Xaviers!

Basil slammed the door behind him with a heavy sigh, oblivious to anyone else in the room.

Colette was relaxing in a t-shirt and some pajama pants when the door to her dorm room was quickly opened and almost violently slammed shut, which caused her to let out a little shriek and drop the textbook she had been reading. While he was invisible to others, she could see how flustered and panicked Basil was after his encounter with Janice, though she did not yet know the reason.

"Oh my, Basil! What's the matter?" She asked of him as she got to her feet, the fear of an intruder being replaced by that of some unknown catastrophe.

"I...." Basil held everything in fot a grand total of fourteen seconds.

"Theresawomaninthehallwaydressedintoptobottomvinylandihadbadthoughtsabouther!"

English wasn't Colette's first language, so it took her some time to work out what Basil had said, the entire time staring at him with a confused expression. When it finally did click she quickly pushed past him and opened the door, sticking her head out into the hallway to try and get a look at whoever it was he was talking about.

"Don't look she might still be out there!" He hissed.

"Zat is what I am hoping!" She replied in a hushed tone. She manages to get a glimpse of the woman as she heads for the stairs, but it is rather brief and at a distance.

"Are zose ze new team uniforms?" Colette asked as she closed the door, turning her attention back to her boyfriend.

"I pray to Him not... I'm going to have to quit." He replied miserably.

Colette tsk'd softly, stepping closer to gently cup Basil's cheek. "Now now, why would you say zat?"

"I'm not a strong enough man to focus on work with that all over campus. I barely made it in here without publicly embarrassing myself."

Colette smirked a little bit. "She looked zat good, did she?"

"I-" Basil stammered a bit, clutching his bag against himself.

Coming visible, the boy sat curled up in the smallest ball a six foot tall man could make, looking thoroughly embarrassed. His face was flushed by the shame he'd brought upon himself for looking at someone he didn't know like that.

"Bazeeeel." Colette drew out the young man's name with a tone of compassion. "What is ze matter? Do you fear zat I am still ze jealous girl zat I once was?"

"No." He replied quickly but smoothly, an indication his answer was honest.

"I shouldn't look at women like that. Especially when it's not meant for me.

I just... can't help myself sometimes...Because I'm a terrible person."

Colette let out a deep breath through her nose, which was more a social cue than a biological function since she didn't have any lungs, or nostrils really. She turned herself around and sat down on her mattress beside Basil.

"You DO know that it's okay to look, right?" She inquired. "And to fantasize? Call it primal instincts, or dark thoughts, or what have you, there are times when thoughts enter your head despite your resolve. This is not shameful.

"What WOULD be shameful would be if you had acted on those thoughts and pursued this woman. But you did not, because you are in a relationship, and you are devoted to me. Correct?"

" Well yes, of course. I would never pursue someone else.

but that is not the onlyreason It's wrong.

I do not even know her name, it's.....


Skeevy." Basil finished, not knowing the French equivalent to such slang.

"Do you have to know ze name of ze artist to find a painting beautiful? Or ze ingredients in a dish to zink it delicious?"

Colette reached out with a solidified and dry hand, gently playing with Basil's hair. "You witnessed a woman who ticked off some of your boxes labeled 'zings zat Basil likes'. For you to take notice is not ze... scurvy." Well, she tried. "But now I must ask you, which is a better use for ze frustration zat zis sight has instilled in you. Lamenting zat you are human and zerefore have desires?

"Or perhaps channeling those feelings into more... productive pursuits."

"Lamenting." Basil replied, playing at the edge of something akin to defiance, a concept he rarely engaged in. He allowed her to play with his curls however.

"She is not for me to experience or enjoy. She is not a utility. She is a person."

"Did you hit on her? Or call her a cat?" Colette got her phrasing confused. "You did not shove a five pound note into her underwear, did you? Because unless you did one of zese zings I do not see how you objectified her. Did she protest your presence or ask you to stop?"

"Just because she doesn't know doesn't absolve me of bad behavior." Basil retorted weakly.

Colette didn't think that Basil's behavior had been bad, at least not worthy of how awful he felt at the moment, but she wasn't sure how to convince him that he was okay. It took a moment for another approach to cross her mind.

"Perhaps. Zough if zis is ze case...

"What are you going to do to atone for your behavior?"

Basil furrowed his brow.

"How do you mean?"

Colette was making a risky move, after all she was still learning how to work this kind of a relationship, and these types of thinking and actions didn't come naturally to her. But if telling Basil he hadn't done something wrong was just going to meet with resistance, maybe she needed to lean into it and give him a means of redemption. She got up from the bed and moved toward her closet with deliberate steps.

"You said that I was your Queen. Is this not true? And you are to have no other Queen but me, correct?" She asked with her back toward him as she picked through the garments, looking for something in particular.

Basil was still quite confused where this was going.

"Oui."

"And you have pledged your very soul to me." Colette had found the garment she was looking for and poured herself into it; literally - her clothing falling to the floor as the red latex bodysuit she had been using as a "mold" while she slept took its proper shape facing him. Her body was entirely covered below the neckline, and the features that formed as the smooth oval that was her head took shape were familiar... but different. Her hair was down and straight, much straighter than she normally allowed it, with horizontal bangs that ended just above the goo equivalent of sharp eyebrows and winged eyeliner.

"If I am everything that you desire, your entire world, your reason for being, then you need not atone to anyone but me. If you feel the need to redeem yourself, then it should be to me." Het bootsteps clacked on the floor as she made her way back around her bed - dang she'd even put the feet of the suit in the boots before she poured herself, she'd thought of everything.

"But the question remains, tomcat... how will you atone?"

Someone finally caught on. His girlfriend was trying to distract him from his problem.

This would normally upset him... except that it worked like a charm and he did, indeed, immediately forget what he was giving himself so much grief over moments before.

Basil clutched his bag a little tighter to himself, but not out of anxiety. He was exhibiting a sort of shy body language, his frame hugging itself around his satchel and into a curled, cozier position as his shoulders rose up to his ears and a dopey smile started spreading across his reddening face.

((FTB))

"How long till Chisaki returns from classes?" He asked, snuggling close in the artificial darkness of the drawn curtains.

Colette let out a contented sigh. "Mmm, I do not know. She does not always return from class immediately, but if she did it would be soon. I could text her and ask if you would like."

""Mmmno... I'll getup and find my pants and trousers soon I suppose...

In a minute..."

"I could put a sock on ze door handle perhaps...."

Basil sighed.

"No. As much as I may dislike her, it's her room too."

Colette was reluctant to let Basil go, which might be obvious in how she held him. "Why do you dislike her?"

"There's something quite strange about her, don't you think?" Basil replied in their 'secret language' as to not risk her walking in on them both naked and talking shit on her.

"She seems to take no interest in boys or girls. She spends a lot of time trying to look like someone different than herself, to the point she practically sleeps in a costume.

I also dislike how much interest she seems to take in our relationship. Why isn't she frustrated that we're taking over all the time? If Shane did the reverse to me, I would be."

"And I don't ask because I don't want to be rude." Basil laughed. "Ultimately what I like and don't like doesn't amount to a hill of beans."

"Well, it matters to me."

"Don't you think you put enough interest in what makes me happy?" He replied with a smirk.

Colette hmm'd softly, thinking it over, tapping her chin in thought.

"Mm, there is room for a smidge more. Just a bit."

"Not today, I'm afraid." He stated, attempting to gently unpin himself from his lady. "She'll be back soon, I'm sure."

"Zen you had better get dressed and get going zen. I... will watch."

"Am I supposed to be making the act of putting my clothes back on sexual?" He asked, chuckling.

"Oh Basil, casual is ze best kind of sexual. Do you not enjoy watching me dress?"