xp_logs | Kevin & Laura | Thursday night

Laura takes Kevin up on that offer of movies and a human pillow. Kevin bemoans her movie choice, she flirts, he warns and in the end Laura ends up with a new fondness for hand holding.

Kevin was busy staring at the DVD case trying to figure out why you would bother to pay someone to get your adult son to move out of your house. "Why don't they just kick him out? Ah mean, seriously, he's thirty-five, just throw him out already. Do girls have to watch anything with this chick in it since Sex and the City came out?" Failure to Launch looked epically bad but Kevin had made a deal. Granted, when he'd offered Laura a night of appropriating him as a pillow and forcing him to watch chick flicks he hadn't thought she would pick anything this bad. This, apparently, was what having a girlfriend was probably like.

"Who?" asked Laura from her very comfortable position on Kevin's stomach, hands folded over her own as she stared at the screen. "No way, I'm only watching this for the guy," she added. Like for the thousandth time, but Kevin was better off without knowing that. "And I guess they care too much about him to have the strength to kick him out? Overprotective parents are like that, I guess." Not that she knew, although her mother was on a complete level of over protectiveness. "And don't be too grumpy, the humor gets better...eventually."

"Ah'm not grumpy." But his refute sounded grumpy, Kevin noticed. "And that chick," he said, holding the case over her head and pointing at Sarah Jessica Parker. Not so secretly Kevin was hoping for a fight scene somewhere. It was McConaughey, he had to do something other than look pretty and live with his parents, right? At least Kevin was reassured that he wasn't gay enough to be ogling the male lead. Then again, he wasn't ogling the female lead either. The DVD case got dropped on the floor next to the couch because putting it anywhere else would have dislodged Laura. "So if it doesn't get better do Ah get some sorta restitution?"

Laura shrugged. "Sarah Jessica Parker is a horrible actress," she was sort of rich though, so Laura didn't say more. Still, she wasn't sure if there was a fight scene, and it would certainly not involve the woman, she thought. Maybe she should have picked something with explosions and blood, just to do the complete opposite. If Kevin didn't end up hating her guts after this movie, Laura would make sure to see whatever he wanted next time...even if it wasn't action and was more of a sad, sad drama. Looking up, she gave him a playful smirk. "Well, what do you want?"

Kevin had to take a second to see if he was suddenly confusing porn with real life. There was a hot girl using his stomach as a pillow looking up at him asking what he wanted. Trap! Trap! Aboooort! All he could do for a bit was look down at her with a bit of a crooked smirk on his face. "You might wanna give a guy parameters before saying something like that."

Laura's playful grin went all the way to devilishly in one second. "Is little Kevin afraid of Big Bad Laura~?", cooed as she squirmed a little, rubbing the back of her head on Kevin's stomach. She looked for a moment to the screen again, to make sure it was just silly talking and no shirtless McConaughey, and then back at Kevin. "I was thinking on telling you that next time we can watch whatever you want," she started, first voicing her thoughts. "But hey, since you are already suffering and I can't stand watching a movie with you making faces over me...well, if I can make this less boring, you tell me how?" At this rate she would stop caring about the movie in a matter of minutes; this was so much more entertaining.

Just because he knew she was doing it on purpose didn't help him mentally swat away the myriad of images moving through his brain. "Ah wouldn't say fear is really the reaction goin' on here." He poked her in the ribs for her squirming. "And first of all, Ah make good on my word. If Ah said you could torture me with chick flicks Ah'm gonna make good on that. Second, you're the one that sets yourself up and then realizes your hole got dug too deep." He leaned down a little, enough to make his point but not enough to actually make good on that point given her position. "So maybe you oughta stop digging before Ah gotta find another blanket for you to hide under."

The poke got another squirm out of her, just because. She did listen though, and his words made her pout in the way little girls do when they are told the truth they don't want to hear. "Alright," she, said, still feigning offence that had no reason to be. "So next time you ask for retribution I'll get you a cookie." Pretending to be angry and everything, she had to stare silently at him when he leaned a little. Funny though, all she was tempted to do right there was to pull his nose and stick her tongue out. In some ways, she still was a little girl. "But what would you like to see, then?" she asked as she changed the subject, looked back at the screen and moved so she could rest her cheek on his stomach, rolling over onto a side and crossing her legs. "Because I wouldn't mind it." Perhaps. Much.

"Better be a big cookie," he muttered while she shifted around. One of these days Laura was going to mess with him, end up getting kissed and promptly fall over from the shock. Which was why Kevin had taken to warning her to stop digging such deep holes. It was the polite thing to do. The other polite thing to do was to take her change of topic. "Ah dunno, whatever. Not a chick flick. Ah watch a lot of scifi and drama and horror and stuff." After a moment he almost begrudgingly admitted, "And sometimes there's romance movies that are good. Sometimes."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Laura with a giggle as she turned her attention towards the screen, although one hand was idly making little circles on Kevin's chest. It wasn't that she wanted to get kissed, but she couldn't really argue it would perhaps be an enjoyable thing to do...and her mind was taking her places she shouldn't go. Kevin, after all, was in a relationship, and with another guy nonetheless; add to that the fact she actually liked Jean-Paul to the mix and she had more than enough reasons to feel she shouldn't even be resting on Kevin's stomach.

"Well then, next time it's your pick. I'll even sit next to you and everything, so you don't say I'm using you as a pillow more than we agreed."

"Ah don't really have a problem with you using me as a pillow. You can decide to make me your personal human pillow for all Ah mind." Cammie occasionally snuck into his bed when she had nightmares and Catseye had once been a regular in his bed as well. Kevin was hardly going to develop a problem with girls using him as a pillow or something to cuddle against at night. Especially when he'd been involved with someone who couldn't risk falling asleep on or with him. His eyes alternated between her fingers tracing circles down and across his chest. He wasn't going to read too much into that, but he was very grateful he wasn't as sensitive to touch as he'd once been.

Laura snorted a little. "How considerate of you." She hadn't meant to sound slightly pissed...but she had. "Hmm..." Although she was still looking at the screen, Laura's mind had slowly started to drift away from it; she was enjoying it alright, but there were many other things to worry about. Worry, that was a word she didn't like to include in her thoughts. "So, how long have I been pressing your tummy? Do you think I should be..." And cue the dramatic hand movement. "*~~*~Healed~*~~*?", yeah, she had done a little wave, moving all her fingers pretty much in front of Kevin's face, but far enough there was no risk of touching him at all. "Or it only works if I don't have a healing factor and a default perfect health?"

He went to swat her hand away, but mostly ended up grabbing it and pulling it off to the side so he could see something other than her wiggling fingers. "Ah dunno. You're sarcastic so you're at least partially healed. Really, Ah'm no expert on healing not bein' a doctor or anything so Ah might decide you're not as healed as you are and say you gotta stay longer." There was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he said that. It faded a little, though, and after a moment he added a sort of apology.

"And Ah didn't mean...that Ah mind. You usin' me as a pillow, Ah mean. Been a while since anyone's been around who's used me for a pillow that Ah don't have to worry 'bout. If Jean-Paul passed out on me and Ah didn't leave Ah could end up with fractured ribs. Again. Jay and Cats broke me in, got me real used to people sleeping on me or with me. Jean-Paul can't. So, really, Ah don't mind. Like, really don't mind not just like Ah can deal. 'Kay?"

Laura looked up at him again, ignoring her now restrained hand for a moment. "Dude, for someone that does what you do, I think you are almost as much of a physical person as myself." And Laura was very physical, mind you. "But if you don't mind, I don't mind. Actually, I can't think of many people I would be comfortable to just cuddle up with or use as a pillow." Because they ended up wanting more than the simple lingering, and Laura was awful at saying no.

She didn't hide her smile though; she sucked at covering her emotions anyway. "Thanks," she added, a moment later, when it sounded a bit awkward.

"No worries." He mostly gave her hand back to her then. More accurately, he dropped his hand that had been keeping her wiggling one out of the way down to his hip. His hold was rather loose and she could have easily either taken her hand back or left it in his as she wanted. "And, y'know, you shouldn't confuse being paranoid for not being physical. Ah'm plenty physical, but Ah've had people get themselves hurt. One of them would do it knowing he'd get decayed because he wanted the skin-on-skin contact and knew he'd heal. And it'd piss me off. Ah've caused enough damage with my mutation, Ah don't need to cause more to people Ah care about or even to people Ah don't. It's a matter of trust. If Ah trust them then Ah don't care. Angel pounces me, literally, and Ah only freak out until Ah realize it's her 'cause Ah know she will keep herself safe from me."

Kevin's gaze settled a little more heavily on Laura before he said, "And if Ah didn't think Ah could trust you then you wouldn't be usin' me as a pillow." He'd basically made himself a no touching zone when he'd first met Laura. The fact that he let down his guard enough for her to kiss his cheek and had extended an invitation to use him as a pillow said a lot as to the level of trust he had for her to not be stupid and get herself hurt on purpose or accidentally. He trusted her to minimize risk for both their sakes. Sure, Kevin was on high alert when people were close to him, but with Jean-Paul he had learned to share the responsibility and bring down some of that alert so he wasn't such a tense, paranoid, twitchy guy so much.

Laura didn't remove her hand. It was nice, the hand holding, as corny as it could get, and while she wouldn't admit it, Laura hadn't had enough hand holding in her life. There was no time for that when your milkshake brought all the kids to the yard. "I know I can be a little of a loose canon at times, but I won't be reckless." Funny, she felt like she was trying to convince him when he had put it pretty explicitly there was no need for it. "She's considerate, Angel. And on fire, too." If a girl on fire couldn't protect herself, then there was something seriously wrong with the world. His words seemed to leave her thinking for a while. It was probably odd, seeing Laura actually working things out slowly and with the consideration they actually required.

And she remembered their first meeting, too, where she had been more interested in getting hurt rather than the way it made him feel. Oddly though, she didn't feel like she had changed so much, although Laura knew she moved differently around Kevin; she always looked to touch where there were clothes, and had perfect coordination with him, so she didn't end up getting too close to him when it could get to contact. But for the most part she hadn't noticed that, and she was just as invasive as she usually was with the rest of the people she had gotten to know. "Wait, aren't you mad that I kissed you?"

Her thinking process was unique.

He wondered if that would ever come up or if she would just roll with the fact that she got away with it. "Ah'd be pissed if you'd partly decayed your lips when you did it," he told her honestly. "It was sort of stupid for you to do, but you didn't get hurt. Ah dunno, Ah'm not mad. Ah wish you didn't do something that could leave you with mummy lips until you healed them but since there were no bad effects Ah figured Ah should just rack it up in my good karma column and not think 'bout it too much." He didn't bother to mention why he thought she'd gotten away with it. For now she could think that she was just that quick.

Since Laura didn't seem to be taking her hand back Kevin decided it was probably staying where it was. As such, his hand shifted until his fingers laced through hers rather than wrapping around them in restraint. The motion was casual and the way their hands interlocked was still loose. She could still take her hand back any time she wanted easily. But this was more comfortable and it didn't have to be a thing. Kevin knew Laura well enough to know that wanting anything to be a thing with her was a bad idea. And he wasn't interested in being serious with anyone right now. He could lay here with her, hold her hand and have that be all there was to it. Hopefully she realizes that was all there was too it as well.

It was easy for her to believe she had been fast enough, but she wasn't entirely too sure that was the only thing that had happened. Maybe she had gotten lucky, and his power had taken a little too long to react, or maybe she had healed faster. She wasn't sure, and she didn't really think she should try it again. Then again, she was usually drawn to bad ideas. Her fingers curled around his, and Laura was only half aware of it. Nice hand holding, she didn't care about anything else. "Mummy lips," she said with a soft laugh. "But I totally agree; a kiss for me is definitely on the good karma side."

Perhaps fortunately for Kevin, Laura didn't want a thing. She felt like Logan's departure was affecting her, and it would affect her in the future, but her main need was just...safety. And the one guy that could poke a hole through her skull with his pinkie was giving her a lot of safety recently. "Ugh, I'm getting sick of this chick flick," Laura announced as she lazily looked around for the remote; she was just too comfortable to move. "We should watch one of your flicks instead. Culture me or whatever, Kevin."

He laughed and tried to figure out what she was trying to find. "What sorta culture do you want? Scifi? Horror? Drama? Ah won't make you watching exploding movies unless you want to. Animated movies? Ah've got Despicable Me and Inception." He said that last comment as tantalizingly as he possibly could. And then he pointed out the obvious. "You know Ah'm gonna hafta move you so Ah can change movies, right?" She did look really comfortable laying there tracing circles and holding his hand. Kevin realized for the first time that she'd settled down as if she was used to laying on him all the time.

"Oooh, Despicable Me." Because she was five years old at heart, forever. She had watched Bolt a couple of times, alone, and only when she knew Cammie wouldn't be around. "Although I've been told that Inception is like, really confusing and metaphorical and you need to watch it a couple of times to understand everything." She figured there werent that many movies she was missing, anyway. Laura certainly needed some help in that deparment. "Aw," she said as she looked up brightly, almost as if she were asking him to just do it with his brain. If Laura had to explain why she looked so at ease, she would probably say it was her feral bit acting up; cats did that all the time, didn't they? Sit on something like they owned it. And while Laura didn't think she owned Kevin...she felt naturally at ease there. But, movies.

So she sat up slowly, and then realized- she was still holding his hand. Laura was vaguely surprised at how much it took her to release it. "I'm taking it back once you are done," Laura warned, though.

Kevin couldn't help the smile. Honestly, it was just sort of adorable that Laura - of all people - was attached to his hand. He tipped his head to her a little before he slid out from under her and stood. "Yes, ma'am." Priority was turning off the chick flick. That was of the utmost importance. Only after he'd gotten the disc back into its case did he go in search of the kid's movie. "Inception isn't confusing. It's sorta open-ended and you can interpret it a couple ways but Ah don't think it's confusing. Still, minions are full of win," he said as he pulled out the DVD. "And before you see this, no, Ah can't get you your own army of minions. Ah dunno where they sell them.

With the new dvd in the player Kevin went back to the couch and poked Laura to inch her out of the way. He checked the pillow situation so he didn't get the arm of the couch jabbing him in the back, and then repositioned himself on the couch. Kevin threw out the minimal contact approach in favor of more comfort and instead laid down with his head up on the arm and pulled Laura down on top of him. She really didn't weigh enough for it to be an issue and he let one leg dangle off the couch until she got comfortable. It could always get hooked over her once she settled back down.

It carried a significance she couldn't express in an articulate way detailed enough to avoid sounding silly, but hey, she liked the hand. And holding it. Although she was pretty sure Kevin couldn't see her as he changed the movie, she made her best effort not to think too much on McConaughey's shirtless goodness, and was surprised to realize she didn't mind it much. She could totally watch it later, although she felt that for some reason she wouldn't be able to watch the movie with the same eyes again. A life changing event of some sort, Laura assumed with a shrug. "Minions?" She liked the idea already. "I shall further investigate about this matter for myself, then."

What she hadn't expected was Kevin's pull. And Kevin's smell. And Kevin's body. And she was purring, so she stopped. She did get comfortable though, and promptly fished out his hand again on her own, idly twirling his fingers. "Yes, I could get used to this."

"Tiny, yellow, funny looking minions who wear overalls." He let her settle and pulled a blanket over her mostly because now her head was on his chest and he wanted to create a hood for her just in case. Kevin's only free hand had the remote and got the movie to play, then it was left on the end table by his head. The blanket was double checked so that he could be sure Laura's hair was covered, then his dangling leg hooked over her and his free arm wound itself wound her back until his hand laid on her waist. And it was comfortable.

As the credits ran Kevin quietly told her, "So get used to it. You can have dibs whenever you want." Alright, so maybe he had a little crush on her and that meant he was giving her total preferential treatment. Kevin was okay with that. He was pretty sure Laura would be, too.

"I want one. No, a dozen." She hadn't even seen the things, but she was sure there would be plushies of them. She was perfectly still during the whole blanket thing. She didn't mind it one bit, and kind of minded even less when she felt his hand on her waist. Now she wasn't sure if she was going to have fun with the movie, fall asleep on Kevin, or just...be moderately aroused. She certainly hoped it wasn't the second, and a mix of the other two would be the optimal result.

She just squeezed his hand a little, her smile present on her voice. "I think that won't be a problem." So maybe she for once didn't know how to feel around a boy. It was scary, and exciting, because it didn't mean she would end up madly in love with him, or having a one night stand, or even remaining as they were. She was clueless, and happy to be so. Who knew watching movies could be so good to her?