[Alex, Marie] He cannot resist us!

[x-rogue.livejournal.com]

Alex and Marie meet in the library to plan how to support Scott over the next weeks and how to start getting him to spend time with them.


Marie sat in the library in her usual spot, waiting for Alex to show up. She was a little guilty about ratting Scott out to his brother but this next little while was going to be really hard on him and he needed all the support he could get. She checked her watch and then settled down into her chair with a book to wait.

Alex poked his head around a couple bookshelves before finding Marie in a cozy little spot, though not as cozy as his by the fireplace, or at least in his opinion. He pulled a chair up beside her and sat on it backwards, leaning his arms and chin on the back. "Hey Marie."

"Thanks for coming, Alex." Marie put her book down and sat up. "You been doing okay?" She looked him over carefully. "You seem to be doing pretty well in your journal. Cooperating with Samson's always a good sign, even if you don't like it."

Alex shurgged. "Yeah been doing alright." He frowned a bit. "And yeah, dealing with Dr. Sam's been a bit of a drag but better then other things I'd imagine. So, what's up? Your e-mail sounded important?"

"Well, it's Scott." Marie pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. "Next month is the anniversary of Jean's death and he's already not doing okay. I don't know if that's why, but I know he wasn't doing well yesterday. I'm worried about him."

Alex's entire manner went suddenly from laid back to concern for his brother at the mention of Jean. He looked down at the floor. "Scott told me about her, right after I came here and about her 'death.' I'd never seen him that emotional in my life." He looked up again through his bangs. "How bad was he yesterday?"

"I didn't see him. But Logan did. And bad enough that /Logan/ dragged him out to a bar on account of him needing to get out of the house and they were out for a good while." Marie gave Alex an incredulous look. "See why I'm worried?"

Alex frowned. "Yeah." Then he sighed and shook his head. "But what can we do? You know my brother as well as I do, most likely better. He's so stubborn, especially over something like this..."

"He can be as stubborn as he likes," Marie said firmly. "He can't be a hypocrite about this, right? If he's anything like he is with me when he's talking to you, he hates it when you don't talk about stuff, or at least deal with it."

Alex nodded again. "Tell me about it. But he most likely will be a hypocrite about this because he hates to show his soft side, even around his little brother. He has to be strong for everyone else, even when no one wants or needs him to be...Getting him to deal with this is going to be tough." Alex paused for a moment, then gave Marie a small smile. "You up to the challenge?"

"Hell yes." Marie nodded at Alex, her face serious. "But I'm thinking we don't push him to talk too much, we just... kind of make sure we're around, make sure he gets out, things like that, until we get a handle on how he really is. We do have an advantage here, though."

"Exactly what i was thinking. He's the type were if you push, he'll pull away. We just got to remind him that we're here." Then he raised an eyebrow. "And what advantage would that be, if I may ask?"

"Aside the fact that we're both young and devious," Marie said, "I /will/ tell Charles on him if I have to and I think he knows it. Also, he can't lie to Logan about whether or not something's upsetting him. He can try, but he can't hide it all. That helps too."

Alex couldn't help but laugh softly. "When working with Scott, those advantages will be most helpful. Plus, he has a hard time keeping things from me, tis an advantage I didn't think I still had, but apparently things haven't changed much since we were little. " Then he stopped and bit his lip. "Jean really meant alot to him didn't she? No one would talk to me about her, so I asked Scott and I almost regretted it at the time..."

"Oh. God... I just thought you knew. I'd have told you." Marie took a moment to think, her eyes already growing dark and tearful when she thought back to last May, and before.

"Meant a lot to him didn't even cover it." She looked at Alex, smiling wistfully. "He'd look at her sometimes like he was seeing something incredible for the first time. His whole face would change and... it was so sweet. She was almost everything to him, her and Charles' dream and the school." Her expression saddened more and she closed her eyes. "I was there when it happened. I know how much I miss her. I can't imagine what it's like for Scott."

"well, we'll get him through it. We'll get all of you through it, since it seems it's not only Scott that's going to need some cheering up these next few weeks. It's the least us newbies can do for you all bringing us into your home." Alex smiled, hoping to lighten the mood and held back his urge to give her a comforting hug.

"I hope we can," Marie said with a sigh. Still, she returned Alex's smile. "And thanks. The rest of us, I'm not too worried about, it's just with Betsy still recovering, Scott's not got anyone he's willing to lean on. Now, we need to work on some strategy. I was thinking we should drag him off to a movie this week. What do you say?"

"Hmmm...to bad Kill Bill 2 wasn't very interesting or I'd say drag him to that. Shiro is still having a bit of a fit over that." Alex laughed softly before continuing. "Scott did always have a thing for Kung Fu type movies, but I have no idea what else is out..."

"Hmm. I don't know. I'm sure he hasn't seen Hellboy." Marie grinned at Alex. "That might be kind of a funny one to see. Dawn of the Dead is still floating around out there."

"A movie about a big red guy with horns who looks like he could be living upstairs." Alex couldn't hold in a laugh. "That would be amusing. And I'd stay away from anything with 'dead' in the title. Don't want to inadvertanly make him even more depressed."

"Yeah, good point." Marie looked thoughtful. "Well, let's try Hellboy and if he fusses about that, we'll try for something else. Anything but The Passion of the Christ. I don't want to see that at all, it'll make me feel ill. I get enough suffering in my diet right now. Does Tuesday night work for you?"

"Tuesday night would be awesome. Are we going to make it just the three of us?"

Marie nodded. "I think we should. Because otherwise, he'll just end up being his responsible self. If it's just us, we might get him to loosen up and laugh a little. And if we get him there, we can maybe get him talking too."

Alex returned the nod. "Good, exactly what I was thinking. I think between the two of us we have a shot. He can't refuse!"

"Kidnapping is also an option. But I think we'll settle for 'But Sco-ott, it won't be fun without you,'" Marie mimicked a whiny child, then laughed, "and giving him puppy eyes. Deal?"

"No one can refuse two sets of puppy dog eyes, especially from two masters like us." Alex laughed at the thought. "Oh defaintly, we have a deal!"

"Excellent. We'll corner him tomorrow and ask, okay? There's no way he'll turn us /both/ down." Marie got up, reaching for her book. "I've got to go get ready to go out with Logan this afternoon."

"As I said, he can't refuse." Alex stood up and scootted his chair back a bit. "Hot date tonight?" He asked with an amused grin.

Marie shook her head, smiling. "The words Logan and date do not go together," she said with great affection. "Logan and hockey, on the other hand, get along just fine. So, that's what we're doing."

"Nice, and that reminds me. If te movie doesn't work, Hockey certainly will. Scott took me to game a while ago and it was most excellent. He certainly loved it, though I doubt he'd admit to liking the same sport as Logan." He grinned. "Have fun hun."

"I will, thanks, Alex. I'll grab you tomorrow and we can work our magic on Scott." Marie gave him a wave as she headed out between the stacks. "See you then."