xmutanthigh | [open thread] la la la la london.

Entry tags:

[open thread] la la la la london.

Characters: Laura, you.
Setting: The hotel lobby in London.
Content: People run into Laura? Thread-jacking okay.
Status: Open and incomplete.

[Laura is sitting quietly in the hotel lobby, looking through a travel guide pamphlet placed on one of the tables nearby. She might be waiting for someone. Or maybe she's just reading up on what there is to see besides the major landmarks she already knows.]

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[If Laura is agitated or unsettled by her conversation with Josh, she does not show it as she makes her way back to Bobby.]

Yes. Josh and I are friends.

[She doesn't mean telling him like Josh meant it; it is simply the truth. The summation of their talk. Yep, that's what it is.]

Cool.

[Bobby finds her statement kind of odd, but then, every conversation he's ever had with Laura could be described as "kind of odd" so he doesn't think anything of it.]

So, ready to go?

[He's strangely looking forward to this trip, and he's not exactly an art aficionado. He's not sure what it is. Maybe it has something to do with the tiny, almost imperceptible smile on Laura's face.

Not that he's thinking about that, of course.]

[Sure he isn't. Laura falls into step next to him, resolutely deciding that Joshua Foley doesn't know what he is talking about. And that she should not look at Bobby's excited smile so closely. There is no reason.]

Yes.

[They catch another tourist bus to the Gallery. Thankfully, the Gallery is not quite as crowded as the Eye.]

So is art another of those random subjects you know everything about?

[It's said with a teasing grin as they walk inside. He dismisses the strange tingle from his arm brushing hers when she moves closer to avoid colliding with a woman and her toddler. Because Bobby's still nowhere near all the way over Rogue yet, so of course he can't be thinking about another girl.

(Right?)]

No, I... [She pauses momentarily as their arms brush, as she catches a sidelong glance at his smile. Her gaze is soft, but she tries not to smile back, however small. They are friends. She wonders what she is doing to make Josh think differently. She should correct her behavior.

Right?] I don't know very much.

[There is a pause, and she adds quietly.] That is part of why I like it.

Yeah, I have to admit I don't know much about art either.

[Looking around, he spots a sign advertising guided tours.]

So, do you want to take a tour, or do you want to just wander around by ourselves?

I would rather wander. [She says this, leaning towards the entrance into a hall filled with paintings. Laura can't help it; she's a loner.]

Sure.

[After so many months of just not knowing how to talk to Laura, he's finally getting comfortable with their mutual silence. They take in the artwork with unexperienced but nonetheless appreciative eyes.]

Have you ever tried painting before?

[It's an innocent enough question, but once he's asked it, he's not sure he should have asked. He knows she didn't exactly have a childhood growing up.]

[They're standing in front of Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers) when he asks this. Laura doesn't look away from the mellow colors and thick brush strokes at his question. But she's getting better at reading him, smelling the change in his perspiration. She recognizes how he second-guesses himself. She wants to assuage him of his worry. She doesn't know how.]

No. I have not. [She looks over to him.] Have you?

[He laughs, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.]

Back when I was in first grade, maybe. I'm not much of a painter. Pete's the artist.

[He examines the painting, strangely aware of Laura's proximity.]

I can do okay with sculpture - ice, you know? I used to do it a lot, out on the fountains in winter.

Why did you stop?

[She is conscious of his proximity too. As the conversation continues, her body angles slightly towards him, away from the painting. She is aware of his every blink, every shift, the movement of his muscles beneath his skin. Laura doesn't miss anything.

But she doesn't understand--no, she doesn't want to understand why she's paying so much attention, cataloguing and absorbing him in with such careful intent. Almost affection.]

I dunno.

[He shrugs, but his expression takes on something faraway and a little dark.]

John used to try to melt whatever I was working on. After he left, I'd just be thinking about what a jerk he always was. I'd get mad and not be able to concentrate.

[He glances down at her and shrugs again.]

And then life got busy, with the team. Stuff with Rogue. College.

[Laura looks down, her brow furrowing slightly. She... understands betrayal. Maybe not the normalcy of his problems. Maybe not much at all. She doesn't understand relationships, or college, or the complexities of friendships. It's a struggle for her to even try.]

I would try to shatter your sculptures. If that would help.

[A chuckle bursts out of him at this, though he obviously isn't meaning to make fun of her. He thinks it's really sweet, actually, because it's clear she doesn't quite understand, but she's trying and she wants to make things better. And he feels a rush of affection for her, for doing that.]

You know what? Maybe it would. We'll have to try it back home sometime.

[She looks up abruptly at his chuckle; it seems out of place. She is not hurt by it, merely confused for a moment. She senses he is not laughing at her, but even all these months at Xavier's haven't taught her every social protocol. She's still very much unfamiliar with cues, and if she's said something wrong, or reacted strangely. She doesn't care, not really. But that doesn't mean she doesn't envy those who find interacting with other easy and natural anyway.]

Okay.

[They keep wandering around the gallery, admiring the artwork mostly in silence. Several times, Bobby goes to make some inane comment, but each time he shuts his mouth. He decides he kind of likes that they don't need to talk.

Of course, the silence is not entirely comfortable. He's still feeling that strange hyper-awareness of her presence. What's up with that? He doesn't know - or rather, he doesn't want to know.]

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[open thread] la la la la london.

:D :D

Re: :D :D

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Sooo

soooooo?

LMAO. I mean to say "Sooo... I know nothing about the Gallery/art apart from what Wikipedia says" XD

LMAO oops. Yeah, me either. :P We're both in the dark.

Re: LMAO oops. Yeah, me either. :P We're both in the dark.

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