xp_logs | LOG: Manuel and Alex

Manuel and Alex talk - about the women in their lives (Selene, Amanda, and Lorna), and about the interloper known as Jean Grey. Pretty much fluff. Backdated to before Manuel's conversation with Jean.

Alex was in one of the common rooms flipping through channels. He still had about an hour before he and Hank had planned on kidnapping Scott to take him to see Robots and Alex was bored. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone since it usually ended up with them defending Jean so here he was, bonding with the TV.

Manuel wandered through that same commons room, very obviously distracted by something major. He stubbed his toe on one of the overstuffed chairs, and swore loudly in Castillian Spanish for a good thirty seconds before collapsing into said chair to examine the extent of the damage.

Glancing over at the sudden swearing, Alex winced as he saw what had happen. "Dude, that's gotta hurt. You alright?"

"I'll survive. Feels better than the Mansion lately, I'll say that much. Between apparitions from beyond the grave and whatever huge thing has all the teachers in such an emotional uproar, I'm surprised I didn't break my leg from sheer distraction." he grumbled. "And hey, what's this I hear that the cyborgs or whatever from a little while ago were gunning for you in particular?"

Alex couldn't help but smirk at the first part for unfortunately, it was all true. But at the second, he could only shrug. "Apparently some of the cyborg dudes recognized me and decided to ignore orders and kill me, so they could tell the Black Queen. Wasn't a pleasant moment I assure you."

"I'm actually jealous. They tried to kill you and not me. Guess we know who's more loved." he grumbled with a grin. "Actually, to be honest I'm kind of relieved. All that crap in their heads could have made things a little difficult. You, pfft! A little plasma'll show them the error of their ways."

"Dude, you can have them...I'm just sick of it coming up in *everything* ya know?" Alex held up his hand and flexed them a bit, grinning at the memory of him actually being able to defend himself. He was only wearing jeans over his containment suit so the top was visible. "I had to admit, it was kind of fun blasting at them in a control sort of manner. Definitely felt good..."

Manuel shrugged. "Hey, no need to compete for Her affections - personally, that's a race for who can have the _least_ affection, but maybe that's just me." he laughed. "And you! YOU! You need to relax! If you got any more tense I suspect you'd be no good at all to that green-haired little sexpot you've snagged yourself." he said with a smirk.

That made Alex laugh. "Tell me about it! Maybe between the two of us we can royally piss Her off and She'll just leave us alone!" It actually felt good to joke about it, especially with someone who knew all about Her. Then he playfully glared at Manuel. "Hey man, you try dealing with a brother whose old flame just came back from the dead. Not to mention I think the old flame is bad news. It's no secret I don't like her..."

"No, really?" he deadpanned. "It's not like I could see it from all the way down the hall or anything." he smirked. "And I don't know about you, but all I want to do is leave Her alone. Maybe if I go long enough without attracting Her attention She'll forget about me. About us." he said. "And I'm an only child, as far as I know. So can't help you there. I talked to Scott the other day - it must be a Summers thing, getting wound up that tight. But I've got to give him credit - that Dr Grey is a fine-looking woman. Nice ass, great legs, OK hair..."

The Jean Gray admiring only made Alex roll his eyes. "Please...sure she's good looking but she's just bad news. Frankly, I'd have been happier if she had just stayed dead. Scott's got enough to worry about, he doesn't need this at all!" Then he shrugged, "Hey man, when you go through a major separation like Scott and I have, you tend to worry about the other a little more then is probably healthy." He sighed dreamily, leaning back. "Her leaving us alone...that would be a wonderful idea...think it will ever happen?"

Manuel smirked. "That would be telling. Too easy to rig the game." he said. "And I don't know her from a hole in the wall. Suits me just fine, a lot of the old-timers are falling all over themselves. She gets herself perished up in Canada somewhere, if I heard the story right, and now that she's back we're all just supposed to fall down before the one we serve? I don't _think_ so. For all I know, she could be another one of Her little presents!"

"God I wish! Would give me an extra good excuse to blow the living shit out of her!" Alex was eerily calm as he said that, an odd gleam in his eye. Then he shook his head again. "I don't see what the big deal is with her anyway...it's not like someone coming back from the dead should be such a big thing around her anyway..."

"Well, I think resurrections are a little weird, even for us. But I spent my time in Asgard, I saw stuff that was just as weird. You haven't seen weird until you've seen a slave auction. Now _that_ was weird. Wound up with yet another tall blonde, who I traded to a Vanir for a load of meteoric iron that Loki wanted." Manuel said, remembering.

Alex snorted softly. "You forget, I can empathize with some of those slaves. That's all I was to Her after all. And what's next? Lorna's convinced we're going to have Aliens landing the backyard."

Manuel's lips twisted as Alex mentioned Lorna. "That's OK. I was going to be her pet project - just like you were. At least she didn't move in and make herself at home." he said with a sneer.

Alex couldn't help but nod as he caught the emotion in Manuel's voice, emotion he also felt. "You are lucky for that. She doesn't like others playing with Her toys once She's made Her claim." Then he cocked his head to the side slightly, "Have you talked to Lorna recently? Since you got back your memories anyway?"

Manuel nodded. "It ... could have gone better. She's got a major fear in her, man. I could get rid of it, for a time, but since I am - was - the guy who put it there in the first place, I suppose I should quit while I'm ahead, eh?" he said with a shrug. "I don't know how you deal with it."

Alex thinks for a moment on that. "It's hard to get her to talk about it...it was hard enough when I told her I wanted to be friend with you. I mean, the reason she has her own suite is because Alison agreed to teach you..." Then he shook his head. "Yeah I wouldn't use your powers around her for a long while...it really creeps her out."

Manuel blinked, and then sighed. "I did not know that." he said with a long exhalation. "Great." He took a moment to get himself under control, and then tried a smile on for size. "Believe me, I have no intention of actually using my power actively any time real soon. Better for everyone that way, I think. Something you can empathize with, I think. You could turn me into free-floating oxides, and I could enslave you to my every whim. Both of us are too damned strong for our own good."

Alex rolled his eyes, if anything to hide the wince. "Tell me about it, especially since both of us have hurt her with them...Still don't understand why she took me back but I'm not complaining..." Then he shook his head, looking down at his chest and his suit since he wasn't wearing a shirt over it. "It is nice to have control for once though..."

Manuel shrugged. "She loves you, dumbass. As you do her. That's obvious, even without my power." he said sarcastically. He then noticed Alex's new fashion accessory. "What, they have you in a body glove to help with your power? Hey, if it works, more power to you."

"Seems after Her continuous draining, my power was leaking. It had some side effects on Shiro and I couldn't use them on command. This allows me to not leak and I actually have control for one...Helped me blast those Hellfire guys." He couldn't stop an odd smirk.

Manuel grinned. "I was serious. If it helps, I'm all for it. Of course, you _have to_ keep working on getting control for yourself. Relying on this little techie marvel is probably a bad idea in the long run. Make you sterile or something." he said with a laugh.

Alex laughed too. "True very true...but I think my powers have just been so screwed up, I don't think I'll ever have control without it. I mean look at Scott?" Then he leaned back into the couch. "And I am working on...it's just nice to not have to worry about randomly blowing up anymore..."

"Doesn't Scott have brain damage or something wrong with him? I seem to remember somebody saying something like that at some time. What's your excuse?" he said with a laugh. "But yeah, I know what you mean. I went through a good long while with a dampener on my wrist because I couldn't handle things. It helped."

"He's my brother, I think there's more then brain damage..." Alex joked, unable to help himself, then nodded in agreement. "Getting rid of the worry so you can control it is wonderful...I'll be grateful to Forge forever."

Manuel grinned. "I can get rid of worry, no sweat." he said with a crack of his knuckles. "So this is a Forge Special? Cool." he said with amusement. "I'm not sure what to think about Forge. He's a little bit weird in the head."

That made him raise an eyebrow. "Really? How so?" Then he shrugged, "The kid's a regular genius and because of him, I won't kill anyone ever again. That makes me *very* happy."

Manuel shrugged. "It's hard to explain to a non-empath. He's a little ... let's see, how to put this delicately? Clueless? No, that's not quite right. He's a little ... off ... in his emotional reactions. A little skewed. Like he doesn't know how to deal." he said. "I know I'm not explaining it well."

Alex thinks for a moment. "Sounds to me like your trying to say he's not sure of himself...as person not a mutant. Am I right?"

"That's part of it, yeah." he said, nodding. "Not all of it, but yeah, that's as good a description as any."

"Works for me. You should have seen him after we finished the suit and Lorna I just started touching, nothing major. It's like he was ten and we had cooties." Alex couldn't help but chuckle.

"You mean you don't have cooties?" he said with a laugh. "But yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Somebody neglected that kid when he was young and tender, and it shows. And hey, man, I don't really need the mental image of you and Lorna going at it. Too distracting." he said with a quick leer.

That made him crack an eyebrow. "And you and Amanda broadcasting it isn't?"

Manuel shrugged. "Don't know - which one of us do you find hot, me or her?" he asked with a smirk.

With that Alex burst out laughing. "Sorry man, despite what Shiro like to say, I'm very much into chicks. Amanda is so much hotter then your ugly mug."

Manuel pouted adorably. "Man, you're breaking my heart here!" he said with a laugh. "But I will agree that Amanda is plenty hot when she wants to be. Man, you have _no idea_." he said with another evil leer. "Girl's got _skills_, if you know what I mean. Be the best ride of your life, bar none."

"I'm a heart breaker I know!" Alex batted his eye lashes at Manuel playfully before bursting out laughing. "Oh I bet, though I plan on Lorna being my one and ...well...only." He bite his lower lip for a moment then shook his head.

Manuel grinned. "Your loss, man. But if that's the way you play, that's cool too. Wouldn't mind a night with Lorna, that's for damned sure. But it will never happen, even before all the crap went down. She's way too all wrapped up in you to give much of anyone else a second look. Which is a shame, really." he said mock-seriously. He also wouldn't mind a night with Alex, but he was fairly sure saying so would cause the younger man to spaz completely, and the last thing he wanted was to be reduced to a pile of free-floating oxides.

"I'll take that as a compliment...I think." He grinned as he spoke then Alex sighed happily. "it's kind of nice though, knowing she's the one for me..."

"It was, man. Trust me." he said with another Evil Grin (tm). "And it sure looks like it from here, but that's not something I have a lot of experience with. So don't just take my word for it, go with what's in your heart." he admonished. "But hey, you ever change your mind or if shit goes sour between you two, look me up. I'll take care of you." he said with a laugh. "You know what's really disturbing? How much satisfaction and pleasure Lorna takes in that damned kitchen. It's just bizarre."

Allowing himself to ignore the 'taking care' comment, Alex rolled his eyes playfully. "Tell me about it. You have no idea what's like being second to a room..."

Manuel grinned. "You might be surprised. I've been turned away for a _book_ before. Admittedly, it was a spell book, but still..." he groused. "Very not on."

"Oh right, forgot about the whole spell book thing." Then he groaned. "Thought it's really weird when you hear your girlfriend profess her love for a coffee maker..."

"Hey, don't mock the coffee maker. I'm having fast affairs and hot sex with mine." he said with a laugh. "My coffeemaker and I go waaay back. We're just too independent to ever commit to one another completely." he laughed. "You can always remind her of that when she's annoyed you and wants a little something from you. 'Well, gee, Lorna, you'll always have the coffeepot...'" he said with a grin.

Alex giggled, he couldn't help it. "Oh that's priceless, I just might! But then again, when she wants something, she usually gets it...She's a natural born seducer that one..."

Manuel politely bit back his opinion on _that_. "Whatever works for you." he said politely. "And hey, I think my stomach just growled. Gonna head down to your lover's den of sin and iniquity to get a sandwich or something." he smirked.

"Oh def dude. And if she's there, I'll properly distract her so you can sneak in for food." He stood up, his own stomach growling. "Then we can work on those skateboarding skills of yours..."

Manny nodded. "Sounds like a plan, ese." he said with a laugh.