And what do stars do? (Matthew)

[Laurie Collins]

[[Takes place just before beatdown...maybe even the day before. Written in order to show that Laurie and Matthew can get it together long enough to kiss now. Sometimes. It being them and all there isn't really a content advisory unless you mind cavities from probable first-love cuteness]]

Kissing is like wine, an intoxicating acquired taste. At first you like it because it’s new and exciting and, well, you’re supposed to so you will, but at the same time it’s awkward and sort of heady and makes you act all dumb and trip over things and get shot in the back of the head in Danger Room simulations. Then it gets better, you get better at it and at handling it, and when you pass the point where it’s a potential safety hazard to kiss because you might impale yourself on things what with all the heady stumbling then suddenly it’s all you want to do. Of course this also presents problems because you find yourself, say, sitting in Civics class and your boyfriend walks by and before you know it you shoot your hand into the air and ask to be excused to the restroom and then you’re gone for fifteen minutes.

Or one could find themselves in Laurie’s current predicament- sitting in Matthew’s dorm room on a chair near Bob’s bed which she’d banished herself to after realizing that neither of them would get anything done if they were right next to each other, on a bed, with Bob having absented himself to somewhere-or-another for the evening. That, she mused to distract herself from the fact that she had committed the conjugation of avoir and etre to memory and Matthew still had two more math problems to answer before they were both done with their homework and could talk (and really the talking is as good as the kissing, maybe better, just because it's so nice to have someone she can talk to easily and about most everything), was one of the odd things about boyfriend-having, you were suddenly very pleased when people you really quite liked left the room. Bob, for instance, was one of the few people she felt comfortable around but tonight when he’d left she’d barely been able to restrain herself from doing a happy-dance around the room though hopefully she’d hidden that well enough. She slides a glance over at Matthew then wads up a piece of loose-leaf paper into a ball and chucks it at his head, missing entirely and just sort of grazing his right ear.

“Are you done now?” she asks in a mock-whine, grinning and waving her completed French homework at him.

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew had kissed and been kissed before, but never had he ever been forced to suppress the urge to do so. It wasn’t the typical 16 year old boy kind of kissing urge either, just...something else. He couldn’t quite place why he liked kissing Laurie so much...he just did.

He sits atop his bed, leaning against the wall, drumming his pencil end on the top of his teext book as he tries to concentrate on the second-to-last math puzzle. Unfortunately, such linear thought is nearly impossible for him when his inebriating girlfriend is only a few feet away. Matthew stops the drumming to add even more chew marks to his pencil as he steals another glance at Laurie.

“Are you done now?” She asks as he catches her eye. The flapping page in her hand flashes her finished homework and he sighs.

“No. It’s this algebra stuff...letters and numbers are two completely different things. They should not be allowed to mingle. They just end up having weird looking children...like this guy right here.” He points to the pi symbol on the page and matches her grin. “I think I’m going to just give up.” Matthew announces, placing his knawed-on pencil in the crease of the book before closing it and tossing it onto his bedside table. “It’s not due for another two days, so I’ll just work on it later.”

He pushes himself off the bed and places both hands on his girlfriend’s shoulder, smoothing the wrinkles out of her shirt as he leans down and kisses the top of her head. “And since we’re all alone...what would you say to a nice, genuinely stolen movie? I’ve got that new Stardust flick on my computer and a bag of popcorn hiding under my bed.” Matthew grasps her hands and tugs her gently towards the bed. “I’ve heard it’s romantic and sappy and funny and just totally up your alley.” This time he kisses her lips quickly as a free hand finds his laptop. “So what d’ya say? A date?” He shakes the cheese-flavored popcorn tantalizing as the computer boots up.

[Laurie Collins]

“No. It’s this algebra stuff...letters and numbers are two completely different things. They should not be allowed to mingle. They just end up having weird looking children...like this guy right here.”

Laurie wrinkles her nose at the proffered math homework and makes her index fingers into a cross as if to ward it off, “Abomination!”

“I think I’m going to just give up. It’s not due for another two days, so I’ll just work on it later.”

“But you’re supposed to do it as soon as possible!” She objects, already feeling guilty for distracting him when the whole point of her being in this chair was to keep from doing that. “And then the other days are for checking your answers and asking for help in class so that you can be sure you…” he’s off the bed and coming over towards her and it’s like some weird magnetic field because the closer he gets the less important his math grade seems. “School is important!” she tries once more, rather weakly as he kisses the top of her head but she’s already resting her hands on his forearms and grinning up at him which probably undermines her whole math-is-more-important-than-kissing thing.

“And since we’re all alone...what would you say to a nice, genuinely stolen movie? I’ve got that new Stardust flick on my computer and a bag of popcorn hiding under my bed. I’ve heard it’s romantic and sappy and funny and just totally up your alley.”

“Okay, fine, I obviously cannot say no to piracy and I did really want to see that movie, but! I, am not sappy. A few poetry books and crying at death scenes in movies does not a sap make. I mocked that chick flick that came on the common room TV remember? Remember the mocking? And the popcorn thrown at the TV? That was not sappy, that was anti-sap, that-”

And then he’s kissing her properly and offering her popcorn and she’s just never going to win is she? Oh well, she decides, grinning at him and snatching the bag out of his hand before bouncing on to his bed and grabbing her customary pillow, his sort of round-ish smaller one that dips nicely into the small of her back, and scrunching over against the wall to make room for him on the mattress.

[Matthew Craft]

“But you’re supposed to do it as soon as possible!” Her protests earn a smile from Matthew, who proceeds to shrug off her homework-minded complaints.

“But it’s maaaath.” He whines. “And it’s pointless. Besides, how often does Bob ever bugger off and leave us alone? I’m not about to waste that rarity on some dumb sinuso-...signalso-…sinus-order graph things.” Matthew frowns at his mispronunciation of the mathematical term, but the thought is quickly forgotten as Laurie caves into his persistence.

“I, am not sappy. A few poetry books and crying at death scenes in movies does not a sap make.” A grin spreads across his face. “I mocked that chick flick that came on the common room TV remember? Remember the mocking? And the popcorn thrown at the TV? That was not sappy, that was anti-sap, that-” Fortunately, Laurie gives up her attempt to defend herself and hops onto his bed, the popcorn in hand.

“I win!” He announces childishly, selecting the movie from the long list of pirated films currently residing on his computer. The shaky film begins to play, and the sound of opening credits and the chatter of several children fill the dark room. “Don’t worry, the kids’ll stop in a second. I think the guy who filmed this was a part of a birthday party or something.” He assures, turning up the volume a few notches.

Matthew snuggles in beside his girlfriend and wraps one arm around her as the other sneaks into the bag to fetch some popcorn. A handful of popped kernels tumble onto his shirt as he eats them, spreading orange dust all over the green fabric. “Moops…” He mumbles through his mouthful as the story explains the origin of the protagonist, Tristan.

Once he’s eaten a few more handfuls of popcorn and wiped the cheese dust from his fingers, Matthew wraps both arms securely around Laurie and gently rests his cheek on her head, watching as the film progresses.

[Laurie Collins]

“-Besides, how often does Bob ever bugger off and leave us alone? I’m not about to waste that rarity on some dumb sinuso-...signalso-…sinus-order graph things.”

Laurie laughs a little as she opens the popcorn bag and then shrugs slightly, “Well it is his room, I guess he probably wishes I would bugger off and leave you two alone.” There’s a brief pause as she manages the stubborn plastic and takes a triumphant handful of popcorn before she blushes and pipes back up, “Er not…like that, obviously, um…” she casts about quickly for a subject change and settles on, “Besides I think if we didn’t both have roommates my mother would start to reconsider having me commute to school instead of living here. As is she’s making all these ominous sounds about not having met you though so far I’ve managed to distract her because I think I prefer you alive.” She’s babbling again, that was a bad subject change, though it is something that’s been on her mind, a tiny blot on the otherwise complete happiness of the past couple of months. Her mother had been fairly young when she’d had her, twenty-two, and what with the way they’d moved so much and been so isolated Gail was sometimes more like an older sister who took watching a younger one very seriously than a mother and it’s been weird having such a big part of her life as the school and Matthew so very separate from her. But she still doesn’t want to come up to the school yet and having Matthew over would be really awkward, especially if he doesn’t want to meet her… She shakes her head quickly as Matthew starts the movie an flops down on the bed next to her, now is definitely not the time to think about her mom of all people.

She giggles quietly at Matthew’s popcorn-spilling antics and swats away some of the crumbs that tumble onto her own stomach before wiggling a little as he wraps his arms around her, finding a comfortable position just before he rests his cheek on her head. This is pretty much the textbook definition of perfect she decides as she laughs at some on-screen antics then stiffens suddenly, squeezing her eyes shut as she feels her pheromones respond to her relaxation and begin wafting out unchecked. Maybe a little too perfect, but a few moments later she’s contained them again and murmurs, “Sorry, pheromone-leak-age .” to Matthew by way of explanation for her sudden tensing before settling in to movie-watching herself.

[Matthew Craft]

[[ Well now, this is getting sappy, isn't it? ]]

“Well it is his room, I guess he probably wishes I would bugger off and leave you two alone.” Matthew smiles and snorts lightly, knowing full well what she meant, but still unable to hold back from laughing at the obvious, unintended undertones of the statement. “Er not…like that, obviously, um…”

“Heh, I know. And besides, Bob’s not my type.” He says, kissing her cheek. “I like my romantic interests to be a little bit less masculine and muscle-bound.”

“I think if we didn’t both have roommates my mother would start to reconsider having me commute to school instead of living here. As is she’s making all these ominous sounds about not having met you though so far I’ve managed to distract her because I think I prefer you alive.”

“Hey now, you’ve meet my mom--still reeeeeaaally sorry about that--so I think it’s only right that I meet yours. And if I can handle my mom, I’m pretty sure I can handle your darling mother. I mean, how bad could it be?”

The movie continues on, outlining the relationship that Tristan is trying to establish with the local self-centered, undeserving young woman. “How some guys ever fall for women like that, I’ll never know. I quite like the one I got. Sure, maybe she’s a little on the short side, but I can work around that.” Matthew teases with a grin.

Eventually, his michevious mood fades and just a relaxing feeling of their closeness takes over. It’s very serene and calming, but Laurie’s sudden moment of tensing jars him.

“Sorry, pheromone-leak-age.” Matthew laughs lightly.

“I think it adds to the whole movie experience. Gets you into the story better.” He mulls over the thought for a moment. “You know, that’s a cool idea. If someone were to use the fear pheromones while watching a scary movie, imagine how much more intense it would be for the other people around them. You should market that. You could make a ton of money.” Naturally, the whole idea of making money off her mutation was pretty unethical, but Matthew is sure to add the right undertone to imply that he is joking.

[Laurie Collins]

[[It’s how we roll]]

“I like my romantic interests to be a little bit less masculine and muscle-bound.”

Laurie pulls away a bit to make a mock-indignant face at that, “Hey, I’m very muscle-bound, there are just…pounds and pounds of muscles bound to these…guns…arr!” she manages to get a flex of her left arm in before giggling and wiggling back into her earlier comfortable position. “Don’t ask where the pirate noise came from because I have no idea. I blame my mom, there were no action movies in my childhood.”

“Hey now, you’ve meet my mom--still reeeeeaaally sorry about that--so I think it’s only right that I meet yours. And if I can handle my mom, I’m pretty sure I can handle your darling mother. I mean, how bad could it be?”

“Really?” Laurie smiles up at him, “That offer is probably coming from some complacency-inducing side-effect of this irradiated looking but still delicious popcorn but I will take it. My mom isn’t that bad really, I mean she isn’t…” there’s a pause as Laurie tries to think of a delicate way to say ‘hostile and likely to swoop down from nowhere to interrogate you about your opinions on drugs of all things’ before deciding there is no such way and plowing on “She’ll make a lot of weird jokes and cook some really terrifying food that will probably kill one of us and ask you who your favorite writers are and then when I leave the room the interrogation will get less subtle so…I will try not to leave the room at all. No fluids that day, wear a catheter or something and…I’m babbling. It’s still okay about your mom though, I’m glad she likes you enough to attack random girls at school dances. Everyone should have a mom that likes them that much. I talk a lot around you. Sorry.” she puts a hand over her mouth and goes back to watching the movie for a moment before leaning over and kissing him quickly and adding, “Thanks.”

“I think it adds to the whole movie experience...You should market that. You could make a ton of money.”

I still can’t decide whether it’s nice or kind of scary how un-phased he is by my pheromones…I’m not making him feel that way am I? She pushes the thought away as quickly as it comes with her usual brand of avoidance and laughs quietly, “Hmm… d’you think I’d have to actually be there or would my pheromones keep if they were bottled? I mean in Snakes on A Plane they made the snakes attack with pheromones on the leis but that movie isn’t exactly a bastion of facts…”

[Matthew Craft]

“Hey, I’m very muscle-bound, there are just…pounds and pounds of muscles bound to these…guns…arr!” Her muscle flexing efforts, while failing to present her as macho, score her plenty of bonus points in the ‘So pitiful it’s cute’ category. Matthew laughs.

“Arr yourself.” He says, still giggling lightly as he nuzzles her hair before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “But something tells me you’d fit right in as one of Robert De Niro’s pirates, what with the love of all things feminine and fluffy.” Pulling his arms tighter as she snuggles back in, Matthew lets loose quiet dreamy sigh.

“That offer is probably coming from some complacency-inducing side-effect of this irradiated looking but still delicious popcorn but I will take it.”

“The human microwave had no part in making this popcorn except for pressing the button on the real microwave. I save irradiating my girlfriends until at least the seventh date.” Fortunately it’s Laurie, so he knows he can get away joking about the radiation issue quite easily, whereas many of the other students probably would have paled and quickly left the room in search of their lead jackets.

“She’ll make a lot of weird jokes and cook some really terrifying food that will probably kill one of us and ask you who your favorite writers are and then when I leave the room the interrogation will get less subtle so…I will try not to leave the room at all….”

Matthew smiles. “Right, so no bathroom breaks and when she’s not looking dump your mom’s attempt at food into the potted plant next to the table. Gotcha.” He gives a thumbs up, but quickly decides that his hand felt much more comfortable wrapped around her middle. Just as he’s finished securing his arm around his girlfriend again, he receives a short light kiss and a murmur of thanks. “You’re more than welcome.” He mumbles back against her hair.

“Hmm… d’you think I’d have to actually be there or would my pheromones keep if they were bottled? I mean in Snakes on A Plane they made the snakes attack with pheromones on the leis but that movie isn’t exactly a bastion of facts…”

“And I’m glad it’s not, otherwise Toni would have kidnapped you a long time ago to make Hector nuts enough to try swallowing some of the littler kids.” The image of the crushed and strangled man half swallowed by the boa constrictor still sent paranoid chills down his spine. “But I’m up for an actual movie if you want to test that little pheromone theory.” The offer was genuine, but the part regarding her pheromones was intended as a joke.

[Laurie Collins]

“The human microwave had no part in making this popcorn except for pressing the button on the real microwave. I save irradiating my girlfriends until at least the seventh date.”


Laurie giggles and pokes him lightly in the side, "But I would be so much less fun all crispy and glow-y and, you know, dead!" she protests, "I couldn't...um...talk incessantly and...um..." she makes a show of searching frantically through her mind for something about her that Matthew would miss. "Or...trip over things, or, um make you do your homework..." she looks puzzled for a moment then brightens exaggeratedly, "Or do this!" she announces before kissing him again and pulling away with a laugh at her own corniness.

“Right, so no bathroom breaks and when she’s not looking dump your mom’s attempt at food into the potted plant next to the table. Gotcha.”

"Yes, exactly. Subterfuge and constipation. It'll be very romantic." she mutters, making a face, "But if you survive, which you will, because my mom isn't crazy, really, most days, just protective and you haven't irradiated me yet so she has no reason to actually try to kill you." she attempts, probably with minimal success, to reassure him.

"...But I’m up for an actual movie if you want to test that little pheromone theory.”

Laurie adopts a somewhat serious shocked expression at the suggestion, not the pheromone bit because he's obviously joking, but at the break up of their usual routine which, since they began dating, has included variations of hanging around fairly secluded places at the Institute and talking and, well, other non-talking things. "It would be breaking up a fairly reliable routine but that would actually be nice sometime." she agrees with a grin, grabbing another couple pieces of popcorn from the bag.

[Matthew Craft]

"But I would be so much less fun all crispy and glow-y and, you know, dead!" Matthew pretends to think about that for a moment, as if seriously considering her proposal.

“Okay, maybe. But I still don’t see what’s in it for me.” He teases, trying to look disinterested and superior. For the split second he’s able to actually keep a straight face, he really looks quite convincing, but then she jumps up ever so slightly and plants a happy kiss on his lips. When Laurie pulls away and laughs, he can’t help but do the same. “Right, you got me. No nuking for you.”

"Yes, exactly. Subterfuge and constipation. It'll be very romantic."

“Just how I always imagined it would be.” Matthew says dreamily.

“You haven't irradiated me yet so she has no reason to actually try to kill you." He nods in agreement.

“If that’s not the best motivation to avoid frying you, I don’t know what is.” He says, semi-deadpan and semi-serious. “Actually, you just proved to me a second ago that there's a better reason why microwaving you should be avoided.” He grins sneakily and leans in for another kiss. This one he lets linger a few seconds longer before finally tugging himself back, but only far enough so that he can touch his nose to hers.

"It would be breaking up a fairly reliable routine but that would actually be nice sometime." Matthew smiles and grabs another handful of kernels from the bag as he straightens up again.

“Sounds like a date then. And dinner’s on me.” He says before devouring the handful in one go in hopes of distracting her from any protest she might have.

[Laurie Collins]

“Actually, you just proved to me a second ago that there's a better reason why microwaving you should be avoided.”

Laurie opens her mouth to make some sort of comeback, wiggling a little in place and grinning as she's well into her relaxed and chattery mode at this point, but stills abruptly as he leans in again for a sneaky kiss. Whatever she was going to babble about is lost in said kiss, more lingering than the others, and she reaches her hands up to twine loosely through his short hair, a slightly tentative exploratory gesture.

Then he's pulling back a little and she drops her hands, grinning like an idiot and blushing. She's a mixture of relieved (on account of the obvious flustered expression having a chance to fade) and disappointed (because...well...) when he pulls back more fully, sitting up and starting to talk again.

“Sounds like a date then. And dinner’s on me.”

Laurie opens her mouth to answer and then starts as she realizes her pheromones have decided on 'disappointed' as their feeling about this whole personal space situation and have taken matters into their own...hands? Maybe lying on a bed is a bad plan right now? She wiggles free until she's standing next to the bed instead of lying on it and grins at Matthew, trying not to let any of her sudden uncertainty show. "Dinner! Um, this, dinner-talk reminds me that I have not eaten pretty much anything today except a piece of toast and this popcorn and my stomach is now feeling somewhat rebellious so...kitchen field trip? You can watch me flail ineptly while trying to make a sandwich! Fun for the whole...um...you." she finishes lamely, wiggling her fingers to punctuate that in some vague gesture supposedly illustrative of 'fun'.