Just smile like you mean it (Matthew)

[Laurie Collins]

[[Takes place in the Museum Thread continuum, Laurie and Matty snuck off just before the chaos started and are a few blocks away now]]

Laurie pushes a few strands of sweaty hair out of her eyes and scowls straight ahead at the street. This was supposed to be fun, she thinks irritably, glaring at the skyscrapers in front of her as if they’re somehow to blame for the fact that she can’t navigate the city she’s snuck out into, that it’s hot, that Matthew is probably really irritated by now. She darts a quick glance back at her boyfriend, too quick to take anything in other than the fact that he’s still there, and huffs out a quick breath of further irritation as the space between her shoulder blades itches with budding sweat. The museum would have been cooler. Boring, but cooler. Stupid. What’d I think I’d find sneaking off anyway? A bar I couldn’t get into? Stores I have no money for? Nice hot pavement? She shoves her hands into her pockets and ducks her head, hungry (they’d left before lunch) and embarrassed and thwarted and broiling. Maybe this would have been more fun if he’d wanted to come in the first place, if he weren’t always so… she whirls around suddenly, facing him, and tilts her head up to look him in the eyes.

“You’re mad at me aren’t you?” It should have come out contrite. She meant it to, really, she did, but somehow in her mouth the tone twists around until it sounds just as irritated as she really feels.

[Matthew Craft]

He holds in the annoyed huff that desperately wants to rush out. How did he end up skipping out on a field trip and basically setting himself up for detention for the next millennia?

At some point between the dinosaur exhibit and the cafeteria Laurie had determined that she was leaving, with or without him. Matthew had protested profusely, but her and her newfound stubborn attitude had stalked out the exit before he really had the chance to stop her. Not one to let her wander around a huge strange city on her own, Matthew had followed, dreading the repercussions that would await them.

So now they are walking down the street, sifting through business-clad men and women as they rush back to the office after their lunch. He wonders where Laurie’s planning on going, if she even has any idea, and when they’ll be heading back to the museum.

All of a sudden she stops and spins to face him, making Matthew rock forward onto his toes as he comes to an abrupt halt. “You’re mad at me aren’t you?” His mouth hangs open for a moment in surprise at the upfront question, but he shuts it quickly enough.

Matthew feels he should answer with some kind of polite lie and say that he’s fine and that he’s just happy they’re spending some time alone, but the pent up irritation at her new ‘I don’t care about anything anymore’ persona finally seeps out.

He sourly shoves his hands into his pockets. “We just snuck out the back door during a field trip! Why? So that you could feel independent and badass. So yeah, excuse me if I’m just a little mad over the fact that we’re going to be in all kinds of trouble when we get back!” Maybe he’s being a bit too harsh...

[Laurie Collins]

“We just snuck out the back door during a field trip! Why? So that you could feel independent and badass. So yeah, excuse me if I’m just a little mad over the fact that we’re going to be in all kinds of trouble when we get back!”

Laurie gapes for a moment, more surprised than she ever could have expected by Matthew’s sudden swerve into irritation. He’s never talked to her like that, not when she’d been skittery or distant or just blatantly jerking him around without explaining why back when she’d been too scared to date anyone but needed someone to be close to too much to stay entirely away. Maybe I haven’t always been that great to him…but he had a choice didn’t he? The justification nudges her back into that safe space where she doesn’t really have to decide how to act, just feel anger and go with it, and she lifts her chin, planting herself more firmly on the sidewalk as bored New York pedestrians roll their eyes and drift around the arguing couple.

“And who exactly forced you to come with me?” she asks, voice rising and cracking a little in a way she hates, embarrassing, childish. “I said I was going and you didn’t want to. Fine. Then you rush along anyway so you could, what, protect me from the big bad city? In case you haven’t noticed I don’t need an older brother or a…a…keeper or whatever. I’ve survived military invasions and gotten myself and Rahne through escaping from the camps I think I can handle the stupid tourist district of New York.” She realizes she’s going too far here, snapping at Matthew for things that he can change about as much as she can change being sort of quiet and liking to read, but at the moment she doesn’t really care, too disappointed and hurt and strangely sort of pleased, in a way that feels like a mouth twisting up into a sneer, like releasing things she’s been holding back too long without even knowing it. Her face twists slightly and she leans back as she snits out, “So yeah, excuse me if I’m just a little disappointed over the fact that my boyfriend cares more about staying out of trouble and acting like I’m helpless than actually trying to have fun with me!”

[Matthew Craft]

When Laurie just sort of stares at him after his little outburst, Matthew feels the near-overwhelming urge to apologize and promise to make up for his unacceptable behavior in any way, shape, or form.

“And who exactly forced you to come with me?” His mouth — which had just opened to make amends for his impolite attitude — abruptly shuts itself, the muscles of his jaw clenching. “Then you rush along anyway so you could, what, protect me from the big bad city? In case you haven’t noticed I don’t need an older brother or a…a…keeper or whatever.”

Matthew’s eyes go a little unfocused, staring through her. He nods a few times as he contemplates what she’s saying before he centers his attention on her again.

“So that’s all I am? Some bodyguard you don’t even want? Your personal ball and chain that you have to drag around with you everywhere you go?” There’s a distinct bitterness in his voice, accentuated by his clearly angered expression. “I never knew I was such a burden.” He adds distastefully.

“I’ve survived military invasions and gotten myself and Rahne through escaping from the camps I think I can handle the stupid tourist district of New York.” A snide jolt of laughter escapes him.

“I never said you couldn’t protect yourself. I know you can do that. Hell, you somehow managed to train a werewolf, remember?” A passerby shoots him a bizarre glance and nearly drops his paper bag lunch when he brushes too close to another person. “I don’t think it’s you that I need to look out for; it’s everybody else.” Matthew sweeps a hand at the busy pedestrians.

He acknowledges that his last comment was a pretty low blow — there was really no way Laurie could ever bring herself to actually hurt anyone (right?) — but Matthew finds his normal gentleman’s behaviour taking a back seat to impatience and vexation.

“So yeah, excuse me if I’m just a little disappointed over the fact that my boyfriend cares more about staying out of trouble and acting like I’m helpless than actually trying to have fun with me!”

“This isn’t fun! This is just attempt to show off this new…” Had he thought his argument through a little bit longer he would have come up with a more effective way to word it, “Thing you have going. If you wanted to have fun, you should have just said so! We could have gone to Coney Island or...I don’t know... Skydiving!” Pausing and considering what he just said, Matthew eases back slightly.

“Alright, fine. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am...inhibiting you.” He concedes, his tone of voice calming back from angered near-yelling, but with an amused flavour edging in. “You want to do something fun?” He asks, challenging her with a smirk. “We’re in downtown New York, so there’s gotta be something fun here, right? Just lead the way.”

[Laurie Collins]

[]

“I never knew I was such a burden.”
“I-I never said-“ Laurie stammers out, startled back again because he’s never looked like that, not to her, not to anyone. Usually even Laurie who has to deal with it in every awkward break-your-back-trying-to-kiss scenario doesn’t notice how tall he is, will catch herself wondering why people are staring when they’re out together, but the way he’s twisted his face up into a sneer, leaning in towards her a little, suddenly emphasizes it. Maybe I haven’t always been so great for him… she’d thought that herself just a moment ago but, even though he’s her boyfriend, her best friend, somehow she’d never considered what it would be like to be the stable one, the receiver, the one to take everything she’s thrown at him over the past year. Or at least she’d never thought of it other than some remarkable quality he had, like his eyes or his smile, nothing changeable, nothing she was really a part of. Which is all a nice way of saying you haven’t been thinking of him other than in relation to you isn’t it? She feels like being sick suddenly, puts a hand over her stomach and takes a small step backwards. “Matthew I-“

“I never said you couldn’t protect yourself. I know you can do that. Hell, you somehow managed to train a werewolf, remember…”

“—I what?” she finishes, tone hitching again and head snapping back up. “Trained? You make it sound like she’s not even a person!”

“I don’t think it’s you that I need to look out for; it’s everybody else.” That stops her. More than just her voice, as she watches his hand sweep out to indicate the pedestrians nearby she feels herself go completely still outwardly as her stomach seems to rise, convulsing, pushing her heart up into her throat so that she’s surprised he doesn’t seem to be able to see it constricting and expanding in her too-small windpipe, certain something of it must show until she realizes, dimly, how stupid she’s being. It isn’t real, it just feels that way because… She’s shaken loose suddenly and all she wants is to rush forward and grab his forearms and pour everything she’s feeling, everything she wants him to feel, at him. She’s been working on this, on short concentrated bursts, just a moment wouldn’t hurt anyone around them, really, and then he’d know, he’d see…

She actually takes a step towards him, hands raised, ignoring whatever he’s saying about skydiving or whatever, another couple paces and—
“Holy shit!”
Laurie jumps backwards, terrified and guilty and feeling the rush of adrenaline up and down her body in pinpricks of heat that race across her skin. Oh God I almost… I just…
“The museum! Look at this, look at the news!” People are closing in around them from the direction of the street, rushing towards the televisions in the shop window of the electronics store next to them where the museum they’ve just left is shown on a shaky hand-held camera, the subject of a news bulletin. “It’s mutants, they’re saying it’s mutants!” Laurie looks down at her hands and then up, unseeing, at the televisions again. It been a moment and she’d hardly moved, Matthew might not have noticed anything except her anger especially with his sister now seemingly in danger to distract him in the moments after. But I was going to. I would have.

[Matthew Craft]

“I-I never said-“ That’s when he knows he’s gone too far. The way she looks at him, with that kind of fear he’s only seen directed at other people, it makes his stomach twist. “Matthew I-“

“I—” Matthew’s too startled by his own aggressiveness to even begin to apologize, not knowing where to start. His vocal chords firmly seized up, he takes a tiny step forward, his hands open.

“Trained? You make it sound like she’s not even a person!” What little anger he has left wants him to point out that Rahne was part of team of bad guys that ransacked the mansion just before they all got displaced in the time stream, but a shout from a nearby store stops him short.

“The museum! Look at this, look at the news!” As much as he doesn’t want to, Matthew tears his eyes away from Laurie just long enough to see what the commotion is about. There’s a growing crowd around the store front with the television, but with his height Matthew can see over all the shorter heads.

If his innards had been knotted before, they were surely a tightly wound ball now. On screen he can see an unsteady shot of the Blackbird hovering next to the museum, shadowing over the crumbling wall of the prestigious building.

“It’s mutants, they’re saying it’s mutants!” Matthew immediately thinks of his sister as parts of the museum wall crumble.

Eyes wide, he looks back at Laurie, finding her just as shaken as he is. He turns to stare back the way they had come, toward the museum.

“Come on,” He says, voice taut with stress. Oblivious to whatever tension was still between them, Matthew hurriedly offers Laurie a hand before taking off back to museum.

[Laurie Collins]

The sidewalk where Laurie’s standing is quickly clogging with pedestrians who’ve stopped to watch the televisions and the noise of the street has changed from the everyday chorus of talking and laughter and wolf-whistles to a sort of distressed hum of inquiries and shushing and the shuffle of feet as everyone crowds closer to the televisions.

“Come on,”

Laurie shakes herself, a quick jerk that takes in her whole slight frame and snaps it forward a step. I almost…I just wanted… she feels that by now familiar surge of irritable fear creeping up from her stomach to tighten her chest but, suddenly, an idea pops into her head and she darts a couple steps after Matthew, grabbing his wrist. “Wait, just…just stand right here and wait for just a second, please?” she manages rather breathlessly before, having judged him out of the way for what she's planning, whirling around and darting back towards the crowd which is quickly becoming rougher and more vocal. “Look at that! I went on field trips there when I was a kid and now a few mutants waltz in and just…look at that!” a short man in a too-tight white tee-shirt and jeans is waving his hands and raising his voice while the mousy looking woman next to him wavers doubtfully. “But it doesn’t look too bad does it? They haven’t said if anyone’s injured—“ “Of course people are injured! Look at that wall! We just let mutants get away with everything and this—“

Laurie squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, tuning the shouting out and concentrating on calm, until she hears the voices around her soften and dip into the occasional lull. Then, before she has time to re-think it she pipes up, voice shaky but audible, and adds some obedience into her emission- “I-I think we should all just go home! I mean, we’re blocking the sidewalk and um, that’s…that’s bad…and we should go home and watch this on our own televisions and um, check other reputable news sources for information. Right. Okay. Um, yes, let’s…go!” she stammers out, making shooing motions with her hands and, despite recent practice with this sort of thing, she almost falls over in shock when, instead of laughing or throwing rocks or just ignoring her, the crowd merely looks a little puzzled and then slowly disperses.

“I thought it would be better for them to…not have a mass hysteria moment about mutants in a public place. You know, with…everything.” she mutters out lamely, crossing her arms over her stomach and looking at her shoes. She’s still mad at Matthew and freaked out about what she’d almost done and about whatever’s happening at the museum but, while her emotions haven’t really changed, the weight of them has. Note to self, actually doing something helps.

“Do you think we’ll even get there in time to do anything?” she asks, looking from Matthew to the now deserted storefront showing the museum, people pouring out and general chaos. If I’d been there I could have helped…

[Matthew Craft]

Three steps into racing back the museum, Matthew comes to a screeching halt when Laurie darts in front of him.

“Wait, just…just stand right here and wait for just a second, please?”


“Of course people are injured! Look at that wall! We just let mutants get away with everything and this—“

Matthew scowls in response, glaring at the man who has taken control of the crowd and then turns to his pleading girlfriend. “I don’t think waiting around with a bunch of mutant-haters is a very good idea…” He murmurs, adding a touch of urgency, but he remains, just like she had asked him to.

His stomach is doing backflips and his palms are sweating in anxiety, but then he feels a strange wave of calm come over him, easing his nerves and soothing any worries he has about his sister and his classmates.

“We should go home and watch this on our own televisions and um, check other reputable news sources for information. Right. Okay. Um, yes, let’s…go!” Now that sounds like a really great idea. There was nothing either of them could really do for the situation at the museum anyway, so bowing his head with a nod, Matthew tucks his hands into his pockets and slides up next to Laurie.

“Ready to go when—” He blinks a few times, wondering why he’s suddenly so eager just to get the hell out of dodge and back the Institute.

“I thought it would be better for them to…not have a mass hysteria moment about mutants in a public place. You know, with…everything.”

“Oh...yeah, good idea.” It never ceases to surprise him just how easily Laurie is able to coax him, and others, into a lovely state of compliance. “But I think we really should get back.” It’s not entirely sudden, but more of a quick but gradual return of his anxiety as her pheromones are flushed out of his system.

“Do you think we’ll even get there in time to do anything?” Behind her, on the televisions, Matthew can see the plumes of dust thrown over the museum as the Blackbird rockets out of the camera shot. With a sigh, he clenches his jaw and looks back at Laurie.

“I guess not.” He says with a point at the television, the words “Fight at the Museum!” (a clever little title, if a little lame) scrolling across the bottom of the screen in bold. “But we should head back to the school, like you uh...said. I want to make sure everyone’s okay.”