xp_logs | Jamie and Doug

Jamie stifled a yawn and paged halfheartedly through the weekend's assigned reading for communications class--reading he would have had finished days ago, except, hey, who knew sleep deprivation and lack of mutant powers made homework take so damn long? He took a quick glance at Doug, who was occasionally snickering at his computer, and took another swig of Pepsi. At this rate he'd actually be _drinking_ his grandfather's coffee by the end of the week.

Doug muttered to himself. Finally, pushing his chair back from the computer, he made a frustrated noise and turned to his roommate. "Man, this _sucks_. I can't tell him _anything_!"

Jamie blinked slowly and looked up. "Tell who what?"

Doug ran a hand through his hair. "Guido. I'm not even sure I should tell him that I'm the one who helped you record those MP3s, because _you_ certainly couldn't make your way through a wiring diagram even with three dupes and a flashlight. But aside from that, I can't tell him the whole truth about Xavier's, I can't tell him that you were in the band that opened for Ms. Blaire, and I _certainly_ can't tell him that I could wheel my chair across the hall and be _in her room_!"

Jamie swallowed another yawn. "Yeah, sucks to be us, doesn't it."

Doug peered at his less-than-chipper roommate. "I mean, I don't do devious as well as you. I'm not the world's best prevaricator."

"What devious? I told him I had a secret source. Took an amazing lack of effort."

"Well, yeah, except for the fact that your secret source is Ms. Blaire herself...I mean, I just find myself wanting to tell him how amazingly cool this place is, how cool _she_ is in person...and I can't."

"Get him started on cheerleaders, the band, or his art professor. He'll do most of the talking. Problem solved."

Doug closed his laptop somewhat firmly and wheeled his chair around. "Okay, that's it. You've been yawning most of the day, kind of cranky, and you've been staring at that same page for twenty minutes. What gives?"

"Leftover jet lag, I guess. And I'm reading carefully, some of this stuff is tricky."

Doug sighed, leaned his chair back, and ran a hand through his hair. Leaning back forward, he stared at Jamie intently. "Bullshit. Don't lie to me, Jamie."

"What the hell do you know about it? Think it's that surprising I'm having a hard time getting my brain back on American time when I've never been that far away before?"

Doug waved a hand. "I can tell you're lying. I mean, you won't look me in the eye, you're all curled in on yourself, and you're being totally defensive. I mean, your body language might as well be..." Doug trailed off, his eyes narrowing.

"You don't know crap. Just leave me alone."

Doug shook off his train of thought and refused to be put off that easily. "Uh, not gonna happen, dude. This is me here. I know something's up, and I just want to try and help, okay?"

Jamie flopped over on his stomach and stared at his reading again. "Go find somebody who wants it, then. I'm fine."

Doug snorted. "Survey says...bzzzzt. You're pretty obviously not fine, and you're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Who the hell appointed you chief mother hen? I _said_ I'm fine. Drop it."

Doug was getting a bit frustrated, and was just trying to get something beyond denial. "Well, I think Paige is actually the chief mother hen in this place. And I'd rather not drop it if there's something that's bothering you."

"What makes you think it's any of your business? You're my roommate, not my keeper."

"I may not be your keeper, but I'd like to think that I'm your _friend_, hm?" Doug looked at Jamie shrewdly, a thought occurring to him. "Is this about the nightmares?"

"No. They went away. Or hadn't you noticed the part where I haven't been waking you up with them?"

Doug rolled his eyes. "Aaaaand the bullshit needle buries again. You may not have been waking us up with them, but I somehow bet they haven't gone away." Another thought occured to him, and he continued slightly more casually and conversationally. "So are you sleeping somewhere else, or have you taken to wandering the halls all night?"

Jamie hopped off his bed and headed for the door. "Think what you want. I have homework to do, and I'm tired of being called a liar."

Doug watched Jamie leave, pained. Turning, he smacked a hand against the wall in frustration. "Damn. Smooth, Doug, very smooth."