xp_logs | LOG: Manuel and Shinobi

Who: Shinobi Shaw, Manuel de la Rocha
Where: Shinobi's Room
When: Thursday night
What Happens: They talk, Manuel cries, they discuss relationships, threesomes, and the fundamental nature of women

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Manuel knocked on the door to Shinobi's rooms, and waited politely for him to respond. He kept his mind buttoned up tight - to keep everyone else out, and to keep his current very loud mental argument in.

It wasn't a very long wait before the door opened, and Shinobi brightened when he saw Manuel on the other side. "Wasn't expecting you so soon," he admitted, but clearly, he didn't mind, quickly stepping back to clear the doorway. He'd be nice and save the hug until they were both inside, lest embarassing photos be taken of them in the hall. "Come on in."

Manuel shrugged. "I found myself with some free time. And I can't sleep anyway, so I thought I'd come talk to you. It is _good_ to see you again. I didn't think anyone here would miss me just as a person - it meant a lot that you did." he said.

"You're a friend," Shinobi observed simply, closing the door once Manuel was inside. He fidgetted for a moment before muttering a quiet 'what the hell' and practically lunging forward to hug the other man around the shoulders. In a very manly way. Really. "You lot scared the hell out of me, you know that?"

Manuel actually hugged back - a first for him. He then kissed Shinobi on both cheeks. "I never thought I would miss this place, but I did." he said, fighting back his own feelings on the subject. "And it was bad enough with Loki - he at least taught me control, got me physically back into shape. When he sent me to raid the Enchantress's castle, and I found Amanda there..." he said, sniffling. "It all went so very sour."

"This place does grow on you when you aren't paying attention," Shinobi agreed, reaching up to fondly ruffle Manuel's hair, looking at him with a slightly wobbly smile. "I'm sorry your time there was spent as it was. Can I do anything for you? Even if it's just pointing out where the Kleenex are?"

"That would help." he said, heading for one of Shinobi's overstuffed chairs. "I learned a lot - I've got control now, and shields, and I can not scan if I do not wish to - like I am now." he said. "But I paid a price for it - I had to embrace everything that I have done, and everything that has been done to me."

"Not an easy price to cope with," Shinobi grimaced, quickly retrieving a box of Kleenex from the kitchenette before following Manuel, setting the box on one of his chosen chair's armrests before seating himself in another. "But, I have faith in you. You've already clearly grown from your experiences there.. I'm sure you'll come out from everything involved on both feet."

"I know I will." Manuel said with some confidence. "It's just gonna be hard for a while. She enslaved me, Shinobi. I trusted her - I _love_ her - and she stole my body and mind. I know it was necessary, that she saved my life, but she _used_ me. She wanted me to pleasure her against my will!"

Well, there was no need to guess who that was all about. "Are you sure?" Shinobi asked carefully, leaning forward so he could prop his chin up in both hands, watching his friend with no small amount of worry. "How did this spell work? I'm not very up to speed on all that stuff."

"I was _there_, Shinobi. I couldn't move unless she told me that I could, or if she gave me an order. I couldn't even _BLINK_." he said, fighting hard against his own emotions. "It was like the asylum's fondest wish come true."

"Maybe she mis-spoke?" Shinobi suggested, hoping very much that it was simply a very nasty misunderstanding - that would be a lot easier to believe than the alternative. "This is Amanda.. and as much as we love her, we both know she sometimes has problems with language. Maybe it was a simple - if extremely, extremely unfortunate - slip of the tongue?"

Manuel shook his head. "There was no mistake. I heard her do the incantation." he said. "It was the only way to guarantee my safety from the Enchantress. I know this, but my heart screams."

Shinobi paused, his brow furrowing in thought. "As would mine, in your position.. if it was part of the incantation, though, she may have had no choice but to say what she did. I don't think incantations are very.. flexible." He sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. "A fine mess, to be sure."

"She used my _name_ and the link." he sniffled. "I don't want to fear her, Shinobi. I don't want to see her, to want her, and then think of the doctors."

"She likely used your name because it needed a target.. and the link may have made it easier to cast, somehow. I don't know.. I could ask her?" Shinobi shrugged helplessly. "You'll get past this, Manuel. I know you will. It'll take time, to rebuild your trust and become as comfortable together again, but you're both too crazy about each other for it not to be mendable. It'll just take patience." He paused, and added, "And communication. If you two need a go-between for a while, until you're ready to see her again, I can do it."

Manuel nodded. "I've asked her for some time, and she has given it to me. I won't spread my misery to her via our link - I'm filtering it." he said, dabbing a tissue at his eyes. "I do not wish to give her up. I won't."

"It's nice to see you care so deeply for someone," Shinobi smiled. "I don't think she could give you up, either, for what it's worth. She's crazy about you."

Manuel managed to roll his eyes at Shinobi. "Empath!" he said derisively. "I can see it, and I know how she feels about me." He paused, and then continued after a moment. "But she's never said it."

"It just doesn't take an empath to see it," Shinobi grinned, though he sobered quickly, returning his chin to its perch in his hands. "She's probably afraid to. I know I was terrified, first time I told Sarah as much." He paused, and gently added, "I was partially afraid to because she'd always been so openly smitten with Jono.. so I don't know that your interest in Jubilee is putting her fears at ease."

Manuel shrugged. "She's nothing, really. A fun diversion. She has my heart - I told her this before we all went away." he protested. "She has Bethany, and I say nothing. I am permitted to take my sport as much as she is."

Shinobi nodded in agreement, offering Manuel a small smile. "But you and Bethany don't actively despise each other, as far as I know. Jubilee is a very sore spot for Amanda - she gets grouchy at me if I even speak to her. God only knows what she'd do if I ever did more than that." He tilted his head in thought, lightly tapping his fingers against his chin. "Maybe negotiations of some sort are in order," he mused. "I know she doesn't want to deny you your sport, since you don't deny her the same."

Manuel sighed deeply. "I know." he said simply. "I do not know how to resolve it - Jubilee wants me, I know this, I've seen it - but Amanda goes berserk if her name crosses my lips. And right now I am not terribly inclined to be too accomodating." he said ruefully.

Shinobi smiled in understanding. "I know you aren't. You're hurt, and rightfully so.. but trying to hurt Amanda back would only make things infinitely worse, and I'm fairly sure you don't want that. Revenge has no place in love. Would you like some advice, as far as a way to resolve it is concerned?"

Manuel nods. "I also know that. I haven't done anything yet." he said. "I'll listen, if you have any advice. This is was so much easier when I'd just use my power to fix everything." he whined.

Shinobi grinned approvingly. "It's evidence of how much you've grown that you haven't opted for the easy route. I'm very proud of you." With a thoughtful tilt of his head, he cast a quick look towards the door, drawing in a deep breath. "The simplest way, discounting that, to solve things.. well, would probably be to simply tell Jubilee 'no'. I know it's tempting not to, since I'd have to be either blind or dead not to find her a pretty girl, but if you made it clear to her that nothing - casual or otherwise - was in the cards, because you care so much for Amanda.. it would probably help a great deal."

Manuel grinned. "She knows this. BOTH of them know this." he said. "Both of them are coming into things with their eyes open. I can handle it, honestly." he said with a pre-Asgard Manuel Cocky Grin (tm).

"Then you need to make it clear to them again," Shinobi replied patiently, with a helpless shrug of his shoulders. "Teenage girls are a rabid lot, and you are a damn handsome man. You know this. You need to make it clear to Jubilee, in no uncertain terms, no little dangly strings left behind for her to cling to, that she's got no chance in hell. Otherwise, you'll never have a moment's peace, from either of them."

Manuel grinned again. "It is such a curse, to be this sexy." he said with a run of his fingers through his hair. "But we do what we must, when we must." he grinned. "I will make it absolutely clear to her."

Shinobi nodded, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Good. If you want help, to make sure you aren't overly harsh, let me know? Or Emma. Speech is her forte, after all." Well. One of them.

Manuel quirked an eyebrow, and smirked at Shinobi. "One of her numerous skills." he said with a grin. "And I will handle Jubilee. I find it difficult to turn down the opportunity to have her." he said with a grin. "She's still an innocent, you know. But she's in a big hurry to lose it. To me." he said with another grin. "It is my duty to oblige her."

Pausing, Shinobi arched an eyebrow, giving Manuel a very odd look. "It is your duty not to hurt the woman you love," he frowned, with a slow shake of his head. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Of course it is." he said with a only partially mock-offended look. "And I don't have anything specific in mind - she's got to do it herself, lest I be fending off accusations from now until Doomsday that I compelled it. But if she wants it, and knows that it's just scratching an itch, then I'm certainly not going to stop her."

"You realize that if you sleep with her, Amanda will probably never forgive you," Shinobi said slowly, his odd look turning into one of disbelief. "Even if you view it as simply scratching an itch.. think about this for a moment. It's going to look like you're lashing back at her. It won't fix anything."

Manuel hrmed. "You have a point there." he said. "There are things that I want - Jubilee - but I can't have her until I get my own head straightened out and get over this stupid thing I've got going on right now." he mused. "She is worth settling everything out for. You make sense, as much as I don't want to hear it."

"You should speak with Amanda about it, before you pursue it," Shinobi suggested. "Give yourself time to recover from Asgard and everything that happened there before making any decisions of that import. You never know.. if you and Amanda sit down and try talking it out again, she might be willing to agree to it. You just have to be willing to sacrifice some things you want in order to make the relationship work, and Jubilee may very well be one of them."

Manuel grumbled. "I'm always the one who sacrifices. She could give something up once in a while." he said irritably. "It's not fair."

Shinobi held up a hand. "That's why I suggested negotiating earlier," he smiled. "As painful an exercise in discipline as it may be for the pair of you, you may want to discuss the possibility of becoming more.. exclusive. It's well worth the absence of arguements. If that wouldn't work.. maybe limited yourselves to people who don't live here would be sufficient?"

Manuel quirked his eyebrow. "Perhaps." he admitted. "But again, she wins. Beth doesn't live here, and she's disturbingly not into men." he groused. "And I will _not_ compel for a night's pleasure. Not anymore."

"If Beth herself is a problem for you, maybe that's something to discuss?" Shinobi frowned in thought. "And as horribly maimed as some people might wish me for expressing the thought.. maybe she just hasn't met the right man. Have you met her yet?"

"I believe that people have conspired to keep the two of us apart." he said thoughtfully. "Probably because she attends HeliX meetings, and it has been made clear to me that I am not welcome there."

"Ah, but this is unrelated to HeliX. Sound Amanda out on the subject - offer to take the pair of them to dinner, or ask if Amanda'd mind if you just took Bethany out because you'd like to get to know her a bit better." He shrugged a shoulder. "Assuming you do want to, anyway."

"I'm curious." he admitted. "She has Amanda completely enthralled, and anyone who can do _that_ is probably worth getting to know."

Shinobi grinned. "I'd be pretty damn curious, too. So ask her about it sometime. Maybe wait 'til things have had a chance to smooth out some."

Manuel nodded. "No need to rush things any." he said. "We have time."

"Definitely.. and in the meantime.." Shinobi grinned cheerfully. "Your time away seems to have done much for your physique. Do you think you'll be up for those fencing lessons anytime soon?"

"Absolutely." he said with a grin. "Be good for me, take my mind off of the girl. Why _is_ it that we can be so bloody single-minded that we wreck our health and our lives, but when you introduce a woman into things, it always gets complicated?"

"Because we are men," Shinobi replied solemnly, letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Women prevent us from thinking straight. It is our curse."

Manuel grinned. "And our greatest pleasure." he said, punching Shinobi lightly in the shoulder. "Love them or hate them, they _always_ make life more complicated. And more interesting."

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I so read this log just because of the threesome reference.

And, you know, because you're awesome and I'm joking. Manny weeping, however, was a world of offsetting.