."

Manuel quirks _both_ his eyebrows. "For Doug? Why, is he still sniveling?"

"If you want to call it that, yes. He says he will get better, but I do not think he should be .." She slumped against the wall, and sighed. "I cannot trust his own words on how he feels. " The admission that she cannot trust her friend is painful, almost a betrayal.

Manuel ahs. "So now you come to me to determine if he is telling the truth, and to see how he truly feels." he states flatly.

"To start, yes." Marie-Ange's voice is tight, tense.

Manuel hrms. "A little more than I had bargained for when I agreed to help any who needed it. And I owe Doug nothing. So I am going to have to decline, unless you sweeten the deal for me. I do not wish to risk my sanity lightly."

Marie-Ange grit her teeth, forcing down a wave of apprension. "And if I did sweeten the deal?"

Manuel grins as he looks over the haggard French teen in the enticing brown laced-up pants. "I think that we could reach some sort of an accommodation."

"What would you need?" She asked flatly. "To tell me everything he is feeling once, and then check him every so often to make sure he won't suicide, or run away again?"

Manuel hrms. "That's all? Not too onerous at all. All I'd really need is ... a maid. The maids here are simply atrocious, and Jamie tried to make me fall for the "we all do our own here" line. So you'll just have to take their place for a day. Wash, tidy up, do the laundry, dust, all the things the maids should be doing. Not too strenuous, I trust, to be my French maid for a day?"

Marie-Ange let out a short laugh. "That is because we actually do tidy up after ourselves here. All of us, even the youngest students." She looked around at the disaster that was Manuel's room, shaking her head. "That won't get you very far in the long run. It'll just be a mess again later."

Manuel rolls his eyes. "Not you as well! Come on, do we have a deal or are you left to wonder about your friend's sanity on your own?"

"I'll help you pick up this mess, if that's all you want, you could have just asked, Manuel." Marie-Ange shook her head, smiling.

Manuel tsks. "Not enough. These things are dirty, and need laundered. I have a new shipment coming in in a few days, and I need to make room for them all."

The expression on Marie-Ange's face bordered between disbelief and disgust. "You cannot possibly be serious." She took in the sheer number of clothes scattered in the room. "You.. have no idea how to do your own laundry, do you?"

Manuel, if it is possible, looks more offended than any one mutant has any right to be. "Of _course_ not!" he snaps. "How ridiculous. I do _not_ do my own laundry. Since the service here is so bad, I've just taken to buying new when my supply runs out. I keep meaning to speak to the Professor, but I do not think it is allowed."

Marie-Ange broke down snickering. "Manuel, I am serious. We do our own laundry. There is no service, there is no maid. There is a laundry room downstairs."

Manuel rolls his eyes again. "And, as Jubilee says, monkeys will fly out of my butt. Who do I have to talk to who will give me a serious answer? Who's the prefect around here?"

"Monkeys.. .. oh, that's a new one. That's good." Marie-Ange continued to giggle. "I needed to laugh, thank you." She shook herself, then looked directly at Manuel. "You could tell if I was lying, right?"

"I can tell that you feel that you're serious, but that's the first part of a convincing lie - believing it yourself. So that tells me nothing." he retorts.

"Why, on earth, would I lie to you about laundry? Look, if you'll help me with Doug, I'll ... show you how to tackle this disaster so you can do it later, and so you don't have to keep buying new clothes, okay?" Marie-Ange shakes her head, exasperated.

"A compromise, perhaps? If you take care of the current mess, then show me what needs to be done in the future to keep it from recurring. And that's my absolute final offer." he says.

Marie-Ange bit her bottom lip, concentrating. Ms. Frost's words from the previous week's Speech class caught in her mind. ~When you want something, use what you know about the other person to get it. Use what you want against them.~ With great concentration, she set her jaw, and forced herself to remember how it felt to hold Doug still while he tried demand that she hate him. "Is it? Because there is something else I could offer, though I will need a small additional favour from you if I must extend that.."

"What did you have in mind?" he purred with some amusement, as he let his eyes wander over her form. "Something a little more - direct? Rather than maid service for a day?"

Still holding onto the memory, and hopefully the attached need to protect Doug, she met Manuel's eyes with her own. I will assist you once with the mess, and then help you learn how to deal with it yourself, and .. " She paused, feeling the heat of a blush creep up her cheeks. "share your bed." Those three words came out in a rush, as her face went pink. "If you will look at Doug's emotional state, and .. .. " Marie-Ange touched her reddening cheek. "Teach me how not to do this!

Manuel recovers very, very smoothly - clearly amused by the attempt to play his emotions. "Well now. I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. We wouldn't anyone to feel that they were being misunderstood or false. You want me to emp-scan Doug to determine his deep emotional states. You also want me to teach you to not blush when aroused. In return, you are offering your aid with cleaning and maintaining my space and you wish to ... warm my bed. Is that it?"

"I think so. If you will scan Doug once, deeply, and then on occasion, to let me know if he is going to run again, and help me stop blushing constantly, I will help you with this mess now, and teach you how to prevent it. And, yes, warm your bed." Marie-Ange took some time to choose her words carefully, although she could not bring herself to state her last offer in cruder terms.

Manuel grins, and then does an empathic scan of Marie-Ange, to determine if she was sincere or not. "Your offer is tempting." he admits.

She's dead sincere. The strong desire to keep her friend safe and mentally healthy is overwhelming. There is a strong emotional tie to Doug, one of protection, primarily.

Manuel stops to think for a moment, then nods his head. "We have a deal. Where is Doug now?"

A great wave of relief causes Marie-Ange to sag against the wall. "In his room, with Jamie, and I think Artie and Miles. He did not precisely.. accept my offer to ask for your assistance.. " She shrugs, and continues. "Doug would.. not understand the latter part of my offer."

Manuel isn't sure that he does, either, but he's not going to question his good fortune. "I will need to be able to see him. And Miles, obviously, could block me if I am too close to him."

"You only need to see him? Not, touch or be very close?" Marie-Ange screwed up her face, thinking hard. "How long would it take?"

"Just line of sight should be sufficient. And it could take a few minutes." he admits.

"Merde." Marie-Ange shook her head. "If I just go in and tell him, he will refuse, and feel worse. Only, it would not be like you to simply volunteer. Perhaps I can get him out to the lounge for a few minutes."

"Just keep him distracted. With talk." he says, eyeing those infamous brown lace-up pants. "I'll take care of the rest. Keep Miles away from me."

Marie-Ange smiled wryly, watching Manuel's eyes travel up her legs. "Doug isn't quite my type," she quips, matching the same look up his own legs. "I will get him to the lounge, somehow. Perhaps just on the need for a walk, and Miles will not be there. How long? An hour? Half?"

"Half an hour should be sufficient. Once I am done, you can have the rest of the night to yourself. You can repay me tomorrow." he leers.

The suggestion of repayment caused a mixed wave of apprehension, lust and doubt to pass through Marie-Ange, though she shoved it away, telling herself Doug's health was worth it. "I will see you in half an hour then."

"I will be there." he promises, then gathers himself together. "Be sure that Doug is."

"That would rather ruin our agreement, if he was not, don't you think?" Marie-Ange asks, with raised eyebrows, then turns, and leaves the room before Manuel has a chance to respond.

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