xp_logs | Doug, Angie, Jamie, and Kitty

Friday afternoon/evening. After the email exchange with Marie-Ange discussing Doug's need for a study break, Jamie kidnaps him and delivers him to his girlfriend.

Jamie poked his head into his room and grinned. Huddled over computer, check. Growing stack of empty caffeinated beverage containers, check. Blank stare and furiously tapping fingers, check. Perfect. He paused by his bed long enough to extract a long coil of nylon rope from under the mattress, then snuck up behind Doug.

"This is for your own good, buddy," he muttered, and whipped the rope a few turns around Doug's upper arms and chest, pinioning him to the back of the chair.

Doug blinked, startled, and by then it was too late to resist. "What the..." he stammered. "Jamie? What're you..." He grunted as Jamie knotted the rope expertly.

"Don't blame the messenger, dude, I'm just hired muscle on this caper." Jamie grinned and looped the rope around Doug's ankles too, cinching them up against the chair-post. "You're taking a study break."

Doug would have rested his head in one of his hands and rubbed the bridge of his nose, except for the fact that he was very securely bound to his chair. "Study break? How am I supposed to..." Doug groaned as he put two and two together. "Angie put you up to this, didn't she."

"Yep. She was getting a little tired of playing second fiddle to a math book, apparently. You're going on a date." Jamie pulled the chair away from the desk, then wheeled it out of the room and down the hall.

Doug, for his part, made a noise that sounded like 'meep'. Angie had said something about kidnapping, but he didn't think that she had meant it _literally_. Apparently he'd been wrong.

When they reached the stairs, Jamie paused to dupe a few times, and hoisted Doug, chair and all, onto his shoulders. "Cheer up, bud. You get dinner and a movie out of the deal."

Doug grunted as the chair lurched momentarily. "Jamie, best bud? We have a perfectly serviceable elevator in this mansion, if I'm not mistaken..."

"Party pooper. No one uses the elevator except the Prof, so nobody'd see your glorious parade down to the garage if we went that way."

Doug hung his head in defeat. "Let me guess. Alison's waiting somewhere with a camera, isn't she?"

"Ooh, that would have been a great idea. I'll remember that for next time." Jamie set the chair back down and jogged down the hallway pushing it. "Isn't this fun, though? Office chairs with wheels are really fun, I think."

Doug yelped as Jamie sent them both careening around a corner, hopping up onto the feet of the chair and leaning it into the turn. Resigning himself to the kidnapping, he tried to relax and let things happen.

His attempts were not at all helped by Jamie breaking into a fit of demented giggling when they hit the straightaway into the garage, but they arrived without crashing. Jamie hopped off the chair, screeched it to a halt, and bowed elaborately to the waiting girls. "Angie, one boyfriend, slightly mussed, as ordered."

Kitty leaned against the car, eyebrow raised as she watched the boys come careening into the garage. "Having fun?" she asked, grinning.

"Very much so." Jamie returned her grin.

Marie-Ange grinned, and unfolded her arms. "No trouble with your victim, I take it?"

"Aw, he was a pushover. Only not literally. Except almost around that one corner, right, Doug?"

Doug grumbled goodnaturedly. "Except that I think my stomach got left somewhere back in that hallway."

"Not like you're going to need that..."

"Yeah, less strain on Angie's wallet that way."

"I do intend to -feed- him." Angie said, while starting to undo the knots in the rope. "Jamie, this is.. impossible. How can I make Doug relax if he is stuck in the chair?"

"Don't they have Girl Scouts in France?" Jamie crouched down and tugged the knots loose. "Voila."

Doug pulled the ropes away from his arms and legs, and rubbed wincingly at the spot where he had gotten a bit chafed. "Did you have to tie them _quite_ so hard, old buddy old pal?"

"Then I really would've lost you around that one turn." He grinned. "Get Angie to kiss it better?"

"Instant cure all," Kitty put in.

Doug blushed rosily and took Marie-Ange's hand in his. "Not with you two around," he shot back. "So let's get this show on the road, huh?"

Kitty laughed. "Shy? Why? Not like we are."

Marie-Ange quirked an eyebrow, and shook her head, laughing. "I think he just does not want more pictures, like from the airpoirt."

"I knew I should've mentioned this to Alison." Jamie snickered and opened the car doors with a flourish. "Chariot awaits, guys."

Doug and Angie at dinner in a Mexican restaurant. They discuss a lot of things, including why Doug is taking extra self-defense with Pete, and Marie-Ange's nightmare about Doug being shot.

Marie-Ange frowned down at the menu in front of her. Of everything listed, she recognized -perhaps- ten words, and she was almost certain 'taco' did not count. Still, Doug had looked -terribly- pleased at the restaurant, and the menu, and she could stand some culture shock. She made a small distressed noise, and set the menu down. "That menu is full of things I completly fail to recognize. Help?" she said quietly. "I have no idea what is good..."

Doug, for his part, was in the special heaven for people who like Mexican food. The little hole-in-the-wall restaurant looked authentic, and not some faux-Mexican restaurant like Chi-Chis. Not only that, he had enjoyed chattering with the hostess in Spanish before being seated. He gently reached across and closed Marie-Ange's menu. "Remember how I told you about this place before?" He paused to smile happily at the server before engaging him in a rapid-fire barrage of Spanish.

Angie scrunched up her nose, thinking. "I.. think so. I am not certain." She frowned at him closing the menu and then sighed. "You grinned when we walked past, so how could I say no? I just have no idea what to order."

Doug finished his exchange with the server, handing him both the menus with a smiling "Gracias." Turning back to Marie-Ange, he took one of her hands in his. "They've kinda come to know me here, and Mama Lupe, who runs the kitchen, is going to make us dinner. I think she'd perceive it as a mortal insult if we ordered something off the menu. I think she's starting to think of me as one of her own kids." He grinned. "And she's apparently exceedingly happy to see me here with a 'una chica tan bonita y simpatica'."

Marie-Ange tilted her head. "Oh, -this- is the place you were so happy about with the food that was extra spicy?" She let out a short sigh, and fiddled with her napkin. "Ah, well. New expirences are good, and I trust you," she said, smiling.

Doug continued to smile in reply. "Thank you for getting Jamie to kidnap me. I think you were right, I did need this." He cocked his head to the side. "What did I do to deserve such a wonderful girlfriend?"

"Put me back together when I was upset and falling apart?" Angie said, in a slightly questioning tone. "But it is not about deserving, silly."

Doug nodded. "I suppose you're right, but still. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky to have you in my life." The server reappeared with two glasses of water, as well as a basket of chips with salsa for them.

Marie-Ange looked skeptically at the salsa, and prodded it with a chip. "Would you really like me to answer that?" she said, trying to decide whether to brave what could possible be something spicier than she liked. "I could, you know."

Doug looked slightly confused. "Actually, yeah, I would." He smiled goofily.

"You know, I think I told you, that I .. checked, a few times? Before the date?" Angie said, tenativly. For a lack of anything better to do with her hands, she prodded the salsa again, and carefully took a delicate nibble. It wasn't as spicy as she feared, and after a second, she continued. "I .. under-played just how many readings I did, and for how often."

Doug continued to look confused. "What does that have to do with me being so lucky to have you in my life?"

"I just am not sure if I believe in luck.. " Angie said, simply. "It happened because it was going to happen." She sighed, and shrugged. "I know, that makes very little sense..."

Doug nodded. "So you're saying we were fated to be together?"

Marie-Ange shook her head. "I do not know. I .. do not want to believe in fate, and I .. know that futures can change. But it was much easier to ask you out when I knew that it would go well." She frowned a little, and nibbled on the end of the chip. "Or, perhaps I just wanted it to be easier, and saw what I wanted to see. I am not sure."

Doug smiled. "It's a sort of Matrix-esque question." He shrugged. "But that's a little bit heavy subject matter for dinner when we're supposed to be relaxing." He grinned and stroked his thumb over the back of Marie-Ange's hand.

Angie closed her eyes, putting aside her concerns and worries for the moment, and just enjoying the soft touches. "Relaxing is good." she said, very quietly. "I think I took too many classes this semester."

Doug nodded. "Sometimes I feel the same way, especially with the way Mr. Wisdom is running me through one-on-one self-defense training. Some days I have bruises on top of my bruises." He leaned back, releasing Marie-Ange's hand as the server arrived with their food, placing plate after plate on the table.

"It will be a long time before I understand why you take that class so seriously." Angie said, then turned to peer at the plates curiously. "Guacamole. I recognize that." she said, with a smile. "And fajitas, because Lorna has made them, I think? But the rest, you will have to help me."

Doug nodded. "Mama Lupe makes the best guacamole for miles around." He took a tortilla and placed a liberal amount of guacamole in it before spooning from the fajita plate. He pointed at each plate in turn. "Flautas, enchiladas, chimichangas, and of course, tacos. Help yourself, mon coeur."

Marie-Ange took a moment to look over each plate, before taking a small amount from each, determined to be open-minded about this. It wasn't corn-dogs, she should be safe. After several bites, and a few mouthfulls of water, because the food was just a -touch- spicier than she was used to, she looked over at Doug, and smiled. "I could get used to this, but.. the brown .. whatever that is? It looks like something from your Dungeons and Dragons monster book."

Doug grinned. "Refried beans. I'm not a huge fan myself."

Angie giggled. "Still looks like something from your book.. "Refried ooze. They eat your clothing or.. I don't know. Something silly." She prodded the beans with her fork, then looked up at Doug, his comment about bruises giving her a pang of worry. "You are not going to get hurt? Any more than bruises? Please?"

Doug nodded. "That's why I'm doing it. I don't ever want to be helpless again. I want to be able to defend myself, at least a little bit. A few bruises now so that I won't have to be in the Medlab later."

"I .. just " Marie-Ange spread her hands. "I do not understand why you have to get so hurt doing it. Jamie does not have bruises, and he took self-defense. I did not have them when they made me take a little.. " She sighed. "It confounds me. It looks so pretty and graceful when I see it, like dance, but .. "

Doug shrugged. "Well, I don't imagine Jamie bruises all that much. When you hit him, he dupes. And besides, I don't know how everyone else trains, but with Mr. Wisdom, there's a lot of application of it, not just forms."

"So the bruises are so you can use the .. whatever it is you are doing? And the forms are the part that is like dance?" Marie-Ange tilted her head slightly. "What are the forms for, if the other part is for fighting?"

Doug nodded. "Mr. Wisdom is teaching me aikido. And the forms are for practice of the moves."

Angie shook her head. "I .. just think it is not something I will be able to understand." She shrugged, then returned to her food, absently poking her fork through a small pile of rice.

Doug reached his hand across the table and took Marie-Ange's hands in his. "I'm not doing it just so I can beat people up. I just want to be able to defend myself if I need to."

Marie-Ange smiled gently. "I know that. I cannot ever imagine you .. just fighting to hurt someone. I .. just.. " She squeezed Doug's hand gently. "I am just confused by it a little, I suppose. I wanted to understand why, and it .. worried me a little."

Doug looked concernedly at Marie-Ange. "Why did it worry you?"

Marie-Ange blushed a little. "It is .. silly." She shook her head, and frowned. "And not ever likely to happen. "

Doug's eyebrows raised in confusion. "What's wrong, Angie?"

Marie-Ange's food seemed, at the moment, entirely unappealing. Too firey, and bland, all at once. She sighed, and set down her fork. "Just more nightmares, but I am being unreasonably nervous about it. It is a long way off, even if you would want to, and what I saw, it would have to be more than just you."

Doug shook his head. "It's okay, whatever it is, it'll be okay." He smiled. "Besides, you've proven that the things you see don't necessarily have to happen."

Marie-Ange sighed slowly. "If I tell people, or am there to prevent it, or .. I do not know. I have had worse dreams, this one just scares me a lot. Because it is you..."

Doug reached out his hand to stroke Marie-Ange's cheek. "Shh. It's okay, love."

Even as fluent as she was, there were some things that Marie-Ange felt could not be said in English. It was too awkward, too unfamiliar a language.. "I saw you shot, Doug. In the chest, trying to save .. I am not sure who," Even in her native French, her words felt forced, and wrong. "And they brought you back onto the plane, and Dr. McCoy said could not help you, and then I wake up, every time. That is all I see of it."

Doug's eyes widened. "Oh, love..." He scooted his chair around toward Marie-Ange and drew her into his arms.

Leaning her head on Doug's shouder helped take away the sudden chill running up Angie's back, and she manged to still the slight tremble in her voice after a few moments. "So.. when you started taking that class, I was worried that you had .. gone and decided to .. " And at that, the waver came back, and she stopped speaking, because it had just grown far too difficult to talk about.

Doug wrapped his arms around Marie-Ange and simply held her tight, making gentle shushing noises and stroking her hair.

"I did .. this was supposed to be a nice dinner out.. I had not meant to talk about all this seriousness." Marie-Ange finally said, in a small voice. "I had meant to give you a night free from class stress, not tell you about my nightmares."

Doug shook his head. "It's all right, mon coeur. I worry for you sometimes when you have those nightmares. I wish there was a way that I could help you."

"I am not sure that I would do anything to make them stop... " Marie-Ange said, frowning. "They are infrequent now. I have them less often than I ever used to.. " She frowned, and looked almost as if she was going to ask something, then shook her head slightly, and remained quiet.

Doug simply kept his arm around Marie-Ange's shoulders and sat, quietly supporting her.

After a few minutes, the tension in Angie's face and neck lessened, and she relaxed against Doug's arm. "No more serious talks tonight? It was supposed to be a nice night out. Relaxing."

Doug nodded. "No more seriousness, check."

Marie-Ange frowned slightly, and then an impish smile crossed her face. Tension breaking. She could do that, she thought. And there were available materials, and she would just swear Doug to secrecy afterward, because if certain people ever found out she had played with her food, she would -never- see the end of it. Espically certain people with yellow jackets, a tendency to loudness and no sense of decorum. Very quickly, she stuck the very tip of her finger in the guacamole, and then poked at Doug's nose.

Doug managed to read the movement in time, and ducked to the side, allowing her finger to pass harmlessly by his head. He shook his head. "Silly girl."

A startled 'erp' noise escaped Angie's lips, and she pouted. "Now what do I do with this?" she waved the slightly green finger at him. "It was supposed to go on your nose."

"Well, it's not going to _go_ on my nose, love. That's what your napkin is for." He grinned.

Angie pouted again, and reached for her napkin to clean off her finger. "You are no fun at all. Using your powers for the purpose of defeating me is mean" she said, completly and utterly unseriously. "And no telling Jubilee about that. Or Clarice."

Doug chuckled. "I promise I'll make it up to you later, love. And no telling Jubilee or Clarice, I promise."