om_main | Manuel and Irvine, backdated to Feb. 27

So Irvine and Manuel are both flirting with Alice, and they talk about that like mature people, excepting for Irvine's grammar. Manuel gets Irvine to say what he really needs to say to Alice, instead.

Irvine spent very little time on his homework. If he got by with a passing grade, that was good enough for him, so he only did as much as he needed to get by. Much of his evenings, like this one, were spent sprawled out doing nothing in particular. Often he did his nothing down in the common room in front of the TV, but sometimes he draped himself across his bed and played around on his laptop, instead.

After poking around with his headphones in watching movie trailers on a comfortable Thursday evening, Irvine took out one of the earbuds and looked up to see what Manuel was doing. "Hey, man? Gimme an opinion on somethin'?" He sure sounded pretty earnest about whatever it was.

Manuel had been aware for at least the last quarter-hour that there was something on Irvine's mind, but he was focused on tuning the violin in his hands (on loan from the school, though he had no intention of admitting that) and didn't particularly want to get involved in whatever might be plaguing his roommate. Keeping any curiosity he'd had to himself had been the prudent thing. But now that he was being addressed, he had little choice but to lift his head and raise his eyebrows. He had no shortage of opinions, anyway. "Certainly. On what?"

Irvine turned the laptop around on his lap just enough to show the screen, plastered with movie promotional images in blacks and golds. Very seriously, he asked, "I really wanna see this Pompeii movie 'cause it looks kick-ass. Y' think it'd be the kind of thing a guy could take a girl to go see? I mean, cause there's explosions, sure, but this guy in it is pretty hot too."

That was unexpected and actually earned a brief laugh from Manuel. He lowered the still untuned violin into his lap and leaned forward slightly to peer across the room at the screen. The movie didn't look like anything particularly interesting to him, but then he had never considered explosions (or, in this case, active volcanoes) to be a major selling point. "I suppose," he responded smoothly, "It would depend on the girl. Lil or Noriko? Almost certainly. Lydia or Betsy? Doubtful."

Shit, even he wasn't dumb enough to think Miss Lydia would be into something so, uh, non-intellectual. That was enough to spark a half-laugh in return. "Nah. 'Bout halfway between, I reckon. Miss Alice Fitzgerald. I didn't wanna do anything too close to Valentine's -- too much pressure for everybody, y'know? -- but it's been awhile since we've been out."

So it was Alice that Irvine was interested in. Miss Alice. How...interesting. Manuel lowered his eyes to the violin he was holding, tweaking one of the pegs thoughtfully with his fingers and then plucking the corresponding string. He grimaced at the sound; still not right. Then he responded casually, "I hope she isn't your girlfriend. If she is, I guarantee that attitude has already landed you in trouble." He repeated the ritual again, adjusting the peg and plucking the string, this time seeming satisfied with the result and returning his eyes to Irvine. "Though, if she is, well done."

No need to go into the fact that he had been shamelessly flirting with her since they'd met and that she periodically dropped by to sit with him on his bed, sip coffee, and be serenaded with various European poets. Not until he knew the full situation, anyway.

Irvine had a bit of a musical ear, but not so fine tuned as Manuel's, and he couldn't hear the difference between the first tone and the second. Definitely not enough to make his roommate make a face like that. His dedication to his art was admirable, though, Irvine had to give him that.

"I get the feeling she'd sock me if I ever said 'girlfriend'," he admittedly, mostly cheerfully, though his usual ease was laced with something distinctly uncomfortable. "We've gone out, y'know, definitely some sparks, but..."

Ah, hell, Irvine was shit for lying. "Truth is, I feel like kind of a dick. She's gorgeous, right? She's game for anything and I'm definitely into her, but... I get the feeling like I'm just goin' along. My heart's not in it. That the dumbest thing you ever heard?"

Knowing what little he did about Alice and feeling Irvine's emotional turmoil, Manuel almost felt bad for him. He had no doubt that the two of them were on entirely separate pages. He shrugged noncommittally. "It sounds as though you want something more substantial than just the company of a beautiful woman. And you don't have that with Alice." He recalled Shinobi's comments on the 'fascinating novelty' of monogamy, but still found no reason why he or anyone else their age ought to prefer it. He doubted Alice would; the girl had only recently reclaimed the freedom and autonomy that came with a physical body and he couldn't imagine that being tied down by anything would have much appeal to her. So the fact that his roommate wasn't enamored with her was probably for the best. "I won't claim to understand," he concluded, "But no, it isn't 'dumb'. Per se."

"It just doesn't seem fair," Irvine mused more quietly, getting introspective. It was a bad habit of his, especially when he got to thinking about the past. His past, and the crystal-clear memories that never left him.

"For her, I mean. I love hanging out with her, don't get me wrong. Just, there's... When I was little, there was this girl." Just thinking about Selphie ignited a swell of devotion, wistful longing and twinges of sadness in the cowboy's heart.

Manuel mentally braced himself as he felt the emotion beginning to stir inside of Irvine. Everyone had such experiences, the ones which always remained with them and which brought down a deluge of feelings each time they surfaced, and he had no intention of being caught up in his roommate's sense of lost love. He lowered his eyes and plucked another string on the violin, focusing on its sour sound to ground himself and twisting the peg. "Don't take this as a slight against Alice," he answered, his tone matter-of-fact, "Because it isn't, but I doubt knowing that would dissuade her. I don't think she's looking for your ever-lasting devotion."

No, Alice didn't seem to be looking for promises of forever. So why was Irvine so hesitant to even promise 'right now'? Before he had a chance to ramble on it further, though, something struck him. Granted, it was a little belated, but Irvine didn't exactly think fast. "You, uh... forgive me for sayin', but you sound like you know her."

Being called out on that fact didn't trouble Manuel. He hadn't intended to keep his association with Alice a secret from Irvine unless it was necessary and, while his roommate might not like the truth, he doubted the result would be beyond his ability to manage. His roommate had no claims on the girl and didn't even seem certain that he wanted them. "I do," he agreed, glancing across the room at the American.

Okay, Irvine had meant a little more than that, but he did know that Manuel wasn't a chatty guy by nature. There was no jealousy in his feelings just then, only curiosity. "Um. Am I bein' weird here, then? I mean, I know I'm not the only guy Alice has been seein'. That doesn't bother me any, but, I wouldn't want it botherin' you, either."

A subtle expression flitted across the Spaniard's face, a blend of relief and satisfaction, and then he cut through it with a smirk. "Actually, I'm glad to hear it," he admitted, omitting the fact that he was equally glad his emotions backed up the claim, "You can never tell who will allow something like this to...ruffle their feathers."

"I didn't get feathers in the superpower package," Irvine drawled, relaxed himself by Manuel's small smile (even if it was more smirky than smile-like). He shook his head. "Gotta be honest with you, if I was Alice, I'd pick you. You got the... face and the... accent, and shit," he explained, waving a hand in Manuel's general direction. "I think I've pretty well figured out, if I can't give her a hundred percent, she deserves somebody who can."

Manuel laughed because it seemed more polite and more tactful than simply agreeing that he was the obvious choice, then shook his head. "Don't misunderstand. Whatever is or could be between Alice and me, I have no desire to be 'picked'. I'm not looking for any more than a pleasant distraction."

Irvine started to say something, and then was struck with a sharp thought echoed by a start of surprise in his emotions. He paused, and then continued on, "I was about to say that you oughtta tell her that, but I also figure I don't have much room to talk. I haven't told her any of this, myself." A scrunched not-quite-smile mangled his otherwise pretty mouth. "I have to, don't I?"

"Alice knows the game I'm playing," Manuel assured Irvine smoothly, his attention divided between his roommate's emotional revelation and the violin still resting in his hands, "But yes. You probably should." Finally satisfied with the sound of the last string, he strummed them all together and smiled faintly at the sound. Perfection. Then his dark eyes returned to his roommate. "What will you tell her?"

That was the real question, wasn't it? Irvine closed the laptop, but left it resting on his stomach as he flopped back onto the pillows on his bed with a heavy sigh. "That I'm a moron who can't accept a good thing right in front of my face? I don't know, man. How do I tell a sweet, gorgeous girl that I can't go no further with her 'cause I'm not in love? I mean, it's not the most manly thing to say."

"You're asking the wrong person," Manuel pointed out, reaching for the bow he'd left on his bedside table but making no move to play the instrument just yet. He sat back, leaning against the wall and looking vaguely thoughtful. This sort of dilemma was precisely the reason he wasn't interested in 'love'. Well. That and the fact that it was just as fleeting and malleable to him as any other emotional state and didn't strike him as anything particularly special. "But there is something to be said for the simplicity of honesty," he concluded.

Irvine made an uncertain grimace at the ceiling. "You mean 'I like you too much to fuck'? That sounds like a douchebag thing to say. Fact, I don't reckon I can come out of this without sounding like a douchebag," he sighed. "I don't wanna hurt her, but I ain't dumb enough to think I'm in charge of how she reacts, either." He paused only a beat before adding, "You get sick of me ramblin' on, man, just say. I can probably figure out how to shut up."

"I assumed you would stick closer to your first rendition," Manuel answered with a faintly amused smirk, "Self-deprecation and appeals to love tend to go over better with woman than anything that includes the word 'fuck'." He turned violin bow in his fingers and shrugged, "As I said, I'm the wrong person to ask. But I don't mind dispensing questionable advice if you want to take it."

"Sounds like you know what you're talkin' about to me," Irvine answered, turning his head to grin across at Manuel. "I'll talk to Alice. Hope you don't mind my not mentioning you when I do. She's gonna make up her own mind about you. I'm not gonna help her along." All of it was said with that same faintly crooked smile, good-natured. Irvine really did not know how to be jealous, or possessive, especially when he had no right to be.

Manuel wasn't going to argue with Irvine on that; sounding like someone with more credibility and more authority than he actually had was what had gotten him through boarding school, after all. Well. Until the situation changed. Instead he just shrugged and let the matter pass. "Keep me out of it," he agreed, surprised by the boy's genuine lack of concern about what he did or didn't do with Alice. Normally, people as sentimental as Irvine seemed to be didn't approve of his...detachment. He certainly preferred this live and let live stance his roommate seemed to have. "As I said, Alice almost certainly has me figured out."

"Brother, you are not alone," Irvine chuckled, settling back again with his arms folded behind his head.