xp_logs | Manuel and Clarice

Manuel meets Clarice. Things go well - and they do not. Manuel still has a libido, and it trips him up here. Backdated to last Thursday.

Ricky Martin blared from the stereo in the fencing hall while Clarice worked on her lunges. Over a week without a proper lunge had left her feeling off and she could feel it. "Hey," she panted, trying to wave and only managing to move her arm feebly. "You ready to get your ass handed to you?"

Manuel was attracted by the sound of the music initially, but the girl - was she _purple_? - with the sword caused him to poke his head in further. "Excuse me?" he said, his Castillian accent _gone_ in favor of a old-money New England one. "Are you _threatening me_?"

"What?" she asked, confused. She'd heard Manuel had a brain change or something, but this was a bit much, even for Xavier's weirdness. "You are Manuel, right?"

Manuel nodded, his fists clenched at his sides. "I am. Who the hell are you?" he demanded, while one hand fished his cellphone out of his back pocket - causing a well-folded map to fall out of his pocket - unnoticed by him. "Make a move, I make a phone call." he said by way of a warning. "And I can run really fast."

"I'm not going to beat you up," she informed him exasperated, rolling her eyes, she propped the sword against the wall and pulled her bandana off to wipe some sweat away, "I'm Clarice," she introduced herself, walking over, left hand extented to shake his.

Manuel looked at the proffered hand, and awkwardly met it with his appropriate hand. "Manuel. Just Manuel. I'd say it's good to meet you, but you threatened to hurt me a few moments ago."

"Oh, I wasn't serious," she sat down to stretch and gestured for him to sit on the bench, "We fence together. Lot's of flashy Princess Bride stuff. Thought maybe you were here to practice."

"I fence?" Manuel asked Clarice, taking a seat on the bench and putting his cellphone away. "I don't remember any of that." he admitted. "Was I any good at it? I mean, I keep myself on good shape if I do say so myself."

Clarice nodded, "Better than me at epee and foil, but I know more forms. You've been studying longer. It all ends up balancing, in its own way."

Manuel nodded, and then blushed faintly as something Kitty had told him came to mind. "You'll have to forgive me for asking this, but it was mentioned to me. Did we ever date or anything?" he asked Clarice. "Because Kitty tells me that I liked to woo the ladies, whatever that means, and you're obviously female..."

Her face darkened briefly, before she smiled again but the corners didn't quite reach her eyes, "You...propositioned me once. And then got pissed when I said no. We didn't talk for a long time, but classes, fencing, it was unavoidable. And you were dating Amanda so it didn't matter."

Manuel ohhed. "I'm sorry." he said, the blush coming on hot and strong. "Boy, this is awkward." he muttered, mostly to himself. "So, anyway. Fencing. Think that the reflexes are still there, even if the memory isn't?" he asked her with far more good cheer than he was actually feeling.

"Thanks," Clarice's smile did reach her eyes now, "I didn't think you were ever going to say that. For anything."

"Why wouldn't I?" Manuel asked, honestly curious. "I mean, it's the decent thing to do, isn't it?"

"You were an ass," there was no way she could say it any other way, even if she had wanted to, "Arrogant and demanding and stubborn. And a hell of a dresser. And of course, I taunted you every chance I had."

Manuel stared at Clarice for a moment or two, trying to assimilate this new information. "I was?" he said with a strangled voice. "Well then." he said after another few moments and a quick scrub at his eyes. "Maybe it's best that I don't remember then."

"Hey," Clarice moved to sit with Manuel, "You get a do-over. Not everyone gets that chance. Besides, I did everything I could to piss you off, too."

"I'm busting my ass, making myself literally sick, trying to remember and find out who I was. Now you're telling me that I was some kind of flaming asshole who wasn't - isn't! - worth the time?" he said to her. "Is that it?"

Having at least the grace to look chagrined, Clarice blushed. "No...yes...no. You pissed me off. I pissed you off. Amanda loves you, Jubilee is your friend, I think, Kitty and Marie-Ange are your friends...you're not some worthless piece of scum from the planet ick. You're human. That's all." she couldn't believe she was defending the old Mannie to the new Manuel. It was surreal.

Manuel stood up, looking at Clarice carefully, not bothering to hide the tears in his eyes. "I suppose I should thank you for opening my eyes." he told her. "So thank you." He backed away from Clarice, heading towards the door. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry he was such an ass to you."

"Wait." Clarice jumped up giving him a hug, "You're not an ass now. And that's good. Even if you get your memories back, you'll still have these, right? So you'll be a different person still."

Manuel was stiff and unresponsive through the hug, and didn't return it. But he did stop retreating from the room. "I don't know." he said. "It's possible that I'll wake up one morning with all my old memories and none of my new ones."

"And then I'll tell you how nice you were," she didn't really notice she was being stinky and sweaty all over him.

"From what you just told me, I won't care much." he admitted with a grimace. "And I'll have my power then, and that just can't help. I don't know much about it, other than it was really strong."

"But I'll remember and won't try to piss you off," Clarice wasn't succeeding at reassuring him, "Manuel...what is...is. Even if it sucks sometimes. But you keep forgetting, I'm as much to blame for most of this as you are. Between you and me I mean. I'm just trying to be honest with you. You were always honest with me."

"That's good." he said slowly. "I like honesty. Somehow, I think that I always have." He paused for a couple of seconds, and then gestured to Clarice's training sword. "So I really knew how to use that thing?" he said. "Show me?"

"Absolutely! Let me go find you a jacket..." without waiting for a response, Clarice jogged out of the hall and into the equipment room.

"I need a jacket? Are we going outside?" he asked curiously as he looked around the Gym curiously. "I don't think I've ever been in this room."

"No! A fencing jacket, like the one I'm wearing," she gestured to her top, "And you'll need a mask and glove. And of course, a sword. Unless you remember your locker code?"

"I have a locker code?" he asked faintly. "Wait - yes. Yes, I do remember!" he said, his expression immediately cheering at this unexpected bit of good fortune. "Can you show me where it is?"

"Boys locker room, across the hall. No idea which one, not being a boy and all." Clarice rather pleased, this made things much easier!

Manuel hrmmed. "Guess you wouldn't." he said, before disappearing into the Boys Locker Room. He was in there for maybe fifteen minutes solid before re-emerging - sans sword, jacket, or anything else. "I can't find it." he said with frustration.

"It's okay," while he was gone, she had found a spare jacket she thought would fit him in the equipment room. "Try this, it's like a straight jacket, you have to step in and it zips up the back."

Manuel nodded. "Okay." he said, stepping into the jacket. "It's a little small." he said dubiously. "Is it supposed to be this snug?"

"Yup, let me adjust the straps," kneeling behind him she worked with the strap that snaked between his legs. It was a good thing Amanda wasn't here, she thought. "Better?"

"Now it's really uncomfortable." he said, shamelessly adjusting himself to try to get comfortable. "You sure that I've worn this stuff before?"

"Yuppers, but I think you need a bigger size. Let me see..." she disappeared into the equipment room, leaving him to try to undo the zipper. "I don't see any more jackets..."

Manuel stared at the fencing jacket. Infernal garment, he was already starting to hate it. Especially what it did to his poor groin. Adjusting it again, he resolved to just ignore it as best he could. Maybe things would get better once they started fighting. "Then let's just make do for the time being."

"No way, if it's too tight and you try a lunge, you'll be a candidate for the Darwin awards, and that would be bad, umkay?" she parodied the teacher from South Park, "Another time."

Manuel looked confusedly at Clarice. "The what?" he said, and then shrugged. Chalk it up to another thing he didn't remember. "Help me get out of this thing, then?" he said, giving her his best Puppy Eyes of Doom.

"Darwin Awards - they're for finding creative ways to not reproduce."

Manuel blushed again at the mention of reproduction. And sure enough, his body was trying to betray him in a major way, sadistic fencing jacket or no sadistic fencing jacket. Which just led to more blushing.

Clarice pointedly didn't notice his discomfort. There didn't seem to be much point of teasing him since neither Forge or Kyle were there.

Manuel finally got himself half-in and half-out of the fencing jacket. "Umm, help?" he said with only a little bit of a pleading voice.

"Hold still," she instructed, unzipping the jacket all the way and pulling it off his arm, "All good."

Manuel twisted around to fully remove the jacket - and not-coincidentally putting him almost nose-to-nose with Clarice. He leaned forward just a touch and kissed her before backing up. "Thanks." he said with a _very_ nervous grin.

Clarice stood there, gaping at him. "You and Amanda are dating, Manuel," she told him when she found her voice. She briefly wished they were near her swords and not on the other side of the gym, "And she's my friend. No."

"Oh." he said quietly. "I'm sorry. Thanks for the ... stuff. Yeah." he added, and then fled as quickly as dignity and a somewhat enormously treacherous and uncomfortable male anatomy would let him move.