xp_logs | LOG: Manuel and Dani, Thursday Night Blues

Manuel, exhausted almost beyond his ability to cope, talks with Dani. She puts him to bed.

(OOC: Apologies if my Latin is bad - my usual source is AFK and all I had to use was Google)

--
Manuel sighed as he poked at the itchy bite mark covering his forearm. It still hated him, he swore he could feel it. "Oh, hey Danielle." he said as he felt her walk into the room. "You're in a good mood - somebody's actually manage to enjoy themselves around here?"

"I met the cutest kid today," Dani was practically bouncing which was not something she did often, "She likes oatmeal raisin cookies."

Manuel grumped. "Glad somebody's having fun. I also met a kid the other day. She bit my arm." he said, trying and failing to scratch his injury. "The injury feels like it hates me. It's driving me nuts."

"'The injury feels like it hates you?'" Dani repeated, confused, sitting down to take a closer look at it, "I'm sure it does not. Why'd she bite you?"

"I have no idea." he said. "I introduced myself, let her feel me, and she just reached out and fucking _bit me_!" he said. "Didn't help that Amanda's standing there like a useless goddamned lump. Probably enjoyed it, the cow."

Giving Manuel A Look, but not commenting, Dani massaged his shoulders, feeling the tension, "I don't think she would have enjoyed it," she defended the other girl, but honestly not sure. Had it been anyone other than Manuel, she doubted it.

Manuel cooed as she began to massage his rock-hard shoulder and upper back muscles. "I will give you a hundred dollars to keep doing that." he sighed with pleasure. "The little girl is an empath. Like us. But it's all twisted 'round, tied in knots."

Digging into his shoulders a bit more, Dani tried to get him to relax a bit more, not quite paying attention to what he was saying, "Yeah, but not like me, she is so curious and shy! And what have you done to yourself?!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, my life has been complete shit of late. My father bites hot plasma, Amanda buggers off to Europe, and now that Betsy bloody Braddock is back. I've hit the trifecta, my life cannot possibly get worse unless someone starts cramming lithium up my ass again." he groaned.

"I'll remember that," she informed him as he rolled his head back in pleasure, "the next time you start complaining. And Amanda is back, which should be a good thing, but I'm guessing isn't," she didn't need to be a functioning empath to figure that out.

"It should be!" he said, shoulder muscles tensing all back up again. "I know, I was a total shit to her. I don't like being lied to, and when she told me that she'd been lying to me for _weeks_ about knowing who killed my father, I kinda lost it." he admitted. "Said some shit that she couldn't handle. So she bailed. So much for the vaunted empathic link." he grumbled.

"You're still human, Manuel, even when you can feel what someone else is feeling it doesn't mean you'll do or say the right thing. You keep saying that what you want or feel doesn't matter, but it obviously does right now. If it didn't, you wouldn't've gotten angry," Dani poked him, forcing some of that tension away again.

"Excuse me for thinking that she might know me after sharing my brain for so long." he said nastily, and then scratched at his bite. "Damn thing still hurts."

"She's human too, though," she pointed out, "Even when someone knows you they can make mistakes. Why am I giving you relationship advice? I'm the last person who should be."

"Because it's a sign of how fucking bad I am at this game without my power?" he said through gritted teeth. "And you stopped. Keep going!" He tried to relax his shoulders, to make things easier for her. "So you think I should just forgive her? Let it all go, welcome her back?"

"I ain't said that," Dani replied harshly, kneeding a particularly tight spot, "I don't know what you should do. I do know that you're hurting and am trying to help that, at least a little. I don't like my friends hurting."

"You're the second person to tell me that in as many days." he said. "This is downright weird to me."

"What? That people don't like you hurting?" Dani shook her hair out of her face, "That ain't weird, that's the way it should be."

"Maybe to you. Where I grew up, it was par for the course. If somebody said they cared, it's because you had something they wanted, or you were a tool to get what they wanted." he said with a hiss as she hit a particularly tense spot. "I'd like to be able to forigve her, but it's a little hard to overlook feeling gratitude and relief when you hear that somebody died."

"That's a sad way to grow up," she noted mournfully, even though she had a small family growing up, she still had family. And tribe. "So it's a good thing you're a part of a tribe now."

Manuel blinked. "No, Danielle, I've _lost_ my tribe. The last member of my tribe _died_."

Frowning, Dani came around to face him, holding his arm lightly, "No. See, Forge has been trying to get me to understand this for a long time now, and I think I finally get it. See, Xavier's is a tribe too. We said we care for each other and would help each other and teach each other and even punish each other if needed, we're a tribe. We have elders and children. You can be a part of more than one tribe at once. We lost our tribes...except we have a new one."

Manuel exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't feel particularly welcome or included. Sure, there are some few - you, Alex, Katherine, Marie-Ange, who tolerate my presence and do not find me to be completely loathesome. And Amanda ... well, the less I think about what I have likely lost there the happier I'll remain."

Dani shook her head, realizing how stubborn and bullheaded she'd been. Next time she saw Forge she owed him something, but that wasn't important right now. "You're here ain't you? Being a tribe don't mean you like a person, it means you care for them, which is different. You know that. I'll always care for Sheldon, even if I hate him," which she didn't like, but it was something she had realized at the hearing, "

Manuel blinked. "You would waste feeling on that waste of flesh? Best to just cut him out completely, forget he existed." he said. "I've heard the stories you've told. He's scum, and coming from me, that is _saying something_."

"Sure he's scum...but every time I see our baby, I see him. And I can't hate an unborn child who hasn't done anything to deserve this shit, ain't it?" she was not explaining this well, "You're a part of Xavier's whether you like it or not."

"What, you can't separate Sheldon from the baby?" he said, puzzled. "Seems perfectly natural to me. You could even look at it like you were redeeming garbage into something useful and productive." he tried to explain. "And I would _never_ suggest that you should hate a child, unborn or no."

"No!" English words just didn't explain things well sometimes, "I mean, it takes two spirits to make a person, a man and a woman. His spirit will always be a part of the baby, no matter what. But so is mine and that joining is what will make the baby unique."

Manuel rolled his eyes. "And you people wonder why you lost the New World." he grumbled. "Keep your spiritual crap to yourself, I'm not buying it."

"I ain't selling it, either. You don't have to believe it, white man, I'd hate to destroy your precious science, it's just how I feel," Dani began massaging his good hand and arm, trying to get rid of some of the tension there, "It still means you're a part of the tribe, whether you like it or not."

Manuel rolled his eyes again. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't feel like it. And I've already tossed overboard most of what made me me in my old life. My family - but they're gone now anyway - my childhood, my heritage, my opinions, my viewpoints, my breeding - all gone, so that I can just be one of you. And it's _not working_."

"What about it ain’t working? And I don't mean with Amanda, I mean in general."

"I am not exactly swimming in love and understanding here. Hell, I don't even get respect or acknowledgement." he said with a sigh. "And this goddamned bite itches. I think that little creature that bit me did something to me."

“You listed four people who you consider a friend, not counting me," Dani pointed out, "You expect everyone to be your friend? This is not a big school. You should meet the little girl I met, she'd never bite anyone."

Manuel sighed. "I could do with less ambient hostility directed my way. It's goddamned distracting, especially when I'm tired and I'm trying to dodge the goddamned strings."

"Inhibitor?" was her only suggestion, "Or the box? I know you have shields, but it don't sound like they're working so good."

"It's only when I'm tired." he said with a sigh. "And I'm not that far gone that I want to blind myself so I can keep from smacking my face into a wall when I'm trying to dodge something no one but me can see anyway."

"Come on then," Dani tugged at his arm trying to get him to stand, "You need to go to sleep then. And really sleep."

"Fat chance." he grumbled. "Unless you want to get me blindingly drunk, laid, or high on something. Or all three. It's not going to happen." he said, but obediently he stood up anyway.

"No, I'm going to put you to bed and sit there until you do sleep," for once she wasn't interested in sleeping with anyone, this wasn't about her hatred of sleeping alone, it was about his need for real sleep.

"Is there alcohol there?" he asked hopefully. "Because there wasn't when I left my room an hour ago, and if there is some now, that would make me happy."

"No. You shouldn't drink, it's gross," Dani admonished, walking him to his room, "I'll get you some water if you want."

Manuel snorted at that. "Oblivion sounds pretty good right now. In a bottle, in a pretty girl, in a pill or a line, whatever."

"No," this was becoming repetitive, "Do I need to sit with you and babysit to stop you from hurting yourself? I will. You ain't gonna do that stuff."

Manuel shrugged. "Fine, then. But don't expect me to sleep much. I haven't been for a while, and I'm not so exhausted that I'm going to collapse." Yet.

Herding him into bed was easier said than done, even though he was fairly docile, "The idea is that you don't need to collapse. Come on, I'll tell you a story?"

Manuel rolled his eyes. "Oh boy. A bedtime story. Does this bedtime story involve nudity?"

"Maybe," Dani grinned, "But only if you behave."

Manuel grinned, a trace of the way he was before his father was murdered. "Oh boy." he said, grinning like a maniac. "I like nudity."

"Of course you do," Dani fumbled at his door trying to open it, "you're a teenage guy AND a de la Rocha. Horny toad is what you are."

"Not a de la Rocha anymore. And I'm also not a teenager. Two strikes, Danielle. You can do better." he said with a grin.

Getting the door open, she hauled him to his bed, "Your name is still Dela Rocha and you will always be one in name, if not in spirit. And you're older than me?"

"I turned 20 in November." he said as he permitted himself to be pushed into bed. "You like to play rough?" he said with a smirk.

Rolling her eyes, Dani sat on the bed, relaxing for a minute. He was in his room, getting him to bed could wait a minute, "I'm 8 months pregnant, Manuel. What do you think?"

"I think ... I think you're not gettin' any for a good long while, and you miss it." he said, but not using his power to try to confirm his guess. "And you've probably got the typical pregnant girl "I am completely undesirable" thing."

He hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Damn him. "And I'm right, ain't I?" she retorted, annoyed that he was correct. She had been trying to pretend everything was okay. Can't fool an empath though.

Manuel paused to look her over. "Can't say that the pregnant thing is a look I personally find sexy, but hey, if I weren't currently wrapped up in Amanda, I'd give you the time of your life." he said with a grin. "But I am, and like I said, it's not my favorite look ever."

"See?" Dani sighed moving to his desk chair, even she wasn't stupid enough to try anything while he had Amanda on the brain, but now she felt even worse than normal. "Go get in bed. I'll tell you about the Buffalo Woman."

"What, you think you'll be lookin' like that forever? You said it yourself - eight months along. You're about ready to pop as-is." he said as he reluctantly got himself ready for bed.

Rubbing the small of her back, Dani sighed, she wasn't sure if Manuel was being serious or not, "So ask me when you aren't with Amanda and I'm not pregnant and we'll see. I'm still tempted to hate men."

At that, Manuel did crack his power open to look. "Shit, you are. That's not cool. What, you fuck one inbred asshole and all of a sudden we're all slime? Hate the ones who did you wrong, red girl, don't hate all of us." he said, wriggling out of his shirt with a fine disregard for Dani's hormonal and/or emotional state.

"You try carrying 30lbs on your stomach and see how much you like it, okay?" Dani started crying, unhappy, "Your life sucks more, fine. But you're stronger. I can't do anything anymore, even if I wanted to. I'm tired, I'm always hungry or have to pee, I hurt, I'm just sick and tired of it all."

Manuel ditched the remainder of his clothing, but kept all the really fun bits under his (thin!) sheet for decorum's sake. "Hey. You're not going to be like that forever. Do I have to cheer you up or something? Won't do it physically, but I can make you feel better for a little while." he offered. "You'll get through this. I've done some reading on your people - they're strong hard sonsofbitches."

"No..." Dani moaned, wiping her eyes, pleased that he had been reading about her, "I'll figure it out. Bullheaded, remember? Just try to sleep and not dream, okay?"

"Yeah." he said, resigned to at least making the attempt. "Danielle? You'll do fine. Just keep your chin up and keep trying. Non illigitamus carborundum."

Dani looked at him blankly.

"Sorry. I'm tired, sometimes it slips. Don't let the bastards grind you down." he said with a smirk.

Cracking a wan smile, Dani stood to leave, "You either. We'll beat them off with sticks if we have to."

Manuel sighed. "The bitch grinding me down lives just down the hall. And she's not the only one spinning the grinding wheel. She's just the grit, I'm the one turning the wheel." he said, and then surprised himself by yawning.

"Then stop turning it," Dani said as if it were obvious, "Before there is so much grit you break."

"I'm trying." he said, yawning again.

Nodding, Dani opened the door to leave, "I know. Sleep well."

Manuel yawned again. "Remember. Don't let 'em grind you down."

Current Mood: tired

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

xp_daytripper

"What, you can't separate Sheldon from the baby?" he said, puzzled. "Seems perfectly natural to me. You could even look at it like you were redeeming garbage into something useful and productive." he tried to explain. "And I would _never_ suggest that you should hate a child, unborn or no."

Separating fathers from sons? Perfectly natural, is it? *eg*

From:

x-empath.livejournal.com

That's the only possible answer.

Or ... *shifty look* ... he's had one of those epiphanies and his subconscious is trying to let his conscious mind in on the sekrit.

Either way.