Paige and Doug

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Paige is trying to destroy books. Doug gives her a hug. Somehow, angst ensues


Doug wandered the halls of the mansion, deep in thought as he tended to be lately. Hands in pockets, feet shuffling, he gazed off into some indeterminate distance.

Paige on the other hand was quite the opposite. She had put herself into a corner of the library that was seldom visited and was now fiercely turning pages, ages scanning their written word.

On a whim, based on a thought he had been having, to do with his powers, Doug turned into the library and went hunting for a book on sign language.

The shuffling of feet which would normally distract her was ignored for more turning of pages. There was tenseness to her shoulders and her sleeves were suspiciously long, something that generally pointed towards long hours in the gym.

Snapping out of his deep concentration, Doug realized he was not alone in the library. And from the agitated sound of page-turning coming from a normally vacant corner, it was someone who was upset about something, and looking to be left alone. ~Not that I ever pay much attention to that...~ thought Doug to himself, wandering over to see who it was.

Paige paused to look up, giving the newcomer a solid gaze of nothing but gray. “Doug.” This was obviously the end of her social abilities as she turned back to attempting to tear apart her textbook.

~Ohboy. This is going to be fun,~ Doug thought as he grimaced after Paige stared back down at the textbook. Sitting down quietly, he decided to try nonchalant. 'So, how's it going?'

“Fine, thank you,” was her short reply.

Doug sighed inaudibly. ~I can't very well go about this like I did with Jamie. I can't just straight up call her on it and tell her that's a load of crap, now can I.~ Very quietly, he asked 'If that's the case, then why are you trying to reduce your textbook to very small pieces?'

“It exists,” she said without thinking. There was an icy pause where she raised her eyes to his, daring him to continue.

~Oh man oh man oh man,~ came the slightly panicky thought as Doug recognized 'there is more to this' from Paige's body language. But, being the caring person he was, Doug braved the ice of Paige's eyes. 'That doesn't sound much like something you'd say.'

“Oh, you know me. Saying crazy things.” She returned to her book, making notes in the margins with the pencil that had been behind her ear.

Doug smiled hesitantly. 'Well, I'm trying to get to know you, in any event. But from what I know, angry at things for existing is pretty much as not 'you' as it gets. Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything I can help with?' At that, he bit his lower lip nervously.

“Unless your mutation involves making people better people, no. I’m fine,” she retorted shortly.

Doug closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'This is going to probably be totally out of line, but you're not really, are you.' The way he says it made it clear that this was a statement, not a question.

Paige raised her head, taking a deep breath and staring through him. “No.” There’s a long exhale of breath after for the unsaid words.

Unsaid words Doug read in spades. Tentatively, he half-extended a hand. 'And there's nothing at all I can do to help?' he asked, his heart in his eyes.

“No, Doug. You can’t… can’t… no.” She looked away, staring at the spines of old books. “I just need some time. How is it said? Only time mends a broken heart?”

Withdrawing the hand slowly, Doug sighed. 'What about a hug? I've always been a firm believer that there isn't anything that can't be made even just a little bit better with a hug.'

“I’m sick of crying, Doug,” she said suddenly, turning eyes of the darkest of blues back to him. She let her book fall off her lap and to the floor as an answer. “I think I’ve already cried enough tears for one lifetime.”

Pushing his chair around the corner and closer to Paige, Doug nodded and opened his arms slightly in invitation. 'There's no shame in it, though. There's nothing wrong with crying if you need to.'

Swallowing hard she leaned in, resting her cheek on his shoulder with shut tight eyes. “No. There was only one man who deserved them and that was my father. No more.”

Doug tentatively rested an arm around Paige's back, squeezing her shoulder and not saying anything, just simply being there.

A shudder ran through her and she gritted her teeth waiting for whatever it was to ebb. When she pulled back it was with a smile, the tension still there, the colour lost in her eyes, but a smile nonetheless.

Doug very carefully hid his worry behind a tentative smile of his own. 'Better?'

“Hugs make everything better,” she answered and yet not at all.

Leaning in slowly, Doug put both arms around Paige in more of a proper hug. 'I told you,' he said. Staring over her shoulder where she couldn't see, his face showed all the aching his heart felt for Paige, and the tiniest bit of self-loathing at the part of himself that was enjoying having Paige in his arms, however it had come to pass.

Paige forced her smile to stay in place, afraid of what might exactly happen if she let it fall. “You’re a good man, Doug. Thank you.”

Forcing a smile as fake as the one he knew Paige was wearing, Doug nodded. 'I try, at least. Take care of yourself.' With a last shoulder squeeze, he wandered out of the library, more preoccupied than when he entered, his eyes full of obscure pain.