xp_logs | LOG: Manuel and Amanda - Stress Relief For Two

Amanda shows up at Manuel's door as ordered. They spend a little quality time together.

It was a most disgruntled wytchbrat that stomped her way over to Manuel's suite. Okay, so it had been a while since they'd really spent any time together, but that was no reason to order her around. And why was she going any way? Oh, that's right, because he'd put that sneaky little L word on the bottom of his email and he knew she could never resist that. But she still didn't have to be very gracious about it. Knocking on his door, she folded her arms over her chest and prepared her best glare.

"It's open." called Manuel from the depths of the suite. Judging by the lack of light coming from under the door, whatever he was doing, it involved being in the dark. When she opened the door, the reason for the darkness became apparent - he'd lit the room in soft candlelight. He sat on the far side of a table he'd moved into his room for the purpose, and on that table sat a two candles (both lit), a collection of covered dishes, a single red rose, and two glasses of blood-red wine. "Won't you come in?" he asked with a smile as he stood up to greet her. He'd gone all out with his casually devestatingly sexy clothes - a crimson silk button-down and black slacks.

You could almost hear the change of mental gears from 'pissed off and wanting to make sure someone knew about it' to 'completely caught by surprise'. Amanda stopped in the doorway, hand still on the doorknob, taking it all in. Had she missed something? Some sort of special date that couples were supposed to remember and she didn't know about? She found herself wishing she'd at least changed her shirt - it was one of Manuel's blue cotton ones, so at least it wasn't black, but it was baggy and not terribly flattering. "Um, what's all this?" she managed to ask at last, sounding more confused than antagonistic. "Did I forget somethin'?"

"Not at all." he said with a grin. "I had to get your attention somehow, and since you've been so busy lately I had to be a little drastic." he said with a shrug. "So - would you care to dine?" he asked her with his best charming smile. "If you'd prefer to have something to celebrate, we could call it, let's see, let's just call it "Hey, It's A Good Day" day. Would that suffice?"

Food. Amanda's stomach rumbled, reminding her she had skipped lunch that day. Coming in and closing the door behind her, she stretched up and gave him a brief kiss. "I've been neglectin' you, haven't I?" she said, resting her hand on the bare skin of his chest left exposed by the half-undone shirt. "Well, you've got my attention now." Her stomach rumbled again, and she grinned. "An' the Bottomless Pit's as well. There's food?"

"Of course there is food. Come, sit down." he said, pulling out a chair for her to park her bottom upon. Once she was situated, he removed the covers to the plates, revealing steak, sweet potato, and salad for her along with the still-cold wine. He then revealed the same for him before taking his own chair. "Not quite home-cooked, but I'm a lousy cook. Please, dig in." he said with an extravagant gesture to encompass the entire thing. "So how are things in Medlab?" he asked as he toyed with his wineglass.

Amanda hadn't needed prompting to start helping herself, but at the mention of Medlab she sighed and started pushing food around her plate. "Sam's doin' all right - should be out in a few days," she said. "An' Anika's healin' factor means she's gettin' out too. Nate..." Her face clouded. "He's not doin' so good. He got so hurt, an' then there's losin' his friends... You remember Mick from Berlin?"

Manuel looked at Amanda curiously. "Not especially, no." he said with a shrug. "I take it he was one of the ones who didn't come back? Unfortunate, very unfortunate." he said, taking a sip of his wine before digging into his dinner. "Not entirely unexpected, but unfortunate all the same."

"Him an' Morgan an' most of the other first gens. Lots of the seconds - he has nightmares 'bout it, askin' 'em t' forgive him." Amanda tried not show the stab of annoyance at the lack of any kind of sympathy. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Mick about freedom, and escaping, and her throat tightened so that she had to take a sip of wine to speak again. "'M worried 'bout him, his mental state. The broken bones an' the like I can help fix - I can't help with what's in his head."

Manuel shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere _near_ his head. Too much bad juju there." he said. "And I don't mean to sound cold, but given all the crap in the air lately, I've had to close off a little bit before I start doing nice things like howling at the moon or killing myself." he explained, then paused to take a few bites of his food. "Thank goodness finals are coming up soon. The studying process helps."

"Yeah, I s'pose it hasn't been easy for you lately..." Amanda realised, taking care to tighten her grip on the link just a little more. No messing with his head just because hers was in a state. "How's it goin'? The study, I mean?" She wasn't going to think about hers.

"Really well. Since my little, ahh, realignment I've discovered that I enjoy some subjects a great deal." he said with evident pleasure. "Never thought that'd be the case, but it is. Your food is getting cold." he pointed out with a gesture of his fork. "Eat!"

"Yes, dear," Amanda said with a slight roll of her eyes. Her appetite had been playing hide and seek an awful lot over the past week - stress played havok with her. But the food was very good, and she found herself working her way through. "How do you think you'll do? With the exams?" she asked after a while.

"I am, as Katherine would put it, kicking ass and taking names." he said with a proud grin. Then he returned his attentions to the really rather good steak, potato, and salad. "More wine?" he asked with a smile, indicating her nearly-empty glass. "I would be willing to bet that you have not been taking care of yourself properly." he mock-scolded. "You haven't been by to see me in a week or two. That's not healthy for a girl your age." he smirked.

She nodded and pushed her glass towards him to refill. "Yeah well, 's been established I'm not so good at that lookin' after meself thing. I'm not as bad as last time Nate got really badly hurt - the docs're keepin' an eye out. There just doesn't seem t' be enough hours in the day. 'M tryin' t' study as well as me medlab shifts an' classes, an' it doesn't leave a lot of time for anythin' else." And there was the fact that she'd been avoiding too much close contact with Manuel because of what she knew about Pete's absence. The weight of that particular secret was getting more than she could handle. "I'll have t' make it up t' you somehow," she said with an attempt at a leer.

Manuel raised an eyebrow in amusement. "If you'd like." he said, then refilled her glass for her - and his own. "You don't look quite so much like a strung-out junkie this time around, so I am guessing that Medlab is taking care of you properly. That's good." he said, swirling his wine around a bit before taking a sip. "If you don't mind me saying so, you feel like absolute crap. You're far too tense and irritable. May I help?"

"Well, I've got McCoy running around like a big blue mother hen, an' Moira turns the tables on me as far as me lookin' after her goes every so often, so yeah, 'm sleepin' an' eatin', mostly. An' not usin' as much healin' magic." She took another mouthful of wine, preferring the warm buzz it was giving her to the mess in her head. "Just... lots goin' on, like I said. This is helpin', tho'." She tried again, and the grin this time was much more realistic. "You could always massage some of that tense out later?"

"I would be delighted." he said with a laugh. She wasn't as enthusiastic as she usually was, but that could be explained easily by stress. Still, he got the feeling she was hiding something from him. That was absurd - Amanda wouldn't do such a thing. He finished up the last of his food, then set his knife and fork down with a pleased smile. "There's more if you want it. I thought you might be a little hungry, so I made sure to buy more."

"Maybe later. Appetite's been a bit up an' down lately." Oh, this was just plain frustrating - she hated keeping things from him, but she wouldn't foist that particular load of guilt on him. It wasn't his fault his father was a murdering bastard. She finished eating and picked up her glass again, forcing herself to relax. "How's that project of yers comin'? The colours?"

"Slowly, but I haven't really had the time or the inclination to devote to it yet." he said with a small shrug. "Did manage to get a good coloring session in with Danielle the other day." he smiled. "That was interesting. Mostly, I've been working on some school projects. Sent a letter to my father, actually. Letting him know how I've changed, how things here have changed. Family's important, after all, and I'm hoping he'll write back. The number I have for him is disconnected." he shrugged.

Her hand twitched on the wineglass, and it was only by the intervention of her TK spell that she managed not to upset the whole thing on the table. He'd done what? And he was hoping his father would reply? She'd gone pale, she could feel the blood draining from her cheeks. "That's... nice," she said rather distantly, feeling anything but. "I should... um, I've got some work t' do...." She had to leave, now. Before she cracked and told him just what his father thought of his son and his choice in relationships.

Manuel stood up. "I'm sorry, I've upset you." he said with irritation in his voice. "This will not do. I'm sorry. Please, stay? I won't mention him again, I promise. All I wanted to give you was a nice dinner, maybe a massage and a little something else before you disappear back into Medlab?"

She was tired. So tired of running away, of avoiding people because it made things easier. And she missed Manuel almost desperately, wanted things to just be simple for once. Just for a little while. "I'm sorry," she whispered at last, holding onto the back of the chair with a white-knickled grip, as if that was the only thing stopping her from fleeing his room then and there. "I know he's yer family but I can't... Not after..." She couldn't say it, didn't want those images in her head again. Not if she wanted to keep down what she'd eaten. With a supreme act of will, she pushed all of the fear and loathing and confusion away into a corner of her mind - she'd deal
with it later. "Just... can I have a hug?" she asked at last in a small voice, looking up at him.

"You can have whatever you want." he said, walking over to her to wrap her up in an extra-comforting hug. And if he cheated a little with it, well, she needed the comforting. Badly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think, I should have known you'd see things that way. Stupid of me." he said. "I'm sorry."

She knew full well he was using his powers to calm her down a little, but she didn't care right then. In fact, she welcomed it, glad of the relief, if only for a little while. Wrapping her arms around him tightly, she lay her cheek against the warm bare skin of his chest, against the mark she'd put there. Mine now. Not his. "Can we not talk 'bout it?" she asked quietly. "Pretend it never came up?"

"Absolutely." he said with a grin. "So - how are your studies going? Not well, I take it? That's unfortunate. I'd help, but I'm not sure what I could do, other than booster shots of self-confidence."

"Just don't have time t' study is all. An' it don't help that most of the people I usually ask for help I can't since it'll piss off other people." Amanda sighed, the gust of breath tickling Manuel's skin. "Maybe I should just give up an' admit I'm never gunna finish. Work in some fast food joint or somethin' with the rest of the drop outs."

Manuel frowned at that. "Not a good idea." he said. "You'll get it eventually. Just give it time." he said. "No rush, it's not like either of us are paying for this."

"Just tired of bein' left behind. An' this happens every time there's exams, it feels like. Somethin' happens t' me, or t' other people, an' I end up spendin' all me free time in medlab either a patient meself or helpin' fix up others. An' I can't say no, not when people're hurt an' needin' me. I just wish..." She nuzzled in closer, almost clinging to him, seeking comfort. "Just need a break, is all. Time t' do stuff for me, instead of for everyone else. An' don't that make me sound like a selfish cow?"

"Not especially. It's not a crime to want something for yourself from time to time." he said with great sincerity. "Take some time, do some you stuff. The Medical staff will have to do things the old-fashioned way for a time."

"If it was anyone else but Nate..." she began, but knew that was just an excuse. Nate wouldn't thank her for running herself ragged over him. Taking a breath, she pulled away a little so she could look up at him. "Well, if it's not selfish of me t' want somethin' for me... can I have that massage now? My back's killin' me, I'm that tense."

"Absolutely. Come on, shed the clothes and lay down. I'll give you a de la Rocha special." he said with a grin. "When I get done with you, you won't remember what tense feels like. I hear multiple orgasms does that to people." he grinned. "But first, the massage."

She wasn't entirely sure whether she was going to be in the mood for sex - it did happen, once in a blue moon when she was this tired and stressed out. But he did have a way with his hands, so she wasn't ruling it out. Without much ceremony she shed her clothes, dropping them carelessly on the floor, and lay on her front on the bed. "If it lets me sleep without dreamin', I'm all for it."

"I will do my best." he said, and began the massage. He was very thorough - starting with her poor abused feet and moving northwards slowly, massaging each muscle as best he could. He stayed away from the really interesting bits for now - this was the massage part, not the let's-get-nasty part.

That would come later.

She hadn't realised just how tense she was... how did your _toes_ get stressed? Small whimpers escaped her as Manuel continued working his way up, using some massage oil for her back - the scars made it difficult otherwise. "Did I tell you I loved you?" she murmured drowsily as he ran his hands down her back, thumbs rubbing the muscles either side of her spine. "'Cause I do. Lots."

Manuel grinned. "I do my best." he said humbly. "Thank you. Feeling better now?" he asked her with a grin.

"Much." And she did - she'd been using one of Strange's drills to help her compartmentalise again, keep all the shite tucked away. His hands continued rubbing, but the movements were a little lighter, more stroking than massage, and her skin shivered a little. Well, what do you know, there was life left in her yet. Shifting her head on her arms so she could look at him, she gave him a lazy smile. "Keep that up an' you'll wake me up again," she teased, but her tone said he could keep doing that as much as he liked.

"Oh, the horror. The absolute inhumanity of it all. Why on _Earth_ would I _ever_ do something like that?" he mocked as he kept up his half-caress, half-massage. "I know how extremely distasteful you find it, getting all worked up like that."

"'S horrible," she agreed, wriggling a little as his fingers slipped a little further along her sides. Yep, definitely waking up - the shivers were echoed by the familiar tingle in certain areas. "Don't know why I put up with it."

"It is. Why you tolerate it is completely beyond me." he said with a smirk. "Glutton for punishment, you are."

"Uh-huh. That's me, always doin' the bad thing for me..." She rolled over onto her back, arms snaking around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. "Or lettin' you do bad things to me," she added with a definite naughty look. If tonight was going to be about her, then she was going to make sure she got the most out of it, she'd decided. And if that happened to involve having her boyfriend and no clothes, well, so be it.