xp_logs | [Marie, Angelo]

Just some talk about post-structuralism, cookies, and cartoons. Life-fluff.

After classes, Angelo headed over to Marie's suite to see if she was in. He was having some trouble with his World Lit homework, and had decided to go see if she could help, and also spend some time with her when neither of them was upset about anything. Arriving at her door, he knocked cheerfully.

The door to Marie's suite was open as it usually was after classes. Marie was seated on the couch, the table in front of her was arranged with study materials, texts, and notes. She looked up from the papers in her lap with a smile when Angelo appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Skin," she said brightly. Marie was already out of her 'teacher clothes' and looking like she had when she was a student. Her hair was in ponytails, complete with irridescent yellow butterfly bobbles, and she wore a long-sleeved black Badtz-Maru t-shirt and black trackpants.

Angelo smiled back, pleased to see her happy. "Hey, Marie. How's it goin'?"

"Good," she said firmly. "Come on in. I'm just working on this studying early because we're going on vacation and someone I know hates it when I study when I should be giving him all my attention."

Angelo walked into the room and sat down, grinning. "You decided where you're goin' yet, then?"

"Looks like it's back to the coast again, same cottage." Marie put her notes down on the table and smoothed her thin black gloves over her fingers automatically. "I really liked it there. Only this time, I think we're going to take Artie, but only if Alison says it's okay to take Miles too." She pulled her knees up and put her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her shins and looking across at Angelo. "Artie wanted to go so badly last time, I figure that since we have to be back here on the Saturday for me to take those teaching certs, we might as well see if we can't take the boys for a few days, you know?"

Angelo nodded. "It's a nice idea. Let them both see somewhere outside the mansion grounds - I think Artie at least doesn't get to leave much..."

Marie nodded. "I'd take him more places but it's not like I've had a lot of luck going places myself," she said sourly, but then brightened. "Then again, no disasters on our last vacation, or the hockey game we went to last weekend, so... I think I'm safe enough as long as I take Logan wherever I go." Her smile was impish and she winked at Angelo.

Angelo chuckled. "You were gonna go many places without him anyway?" he asked teasingly.

Marie thought about this and then shook her head, laughing. "Not really, no. Ask me again in about twenty years, we'll see if I change my mind by then."

Angelo smiled - it was good to see her laugh. "Seems like you're onto a really good thing - like we didn't both know that already."

"It's nice that someone other than me thinks so," Marie said, sobering up a little. "But, yes, I think it's a good thing. He's good for me."

Angelo nodded. "An' if you think so, that's good enough for me", he assured her quietly.

"Thanks, honey," she said sincerely. "But I'll bet you didn't come by to talk about my love life, and I think... I think I'm going to give you some space on yours unless you want to talk about it."

Angelo shrugged. "Nothin's changed", he said simply, knowing she'd understand. He lifted the books he was carrying to put them on the table. "Came by for company an' study help, actually."

"Well you're welcome to both of them. Come show me what you need help with." Marie moved the textbook at her side and patted the couch.

Angelo got up to move to the couch, taking his books with him. "Post-structuralism", he said, pulling an expressive face.

Marie laughed. "Well, if there was anything to inspire me to run for the hills, that would be it. You don't pick anything easy, do you?" She took the top book from the pile and leaned against Angelo a little. "Let's see what we can do." She opened it to the bookmark and scowled at the page.

Angelo grinned slightly, putting a companionable arm around her. "If it was easy, I wouldn't be havin' trouble with it", he pointed out reasonably.

Fifteen minutes later, Marie flourished a paper marked up with three colours of ink and two colours of highlighter at Angelo. "See?" she said triumphantly. "You do get it. It's really that simple. Post-structuralists are really just a handful of people who don't agree with structuralist concepts -- or not entirely. You're trying to look at it like it's something you can stick one label on and the truth is, you can't. You have to go back to structuralism and then define where the divergence is, and start there. You're not getting it wrong. It's just really... irritating, is what it is. Worse, most post-structuralists can't agree on anything except that structuralism is wrong, which is, well... kind of typical for any group that founds itself on being a reaction against something else. Okay?"

Angelo nodded, understanding at least somewhat better than he had before. "Okay. I think I get it now. Kinda."

"You're trying too hard." Marie elbowed him gently in the ribs. "You're trying to make these guys make sense or have some cohesion as a movement and the truth is, they just don't. You need cookies," she announced, and got to her feet. "And milk. You also need to have some faith in the fact that you're a smart guy."

Angelo grinned, leaning back on the couch. "Cookies and milk sounds great." He chose not to comment on the rest of what she'd said.

Marie didn't miss the evasion of the latter half of her declaration. "You are, you know," she said, pouring him a glass of milk and opening up the cookie jar on the counter.

He shrugged, a little uncomfortably. "There's smart an' there's smart", he muttered cryptically. "Wouldn't've lasted this long without some smarts, but book-smart's somethin' different."

"Book smart comes with time." Marie handed Angelo the glass of milk and put the plate of oatmeal cookies on the table in front of him. "You need a safe place to sit and read, so to speak." She sat back down next to him and nibbled on a cookie herself. "I have faith in you."

He smiled, taking a cookie from the plate. "Thanks. Glad some people do."

"Well, I do. Ooh." Marie fumbled under the papers and books on the table for the remote. "Samurai Jack is on," she said. "And then PowerPuff Girls. And then Sponge Bob..." she turned to look at Angelo over her shoulder. "...what?"

Angelo raised his hands innocently, pretending he hadn't been laughing. "Nothin'. You like cartoons. Nothin' wrong with that."

Marie laughed and leaned back on him, flipping on the television. "Just trying to be able to relate to my students," she said with mock-seriousness. "It says in the books that it's important to be able to relate. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, Skin."

Angelo grinned. "Well, you do teach the little ones. Sounds totally reasonable to me."

"As long as we understand each other," Marie said happily and took another cookie.

Angelo put a friendly arm around her again, giving her a squeeze. "I think we do."