Log: Laurie and Doug, First Date

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Two driven and time poor people find the time to go on a first date.



"Are you okay?"

They'd been semi-silent on the drive back to the mansion, mostly small talk, nothing terribly heavy or ground breaking discussion wise. Laurie figured finding out Doug's favorite color, what movies he was excited about and the fact they'd both at least enjoyed each others company was a win.

She could feel the tension in him though and while some of it could be written off as first date nerves, as she was certainly feeling those, it wasn't everything.

That Doug was up to driving was a testament to getting better, he supposed. He'd actually forgotten about the tidal wave in Catching Fire, right until it happened. He knew he'd been much quieter after that, and that Laurie was concerned about him. Plus, while his therapy wasn't exactly a secret, the reason behind it...

"Eh, not entirely," he replied after a slightly uncomfortable pause to collect himself. His fingers flexed slightly on the wheel. "Not anything you did, just..." How to explain why he didn't deal well with imagery of people drowning? "The tidal wave thing in the movie."

"Oh? Why?"

Laurie frowned at herself, as while she _was_ curious, it was possible that Doug really didn't want to talk about such things but she had asked if he was okay, and he _had_ answered, so it was hardly rude of her.

"That's if you want to answer, of course. We can go back to talking about movies and sports if you want."

Doug was inclined to be honest about things. Maybe too honest, as evidenced by his talk with Laurie before they'd even gone on a date, but still. Keeping things from others had burned him in the past. But then he abruptly found himself at the precipice of a potential conversational cliff. How to bring up Genosha? While Laurie almost certainly remembered next to nothing about being "Mutate 42", he still wasn't sure how pleasant a topic the anti-mutant nation might be.

"It has to do with what happened in prison. In Genosha," he said slowly, almost no inflection to his voice. It wasn't exactly an easy subject for him either, really.

"What happened?"

Laurie placed her hand over his, a gesture of comfort for an obviously difficult topic. She'd had nightmares after Genosha, and had spoken to a variety of people about what had actually happened, piecing together moments but never the full story.

She would never get back what her colleagues hadn't seen, and for awhile those blank spaces had driven her close to collapse.

Laurie was not a person comfortable with personal unknowns, she prided herself on control and self-knowledge. She'd had to learn however, that the price of being who and where she was did not take into consideration what one was comfortable with.

Still torn between the urge to shield Laurie from the worst of things and the overwhelming urge to not ruin things by keeping secrets, Doug's hands clenched against the steering wheel. "I spent most of the time in prison in the Citadel," he told her quietly. "They...well, if mutants aren't human, the natural logic is that they don't deserve human rights." He knew he was still approaching the subject kind of sideways, but it wasn't like you could just flat out tell someone that you had been tortured.

"Speak plainly, you don't need to protect me."

It wasn't meant to sound harsh, their date so far had gone well. Genosha was something that made people tiptoe around her however, and she'd never liked being coddled.

"You ever hear the term 'enhanced interrogation'?" Doug asked in that same flat quiet tone.

Post-traumatic stress, despite what television and movies might have you believe, rarely consists of full-on hallucinatory flashback episodes. For Doug, it was subtler sense memories when he was caught up in remembering what had happened. The gasps and wordless noises of protest from Terry. The tightness of restraints keeping him immobile. The taste of the warm, flat soda he'd been given in reward for spilling his guts, planned or no.

"Waterboarding," he said as he breathed slowly and deliberately. Four-count in, four-count hold, four-count out. At least the roads toward the mansion were lightly traveled later in the evening, so driving could be done more or less without thinking.

"I can see why water would be difficult."

It sounded cold to her ears but what did you say? 'Im sorry some crazy bastard tortured you', maybe 'I'm sorry I can't remember trying to kill my friends, so mostly it all just feels like a story.'

Perhaps 'I keep feeling like everyone makes Genosha about me when you're all the ones who remember what happened', but then she was making it about herself as well, rather then thinking about the man beside her.

That wasn't fair.

"It can't have been easy for you afterwards, I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"I...do you remember that weekend where I went on a therapy retreat? I'd been trying to bottle it all up, had a meltdown, and tried to resign my job. But therapy's helping." Doug looked over and could see the underlying conflict in Laurie's body language. "I don't imagine having amnesia and having to piece together things from stories about attacking your friends is any easier to deal with," he offered. He hated making things all about himself, especially when someone else was clearly hurting from their own trauma.

"I wonder sometimes if they need to put that on the pamphlets for Xaviers. Learn to be a better mutant, get free therapy."

Laurie could see the lights of the front gate as they pulled off the road and started up the driveway, automatic gates moving slowly outward to let them through. She'd never asked Forge just how they were controlled, how they knew who was allowed and who wasn't. No doubt it would have been a suitably long winded and technical explanation, much like her trying to explain polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. While it might be interesting to the explainer, the explainee mostly just wanted to make sure it wouldn't kill them. She was letting her mind wander, and she knew she did that when she didn't particularly want to deal with thoughts that were problematic, or exhausting.

"I live in my head a lot, and I'm not great at paying attention to things outside what I'm doing at times but I remember your retreat. It seems like the therapy is working if you could sit through that scene without leaving the theater. Do you think we could talk about something else though? I don't want to stop you, and I'm glad you told me, but I think I'd like to talk about something else now please."

"Oh thank god yes please," Doug replied in a rush, eager to change the subject to anything else. The car pulled around the driveway, and he put it in park and turned the engine off. It was almost like the stereotypical teenage date, where you parked outside the front door of the girl's house. If the girl's house was a large mansion populated by several dozen people, anyway. "How are your classes going?" he asked.

"A+ for change of topic, Mr Ramsey."

Laurie smiled slowly as she let the lingering shadows fall away. She pushed her hair behind her ear as she clicked open her seat belt, turning herself slightly more toward him now that they'd stopped driving.

"It's going really well, actually. I'm mostly over the complete freak-out over my scheduling and the lack of time to do anything. Although I did need to start using my portable air scrubber again during classes. I figured it wouldn't do to fall asleep and take down the entire class with me."

Doug unfastened his own seatbelt and leaned back in his seat. It was always kind of astonishing how much even the very minor stress of maintaining alertness on the easiest of drives quickly added up, at least until you stopped and noticed the way your shoulders finally loosened. "I can see it now - Mutant Student Recreates Sleeping Beauty Effect. Or something." He chuckled. "Though getting hit with a relaxation hammer like that sounds almost appealing." Even on his best days, Doug tended to carry a fair amount of stress from his job.

"You know, I have been told by my fellow X-men that I give the best massages in the known universe. I could give you a shoulder rub if you're having issues."

Laurie had learnt over time, and through a series of ethical classes from Xavier that asking before you used your powers on someone was preferable. Considering the cautionary tale that was her parents, even if said tale had resulted in the birth of herself, she always went out of her way to confirm consent unless the person involved happened to be an enemy, was unconscious or was otherwise indisposed.

"I promise not to take advantage."

Doug wasn't quite sure what she meant. He couldn't really imagine Laurie taking advantage of much of anything, especially not in a car out in front of the mansion. It just didn't seem like it was in her personality to be that way. He was feeling a bit anxious, not really sure what was the right thing to do at this point. "...if you want?" he asked hesitantly.

"You might want to take the shirt off then."

Laurie winked, and then held out her hands to show Doug she'd activated her power, the violet colouring on her skin the only outward sign there'd ever been that her power was active. Considering how relaxed she was, if slightly anticipatory, she didn't think he'd have any protests about the effects when she started the massage.

"In the car? At this time of year?" Doug raised his eyebrows. He thought about moving things inside, but again, what was too forward? His perspective on that was a bit off, given his involvement in the Hellfire Club. Besides, he had several layers of clothing on - not exactly conducive to easy removal.

"I suppose it is too cold in here. How about you come in and we can go to my suite? I'll make us coffee, and give you a neck rub before you go home."

Laurie knew Jean-Phillipe would be with Angelo tonight, so wasn't likely to wander in on her making out with Doug on the living room couch. Still, best to be clear rather then have a misunderstanding. She wanted this relationship to go further then a quick fling, which meant getting to know Doug before she slept with him. She had a feeling he hadn't had much of that in the past couple of years, or perhaps he just didn't want that from her, she guessed she'd have to see.

"That...would be nice, thank you." Doug wasn't sure where this shyness had come from. Maybe from the way his relationships had gone. Maybe from Genosha and his recovery from it. Who knew. He pulled his car off to the side area of the driveway where visitors parked, and followed Laurie in. It was comfortable, walking up the main staircase, and he trailed his fingers along the bannister. Even though he hadn't lived there for several years, in many ways the mansion would always feel like home.

Laurie paused at the door to the suite she shared with Jean-Phillipe and fished her keys out of her bag, unlocking the door and gesturing Doug inside as she closed and locked it behind them afterward. She waved him toward the couch as she went into the kitchenette and turned on the coffee machine that she'd brought what seemed a lifetime ago now. When she was in the depths of study, coffee was a very good friend to her, and much better for her stomach then fizzy caffeinated drinks.

"Did you want something fancy like a latte, or are you a long black sort of man?"

"Whatever's handy," Doug said with a shrug. "When I'm not purchasing abominations that make the ladies at the coffee shop downstairs from the office wince to keep myself awake through coding marathons, I'm not all that picky. How about another of whatever you're having?" He walked over to the couch and sat down, leaning around so he could watch Laurie and maintain conversation with her.

"Latte it is then. I only drink the really strong stuff when I'm studying, so another thing we've got in common."

Laurie's smile was soft as she placed a cup underneath the machine and then moved over to the fridge to pull the milk out so she could froth it and place it in the cup after the coffee had finished percolating through. She was a simple coffee drinker, preferring as little fuss as possible which was why the machine was so great. Once things had finished and she had two cups she moved to the couch and placed them on the coffee table.

"Just give me one moment, I've got some massage oil that'll help."

Laurie mostly used Apricot Kernel oil when she massaged. She'd done exhaustive research into the best oil to use when she'd first taken upon herself to become 'Team masseuse' for the X-men and had found it to be the best. She always kept a small supply in her room just in case.

The methodical research wouldn't have surprised Doug, it was more in line with his perception of how she approached things. He hummed contentedly at the first sip of coffee. "Living in the future is awesome, being able to make our own coffee." He took a few more sips and then placed his cup down next to Laurie's still full one. "What should I...?" he asked, a bit at a loss as Laurie ducked briefly into her room.

"Take off you upper layer, please. I'm going to need to touch skin but you can leave the pants on. Apart from that, if you want to just sit there and turn you back to me, we can start."

Doug turned away from the bedroom door and slowly peeled off sweater, shirt, and undershirt. It was weird, he was actually feeling a bit self-conscious. It wasn't body modesty per se, as he'd never really gotten that back after the events of Day Zero, more...a feeling of vulnerability. He leaned forward on his elbows against the side of the couch, leaving his back visible but hiding his front slightly and waiting, not really able to articulate the jumble of his thoughts.

Laurie moved over to the couch, pouring oil onto her hands and allowing it to mix with the coating her power supplied. She knelt behind him for a moment as she gave the coating on her hands time to collect before gently placing her hands on each of his shoulders.

"I won't hurt you."

She said it without amusement but simply as a statement. She was not the master at body language that Doug was, but she knew this sort of thing could make people feel vulnerable, especially when you knew of the things she could do. She moved her fingers against the muscles between his neck and shoulders, digging in slightly to encourage them to relax. While her fingers dug in, attempting to loosen the knots she found, she ran through short meditative mantras in her head, attempting to project calm and thus influence her power toward the same. If she were honest however, she had to note the stirrings of desire. She certainly wasn't above enjoying the feel of his body under her hands, and it was a very nice body indeed.

So much for doing things the 'regular' way, Doug mused. He had his shirt off on Laurie's couch after their first date, and they hadn't even kissed. His life, and his relationships, were definitely not normal. He managed a long slow exhale of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, with a slight whimper at the end. Maybe not normal didn't have to be a bad thing.